Topic: CTC Review: 2010 Chevrolet Camaro RS

[Turbo Bob]

Stay on topic, STAY ON TOPIC!

 

[Erik]

Stay on topic, STAY ON TOPIC!

 

Were you looking for this?

[Jaeger]

Stay on topic, STAY ON TOPIC!

 

  That one never gets old.  And you're quite right.

Jaeger

[Turbo Bob]

Stay on topic, STAY ON TOPIC!

 

Were you looking for this?

No, my staff found it for me.   

[TopGun]

Stopped into a Chevy store yesterday...a couple of notes vs. the Mustang:

• The plastic on the door panel is way better quality than the Mustang door panel.
• The quality of the leather on the RS is also way better than the Mustang...very soft!
• The back seat is tighter in the Camaro...but unlike the Mustang, the original setting on the seat rake is preserved when you flip up the seat to get into the back...a pet peave with me

[Erik]

Stopped into a Chevy store yesterday...a couple of notes vs. the Mustang:

• The plastic on the door panel is way better quality than the Mustang door panel.
• The quality of the leather on the RS is also way better than the Mustang...very soft!
• The back seat is tighter in the Camaro...but unlike the Mustang, the original setting on the seat rake is preserved when you flip up the seat to get into the back...a pet peave with me

You know, I actually got to sit in one (don't fit with the sunroof!), and I did not notice anything of particularly or noticeably poor quality. Looked for things like flash on the edges of plastic pieces, and there was nothing there. Noted many of the same things you said, especially compared to the Mustang. Will not say the dash design is a favorite of mine, but I certainly did not see anything in terms of materials quality to incite so much discussion.
If I had to rate it, I would put it a notch below the 370Z/G37 but likely slightly better than I remember the Genesis coupe to be. Not much to choose between the two of them, to be honest.

[TopGun]

.....did not notice anything of particularly or noticeably poor quality. Looked for things like flash on the edges of plastic pieces, and there was nothing there...

I did see plastic flash right along the door panel...right by the window...but I'll tell ya, I only found it because rrocket taught me what plastic flash was...and I was looking for it pretty hard.

That entire piece of plastic that makes out the dash looks like it can come out very easily without taking the entire dash apart...Alcantara anyone?

[TopGun]

Well boys and girls, I had a chance to actually drive a V6-MT base model on Friday.

Tony at Nethercott Chevy (Hamilton) is an over 20 year veteran of the car sales game...and I think he did a great job of showing off the car, allowing me to make my own decision without most of the grief these folks are labeled with.

Short story - I made up my mind quickly that this wasn't the car for me.  I'd classify this car as sporty...but not a sports car, which is what I personally want.

Longer story (leaving out the styling and interior comments):

• It's actually a nice sounding car...it growls nicely when on the power.
• Speaking of the power, I found it absolutely adequate...linear...and lots of it
• The transmission was also a nice piece...not up to Miata/RX-8 standards...but way better than the BMWs I tested at the BMW test drive session a while ago
• My biggest complaint is the steering.  I'm not sure if those higher profile 18" are the cause or not, but I found it way too light, and I had a hard time feeling what the tires were doing.  Again, compared to my RX-8 and Mini Cooper, it's not in the same ball-park....and I wouldn't buy the car for this reason alone.
• My second biggest beef would be the brakes on the base car.  They're easy enough to modulate...and I don't mind the feel, but you need to use 'em hard to haul the car down.
• What makes the car a great highway car detracts from the handling...i could detect a fair bit of body roll.

I'm curious to know if the SS models with the lower profile tires and Brembos would be much different.

[rrocket]

^^Good article in this months 0-60 Magazine about the new Camaro...

[Turbo Bob]

I was over in Buffalo the other day and saw a ton of Mustangs and Camaros, it seemed like every other car was a muscle car!

[Black Hatch]

Longer story (leaving out the styling and interior comments):

Awww tell us how you really feel about those

[Jaeger]

They had one (and a bunch of other GMs) on display at a local mall this weekend, so I stopped in to refresh my memory on the interior.  The dash is definitely as awful as I remember, but added to that was some seriously Tupperware-level plastic on the door panels, and looking out from any window (windshield included) was like peering through the gun slots on a WWII bunker.

I also got to look at what passes for the trunk - I don't know that I've ever seen a smaller opening on so large a vehicle.  Forget golf - good luck stuffing a bowling ball through that.

Jaeger

[TopGun]

They had one (and a bunch of other GMs) on display at a local mall this weekend, so I stopped in to refresh my memory on the interior.  The dash is definitely as awful as I remember, but added to that was some seriously Tupperware-level plastic on the door panels, and looking out from any window (windshield included) was like peering through the gun slots on a WWII bunker.

I also got to look at what passes for the trunk - I don't know that I've ever seen a smaller opening on so large a vehicle.  Forget golf - good luck stuffing a bowling ball through that.

Jaeger

Sigh....

So if I gave you an '80s Lambo you'd obviously turn your nose up at...can't see out of it...crap plastic...can't see out of it.

[Turbo Bob]

and looking out from any window (windshield included) was like peering through the gun slots on a WWII bunker.

What's wrong with that?!? You ever driven a supercar?  The view was like that on the TVR Cerbera that I drove, perfect!

[TopGun]

What's wrong with that?!? You ever driven a supercar?  The view was like that on the TVR Cerbera that I drove, perfect!

Quote from Gumball Rally...1976...

Franco: And now my friend, the first-a rule of Italian driving.
[Franco rips off his rear-view mirror and throws it out of the car]
Franco: What's-a behind me is not important.

[Erik]

What's wrong with that?!? You ever driven a supercar?  The view was like that on the TVR Cerbera that I drove, perfect!

Quote from Gumball Rally...1976...

Franco: And now my friend, the first-a rule of Italian driving.
[Franco rips off his rear-view mirror and throws it out of the car]
Franco: What's-a behind me is not important.

LOL
Perfect!

[Erik]

and looking out from any window (windshield included) was like peering through the gun slots on a WWII bunker.

What's wrong with that?!? You ever driven a supercar?  The view was like that on the TVR Cerbera that I drove, perfect!

The TVR Cerbera sounds nice.
But it, like the Camaro, doesn't fit into a world where the automotive appliance is king.

[Turbo Bob]

and looking out from any window (windshield included) was like peering through the gun slots on a WWII bunker.

What's wrong with that?!? You ever driven a supercar?  The view was like that on the TVR Cerbera that I drove, perfect!

The TVR Cerbera sounds nice.
But it, like the Camaro, doesn't fit into a world where the automotive appliance is king.

Yeah but who cares?  This is a car for enthusiasts... Corolla drivers need not apply.

The reason for the thin windows, is because tall windows look on a sports car.

[Erik]

and looking out from any window (windshield included) was like peering through the gun slots on a WWII bunker.

What's wrong with that?!? You ever driven a supercar?  The view was like that on the TVR Cerbera that I drove, perfect!

The TVR Cerbera sounds nice.
But it, like the Camaro, doesn't fit into a world where the automotive appliance is king.

Yeah but who cares?  This is a car for enthusiasts... Corolla drivers need not apply.

The reason for the thin windows, is because tall windows look on a sports car.

Who cares? Near enough everyone on this board it seems.
Come to think of it, the last TVR interior I saw looked like too.

[Jaeger]

They had one (and a bunch of other GMs) on display at a local mall this weekend, so I stopped in to refresh my memory on the interior.  The dash is definitely as awful as I remember, but added to that was some seriously Tupperware-level plastic on the door panels, and looking out from any window (windshield included) was like peering through the gun slots on a WWII bunker.

I also got to look at what passes for the trunk - I don't know that I've ever seen a smaller opening on so large a vehicle.  Forget golf - good luck stuffing a bowling ball through that.

Jaeger

Sigh....

So if I gave you an '80s Lambo you'd obviously turn your nose up at...can't see out of it...crap plastic...can't see out of it.

Sigh....

This isn't the 80's.

And the crap-plastic Chevy isn't a Lambo.  Or a supercar of any kind.

And yes - I'd sat being able to see your surroundigs would be a plus in any vehicle - but particularly one with performance aspirations.  I cringe at the thought of piloting this broad-of-beam beast through downtown Toronto, not being able to see approaching cyclists.  Or approaching street cars, for that matter.  It's not just the rear-view and side view that struck me as compromised - there wasn't much of a windshield to look out of, either.

Jaeger