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aussiesmg
aussiesmg MegaDork
1/21/14 9:03 a.m.

Initial thoughts after a hour drive.

Nice and tight no shake or thumps for a vert. V6 is decent in traffic, not a fast car but no trouble staying with traffic, ride is good and with the roof down the air movement is quite reasonable. It is not hard to talk normally in traffic or on the freeway.

Interior, dashboard is ugly, controls are in unfamiliar locations and seem awkward but that could be me. The top of the windshield is very large and seems to be very close to my head all the time. It is wierd feeling to have no roof but to have a claustrophobic feeling.

The actual windshield seems very small, like a porthole, from inside but looking from outside it is large.

The seat to windshield location is strange for me, partially due to my long torso. I am low in the car yet the top of the windshield is in my field of vision.

The trunk is so small, how can a big car have so little room.

Driving impression is very positive, interior package is less than optimal.

 photo Camaro_zpsaaeae954.jpg

I have it for 2 weeks so I will update as we travel

aussiesmg
aussiesmg MegaDork
1/21/14 9:29 a.m.

I met with JoeyM and one of his friends for supper last night, it was a good time. Had some Jeruselum cuisine, very Middle Eastern in style, good company and chatted about everything and nothing in true GRM style.

Kissimmee, Florida is much warmer than Scott, Ohio right now.

evildky
evildky Dork
1/21/14 9:44 a.m.

I had a rental v6 mustang about a year ago, terrible car, not sure who would buy one or why. Small interior, small trunk, huge car? How does that work? They might be proud of their v6 power but in such a big heavy turd it's obvious you'd want the v8. I think I'd have been happier in a fiesta, seriously.

bravenrace
bravenrace UltimaDork
1/21/14 9:48 a.m.

The first thing I thought was "Where the hell is he that he can put the top down!". Thanks for the review.

Vigo
Vigo PowerDork
1/21/14 10:06 a.m.

I havent been in the updated one but my overriding thought about the 'new' camaros is being annoyed at how they made a big car so small and useless. Or, how they made a small car so big and useless.

I am registering my usual irony about what people think is fast these days.

Thanks for the input!

dculberson
dculberson UltraDork
1/21/14 10:27 a.m.

I lived in Kissimmee, Fl for years as a kid...!

Enjoy the weather.

NOHOME
NOHOME Dork
1/21/14 11:31 a.m.
aussiesmg wrote: Initial thoughts after a hour drive. V6 is decent in traffic, not a fast car but no trouble staying with traffic,

I have to say that I am surprised that it will actually keep up with traffic. The engine only has 300+ HP. From reading post on this board, I am led to believe that anything less 600hp would be unsuitable for daily driving

mattmacklind
mattmacklind UltimaDork
1/21/14 4:21 p.m.

I had one of those in Vegas for 10 days last year. I don't think I'd buy one, especially not a 'vert, but as a holiday rental car including some long drives through Nevada with the top down, I loved it. Can't wait to do it again, but next time I think I will try the Mustang V6 and compare. I thought the V6 Camaro was actually pretty smooth and powerful and felt great on the highway and wasn't bad around town either, but you can probably tell by my avatar what kind of pace passes for brisk in my book. SWMBO and me, put together, had 5 suitcases. They all fit (if the top was up) in the trunk and/or backseat.

aussiesmg
aussiesmg MegaDork
1/21/14 4:35 p.m.

We went to Mecum at Kissimmee today, the car was fine in traffic, it has a lot more power on tap in regular driving than my Elantra. A few quick squirts to move over in lanes were surpisingly brisk. I am not expecting a race car here, and as a comfortable tourer it does the job well so far, however we have not done any longer drives yet.

I still find the interior layout to be odd at best.

The trunk room is simply a joke.

I am a Ford guy but I am trying to be objective, so far if I lived in town in Florida I would consider it, but it would be a poor car to try and bring home a transmission in the trunk.

Top down driving is nice in Florida.

ansonivan
ansonivan Dork
1/21/14 4:42 p.m.

Burnout pictures, we must have them sir!

aussiesmg
aussiesmg MegaDork
1/21/14 4:56 p.m.

In reply to ansonivan: How do you turn off the traction control completely?

minimac
minimac SuperDork
1/21/14 7:07 p.m.

I couldn't stand the rental one we had. It did draw attention, but felt like it would shake itself apart on rough roads.The shimmy from the cowl would have put old go-go girls to shame. I did really like the heads up display though. I thought it was just a gimmick, but after only a few miles, I got used to it.

Mr_Clutch42
Mr_Clutch42 New Reader
1/21/14 7:26 p.m.

I have a 91 Camaro and they definitely didn't design a Camaro to stuff a bunch of groceries, tools, car parts, etc in the trunk. I would expect that a convertible makes it worse.

If you haven't, rent a 2014 Mustang V6 and tell us how they compare.

ansonivan
ansonivan Dork
1/21/14 7:52 p.m.

In reply to aussiesmg: Holding the traction control button for 8 seconds should shut it off completely.

aussiesmg
aussiesmg MegaDork
1/21/14 8:02 p.m.

In reply to ansonivan:

aussiesmg
aussiesmg MegaDork
1/21/14 8:03 p.m.

In reply to minimac: No cowl shake so far and no heads up display on the 2014

novaderrik
novaderrik PowerDork
1/21/14 10:16 p.m.
Mr_Clutch42 wrote: I have a 91 Camaro and they definitely didn't design a Camaro to stuff a bunch of groceries, tools, car parts, etc in the trunk. I would expect that a convertible makes it worse. If you haven't, rent a 2014 Mustang V6 and tell us how they compare.

my 86 Camaro held enough stuff for 2 people to live for 8 days when i took it from MN to TX via TN.. we even had a bunch of camping gear (tent, sleeping bags, etc.) as well as a big cooler in the back seat..

i guess that would be my metric for the usefulness of a new Camaro- it would have to hold at least as much stuff as i had jammed into my 86..

kreb
kreb GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
1/22/14 9:28 a.m.
evildky wrote: I had a rental v6 mustang about a year ago, terrible car, not sure who would buy one or why. Small interior, small trunk, huge car? How does that work? They might be proud of their v6 power but in such a big heavy turd it's obvious you'd want the v8. I think I'd have been happier in a fiesta, seriously.

Interesting. I had the opposite reaction. Maybe its because I expect rentals to be turds, so my expectations were low. But I thought that as a rental/pony car the 2013 'stang was a fine choice. Too beefy for my tastes, but I wouldn't throw one out of bed.

aussiesmg
aussiesmg MegaDork
1/22/14 12:15 p.m.

The drive to Daytona revealed the dreaded scuttle shake, it is significant

As a cruiser it is enjoyable still

ansonivan
ansonivan Dork
1/22/14 1:31 p.m.

Any wheel hop issues when performing outrageously huge smokey burnouts?

edwardh80
edwardh80 New Reader
1/22/14 1:49 p.m.

I rented a V6 Camaro in 2011 in southern Oregon on a couple of occasions and just loved it. Sure, less practical than an Impala or something similarly lame, but it's not intended to be a shopping cart or family mover. However, could definitely use some more power, but then I was lucky enough to confirm this with renting a V8 version in Florida shortly afterwards. That was fun. Both versions definitely needed better brakes though. After this I rented a V6 mustang in the same southern region of Oregon (those coastal passes to Eugene, Cottage Grove and Roseburg are amazing roads BTW), and it just didn't do it for me.

Couldn't help thinking a twin turbo V6 Camaro would be very fun...

aussiesmg
aussiesmg MegaDork
1/25/14 11:49 p.m.

Finally a warm enough day to put the top down again, the car has been doing commuter miles from the hotel to the track with a few restaurants included.

The lack of room and interior layout are still bothering me.

The car drives nicely and I still think the power is adequate, even decent, for a street car

Where's Waldo

 photo 84A6F8B8-CFB5-46AD-9FA6-2A326477BD1D_zpszggxgvef.jpg

aussiesmg
aussiesmg MegaDork
2/1/14 3:13 p.m.

We have done about 1000 miles to date, the car is acceptable but, no, I wouldn't own one.

 photo 2004B514-CF91-4C2C-8A3C-2B1FD81622C3_zpskrzwpbzi.jpg

No space inside, the trunk is almost useless, we have three bags, two of which we have to put in the back seat when traveling, then we have to move the seats forward to fit them in.

 photo A64C8442-FA57-473E-B6BC-D45ACF8CF1E6_zps7cvvwhef.jpg

The heat and AC work fine, 300hp is enough for most uses, I never found it lacking.

Convertible Camaros and Mustangs are very common down here.

Fuel usage has been reasonable.

Gina says, it's just a car built badly (cowl shake) and with no room.

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
2/1/14 3:22 p.m.

Looks good, though, and the top goes up and down.

aussiesmg
aussiesmg MegaDork
2/1/14 3:37 p.m.

So it does

 photo topdownsorta_zpse80c0caf.jpg

 photo topdown3_zpsf06232c6.jpg

 photo topdown2_zpsf0dc47dd.jpg

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