Odds are you're either a Mustang person or a Camaro person.
Sure, there is a small number of swing voters in the middle, but automakers have long known that most buyers have their minds made up when it comes to which piece of American muscle they want to own.
So the best thing Chevrolet could do when it introduced a new model would be to delight its existing diehards and swing the undecideds. It's done just that with the 2016 Camaro SS.
The new front-engine, rear-wheel-drive coupe is the closest version to a true sports car that we’ve seen from Camaro yet. The makeover comes thanks to several nice things borrowed from its luxury sisters: The Camaro SS offers the same 455-horsepower 6.2-liter V8 engine as the Corvette Stingray (with just a drop in torque), and it uses the same chassis that Cadillac uses in the excellent ATS.
It comes with a manual six- or automatic-eight transmission, multiple drive modes, magnetic-ride-control and adjustable suspension system. Combined with a small-diameter steering wheel, it far exceeds the steering precision of any other modern muscle car. It can hit 0-60mph in 3.9 seconds. Top speed is 160mph.
Chevrolet has also made the 3,685-pound manual Camaro more than 220 pounds lighter than last years SS coupe, which helps its efficiency. (The automatic weigh a bit more at 3,760 pounds.) The guy from Camaro who dropped the car with me couldn’t help bragging about its 28-mph highway efficiency rating.
All of which combine to give the car an exact, powerful, and very balanced driving effect. Point the steering wheel just slightly and it follows immediately; press the gas and it'll surge forward with a roar; jump on the Brembo brakes or swerve through traffic, and it’s always exactly with you, not a hair forward or behind. The Camaro SS is a tighter, more aggressive, more powerful driver than the Mustang GT. It's the car you want when you feel the need to demolish desert roads like I did.
Some have criticized this new Camaro as under-designed, to which I say,yesandthank you. Earlier versions looked embarrassingly macho, too bloated and gnarled to be really athletic. But this, with its smaller front grill, sharper hips, gaunt sides, and sculpted roofline tapering toward the rear, looks lean. It looks effective. Itiseffective.
Inside, too, Chevy has given us good things: an 8-inch touchscreen that relatively easy and fun to use, despite being tilted slightly down an awkward angle. It combines every function on your smartphone in a unique configuration that lets you control things like Pandora, navigation, and calls. Along the doors are light strips that pulse colors according to your choice from an extensive palate—I can’t imagine many guys wanting the blush pink, seafoam green, or peachy options for the inside of their Camaro, but they’re there if they want them.
Now the downsides: The visibility through the rear window is not good. Not good at all. Nor are the side mirrors exceptionally well-placed. And the back seat leaves literally no place for a passenger to put his legs, if the person in front expects to be able to sit with legs unbent.
I’d go so far as to say you should never get in the back. Just don’t even try. Those front seats are covered in rich leather (for Chevy), outfitted with heaters, and comfortable enough in an ergonomic way that allows for, say, eight hours of steady driving in the California desert with virtually no fatigue. I can speak from personal experience on that.
Yes, the leather and the heaters cost extra. So does the navigation system with Bluetooth, the performance exhaust system, and 20-inch aluminum wheels I had on mine. Total cost of the car I drove was $47,470. It’s a lot more than the $37,295 SS base price, and the $33,295 base price of the Mustang GT. And it was completely worth it.
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To contact the author of this story: Hannah Elliott inNew York at helliott8@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Justin Ocean at jocean1@bloomberg.net
