So here’s the deal with the Camaro LT1. Chevy takes a Camaro 1LT (not confusing at all) and bolts in a 6.2-liter V8 making 455 hp and 455 pound-feet of torque. Then it adds a limited-slip rear differential, 4-piston Brembo front brakes, a performance-tuned suspension, and a set of 20-inch wheels. The end result is a car that can get to 60 mph in about 4 seconds and scream down the quarter-mile in about 12.5 seconds.
The beauty of any modern Camaro, though, is the car’s basis on General Motors’ Alpha platform. Engineered to serve beneath the Cadillac ATS and CTS, luxury sport sedans charged with taking on Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz, the Alpha platform’s inherent dynamism transforms the Camaro into something more than a traditional American muscle car. And that means it can tackle a twisty road just as capably as it can accelerate in a straight line.
From the driver’s seat, forward visibility is superior to the view in a Challenger or a Mustang. Chevy carves subtle channels on either side of the hood bulge, giving both the driver and passenger a better and more immediate view of the road. Creased fenders help to place the car in a lane, too, and dimensionally the Camaro is smaller than its primary competitors. All of this, combined with a lighter curb weight, makes the Camaro more fun to drive in the real world, where narrow roads, blind curves, and unanticipated obstacles are the rule.
In fact, in my opinion, the Camaro drives more like a BMW 4 Series than a Challenger or Mustang. It just doesn’t have nearly the same level of refinement. For that, Cadillac offered the now-discontinued ATS Coupe on this same platform.
I drove my testing loop in Tour mode, except when running the car across the local mountains, where I used Sport mode. It averaged 18.6 mpg in the city and suburbs and finished the entire loop at an even 20 mpg. Official EPA ratings are 16 mpg city, 27 highway, and 20 combined.
Around town and on local freeways, I drove like a normal, sane human being. Aside from a few quick bursts of acceleration, such as when merging into traffic from an on-ramp, I kept the Camaro to prevailing speeds.
In the mountains, however, I drove with enthusiasm. Given the optional 10-speed automatic’s plethora of gears, which replaces the standard active-rev-matching 6-speed manual gearbox, I expected to need the paddle shifters. But after ripping around the first downhill, off-camber curve, the Camaro’s sensors and software assumed I would need a performance algorithm, which always picked the right gear at the right time. As a result, the 10-speed performed flawlessly, and I didn’t use the paddle shifters at all.
In Sport mode, the dual-mode exhaust system is obnoxiously loud, sounding like a percolating coffee maker with each downshift. This is antithetical to the concept of a sleeper, so I’d leave this option at the factory if I bought myself a Camaro LT1. No doubt, with the standard exhaust, the Camaro would offer plenty of satisfying rumble.
The one thing the Camaro LT1 doesn’t have, and doesn’t offer, is GM’s Magnetic Ride Control suspension. This active adaptive damping suspension would eliminate some of the LT1’s body motions on undulating pavement, making the car feel even more stable and secure while zooming down your favorite back roads. To get this with the V8 engine, you’ll need to upgrade to the Camaro SS.
Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed driving the Camaro LT1. A capable all-rounder that’s fast in both a straight line and on twisty roads, it delivers plenty of thrills without breaking your budget. Just make sure that you roll gently into the throttle when exiting corners or curves because the rear end gets skittish if your right foot is too heavy.