2010 Chevrolet Camaro Review
The 2010 Camaro...so much to love, and just a couple of things to hate.
First, the looks. We found no shortage of people staring at this car. Some of that will wear off once more of them are out and about, but plenty of admirers declared their affinity for the long-hooded, short-decked, low-slung machine.
It is inspired by, but not a clone of, the 1967-69 first-generation Camaro. Retro cues abound inside and out. The V-shaped front end was sharper than we had expected, so make sure when you're approaching a friend with the front of the car you don't poke him in the eye with the front bumper. Drag coefficient is .37 Cd on the V-6, .35 on the V-8.
Our favorite part of the new Camaro is the cockpit. The big twin square gauges are a great retro/modern mash, with cool light-blue lights and display. They are easy-to-read and cool-looking at the same time.
The AC controls have their own layout, which takes some getting used to, and the door lock switch sits between the two major AC knobs. It's either quirky, or makes the car special and different, depending on which side of marketing you're on. Just in front of the shifter are four gauges, showing you oil pressure, oil temperature, transmission temperature, and volts. While nowhere near your normal driving field of vision, they're in the same place they were on the original Camaro in the 1960s.
Stereo's decent. XM is standard.
There are three engine choices: two 6.2 liter V-8s; the L99 for automatics, making 400 horsepower, and the LS3 on manuals, making 426 equine power units. The L99 makes less, according to Chevrolet, because of a slightly lower compression ratio, and some fuel management stuff (fuel management stuff is not a direct quote).
The other engine is the one we borrowed, a 3.6L direct injection V-6. It says it delivers 304 horsepower, but I think it's holding some back, maybe in the glove box. Its quick, but it seems like more than 300 hp should give you a sore neck after a session of gas-stomping. While neck-snapping is a little disappointing (maybe our necks are getting stronger - we've been driving some pretty quick cars lately), fuel economy in the six is a prudent 18/29 on the automatic, 17/29 manual. The big V-8s do 16/25 auto, 16/24 manual. As to why a manual gets worse mileage on the six's city mpg, and worse on the V-8s' highway mileage, we can only speculate something having to do with witchcraft, either in the testing procedure or in the engines themselves. All engines can run on regular unleaded.
If you flip a Camaro over, not only will your insurance probably go up, but you can get a look at its suspension. It has four-wheel independent suspension, and the half-shafts on all V-8s, and manual sixes are different sizes. The lefts are 30mm, and the rights 40mm. Chevy says it helps reduce the oscillation of torque from side to side and reduces axle hop. Bummer, some of us like axle hop.
It also has more bars than a city block in old New Orleans for stabilizing. Some are hollow to cut down on mass.
To help protect the highway tree population, all models have standard StabiliTrak electronic stability control. To help protect the rubber tree population, there's Performance Launch Control on SS models with manual transmissions. Chevy says it optimizes hard-acceleration launches for quicker, more consistent performance (we have to take their word for it, since wouldn't trust us with more than a half-dozen cylinders). Finally, to protect your crummy driving reputation, there's a competitive/sport mode on SS models to enhance on-track performance. Once again, we didn't get to try it out, but we probably wouldn't need such a crutch. We are awesome drivers when we're not crashing.
Our issues with the Camaro involve one theme: Compromise for styling. To begin, there is a simulated air intake on SS models. You put 426 horses under the hood, and feel the need for fake scoops?
Problem two is the scant back seat. Camaro back seats, ironically, were never anyplace to take a date. We mean, for double dating. In the new model, a very broad horizontal surface over the rear wheels appears to cut into rear shoulder room. It's big enough for a dinner plate, if we Americans didn't eat such big dinners. If the surface were still there, but maybe two inches smaller on each side, you could score more points with rear-seat passengers.
Finally, the trunk issues: The trunk is surprisingly large, but access is terrible. The trunk deck area is not all trunk lid, making a pretty small opening. Good luck with hard luggage. Before you fire off an angry comment about how I can whine about these cerebral practicalities on a visceral car, take a look at one in person. It's not that the back seat is cramped and the trunk opening is small; it's that it looks like both suffer in the name of style. Maybe the whole thing is like high-heeled shoes.
Holistically, the car is livable, fun, and popular. Which brings up a new problem: lots of little fingerprints. Check out the slideshow for more pics, including the fingerprints.
For more info: More info and photo support are in the slide show. Of course, there's the officialChevy site for Camaro,Camaro5.comfor more of a cult-following approach, and if there's not our own video review oncarmedy.tvsoon, we'll have to replace our slacker webmasters.
