'11 2LT Convertible (Auto) VS '12 1LS Coupe (Manual)

[terrible1one3]

Well about 6 months ago my wife took delivery of a 2011 2LT Convertible Camaro loaded. I got a 2011 Cruze Eco about 3 months before that. After driving her car every once in a while and owning the Cruze which was just plain a bad fit for me. I had to get into a new car and the Camaro fit the bill fine.

I had a 2002 Camaro SS, and a 2002 Corvette so I'm not a stranger to sports cars but wanted the least financial impact, that meant 1LS. I only added a "personal device interface module" (USB port) and the 2 10" subwoofer kit (Neither of which are currently installed).

I bought the '12 without test driving it but the vehicle was better than expected once I got to drive it off the lot.


The required picture:



First things first, major differences:

Road noise, obviously this is between the fact that my wife's is a convertible and mine is a coupe. I don't like convertible's for this reason. The '12 is much quieter at ALL speeds but especially at highway speeds.

Second is visibility. The B pillar in the coupe is huge compared to the absence of a B pillar in the vert. This gives the vert better blind spot visibility. Rear window is much bigger on the coupe so it wins in rear visibility.

Top down the vert wins in visibility.

Exhaust sound. Surprisingly large difference here. My wife noticed it right away too.

The '11 has a much tinnier sound. I would compare it more to a high revving Ferrari. The '12 is much throatier, my wife said it sounds like a truck. The noise in the vert clearly comes from the back where the noise in the coupe is from the dash.

I was surprised but pleasantly at the difference in sound. The '12 almost sounds like it has a different cam in it.

Power. I think we've all probably read about the 20 lbs lost on a diet from the new V6, and the slight power increase. I can't attribute the difference so much on the slight power increase or diet as much as I can the difference in transmissions.

On the subject of transmissions.The Auto has great response and finds gears rather quickly, and finds the right gears, but I really like manual transmission. The ability to always go directly to the wanted gear, and the ability to finesse the clutch to get the car to do what you want it to is always a plus for me. Engine braking and roasting the tires is easy on the manual. My wifes car requires brake torquing to get the rear tires spinning. Advantage manual.

Small Differences:

Gauge cluster. Thank god they changed this. The '11 has the big old fat needles that you can't read anything, they went to a smoother concave gauge with sharper needles so the gauges are actually useful.

Steering wheel. Well the steering wheel on the '12 is the same off the Cruze. Not exciting but functional. The buttons face you and are easy to reach. The '11 has the "retro" steering wheel but the inner buttons are hard to see and press because of the horn protruding out of the center of the wheel. I go with function over form so '12 wins here.

Other then these things and the common differences between the convertible and the coupe (rear seat size, trunk size etc) the cars appear to be the same.

Her trim level being so much higher then mine means the interiors are only different in fabric an material. The fake leather covered dash with different color threaded seams is nice on the '12 but her painted metal door and dash inlays are nicer.

I like having the storage as oppose to the gauge cluster in front of the shifter.

Drink location sucks on both but especially sucks on a manual as any normal size drink will be in the way of shifting.

All in all we both love our cars. I am more than happy with the 6. I'm sure the 8 is great but I didn't have the dough to get it. Maybe in a couple years I'll throw a turbo on this and then play with the big boys .

Hope this helped someone who was looking at the cars.

[mattyb65]

Idk why no one ever posted on this but thank you. It was a good read

[KMPrenger]

Yep, good read. I guess I need to find video of a stock 2012 exhaust since you say it is obviously different, and from your description it sounds better.