2015 Chevrolet Camaro Convertible: The Rental Car Review

"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678) 10/29/2015 at 13:11 • Filed to: None

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After my “experience” with renting a Chevy Spark for a work trip, my vacation out to LA for the weekend worried me since I would be renting from Hertz again. Walking into the rental office, I made sure that they would give me ANYTHING but a Spark. The original offer was a Toyota Yaris for about $100 for the 4 days. Since we were going to Santa Barbara, I figured I would ask for something more interesting. After some negotiation, I left with a 2015 Chevrolet Camaro Convertible for $200!

This car was actually a lot of fun. In the RS (also known as “Rental Spec”) trim level, you get a 3.6L V6 putting out 323 HP and 278 lb-ft of torque to move the 4015 lbs car. The car is rated for 17/28 MPG and I averaged about 19 with mostly spirited driving. The car definitely has a significant amount of power but thanks to the weight, it really didn’t feel that much faster than my Miata. Sure in a straight line it still had way more go power, but accelerating out of turns always felt a bit sluggish. I could see the V8 in SS trim being a ton of fun in this car though.

My girlfriend and I took a trip up to Santa Barbara with the car for the weekend. Top was down nearly the entire time and we found some really great roads. We took the 101 North to hit some beaches and then came back via the 154. The 154 offered some great scenic views out to the channel islands. The 150 out to the 33 in Ojai was another really great route to challenge this car on. Where I really got to test it though was on Mulholland Hwy all the way out to Malibu as well as Topanga Canyon Road. Those roads I think deserve an entire review of it’s own for sure!

For being a rental car, it was actually pretty decent. The seats were great, nice HID headlights, nice radio (GM kinda has done it right surprisingly), and most importantly it is a lot of fun with the top down. The most important feature though was definitely the traction/stability control switch. It definitely allowed it to be turned completely off! One more nice feature is that the paddle shifters don’t ignore your inputs. It was surprising that it actually held the gear, even at the revlimiter. 1st gear was the most fun because it could top out all the way at around 42 mph. This was perfect for most of the really tight stuff. The only complaint I had was that upshifting into 2nd really cut the power for the tighter stuff so it was difficult on the roads that were a little faster. 6th gear is a true overdrive which meant the car would not accelerate at all without downshifting. I am used to my 1:1 6th gear in the Miata so I still get adequate torque for passing on level surfaces.

Overall, this car was pretty darn good! It was a lot to handle the 4000+ lbs of weight through those twisties but it really held it’s own and did not handle like a boat. It was a bit of wrestling with a bull but it was communicative and responsive. I would definitely rent it again but next time I want to try to get a mustang, just to see how it differs. The extra space in this car was convenient but I will take lighter weight any day!

yitznewton > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 10/29/2015 at 13:20

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So, negotiating a rental car? I’m intrigued; can you describe how that went? Never occurred to me to do this.

gin-san - shitpost specialist > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 10/29/2015 at 13:23

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If you were spending your own money, would you consider buying it (either the hardtop or convertible)?

I don't think it's bad looking but that 4000 lb. weight is just crazy.

TrickJos > yitznewton 10/29/2015 at 13:28

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I do this all the time. I just keep asking what cars they have, and turn them down if I don’t like it or they want to charge a bunch extra. I almost always end up with something better than what I paid for. My greatest success was getting a BMW 5 series for $10 more per day than the Focus I paid for. Obviously, this works better at locations with a larger selection of cars.

Rico > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 10/29/2015 at 13:41

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I wish I was in the places that are in your pictures instead of at work!

Meatcoma > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 10/29/2015 at 13:58

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gotta keep the rpms in the powerband 2200 - 5500 through the turns to pick up power quickly coming out of turns. Of course I am going to assume it was an auto and probably had the skip-shift enabled still so... there’s that.

Meatcoma > gin-san - shitpost specialist 10/29/2015 at 14:01

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bought a 2010 and do not regret at all. Enjoy it every day. At some points I wish I’d bought the SS but I drive about 110 mi/day so the gas savings is a plus. I consistently get 25+ mpg even with some spirited driving.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > gin-san - shitpost specialist 10/29/2015 at 14:03

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I knew it was heavy based on just driving it, but I did not know it was that heavy until I looked it up. Definitely makes the way it handled seem more impressive. No understeer and would only oversteer a little bit, but very progressively, at the limit. I definitely couldn’t buy this car. Just the weight alone scares me away. Really I think it was the roads that I enjoyed so much and the lack of care for the tires since it was a rental. Maybe if it was the V8, hard top, and a manual then I could definitely think about buying it.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > yitznewton 10/29/2015 at 14:06

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Yeah I definitely would have never thought to even try, but I will every time in the future! I asked if they had any upgrades, they gave me a quote for around $200 (plus my original $84 that I paid) and I said it was too much. The guy asked me how much it would have to be for me to upgrade. And I said $150 and he agreed to that! After dicsounts and taxes and crap it came out to around $200 (with my $84 included).

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > TrickJos 10/29/2015 at 14:07

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Yeah now that I know this is even a remote possibility, I will try the airport next time so I have more options.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Meatcoma 10/29/2015 at 14:09

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It is of course an auto, but the shifter in "M" let the paddles do all the shifting. I never had it in D the entire time lol. I was certainly at the top end of the powerband almost all of the time other than cruising on the freeway. I learned to use first gear a lot more to get things really moving.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Rico 10/29/2015 at 14:10

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Yeah California has some great picture-worthy places. I am going to review the roads I drove and the hike I did so I will have even more pictures! Too bad my phone camera sucks but the places are good enough to shine through.

Rico > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 10/29/2015 at 14:14

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I went like 2 years ago for a week and loved it. Great food, great bud, great weather it was such a big change from NYC.

Meatcoma > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 10/29/2015 at 14:15

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Glad you enjoyed it. So many focus on the fact you ‘can’t see out the back’. Where I’m going I won’t be looking back!!

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Rico 10/29/2015 at 14:16

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Yeah, I think the people are much friendlier as well in California. People in general just seem happier. Maybe it is the weather? The biggest thing to me though are the mountains. Great to look at even from the city, awesome roads running through them, and epic hikes all year long. It certainly takes much longer to get from NYC to somewhere that is truly wilderness.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Meatcoma 10/29/2015 at 14:18

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Well and with the top down I can see just fine out the back. Sure the coupe is definitely terrible in that regard but this was Socal so the top never needed to go up. Plus it took a solid 30 seconds to raise/lower the damn thing so I just didn’t bother with it.