Chevrolet Camaro 2015 Review

Chevrolet Camaro SS Coupe

International Launch Review
Ann Arbor, Michigan

We've driven the new Chevy Camaro in V6 form enough to know it's stronger, lighter, quicker and sharper than the outgoing pony car, which was based on the same Zeta platform as the Australian-engineered Holden Commodore. Now we've had a spin in the 6.2-litre V8-powered SS, which is a big step up but still not perfect. Given it won't be built in right-hand drive and therefore won't be available to Australians alongside Ford's first global Mustang, do you care?

You insult any pony car at your personal peril, regardless of where in the world you happen to be. You can’t hide from the internet, and the online followings of both the Camaro and Mustang are strong and vocal enough to track down and punished dissent wherever it takes place. Even perceived sleights against previous generation models can earn the sort of flaming normally reserved for the meat in Burger King’s sandwiches.

Which is why, beyond saying the new, sixth-generation Camaro is a huge improvement on any of its predecessors, I’m not going to be diverted into listing any of their many failings. So if you’re called Billy Bob, wear a bib and really do think that the 1997 Z/28 is one of the best-handling cars the world has ever seen then you can stop sharpening that knife, or carving crosses into those bullets. Oh, and keep taking the pills.

Even hard-core Camaro fans are going to struggle to spot the new car, though. We’ve had replacement models that look like their predecessors before – the Audi TT, all BMW-era MINIs and pretty much everything Volkswagen has done that went beyond a first generation. But despite sitting on GM’s new Alpha platform and being both stronger and much lighter, this Camaro looks similar enough to its predecessor to travel on its passport. Same squat dimensions, minimal glasshouse and styling that’s somewhere on the line between muscular and cartoonish.

The cabin is where things start to noticeably improve. The last Camaro’s cockpit had about as much premium feel and luxury as a week in the French Foreign Legion, but this one is vastly better.

The dashboard is designed around a large central display screen which, oddly, is angled downwards to cut down on glare. This runs GM’s generic US interface and works reasonably well. The circular central air-vents are positioned below this, meaning that they are operating pretty much at crotch height, but they have a solid feel to them and, like the Audi TT, temperature is controlled by rotating their bezels. No, it’s not on a par with a premium German, but compared to the plastic crypt of the last car it’s far better and – subjective call – also somewhere beyond the quality of the current Mustang.

It’s no easier to see out of, though. The narrow glassline and width of the A-posts gives the impression that you’re trying to drive while wearing Ned Kelly’s armour and rear three-quarter visibility is as bad as in a panel van; the safest way to change lanes on a freeway is by accelerating hard to make sure there’s nothing in your blind spot. (Honestly, officer.)

There are rear seats, but they’re not up to much more than accommodating bags or contortionists; this is one car that makes the back of a Porsche 911 feel spacious.

Three engines will be available from launch, with more to follow. The basic motor in the US will be a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder producing 205kW; GM has sensibly opted not to try and extract a premium for a car with fewer cylinders in the way Ford is attempting with the Mustang EcoBoost.

Above this there’s a 3.7-litre V6, naturally aspirated and making a healthy 250kW and, on top of the pile, a 339kW version of the familiar 6.2-litre pushrod V8 in sporty ‘SS’ trim. Faster versions will follow, including a rival for the newly launched Mustang Shelby GT350.

I didn’t get to drive the turbocharged engine, but experienced both the V6 and the V8 during my drive in the ‘States. The six-cylinder engine doesn’t feel like a poor relation. The engine is pretty much a carry-over from the last Camaro – GM says power has gone up by 9kW – but the serious weight-saving inherent in the new Alpha platform gives it a noticeable increase in enthusiasm.

GM says that the V6 manual is 130kg lighter than before and you can definitely feel that when asking the Camaro to speed up, slow down or change direction. The engine enjoys to be revved hard, with peak power arriving at a high 6800rpm, but there’s enough low-down enthusiasm for effortless cruising.

The chassis impresses with accurate responses and well judged suspension that coped well when asked to deal with some of Michigan’s roughest backroads, albeit with little steering feel getting beyond the electrical power assistance. Grip levels are high enough to defy most of the engine’s attempts to overwhelm them; it’s not long since a Camaro with more than 300kW would have been a tyre-shredding hooligan, but this one just sticks and goes.

The SS is both heavier and brawnier, giving it a surprisingly different character for two cars that share so much. The extra mass at the front-end is obvious when asking the V8 to turn into slower corners; this isn’t a car for rushing down a tight road.

But once locked onto a chosen line the bigger engine’s fatter torque curve gives the welcome extra option to dictate the cornering line with your right foot as well as the steering wheel. Even with the stability control left on you can feel the engine pushing the rear tyres wide; turn it off and you’ve got the sort of bar fighter you probably expect a pony car to be.

It sounds great, too. The V8 fires up with the sort of bass-heavy idle that speaks of under-stressed muscle and then makes increasingly vocal noises as revs are added. GM claims a 4.0-second 0-60mph (96km/h) time, which the US magazines have already comprehensively beaten during testing. The prospect of a supercharged ZL1 variant with considerably more power and torque is certainly an interesting one.

An even more interesting prospect would be that of an Australian market Camaro, but that looks extremely unlikely. While Ford is turning the Mustang into a world car and producing right-hand drive versions, GM lacks any similar ambition, or indeed vision.

This Camaro will, like its predecessors, be left-hook only with sales outside the US set to be limited to those territories that don’t expect the company to make any significant changes. That seems like a wasted opportunity for what is almost certainly the best car that Chevrolet has ever stuck a Camaro badge onto.

2016 Chevrolet Camaro V6 pricing and specifications:
On sale: Not here
Price: $US24,700
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Output: 250kW/ 385Nm
Transmission: Six-speed manual (as tested)
Fuel: TBC
CO2: TBC
Safety rating: TBC

2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS pricing and specifications:
On sale: Not here
Price: $US34,745
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Output: 339kW/616Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic (as tested)
Fuel: TBC
CO2: TBC
Safety rating: TBC