Speed Racer

iTrader: (1)

I just had a chance to drive a fully loaded 2011 2SS drop top for 9 days in sunny California. Here's what I thought:

I have been driving Porsche and BMW for the past 10 years, so I was skeptical about the Camaro's quality. However, I immediately found it to be a great car. The first thing I noticed was the fit and finish of the perfectly smooth Imperial Blue Metallic body panels. The complicated lines of the deep fenders, doors and hood fit exactly right. I'm talking Lexus precision here, which was shocking to me as my brand new GMC Sierra looked like it had already been wrecked 7 times when I got it.

I also expected the interior to be shabby since everyone criticizes GM for this. But the deep, well contoured seats were covered in actual thick leather unlike the paper thin junk GM has used in the past that would wear out in just a few months. The console and shifter were solid and functioned well most of the time. It would slide all the way back into manual mode if you just pulled back on it from park or reverse. On several occasions, I accidentally did this and over revved the engine as it stayed in first gear as I blasted away. Luckily it has an idiot-proof fuel shutoff mode since they know everyone will do this. (Side note: Strangely enough, it won't rev past 4 grand in neutral. Don't laugh, you might find reason to do this.) Back to the interior: The console gauge pod was fun, informative, and kept the area behind the wheel from being too cluttered. All the buttons and ***** were really interesting, intuitive, and had a heavy, precise, quality feel. At night everything lights up nicely in bright reds and blues and just makes you happy. The waterfall lighting around the doors is a nice touch and adds to your nighttime driving joy. But by far the best thing was the heads up display. I don't know how anyone drives a car without this feature. It is even animated with the Chevy logo. There are several screens of info you can choose from. And it even shows you the new song title/artist from XM. The A/C was a little weak, so I pity anyone from Arizona that gets one of these. The Boston sound system cranked out wicked bass and sounded great even at 80 mph with the top down. This is a must for any topless car and the Camaro succeeded greatly here.

The chassis was surprisingly stiff. I never got any cowl shake no matter how rough the roads got. The handling was tight with no body roll, and I could only unsettle it (only happened a few times in 9 days) in the worst stutter bump situations. The steering was pretty heavy though and had a really vague on center feel. It was like you were always turning and never just going straight. And heavy steering does not equal precise or provide great feedback contrary to popular belief. The Brembo brakes were weak upon first contact with the pedal, but worked fine with significant effort. Big stops required lots of leg power, but did whoa the car adequately. The Brembos did squeak loudly at speeds less than 20 mph for the entire 9 days though. That was really annoying, but might be fixed by a good cleaning. I was not glad to hear that the new Camaro would get independent rear suspension, as I think pony cars should be cheap and durable and the IRS unique to the Corvette. But it really made a noticeable difference in the ride and handling which I can say is miles better than the last 2010 Mustang I drove. The 20 inch wheels were gorgeous, but the Pirellis didn't seem as wide as a 275 should. Maybe this was because they were so tall.

Visibility is absolutely miserable as in the coupe. Of course, it is much better with the top down. The A pillars are at least 6 inches thick if not more. That's nice if you roll the car over, but it creates a huge blind spot to your 10 and 2 o'clock making it certain to hit something when navigating tight parking lots. The hood seems to be at chin level too, even further reducing your frontward view. The high belt line looks great, but you feel like a toddler that stole Mom's minivan while driving and wonder if standing on the seat will help. It had rear park distance sensors which were critically needed, but it could use front ones too.

Top down driving was a true delight. The wind pattern was somehow perfect and somehow combed my hair for me as I drove. Some convertibles have a nasty wind pattern inside, but this one was super comfortable. The rag top was high quality and looked nice while up. One thing I hate about cloth tops is how they suck up when driving at speed down the highway. By looking at other Camaros on this trip I can see that these don't do that. That's good. One disappointment was the numerous rattles from the top when in the up position. And I'm not talking about when hitting bumps either. It would rattle just from normal smooth highway vibrations. Maybe some silicone lubricant here and there would fix this.

Now on to the good stuff: the L99 engine. This is the one reason why I would buy this car rather than a 3 Series BMW. There's nothing I love more than a big V8. However, even after a tank of premium, this one didn't quite feel like 400 horsepower. My BMW 335i feels way, way faster and is only reported at 300/300 hp/torque. But the big 6.2 liter engine had plenty of power in any driving situation. The A/C didn't seem to affect power so much, unlike in my 5.3 Sierra. And it had enough torque to actually drive around in 4 cylinder mode- and does so most of the time. The 6 speed automatic was dead-on perfect in every situation. And the tapshift controls even provided engine rev matching on downshifts...

But this brings me to one glaring problem with the Camaro. I officially give the exhaust an F minus. It often sounds worse than your Mom's minivan, and I was literally humiliated to drive it among crowds of people. It didn't sound like a V8 at all-- which is the whole reason you got it! It made a sickly “zooshing” or “hissing” sound anywhere less than half throttle. And when it switches from 4 cylinder mode it made a nasty “zingk” sound that would make people look at you like your car is falling apart. Full throttle sounded a little better. It was sort of like an evil coffee grinder then. So, to anyone that buys one of these, I suggest you don't even drive it home after buying it. Go directly and get an aftermarket exhaust for it. And then enjoy those rev matched downshifts!

Iroctopless

Intersting post, but it will get deleted as soon as a mod reads it.
Not 3rd gen related.

Speed Racer

iTrader: (1)

Geesh, sorry. I thought my Camaro friends would like to hear about a Camaro.