Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Camaro's return even pleases a Mustang guy


This review originally published in the October edition of the Northern & Central California Cruisin' News published out of Folsom, California--mg


Sacramento, California -- My car-obsessed friend asked if I had a couple hours to spend unwinding his new 2010 Chevrolet Camaro.

He didn’t have to ask twice.

I’ve been waiting for the Camaro to come back almost from the minute General Motors pulled the plug on it in 2002. Like nearly everyone else, I didn’t believe for a second that the Camaro would disappear from the ranks of American pony car-dom. It was just a matter of waiting for the sequel.

Now that it’s here, I doubt that even the most die-hard Camaro purist hanging on to the memory of the 1967 Camaro has any reason to be upset. The new Camaro is a blast, literally and figuratively.

I don’t admit this lightly. I’m a longtime Mustang guy who earned his first driving license at the wheel of a 1965 Mustang, sans air pollution-control devices. I drove Mustangs regularly for the next 20 years, sniffing at Camaro owners.

But when the Camaro was gone in 2002, I missed it. Now that it’s back, I love it.

The reasons are simple: It looks great, feels great and scoots like scalded cat.

My short-term tester was the LT2 coupe, literally the middle ground car in the Camaro lineup. The sticker started at around $26,500 but the tester was juiced up with extras that put the bottom line at around $30,000.

For the price, the performance was superb. The Camaro moved smartly off the line from a standing start and proved remarkably nimble in all conditions. It took to slalom maneuvers like a world-champ skier. Keep in mind that my tester had the comparatively humble 3.6-liter V-6 with “only” 304 horsepower. I can only imagine what the big-daddy 6.2-liter V-8 with 426 ponies feels like. You might want to consider a neck brace to keep your head on with that power plant.

Walking up to the Camaro gives you the impression that it might be a sluggish beast on twisty roads. Yet the wide-stance visual is only that. My tester hugged the road lines with monorail-like smoothness even as I pressed the tires to lose their grip. Very impressive work on the suspension, even though it was somewhat stiff and transferred some road imperfections up my spine.

The interior cockpit combines jet-fighter ambiance with urban-commuter simplicity. Everything was within easy reach and easy to use, and veteran Camaro drivers will notice that the gauges are a style throwback to Camaros past. The gas gauge did not plunge despite my best efforts. The Camaro coupe with the V-6 lives up to its federal estimates of 17 miles per gallon in the city and 29 mpg on the highway.

I was surprised how much exterior noise reached my ears in the Camaro’s cabin, especially given the degree of top-tier engineering put into this car. Perhaps the biggest drawback for me, however, was the lack of 360-degree visibility I had from the cockpit. In putting Camaro’s super-sexy lines together, the design gang left little window space to help the human eye. I found myself relying heavily on the interior/exterior mirrors.

The most-noteworthy thing about the new Camaro is how much attention you get driving it. Stopping at a light or in a parking spot is an open invitation to any interested party. I felt like I was running a one-man car show every time I stopped the vehicle. People leaned out of neighboring car windows or walked right up to the car on the street, calling out, “Is that the new Camaro?”

Well, yes, it is, and would you please get out of my way so I can drive now?

Alas, this is a minor inconvenience that goes with owning the 2010 Camaro. And sure, I’m sure it must feel good deep down to know that your ride has passed the coolness test among random passersby.

Customizers will find their mouths watering over the prospects offered by this ride. The Camaro is already seriously angled, giving it a stealth-fighter appearance even when it is standing still. Dropping more heat under the hood or molding that beautiful body into something seriously special is tempting, but for now, I’d just enjoy the car as it is.

Welcome back Camaro. Even the Mustang crowd salutes you.

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