Keeping up-to-date on sixth-gen Camaro news is a huge priority for us. When we received an invitation to the Find New Roads campaign hosted by GM, we were ecstatic about driving Chevy’s latest and most advanced Camaro to date.

The Find New Roads campaign allowed automotive journalists like ourselves an opportunity to drive one of the three Camaro platforms that will be available later this year, for a five hundred-plus mile trip, in a little over twenty-four hours.

Our day-long expedition began in Detroit, Michigan. Once our feet were planted in the automotive center, our video personality, Paul Huzienga, wasted no time preparing for the drawing of which Camaro model we would receive. Alas, we were not able to score a V8 SS model during the random draw, which was rather unfortunate. However, hindsight is twenty-twenty, and we were there to drive a new Camaro regardless. We scored a ’16 Camaro V6 1LT model, which included an optional RS package, as well as an optional technology package. So without further ado, we bring to you the highs, the lows, the features, benefits, and more, of our ’16 Camaro in twenty-four hours.

“The Chevrolet Camaro has tracked the rise, fall and resurgence of American performance for nearly 50 years, making it a bellwether of horsepower.” – Al Oppenheiser, Camaro chief engineer.

During our five hundred-plus mile road tour, we received a lot of questions centering around the newest-generation Camaro. Instead of answering each question individually, as that would be very time consuming, we’ve decided to expedite the process by compiling a short rundown of the car and it’s practicality.

All Aboard The Power Train

Our ’16 Camaro was equipped with GM’s latest eight-speed automatic transmission, and there’s a lot to love about it. The eight-speed in the Camaro we drove is essentially a more compact version of the eight-speed automatic transmission found in the C7 Stingray Corvette, and the now ’16 Camaro SS. The V6 we got to drive makes more horsepower than any factory Camaro you could buy between ’71 and ’00. During our road trip, it returned just shy of 30mpg in all sorts of mixed driving. We love the eight-speed automatic in the Stingray, and it’s the same transmission you can get in the SS.

Feather Weight Reduction

The sixth-gen’s light-on-its-feet feeling and more substantial gas mileage can be attributed to the new Camaro’s weight savings over the previous generation. The new Camaro is within two inches of the fifth-gen in all dimensions, but still managed to end up lighter. There’s huge pressure from increasing safety regulations and higher standard equipment levels that forces cars to become abruptly heavier, yet GM has managed to shed meaningful weight despite all of that. What kind of witchcraft lets you take almost three hundred pounds off between one generation and the next?

How Is It To Drive?

Time and time again, the number one question always seems to center around the interior and the visibility in the newest Camaro.  We’re a bit disappointed to report that there is no improvement of the rear sight lines from the fifth-gen Camaro, and the car has a very high-beltline. Our model had a backup camera, and needed it. You aren’t going to see anything from the three-o’clock to the nine-o’click position unless it’s on that screen, or in the genuinely-small side mirrors.

The trunk has a decent amount of volume although the size of the opening is what hinders it the most. In short, you’re really limited in what can go in there. TThe back seat is also more or less just there to make your insurance premiums lower than if you bought a Corvette. It’s pretty much a joke for anyone beyond preschool age to be expected to fit in the back.

Getting Down To The Nitty-Gritty

There’s a lot to be said about the sixth-generation Camaro. However, with only having access to our ’16 V6 1LT car for a little over twenty-four hours, realistically, we couldn’t consider our time with the car a full review.

Chevy has sold a lot of fifth-gen Camaros. They’re great looking cars, so to say that the ’16 looks like a fifth-gen, isn’t exactly an insult. But despite the fact that literally nothing but the badges was carried over between generations, there’s just no visual distinction between fifth-gen and the sixth-gen unless you’re a Camaro fanboy. In two days, and over five hundred miles of traveling, no one gave the car a second glance. We’d pace fifth-gen owners on the highway and get no reaction at all. When we stopped for gas or food, our arrest-me-red RS could have been a Toyota Camry for all the attention it drew.

Chevy played it very safe with the design of the sixth-gen, and while it probably won’t won’t hurt sales we have to wonder if there wasn’t anybody on the design team who felt disappointed that they didn’t take more of a risk, like the Corvette team did between the C6 and C7. We’re betting some designers wish there’s as much debate going on about the sixth-gen as a whole car, as there was about the square versus round tail-lights on the C7.

We’ll have more of our thoughts and evaluation of the sixth-generation Camaro in the coming weeks. Until then, comment with your thoughts here and on our Facebook page.