2020 Chevrolet Camaro SS Road Test and Review

20camarossfrontbeauty1sessions ・ Photo by Ron Sessions

The sixth-generation Chevrolet Camaro enters its fifth model year with a few styling and equipment tweaks. More importantly, however, it continues Chevrolet’s legacy of building popular-priced front-engine, rear-drive performance cars as the 2020 Corvette Stingray moves upmarket to a new mid-engine layout.

The 2020 Chevrolet Camaro lineup includes turbo four-cylinder and V6-powered LS and LT models, the V8-powered SS, and the ZL1 with a supercharged V8 under the hood. New for 2020 is an LT1 model that includes some of the SS model’s features such as a V8 engine, but at a lower price. Chief competitors to the Camaro SS are the Ford Mustang GT and Bullitt and the Dodge Challenger R/T and Scat Pack. Pricing for the 2020 Camaro, including destination, starts at $25,995 for the base four-cylinder LS coupe, topping out at $68,995 for the range-topping supercharged ZL1 V8. Convertible versions of each trim (except the LS, which doesn't offer one) are an extra $6,000. The subject of this review, a 2020 Camaro 2SS coupe, stickered at $47,475 including the $42,000 base price, a $995 destination charge, and $4,480 for options including a 10-speed automatic transmission, dual-mode exhaust, Magnetic Ride Control, and Ceramic White interior trim.

Camaro Design

Camaro watchers may notice that the 2020 SS model gets a slightly revised front-end appearance with the Chevy bowtie emblem moved to the upper grille, while the bar between the upper and lower grilles returned to body color. Less subtle are more than two dozen optional stripe and graphics packages that allow buyers to customize the car.

Standard LED headlamps, accent lamps, daytime running lamps, and taillamps add some visual modernity to an overall shape inspired by the 1967-69 Camaro. The Camaro’s primary rivals also mix a heavy dose of retro into their designs with the Ford successfully channeling the 1965-70 Mustang and the Dodge recalling the 1970-74 Challenger.

Photo by Ron Sessions

Power Point

The 275-hp 2.0-liter turbo four and 335-hp 3.6-liter V6 in the Camaro LS and LT are capable of propelling this stylish coupe from rest to 60 mph in just over 5 seconds. But it’s the legendary Chevy small-block V8 that, in our opinion, completes the Camaro. In the new LT1 or the SS, that means a 455-hp 6.2-liter LT1 V8 that can reel off 0-60 mph in 4 seconds flat, making the appropriate rumbly V8 sounds in the process. Producing an equally robust 455 lb-ft of torque, the 6.2-liter V8 has the flexibility for lively throttle response regardless of road speed or engine revs.

The 6.2-liter V8 is teamed with a standard six-speed manual transmission or an optional 10-speed automatic for $1,595 extra. The 10-speed executes super-quick shifts and comes with steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters. EPA estimates are 16 mpg city/26 mpg highway for manual-transmission models and 16 mpg city/27 mpg highway for automatics. I averaged 22.8 mpg in the 6.2-liter SS coupe during a week of mixed suburban and highway driving. The $995 dual-mode exhaust is fairly quiet around-town when cruising, but gets significantly more talkative at wider throttle openings and in the selectable Sport or Track drive modes.

Photo by Ron Sessions

Mission Control

The Camaro’s interior is cozy, intimate, and really tailored for two. A handsome wraparound dashboard has a clean and uncluttered look. The well-bolstered front seats have ample thigh and torso side bolstering, and they give good support for long slogs without being uncomfortably hard. On the 2SS, the standard power front buckets come with heating and ventilation, leather upholstery, adjustable lumbar, and driver’s memory settings. Premium touches include French stitching on the seats, console lid, and doors. Both the door armrests and console sides are padded for knee comfort in brisk cornering.

Other 2SS niceties include a grippy heated leather-wrapped flat-bottom steering wheel, power express up/down front windows, push-button start, keyless door opening, illuminated sill plates, and 24-hue interior spectrum accent lighting on dash, doors, and console. A rear camera on the decklid gives a high-resolution view in the rearview mirror, unencumbered by rear-seat passengers or cargo in the rear seat, and it can be zoomed in and out. However, the cabin’s pretty claustrophobic, especially to the rear where a raised decklid, small rear glass, and thick rear roof pillars hinder rearward visibility. Luckily, the Camaro’s standard blind-spot monitoring system is a huge help here.

Photo by Ron Sessions

New Twist on Climate Control

If you’re new to the sixth-generation Camaro, you’ll be pleased how easy it is to adjust the dual-zone automatic climate control system that’s standard in the 2SS and higher trims. There are four round vents on the instrument panel, each of which can regulate their airflow individually via rotary knobs in the center of the outlets.

The two center vents just above the center console have the added ability to adjust outlet temperatures individually for the driver and front passenger via rotating outer rings. The adjustment knobs and rings have a nicely weighted, high-quality damped feel. The vent design helps remove some button clutter from the dash and reduces distractions. They’re so easy and intuitive to operate, you might wonder why Chevrolet doesn’t do this in all of its models.

Photo by Ron Sessions

In-Car Connectivity and Entertainment

Whereas lesser trims are equipped with a standard 7-inch infotainment color touchscreen, all SS trims feature an 8-inch high-resolution version. All 2020 Camaro models feature Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity for cellphone apps and customization, voice command capability, 4G LTE in-car Wi-Fi capability via OnStar with a 3GB or one-month AT&T trial, 10 years of Chevrolet Connected Access, and Bluetooth for audio streaming and cellphone pairing. 

The screen is within easy reach, and touchscreen tiles are large enough to tap successfully while the car is in motion. Voice and steering-wheel commands help reduce driving distraction. There are also a few hard buttons for home, back, tuning, and scanning, plus a dedicated volume/power button. While the sweet sounds emanating from the large-bore twin exhaust may well be all the music performance fans want to hear, other audio entertainment includes one of two audio systems — a six-speaker AM/FM unit in LS, LT, LT1, and 1SS trims and a rich-sounding upgrade Bose premium audio system (with seven speakers in convertibles and nine in coupes) standard in the 2SS and higher trims with SiriusXM satellite radio. Embedded navigation is a $495 option.

Photo by Ron Sessions

Head-Up Display

Standard in the 2020 Chevrolet Camaro's 2SS and higher trims is a head-up display.

Projected from the top of the dash onto the windshield in the driver’s line of sight above the hood line, the display can provide such information as road speed, engine rpm, audio system station, and turn-by-turn directions. It also shares the dynamic lateral or longitudinal g-forces generated by turning, braking, or accelerating the Camaro on the road.

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Tight Rear Seat

The Camaro has a pair of seatbelts in the back, but they aren’t going to be used very often. The Camaro is really a 2+2.

With the front seat adjusted to accommodate my 6-foot, 2-inch frame, the driver’s seatback butts against the base of the rear seat’s lower cushion. Shorter front seaters can, of course, move their seats forward to grant rear seat patrons a tiny bit of footwell space — but with two tall people in the front seats, your options are limited.

Photo by Ron Sessions

Fold-Down Rear Seat

OK, so the Camaro’s trunk is on the small side compared to the Mustang and Challenger at 9.1 cubic feet. But think of the coupe’s rear seat, not a place many adults will want to spend time in, as a convenient, climate-controlled place to stash pets, small kids, shopping bags, and stuff you don’t want rolling around in the trunk.

The Camaro coupe’s rear seat’s one-piece seatback can be folded down, making room to carry longer items such as skis and long parcels inside the car under lock and key.

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Safety Tech

Standard 2SS safety gear includes rear park assist, a high-resolution backup camera with trajectory lines, a forward collision alert, a rear cross-traffic alert, and blind-spot monitoring. Good news, parents: Chevrolet’s Teen Driver technology, which allows responsible adults to set limits and review teen driving activity, is standard as well.

NHTSA crash test scores for the 2020 Camaro are five stars overall, with four stars in frontal impacts, five stars for side impacts and, something we rarely see, five full stars for rollover resistance.

Photo by Ron Sessions

Road Performance

Built on the same Alpha platform that underpins the Cadillac CT4 and CT5 performance luxury sedans, the Camaro SS feels light and nimble on the road. Drivers enjoy a tight, rattle-free body and solid foundation bolstered by generous application of structural adhesives. The Camaro’s precise, lightly weighted ZF dual-pinion, rack-mounted variable-ratio electric steering delivers a synaptic feel and gives the driver the kind of control that’s invigorating on twisty roads and reassuringly satisfying over long, open expanses.

The 2SS trim benefits from a performance suspension, meaty summer-only Goodyear Eagle F1 run-flat 245/40ZR20 front/275/35R20 rear tires, upsized Brembo performance brakes at both the front and rear with crisp responses, and a limited-slip differential. Accelerating to speed on freeway onramps is big fun. The optional dual-mode exhaust is civil when cruising but makes a big statement when you punch the accelerator and it bypasses the mufflers. A quick-shifting and paddle-shiftable 10-speed automatic provides a wide gear-ratio spread for great part-throttle response and effortless cruising. Even over pockmarked streets in the older and less-well-maintained parts of town, the Camaro’s $1,695 optional Magnetic Ride shocks did an outstanding job of controlling body motions while filtering out the harshness of poorly maintained roads.

Photo by Ron Sessions