It appears in front of you like a heavy-weight doing some muscle flexing and looking around with a critical eye. It seems like it is looking for a rival in the same weight category. Well, Chevrolet Camaro had already found a rival before coming into this world — it was created as a “Mustang-killer”. But none of it had managed to defeat the other so far and this confrontation seems to last eternally. You just have to choose one of them. We’ve chosen Camaro.
Chevrolet Camaro is a big and heavy 2-door coupe. It’s an egoistic car which can bear having at least one passenger. Though it is claimed to have 2+2 configuration, backseat could only hold a child with comfort like in the majority of cars of such type. Small space, classic sloping rear window like in a nice attic — that’s about it in terms of backseat comfort.
On the other hand, the driver and the front passenger can enjoy it all: big comfortable seats with plenty of lateral support; distinct large indicators of the irregular square configuration; convenient placement of the central panel; eye-pleasing turquoise-coloured dashboard lightning; a lot of aluminium; nice leather combined with cloth in cheaper trim packages. Moreover the style of the interior matches the style of the whole car. Even if they put you in the car with your eyes covered and then take off the scarf when you are already there, you would never think that you are inside of some elegant Japanese car or sophisticated European car. Everything here tells you about strength, power and some unspoilt nature. Looking at the visually heavy steering wheel and large gearbox lever gives you a clear image of what comes after stepping on the gas…
The car we have chosen for a test drive carries a large patrol naturally aspirated V8 6.2-litre “heart”. Such engine capacity seems almost unbelievable for a European customer: taking into account the price of patrol there, the 25-litre fuel consumption rate when having an aggressive driving style is something out-of-limit.
One should also say that this rate decreases significantly if the driving style is moderate. According to the specifications it uses 14 litres per 100 km, but to be honest, one can achieve around 17-18-litre rate trying not to accelerate too much. When the engine is not overloaded, the system switches off four out of eight cylinders, which contributes a lot to lowering the fuel consumption rate.
6-litre V8 engine produces 405 hp which is quite a lot, but together with its almost two-tonne weight the power spreads absolutely evenly and doesn’t seem redundant in the regular city traffic.
But as soon as you step on the gas pedal a little harder all its power bursts outside, sometimes making its rear wheels slip or even sideslipping the stern a little and it all produces such a wonderful feeling that you cannot restrain yourself from doing it over and over again! And in such moments you don’t care about the amount of petrol going through the fuel lines of this monster.
Another configuration suggested for the Russian customers by the official dealers is much simpler. Under the hood it carries 3.6-litre V6 engine producing 328 hp.
But there is one slight hitch here: they deliver to Russia only cars with an automatic gearbox and such transmission type does not allow making a two-feet start when one foot is holding the brake pedal while the second one increases the engine rpm — car’s electronics suppresses it all immediately. Also it’s impossible to burn the rubber when driving such cars, while the cars with manual gearbox even have a special locking function for a good burn out.
When it comes to regular driving, the automatic gearbox set in “M” position allows switching to a manual mode and thanks to the paddle shifter the car is much more fun than it is in “drive” mode. It gives a more intense and dynamic feeling of acceleration and rpm increase, but there is still something missing…
They say about the American cars that they are built to go in a straight line. This must contain some homespun truth but it rather applies to the cars of the previous generations. The fifth reincarnation of Camaro generation was created with a view to foreign customers and the latter have become highly discerning and picky.
In order to satisfy all demands, Chevrolet Camaro received a new stiffer suspension system with reduced sideways wheel movement, improved shock absorbers and more powerful stabilizer bar. And what is utterly unusual for the United States, the renovated Camaro went for testing to a track in Europe —Nürburgring — where all the vehicles claiming to be sports cars undergo all the necessary tests.
“Our aim was to create a more sports suspension with improved kinematics providing great steering. We’ve used the experience gained during numerous tests performed on race tracks for suspension geometry optimization and providing smooth corner passing, achieving a better balance in sharp turns and understeer minimizing at car’s maximum performance level”, said Al Oppenheiser, Camaro chief engineer.
But this is not what we love the muscle cars for. Their philosophy lies in the fact that they give us a possibility to enjoy driving The Real Car — a powerful, fast and beautiful petrol monster. It is absolutely UN-economical and UN-ecological and NON-electric but this all makes it even more delightful.
