Got to drive some fun things this weekend.

Kinja'd!!! by "WiscoProud" (wiscoproud)
Published 03/06/2017 at 11:08

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For valentine ’ s day last year, I got my wife a nice gift certificate for a spa day. Lo and Behold, 13 months later she actually uses it. I graciously offered to drop her off, and proceeded to drive to a Chevrolet dealership to test drive some vehicles.

While my first car was a Chevy S - 10 Blazer in glorious brown/brown, I have largely ignored Chevy for the last 20 years, aside from various outliers. Seeing as this is the last year for the SS and the 6th gen Camaro looks pretty f ’ ing nice, I thought it was time to rectify that.

For those interested, I actually am in the market for a newer vehicle. The key is I want two vehicles. One 4wd for blizzard and exploring national forests, and a car for fun and occasional commuting duty. I currently have a 2004 Land Cruiser with 160k miles on it. While very reliable, it is 12 years old and has lived a life in road salt country. I also just had to replace the steering rack, which sparked this. Anyways, my options are either to trade in the LC for a newer truck and pick up an older fun car, like an E46 or something; or keep my truck and buy a newer fun car.

Truck Test Drives

I test drove two 4wds: a 2017 Colorado Z71 Crew Cab Short bed, and a 2017 Nissan Armada SL. Here are my impressions:

2017 Chevrolet Colorado Z71 Crew Cab Short Bed

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Out of all the vehicles I ’ ve owned, I ’ ve never owned a pickup. I have little desire to daily drive a modern 1500, so I ’ ve largely stuck with SUVs. While not a compact truck like many wanted, the Colorado is a fair amount smaller than the Silverados and Sierras elsewhere on the lot. I liked this truck and think it would suit my needs well. However, there is less room in the back seat than the measurements would indicate, and the V6 is the wrong engine for the truck. You can tell they tuned it to get over 300 hp for marketing, since there isn ’ t much torque off idle. I think offering the diesel option was the right call, but unfortunately the dealer didn ’ t have one for me to drive. Also, while the Z71 is quite nice, if I got one I would get the ZR2. Selectable lockers would be very nice.

Verdict: Very nice truck, but I would want to test drive a ZR2 with diesel first.

2017 Nissan Armada SL (Nissan Patrol)

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I am well aware of the new Armada ’ s Y62 Patrol roots (the saleman was not), and its a nice looking truck, so I figured might as well drive one since the dealer was next door to the Chevy dealer. I drove the mid - level Armada, and was still impressed with the number of gadgets it had, most of all, cameras on each side of the vehicle, showing your exact position to everything around you when backing up. Given the size of the vehicle it was welcome, but not really needed as it was surprisingly maneuverable. It was right on the cusp of too big for my comfort though. As you can imagine, it was very comfortable and had prodigious interior room. The 2nd row was very roomy. Good power too. If they made a Pro - 4X version with the locker and other gear from the Aussie version, I would consider them more, but for $60k it wasn ’ t for me. In a couple of years when depreciation takes its toll, that may change however.

Verdict: Nice and roomy, but not what I ’ m looking for.

Car Test Drives

2017 Chevrolet Camaro SS Manual

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I have never driven a modern Camaro, and after reading some good reviews of the 6th gen, thought it was about time. While the spoiler is a bit cheesy, this is a very nice looking car. The interior was clearly GM designed, but nicer than what I remembered. The HUD is very cool, and I found myself relying on it for speed. While the windows are small, once I realized I could lower the seat more, I had pretty good visibility. Well, at least through the front and sides. Sadly, blind spot detection on this is almost required, as turning your head to look is useless.

Luckily, the dealer had a few manuals to choose from, so I went with a black coupe. They also had a white convertible, but the top noticeably reduced headroom. Anyways, when I saw the salesman trying to pull it around he was jerky and killed it once or twice. I just figured since he was young, that he wasn ’ t that familiar with manuals. I was wrong. It was a very grabby clutch, which I attributed to it being new. I also had issues starting from a stop, and at one point I even did an unintentional burnout in an attempt to not stall.

The Camaro was very nice, and the wide adjustment lead me to be pretty comfortable, which is impressive since I ’ m 6'5" and not skinny. I ’ m used to pushing the seat all the way back, and I actually had to bring it forward some to be comfortable. I can ’ t remember the last time that happened.

I wish I could tell you I floored it and flogged it, but since I was mostly focused on just driving the thing smoothly, I did not. I will say that 450hp sneaks up on you, as my burnout indicated. I will add the revmatch feature was interesting, but there is a gear lockout, which makes you skip gears to be more efficient. I’ve never seen this on a manual, and thought I had just mis-shift. Not a fan.

Verdict: Great car, ditch the stupid spoiler. Rear seats are largely ornamental.

2017 Chevrolet SS

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Dear god I love this car, even with an auto. $50k is absurd, but they ’ re doing a 20% off deal, bringing it down to $40k, which was tempting. While not nearly as attention grabbing as the Camaro, the exhaust note and power is good enough to get anyone ’ s attention. Very comfortable, nice HUD again, usable back seats (needed for school runs). The salesguy said this was the only SS they got this year, and the first one they ’ ve gotten since 2015. Since it was an auto, I was able to flog it a bit more. I put it in track mode, with sport shifting, which allowed for either manual shifting or keeping it auto with more aggressive shift points. I was actually surprised at how quick the manual shifting was for both up and down shifts. I would still want a manual, but its not a bad option and a lot more common. While I can ’ t compare it to the prior version, I can say that this one rode very well, and was a delight. I did get to mash the throttle on this one, and basked in the glory of a screaming 6.2L. Instant permagrin.

Verdict: Gimme gimme gimme.

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Replies (5)

Kinja'd!!! "WiscoProud" (wiscoproud)
03/06/2017 at 12:56, STARS: 0

If anyone has guidance on how to remove the last three pictures (they don’t show up in edit mode) I would appreciate it.

Kinja'd!!! "DynamicWeight" (dynamicweight)
03/06/2017 at 18:51, STARS: 0

I finally bought a pick up truck recently. A 2016 Tacoma TRD OR DC LB. I really have to say: I love it. It rides so nicely for long road trips. Very comfortable. I just spent 7 hours in it yesterday driving through a bit of a blizzard in the mountains. Took it like a champ. It’s also been really great off road. I’m assuming the Chevy will be similar. Having a bed is so great for tossing a bunch of dirty gear into. I splurged and bought a camper shell, and now the damn thing is just so useful. Go anywhere, and take pretty much anything I want with me.

I also have a miata, because, honestly, I can’t imagine driving nothing but a truck. I love the thing to death, but it’s huge. Driving huge cars is exhausting day in and day out. You really have to be fairly conservative and drive slow unless you want to eat up fuel and tires. Plus, it’s just kind of tiring wrestling the thing to go fast (though it will move surprisingly quickly).

Also, I sat in (and drove for a bit) that generation Camaro SS... it felt like sitting at the bottom of a well. I hated it. Sounds like your mind is made up on the Chevy SS though. Go get er! Maybe used though? I have to imagine the depreciation on those is huge.

Kinja'd!!! "WiscoProud" (wiscoproud)
03/06/2017 at 20:09, STARS: 0

Sounds like we have the same thought. I haven’t driven the 5th gen Camaro, but the 6th gen was pretty comfortable, although it does have the same visibility issues.

There are shockingly few SS on the used market, and many of them were purchased for the original MSRP of $50k, so they’re asking high $30s used. I think they’ll come down more since the price drop

Kinja'd!!! "Racin'Jason001" (racinjason001)
03/06/2017 at 20:38, STARS: 0

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Kinja'd!!! "Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer" (smallbear94)
03/13/2017 at 16:13, STARS: 0

the V6 is the wrong engine for the truck. You can tell they tuned it to get over 300 hp for marketing, since there isn’t much torque off idle. I think offering the diesel option was the right call...

Verdict: Very nice truck, but I would want to test drive a ZR2 with diesel first.

You’re dead right. I’ve driven both of them now, and while the V6 will be faster at WOT, the diesel has more power at any other point. The V6 just doesn’t have enough low end. I can’t believe they didn’t put the 4.3 in this thing.