Chevy's Revived Muscle Car
Chevy's Revived Muscle Car
If sales of the Chevrolet Camaro are any indication, it takes more than a recession to suppress the midlife crisis.
Buyers are snapping up Chevy's newly revived muscle car even though it lacks the kind of comfort, practicality and fuel economy many car shoppers increasingly seek. 2010 Camaro sales have grown to lead the "midsize sporty" segment since it came onto the market in the spring.
The new Camaro has an hourglass shape, gracefully arched fenders and is largely free of clutter like chrome strips and add-on trim. It has the sex appeal and va-voom to boost any midlife crisis. While its styling recalls the 1969 Camaro, it has less of a retro appearance than rivals like the Ford Mustang and Dodge Challenger.
Some of the Camaro's exterior features are exaggerated. Its front grille opening is so narrow that the large, rounded headlights seem to squint behind it. A bulge in the middle of the hood hints at an outsize engine underneath. The overall look suggests the designers who penned it were set loose with few restrictions. As a result the Chevy is a stunning sight.
For drivers seeking attention, the Camaro with a six-cylinder engine and a starting price of $22,680 gets the most stares for the money. Pedestrians slowed to take long looks at my test car as I waited at intersections. The top-of-the-line Super Sport model has an eight-cylinder engine and costs $33,450. I road-tested both versions and found a few surprises.
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Chevrolet
An interior view of the 2010 Camaro.
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The faster V8 Camaro, of course, has a more aggressive rumble from its exhaust pipes and accelerates with greater urgency than its smaller-engine sibling. When prodded, the car lunges with ballistic urgency, making it ideal for the cut-and-thrust style of driving favored in New York City. It brings fun to dreary commutes -- downshift a gear or two, touch the gas and crisply steer around the cellphone-nattering slowpoke ahead of you.
In short, the Camaro is a closet drag-racer's dream. But the hot rod Chevy's fuel thirst becomes costly. The V8 version has an EPA highway rating of 24 miles per gallon, but I think you would have to be coasting down a hill to do it. And the bigger engine doesn't add enough fun to make the added expense worthwhile.
For example, the V8 Camaro isn't especially engaging to drive on curvy country roads where a smaller, lighter sports car would be better. Its low-roof styling may look sharp, but those tiny windows hurt outward visibility. I was never quite sure where the car's corners were or how close I was coming to obstacles. This uncertainty saps the joy that should accompany vigorous driving.
Throughout muscle-car history the six-cylinder engine has been the unappealing bridesmaid. In the days of raucously overpowered American cars, you had to be square to drive a six-cylinder. But today, in the Camaro's case, the "six" should be the engine of choice.
The smaller engine has plenty of power and emits a nice growl when accelerating. It is similar to the engine in the Cadillac CTS sport sedan, so it gives the car a surprisingly smooth, sophisticated feel. It is also easier on gasoline in everyday driving. By babying the throttle on my commute, I could eek out 25 miles per gallon - not great, but decent for a large, powerful car.
While the Camaro is a good value based on performance and outward appearance, it loses points when you get inside. The interior is the chintziest I have seen since the Chrysler PT Cruiser. There is a lot of hard plastic on the dashboard, and while the steering wheel is stitched in leather, my fingertips usually came to rest on more hard plastic on the back of the wheel. Swaths of smooth, featureless plastic cover the doors. It is as if no one could come up with even a mildly interesting door panel.
Worst of all was a rattle I heard when opening the trunk of the first test car. It sounded like a small nut or bolt was rolling around inside the hollow trunk lid. I figured it was a one-time flaw with that particular test vehicle. But the same thing happened with my second tester.
If General Motors wonders why some would-be customers still don't trust the company to build the highest-quality cars, the answer may be hiding in the Camaro's trunk. |
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