The folks from GM have a lot of confidence in the all-new six-generation 2016 Camaro. In fact, for the recent media launch, they simply handed us the keys to car in New Orleans, and said, “See you in Dallas.” And with that, our 700-mile road trip in a new V8-powered SS model, equipped with a manual gearbox, was off and running.
Photos courtesy of Studio Mahoney.
While it doesn’t look dramatically different from the outgoing 2015 model, the new Camaro is a very different car underneath the skin. GM said 70 percent of the parts used in its construction are completely new to the model. That’s partly explained by the fact that Camaro migrated from the Holden-based underpinnings to the platform it now shares with the Cadillac ATS coupe.
Side by side with the older Camaro, the new car is substantially smaller, moving closer to a traditional front-engine sports coupe configuration. The Camaro is now closer in line with vehicles like the BMW 4-Series than it is with big bruisers like the Dodge Challenger. As such, it lost weight—between 200 and 300 pounds—depending on configuration versus the outgoing model.
In the past the Camaro was accused of being the poor man’s Corvette. That’s quite apt—and more complimentary—in this new model. In the SS model, we get the 455 horsepower, naturally aspirated LT1 V8 engine used in the new Stingray, along with the Corvette’s glorious active exhaust system, optional adaptive magnetic ride control suspension, a set of beefy Brembo brakes—and an optional six-speed manual gearbox that gets the active rev matching feature first introduced on the seventh-generation ‘Vette.
Simply put, the new SS is an absolute screamer, hitting 60 mph from a standstill in less than four and a half seconds on its way to a mid 12-second quarter mile time. But perhaps the SS’s greatest asset is the optional adaptive suspension. Depending on the drive mode—Tour, Sport, or Track—the suspension’s firmness can switch on the fly from supple to unyielding, allowing you to have a great highway cruiser one moment and an autocross-ready corner-carver the next.
Those drive modes also control the weight of the steering, the volume of the exhaust, and throttle sensitivity. Chevy provides the option to create your own driving mode preset if you, for instance, want a combination of light steering, loud exhaust, and soft suspension. Think of it as a custom playlist for the Camaro’s performance features.
Driving over two days from the Louisiana bayou through the vast stretches of east Texas, and up through Austin on our way to Dallas, the engineering prowess of this new Camaro became obvious. I have no trouble declaring this to be the finest Camaro SS ever built. It may not be a revolutionary aesthetic statement, but in terms of performance value on a per-dollar basis, this Camaro puts all competitors on notice—to bring something special to market in this new golden age of performance.
See Chevrolet SS 2016 Sedan Cars & Trucks for sale on eBay.
