Skip to footer

2017 Chevrolet Camaro is an improvement on a classic

We named the Camaro SS the Motor Authority Best Car to Buy for 2016. For 2017, the best gets better.

|
Carlos Osorio/AP/File
The 2016 Chevy Camaro. The 2017 model takes a great car and makes it even better.

Chevrolet isn't messing around with the Camaro.

The sixth-generation car, which arrived as a 2016 model, is the best yet. We even named the Camaro SS the Motor Authority Best Car to Buy 2016. For 2017, the best gets better.

There are two new additions for the new model year: the track-focused Camaro 1LE and the sledgehammer that is the Camaro ZL1.

This time around the 1LE package can be had with either the Camaro V6’s 3.6-liter V-6 or the Camaro SS’s 6.2-liter V-8. It's essentially a track package, but it’s really much more than that. Think of it as a complete integration of performance parts into the Camaro, with top-end ZL1 parts flowing down to the SS 1LE and SS parts flowing to the V6 1LE.

If you’re looking for ultimate performance, though, the ZL1 is the way to go.

Featuring the familiar supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 found in the Corvette Z06 and Cadillac CTS-V, the ZL1 packs a staggering 640 horsepower and 640 pound-feet of torque. That means the ZL1 has 60 more horses than its fifth-generation predecessor, which held the title of most powerful Camaro until now. It's also 200 pounds lighter, thanks to the tauter chassis of the sixth-generation Camaro’s Alpha platform.

But that's not all the powertrain news. In addition to the standard 6-speed manual transmission with rev matching, the ZL1 also offers a new 10-speed automatic transmission that General Motors Company [NYSE:GM] developed with Ford Motor Company [NYSE:F].

There's loads of other technology that ensures the car is not just quick in a straight line. The list includes magnetic ride control, an electronic limited-slip differential, performance-oriented traction control, launch control, and a driving modes selector. That's in addition to extensive testing at the Nürburgring, where the car set a blistering 7:29.60 lap time. That’s 997 Porsche 911 GT2 and GT3 RS fast.

There are the regular Camaro models too. The standard Camaro comes with a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-4 that delivers 275 hp and 295 lb-ft. Above this is the V6 with a 3.6-liter V-6 good for 335 hp and 284 lb-ft and further up still is the SS with a 6.2-liter V-8 good for 455 hp and 455 lb-ft. A 6-speed manual is standard while an 8-speed automatic is available. Buyers can also choose between coupe and convertible body styles.

For this year only, Camaro fans can also select a 50th anniversary model. This is essentially a trim level available on V6 and SS models.

Starting prices for the 2017 Chevrolet Camaro range are as follows. Note, all figures include a $995 destination charge.

2017 Chevrolet Camaro - $27,595
2017 Chevrolet Camaro V6 - $28,795
2017 Chevrolet Camaro V6 1LE - $32,895
2017 Chevrolet Camaro SS - $37,900
2017 Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE - $44,400
2017 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 - $62,135

For more on the Chevrolet Camaro, read the in-depth reviews at The Car Connection.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to 2017 Chevrolet Camaro is an improvement on a classic
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/In-Gear/2016/1205/2017-Chevrolet-Camaro-is-an-improvement-on-a-classic
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe