Next-generation Camaros don’t come along very often – the 2016 model is only the sixth in the nearly 50 years since the car went into production – so when one does appear, it’s an understandably big deal.
It was certainly a big deal when Chevrolet resurrected the car for 2010. The “heritage”-style homage to the iconic first-generation design was an unqualified hit. To date, Gen 5 Camaro sales have surpassed 500,000 and has outsold the Mustang for the past four years. In an age when car buyers are turning increasingly to crossovers, that’s no small feat.
We’re going to argue, however, that the all-new Gen 6 Camaro is more significant. In our admittedly limited experience with preproduction examples and careful evaluation of the elements comprising it, it’s more of a driver’s car. We don’t mean to cast aspersions on the unquestionably popular Gen 5, but it was a car trimmed to fit an existing platform – one that wasn’t originally envisioned as a 21st century ponycar.
In short, it was kind of like a chunky guy buying an off-the-rack sport coat because the party was tonight. The Gen 6 Camaro, on the other hand, appears to be precisely tailored and draped over the chest of somebody who’s been taking pilates classes. It’s leaner in both appearance and substance, and it’s one of the few vehicles these days that can boast it’s lighter and more powerful than the previous model. Chevrolet says the overall weight loss is more than 200 pounds. That’s a pretty significant and welcome reduction that will pay dividends in everything from agility to fuel economy.
When it rolls into showrooms at the end of 2015, the new Camaro will be offered only in LT and SS models, with an RS package, too. Chevy won’t comment yet on higher-performance variations such as the 1LE, ZL1 and Z/28. The SS, of course, receives the 6.2L LT1 engine, while the LT comes standard with a 2.0L turbo four-cylinder or an optional, all-new iteration of GM’s 3.6L naturally aspirated V-6.
More on all of them below, but it’s worth noting for anyone having philosophical reservations about a four-cylinder Camaro that at 275 horsepower, it’s more powerful than any small-block V-8 offered between 1972 and 1992 – and at 335 horses, the new V-6 flat-out trumps every small-block from 1967 to 2002. Progress can be a wonderful thing.
2016 Camaro styling is evolutionary, with much greater attention to detail than the Gen 5. It has a tauter, shrink-wrapped appearance that is very apparent when viewed in person. You can tell this one is an LT model because it doesn’t have hood vents exclusive to the SS.
The rear view shows an almost fastback-like roofline and highly detailed, Corvette-inspired taillights. SS and LT/RS models feature LED lighting for the taillights.
New Foundation
Production of the 2016 Camaro begins later in the year at GM’s Lansing Grand River facility, in Michigan. It’s the home of the Cadillac ATS and CTS, which is appropriate, because that’s the architecture on which the new car is built. Those Caddies have been hailed as dynamic equals or better than German competitors such as the BMW 3-Series, so having that structure as the Camaro’s foundation is as good as it gets.
Importantly, about 70 percent of the architectural components are unique to Camaro; and compared to the Gen 5 architecture, structural rigidity has increased 28 percent. The new structure also represents the bulk of the Camaro’s weight loss, in everything from the switch from a steel to aluminum instrument panel frame, to lighter suspension components. They even designed honeycomb-style lightening “holes” in a number of components to save fractions of pounds here and there.
That’s all great, but we’re more excited about the Camaro’s new, multi-link MacPherson strut front suspension, which leverages a double-pivot design that makes those Cadillacs so agile. At the rear, a new five-link independent suspension yields outstanding wheel control and reduces “squat” during acceleration. All-new Drive Mode Selector is offered and tailors up to eight driving attributes for four modes: Snow/Ice, Tour, Sport, and – on SS models – Track.
Chevrolet is also making Magnetic Ride Control available on the Camaro SS for the first time, and all models offer Brembo brakes (they’re standard on SS). For the Camaro LT, the available brakes include 12.6-inch front rotors with four-piston calipers and 12.4-inch rear rotors with single-piston sliding calipers. The Camaro SS features 13.6-inch front rotors with four-piston fixed calipers and 13.3-inch rear rotors with four-piston fixed calipers.
Goodyear tires are used on all models: The LT features standard 18-inch wheels wrapped with Goodyear Eagle Sport all-season tires with available 20-inch wheels matched with Eagle F1 Asymmetric all-season run-flat tires as an option. Camaro SS features standard 20-inch aluminum wheels with Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 run-flat tires.
The Gen 6’s all-new structure is based on the rigid platform used for the Cadillac ATS, but with about 70 percent unique components for the Camaro. It’s 28 percent stiffer than the Gen 5 structure and the body in white is a full 133 pounds lighter.
Greater use of aluminum suspension components further contributes to the Camaro’s weight loss – and they even honeycombed some of the suspension links for further savings. Overall, suspension weight is reduced by 26 pounds.
Design Details
At a glance, the design of the 2016 Camaro may seem evolutionary, but there are some serious details in it that become more apparent when you see it in the flesh. Chevrolet says it’s more sculpted and we have to agree. From the various planes seen in the hood to even the form of the outside mirrors, there is tremendous attention to detail in it. There’s definitely some C7 Corvette in the details, giving it a familial look, too.
Dimensionally, the new Camaro is slightly trimmer in all exterior dimensions – and notably in a nearly 2-inch reduction in wheelbase – but the overall effect is more dramatic, particularly with almost fastback profile. It simply looks lean and taught.
| Camaro Comparison Chart: 2016 vs. 2015 | |||
| 2016 Camaro | 2015 Camaro | ||
| Length | 188.3 in. | 190.6 in | |
| Width | 74.7 in. | 75.5 in | |
| Height | 53.1 in. | 54.2 in. | |
| Wheelbase | 110.7 in. | 112.3 in. | |
| Front Track | 63 in (SS) | 63.6 in (SS) | |
| Rear Track | 62.9 in (SS) | 63.9 in (SS) | |
The Camaro SS has a unique front fascia with integrated brake cooling ducts and a unique hood with functional air vents, which improve engine cooling and reduce front lift. It also has a specific rear spoiler. The hood vents don’t simply provide an exit point for hot underhood air. They funnel air drawn through the grille out and over the car, which improves performance because it prevents the air from being forced under the car, where it can cause lift.
Standard lighting includes halogen projector beam headlamps and taillamps. RS and SS models add HID projector-beam headlamps and LED “signature lighting” daytime running lights – including a sweeping LED light pipe integrated in the headlamp and an LED light pipe integrated into the front fascia. RS and SS models also feature LED lighting for the rear taillamps, including auxiliary LED light guides that mirror the shape of the front signature lighting.
There’s also a new interpretation of the Camaro’s iconic red, white, and blue “banner” insignia, displayed on the front fenders. We are told it was pushed by the Chevy design studio’s younger members, who thought the nod to earlier generations was wholly appropriate. We agree.
Rated at 455 horsepower and 455 lb-ft of torque, the Camaro SS’s 6.2L LT1 delivers about 7 percent more power than the Gen 5’s LS3, in a car that is significantly lighter. It also employs direct injection, cylinder deactivation, and variable valve timing.
One of the Camaro-specific attributes of the LT1 engine is the Tri-Y header design. With it, primary pipe pairings join cylinders one and five, then three and seven on the left bank. Cylinders two and four and six and eight are paired on the right bank. At each bank, the primary pairings collect in a secondary Y, delivering a combination of pulse separation of adjacent firing cylinders and improved scavenging for the LT1 firing order of 1-8-7-2-6-5-4-3.
Interior Details
Like the exterior, the 2016 Camaro’s interior is completely new. In many ways, it represents a greater departure in style and functionality, too. The instrument panel, for example, retains the familiar dual-binnacle-style hood over the instruments, but the rest of it has been completely redesigned. Gone, too, is the cute but ergonomically challenged retro gauge panel in the center console.
As with many cars these days, the gauge panel is a mix of analog instruments and digital readouts. In the Camaro, there’s a big, 8-inch high-def screen in some models and it’s matched by another 8-inch screen for the MyLink “infotainment” system. Like many other Chevys for 2016, it is compatible with Apple CarPlay, which means you can plug your phone in and “project” many of its controls and apps to the MyLink screen. Again, progress can be a wonderful thing.
There’s also a new center console that shows Chevrolet was listening to its more enthusiastic Gen 5 owners. It is designed specifically for easier shifting with a manual transmission, thanks to a repositioned armrest and the elimination of the mechanical, pull-up parking brake. In its place is a simple switch for an electric park brake.
Chevy was apparently listening to all that feedback at tuner events, because there’s also a new LED ambient lighting system with 24 different colors that can be switched to a car show mode when the car is parked. It creates a theatrical light show that we can only assume will be hacked to strobe in rhythm to bands like, well… we’re too old-school to hazard a guess. Kids today and their music. Let’s just move on to the engines.
Like the exterior, the new cockpit ratchets up the attention to detail. Elements such as the specific diameter of the flat-bottom steering wheel are not shared with other Chevys. The instrument cluster is all new, too, and features a large, color digital readout between the tach and speedometer.
The center console was designed for shifting. An electric parking brake switch and repositioning of the cup holders makes it easier to bang gears. Chevrolet was listening to its customers on this one.
Camaro LT Powertrains
The Gen 6 Camaro will be offered with six powertrain combinations and there ain’t a compromise in the bunch.
The aforementioned 2.0L turbo is standard and rated at 275 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque. When the thing is on boost, it offers a wide torque band with 90 percent of peak torque available from 2,100 rpm to 3,000 rpm – and maximum torque from 3,000 to 4,500 rpm. Chevy says that’s strong enough for 0-60 mph acceleration in less than 6 seconds, while enabling 30 mpg. What’s not to like, right?
The all-new 3.6L V-6 is optional in the LT and is rated at 335 horsepower and 284 lb-ft of torque. It features direct injection, variable valve timing and, for the first time, Active Fuel Management (cylinder deactivation), which disables two cylinders. The 2.0L turbo and 3.6L engines are offered with a standard six-speed manual transmission or GM’s all-new 8L45 paddle-shift eight-speed automatic transmission, which is based on the eight-speed design introduced in the Corvette and fullsize trucks.
We spent a little time in preproduction V-6 models and came away impressed. Very impressed, in fact. With more power than the previous V-6 channeled into a lighter, more agile chassis, the effect is enlightening. Power delivery is strong and immediate, with a strong feeling of torque at low rpm. We look forward to driving the SS, but the V-6-powered LT is no slouch.
This 2.0L turbo four is the Camaro LT’s standard engine. It produces 275 hp by generating up to 20 psi of boost with a twin-scroll turbocharger system. It’s built tough, too, with a forged, cross-drilled crank and forged rods.
Here’s the 335hp V-6 offered in the Camaro LT. It’s the next generation of GM’s 3.6L V-6 engine family and, like the LT1, features direct injection, variable valve timing, and even cylinder deactivation. Because of the balance issues that would come with three-cylinder operation, the engine only shuts down two cylinders rather than the full half of them.
LT1-powered Camaro SS
Of course, the Camaro SS is powered by the 6.2L LT1 V-8 engine introduced on the Corvette Stingray. About 20 percent of the components are specific for the Camaro’s architecture, including new, tubular “tri-Y”-type exhaust manifolds. And yes, it also employs variable valve timing, direct injection, and Active Fuel Management (on automatic-equipped models). Output is 455 horsepower and 455 lb-ft of torque, making it the most-powerful standard V-8 ever in a Camaro.
The LT1 engine is available with a standard Tremec TR6060 six-speed manual transmission that borrows the Active Rev Match technology from the Corvette’s seven-speed manual. It “blips” the throttle automatically on downshifts. It’s very effective, but a little disconcerting the first time you use it. The Hydra-Matic 8L90 paddle-shift eight-speed automatic is optional.
Also like the Corvette, the LT1 (and 3.6L V-6) is available with a dual-mode exhaust, which features electronically controlled valves that bypass the mufflers under acceleration, uncorking the engine and more importantly enhancing the sound level. You can even personalize the exhaust sound, from a “stealth” mode to the most aggressive “track” mode.
All of the new Camaro’s powertrains sound enticing in their own ways – and we’re very much interested in what tuners will do with the turbocharged four-banger. Moreover, the promise of the sixth-generation car’s stronger yet lighter chassis and a more driver-focused cockpit are attributes that, on paper, should make it the best Camaro ever.
With nearly half a century of history behind it, that’s a huge legacy to build upon. Our confidence is high, based on our initial impressions, and we look forward to putting those impressions to the test. We’ll keep you posted.
Early driving impressions in a V-6-powered preproduction model were impressive. The lighter, more agile car pulls hard with 335 hp.
No comments:
Post a Comment