LS Fest West is one of those wild and crazy car shows that attracts people from all walks of life. So, it can be difficult to stand out from the crowd. More difficult still, if you’ve brought a ubiquitous fifth-generation Camaro. People bring all kinds of crazy cars that have been LS-swapped. See our show recap, here. Just for quick reference, we’ve seen ls-swapped mini coopers, Mercedes AMG, Volkswagen beetles, AMC Gremlin, Ford Pinto, and plenty more oddballs. Still, we happened to find a Camaro, of all things, that stood out among them.
Kayla’s Camaro stood out from the crowd in more ways than one. The main reasons being the striking color combination an her choice of OEM-style aero parts.
Kayla Rundle’s 2013 Camaro is the one pictured here. Now, before you chauvinistic types jump in with some snarky comment about why we chose to feature Kayla’s Camaro – listen up. We happened upon the sand-colored Camaro as she and her boyfriend were walking away from the car. In our defense, he was closer to the car, so we made the mistake of assuming it belonged to him.
HRE wheels wrapped in Nitto rubber is always a winning combination.
Before we could ask him question one, Kayla jumped in and promptly stated it was, in fact, her car. Admittedly, we were caught off guard. Especially when she started dropping haymaker Camaro knowledge bombs on us like Tyson in the glory days of his black trunks and a ringside Cus D’Amato.
Dropping Knowledge
As we began speaking with her about the strangely provocative late-model ‘maro, she started in with a bunch of tidbits of information that were previously unknown to us. Things like unique design cues, exhaust options, and various interior changes, all of which vary from one model year to the next. She really knew her stuff!
Check out Kayla’s YouTube channel where she uploads all kinds of automotive content.
Of course, we weren’t surprised in the least by all of this. Kayla is not only a gearhead and autofile, but she’s also attending The Art Center College Of Design in Pasadena, California studying Transportation Design. So, it makes sense that she has “designs” on working in the automotive industry. You can find out more about her and the things she’s working on by following her YouTube channel. She’s amassed quite a following already and is cranking out content like nobody’s business.
Kayla seriously schooled us on fifth-gen Camaro facts. Who knew there were so many different options and changes from year to year?
Kayla’s got plenty of videos breaking down her Camaro build, but there’s more to see on her channel. She’s also made several tech/install videos and plenty of content surrounding her daily driver Civic if you’re into that sort of thing…
Even though you can get up to speed on her Camaro by watching her talk about it, which is, let’s face it, a lot more entertaining, we’ll give it the old college try for you here as well.
Not Just Another Camaro
The upgrades Kayla has made to her Saharan-colored Camaro can be broken up into two categories, and she’s done a great job curating the selections for both. The first is the more important of the two, which, of course, means we’re talking about performance upgrades.
The Roto-Fab cold air intake sets off the underhood treatment.
She wasted no time getting into the engine and opted for a GPI SS3 Cam along with Brian Tooley Racing valve springs paired with a Smith Brothers trunnion upgrade. While they were at it, the factory oil pump was tossed aside to make way for a brand new Melling unit.
The Kooks stainless long tube headers are some serious eye-candy for engine lovers.
To get the LS3 breathing a little better, the Camaro got a set of Kooks long-tube headers mated to the factory NPP exhaust with no catalytic converters. Now Kayla’s sandy steed is breathing like a blood-doped Lance Armstrong. Of course, what good would a massive set of lungs be if you have to breathe through a straw? So, a RotoFAB cold air intake made quick work of that little issue. Lastly, the engine now sports an ATI harmonic balancer.
Pedders coilovers and an ATI harmonic balancer are among the various performance upgrades.
Moving on to the suspension…Fans of the fifth-generation Camaro know, one sure-fire way to increase the aesthetic appeal and handling performance of these GM rides, is to set them atop some serious suspension components. That’s just what Kayla did. The altitude adjustment comes by way of Pedders XA coilovers accompanied by a set of front and rear sway bars from Detroit Speed.
Additionally, a known weak point for these fifth-gens is the factory axles. When subjected to any kind of abuse, they have a tendency to…how can we put this…go out for a pack of cigarettes and never come back. (Thanks Dad!) So, to remedy that, Kayla had a set of GForce Renegade Axles installed.
The small pop of turquoise from behind the silver HRE wheels is just the right amount of color to draw attention from the Sand Inozetek wrap.
To haul the skin-colored sports car to a stop, Kayla had a set of R1 Concepts slotted rotors and Hawk Performance brake pads installed with stainless braided steel lines.
The Street Fighter LA spoiler is aggressive without being obnoxious.
To top it all off and tie all the performance together, she took the Camaro down to CPR in Tempe, Arizona to have it tuned. The Camaro made 466 horsepower and 433 pound-feet of torque. No slouch at all!
She’s A Looker
Relax, we’re talking about the car! When it came time to set her Camaro apart from the crowd, Kayla was almost literally starting with a blank canvas. The original color being Summit White allowed her imagination to run wild and she ended up choosing an out-of-the-norm Gloss Sand color for her Inozetek wrap. The vinyl was installed by APX Motorsports in Burbank, California.
It’s all about stance. That’s the first key in the rule of automotive style. Then again, we didn’t go to Design school…You’ll have to let Kayla’s work speak for itself.
Let us tell you, that wrap, while polarizing, drew plenty of attention. The car has been around since 2010, so it’s not easy to build a fifth-gen Camaro that makes people stop in their tracks these days. Somehow, she chose the perfect color combination that works. The silver wheels under the tan wrap and just a pop of turquoise really compliment each other.
That feeling when you know more than the boys…
Those wheels are HRE FF04’s, by the way. They are wrapped in Nitto NT555G2 in front and NT555R2 out back. But Kayla didn’t just stop there, she added some subtle changes sourced from aftermarket companies to give it an OEM plus upgraded look.
And they said there’s no such thing as a perfect stance…
For example, she installed a set of C7 Carbon Z/28 style side-skirts, an Anderson Composites 1LE-style carbon fiber front spoiler, Street Fighter LA carbon fiber rear spoiler, GM Heritage grille, and Oracle LED paint-matched side markers.
The factory quad-tip exhaust is another killer touch that looks aftermarket but isn’t.
Show Stopper
Give her a follow…
Don’t take our word for it, check out Kayla’s social media channels and maybe you can see it for yourself. She’s very active in the community and her car is known to be seen at plenty of Souther California meet-ups and those in Arizona as well. For now, you’ll just have to drool over these photos.