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© 2002 Brian F. Schreurs
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Even we have a disclaimer.
Most of the automotive press would laugh at my decision, as they are not exactly decrying the death of the car. Easy enough for them to complain of old technology, odd ergonomics, and a rough ride: they have a whole fleet of cars available to them! When they want a luxury cruiser, they grab the keys for the Lexus; if it's a sports car they want, they'll find the latest Corvette or Miata waiting outside; if they have a trip to a hardware store in the works, they can choose one of about six billion truck variants at their disposal. For those of us in the Real World who have to choose one (exactly one) vehicle to take to work, to run errands, to enjoy on country roads, the Camaro doesn't look so bad.
It seats two comfortably, or four in a pinch; with the folding rear seat, the hatchback version can swallow small furniture. It'll carry two humans and two dogs on a vacation -- I know it, not by calculating cargo volume, but because I've done it. Even the convertible still has enough storage space for a shopping spree or a weekend getaway. The bottom line is, it can do what a car needs to do as a daily driver.
There are plenty of other cars on the road that can out-handle a Camaro, but that's okay. The benchmark for this seems to be the Mazda Miata, which lucky me, I've owned. It's true that my 1996 Miata would have run circles around my Camaro -- if it could catch up long enough to do it -- but the Camaro doesn't handle as badly as some press wags would suggest. On good pavement, it behaves well enough that most drivers won't know there's a live axle in the back; on rough pavement, the axle hops, which is annoying, but not damnably so. It may be at a disadvantage to my old Miata on an autocross course, but on those back country roads it's still entertaining. And considering that I can take my wife and dogs with me, it's worth the compromise. Judging the handling of today's Camaro to what the Camaro offered in the barges of 1972 is no more fair than judging today's Porsche 911 by its 30-year-old forebear.
Winter driving often comes up when people talk about living with Camaros. Part of this is because there is now an entire generation of drivers who grew up in an era where most cars were front-drivers. The Camaro is one of the few that never abandoned rear-wheel-drive, staying true to its performance heritage. Those who are not familiar with RWD may find it challenging in bad weather at first, but any skilled driver willing to learn new techniques will soon master it. Snow and ice competency are largely a function of tire selection. Summer tires will fare poorly -- that's why they make winter tires -- though they will manage to plow through light snow in a pinch.
The fuel economy tradeoff isn't even an issue. My Miata, with a 1.8 liter inline-four engine, was rated at 29 mpg on the highway. My Camaro, with a 5.7 liter V8 engine, is rated at 28 mpg on the highway. Since most of my driving is on the highway, I have sacrificed almost nothing and gained over twice as much horsepower. There's a technology gap here somewhere: if GM can get 28 mpg from 5.7L, then by extrapolation Mazda ought to be getting about 92 mpg from 1.8L. Of course, the Miata runs on regular where the Camaro calls for premium, but I'll pay that price for my extra 165 horsepower.
It goes without saying that the true strength of a Camaro is in its acceleration. This is a car that has more power on reserve at any speed well into the triple-digits. Merging on interstates and passing on two-lane back roads are easy. Success at amateur racing is as simple as showing up to the track and practicing. Acceleration is what the Camaro does; everything else is just added on to make it possible to use this rocket as a daily driver. Not only that, this power is affordable; with the Camaro and Firebird gone, there literally is no replacement. They were the last. A strong statement to be sure, so to back it up I have prepared a table. Some of these cars are legitimate competition; others are here simply as reality checks for their owners.
CAR POWER + WEIGHT = 1/4-MILE @ COST SOURCE 2001 Mosler MT900 350 2590 12.0 @ 118 $163,800 Car and Driver 3/01 2001 Dodge Viper ACR 460 3450 12.6 @ 114 $85,300 Car and Driver 2/01 2001 Porsche 911 Turbo 415 3600 12.6 @ 112 $121,600 Car and Driver 3/01 2003 Ford Must. SVT Cob 390 4000 12.67 @ 110.11 $35,000 Muscle Must./Fast Ford 7/02 2002 Ferrari 550 Mara. 479 3910 12.7 @ 115 $222,400 Car and Driver 11/01 2002 Aston Martin Vanq. 460 4100 12.9 @ 115 $235,600 Car and Driver 11/01 **2001 Chevy Camaro SS 325 3500 12.96 @ 107.43 $28,000 GM High Tech Perf. 11/01 2001 Chevy Corvette Z06 385 3130 13.0 @ 112 $48,900 Car and Driver 2/01 2001 Ford Must. Cobra R 385 3580 13.0 @ 111 $55,600 Car and Driver 2/01 2001 BMW Z8 394 3490 13.0 @ 110 $134,500 Car and Driver 4/01 2001 BMW M Roadster 315 3140 13.1 @ 109 $47,000 Car and Driver 8/01 2002 BMW M5 394 4020 13.2 @ 109 $73,500 Car and Driver 9/01 2001 Ferrari 360 Spyder 395 3420 13.2 @ 106 $176,500 Car and Driver 4/01 2002 Porsche 911 C2 320 2910 13.36 @ 104.5 $68,000 AutoWeek 5-6-02 2001 BMW M3 333 3440 13.4 @ 106 $47,400 Car and Driver 6/01 2003 Ford Mustang Cobra 320 3470 13.5 @ 105 $29,600 Car and Driver 7/01 2001 Aston Martin DB7 414 4260 13.6 @ 106 $159,700 Car and Driver 4/01 2001 Mercedes CLK55 AMG 342 3520 13.6 @ 106 $69,200 Car and Driver 6/01 2002 Holden HSV GTSR300 402 3820 13.7 @ 105 $48,000 Car and Driver 9/01 2001 Panoz Esperante 320 3520 13.7 @ 104 $83,200 Car and Driver 7/01 2002 Mercedes AMG C32 349 3540 13.71 @ 104.5 $49,900 AutoWeek 2-11-02 2001 Mercedes S600 362 4440 13.9 @ 103 $122,800 Car and Driver 5/01 2001 Porsche Boxster S 250 3040 13.9 @ 102 $51,500 Car and Driver 8/01 1999 Ford Mustang GT 260 3400 14.0 @ 100.2 $23,665 Motor Trend 12/99 2003 Jaguar S-Type R 400 3950 14.1 @ 99 $63,000 Car and Driver 5/02 2001 Jaguar XKR 370 4100 14.2 @ 100 $87,700 Car and Driver 7/01 2003 Mercedes SL500 302 4170 14.3 @ 99 $87,000 Car and Driver 4/02 2002 BMW 330Ci 225 3360 14.4 @ 97 $35,600 Car and Driver 7/02 2001 Ford Mustang GT 260 3520 14.7 @ 96 $27,400 Car and Driver 5/01 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX 227 3130 14.7 @ 93 $24,500 Car and Driver 4/01 2002 Audi S6 Avant 340 4020 14.73 @ 95.9 $59,300 AutoWeek 6-17-02 2002 Acura RSX Type S 200 2780 15.0 @ 94 $23,700 Car and Driver 5/02 2002 VW Beetle Turbo S 180 3020 15.0 @ 90 $24,000 Car and Driver 5/02 2002 Saab 9-3 Viggen 230 3220 15.2 @ 95 $38,600 Car and Driver 2/02 2003 Mitsu. Eclipse GTS 210 3220 15.2 @ 92 $24,800 Car and Driver 5/02 2002 Volksw. GTI Turbo 180 2900 15.3 @ 94 $19,400 Car and Driver 3/02 2002 Ford Thunderbird 252 3780 15.39 @ 91.3 $38,500 AutoWeek 2-25-02 2002 Cadillac CTS 220 3680 15.4 @ 91 $30,000 Car and Driver 2/02 2002 Lexus IS 300 215 3380 15.4 @ 90 $30,000 Car and Driver 2/02 2002 Audi A4 3.0 Quatt 220 3750 15.5 @ 92 $33.700 Car and Driver 2/02 2002 Mini Cooper S 163 2770 15.5 @ 90 $24,000 Car and Driver 7/02 2002 Jaguar X-Type 231 3630 15.5 @ 89 $38,600 Car and Driver 2/02 2003 Hyundai Tiburon GT 181 3040 15.6 @ 90 $18,500 Car and Driver 5/02 2002 Toyota Celica GT-S 180 2580 15.6 @ 89 $22,000 Car and Driver 5/02 2002 Ford SVT Focus 170 2750 15.72 @ 88.4 $18,000 AutoWeek 7-1-02 2002 Lincoln LS 210 3690 16.1 @ 89 $35,500 Car and Driver 2/02 2002 Honda Civic Si 160 2740 16.2 @ 86 $19,000 Car and Driver 3/02 2001 Mazda MX-5 Miata 155 2420 16.3 @ 83 $21,700 Car and Driver 2/01 ** the nearest vehicle to mine that I could findThe bargain of the century has finally been pulled from the shelves. It was great while it lasted. Thankfully, there's still the used car market!