FIRST DRIVE Chevrolet Forum Weighs in on Six Gen Camaro

Chevrolet unveiled the 2016 Camaro this weekend in Detroit at an event fitting for celebrities, complete with nearly 300 die-heart Camaro fans on hand for the rollout.

I even ran into a guy in the small town of Holland, OH who casually mentioned he’d been watching all the news on the new Camaro. And while at first glance it might not look like the new model features a lot of changes, there’s been a lot put into the 2016 Camaro that makes the unveiling at Detroit’s historic Belle Isle Park well worth all the buzz.

The thing that people will find most appealing about the sixth generation Camaro are all the new performance upgrades, which is where the 2016 model really shines over the previous gen.

Having a chance to test drive both a fifth-gen V6 model and a 2016 V6 prototype on a racetrack during the event, the thing you notice immediately with the new V6 Camaro is how much more powerful it feels than the outgoing model.

Featuring an all-new 3.6-liter V6 engine, the 2016 Camaro packs 335 horsepower and 284 lb-ft of torque. That’s an increase of 30 horses over the 2015 model.

The new V6 engine also features new fuel-saving cylinder deactivation system that makes the car more fuel efficient without sacrificing performance.

The Camaro SS is now powered by Chevy’s small block 6.2L LT1 V-8 engine, with output SAE-certified at 455 horsepower and 455 lb-ft of torque, making it the most powerful Camaro SS ever.

According to Chevy, the overall performance improvements on the new Camaro SS, which also now features Magnetic Ride Control active suspension, enables the car to deliver better lap times than the fifth-generation’s track-focused Camaro 1LE package, which is pretty impressive.

The 2016 Camaro line-up also includes a new Ecotec 2.0L turbocharged I-4 for the Camaro LT, which is rated at 275 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque, which Chevy claims outperforms the new turbocharged Mustang.

The new Camaro is also much stiffer and lighter than the previous model, which makes the car much more nimbler, improvements that are immediately noticeable when driving the new model on the track.

Other new performance features include a new drive mode selector, which tailors up to eight vehicle attributes for four modes: Snow/Ice, Tour, Sport and – on SS models – Track settings.

We’ll be able to provide a more comprehensive review on the car after we’ve had a chance to spend time with the full line-up. But if our brief track experience in the engineering prototype is any indication of the improvements, this very well could be the best Camaro line-up to date when it comes to performance.

Interior enhancements include higher quality materials and “Interior Spectrum Lighting,” a new feature that offers 24 different ambient lighting effects on the dash, door panels, and center console, which got a pretty arousing applause from Camaro fans on hand for the Detroit unveiling.

The exterior design? Well, those changes are a lot more subtle than the performance upgrades, which I think caught a few people off guard. Given all the buzz around the unveiling, I imagine most were expecting something a bit more dramatic when it came to the styling for the new Camaro as was the case with the introduction of the new Corvette.

However, it’s clear that Chevy was more focused on refining the look of the Camaro rather than making any drastic changes, which probably makes sense considering the popularity of the fifth-gen design.

The most distinctive exterior design elements include a cross-car grille/headlamp aperture that dates to the first gen Camaro, a more fastback-like profile that flows into the more pronounced rear fenders, all aimed at giving the car a more sculpted and muscular look.

The 2016 model also features redesigned taillamps intended to give the sixth-gen some of the aesthetic muscular appeal of the first generation Camaro.

Some of the most noticeable design enhancements can be found on the Camaro SS, which also features a unique front fascia with integrated brake cooling ducts and a unique hood with functional air vents, which improve engine cooling and reduce front lift while also giving the car a more aggressive look.

“We like to think of it as Rocky in Rocky III. It’s more chiseled and refined than the fighter was in the first Rocky,” said a member of the Camaro’s design team, when questioned about the styling of the new model.

That said, it’s kind of hard to argue with Chevy’s strategy given the fact that for five years straight the Camaro has ranked as the top leader in the segment.

Watch video of the event here.