2016 Chevrolet Camaro turns up the heat during a drive to Death Valley
Car companies like to throw a party when they’re excited about a new model, and Chevrolet just loves its sixth-generation Camaro.
To celebrate the arrival of a new convertible version of the classic American sports car, and a new engine, Chevy hosted a group of auto journalists at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch, a private race track near the desert town of Pahrump, Nev.
In a bold move, meant to underscore their confidence in the updated two-door sports car, Chevy engineers offered an on-the-track comparison: Do a lap in last year’s Camaro, then try this year’s Ford Mustang and finish in this year’s Camaro.
Gambling is legal in Pahrump, and this bet paid off. The new Camaro felt faster and handled better than either the previous model or the current Mustang and won me over by the third turn.
Chevy brought to the desert Camaros in all colors, trim levels and engine sizes, with an equal selection of coupes and cabriolets. Its representatives, many dressed in black T-shirts reading “Camaro vs. Everybody,” touted the new vehicles’ agility, improved cornering and braking.
“It’s like last year’s car has been at the gym,” Camaro chief engineer Al Oppenheiser said. “It’s more cut and more muscular.”
They were particularly pleased with their soft top. Calling out its “coupe-like ride dynamics in a convertible platform,” Chevy engineers boasted that the 2016 model is 275 pounds lighter than its 2015 counterpart but 10% stiffer. Also, they said, the top can be lowered remotely with a key fob and will go up and down when the car is in motion. It disappears into a tonneau cover when it’s lowered, preserving the clean Camaro lines without wearing a bunched-up convertible top on its back.
At midmorning, Chevy operatives handed out keys and directions: Drive to Death Valley, they said, and meet us at the Furnace Creek Inn for lunch — about 90 miles of mostly wide-open desert highway. Try not to speed, they said.
“The cars are ours,” spokesman Monte Doran said. “But the tickets are yours.”
Available for the drive were cars fitted with the 6.2-liter V-8 engine, a massive motor pumping out 455 horsepower and 455 pound-feet of torque and capable of going from zero to 60 mph in four seconds.
Also on offer were the 3.2-liter V-6, a somewhat more sedate power plant that makes 335 horsepower and 284 pound-feet of torque and gets to 60 mph in 5.1 seconds, and the smaller engine, Chevy’s new 2-liter turbocharged four-cylinder.
Having been on the track with the V-6, both manual and automatic versions, I left Pahrump in a hard top with the 2-liter engine. Though small, it spins up fast, makes 275 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque, and proved more than adequate for the drive to Death Valley. Zero to 60 happens at a relatively slow 5.4 seconds, but 60 mph on a long empty highway becomes 100 and 120 very quickly.
Skipping past the red, brown and beige beribboned hillsides, lunar sand dunes and fields of seasonal wildflowers, I covered the allotted 90 miles in less than the allotted time.
After lunch, I got into a convertible powered by the V-8. For the return journey — leaving Furnace Creek, past Zabriskie Point, Dante’s View and the Twenty Mule Team Canyon — I let the big engine show me what 455 horsepower and 90 miles of open road can do.
Chevy has been making Camaros for nearly 50 years, since introducing its first version of the car as a 1967 model. Built largely in response to Ford’s successful Mustang, introduced three years earlier, the copycat car soon proved able competition.
In recent years, it was even a better seller. Camaros beat Mustangs in sales from 2010 to 2014, according to the online auto sales company TrueCar, in that final year selling 86,297 Camaros to 82,635 Mustangs. But Camaro lost market share when Ford introduced its sixth-generation pony car in 2014 and took back the sales lead for 2015, when Ford sold 122,349 Mustangs to Chevy’s 77,502 Camaros.
Eager for sales, Chevy is pricing the new cars aggressively. An entry-level Camaro, a hard top with the 2-liter engine and the most basic trim level, costs about $26,000 — about the same as a 2015 model. An SS version, with the V-8, leather interior and other amenities, will be closer to $50,000.
Many of the early deliveries, Chevy said, have been at that end of the spectrum. First orders typically come from more loyal and extreme enthusiasts, who often want the top-of-the-line cars with the most powerful engines and most elegant interiors.
Among those early adopters, as many as 40% are choosing the manual six-speed transmission over the eight-speed automatic gearbox. Chevy’s representatives said they expected the overall manual transmission take rate on the V-8, V-6 and four-cylinder models to be closer to 25%.
Camaro non-enthusiasts have complained for years that the cars favored performance over comfort and, while fun for weekend racing, weren’t as appropriate for daily driving. Chevy has attempted to address that by upgrading interior materials and offering all trim levels with all engine sizes.
Though the convertible suffers from some wind noise with the top up, the hard top on the highway gives a smooth, quiet ride, the engine noise only making a high sweet whine when substantial acceleration is applied.
The onboard Apple CarPlay booted up seamlessly. Negotiating the navigation and audio controls was fairly intuitive. The driver and passenger ergonomics were pleasant — though I found that I had to remind myself, every time I got into the car, to slide over and not onto the heavy plastic seat belt buckle.
Customers on the East Coast and in the Upper Midwest will be pleased by the inclusion of a standard “snow/ice” driving mode, additional to the “tour” and “sport” modes. The SS models also come with a “track” mode. All models feature McPherson-type front suspension and independent rear suspension. Certain models come standard with Brembo brakes and the Magnetic Ride Control system.
Chevy took advantage of its captive audience to also unveil its new ZL1 super sports car. Touted as a “street, strip and track” car, ready for daily driving, drag strip runs and track days, the ZL1 roars with a supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 engine that makes 640 horsepower and 640 pound-feet of torque. It is the first General Motors car to feature a new 10-speed automatic transmission that will gradually start appearing in other GM vehicles.
Willing journalists were asked to put on helmets and neck braces, strapped into passenger seats and taken by professional drivers through a series of high-speed, tire-screeching “hot laps.” Most seemed impressed by both car and driver.
Production versions of the ZL1 will be offered as a 2017 model year car. Chevy has not yet set pricing.
