It might be an insane notion to behold, but with the addition of the ZL1 1LE Camaro into the game and with it having won our PRESTEGIOUS Car of the Year 2019 award, the Corvette engined, MagneRide equipped Camaro SS is surprisingly tame in the context of this game. So, does the Camaro SS offer something its younger and badder brother doesn't? Or is this week's Car of the Week simply a car for the weak?
I'd say it depends entirely on what you're looking for in a car. The SS is a very softly sprung car, which isn't a very enticing thought when said springs prop up a car weighing 1,672kg (3,686lbs), 54% of which uncomfortably up front where a "small" block 6.2L V8 sits. That said, the SS does hide its mass rather well, stopping short and showing little unwillingness into corners. While the ZL1 shows almost GT4 racecar levels of stiffness and immediacy, the SS is more of an involving, engaging road car that emphasises cognizant weight transfers and equally careful inputs simply because it's a much more "mortal" car.
Because it is much more "mortal" of a car that resembles a road car more than a racecar, I personally think that a driver will learn much more about car control and perceiving nuances from a car, along with training the muscle memory to react and correct accordingly if they were stuck into the leather–appointed bucket seat of the SS. If given enough time to learn about it, the SS can duly reward and be an engaging and exhilarating drive all the same. It feels delectably balanced when behind the wheel; I'm not talking about the weight distribution of the car, but rather, how every component of the car comes together when taking a corner, without any one component being an obvious limiting factor to bottleneck the whole experience. Take a corner, and the car as a whole comes alive—the front tyres struggle for grip, the rear tyres threaten to break grip as they reach for the sky, the suspension wallows and lets weight slosh over any tyre you so choose, the steering is brilliantly communicative despite the humongous stress put over the front tyres, all while the car begs for engine braking. I know it sounds awful on paper, but in practice, it means that nothing can be taken for granted in the car, with every communicative component cohesively approaching their limits together, making for an intensively engaging and technical drive. Drivers will have to learn to be gentle and smooth with the steering wheel, the pedals, the weight transfer, and learn to listen for the tyres and knowing when each has grip and which don't.
Because of how collectively every aspect of car control and component blends together and approaches their limits as a whole when tackling a corner in the SS, the car can and will kick up a fuss in any number of ways you ask it to if you were to deliberately disrupt the fine knife edge balance that is the SS' handling limits by playing with any of the ingredients, any of the tools you as a driver have at your disposal, be it via being slightly too rough with the steering wheels, any of the three pedals, playing with the car's orientation and weight balance, or even the handbrake if you're feeling feisty, and the car will respond with the same linearity, precision, and willingness as if you were to ask it to trace a graceful, surgical racing line even in that self–inflicted chaos. As a result, the SS I find is a car that's not only capable of putting down impressive lap times and skidpad numbers, but also as a plaything. Understeer? Oversteer? Kansei dorifuto? Doughnuts? Transitioning from any one of the aforementioned into another? It can and it will, if you have the skills and knowledge to make it dance. So willing and encouraging is the SS in fact, that even someone like me attempted to drift in it!
Because of how much freedom and control it affords its drivers however, it's absolutely not a car that will save you if you make a mistake on the track. I find that, as a result, the SS is not a car that is very receptive to being pushed by its driver—it demands respect and will not hesitate to bite if mistreated. It requires not just steady hands and feet, but also a cognizant finger on the pulse of the car at all times. I must admit that I tend to fold quite easily under the pressure of racing, and I think I tend to push harder than I should when chasing or being chased by that guy, which I've come to find out firsthand is behaviour that the SS harshly punishes. The car is like a punching bag not only in what it'd let you do to it, but also in how it will rebound and smack you in the face with equal force if you aren't careful and give it the opening to retaliate. I've come to deeply respect those who can race this thing as–is in a high pressure situation, because that says to me that the driver is calm, collected, and cognizant even under threat. It's precisely that honesty and freedom in how the SS handles itself and its relationship with the driver that makes it something of a rarity in today's cars that are rapidly getting faster, safer, but more and more disconnected as they try to straddle the line between speed and safety. Despite being big, heavy, and packing enough torque to jump start a planet, the SS oddly reminded me of my beloved FD RX-7 in not just how cohesive the driving experience feels, but also in how it demands a certain level of respect and understanding from its driver. Both cars share a striking similarity in how they let me behave and be pretty when I want to, and kick up a spectacular fuss when I feel like letting my hair down. I can very easily see the Camaro SS being the FD RX-7 or 993 911 for somebody else who grew up in a different time or place, and that coming from me is high praise, whatever that amounts to.
A car for the weak? On the contrary, I think the Camaro SS can be the preferred tool for someone of sound technique and unbreakable mind. A person who knows when "enough is enough", and can appreciate what they have without breaking their bank(s). As for what the SS offers that the ZL1 doesn't, I think it is a better teacher of car control and driving techniques, and a much more engaging drive. I think that the ZL1 has lost a fair bit of the SS' playfulness and flexibility in having to rein in its monstrous 650HP—not that anyone can blame it for that. Besides, offering the brute force of a Chevy "small" block and the wizardry of a MagneRide suspension at a mere 36K credits is simply mind boggling, and is definitely something anyone can be proud of buying and having. I am definitely curious to see how close I can get to the ZL1's performance with the SS within the former's budget when GT7 comes. But for now, the Camaro SS is a Sublime Sleeper all the same.
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