It's so practical! Owning a Camaro SS

"Burt" (Burt) 11/17/2014 at 09:00 • Filed to: Chevrolet Camaro

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Since high school, my primary car had been a 2009 Impala. I modified it, autocrossed it, road tripped it, and while it had it's merits, change can be good. I drove everything under the sun that I could afford and had any interest in, and once I graduated and got a full time job, I settled on a 2012 Camaro SS. It's a loaded SS, with every option except two: the sunroof, because with it I don't fit, and the automatic, because I can have a manual, so I'm getting a manual. Here you can see the Camaro in its natural habitat:

I'll go ahead and talk about the two things everyone will probably ask about, the gas mileage and the visibility. So how is it to see out of? Well, have you ever tried driving with a welding mask on? Seriously though, when I first drove a Camaro, it was very intimidating, but after about a week I got used to it. Not to say that it has good visibility by any measure, but it has ok visibility, and everything I've driven since has excellent visibility. One of the features I had to find was a backup camera, which this car has. If you've never been in a Camaro, the back window is pretty comparable to a standard letter envelope. As far as the gas mileage goes, I can get up to a hair over 24 mpg on the highway, to heinous when I cane it up and down back roads.

It handles about how you'd expect, there's not too much body roll, it sticks pretty well, and even though you can rotate it with the throttle, with 245s up front and 275s out back, it will eventually understeer. My plan is to run 285s at all four corners like a 1LE, and systematically go through the suspension eventually. One interesting thing to note is that the car is more fun with less grip. I put snow tires on it a week ago, and while they should do well in bad conditions, they have less grip under throttle in normal conditions. With these tires, I can rotate the car, and slide it around pretty easily. On the same road, I had more fun in the Camaro on snow tires than a BRZ I test drove. The engine makes good, linear power everywhere, and the Brembos are excellent.

The interior has some nice features, like heated leather seats, bluetooth phone and audio streaming, and a heads up display. Most of it is made out of...economical materials, and the "squished baseball" shifter will be getting replaced at some point, as will the seats. Daddy needs some Recaros. The back seat will technically hold people, but I don't have more than one passenger for long enough for it to be very consequential. Trunk space is adequate for grocery runs, weekend trips, and one and a half bodies, (if you have access to a sawzall) which is all I use it for.

Overall, the car has been great, it's easily handled everything I've asked of it, and gotten me thumbs ups and smiles (and shrieks from passengers) on a regular basis. Is if compromised? Yes? Would I have it any other way? !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

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Robert Denzie is a random schmuck who occasionally writes about his experiences with cars. You can find him on instagram under the name ol_burt, where he posts pictures of cars and cats.

Milky > Burt 11/17/2014 at 09:13

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Yay no more Impala! Nice car, but imo get some exhaust work. A friend has almost the same thing, sounds a-may-zing when you let it breath a little.

Burt > Milky 11/17/2014 at 09:19

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Thanks! it's getting cutouts today. Well, cutouts without the butterfly valve, so basically muffler bypasses. I really like the gm active exhaust when the baffles are open, so after I get summer wheels and tires (and maybe a drivers side Recaro) I'll be getting that.

Milky > Burt 11/17/2014 at 09:29

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Perfect! IMO(again) thats the best way to go, its the cars natural sound.

Sidenote: I give you full rights to use this photo.

Burt > Milky 11/17/2014 at 09:39

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that's awesome. I've tried not to be too much of a jerk in the car, although I've had at least three cars try to race me. So far I've abstained, although they would have been easy kills.

Milky > Burt 11/17/2014 at 10:45

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Going to have to get kill marks like on WWII planes.

Burt > Burt 11/17/2014 at 10:46

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In case you all are wondering, I can actually English, this was just written and uploaded in between turns playing GTA.

Burt > Milky 11/17/2014 at 10:48

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I've thought about that! It's like I'm thinking your thoughts.

Milky > Burt 11/17/2014 at 10:56

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Meatcoma > Burt 11/17/2014 at 12:06

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What size wheels are you running, also what tire do they have on them ( your summers). I've got 21" wheels with 275/35 in back and 245/40 in front and they stick for days and days. I bought the 18" steelies and tossed some all seasons on them, it gets around pretty good in snow up to about 1.5 inches. After that I just break out the f250 anyhow.

Burt > Milky 11/17/2014 at 13:31

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Outlets installed. The overrun pops are glorious.

Burt > Meatcoma 11/17/2014 at 13:34

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I'm on the factory 20x8 and 20x9s, the cars came with General Tire g-maxes in 245/45 front and 275/40 rear. I've got Nitto NT90W snow tires on it now in the same sizes. My plan is to ditch the Generals, leave the Nittos on the stock wheels and get a set of four 20x10 +35mm TSW Nurburgrings, with a set of 285/35 Goodyear Eagle F1s off of a 1LE.

feather-throttle-not-hair > Burt 11/17/2014 at 13:35

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Nice. I also prefer slightly less grippy tires on my 350Z than OEM, just for the ease of rotation, and more accessible grip levels.

I feel like shitty visibility is just normal these days for a lot of cars, particularly ones that make "styling" one of their top priorities.

Anyway, i bet that thing is fun to drive. Not my favorite car in the whole wide world, but solidly on the badass side of the fence. Enjoy!

Meatcoma > Burt 11/17/2014 at 13:36

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It may be the tires. Mine came with Pirelli PZero's and they have all kinds of grip.

Burt > Meatcoma 11/17/2014 at 13:49

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It's not so much that they didn't have grip (you'd have to be doing felonious speeds to lose traction) but that when you do lose grip, the front goes first. The roads I drive on are narrow, frequently off camber, and are either bordered by a drop or a guardrail right beside the lane. Having wider tires on the front of the car would greatly increase my confidence in the handling. Not that it handles poorly, just not how I'd like.

Burt > feather-throttle-not-hair 11/17/2014 at 13:52

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Thanks! I took it out yesterday in the rain, with traction control off and stability control relaxed. It was like ice skating. It was hilarious. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Milky > Burt 11/17/2014 at 13:53

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THATS THE ONE THING MY CAR DOESNT DO THAT I WANT IT TO.

Jealous.

Meatcoma > Burt 11/17/2014 at 13:56

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gotcha.

feather-throttle-not-hair > Burt 11/17/2014 at 14:38

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hahah, rain is the best! Especially if you're in a RWD car with a manual transmission!