The interior of the 2016 Camaro, Motor Trend's car of the year, is seen Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn.Fast facts
* Model: 2016 Camaro 2SS Coupe * Exterior color: Red Hot * Interior color: Jet Black * Engine: 6.2-liter V-8, direct injection * Horsepower: 455 * Transmission: eight-speed automatic * Fuel economy: 28 mpg highway, 17 mpg city * Dealer: Integrity Chevrolet * Price (as tested): $45,180
Earlier this year, we tested Dodge's insanely powerful Challenger Hellcat and Ford's curvaceous and audacious new Mustang GT. Last but not least, it's time for Chevrolet SS to add its redesigned Camaro SS to the muscle car mix.
Just this week, the sleek new 2016 Camaro, with its sublime Cadillac ATS-based platform and svelte new curb weight, was named Motor Trend's 2016 Car of the Year.
Dwight Morgan and Wayne Tubbs at Chattanooga's Integrity Chevrolet were kind enough to lend us the keys to one of the only 2016 Camaros on the ground here this week, a Red Hot red 2+2 coupe in SS trim.
Our test car features a 6.2-liter, V-8 direct injection engine that makes 455 horsepower and launches the Camaro from zero-to-60 miles per hour in four seconds flat. Yowza! Rev the SS and it roars like a lion who has been poked with a cue stick.
Chevy offers Camaro buyers two engine options besides the big daddy V-8, a 2.0-liter turbocharged four cylinder (270 hp) and a 3.6-liter V-6 (335 hp). Prices for the value-packed new Camaro line range from about $25,700 for a base 1LT four-cylinder turbo with manual transmission, to more than $40,000 for a well-equipped SS version. Our top-of-the-line tester with automatic transmission and a few other goodies has a sicker price of $45,180.
And it's worth every penny. In fact, it amazes us that a performance beast like this doesn't cost thousands more.
STYLING AND APPEARANCE
Chevrolet played it conservatively with the exterior styling of the new Camaro, opting for a few subtle - but effective - design tweaks. Most noticeable is a new, larger grille that makes the car look more menacing. The rear wheel arches are also a little more pronounced and the rear of the car has a more tailored look. LEDs peek out from slits in the headlight assemblies giving the car a feline appearance.
To our eye, the Camaro went from a 9 to a 10 on the beauty scale and is now clearly the most visually stunning design in the segment.
Red Hot red is also the right color to accentuate the Camaro's gorgeous lines. The five-spoke, 20-inch painted alloys on our tester are shod with summer Goodyear Eagle tires. All other models get all-season rubber. You'll need that summer-tire grip, though, to harness the 455 pound-feet of torque flowing to the SS's back wheels.
Inside, the Camaro's cockpit has been modernized and decluttered. A new, bigger touch-screen houses the telematics system with includes Apple's CarPlay smart phone interface. The Camaro is also equipped with an available 4G LTE hot spot that can turn your vehicle into a WiFi user's dream. A charging station at the rear of the center stack allows your Android smartphone to juice up without cables.
A new digital gauge cluster is well positioned for optimal viewing, and a head-up display projects the Camaro's speed onto the back of the windshield. Heat and air vents are mounted low on the dash. Circular dials that frame the outlets also control the settings. The well-bolstered leather buckets have SS embossed in the seat backs. Vision is a bit restricted in all directions, but that's the price you pay for sport's car styling.
Other standard features on the Camaro SS include a rear view camera, push-button start, rear cross traffic alert, heated and ventilated power front seats, heated steering wheel, an eight-inch color touchscreen and navigation.
DRIVING IMPRESSIONS
While four- and six-cylinder versions of the Camaro will no doubt be the volume leaders, the SS with the V-8 power-plant is the way to go for speed junkies. Not only does it have incredible straight line acceleration, covering the quarter mile in 12.5 seconds at 116 miles per hour, but the improved chassis, courtesy of Cadillac, is a wonder. Motor Trend, in bestowing the Camaro its Car of the Year award, notes that GM's new Alpha platform puts the Camaro's handing in the same class as the best German sports sedans.
Indeed, in our short test driver along some twisting back-roads, the Camaro SS ate up curves as eagerly as an offensive lineman sucking up strands of spaghetti. The SS has four driving modes, depending on your mood, and paddle shifters if you're feeling especially frisky. A manual transmission is standard on all 2016 Camaros. Our SS tester also has GM's excellent magnetic ride control suspension, an automated damping system that reads road conditions and adjusts the suspension accordingly. Brembo performance brakes keep all this power under control.
The hardest part about driving the Camaro SS is keeping your eyes on the road. Your natural instinct will be to look around to feel all the admiring eyes on your new car. In fact it's a good idea to keep your distance from other drivers who might otherwise drift in your direction to get a closer look.
BOTTOM LINE
One test drive of this amazing machine will prove to you that Motor Trend was onto something in naming the Camaro the 2016 Car of the Year. Whether you are a baby boomer trying to recapture your youth or an young driving enthusiast hoping to own your first muscle car, the Camaro is hard to beat.
Contact Mark Kennedy at mkennedy@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6645. Follow him on Twitter @TFPCOLUMNIST. Subscribe to his Facebook updates at www.facebook.com/mkennedycolumnist.