KZN 18

ONCE A
MUSCLE
CAR, NOW
A SPORTS
CAR?
The Camaro, a staple among
American muscle cars,
remains the same frontengine,
rear-wheel-drive
muscle car it's always
been. Some of the character from the
predecessors remain, however the new
focus is clearly that of increasing performance,
and dramatically so at that.
The 2016 Camaro is smaller
in every dimension on the exterior
than the outgoing model,
The Camaros fire up with a blip
of enthusiasm from the optional
variable exhaust on both the V6
and the V8 models. The exhaust
note from the Camaro then
becomes quieter while normal commuting
through town, but then the noise returns
quickly with a solid romp on the gas pedal.
16
What Is It?
Kzn Lifestyle Magazine • Issue 18
whilst the platform it is built
on underneath it makes greater
use of newer lightweight materials.
This reduction in weight
and size, being combined with
more powerful engines and
modern sophisticated handling
make this Camaro nimbler and
a real alternative to the German
equivalents. This muscle
car can definitely be labelled a
sports car.
Outward visibility seems
limited at first, but large side
mirrors and available blind-spot
monitoring, combined with the
Camaro's newfound nimbleness
make the car easy to place
in traffic and on the road. Parking,
however, demands careful
attention to your surroundings.
How Fast Does It
Go, Turn And Stop?
Both of the Camaros engine
derivatives deliver a strong
acceleration in a straight line.
The automatic has a Performance
setting that activates
in Sport mode allowing for quicker shifts
from the eight speed box. When this
feature is enabled on the vehicle, the
shifts are hard and fast, providing cracks
Thankfully, the back-up camera
comes standard.
Some parts of the interior,
like the steering wheel controls,
are intuitive and easy to use.
You’ll certainly hear more road
noise in the SS than you will in
the LT.
The new V6 and V8 engined
and bangs from the exhaust on each shift.
The SS posted a 0-100-kph
result of 3.9 seconds. The V6
was just over a second slower,
hitting 100 kph in 5.1 seconds.
These numbers best those of
similarly powered Mustangs —
and by a good margin.
What's it like to drive
Camaros occasionally run on
four cylinders alone to save fuel
by shutting down cylinders, a
technology brought over from
their Lumina range. The cylinder
deactivation and reactivation
is nearly imperceptible to
the driver.