2010 Chevrolet Camaro 2LT RS V6 Review

Here it is, the one vehicle everyone has been waiting for: the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro.

This single vehicle is not only the most important vehicle to come out of General Motors this year, but the most important vehicle to come from an American-based car company. Why? Because this is the car the entire country has been pining for since the concept car was first displayed in 2006. It’s the one everyone wants to drive.

It is also the car that is bringing rear-wheel drive performance back to the mainstream GM brand, and mainstream America.

I was fortunate enough to receive this test car, a deep blue 2LT V6 RS automatic, in late June on a stroke of luck, as a cancellation in the car’s schedule opened up a chance to be one of the first to have a brand new Camaro in central Ohio. After putting over 400 miles on the odometer in a week, I decided to share my good luck with a few fellow Camaro enthusiasts for an, to see what they think. After all, this car was revived for them. Here’s what they think.

The new Camaro rides on the Zeta platform built by Holden in Australia. It’s the same chassis making up the excellent Pontiac G8, so it is quite a large car at 190.4 inches, with a wide girth of 75.5 inches. This equates into a surprisingly roomy interior up front, and if need be, short stints for friends in the rear two seats, but also pushes the weight near two tons in SS trim.

To power the heavy coupe the Camaro needs a pair of engines that can hustle the weight around. In the LS and LT-trims, Chevrolet reaches into its luxury sibling’s toy box and borrows Cadillac’s 3.6 liter, direct-injection V6. With variable valve timing and 304 horsepower creating a 12.2 hp/lb ratio, the engine can pull the Camaro to a 0-60 time of just over six seconds. For those who need more, get the range-topping SS, which offers a monster 426 horsepower, 420 lb. ft 6.2 liter LS3 V8 monster. (A 400 horse, 400 lb. ft L99 is placed under the hood if the automatic is selected.)

Transmission choices are equally plentiful. Two six-speeds are available for the V6, either GM’s Hydra-matic 6L50 or an Aisin Warner AY6 manual. In the V8s, the LS3 comes with a Tremec TR6060 six-speed while the L99 comes with a Hydra-matic 6L80 automatic.

Prices are very reasonable, with V6 prices starting around $23,000 for the base LS with OnStar, keyless entry, and Stabilitrak. A few thousand more for the mid-range LT and the car comes complete with comfortable heated leather seats, Bluetooth, Boston Acoustics nine-speaker stereo, and driver information display.

This test car came with a couple more options, such as the RS package (20 inch wheels, high-intensity discharge headlamps with halo rings, and rear spoiler), the automatic transmission with remote starting, and sunroof to name a few. With all those options, the price came to $31,485, almost $500 more than a base SS. For the “fully-loaded” nomenclature, though, it is acceptable when compared to the Dodge Challenger and Ford Mustang V6.

The new Camaro has sharp lines and a very aggressive look which pay homage to the late 1960s. The front sits high up and points outward, apparently aiming at its next target. The front bumper is split between two grills and houses some great-looking lighted halos around the RS-equipped bi-xenon headlamps. The hood has a power dome, which accentuates its forceful stance.

Down the sides of the car are two flared front fenders, a big “Camaro” badge and a high beltline that curves upward into the rear fenders. The sloping roofline and two muscular-looking fenders lead to a high-sitting rear end, accented by dual exhaust tips and a rear lip spoiler.

The 2010 Camaro makes a big presence from any angle, as evident by the throngs of people who would swarm this car everywhere it went. From car shows to a movie theater showing Transformers 2 to simply driving down the street, people would point, stare and quickly whip out cameras. This car is so hot at the moment that parking next to a Ferrari 360 Modena did nothing to deter camera phones.

Getting the car into the hands of my participants brought a lot of goggly-eyes and smiles as well.

The first test driver is Ryan Love, 21, from Polaris, Ohio. Love is working on his third Camaro, a 1999 SS six-speed, after driving a white 1992 V6 through high school and continuing to work on his project 1987 IROC with a stroked 383.

The second tester is AJ Meade from Reynoldsburg, Ohio. He will be the technical advisor on this, as he is an ASE-certified master mechanic at a local Chevrolet dealer who previously owned and built a resto-mod 1967 Camaro with an LS1. He currently owns a modified 2001 Chevrolet Corvette Z06.

The participants looked over the exterior, following the lines of the car, looking underneath and under the hood before inspecting the interior. Then it was time for a test drive.

“I really like the rear fenders,” said Love. “I remember seeing the car in pictures and thought it [the rear] looked too huge, but they give [the car] a mean, nasty look in person.”

Meade loved the exterior as well, but he had a few qualms about some of the small touches GM added.

“I absolutely love the exterior, but I’m not crazy about the chrome on the rear taillights,” he said. “I am not crazy about the huge gold Bowtie emblem on the front grill either, and I have never liked the small silver GM badge they’ve put on the side either. Other than those few bits, it looks great.”

Settling in behind the large, three-spoke wheel, both Love and Meade appreciated what GM has done to the overall design of the interior.

“GM actually did a good job. It doesn’t look near as cheap as Cobalt or the Tahoe in here,” said Meade. “The finish is really nice, and I really like both the gauge cluster in front of me and the console gauges as well because they are all very functional.”

However, both had some gripes that mostly stemmed from the vintage exterior look Chevrolet was trying to achieve.

“It feels roomy inside, and it feels like I am sitting inside the car, this is where I am suppose to be,” said Love. “But the headroom is poor with the sunroof and the blindspots are massive, both with the A-pillar and out back. Then again, it’s got these big mirrors which are helpful.”

Meanwhile, Meade was having some issues with a few of the necessary controls and wondered why GM approved of their implementation.

“I am not crazy about the steering wheel. It feels bent and twisted in unlike regular steering wheels,” he said. “Also, the tiny buttons for the A/C controls are terrible. They use knobs in other GM vehicles?”

Out on the roads, there was a definite difference noticed which made it a much different experience from any previous Camaro.

“The front end feels more planted and with the new IRS (independent rear suspension,) the rear end doesn’t kick out like the older one,” said Meade. “It will hold the road instead of drifting and pushing.”

Meade felt the single-piston brakes work well, although preferred the four-piston available on the SS and the transmission shifts well enough. And the fact the automatic would rev-match on downshifts made it very appealing to him as well.

“For as big as the car is and the way it feels, it handles surprisingly well,” he said.

Love enjoyed the more comfort-oriented ride and loved the steering wheel mounted buttons for manually controlling the automatic, but he longed for the connectivity he feels with his SS.

“You feel everything in the old one, but not in the new one. It is just so smooth,” he said. “There was a bit of float in the drive and it’s got a bit of roll in the corners. Overall, as a daily driver, it is very nice and will appeal to a lot of drivers.”

The 306 horsepower engine offers a surprising amount of pull as well, as both Love and Meade would give an approving nod every time they hit the accelerator. And with the touted highway mileage at 29 mpg, it’s also frugal.

However, Meade was not a fan of the exhaust note as we pulled out of the parking lot, to which he mistakenly thought the sound was coming from an import and not the Camaro. The car produces a very similar baritone bellow of the 3.6 liter from the Hyundai Genesis Coupe. It’s not bad, but it shouldn’t be coming from the rear end of this car, according to him.

So is the new Camaro as good as GM promised? I believe so, as do Camaro fans. It’s not as responsive as most are used to in performance cars, with a slight disconnection from it, but Chevrolet did a superb job on this car. It’s a roomy and fun car to drive that has all the sex appeal and power anyone could want wrapped in a reasonable price tag.

So to those worried or anxious, relax and enjoy the ride.

Update: 2010 Chevy Camaro 1LT Review

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Base Price: $26,580
As Tested: $31,485
Architecture: Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive five passenger midsize coupe
Drivetrain: DOHC, 24-valve, 3.6 liter six cylinder engine with six-speed automatic
Length: 190.4 inches
Wheelbase: 112.3 inches
Mileage: 18 mpg city, 29 mpg highway
Weight: 3719 lbs.

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What do you think about 2010 Chevrolet Camaro RS ?
This is a very, very nice car.
The interior and also the exterior of this car surprised me. Also the price is one of the best.. and the speed as well.
I want to test it faster. On blue color it looks good.