5th Gen Camaro Roadtrip.

[F Body]

What better way to beat the UK winter blues :













Don't want you thinking it's all 5th Gen driving ?










Busted for speeding again  LOL

[Andy]

Woohoo! What did you think of it?

Good to see you again!

[EDGE]

We stayed at that hotel!!!

[F Body]

Well it wasn't easy locating a 2013 convertible in Inferno Orange but lets start with the looks

I think she looks a million dollars from any angle ( unlike the 4th Gen )




But she still looks good with the roof up !





Of course I wanted the full fat V8 but you can't rent a V8 vert anywhere

However this little 3.6 V6 is punching out 325 ponies





Gearbox is a super smooth 6 speed auto :



The shifts are almost imperceptible unless your in sport mode or have your foot in the carpet

It also has paddles on the steering wheel which are pretty useless :



It goes like a stabbed badger in sport mode and will spin the 19" tyres on the change into 2nd gear on a dry road in sport mode



Drive train is brilliant and returning around 24mpg average, the hood is fine up but I don't like the manual roof release handle ;



Gotta go got some driving to do, will add more later

[Cunning Plan]

Who's this weirdo?

Welcome back dude

Waiting for more..

[Rob]

Who goes on holiday to work out the mpg on their car.......

[art b]

bloody hell... its martini

..and i thought he was dead...

Quoting: Rob

Who goes on holiday to work out the mpg on their car.......

dont worry he'll be washin it tomorra...

[Incursus]

how many times have you polished it?

[Roadkill]

Quoting: F Body

but you can't rent a V8 vert anywhere

I think every rental place on the strip had one in Vegas . . .

[ianjpage]

car doesn't look too bad as a 'vert, not sure about the rear with hood up though...

[F Body]

Quoting: F Body

Gotta go, got some driving to do,

Way Hey another 270 miles with the roof down

Hasn't been washed or polished, it only had 120 miles on the clock when I picked it up, currently reading 1,209 miles and she's dirty !

OK back to the car, as I said the drive train is brilliant and all could what in normal traffic and speed conditions

All the write up's on the 5th Gen Coupe say how bad the all round visibility is, so with the Vert having a much smaller back window I was expecting it to be crap ?

But within a few miles I realized it was half bad, the door mirrors give a really good view to each side ( better than the 4th Gen) and side and front are fine

Now reversing would be really difficult if it weren't for the parking sensors front/back and the niffty camera that appears in the rear view mirror when you select reverse :



It steers way better than a 4th gen but the brakes aren't as good as my Zee.

The interior is also better than a 4th gen :





But in typical Chevy style it's years behind the current standard

[F Body]

OK the bad bits :

1/ Manually releasing the roof catch and waiting quite a while for the top go down, which means it can't be done on the remote or whilst your moving.

2/ When you get over 80mph the stowed hood starts to flap around a bit, but when it's up it's quiet even into 3 figures.

3/ The central display unit, looks like a 1980's Radio Shack home stereo :



4/ What no climate control just manual air con, jeeze Chevy get with the program !

The ride is quite good over some of the very rough roads, way better than a 4th Gen (and so it should be).

Lights are good but why do the yanks still make cars without any form of side repeater lights, no one has a clue when you want to change lane

[F Body]

Finally for today the boot ?

Or what boot ?



The opening is tiny but only half as big when the roof is down :

[Andy]

*boot photos*

Ah, the price you pay for being vain!

Must admit I wasn't taken with the looks when they brought this out, but it's actually a pretty damn good look car.

I really like the centre console layout, especially the retro floor gauges. That must look good all lit up at night!

Do love the yanks obsession with putting boot release handles in their cars. Says a lot!

[F Body]

So the $23,000 dollar question, is would I buy one ?

Yes and No

Yes because the V6 drive train is all you'll ever need in 95% of motoring situations. It's quiet, refined but still has a good exhaust note in sport mode.
I even got the average fuel consumption up to 25.6 yesterday despite doing some rolling burnouts

I'd be happy with the interior if I only paid $23k for it and I love the styling.

No because it's a convertible which is fine and dandy out in the sunshine state, but back in the UK it would rarely be warm or dry enough to have the top down

So what other options are there ?

The 2013 Mustang looks so cool with the retro sequential rear turn lights, but the car is just too chunky for me. May be the 2015 revamp will cure that issue

In the UK you can't buy an official import V6 and the ones that are imported ain't much cheaper than the GM supplied V8's with 5 year warranty

So I'd plump for a SS Coupe manual transmission in Inferno Orange with black stripes



The UK spec is good :

   20" midnight silver painted alloys
   6.2 litre V8 engine
   432PS, 596 NM of torque
   6 speed transmission
   Cruise control
   Brembo performance brakes
   Head-Up Display
   Full leather upholstery
   Boston Acoustics 9-speaker premium audio system
   Rear park assist & rear view camera

But it's £35k = $55,450



Also love the cool Euro only spec rear sunglass LED lights

[art b]

that white monstrosity ..looks like a hairdressers car...

[F Body]

Quoting: art b

that white monstrosity .......

that's no way to talk about Management

Covered nearly 300 miles today with the roof down, we were very worried when I stopped to take this picture for Roadkill ?

It actually looked like it was going to rain, but the clouds blew away and the sun came out again

Quoting: F  Body

When I stopped to take this picture for Roadkill ?

At Jensen's Beach

[Roadkill]

Quoting: F Body

Jensen's Beach

Yeah, the little B@stard gets everywhere.

[Incursus]

We're thinking of doing Florida this year (on the short list anyway) who did you book through, where did you stay etc?

[F Body]

Booked every hotel by credit card after looking at feedback on Trip Advisor
I used two rules, firstly the hotel had to have had 70%+ positive feedback and free parking ( many charge ) and the feedback had to be within the last three months

Most of the ones we used also had free breakfast which was handy.

NB : Street View is also your friend to find out what the neighborhood looks like

I started off by looking at a map of Florida and deciding that we wanted to drive down the west coast to the keys.

I calculated a general rule of 200 miles a day driving, which means your gonna be spending around 4 hours a day in the car

We booked the car through blind through Trip Advisor, the price was great but you don't know who the supplier is until you pay

It turned out to be Alamo at Sanford Airport who were brilliant, no bullshit with scratches or dents that were already there and no additional charges after I handed it back. Just a bar code swipe out and back in again. I would recommend them.

Unlike Eurocar in Portugal who ripped me off £200

We loved the west coast towns of Venice and Naples and plan to revisit, wouldn't go near Miami again, it was like Blackpool on crack

[F Body]

Flight wise I just trawled the internet and found the cheapest flights with Thompson Airways.

Saved at least £1,500 by booking ourselves, don't forget the travel insurance and ESTA visa

Trip Advisor Reviews :

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/members-reviews/JoannaQ437\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/members-reviews/JoannaQ437