Australian New Car Buyer – June 2019

46 | AUSTRALIAN NEW CAR & SUV BUYER’S GUIDE

CHEVROLET CAMARO 2SS FROM $86,990

U

nlike the Ford Mustang,
which rolls off the US
production line with the steering
wheel already on the right
side of the car for Australia,
the Chevrolet Camaro is built
in left-hand-drive in the USA
and shipped to Holden Special
Vehicles in Melbourne where it
is stripped back to a bare shell.
HSV is converting seven or
eight Camaros per day in its
Clayton, Victoria factory. Chevy’s
6.2-litre naturally-aspirated
direct-injection LT1 V8 is
matched with a six-speed manual
or ten-speed automatic.
The General’s V8 produces
339kW of power – the same as
Mustang’s 5.0-litre – and 617Nm
of torque, a handy 61Nm more
than the Ford.
Fixed rate suspension, Brembo
brake calipers all round, a limited
slip differential and 20 inch alloys
with runfl at tyres are also fi tted.
A traditional dark man cave
cabin features heated and cooled
leather wrapped sports seats, a
heated steering wheel (also in

leather) dual zone air, Bose audio,

multi-coloured disco lighting,

sunroof, wireless phone charging

and GM’s MyLink infotainment.

You’re seated deep and

recumbent within Camaro in a

luxurious, supportive GT chair.

The side mirrors are right at eye

level, so their large housings,

plus the adjacent front pillars,

severely obstruct forward vision.

The conversion is a quality job

with a few quirks. Your left elbow

rests on hard plastic cupholders

• so you can’t really use them --
  rather than the padded lid on the
  centre console, which remains in
  its original layout.
  Camaro’s back seat is a good
  place to carry people you don’t like.
  There’s a reason they call these
  things musclecars. That’s exactly
  what you get: instant, brutal,
  “What the @#$%” acceleration,
  accompanied by the death or
  glory roar of 1000 axe-wielding
  barbarians on the charge.

HSV doesn’t release

performance numbers. US tests

put Camaro in the low-mid four

seconds zone from 0-100km/h.

That’s line ball with Mustang,

which counters Camaro’s torque

advantage with an extra 1000

rpm up top.

Tour mode sees the V8 running

on four cylinders with a light

right foot, and at a constant

100km/h the Camaro can return

7-8L/100km. Use the accelerator

as intended, though, and you can

easily triple that.

It rides like a billycart, and

at about 1.7 tonnes it’s never

going to dissect corners with the

precision of a Porsche, but in its

handling characteristics Camaro

is certainly a harder-edged, less-

compromised sports machine

than the Mustang.

The Chevy gets away with razor

sharp steering because body

roll and understeer are almost

completely absent. Until you

learn to trust its responsiveness,

and not overdrive it, such fast

refl exes can feel overdone in a

car of this size and weight.

There’s little communication

at the wheel, though, and the car

does need to be pushed deep

into corners before the front end

begins to deliver feedback.

The Camaro is a very good

thing, but so is the Mustang,

and the bottom line here is that

Ford does the right hand drive

conversion as part of the deal

while HSV wants an extra $20,000

for it. Bargain? Not.

The top spec Camaro ZL1, with

a supercharged 6.2-litre V8 that’s

good for 480kW and 860Nm, goes

up against the likes of BMW’s M4

and the Mercedes C63 AMG. At

$159,900, it ain’t cheap either, but

at least it’s priced competitively

against its main rivals.

THINGS WE LIKE

 Turns more heads than a Ferrari

 V8 has plenty of shove and loves

to rev

 Sounds good too

 You’d never know it wasn’t factory-

built right-hand-drive

 Great handling and steering for a

big coupe

THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT LIKE

Is it worth $20,000 more than a

Mustang? No

Noisy tyres on coarse surfaces

Suspension a bit busy on back

roads, even in comfort mode

Rear and over-shoulder visibility

not brilliant but that’s the price for

sleek looks

SPEX

Made in the USA; RHD conversion

in Australia

6.2-Litre V8/ten-speed automatic/

rear-wheel drive

339kW of power at 6000rpm/617Nm

of torque at 4400rpm

0-100km/h in 4.5 seconds

7.9L/100km highway; 17.5L/100km

city; 95 octane premium; CO2

emissions are 260gkm

Warranty: Three years/100,000km

Standard: Seven airbags, stability

control, blind spot monitoring, rear

cross traffi c alert, lane departure

warning, Brembo brakes, adaptive

suspension, 20-inch alloys, runfl at

tyres, heated and cooled front

seats, leather upholstery and

steering wheel, Bluetooth, Apple

CarPlay, Android Auto, wireless

charging, navigation, Bose audio

Redbook future values: 3yr: 53%;

5yr: 38%

Safety

Not yet tested

Performance

Handling

Quality and reliability

Comfort and refi nement

Value for money

Overall

STARS

compare with ...

Ford Mustang GT, Mercedes-AMG

C63, Nissan 370Z