FR-S vs 312 hp Camaro?

[NESW20]

Originally Posted by CSSM

I am.. Same price, similar 0-60. It depends on the styling I want, and the overall build quality. I want the best quality car for my money

odd that you mention build quality. i realize GM has gotten better lately, but... seriously?

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Ryephile

I have a question; do you want a little sports car or a huge muscle car?

My answer to this is yes.

I am cross-shopping the FR-S and the Camaro. In fact, what i'm cross-shopping is the FR-S and the ZL1 so I'm on two extremes.

I did go this weekend though and drive a base V6 Camaro where the MSRP was a close match to the FR-S. The sticker was $25,510 which is actually less than the automatic FR-S would be at $26,030. The price difference for the FR-S would be even more if similarly configured because you would need to add a spoiler to make them equal.

Driving empressions. The Camaro felt lighter than it's numbers reflect. I took it for a "spirited" drive (the dealer is out in the rural fringes of suburbia) on a twisty two lane and a four lane cruising road. Using the paddle shifters, the car had great pickup and a nice engine note. It held the road well even when in the twisties, but I definitely don't think you'd want to drift it.

Visibility was not as bad as I had expected it to be. There are definite blind spots, but I didn't find it as bad as some have said. To me its sort of like the difference between aviator style glasses and those little retangular glasses that are all the rage now. You can see out of either, one just has a better overall view than the other.

Interior quality was very good, better than most of my past GM cars. Seats were comfortable and fit well. The backseat was very usable. The trunk was good size (volume wise) but the opening is pretty pathetic.

My only complaint was the seat height. It was way too "low rider" for my 5' 7" frame. MomHawk (at 5'3") barely could see over the dash. That means we would have to have powered seats to adjust the height. Adding that, puts us into a 2LT trim, and moves the price up to $32K (example). Interesting, the power seats raised the seat up far enough that the top of my head hit the car (no sunroof). It had way more travel than any other power seat I've seen.

FR-S has an edge in MPG with the Camaro listing slightly worse at 18/29 with the auto.

Overall, knowing I can negotiate with this dealer (I've bought from them before) it makes for a tempting alternative if you can live with the base trim and you don't mind a heavier car.

[cmspooner]

I test drove a v6 auto Camaro (only had v8 manuals in stock, and I can't afford those). I was surprised how nicely it drove, although it felt kind of huge. I drive an xA and my wife has a fiesta, so I was watching the lines in my mirrors, trying to make sure I was still in my lane. It did have great pick up and and paddle shifters (nice, but would be getting the manual if I got one). I did run into an asshole, right off of the lot, who rode me getting onto the highway and the first 1/4 mile after I was on before finely blowing by me. (I was by myself, and getting used to the car so I had no interest in pushing things). Anyway I don't see my self getting a Camaro, but I am happy to see that america is actually making cars with driving again.

[SVTSHC]

Originally Posted by random

Sorry, but you drove the Camaro SS in a video game, and now you're making a comment about how it handles?

You know, to be fair cars usually handle WORSE in Forza and GT.

[terrypm]

Yes the Camaro is big, heavy, poor ride, limited visability and slow. But it is a great cruiser with the top down.
I also like it a lot and do not plan to get rid of it anytime soon!