As readers of this column know, I am a Golf R/GTI partisan, but for the same money the V-6 Camaro offers more dramatic styling and rear-wheel performance. I raced back and forth through Oakland County’s roads, a happy predator on the hunt for hot hatches. Is that third gear or fifth? I better go back to fourth and start over.
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The automatic matches my experience in Camaro’s big brother Corvette C6 which also sports a superior auto transmission to its meaty, seven-speed manual box in which – with its three gates – you can easily lose your way like a kid in an amusement park maze. Throw out the anchor into a turn and the transmission mimics manual – rev-matching each downshift as if invisible race booties are heel-and-toeing an invisible clutch pedal. Stomp the accelerator when the light turns green and the 335 ponies under the hood roar, the eight-speed tranny barking with each quick upshift.
With the eight-speed automatic transmission, I almost forgot how much I prefer sticks. RS package: 20-inch wheels with run-flat tires, rear spoiler ($1,950). 335-horsepower V-6 mated to 8-speed transmission ($2,900).Ģ. Here’s my recommended shopping list from GM’s weapons depot:ġ.
What is Mustang supposed to do? Build its next generation around the Ford GT supercar’s carbon-fiber tub?īut against demonic AWD track hounds like the Subaru STI, Camaro’s gotta bring more to the knife fight than a four-banger. It just ain’t fair to outfit a pony car with a luxury-class sports chassis. Though the new Mustang’s brakes and acceleration are excellent, its chassis engineering can’t hold a candle to Alpha.
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In a series of hot laps around Spring Mountain Raceway outside Vegas, the coupe was noticeably more capable than its Gen 5 predecessor and a new Mustang V-6. Mind you, the base Chevy turbo-four still shows off the Camaro’s capable chassis. Forget your $70k Porsche Caymans and Corvette C6s – mid-priced performance machines are Tasmanian devils by day, yet remarkably refined at night when you need to impress your date. The all-wheel drive hatchback Ford RS, VW Golf R and Subaru WRX STI. The under-$40k performance segment is a boiling piranha tank of competition these days with some of the most capable bargains on the planet: Rear-wheel drive Mustangs and Challenger R/Ts. Which is what you want in your sleek, $39,000 coupe because the competition is the boxy, $39,000 hot hatch at the stoplight next to you. The good news is that the Camaro’s six is a glorious symphony.
Good lord, has the poor monster been neutered?įour-bangers belong in boxy hot hatches, not muscle cars. Revving the four is like watching King Kong open his mouth – and hearing Jennifer Tilly’s voice out. Both cars have the same wicked, angled look after all. Does the four-cylinder belong in the Camaro? In a word: no.Ĭompared to the Camaro SS’s mighty V-8 roar, the 275-horsepower 4-banger offers a whimper. Last month, I finally got a chance to answer the question for myself. Under pressure from government nannies to improve gas mileage – but also intrigued by the possibilities of mating a forced-induction four-banger with the lightweight (just 3,339 pounds!) Alpha chassis – Chevy is determined to show that a “four-hole muscle car” is not an oxymoron. There are two other engines available in the Camaro: a 3.6-liter V-6 and, for the first time, a base 2.0-liter, turbo four-cylinder. Among its many rewards is Detroit News Vehicle of the Year and Motor Trend Car of the Year.īut wait, there’s more. Built on GM’s nimble Alpha platform – shared by the athletic Cadillac ATS – it has transformed the muscle car into a true sports coupe that bears comparison to more exotic performance coupes like the Cadillac ATS-V and BMW M4. I’ve flogged it from New Mexico to Phoenix to Death Valley and Metro Detroit, and shouted its praises along the way (if you can hear me over the 455-horse, 6.2-liter mill’s roar). The sixth-generation Chevy Camaro V-8 is a sensation.
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