Chevrolet Camaro: Driven
It looks the same as its predecessor, but the sixth-generation Camaro is vastly better to drive
And you thought Audi was bad...
Not that there are many Camaro owners on this side of the Atlantic, of course. But after our first drive we hope that GM will try to copy Ford's decision to Europeanize the Mustang and bring us this one, preferably with the steering wheel on the right-and-proper side.
Alpha Male
Okay, let's start with the oily stuff. The new Camaro sits on GM's Alpha platform, the same one that underpins the Cadillac ATS-V, which allows the new car to be both stronger and lighter than the old one. The weight savings are impressive, the V6 manual is claimed to be 130kg trimmer. The exterior styling remains either muscular, cartoonish or somewhere in between depending on your personal take, with a window area smaller than that of many concrete gun emplacements. But the interior is very different, and that's a good thing.
Great to look at, not to look out of
The Camaro's dashboard is designed around a large central touchscreen, which is angled downwards (presumably to cut down on glare) but works reasonably well. The central air vents are positioned below this, meaning that they operate pretty much at crotch height, and with temperature controlled by rotating bezels around them, as in the new TT. Trim fetishists will still be able to find some oily-feeling plastics and moulding pips, but compared to the polystyrene crypt of the last car it's vastly better.
Predictably the narrow glassline, and the width of the pillars, make it feel like you're trying to pilot a bottle bank. You get used to it fairly quickly, although the rear three-quarter visibility is terrible. Driving in the U.S. I quickly learned to accelerate into lane changes as the blind spot is big enough to hide an 18-wheel truck. The rear seats are compact enough to make the back of a 911 feel limo spacious, in the unlikely event that that's a deal breaker.
You want the V8, obviously
In the States Chevrolet has taken the probably sensible decision to put the four-cylinder turbocharged engine at the bottom of the range, a 2.0-litre with 275hp - rather than trying to extract a premium for it as Ford has done with the Mustang Ecoboost. I didn't get to drive one of those, but I did spend time with both the 3.6-litre 335hp V6 and the 455hp V8 in sporty 'SS' trim. Even faster versions are a nailed on certainty for later.
Against expectations, the V6 doesn't feel like the poor relation; previously six-cylinder Camaros have been more rental than mental, but despite only gaining 12hp over the last generation the weight saving and new chassis give this one markedly more vigour, both in straight lines and corners. The engine revs the enthusiasm born of natural aspiration, peak power comes at a highish 6,800rpm and there's good response throughout the range.
The chassis is pretty decent as well. As is usual these days the car I drove came with various dynamic modes, but it seemed happiest when left to deal with real roads in the default 'Touring' setting. Even then the electric power steering has more weight than actual sensation, but behind that the rack is fast geared and front-end responses are keen. Springs and dampers did a good job at dealing with the sort of rougher surfaces that used to turn Pony cars into water beds; there's lots of vertical movement over bumps, but this doesn't throw you off a chosen line.
Eyes on the Mustang!
Bumblebee with brains
Because the extra power of the SS unlocks a different side to the Camaro, even with the optional eight-speed autobox fitted to the test car. The chassis can handle considerably more power without breaking sweat, but the bigger engine's extra torque also turns it into something more like the bar fighter you probably expect American muscle cars to be.
Despite the certainty of more muscular Camaros to follow the naturally aspirated 6.2-litre pushrod V8 in the SS already boasts an M4-beating 455hp. It sounds great, from the moment you fire it up into its bass-heavy idle through to the very angry noises it makes as it closes in on its redline. GM claims a four-second 0-60mph time that U.S magazines have already beaten. The V8 doesn't rev as high as the V6, but its extra grunt makes it far more throttle steerable, even with the stability control switched on you can feel the effect of the extra torque pushing against the rear tyres.
Lighter, faster, better - it's good!
Over here?
We'll leave the question of whether we will see this Camaro on this side of the Atlantic to GM's bean counters. But the fact that, in the US, the base pricing exactly matches that of the Ford Mustang means that any Euro-Camaro could presumably be priced hard against its most natural rival. It's not a match for the GT350 Mustang yet, but the basic V6 and V8 feel sharper and more focused than their Ford equivalents. It's just a shame its styling doesn't shout more about just how different it is.
Watch the video here.
2016 CHEVROLET CAMARO V6
Engine: 3,640cc V6
Transmission: 6-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 335@6,800rpm
Torque (lb ft): 284@5,300rpm
0-60mph: 5.2sec
Top speed: 150mph+
Weight: 1,560kg (auto)
MPG: N/A
CO2: N/A
Price: $24,700 MRSP (£16,100 as of 26/10/2015)
2016 CHEVROLET CAMARO V8 SS
Engine: 6,162cc V8
Transmission: 8-speed auto, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 455@6,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 455@4,400rpm
0-60mph: 4.0sec
Top speed: 150mph+
Weight: 1,700kg (auto)
MPG: N/A
CO2: N/A
Price: $34,745 MRSP (£22,650 as of 26/10/2015)
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Just think of the cars you could have if you had prices like that - proves how much we are being ripped off - I wont even mention fuel prices either..!
I know it costs more to actually get one on the road in the UK, but you get my point.
VW also charge a premium for their cars being a VW, they are overpriced imho - no matter how good they supposedly are.
t, but this one is a revelation.Fast foward 8 years: "The last one was s
t, this one is a revelation"It looks like the visibility alone would make this thoroughly unenjoyable in the UK on anything other than big open A roads. City driving with lane changes and merges would be a real chore. I confidently predict that this will once again only be seen in the UK being driven by the wannabe Americans and various neckbeards desperate to substitute novelty for personality.
Just think of the cars you could have if you had prices like that - proves how much we are being ripped off - I wont even mention fuel prices either..!
The V6 costs 25k.... that's the reality.
Because believe it or not, most people in America get paid in USD$ at a US wage rate. They don't funnily enough get paid in £ sterling, then allowed to convert it.
As for how they can sell them at that money - they shift a couple of hundred thousand per year, is the answer.
If you added UK tax to that price, even if you assumed it were built here, it would be £20k like-for-like and then you'd have to add on the extra kit, etc. In addition, most of these will be £1k more for an automatic, etc.
American dealers also rarely offer more than 10% off a car.
Out the door, Broadspeed will do a BMW 428i manual for £28k. I suspect that if the Camaro were sold at true like-for-like pricing, but with a spec that would sell in Europe, it would have be £23k at least even if you didn't adjust for the low volumes.
They've made it drive better...lets celebrate that
They haven't ruined the looks...ditto!
It's the kind of look you'd expect to see from a rival parked alongside Lightning McQueen in "Cars".
I still like the car though!
It's a shame as they could be really cool cars.
this, on the other hand, makes me ache with want....
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