View Photos ROY RITCHIE

From the July 2015 issue

Very few nameplates have been around as long as this magazine. The Camaro wasn’t there at the very beginning, but, having made its debut in 1967, it’s still one of the oldest model names on sale today. And when it celebrates its own milestone of 50 years in 2017, the Camaro will have a useful emblem with which to mark the occasion: this all-new sixth-generation car.

It is common in our business to be presented with a new model that looks vastly different from its predecessor but is mechanically similar. The 2016 Camaro takes the opposite approach: It bears a close resemblance to the fifth-generation car but is, in fact, based on a different platform.

View Photos ROY RITCHIE

Chevrolet’s thinking might be unusual, but it’s also sound. The outgoing Camaro’s look reached all the way back to the 1967 original and was highly successful. It was the first Camaro that ever outsold the Ford Mustang. But it was based on the old, heavy Zeta platform, and the ever-escalating performance war in this category calls for new blood.

Platform

The new Camaro is built on GM’s Alpha component set, first seen in the Cadillac ATS and CTS. Alpha is light, stiff, and modern. Even so, GM changed some 70 percent of the parts for the Camaro. Key among them are the suspension pieces, which engineers made longer in order to increase the track by between 1.1 and 2.0 inches versus the CTS. To keep weight down, they specified aluminum front-suspension members and steel links with extensive lightening holes in the rear. On the V-6 models, the front-anti-roll-bar drop links are even molded from high-strength plastic. Overall, the suspension weighs about 26 pounds less than the fifth-gen car’s.

View Photos The LT1 gets the same horsepower rating as it does in the base Corvette. ROY RITCHIE

Even though the new structure is said to be 28 percent stiffer than before, the body in white weighs some 133 pounds less, thanks to details such as an aluminum instrument-panel beam and lightweight fasteners that are no longer than absolutely necessary. And with additional measures such as an aluminum hood and a slightly smaller size—2.3 inches shorter and 0.8 inch narrower than the gen-five car—the new V-8 Camaro weighs about 200 pounds less than before, while the V-6 is more than 300 pounds lighter.

Powertrain

GM’s all-new 3.6-liter, 60-degree V-6 is substantially lighter than its predecessor despite its 76-cubic-centimeter-larger displacement, improved NVH, cylinder deactivation, and increased output. Horsepower and torque increase by 12 and 6, to 335 and 284, respectively. The Camaro SS joins the Corvette in offering the latest version of Chevy’s small-block V-8, the direct-injected LT1. Output is 455 horsepower and 455 pound-feet. And a four-cylinder base engine will return to the Camaro lineup. GM’s familiar 2.0-liter turbo will make 275 horsepower and 295 pound-feet here and is expected to score more than 30 mpg on the highway.

All the engines will mate to either a six-speed manual or GM’s latest eight-speed automatic.

View Photos Left: The front-anti-roll-bar drop links on V-6 models are molded from high- strength plastic. Please don’t panic yet. ROY RITCHIE

Design

When it comes to the question of how to update a retro design, Chevrolet is taking the path blazed by the Ford Mustang: refine, rather than overhaul. This isn’t to say that the new car is unchanged. In fact, it seems simultaneously cleaner and a little more muscular than its predecessor. The angered front face of the Camaro remains, though the grille openings are sharper and better integrated with the headlights. The rear window is flatter and the central depression in the roof more pronounced.

Look closely and you’ll notice interesting details such as the small air intakes below the running lights in the lower-front corners. These channel air to the outside of the fender wells, reducing aerodynamic drag. At the edge of the roof, there’s no trim strip to cover what can sometimes be a messy weld because, here, the roof and door apertures are laser brazed, yielding a much neater joint. And the hood vents on the SS are fully functional; they relieve underhood pressure to reduce lift.

View Photos ROY RITCHIE

Interior

The cockpit is welcoming, with a handsome dashboard incorporating an eight-inch LCD screen and nicely integrated controls. Uplevel models also have an eight-inch configurable screen between the speedometer and tach in the main cluster. And much like the Corvette Stingray, there’s a mode selector that adjusts a variety of parameters to change the driving experience.

There are several neat, driver-centric touches such as bright rings surrounding the central air vents that adjust the temperature setting. The cup holders now sit aft and to the right of the shifter, so cups are less likely to meet the driver’s elbow. The seats have greater vertical travel, providing better headroom for tall drivers. And the A-pillars are about a half-inch narrower and an inch less thick, improving forward visibility.

View Photos Engineers pulled about 26 pounds out of the suspension. The rear bumper is more sculpted than before, and upper trims get LED taillights. ROY RITCHIE

Behind the Wheel

We got brief drives in a couple of V-6 RS prototypes. They were fairly rough and noisy, and gauging ride and handling was difficult. The new car switches to electrically assisted power steering made by Bosch. The gen-five Camaro’s steering was a nicely calibrated hydraulic unit, so it’s not obvious that EPS will be an improvement. Either way, the prototypes we drove were very responsive, reflecting their weight loss.

The new manual shifts cleanly, as does the automatic. Our cars were also equipped with the dual-mode exhaust—now operated by electric motors rather than vacuum actuators—and there’s yet another audio track coming from sound paths between the engine compartment and the cabin. As familiar as the 2016 Camaro might look to the people who designed the 1967 original, that’s the one thing that would have them scratching their heads.

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