Base Price: $27,940
As-Tested Price: $32,885
Drivetrain: 3.0-liter V6; AWD, six-speed automatic
Output: 264 hp @ 6,950 rpm, 222 lb-ft @ 5,100 rpm
Curb Weight: 3,770 lb
Fuel Economy (EPA/AW): 20/19.6 mpg
A nice little ute, by far the best small SUV to come out of General Motors ever. It looks terrific to my eye, and I like the interior, too. The materials look good but aren't (too many hard plastics). The sliding rear seat is helpful, expanding legroom for passengers.
There's plenty of power though the ute drives heavy, because it is. Why a truck this small has to weigh this much is beyond me. It doesn't feel quite as flingable as some of the other smaller utes like the Honda CR-V or the Toyota RAV4. It is, however, nice and quiet on the road and thus feels more refined than some of its competitors.
COPY EDITOR CYNTHIA L. OROSCO: I appreciated a weekend in the Equinox, as did my fiancé, who is looking at this small ute to replace his 2005 Equinox. His verdict: He wants it. We both liked the additional room the new Equinox provides, the user-friendly layout of the center stack, the easy-to-work navigation and entertainment functions. The back seat offers good legroom and headroom, although one passenger found the step-in a bit high. Also, there's good cargo space out back.
The V6 provides good power, but the truck did feel heavy sometimes, and I noticed the engine seemingly working hard to find/maintain the needed gear. It was the sensation of hesitation or lag; not terrible, but certainly noticeable.
I also like the exterior lines of this Equinox, which give it a sporty look. A new Equinox won't be debuting in our driveway this year, but maybe next year.
EXECUTIVE EDITOR ROGER HART: I like this ute, too. I like the size, the quietness, the overall interior design, and the overall look of the thing. I'm a little disappointed with the hard-plastic dash, although it has a pattern to it so it doesn't look all that bad until you start tapping your fingers on it. The driver's seat is quite comfortable and very adjustable, and there is decent rear-seat legroom.
The engine has decent power but I did notice the transmission shifting up and down quite a bit during my drive, trying to always be in the higher gear, but just a little throttle application necessitated a quick downshift to accelerate. That could get annoying.
The good: Head-turning looks mark the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro LT, while the engine strikes a good balance between economy and power. A well-designed suspension keeps it under control in the curves. iPod and Bluetooth cell phone integration are available.
The bad: OnStar is the only navigation option. Audio quality is mediocre from the stock sound system. The shifter buttons are poorly placed, and the six-speed automatic only delivers satisfying performance in sport mode.
The bottom line: The 2010 Chevrolet Camaro LT is largely about style, although it isn't bad on the performance side. For cabin tech, only a few essentials are available.
Ford Mustang, Dodge Challenger, and now the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro: this holy trinity of retro muscle cars is now complete. Each car, being iconic in its own way, will have its own set of fanatical adherents regardless of how well it drives or what tech is available. But the new Camaro may have the biggest fan base; during our week with the car people stared, took pictures, came over to chat when we parked, and nearly hit us as they swerved over lanes to get a closer look.
With its bulging hood and broad rear fenders, the Camaro certainly makes an impression. Our test car was also equipped with the RS appearance package, giving it meaty 20-inch wheels and a rear spoiler. We didn't think much of the fake wheel vents in the rear fenders, mere impressions in the sheet metal, as they have no practical purpose. But that's a small concern when the Camaro's bodywork makes it look like such a badass.
The new Camaro does an excellent job of bringing back and modernizing the style of the first-generation model.
In the cabin, we were pleasantly surprised by its interior design. Sure, the materials, hard plastics, and a cloth strip look a bit cheap. But Chevrolet managed to blend everything together well, which at least makes the build quality look good. For example, the stereo head unit is nicely contoured, with smooth, simple surfaces around it. The big letdown was the squarish plastic surrounds on the instruments, which would look much better in metal.
OnStar navigation
There's no LCD in this dashboard, and no onboard navigation system available. Instead, the Camaro offers route guidance through OnStar, which we regard as an inferior solution. First, instead of simply entering a destination into a navigation system, you have to talk to an OnStar operator. Chevrolet did a good job of building route guidance into the car--once the operator sends the route, turn-by-turn directions are shown on the instrument cluster display and on the radio display, along with voice guidance. But if you get off-route, the system doesn't automatically recalculate, instead requiring a couple of button pushes to have a new route sent down from OnStar.Turn-by-turn directions, downloaded from OnStar, show up on the instrument cluster.
If you are out of range of the OnStar network, you don't have navigation. And if you are out of data range, the OnStar operator will read out the list of turns, which is saved as a recording that you can access as you go. Certainly OnStar requires less hardware than a navigation system, and has other useful features, but there are too many situations in which it just doesn't work, and when you might need it most.
OnStar can also cover hands-free calling, but Chevrolet makes a Bluetooth hands-free system available in the Camaro, so you can use your own phone. We paired an iPhone up to the system and got basic connectivity--the voice command interface let us dial by number, but it didn't download our phone's contact list.
The Bluetooth phone system comes as part of a reasonably priced, at $655, Convenience and Connectivity package, which also includes audio controls on the steering wheel, remote start capability, and a USB port for the audio system, the latter useful for iPod integration and playing MP3 tracks off a thumb drive. In May, a Microsoft engineer published photos of the Camaro's stereo integrating with a Zune MP3 player, but when we plugged a Zune into the USB port it wasn't supported.
