We saw the rear spoiler issue first-hand — one of the nuts inside the spoiler popped out and made a whole messload of racket when lifting the trunk to the fully open position. Damn Canadian Auto Workers — always socializing our muscle cars with their shoddy workmanship and, ketchup-flavored potato chips. Full TSB above and below.[via Camaro5]

[via Camaro5]
[via Camaro5]
[via Camaro5]

***IMPORTANT NOTE*** The following list is compiled from various individuals who are mostly experiencing isolated incidents. These are not issues every individual is having with their Camaro. Again, these are ISOLATED incidents that have mostly occurred to single individuals. By the accounts of owners on this site, most Camaros that have been delivered have been without problems. Please keep in mind that every first year production vehicle has more issues than later production years. This list is meant to serve as a comprehensive (perhaps overly) checklist of things to check for upon delivery, and should not be interpreted as widespread quality-control issues with the 2010 Camaro.

Also note: This list is mainly a checklist for things wrong that a dealer can immediately fix. A broken transmission or bad drive-shaft from dropping the hammer on this beast is something that they won't know until it actually happens. Thank you for submitting all your issues.

001. Loose Bolts that hold fluid back causing leaks (ex: on oil pan, tranny fluid)
002. Trunk Locking mechanism (issues with opening w/o adding down pressure to top of trunk first and/or emergency release appears to be loose keeping the trunk from locking properly)
003. Loose plastic paneling around the 4-gauges cluster, launch control, cigarette power plug as well as Left and Right A-Pillars Trim Loose, sill trim loose, and dash pannel where doors and dash meet popping open.
004. Loose Spoiler/installed correctly (Re-torque Spoiler bolts)
005. Wiper transmission cable overheating from engine causing a short circuit.
006. Matching Headlight Halos strength. (one defective being dimmer then the other).
007. Mismatched paint on parts of the vehicle (including gas door). As well as paint runs or clear coat runs. Paint Chips.
008. Loose Rocker Panel "Chevrolet" causing it to peel off.
009. Minor Problem With Window Indexing.
010. Ambient Lighting on doors defective.
011. Bad radiator (leaks).
012. Hood release/latch issues (won't unhook to open the hood).
013. Gap at base of ONStar Antenna.
014. Battery cable routing near the starter has been done.
015. Digital Speedometer is off. Also keeps going on and off.
016. Bottom pulley shakes and needs replacement per dealer.
017. Broken tranny.
018. Ignition Mechanism Issue with key getting stuck in car.
019. Non RS taillights installed on RS equipped cars (all 4 of them).
020. Rocker Panel aligned with body and clipped in correctly.
021. Bumper rubs with body
022. Trunk opens with switch and remote
023. Correct speedo/tach gauge ring color
023. Ambient lighting on drivers door as bright as passenger door
024. Doors gaps /alignment
025. Dirt/bubbles in rally stripes
026. Door panel not scratched from seat belt.
027. Shift knobs wearing out extremely fast could be faulty material
028. AC system stops blowing cold air in random durations, most likely blockage in AC drainage and/or AC draining into the car instead of beneath it
029. Clunking noise in changing gears
030. Trunk opens with remote and laser cut key
031. USB drive and aux port works
032. Squeaky Breaks
033. GFX installed correctly
034. Rims and tires in good condition (coming off carrier in bad condition/damaged)
035. Check for damage in the interior, basic procedure
036. Check the locking mechanism of both doors
037. Scraping sound for a second when backing up
038. SS emblem on trunk is loose
039. Loose interior windshield trim loose
040. The front GFX lip is not coming loose at the double sided tape
041. The front passenger brake rotors are not wearing with a dark colored groove
042. Hood latch handle on inside of cab doesn't retract properly (just hangs)
043. Scratches in seats
044. Oil cooler leaking
045. Once in every 10-15 times I unlock the car, the drivers side door is still locked, while
the locking knob on the door is in the "up" position
046. Faulty as gauge (improper readings)
047. Missing paint around the headlights
048. Bleed screw on clutch slave cylinder loose
049. Stickers on rockers peeling
050. Scratches on window pillars
051. Misaligned body & door panels as well as hood not centered properly (more to one side then the other)
052. Alignment of doors to dash interior the door interior seems to sag below the dash interior
053. Drivers side roof light( the one with the toggle switch) only works when its toggled over to the passenger side
054. Door sill decals peeling up
055. Paint swirls in driver/passenger door
056. Drive-shaft connection to the differential cracking when dropping the clutch
057. Tach Needle Sticking
058. Wiper motor wiring comes through bottom of the cowling-well in front of the driver. (The fix (decided upon between the dealer and myself) was to re-insulate the wires, cover the harness with a hard, slick plastic covering, drill a small hole in the bottom of the cowling-well (fill the hole with silicone) and use a cable tie down like the rest of the wiper harness uses to secure the harness to the floor of the cowling (the grommet will collapse downward with little force), far away from harm from the wiper arms.)
059. engine makes continuous clicking noise, starting roughly 5 seconds after engine starts
060. Door Sill plates wrinkled on outside edges (both sides)
061. Trunk gasket at bottom of rear window coming off
062. Uneven Dash (driver's side dash is lower then passenger's side)
063. Passenger/Driver's side Fender alignment off. (wheel cover well had to come off, then loosen fender bolt, and it pops right in place)
064. Key won't stay in folded position
065. Faulty Tail lights.
066. Weather stripping at back of rear windows loose (I can literally grab and peel it back).
067. Missing or peeling paint between trunk lid and spoiler (right rear section)—could possibly spread over time down the trunk lid.
068. Driver's seat makes clicking noises when set all the way back.

We know it's a new car that was rushed to market, but holy mackerel. Perhaps the most depressing part is the numbering convention, three digits, implying a possibility of triple digit defects. Yikes. [Camaro5]

[RideSafely]

Seems we stirred up the pot with our little observation and the guys over at Super Chevy got curious about the competition's car, so they went poking around some 2010 Mustangs and found an almost identical length of balancing weights. The conventional wisdom says if this much weight was needed, either someone doesn't know what they're doing or there's something wrong with the wheel or tire. We're starting to think these kinds of long strips will be getting more common as large wheels remain popular and lead wheel weights get phased out of usage after the California ban. (Hat Tip to Pres) [Super Chevy]

Though it may have faded from more mainstream attention, "Steampunk" is still around, tinkering, slathering things in wood and rivets and brass for reasons aesthetic. This particular design comes from John 'Jazz' Vernon, who does freelance designs for graphics and hot rods. Yes, it's ridiculous. Yes, it would be heavy and silly. But it does go to show how good we have it with the tuner cars actually making it to the street. Click here to revel in the full resolution detail. [Steampunk Workshop]

While walking down 43rd St on the way from Jalopnik's Manhattan HQ to Grand Central, we spotted this red Camaro sitting right out front of the Avis rental place. After doing a double take we stepped inside to ask what it would cost to take this V6-powered Camaro out for a day or week and were surprised to hear that the rental rate's over $220 for a day and over $700 for a weekly rental on the new bowtied mullet-mobile. Obviously that's a New York rental car pricing, but even for New York it's highway robbery.

Shocking and awe-ing us even more was the news that this particular Avis, which had three Camaros added to their fleet last Friday, have only been able to keep the one out front — and only for half a day on Friday and a few hours yesterday. That means they've already made over $1000 on the three cars in just three days. How's that for a tidy little profit?

We called up Chevy PR and they told us the rental deal's exclusive with Avis as well as giving us a cute little anecdote about a customer who rented a Camaro from AVIS drove the car to a local dealer and immediately placed a deposit on a new Camaro. Well — all we know is at this price point we won't be renting one any time soon. We guess we'll just have to wait to see if GM's able to come through with a month-long "mid-term" loan for us on a Bumblebee-yellow Camaro SS with an RS appearance package.

GM PR's official comment to us on the Avis rental deal:

AVIS is a long-term partner and important customer of GM's. Although they have some SS models, the vast majority of the vehicles in their fleet are LT models. As you know, a lot of the focus for Camaro has been on the LT that delivers 29 MPG HWY and 304 Horsepower. We felt the relationship with AVIS could deliver us the "Life Enthusiasts" we seek to expand the buyer base for Camaro.

Although we're told it only takes about 30 minutes to fix, we're being told GM's now issued a voluntary "official recall" on the 2010 Chevy Camaro SS over the battery cable issue that caused one Camaro5 member's new Bumblebee-yellow mullet-mobile to die less than 40 miles from the dealership. We're also being told GM's asking for the Camaro SS to be flat-bed hauled back to the dealership rather than driven there under its own power. More coming shortly.

UPDATE: We've just posted a gallery of pages from the technical service bulletin below — so you can see how you'll be affected if you own a Super-Sporty version of the new Chevy Camaro. Sorry for the pages being a little bit out of order. Blame the interns. And by interns we mean us.

The cracks, which appear on both sides of the big upper brow of the nose of the new Camaro, were attributed to a high speed run — 155 MPH — earlier in the week. Here's the full report:

While I was doing the photo shoot on a 2010 Camaro SS this past Friday, we noticed some cracks forming at the upper corners of the grille. The tech that was assisting us during the shoot said that those happened during a top speed run earlier that week. The car achieved 155 mph, and apparently it lifted the upper part of the nose enough to form the cracks. I'm not sure if this problem has been addressed, or even mentioned before. Surely it can be something that GM can fix by adding more bracing perhaps, or a thicker nose molding. This 2010 SS was a production car, only a week old, so this concerns me.

It might not be a good idea to do any high-speed runs in your new Camaro, at least until we understand the problem and how to fix it first.

Nevermind the high speed runs, maybe it'd also be a good idea to make sure you don't encounter any stiff winds. Match this nose-cone issue up with the slapped-on brake weights issue and Camaro crap-out we reported last week and you've got yourself a couple of cracks in the otherwise perfect fan-boy fascia of the Camaro. No pun intended. (Hat tip to Frankie and Rutledge!)

UPDATE: We've now heard back from Planet LSX's source at GM: "Apparently this was an early production nose, slapped on to get it to Hennessey for parts development. The issue has been addressed and repaired on other cars. Something about a bolted bracket not being installed properly." Glad to hear that! [Planet LSX via Camaro5]

The confusion started when a poster uploaded an image of his new Camaro's Brembo calipers, on which were riding two rows of lead weights, normally affixed to the inside of a wheel rim to balance the tire. This led everyone with a Camaro to run outside to see it their mullet machine's also had the weights, which they do, at least on among the folks on the forum. GM has not answered to the confusion yet, but the leading theory is they were place on the caliper as a quick and dirty fix to alleviate brake squeal. From a physics perspective, this explanation is plausible, as resonant frequency is in large part determined by mass, and by changing the vibrating mass of the caliper with the weights, a troublesome squeal would be eliminated for a particular driving condition.

The trouble is if they're using normal brake weights, the heat cycling of the caliper will eventually cause the adhesive to fail and, if things get too serious on the track, the lead could actually melt. Though it's an odd issue and not really a big deal, we'll be keeping you in on the loop during Camaro brake-gate, though we recommend Camaro owners visit their local dealer and have their muffler bearings, blinker fluid, and piston-return springs checked out, just in case. Click here for the high-resolution image. Thanks for the tip Ethan! [Camaro5]

My boss, and reigning champion for receipt of the prestigious Dark Lord of Public Media mantle award, Nick Denton, just called me an "unabashed American apologist." I don't even pretend to know what that means, but if it has to do with believing that American automakers still have it in them to bring "teh awesome" to market, then hell yeah I am.

Wes had some minor concerns in his review of the new Chevy Camaro that he felt kept it from being a world-beater, feeling Chevy was trying to push the new Camaro up against the sports car world. Whether interior plastics or minor numbness of steering, I'm not going to discount those deficiencies — they're all valid. But you know what? I don't care.

Forget for a moment this car's performance (a mid-four-second 0-to-60 time) and fuel economy (16/24 for the V8-engined SS, 17/29 for the V6) — because this muscle car's got some serious style. I'd seen looks in cars before. Whether it's a Ferrari F430 or a Bentley GTC Speed, you can get 'em. What I was astonished by was how easily the Camaro gets them.

One block into my drive in lower Manhattan saw guys grabbing camera phones to take photos. Never saw that with one o' them fancy-pants'ed Euro cars. Nope, this big ol' 'merican muscle car was something different. It carries itself differently — with kind of a swagger.

So I'm willing to ignore those deficiencies Wes found. Mostly, because I'm not trying to rate this car as a sports car. Instead, I'm rating it for what it is — a big hairy 'merican muscle car. From the moment you sit inside and fire up the big 426 HP V8 engine, you're transported to a world where all you want to do is fire off down the road, stoplight-to-breathtakingly-exhilarating-stoplight. In that world, you couldn't care less about plastics on the dash. No, all you care about is goin' fast and knowing you're able to beat the guy next to you. The new Camaro SS? Yeah, it'll do that — in spades, and better than the competition at the price point. And frankly, that's all I want.

Photo Credit: Wilson Rothman

The HPE550 Camaro gets a supercharged LS3 under the hood breathing at a mild 6 PSI and good for 562 HP and 557 lb-ft of torque. The car is otherwise very similar to the HPE700 with a new front lip, side sills, 20 inch wheels like those on the Corvette ZR1, and subtle decklid spoiler out back. Anyone plopping down the dough for one will also get half a day of performance driving training at Lonestar Motorsports Park. A grand total of 500 will be built and sold through select Chevy dealers, where a whole monster list of other optional parts will also be available.

The details are thin, but the crash happened March 20th on Dundee Road in North Oakville. We don't know who was behind the wheel but we wouldn't be surprised to learn it was someone from GM at the helm. It makes for a pretty decent metaphor about General Motors right now: just as they start building really good cars, a confluence of unrelated and unpredictable events act together to destroy a good thing. [Krisztina Neglia]

Photography credit: Wetzel Tucker

Asked on May 18, 1999 what my favorite movie was I, like many of my contemporaries, would have had an easy answer: Star Wars. Just one day later, with the release of Phantom Menace, that answer would change forever. It didn't make sense. Episode I, compared quantitatively to its predecessors and, according the huge amount of buzz surrounding it, must have been a much better movie. It had a bigger budget, benefited from modern technology, had really neat imaginary creatures and action-packed space battles. So what changed? Well, the environment in which the space fairy tale existed had, in 22 years, become much more sophisticated. Audiences wanted to experience something new in the same way the original film had been unprecedented for its time. Instead, George Lucas contented himself with producing a fancy new version of the same old schlock. That, and Anakin was really irritating.

With the $22,995 V6-equipped 2010 Chevy Camaro LS producing 304 HP, nearly as much as the V8-engined 2010 Ford Mustang GT, and the 426 HP 2010 Chevy Camaro SS starting at just $30,995, initial impressions of GM's new muscle car are extremely good. It's faster than its competitors and benefits from more svelte looks than the Dodge Challenger and less familiar styling than the 2010 Mustang. It's even more fuel efficient, with the V6 returning an impressive 17 city, 29 highway MPG-rating, while the V8 returns 16/25 MPG when equipped with the slightly higher-geared automatic transmission.

But this Camaro's also supposed to be about more than just numbers (click here for our 2010 Chevy Camaro Numbers Comparison) for one very important reason: it's based on the 2009 Pontiac G8 GXP. When we drove that car last November, we couldn't believe that a $40,000 Pontiac was like the new E39 M5, only better. That impression was the result of a driving experience that wasn't so much about the 415 HP Corvette-derived LS3 V8 as it was the car's subtle ability to read your mind, then react to what you wanted faster than we thought possible from a big sedan. In short, the G8 GXP is a handler before it's a muscle car and that's saying something for a vehicle that can hit 60 MPH in 4.7 seconds.

The opposite is true of this new Camaro. Based on an updated version of the G8's Zeta platform (here called Zeta II), the Camaro gets a 2.5" shorter wheelbase thanks to bringing the front wheels forward 6", then moving the A-pillar rearwards 3.5" to create a longer hood and new front suspension chosen to make that hood lower. Unlike the class-defining Mustang, suspension is also independent all the way around. The V6 starts with GM's FE2 coil-over suspension package, before moving up to standard FE3 on the V8-equipped SS. Wheels start out at a smaller-than-GXP 18x7.5" on the base LS, before moving up to a standard and massive 20x8" front, 20x9" rear on the SS. The G8 GXP's are 19x8". Most of the SS's standard equipment is available optionally on the V6 models, while the RS-package essentially looks like an optioned-up SS, but with a V6 under the hood.

Somehow, all those changes translate into an experience that's no less capable — in fact the Camaro SS is 11-seconds faster around the famed Nurburgring than the G8 GXP — but a lot less involving. Where the G8 GXP is all about including you in the driving, requiring and enabling you to aggressively wring the most out of its chassis, the Camaro SS doesn't seek to make the driver a crucial part of its equation. It makes the classic American muscle car mistake of confusing grip — of which it has plenty — with handling. Throw the two cars into a second or third gear (oh how we love big V8s) 90-degree bend and the Pontiac will encourage you to explore the limits of the rear tires adhesion using your right foot and communicative steering, the Chevy will push its vague front robbing you of speed. Sure, you can get on the throttle half way around and step the rear out, but not with the same degree of control the Pontiac delivers. The Camaro does bring one huge improvement over its platform-mate: there's virtually no body roll under any circumstances.

Well that and the incredibly successful styling. Chevy knows it looks good too, displaying a level of self-assuredness that would be absurd in any other segment. Here's a great example. Our co-driver asked a GM engineer whether the new Camaro increases "length or girth?" His straight-faced response? "It increases opportunity." Cocky, right? But they're right. Where the G8 looks like a rental car, the ZR1 looks like a bass boat enthusiast won the lottery and the CTS-V, even with its classy chrome mesh grille, looks like a tuner conversion, the Camaro strikes exactly the right balance between the mass appeal of its aggression and a more sophisticated retro futurism that successfully references the original while adapting wholly new forms that are completely contemporary. Even though we've been staring at pictures of it for what seems like years, in person it's still surprising how good it looks.

If you've been following Jalopnik or even had a conversation with me at any point since last August, you're probably bored to death with hearing about how good GM's latest crop of performance cars are. The 2009 Corvette ZR1 is the best car I've ever driven, the 556 HP Cadillac CTS-V is an utterly awesome performance sedan and you've already been reading about the G8 GXP. So it comes as a surprise that Chevy's flag-waving everyman muscle car doesn't live up to those driving standards. Sure it's stinking fast, but it doesn't make exploiting that performance rewarding in the way all the above did so well. It doesn't so much defy convention, as drive like you'd expect a Camaro would, a really good Camaro.

The other defining characteristic of the Camaro's driving experience is the interior. Hop in one and like a classic Camaro, the first impression is of claustrophobia. It feels like Chevy's designers have purposefully set out to make the interior, which is actually surprisingly large with adequate space for four adults, feel surprisingly small. Most of that comes from the slit-like windshield; its top sits at about the height of your forehead, something that will be familiar to Lotus Exige owners. Out through that narrow strip of glass, the hood bulge and fenders are prominently visible, accentuating the power under the hood. Unlike the Exige, there's almost 8.5" of vertical seat movement to accommodate a wide range of drivers. All of them will end up with their head in the exact same place: about a half inch from the ceiling as that's the only position that affords adequate forward visibility. Strangely, the wheel and instruments sit very high, never affording the wheel-in-lap arrangement that I prefer, even with the seat all the way up and the wheel all the way down.

That interior is also going to be a bugbear for the Camaro. While the overall shapes are appealing, the materials are mostly cheap plastic, even on the big knobs that you use to adjust the HVAC and stereo (Nav isn't an option). A huge swath of that cheap plastic runs from the steering wheel all the way to the right door. The standard-on-SS auxiliary gauges, mounted down low in front of the gear lever, are largely worthless on the move due to their positioning, but look really cool, providing a false sense of driver/machine integration that just isn't born out in the driving experience. Believe it or not, the 2010 Mustang with a few options is actually a nicer place to spend time.

On initial impressions and despite a spec sheet that strongly claims otherwise, I'd tip the hat in the Mustang's favor when it comes to driving enjoyment too. To create it, Ford engineers essentially took the old model and made it as good as they possibly could. The result is, for the first time, a Mustang that's as much about going around corners as it is about acceleration, which is good, because the Camaro SS leaves it for dead in a straight line. Despite the Mustang's live rear axle, which never really manifests any limitations on the road, the 'Stang is ligher on its feet than the Camaro and has considerably more steering feel. The Camaro's is dead on center, never really manages a huge amount of feel in general and is overly light. It's so light, that it's possible that the engineers that drove it around the Nurburgring did so one-handed.

The much-touted performance of the V6-equipped Camaro doesn't live up to its Mustang GT-killing hype. While GM has gone to great lengths to make it as visceral as possible — the crisp exhaust note sounds almost as good as a 370Z — its flat torque curve leads to a somewhat uneventful feeling of acceleration, especially out of faster corners where the Camaro's prodigious 3,780 Lb curb weight leaves you with foot flat on the floor, wanting for more. Nor does the V6 manifest a handling advantage over the V8, even when equipped with all the RS options. Its steering still lacks feel and it becomes harder to push the car around corners using the throttle.

GM's Hydra-Matic SL50 6L50 6-speed automatic gearbox does however do an excellent job of keeping the V6 on the boil, particularly in "sport" mode. Its one of the quickest-to-shift slushboxes we've experienced and never seems to find itself in the wrong gear. In fact its so good that it renders the steering wheel-mounted shift buttons largely irrelevant. The 6L50 is clearly better than any of the Camaro's domestic rivals.

Look at the value-for-money and the performance numbers of the Camaro combined with its Dragon-tastic looks and you can't help but feel GM has a winner on its hands. It'll beat its competitors hands down, not only in a numbers-based pissing contest, but also in the public's imaginations: an advantage presented by its futuristic-yet-retro styling. It's exactly the car GM should be making, a car that will sell; it's just not the unprecedented new experience that we were hoping for, it's not a real driver's car. With the Camaro, GM has chosen to stick with the muscle car archetype rather than push the limits of what's possible, it's not likely to win many conquests from more adept sportscars like the 370Z, Audi TT and BMW 3-series as Chevy hopes it will. The result, like the new Star Wars films, is a product that will undoubtedly be a commercial success, just perhaps not a timeless classic like the original, a product that will blend in with, rather than stand out from, its rivals.

Photography credit: Wetzel Tucker

Paul Eisenstein at The Detroit Bureau is reporting GM is shelving plans for a 570 HP Camaro Z28. The reason? It would be prohibitively expensive for GM at this time. With a program price around $50 million, the Z28 got the axe in favor of other efforts.

The bad news continues as the convertible, which was previously delayed a year, faces the collapse of the German supplier providing its convertible top. The unnamed source within GM went on to note, despite the bad news, there's still a desire by the program groups to build both of these cars; but it'll take significant engineering finagling to bring them to market for the right price. [The Detroit Bureau]

A: It's a Camaro.

Taken yesterday by Scott Burgess outside the official 2010 Chevy Camaro drive in MI.

Photo Credit: Hylton Jorssen

We've brought you a lot of "firsts" along this long, dark path we've traveled from concept to the new Chevy Camaro including the EPA fuel economy numbers, the Camaro SS 0-to-60 time and the Nurburgring lap numbers this morning. But none gives us greater delight than this — the first tire-smoking burnout provided for us by none other than GM's Al Oppenheiser. He's the Chief Vehicle Engineer of the new Camaro.

We kind of wish we'd had the time necessary to add the almost-a-prerequisite waving 'merican flag fading in and out of the video and "America, Fuck Yeah!" playing in the background.

As you can see, the new Camaro SS is quicker than the Pontiac G8 GXP around the 'Ring but, predictably, slower than both the Cadillac CTS-V and Corvette ZR1. At a fraction of a cost it's hard to complain about the performance.

Pontiac G8 GXP Around The Ring In: 8:30

Camaro SS Around The Ring In: 8:19

Cadillac CTS-V Around The Ring In: 7:59

Corvette ZR1 Around The Ring In: 7:26