And brutish it is. Nestled beneath the puffed-up hood and racing stripes is Chevy's 6.2L V8 that's good for 400 hp (26 more if you take the manual transmission). And, in true muscle-car fashion, all that power comes rushing out through the rear wheels. If you like to live life on the edge, this is the car for you. There's something ridiculously appealing about the utter uncontrollable nature of the Camaro SS when it's pushed. It's almost laughably easy to get the rear to fling out, but just as easy to snap it back.
It's that reckless abandon that's the most appealing part about driving the Camaro SS. Pop the automatic transmission into manual mode (which is actually quite responsive and one of the car's best features) and off you go.
Get those revs as high as you can, listen to the V8 roar and the exhaust (finally) come to life as you push the revs close to the 7,000 breaking point. And know that you've got a kit of Brembo brakes lurking behind your 20" rims to help bring the beast to a screeching halt when you've had enough (or burned a sufficient amount of rubber in the parking lot).
As this is a convertible model, I expected to have my eardrums blasted off every time I started the Camaro's beefy 6.2L V8 up. But such was not the case. It was almost civilized, which is not what you want at all from the Camaro. The exhaust note could even be called tinny when compared to other V8s. And if a Mustang pulled up next to me, I didn't even want to attempt a rev-off with him because I knew he would win. Aesthetic presence the Camaro has, but that's about it.
Sitting behind the wheel of the Camaro is a strange thing. On the one hand, I felt like I was sitting in a continuation of automotive history, and on the other, I felt like I was showboating. Looking at the sparsely designed dash mimicking the original with a minimalistic radio and hidden oil pressure and temp gauges down below the middle stack, and retro-inspired gauge cluster, it's clear you're in a car that's been designed with a single purpose in mind. Chevy engineers meant to reignite that nostalgic flare, and I believe they have - despite using sub-par quality materials throughout.
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| Nestled beneath the puffed-up hood and racing stripes is Chevy's 6.2L V8 that's good for 400 hp (26 more if you take the manual transmission). (Photo: Sébastien D'Amour/Auto123.com) |
It's that reckless abandon that's the most appealing part about driving the Camaro SS. Pop the automatic transmission into manual mode (which is actually quite responsive and one of the car's best features) and off you go.
Get those revs as high as you can, listen to the V8 roar and the exhaust (finally) come to life as you push the revs close to the 7,000 breaking point. And know that you've got a kit of Brembo brakes lurking behind your 20" rims to help bring the beast to a screeching halt when you've had enough (or burned a sufficient amount of rubber in the parking lot).
As this is a convertible model, I expected to have my eardrums blasted off every time I started the Camaro's beefy 6.2L V8 up. But such was not the case. It was almost civilized, which is not what you want at all from the Camaro. The exhaust note could even be called tinny when compared to other V8s. And if a Mustang pulled up next to me, I didn't even want to attempt a rev-off with him because I knew he would win. Aesthetic presence the Camaro has, but that's about it.
Sitting behind the wheel of the Camaro is a strange thing. On the one hand, I felt like I was sitting in a continuation of automotive history, and on the other, I felt like I was showboating. Looking at the sparsely designed dash mimicking the original with a minimalistic radio and hidden oil pressure and temp gauges down below the middle stack, and retro-inspired gauge cluster, it's clear you're in a car that's been designed with a single purpose in mind. Chevy engineers meant to reignite that nostalgic flare, and I believe they have - despite using sub-par quality materials throughout.
 |
| Looking at the sparsely designed dash mimicking the original with a minimalistic radio and the retro-inspired gauge cluster, it's clear you're in a car that's been designed with a single purpose in mind. (Photo: Sébastien D'Amour/Auto123.com) |