vader1

So the wife is from Hawaii and we spend some time there every year for the holidays and see an island or two. Had three Chevys. Now I try to rent just the best basic sh*tbox I can find because the roads and parking spaces on Hawaii are small, and we have no kids so a little junker is fine with us. It is by far the worst segment for rentals and we usually get strapped with the wordls worst cars in rental car trim. We have had the worlds worst Cobalts, Calibers, HHRs, Versas and the like. Lately I have been getting Sparks and Sonics. I really like these. For a little sh*tbox, they are pretty good. They lack any kind of power, but other than that, they stop and handle really nicely, almost fun in fact. They are comfortable and seem well put together for what they are. If I was in the market for a basic car, it would probably be a Fit, but this is not a bad car.


The next one was supposed to be a Spark, they were out, so Malibu. I like these too. They are comfortable, nicely appointed, drive well and are pretty nice cars. I realize they do not dominate the market segment, but I like them and am always please to have one as a rental.

Next island we had a car for a one day rental on Christmas day. It was supposed to be a Spark. We got there and it was gone so we got a Camaro SS. I had mixed feelings because it is big and there was traffic and small lanes, but it sounded kind of fun to have the V8. It was just a horrible, horrible, horrible car. It pulled a little because someone must have hit a pothole, (not GM's fault) but other than that I liked nothing about the car and after 6 hours was dying to hand it back. The seats were huge but comfortable, it made some decent sounds, and easily spun the tires in coners if you wanted, but that was it for the positives. The interior is really crappy. Cheap materials, creaks and rattles on a 25,000 mile car. The doors clunk as if it was an F body. Still the same old ugly orange/red and teal blue guages from the last 25 years.

It had four guages in a pod that were all down where the ashtray usually is. This is actually below the top of your thigh level, and behind the shifter. I could read one of them from where I was sitting without leaning and ducking down. Since the view out the slit like windows is terrible, you can't really take time to read them because you have to really contort to see them. The transmission had paddles which were flimsy plastic, it also was so slow to kick down the even the worst turbo lag is more bearable. It was hard to judge the engine because it began to pull hard in the upper rpm range, but it is totally wasted on such a big car with such a slow transmission.

I know everybody here talks about how great the Z28's lap times are, but the package around it is just bad. The car had tight steering and cornered fairly flat, but it was so huge and cartoony and pporly thought out and put together inside I can't see how anyone buys one. Now after I told my wife how much I hated that car, we get home last night and see Chevy is offering an $8500 incentive on Camaro SS's. If the Mustang is just OK it should be the death of this car. It is old school GM, and that is not a good thing. I thought it was supposed to be one of the winners of the new lineup but it is just a bad car outdside of some good power and decent handling.

I realize here is where I lose any shred of credibility, but if I could not resell it and had to choose between a Malibu or Spark and the SS, I would take the Malibu or Spark in a second.

S2KNJ

I was with you but then you lost credibility with the last sentences. you should have realized that.

Sebring AP1

lol

Marioshi

I really like the spark a lot and the Spark EV seems like it would be buckets of fun. Never driven an SS but the V6 convertible I drove seemed pleasant enough. Top down only though, with the top up its a dungeon in there. Whenever I sat in them at car shows/dealer lots I knew it wasn't the car for me. Corvette is worlds better visibility-wise and that is saying something.

vader1

Ergonomics of the Vette and interior materials are better too. It just looks like Camaro was rushed or something. I am sure it will get better when it gets a refresh, interior wise. But I have to say I was dissapointed. It MUST have a manual because the auto was sloooooooooooowwwwwwwwww, and the interior sucks. Was kind of looking forward to tossing it around a little but the narrow streets and number of parked cars in Honolulu are not conducive to fun. The engine was a bit effortless in near 30 mile an hour speed range, a little gas, and a few instant miles per hour, but if you got on it any harder it was like a 1980's downshift and delay before rush of power. And I just could not get over the low rent interior.

I do give it props for the flat cornering I experienced when I pushed it a little. Pretty stable for such a huge car.

The Spark, believe it or not, is actually fun on a twisty road. The steering is direct, and communicates well, it is also very tight. It has a go cart feel to it and has REALLY small proportions. It desperately needs 10-15 more hp, but it aint a bad little car.

Marioshi

I agree, I rented one to drive around one weekend and it was a blast even with the CVT. I disagree about needing more hp, it is the most fun I have ever had with 84hp but the EV could be amazing (140hp and 327 lb ft of instant torque!) . I was truly impressed by GMs cheapest car which is not something you could say even a couple years ago. Helps that it had single digit miles when I picked it up, I must have been the first person to rent it!

Mr.E.G.

I completely agree on all accounts. I don't know who they made the Camaro for, but I'm 5'9" and can barely see over the dash, and I sure the hell can't see the end of the hood, yet my co-worker who owns one is 6'3" and his head touches the ceiling the entire time he drives. It really has an odd greenhouse.

My wife's Pontiac Vibe got caught up on the whole Toyota airbags of death fiasco and she got a panicked letter from Toyota telling her to take it to a GM dealer ASAP. GM, of course, had no idea what we were talking about, so they had to put us in a rental for a few days. They gave us a fully loaded Chevy Sonic sedan, and it is a good little car. It had a turboed engine and an auto tranny (of some sort, I can't remember), and it was plenty peppy enough around town. The car handled reasonably well, had a pretty decent leather interior (it was cheap stuff, but they hid it well). I was genuinely impressed with the car. Like Vader said, it was pretty fun to drive.

I would definitely take that car over a Camaro. I just flat-out don't like the Camaro. I should also point out that I equally hated the Challenger, for what it's worth, but I like driving Mustangs. Go figure.

Mr.E.G.

I should also add that I rented a Chevy Spark in hatchback form, and that thing felt pretty crappy. The Sonic was surprisingly decent, but I was not a fan of the Spark.It felt like a car you'd find in a third-world country, or maybe like a Korean car from the late 90s.

Marioshi

Well it is a product of GM Korea so you are on the money there!

Adrenalize

Your findings don't surprise me, I've never been a fan of the Camaro.