"Jayhawk Jake" (jayhawkjake)
09/05/2016 at 15:41 • Filed to: None
1
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"Jayhawk Jake" (jayhawkjake)
09/05/2016 at 15:41 • Filed to: None | 1
| 10 |
Here are my thoughts
It feels a bit...bland. And dark. It needs color and some lighting. Which you can get, but for a cost, which we’ll touch on later
The seats seem lower than my Mustang, which is nice for feeling sporty, but doesn’t help the generally cramped feeling of the car
Visibility out the sides looks fine. The back is comical, the rear window is miniscule. Also looks like a huge PITA to clean. The Mustang is bad enough, I can’t imagine trying to clean the Camaro
For a reasonably large car, it feels a bit cramped. The door cards seem to intrude a pit more than I’d like. It’s nice because I can actually rest my elbows on the arm rests and reach the wheel, but it might be a little too tight overall
The gauge cluster is ugly. In the 2LT trim it’s just bland, and I really don’t understand the shape of the pod. It’s entirely unnecessary and in the way
The screen felt small. It’s also kind of in your face
The vents are cool, but all the other physical buttons are really small. Over time I think you’d just know what does what, but it’s not elegant
The center console is a joke. I have an iPhone 6+, it fits but just by itself, and I don’t think it would fit if it had a charger plugged in. Not that I saw a USB port in there. By contrast my Mustang’s center console is enormous and I keep all kinds of crap in it
I like the steering wheel
Overall the leather feels softer than my Mustangs. I think it’s a personal preference thing: all but the seats in the Mustang are textured, whereas the Camaro is mostly smooth. I prefer smooth leather. I like the leather in here.
That being said, the seats aren’t as comfortable or supportive as the Mustang’s.
Switchgear feels nice. The door handles inside are quite a bit nicer than my Mustangs
Overall, I wasn’t really impressed. It’s okay. It’s leagues better than the outgoing interior, and the material selection is great, but the styling still leaves a bit to be desired, and I wish it was a little more spacious.
When I got back into my Mustang, both myself and Jay Lauer went ‘okay, this is nicer’. It looks better, it has color, it’s more spacious.
The thing is, most of my issues could be fixed. The convenience and lighting package adds LED accent lighting, which would go a long way. It also gives you the nice center screen in the gauge cluster which also would help improve that major complaint. You can also get white or red seat trim (apparently the brown went away for 17?), which helps the color.
But my Mustang has that. No, I don’t get LED strips, but I have ambient lighting in the footwells and cupholders and door handles. My car also has white contrast stitching, which is a small detail but adds some color and life to the interior. In the Camaro, that’s another $2800 in options.
When I take the 2LT turbo Camaro and add white interior trim and the ‘Convenience and Lighting Package’ it’s $35,000. And it still doesn’t have HID headlights or LED taillights, which is another $2k!
I want to like the Camaro, I really do. I haven’t driven it, that might change my opinion, but the price is such a non-starter. My Mustang is loaded, lacking only the Performance Package, and it stickers right around $33k. Go ahead and add another $1500 to mine for the 19" wheels I have and their tires, and you come to $34,500. This is pretty near the upper limit of reasonable for a car like this IMO. It’s still cheaper than a Mustang GT Premium by enough to not make the jump. I’d actually argue that I wouldn’t even pay that much for my own car, I got it for about $28k when you factor in my trade over book value.
A Camaro basically spec’d the same is $37k, which is a lot. That makes it a super tough sell to me.
I honestly think Chevy messed up the packages on these cars. They include a reasonable touchscreen on the base models, which is great, but I like heated leather seats too much to go without them. So I have to go to the next trim level, which is fine, but the RS package keeps some simple ‘nice features’ like nice looking headlights and taillights behind a $2k wall.
I know new Camaro sales haven’t been doing that well. It’ll be interesting to see how Chevy responds in the coming years.
Oh, and though I know I’ve typed too much already, I should note: at one dealer we went to there was a ‘15 parked between ‘16s and it took me, a pretty detail oriented person who has spent a lot of time looking at Camaros, longer than it should have to figure out which was which. Jay didn’t even notice it was a ‘15 until I pointed it out, and then he said ‘are you sure?’. As much as I like the overall look of the Camaro, I would find it tough to fork over $37k on a car that looks pretty similar to a 4 year old ex-rental Carmax special.
It's a "Porch-uh"
> Jayhawk Jake
09/05/2016 at 16:30 |
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IMO the visibility out front is terrible. The high waistline and A pillar location/width make it tough to see the front corners and things around you.
citizennick
> Jayhawk Jake
09/05/2016 at 19:24 |
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Cleaning the rear window is indeed a major pain in the ass.
They REALLY nickel and dime you on the I4 and V6 models it seems. 1SS has the nice big screens but no LED strips. But it does come with the HID and LED exterior lamps.
On the forum there’s been plenty of guys forking over 35k for a loaded V6 which is pretty absurd IMO, but it’s what they want I guess.
And yeah, they could have done a better job with the seats for sure. Coming from an ST with Recaros that hugged me to this was disappointing.
Vicente Esteve
> Jayhawk Jake
09/05/2016 at 20:31 |
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I did feel cramped when I tried to sit in one, sunroof doesn’t help. The Mustang is much more airy but I think I could get used to it eventually. Either way I feel the Mustang is so much of a bargain the Camaro is a tough sell as it is.
Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
> Jayhawk Jake
09/05/2016 at 20:53 |
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Are you saying the grass is no longer greener on the other side?
Expo2k
> Jayhawk Jake
09/05/2016 at 20:56 |
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I really liked the seating position and cozy interior, but could not abide that ridiculous and pointlessly huge cowl over the gauges.
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Jayhawk Jake
> Expo2k
09/05/2016 at 22:41 |
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It’s surprisingly large. Immediately noticed the difference when I got back in my Mustang
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Jayhawk Jake
> citizennick
09/05/2016 at 22:43 |
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I really need to drive a V6 to compare to the Ecoboost.
I like the Camaro and if I was buying new at $40k I'd have an SS, but for a comfortable daily in the sub $35k range the Mustang seems a little more appealing
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Jayhawk Jake
> Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
09/05/2016 at 22:44 |
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I’d still like to drive one, this is mostly superficial. It did make me feel more confident in my choice, not that I don't like my car as it is.
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citizennick
> Jayhawk Jake
09/06/2016 at 00:42 |
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Right now they’re offering 16% off MSRP and 0% financing on 2016's ;)
I bet the V6 “feels” slower than the ecoboost. If it’s anything like the LT1 the powerband is so smooth that you don’t even realize how fast you’re going until it’s too late ):
Danimalk - Drives a Slow Car Fast
> Jayhawk Jake
09/18/2016 at 20:08 |
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The pricing on these cars is crazy. I looked at v6s on the lot today. One was priced at $28k, and the V6 next to it was optioned to $47k. (Convertible)
What ever you want to spend, there is a Camaro for you. The Ford and Dodge cover same huge spreads.