1996 Chevrolet Camaro Coupe 3.8 V6 from North America
Summary:
Cheap touring car
Faults:
Ignition wires - the bane of my existence.
Alternator.
Two batteries.
Power steering pump.
Anti-lock brakes and traction control.
Three sets of tires.
Three sets of brakes.
Cracked plastic all over the place.
Loose side windows.
Loose deck lid.
All the bushings in the rear end are gone.
Heater core weeps.
Stereo buttons fell off.
Stereo won't play stereo cassettes properly, occasionally playing them backwards.
Shifting console replaced twice.
Paint flaking off.
General Comments:
Great car for the young and dumb because it gets reasonable fuel mileage and it is easy to work on for the most part. Get used to working on it, though.
The 3800 v6 averages around 29MPG highway, which is surprising, but down around 17 in town if driven the way people who own Camaros drive them.
Cruises down the highway like a missile. Doesn't corner so well. This is due to a weight imbalance combined with cheap tires. Put expensive tires on it and buy the v8 if you want it to corner.
Stock tires slip in spit. On cold mornings they slip on dry pavement. I put on some sport/touring radials and got a good mix of wet/dry handling.
The ignition system on this engine is horrid. GM knows this and will fix it under warranty, but after warranty, get used to replacing the #6 plug wire, which GM routed through the exhaust on the right bank. I'm going to try high-temp plug wires next.
Most of the other problems are just older car stuff, happening after 70,000 miles, and have been very cheap to fix due to the nice collection of wrecked v6 Camaros around.
By the way, these retain their value well.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 4th September, 2004
23rd Aug 2007, 08:21
Cheap tires obviously won't get good traction. I honestly don't know what he means by the v8 being better at cornering either though, ha!
15th May 2008, 19:55
I disagree with buying the Lt1 v8 z28, or anything with a Lt1. I had a '94 Z28 with 90k, and the Lt1 has THE worst distributor system ever created; and it's hard to make a lot of power out of that mill with it misfiring constantly; AND it's right behind the water pump so fixing it is a pain, and costly. The series II 3.8 Liter is one of the best motors to come from GM, period.
10th Mar 2005, 14:16
I see you wrote.
Cruises down the highway like a missile. Doesn't corner so well. This is due to a weight imbalance combined with cheap tires. Put expensive tires on it and buy the v8 if you want it to corner.
Weight imbalance? The Camaro has a 48/52 distribution.
Dont buy cheap tires.
And waht does buying a v8 have to do with better cornering?