We haven't always been kind in our reviews of the latest retro-themed Camaro. While most staffers love the styling and the sound, we have been let down by the handling and ergonomics. The numbers show that previous Camaros may have been faster around our figure-eight track than the Mustang GT, its closest competitor, but our testers just couldn't get past the huge amount of understeer and slow steering response. GM engineers have reworked the rough edges and dull spots on Camaros like the 2012 Chevrolet Camaro RS 45th Anniversary convertible we recently tested. They're trying to get it right for what is apparently the Camaro's 45th anniversary.
2012 Chevrolet Camaro RS 45th Anniversary Convertible
The improvements to the 2012 Camaro immediately jump out. It would appear Chevy finally hired a steering-wheel designer with hands. The old wheel's grips may have been perfect for someone with hands made out of Legos, but anyone with digits vaguely resembling human found it almost painfully uncomfortable for anything past a normal length driveway. Everyone on staff who drove the new Camaro rejoiced that the steering wheel has gone from downright torturous to perfectly mediocre.
The rest of the interior is still a mixed bag. Being a 45th anniversary edition means the black leather seats, steering wheel, and shift knob get red, white, and blue stitching. While it may sound overdone, it looks abso-flag-waving-lutely perfect on the Camaro. The dash and door panels still seem cheap, but the shiny plastic inlays are now opaque and used as ambient lighting at night. The seats are supportive and work well for spirited driving, although some of the smaller testers feel this car is definitely built with bigger men (or bigger women) in mind. With the top up, the interior is relatively quiet for a convertible. Taller drivers feel cramped because of the low header panel and small windows. Apparently it was not designed with just wider drivers in mind, but wider and lower drivers in mind, just like the car. With the top down, wind noise will stop conversation at freeway speeds. Again, taller drivers will find the open-top ride a little uncomfortable. While visibility is vastly improved, you will feel like your forehead is constantly up in the wind.
On the outside, this Camaro only looks different because of the anniversary edition package. The color is Carbon Flash Metallic, or sparkly black, as most people will call it. The paint is only available on the anniversary edition and is accented with gray and red striping on the hood and decklid. Special wheels and badges round out the package. It would be nice to see some actual performance parts included, but that's just not in the cards for this Camaro -- maybe for the 50th anniversary.
The numbers on this car are remarkably similar to Camaros we've tested in the past. With 323 horsepower available from the 3.6-liter V-6, we would expect some startling acceleration numbers. Unfortunately, our test car weighed in at 4105 pounds. Meaning that our ponycar just barely beats an everyday sedan like the Toyota Camry in power-to-weight ratio. Sadly, the Camaro's 6.6-second 0-60 run is also slower than the 6.1-6.3-second 0-60 runs we recorded with Camry V-6s in the past. It is also nearly 400 pounds heavier than a recently tested Mustang V-6 convertible. This might explain why the Camaro is a tenth of a second slower to 60 than the Mustang with 18 less horsepower. The Mustang holds that 0.1-second advantage in the quarter-mile, turning in a 14.8-second run at 95.3 mph while the Camaro was only slightly slower at 14.9 seconds at 94.7 mph.
Where the Camaro really shines is in the figure eight. As we have seen recently, tires are nearly everything when it comes to handling. When comparing the Camaro and the Mustang V-6, the Ford is at a considerable disadvantage. The Mustang has to make do with a taxi-cab-esque 215/65/17s on all four corners, while the Camaro runs considerably wider and lower profile 245/45/20s on the front. It has a 275/40/20s out back. This helps explain why the Camaro can average 0.90 g while the Mustang can only manage 0.83 g around our 200-foot arc. The big footprint also helps with the considerably better stopping distance from 60 mph. The Camaro stops from 60 mph in 111 feet, compared to the Mustang at 124 feet. The Camaro does have significantly longer pedal travel than the Mustang. The stopping power is there, but it just isn't that confidence-inspiring.
Steering Wheel photo
The Camaro, despite the far better braking and the impressive lateral grip, still didn't manage to put much time on the Mustang in the figure eight. The Camaro did the lap in 27 seconds flat, while the Mustang was behind by only a tenth of a second. Obviously the Mustang's in-gear times were enough to make up the difference in accelerating out of turns. The weight of the Camaro is working against it again.
The Camaro is hugely improved for 2012. All the little design faults we found on previous cars have pretty much been addressed. The biggest problem we see is still just weight, which is a fundamental problem with the platform. The next Camaro is rumored to be a smaller, lighter car. If GM can manage to use this car, which is good, as a jumping off point for the next Camaro, it will likely be great. Until then, buyers could certainly do a lot worse than the current car.
