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| 2016 Camaro RS |
Laying the Groundwork
The most potent weapon in the new, sixth-gen Camaro’s arsenal is its
platform. The new car sits on GM’s Alpha architecture, the foundation on
which the Cadillac ATS and CTS have built their reputations for
kick-ass dynamics. Chevrolet says that the new car is 28 percent more
structurally rigid
than the last one, and that some 70 percent of its Alpha component set
is unique to the 2016 Camaro. (This seems like a good point to drop in
the fact that the only carry-over part numbers are said to be the bow
tie on the decklid and the SS badge.) The Alpha bones make for a
slightly smaller Camaro in every dimension; the 2016 is 2.3 inches
shorter overall, 0.8 inch narrower, and 1.1 inch shorter in height. The
wheelbase is down by 1.6 inches, and the track measurements, front and
rear, are reduced by between 0.4 and 1.1 inch, depending on trim level.
All the decimal shaving results in a car that, depending on the trim level, is more than 200 pounds lighter at the curb, according to Chevrolet; the body-in-white alone is down by 133 pounds. Even before we dive into the rest of the chassis and powertrain details, that’s already promising—weight is the enemy of performance, after all. Rendering the cross-dash beam in aluminum instead of steel saved 9.2 pounds, while 26 pounds were pulled from the suspension by using aluminum links up front and punching holes into the steel links fitted out back. Once again, the front end is suspended via struts while the rear gets a multilink arrangement; GM’s sublime Magnetic Ride Control active dampers will be available for the first time on the Camaro SS.
Powertrain: 4-6-8
The four—the first in a Camaro in 30 years—and the six can be ordered bolted to a Tremec TR3160 six-speed manual transmission or GM’s 8L45 eight-speed automatic. The SS gets the same transmission types and gear counts, but the manual is the familiar Tremec TR6060 (now with active rev-matching) and the automatic is the 8L90 that’s also available in the latest Corvette.
The 2.0-liter turbocharged engine makes 275 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque, just about equal with its output in the Cadillac ATS and CTS. Chevy says it’ll return more than 30 mpg on the highway and hustle the Camaro to 60 mph in less than six seconds, although the company doesn’t specify which transmission achieves those numbers. For reference, we’ve tested the EcoBoost Mustang and achieved zero to 60 mph in 5.5 (manual) and 5.2 seconds (automatic). GM’s 2.0-liter is too coarse and uneven in its Cadillac applications, but hopefully the Camaro wizards have found a way to smooth out the power delivery. We also wouldn’t mind if they made it rev a little more freely.
The V-6 may seem familiar—it displaces 3.6 liters and features direct injection like the one already offered in plenty of GM’s finest wares—but it’s a thoroughly redesigned unit that has a wider spread between its banks, features a one-millimeter larger bore (adding 76 cc’s to the six’s displacement), and can now shut down cylinders in light-load situations to conserve fuel. It makes a healthy 335 horsepower and 284 lb-ft.
The Mustang GT–fighting SS gets the 6.2-liter LT1 V-8 that debuted in the Corvette Stingray, albeit with 20 percent Camaro-specific parts, including tri-Y-shaped exhaust manifolds. (We hope that some of the new bits sort out the LT1’s woes; an allegedly bad oil filter caused our long-term Corvette’s engine to die a premature death, and our Vette has also experienced starter-motor problems.) Unlike in the fifth-gen car, where manual-transmission versions offered more muscle, every Camaro SS will pack the same heavy—and Corvette-matching—punch, in this case 455 horses and 455 lb-ft. That’s up 29 horsepower and 35 lb-ft on manual models and 55 horsepower and 45 lb-ft on automatics. (Listen to the Camaro’s LT1 here.) Yes, like the Mustang and a billion German cars, the Camaro will feature engine-audio enhancement. The 2.0T models all will have active noise cancellation and will even pump fake noise into the cabin if you get the upgraded Bose stereo. Chevrolet makes a point to note that the aural fake-itude can be switched off, though, which is nice. Camaros equipped with the two larger engines get induction-noise resonators—pipes that feed intake noise directly to the interior—and offer dual-mode active exhausts that can be set to “stealth” mode to avoid pissing off any neighbors you might actually like.
Finally, a Drive Mode Selector tailors up to eight variables through Snow/Ice, Tour, Sport, and Track (SS only) programs, including launch control, shift mapping in automatic models, throttle sensitivity, exhaust sound, steering weight, the stability control, magnetic shocks, and interior lighting
Article by: Car and Driver Click for full read.
