From the beginning, we knew the 2016 Chevrolet Camaro was going to be a performance powerhouse, especially for the money. Moving to GM’s Alpha platform opens up a world of possibilities for the Chevrolet pony car challenger.
Speaking of Challenger and, by association, Mustang, the main competition to the Camaro will have a formidable opponent on their hands, as Chevrolet has released official performance numbers for the 2016 Camaro.
Starting with the 455 hp LT1 6.2-liter V8 powered 2016 Camaro SS, the range-topping model at launch will scoot the car from 0-60 in four seconds flat, and passes the quarter mile in 12.3 seconds with the eight-speed automatic. Rowing the gears yourself with the manual gearbox clocks a 0-60 time of 4.3 seconds and a quarter-mile time of 12.5 seconds, according to Chevrolet.
But, the other engine options won’t be slouches, either. The new LGX 3.6-liter V6 will scurry to 60 mph in 5.1 seconds with the automatic, and 5.2 seconds with the manual transmission. The quarter mile will come and go in 13.5 seconds, and 13.7 seconds for the auto and manual.
Not far behind the V6-powered 2016 Camaro is the LTG 2.0-liter turbocharged Camaro. In base-model guise, the 2016 Camaro will sprint to 60 mph in 5.4 seconds with the manual, and 5.5 seconds with the automatic. The quarter mile times for both transmissions checked in at 14 seconds.
But, quarter mile times don’t always tell the whole story.
Stopping and cornering are just as important with this sixth-generation Camaro, especially after the diet the 2016 Camaro has gone on.
The 2016 Camaro SS will pull an impressive 0.97 g in the corners, and stop from 60 mph in only 117 feet. Camaro RS coupes with the V6 command a respectable 0.89 g, and stop in 124 feet, while the turbo-four Camaro is once again right behind at 0.85 g, and come to a halt in 129 feet. All of this is done with exclusive Goodyear tires on each Camaro variant.
“Every Camaro model offers exceptional chassis strength and rigidity, but the modular design made the architecture more adaptable and mass-efficient, because we didn’t have to compensate for the unique demands of, say, the SS convertible when building a 2.0L Turbo coupe,” said Al Oppenheiser, Camaro chief engineer.
“The result was an elegant engineering solution: 12 chassis components that could be combined to meet the structural requirements of each specific model, without adding unnecessary mass to other models.”
After taking in all of this, we eagerly await our time to drive the production version of Chevrolet’s latest muscle-car engineering masterpiece.
Comments
I think there are a few of us not surprised here.
Many here have been making comments on just how this car was going to pan out and I can see we were pretty close. If anything the Turbo 4 posted even better than we had expected.
It’s better than I expected across the board. I didn’t think the lower engine models would lose so much weight.
With the specs this beast has + the interior improvements + Android Auto/Apple Car… I think we really really have a home run by GM here.
Note no sound of silence and no complaints that it is a little more expensive now?
Don’t get me wrong I love this car and would like own one, but the braking is a little bit of a disappointment. My 2013 Malibu LTZ turbo stops from 60 in 116-118 ft .
Those specs will be the standard 2 pot front, single rear calipers (SS having larger rotors). The Brembo and tire options will help, and 1LE will likely see an upgrade over both of those as well. I was kind of surprised like you. Pretty sure the Mustang GT is spec’d at under 110ft, and brakes have never been my favourite thing on Mustangs. If the brakes feel good and don’t fade too badly than a few feet difference in stopping distance isn’t *as* much of a concern
Chevrolet also says that the 1LE Camaro does 60-0 in 127′, but MT records it at 99′. I wouldn’t be surprised to see magazines get around 100′ for the 60-0. This car will greatly out brake your Malibu.
Well this sure tastes good so far. Let’s just compare the basic spec sheet with the Mustang with what we have right now. I’m going to use the official test numbers by Motortrend for the Mustang.
2016 Camaro 2.0T
-3339 lbs (auto)
– 5.5 0-60
– 14 @ 99 mph QM
– 129 ft 60-0
2016 Camaro 3.6L V6
– 3435 lbs (auto)
– 5.1 0-60
– 13.5 @ 103 mph QM
– 124 ft 60-0
2015 Mustang 2.3T
– 3658 lb (auto)
– 5.6 0-60
– 14.1 @ 98 mph QM
– 106 ft 60-0
2016 Camaro SS
– 3685 lbs (man)
– 4.0 0-60 (auto) [4.3 with the man]
– 12.3 @ 116 QM (auto) [12.5 @ 115 with the man]
– 117 ft 60-0
2015 Mustang GT
– 3814 lb (man)
– 4.4 0-60 (man)
– 12.8 @ 112 (man)
– 107 ft 60-0
All in all, it appears that the Camaro will be faster in terms of acceleration, and has the better powertrain. For the braking, either the Camaro is seriously under-equipped, or the tires are simply not up to snatch. Usually GM is pretty good at equipping its performance cars with brakes, so I put an asterisk next to that. In terms of cornering, looking at how the ATS-V and CTS-V are praised across the board, seems like it will have the complete advantage.
These performance figures are pretty impressive. Too bad the styling department was locked out of the development meetings
Pretty sure they gave ed welburn the keys to Doc Brown’s DeLorean for this design
These specs make my 06 GTO seem quite slow.
The new V6 Camaro is putting up numbers of stock GTOs and LS1 F-Bodies, while still cornering better. Mix that with easy access to SS and future 1LE parts for cheap OE handling upgrades and the V6 Camaro is no longer the laughable compromise it used to be.
It’s a good time to be a Camaro enthusiast.
yeah the 3.6 V6 in the Camaro is outta bounds
On the highway at least, the Camaro V6 is now faster than a Pontiac G8 GT, with an LS-powered V8.
If you have a G8 GT, now might be a good time to consider selling. The days of $20k G8 GT’s are coming to an end.
Putting it another way, now that you can have a brand new Camaro V6 for $26k out the door – do you think anyone will pay over $20,000 for a G8 with (on average) more than 50,000 miles on it?
Sure they will, if the need Camaro SS performance a affordable price with FOUR DOORS. The G8 Gts will be just fine years to come.
Also, this is America, we do V8s when we want speed. Many don’t care how fast a 6 or 4 is, its V8 or nothing.
Sorry, not for me. If there’s $6,000 in difference between a new, safer, faster Camaro and a G8 with two extra doors… and 50,000 extra miles of wear… I’m going with the Camaro.
Even though I prefer the G8 and its extra doors, the reliability of having a new car – and warranty (powertrain warranty on G8’s has expired at this point) – is worth a few more thousand on top of the spread. And that’s before you get into the break-even on features like CarPlay, Android Auto, fuel economy, blind spot and sudden-stop detection, etc.
I like the look when I really look at it, and I owned a 2010 when they first came out (bought a corvette since then and have a gen 2 Z28), but for some reason at a quick glance I keep thinking the new 2016 is a mustang.
If I stare at it it certainly is clearly a camaro, but the general body shape is so similar to a mustang its a little concerning to me.
Not bad….Not bad at all….Looks to be an improvement from the last gen in EVERY conceivable way!!! I love the new Mustang, but it certainly has its work cut out for it with the Camaro Six! Let the modern ponycar war commence! Your move FCA!
New and retuned engines,, improved underbody components, updated styling inside and out etc are the evolutionary things…but for pony cars and performance cars, weight is king. For GM to do this and drop the weight so significantly without compromising anywhere else on the vehicle is massive….massive. Will feel like a totally new car even if they didn’t touch anything else from the “old” model.
The Mustang and other pony cars are already shaking in their boots. Now only if GM’s management had enough common sense, the Camaro would have been available in right-hand -drive to be sold in Europe, Japan an Australia. With that option of RHD, this would have been a top seller for GM globally.
It would be great if the 2.0L 4-cyl turbo had an overboost feature, press a button on steering wheel and engine output jumps to 300-320hp for 10 seconds as it would increase overall performance of the base Camaro possibly ahead of the V6 without sacrificing fuel economy.
Happy for the new Camaro… except for the decreased interior room. Being 6’4, I’m a little concerned that in the race to shave weight, the days of the full-sized muscle/pony cars are almost over. I’d get the Camaro for performance, then the Challenger for comfort.