I have a lot of experience with Camaros, I learned to drive on a 1991 RS and my first car at 16 was a hand-me-down 1984 automatic V6. Which I was glad to get rid of a year later because of the large amount of problems it had and switch to a new reliable Tercel for college. My mother has always liked Camaros, growing up, we had a 1979, 1984 and a 1991 in the family. And now, she has a 1998 V6 5-speed with t-tops she bought brand new in 1997. Over 5 years later she still has it, but is now looking forward to her next car which won’t be a Camaro. Because the Camaro is a low 2-door car that only seats a max of four (not comfortably) and she lives near me here in Florida, she likes to barrow my 4-door Toyota when family or friends are out visiting and usually sticks me with her car.
My mom is in no way abusive to her Camaro, at over 5 years of owning it, it only has about 38,000 miles on it. It’s also garage kept at her home and her job, so it rarely sits in Florida’s sun for long periods of time. She’s always keeps up with regular maintenance and keeps it very clean. Considering that and after driving it so much, I have some mixed feelings about it and how it’s held up over the years.
Performance, Power and Handling
Her model has a 200 HP V6 paired with a 5-speed manual transmission. The Camaro is part of a dying breed of rear-wheel-drive American muscle cars. Unfortunately, of all my years driving different Camaro models, I’ve found this is not always a good thing, especially on wet pavement. I always have to be extra careful when starting off in 1st gear to avoid spinning or fish tailing. Also, rear wheel drive cars, especially heavy ones like the Camaro, seem very sensitive to tire condition in terms of traction loss. Problem is, if the back of the car loses traction and starts to fishtail, which can happen easily on a fast turn or start, you don’t have to power in the front to try to correct this. So, it’s easy for the entire car to loose control and I’ve had this happen to me in the 1984 Camaro and a few close calls in the 1998. I’m sure the flat, low, wide, heavy body of the Camaro does not help at all.
Engine noise is not bad, though I think a certain level of it is good on sports cars. The engine noise consists of low growls when accelerating, no high whining or whistling tones. Wind noise is also minimal, being a low car helps this, no doubt. Accelerating is adequate in this model, the manual transmission gives you a little more control over the power. Passing Town Cars on the highway is a piece of cake (though in Florida, we’re usually stuck passing in the right lane). However, I’m not sure I like how it shifts. I’m used to driving lightweight, stick shift Toyotas, so the heavy V6 Camaro feels kind of sluggish when shifting, not peppy at all, though it does seem harder to stall. One of the advantages of a rear-wheel-drive car is better power, but handling seems to be a sacrifice, which is why NASCAR vehicles seem to be the last few with it, all they have to do is go in a circle…oval…whatever (obviously I’m not into NASCAR). Turning on a dime is not an option and, it’s hard to keep track of where the huge front end is on it because you don’t have a good view of it from the driver’s seat.
Visibility is not great on the Camaro. As noted before, the driver does not get a clear view of the large front end, so parking can be tricky. Also, there are several blind spots in the rear. The driver sits very low and the rear-end seems high, making it hard to see through the flat back window. Because there really isn’t back windows for the rear seats, there are big side blind spots, making it hard to see what’s going on with traffic behind and on the sides of you.
Over the years, the transmission has become more rebellious about going into reverse. Now, you usually have to try a couple of times, reseating your foot on the clutch each time, before it finally goes. And when it does, it makes a loud noise that can be heard from the outside of the car. Gas mileage is not a major selling point, it averages about 17 MPG city and 26 highway. Not too big a deal for her driving habits, but I would not recommend this for a commuter.
Interior Looks and Features
Her model has the beige cloth interior that has help up pretty good over the years. There are some coffee stains here and there and the floor mats are getting old looking. Also, the seat belt buckles are metal wrapped in plastic casing. Shortly after she bought it, the one on the drivers seat cracked and fell off. The seat belt still functions fine, nothing wrong with the buckle, it just lost its decorative cover. When she had the dealer fix it, instead of replacing the buckle all together, they decided to put the casing back on by gluing over the crack. Well, they put it on backwards and the glue did not hold that long, so it fell off again shortly after.
I don’t like the two front cup holder locations at all. The first one is located in the center console, behind the stick shift…right where my elbow usually ends up while driving. Anything taller than a can of soda is sure to get knocked to the back seat if you’re not careful while shifting, creating an awkward, uncomfortable driving position while shifting. The second folds out from the passengers side of the AC/radio console. But again, if you have larger drinks in it, they tend to get in the way while shifting.
The back seats aren’t comfortable at all. Because they sit so low and have little leg room, my knees are almost wedged into my chest. They will only seat two people, not three, there’s a hard axle lump in the middle where the third person would usually sit. Don’t ever try to use this as a third seat, there’s no seatbelt. Getting into and out of the back seats is very awkward, especially for tall adults. Because the car is so low, you pretty much have to fall into them. The space to access them behind the front seats is tiny, requiring a very un-lady like position to get out, I don’t recommend wearing a skirt for this. Also, the back seats have no view with the pillar on either side, no windows.
The front dash is very large, creating an ocean of black plastic in front of you as it meets the slopped windshield. It’s also hard to reach all sections of it to polish. The stereo and AC controls can be blocked by large drinks in the passenger side cup holder, but other than that, are easy to use and seem well laid out. The CD stereo system sounds excellent, a lot of bass and great distribution of sound, the tweeters in the front really help songs come through clearly. The stereo has presets for various music types that adjust the bass and sound accordingly, by she rarely, if ever, uses them. The stereo also has a feature where it automatically turns the volume down when coming to a stop to balance out with engine noise. Not really a big deal to me, just one of those nice-to-have-to-show-off things.
Interior lighting is very nice, instead of having one very bright dome light, it has a less harsh one, two map lights on the rearview mirror and small lights that illuminate the door controls. Also, with theater lighting, they dim slowly to off when the door is shut instead of just switching off. There is a light to illuminate the back cargo area that seems to work well.
The cargo space is not as bad as some may think. With all seats, the cargo area is limited to a hole or dip in the hatch area. It also has a little space behind the back seat, before the dip, for cargo, but not much with the back window shutting so close. With the back seats folded down, a lot more room is opened up. We’ve fit a 7 ½ foot Christmas tree back there and were able to shut the back completely. Also, the back seat area will easily accommodate trash cans and other big items home owners might shop for. But, folding down the back seat is a little tricky, it requires a latch to be released on either side, then pushed down, they fold down in one piece, no 60/40 split. It’s much easier with two people. Also, while the back seats may have a lot of space, it’s not easy to get to. Your only options are the small spaces behind the front seats or leaning in through the back hatch, with can get awkward.
Exterior Looks and Features
This model has the exterior sport package, with the extended ground effects and spoiler. The ground effects ad to the look of the car for sure, but has proven to be a maintenance problem. Because they take away from ground clearance of the car, the front section has some major scratches from bottoming out on large bumps. Even going very slow over large bumps, the front usually hits anyway. Also, for protective measures I guess, there’s a rubber/plastic flap under the front end that is supposed for protect it from bottoming out somehow, but I haven’t figured out how yet. Instead, it just makes a load noise when it does bottom out and often drags on curbs and stoppers in front of parking spaces. Also, at two years old, one of the front panels of the ground effects came partly loose, half of it was hanging lower because it lost a plastic clasp or screw that had to be fixed at the dealer.
The exterior has many nooks and crannies that are hard to reach. Starting with the narrow gap under the rear spoiler, the under-the-hood gap the windshield wipers are hidden in and the style air holes in the ground effects. Though, I think the exterior of the car is very good looking, very stylish and sporty, just a lot of work to wash. Hers is the dark, metallic blue and it has accumulated a lot of little scratches over the years. Maybe the darker color shows them more, but it seems like it has more scratches than it should.
She got the model with t-tops because, I guess, she thought she’d use them. But, she’s only taken them out maybe 3 times, each time proving to be a lot of work to store and move. Here in Florida, you don’t want to be driving with t-tops out and not have them in the car. Because rain storms seem to pop up quick, you never know when you’ll need to put them back in. And, it’s an ordeal to do this in a hurry, you have to pull off to the side of the road, get them out of the back and get them lined up and locked in. It’s a lot of work compared to just hitting the close button on a moon roof. With moon roofs being as good as they are today, not sure why GM didn’t redesign the Camaro with a moon roof instead. As you can tell, I’m not a fan of t-tops, there seems to be little benefit for all that work. But I will say that so far they have not leaked. Maybe never taking them out anymore has something to do with this.
One thing that has never changed in all the Camaros I have experience with is the huge, heavy doors. Many find heavier, thicker doors to be safer, and that can be true depending on the pillar distance. But, the doors are so long and heavy that you have to be careful when opening them in a parking lot not to hit the car next to you. Also, on windy days, the wind will want to whip them open or shut. And, sometimes they do not want to stay open, so if you’re taking your time to get out and the wind whips the heavy door shut on your hand or leg, it hurts. Another thing with the doors is there is no frame around the window, so you have to be careful not to shut the door by grabbing onto the window, it could break it or loosen it. In short, the doors seem to be more designed for style, not convenience.
Safety
The 1998 model comes with dual front airbags. NHTSA ratings for it are 4 star driver’s front, 5 star passengers front, 3 star driver’s side and 4 star passenger’s side. I’ve never been in a major accident in this model, so I can’t give you more information than that. But, those are impressive ratings.
Parting Shots
The Camaro is a nice, powerful sports car for a V6 and is fun to drive. But, being a rear-wheel-drive car, it requires the driver to be extra cautious on slippery pavement and sharp turns. Functionality is not a strong point of the Camaro with tiny, hard to reach back seats, limited cargo and annoying drink holders. Being an older GM car, we’ve found it’s also prone to little annoyances, no major break downs…yet. In terms of looks and sporty feel, I would recommend this model, especially to die-hard Camaro fans who are already familiar with all the Camaro’s handling uniqueness. But, for those looking for a functionality as much as a sporty feeling, test it thoroughly before buying, make sure the cargo space, handling and visibility will not be a problem. Now that the Camaro and Firebird are out of production, they may become collectors cars.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 22,000
Condition: New Model Year: 1998 Model and Options: 1998 V6 5-Speed
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