2010 Chevrolet Camaro - Review

By Tim Healey

Tim Healey

Contributing Writer BIO

Tim Healey was formerly an associate editor at Consumer Guide Automotive in Chicago. Before that he worked in the automotive industry as a service... More

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What's orange and black and fast all over?

If you answered a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS, you'd be correct.

It's hard to blend into urban traffic in a bright orange Camaro with black racing stripes, but I tried my best. Driving a Camaro SS is a good way to be noticed, by both passer-by and patrolling police officers. Between the blinding paint job and the thumping V-8 under hood, it's almost impossible not to be seen.

And it's also almost impossible to see out of this car--the chopped roofline cuts pretty deeply into outward visibility, but we'll get to that later.

Camaro fan-boys were likely thrilled when General Motors announced that the car would make its return to the Chevrolet line-up in 2009 as a 2010 model, and they were probably even more happy when it was revealed that an SS version would be available, complete with a 6.2-liter V-8 that makes 426 horsepower when mated to a manual transmission and 400 when staked to an automatic. Well, the fan-boys can rejoice, as the new Camaro mostly delivers on its performance promises.

My tester showed up with a base price of $33,725 and a list of standard features that included the aforementioned V-8, a six-speed manual transmission, a dual exhaust, an antiskid system, Brembo brakes, traction control, ABS, heated power outside mirrors, a rear spoiler, a USB port, an uplevel audio system, satellite radio, heated front seats, and other features.

Options included the $1,200 RS package, which offers 20-inch wheels, body-color moldings, high-intensity discharge headlamps, and unique tail lamps. Another $500 option was the interior trim package, which consisted of a black interior with orange accents on the seats and accented stitching on places like the steering wheel, shift knob, and center armrest. An exterior striping package added $470, and another $470 was tacked on for wheels that were polished aluminum, instead of the painted aluminum wheels that come standard as part of the RS package. Finally, the orange paint job itself was billed out for $325. Add in destination, and the total came out to $37,485--which is only $140 more than the as-tested price of a V-6 Camaro I tested last summer.