LEAN MUSCLE
The redesigned Chevrolet Camaro drops the pounds for a more nimble ride.
Chevrolet billed this as the introduction of the 2016 Camaro, but it feels more like a revival meeting. Hundreds of previous generation Camaros are parked in the Belle Isle racetrack’s parking lot, their owners fawning over their much-customized pony cars and speaking in tongues and Chevy insider lingo. I half expect Mark Reuss, General Motors’ executive vice-president of global product development, to start his introductory speech with a rousing, “Two score and seven years ago, Chevrolet brought forth a new pony car, conceived in cubic inches, and dedicated to the simple proposition that all men, regardless of race, creed or religion just want to go fast and peel rubber.” If someone had fired up a 1969 ZL-1 just then, the assembled faithful might well have been convinced of a resurrection, GM’s EVP channelling the legendary (if you’re a Camaro owner) Don Yenko.
But, although the ‘69 (introduced exactly 47, or those two score and seven, years ago), is almost always referenced when the faithful talk of the modern Camaro’s inspiration, the vast majority of the enthusiasts who showed up were driving gen-fives, that angular, Transformers influenced road rocket that the devoted swear is an homage to the ‘ 69. I don’t see it, but know this: Though some decry the previous model’s styling, it has outsold Ford’s Mustang each of the five years it has been in production.
No wonder then that, despite being based on a completely different platform — the Alpha undercarriage that underpins Cadillac’s much acclaimed ATS — the new Camaro remains almost religiously faithful to the car that starred in Shia LaBeouf’s dystopian blockbuster. In real life, the 2016 model looks like a 7/8th scaled down version of the 2015 one and the cognoscenti swear there’s all manner of detail differences, but if you didn’t like the 2010 to 2015 edition, I don’t think you’ll like this one.
But, if you were a fan, then I suspect you’re going to absolutely love the new one. Smaller, sportier and more powerful, the #camaroSIX (as GM is hashtagging it), has combined lighter weight (the 2016 is 90 kilograms lighter than the 2015) with more power than ever — the latest Camaro version of GM’s iconic 6.2-litre LT1 V8 boasts 455 horsepower, the same as the current Corvette.
I can’t attest to it speediness quite yet, Chevrolet pointedly having neither the base turbo four nor the V8-powered SS for us to test (shame on you, General Motors). That said, I can vouch for the 3.6L’s superiority over the car it replaces. Indeed, the 2016 feels sportier than the current 6.2L V8-powered SS. Its 335 horsepower (12 more than last year’s V6) pushes that 90-kilo-lighter chassis along quite smartly. It may lack the immediate torque of the big V8, but once it gets wound up, there is some serious get-up-and-go. And, perhaps more importantly, it’s engaging, the Camaro’s 3.6L the best sounding V6 this side of a Jaguar F-Type. How much of this is real and how much is amplified through the speakers I don’t know or, truthfully, care. It just feels so good to wind the big six past 6,000 rpm that, analog or digitized, my ears only hear music.
Just as impressive — though, again, my testing was limited — was the 2016’s handling. With the wheelbase truncated some 40 millimetres (2,811 mm from axle to axle) and the weight reduced significantly, the steering now feels naturally weighted rather than what some computer thinks you’ll find sporty. There’s a directness to direction changes and feedback through the steering wheel glaringly absent in the previous Camaro. Though it was plenty fast, the previous Camaro was challenging to hustle around a racetrack; the 2016 is much more co-operative.
And that’s without the magic of Magnetic Ride Control (only available on the SS) or the “Track” mode also only available in the SS. The Camaro’s Drive Mode Selector is Chevrolet’s latest take on the computer car management that alters things like throttle response, transmission shift points, steering calibration and even the thrum of the engine I mentioned earlier. Even limited to its top “Sport” mode, the V6 feels on par with any number of European sports cars I can think of (I’d really like to compare the Camaro with the base version of the aforementioned Jaguar V6 F-Type; I suspect the competition would be stiff ).
Of course, that still leaves open the question of how good the base Turbo and rangetopping SS will be. The 2.0L is, of course, the first turbocharged engine in Camaro’s history and Chevrolet’s decision to power a Camaro with a four-cylinder will be analyzed mercilessly, I suspect. It will bear the scrutiny. Lifted from Cadillac’s ATS, its 275 horsepower (three more than the Caddy) and 295 pound-feet of torque should be enough to motivate the new, lighter Camaro with alacrity. And, of course, everyone wants to know how fast the SS will be with 29 more horsepower and 200 fewer pounds to carry around. Reuss contends that the new base SS will be faster than the last year’s performance-optioned 1LE.
That will require further testing, though initial impressions from the V6 model do add some veracity to the claim. Despite seemingly cloned from the previous Autobot-styled version, there is no doubt that the 2016 is superior in every mechanical arena. Don’t be surprised if it keeps outselling the Mustang.