A pleasant surprise

Oh, how I wanted to love the new Camaro.

Way back in my younger years, I was enamoured with a svelte, lively, performer of the same name. Now that it has returned, I find little resemblance to the Camaro I remember.

The new look is striking with a low green house and curvy, if bulbous, body shape. The stance is wide and solid, but the Camaro “face” looks like the car is half asleep rather than somewhat sinister (as I’m sure the designer intended). The tail lights give the car that same snoozy look, going away.

The new Camaro is no snoozer when you step on the gas, though.

The test car comes with the RS (Rally Sport) Package, which is, for the most part, an appearance package rather than a performance enhancement.

Under the hood is a 3.6-litre V6 that uses direct injection of regular fuel to pump out 304 horsepower and 273 lb.-ft. of torque, and lower emissions. Power gets to the optional 20-inch wheels through a six-speed automatic transmission with tap-ship buttons on the steering wheel.

Launch off the line is impressive and, if you don’t watch it, you’re going to hit highly illegal velocity in a hurry. This is a very impressive V6. Despite it’s propensity for power, it’s not a big user of dinosaur juice although I was not able to achieve the miserly estimated figures.

Handing is reasonably responsive, but falls short of what you’d call crisp. Cornering is reasonably flat and the car sticks well to the pavement. The ride is well modulated when the road gets bumpy and wind noise is muted.

But the steering wheel is a problem. It’s a deep-dish throwback to good old days except for multi-function controls on the spokes. It’s been a week and I still can’t get used to it. At the 9 and 3 position, the oval shape of the wheel rim forces my hands unnaturally inward – or outward. The only comfortable spots are at 2 and 10 or 4 and 8 positions, which are NOT the optimum positions for steering – or for operating the multi-function and tap-shift features.

The interior has other problems, too, other than poor outward visibility.

The gauge package for temperatures and pressures is mounted low on the centre console and obscured by the centre stack and shift lever. If you want to check gauges, you have to remove your right hand from the steering wheel or hike up your right elbow and take your eyes off the road for an inordinate amount of time. Not good.

Doors are big, but the back seat is not really a place to carry people, at least not anyone who values legs. The seatback folds down to increase the already impressive trunk space. You could carry a bunch of stuff back there, but nothing big, because the trunk opening itself is small.

The word that springs to mind when I think of this car is “pleasant”, which isn’t really the word that should describe a sports coupe.

The resurrection of Camaro was a long time coming, but maybe it should have taken a bit longer. Perhaps some of the wrinkles could have been ironed out before the car came to market.