my day in a camaro rs

[perryair]

my dd is in the shop to repaint some bodywork that started peeling.

the guy at the rental counter asked, "hyundai elantra or camaro?" being an old mustang guy i instinctively have never been drawn to any gm product but i figured hey, lets drive that camaro around and see how it is.

so i say "camaro" to which the guy replies, "just so you know, its a super bright yellow!" and so i take my bumblebee transformers car and get on my way. the picture below isnt mine but is of the same car that i drove around, which is a *EDIT!* base v6 with auto and the rs appearance package. at sticker of 31 and change is a reasonable competitor of the twins, or at least of the higher spec versions, on price.

my impressions:
interior - there is not a ton more space in here than my brz, even though its a much bigger car. although ill tell you what, the seats are pretty comfy if i was gonna take this thing for a super long drive. also, GM will probably never make a product that doesn't feel pervasively cheap on the inside - after 4k miles the cheap looking cloth is starting to show signs of wear and discoloration already. the camaro also really makes you feel in a cocoon, with the center console rising high and the greenhouse of the windows being so high.

power - there's definitely more of it than my brz. and granted, i have some mods on the brz but honestly it doesn't feel game changingly faster by any stretch of the imagination. also, i can't be too certain but i smashed the go pedal at a stop sign and im pretty certain only the right tire got spinning which makes me believe that there is no LSD in the car (and i TOTALLY could be wrong about that but i dont care enough to research in any more detail) which leads to..

driving - taking turns in this thing you notice the baked in understeer. the ass end will not move around, at least not in any kind of driving that i want to do around town in a bright yellow ticket attention camaro. there are about 1 to 2 degrees of play in the steering wheel at the dead spot. and though it feels tight, you can really feel most of the 3400 lbs of it as you go.

summary - its comfy. and its fun to punch the go pedal. i'd love to take this on a cross country drive. but its also a bit big and a bit dull, lacking the sharpness and immediacy of the brz that makes it so fun to drive. unless i had the cash to step into a higher motored version of the car i doubt i would do so. for the folks who scream for more power, they are more than welcome to switch to something like this but i'll say that its not even close in terms of driving enjoyment.

[8RZ]

I drove my friend's and like you, thought it was less than exhilarating and pretty mundane.

[Slammillionaire]

It seems that auto v6 camaro's do not have an lsd but the rest do

[TwistedGray]

I got one as a rental some time back, $30/day in New York - Country, not City, and was not at all overwhelmed. I'd take the Mustang over the Camaro.

[Tcoat]

I drove an SS and other than the fact the power is there the rest of your review was spot on. The much great power was fun for me for about 5 minutes and then just became "normal". I could not convince myself that I would be able to use all that power on enough occasions to make it "fun". It is a car (even with more power) that is almost there but still misses a few of the marks I would like to see from it.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by perryair

...also, GM will probably never make a product that doesn't feel pervasively cheap on the inside - after 4k miles the cheap looking cloth is starting to show signs of wear and discoloration already....

I find this interesting because it hasn't been my experience (the wear part, not the cheap looking part).

I've owned two GM products that have been over 250,000 miles and at the end of that they looked nearly as good on the inside as the first day I drove them, with the exception of a headliner in one of them that sagged at the end. Granted they were both truck products (Chevy Astros) but they took a beating as the family haulers and cleaned up nice to the very end. In fact the one with the most mileage (289,000) looked decent enough I considered slapping an new engine and tranny in it rather than get rid of it when it ate its motor bearings one fateful day.

Other than that, your impressions are pretty much the same as mine on the current Gen Camaros (well Gen -1, I haven't driven the 2017 which is a different vehicle with many improvements)

[funwheeldrive]

Originally Posted by Slammillionaire

It seems that auto v6 camaro's do not have an lsd but the rest do

Even the 4 cylinder models? That seems hard to believe.

[Slammillionaire]

Originally Posted by funwheeldrive

Even the 4 cylinder models? That seems hard to believe.

Ah, my mistake.

So, 2.0T and 3.6 cars with manual transmission get the limited slip, and M6 and A8 SS get limited slip. No limited slip for 2.0T and 3.6 with A8.

http://www.camaro6.com/forums/showpo...69&postcount=8

[perryair]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

I find this interesting because it hasn't been my experience (the wear part, not the cheap looking part).

I've owned two GM products that have been over 250,000 miles and at the end of that they looked nearly as good on the inside as the first day I drove them, with the exception of a headliner in one of them that sagged at the end. Granted they were both truck products (Chevy Astros) but they took a beating as the family haulers and cleaned up nice to the very end. In fact the one with the most mileage (289,000) looked decent enough I considered slapping an new engine and tranny in it rather than get rid of it when it ate its motor bearings one fateful day.

Other than that, your impressions are pretty much the same as mine on the current Gen Camaros (well Gen -1, I haven't driven the 2017 which is a different vehicle with many improvements)

having had the time to sit in it another day, only one of the spots i assumed was wear is wear - the rest of it is staining from coffee, drinks, pants, etc (its a light grey) . i will maintain though, that the cloth feels about a hundred times cheaper than the alcantara bits of my brz's seats.

[DarkSunrise]

Originally Posted by perryair

the camaro also really makes you feel in a cocoon, with the center console rising high and the greenhouse of the windows being so high.

I sat in a new Camaro at an auto show. Being in a cocoon is a perfect way to describe it. It felt exactly like that with the high center console and the high beltline of the car. Nice review btw.

[perryair]

Originally Posted by DarkSunrise

I sat in a new Camaro at an auto show. Being in a cocoon is a perfect way to describe it. It felt exactly like that with the high center console and the high beltline of the car. Nice review btw.

thx much.

i also realized that the center console comes up so tall that having the driver seat be at an appropriate height means that i'd be super uncomfortable shifting with my elbow held high above the console if it were a MT.

i drove my brz around tonight and appreciated it all over again.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by perryair

i also realized that the center console comes up so tall that having the driver seat be at an appropriate height means that i'd be super uncomfortable shifting with my elbow held high above the console if it were a MT..

That was the primary problem I had with the 2012/2013 models, except it was more around MomHawk. She couldn't see over the dash without raising the seat, and to get a passenger seat that adjusted up you had to go to the very top trim level, making it about the same price as a low end Vette.

[perryair]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

That was the primary problem I had with the 2012/2013 models, except it was more around MomHawk. She couldn't see over the dash without raising the seat, and to get a passenger seat that adjusted up you had to go to the very top trim level, making it about the same price as a low end Vette.

boy i do wish the twin's passenger seats came with height adjustment though. my wife loves that i love my car but i know she hates having to get so low to sit in it. also our lack of 'oh shit' handles. but that's for a different post i suppose.

[krayzie]

Originally Posted by perryair

she hates having to get so low to sit in it.

Me personally I wish the gave the passenger seat height adjustment so it can go as low as the driver seat.

I've sat in a previous generation Camaro RS, it didn't feel like a sports car more like my sofa.