For those accustomed to writing off V-6 muscle cars because they lack a V-8’s aural signature, give this Camaro a listen it might not have a V-8’s barrel-chested voice, but it speaks in the same accent. The car we drove was equipped with the optional dual-mode exhaust, which modulated the six’s volume between a raspy burble just off idle to a zingy scream at higher engine speeds, and added sharp crescendos to full-throttle upshifts. With less weight to lug around, the V-6 pulls surprisingly hard and sounds fantastic while doing so.
CAMARO6 DRIVING IMPRESSION MANUAL
This leaves the less powerful (but torquier) turbocharged four-cylinder as the new base motivator we haven’t driven the Camaro with the 2.0-liter four-that will happen early next year-but doing so isn’t a prerequisite to declaring the V-6 model a success.Īdopting General Motors’ Alpha rear-drive platform and tidying up the dimensions has shaved some 300 pounds (as shown by our test of the manual V-6) versus the outgoing car. Unbound by Ford’s EcoBoost marketing pressures, which led the Blue Oval to make its turbo four the Mustang’s mid-grade engine, Chevy has made the V-6 engine the Camaro’s middle offering. Where the V-6 fits into the 2016 Camaro’s engine lineup is nearly as important as its impressive specs. Almost entirely redesigned, the V-6 still displaces 3.6 liters and features aluminum construction, yet it now has a one-millimeter-larger bore, and it can shut down a few cylinders to save fuel.
In fact, with 335 horsepower and 284 lb-ft of torque, the V-6 not only is 12 horsepower stronger than the 2015 Camaro’s six, it also has bragging rights over the 5.7-liter V-8 in the fourth-generation Camaro SS. Like its fire-breathing V-8–powered SS sibling, the six-cylinder 2016 Camaro is lighter and slightly smaller than before and also more powerful. Not long ago, this combination of vehicle, engine, and transmission would have amounted to little more than the interesting alternative to the Chevy Lumina at the rental counter. Take, for example, the V-6–powered, automatic-equipped 2016 Chevrolet Camaro pictured here. (Yes, in both directions.) And they’ve even made the muscle machines with fewer than eight cylinders worth a damn, too.
While the V-8 pony cars still reign-and are ridiculously powerful-Detroit has attempted to shift the cars’ focus on straight-line prowess to more worldly pursuits, such as turning.
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