infinitebird

iTrader: (11)

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cult...e-best-camaro/

I'm forced to agree. Never was a big fan of the 5th gen. I like the 6th a little better but it still doesn't beat the 4th imo.

HCI2000SS

iTrader: (2)

Great article!

Mike TA

iTrader: (6)

Great find. Other than them being a little too critical on the 5th Gen (I think most people are but that's just personal opinion) I agree and this is why I think I won't ever sell my TA. I hope to add other cars to the stable but the 4th Gen cars where great and when well cared for they are still relevant and in some ways superior to their predecessors. I think it goes back to the machine vs appliance argument.
A lot of friends tease me because they say I am just pro GM. I actually don't have any brand allegiance to them. I just like what I like. My family car is a 2014 Durango with a Hemi and my daily beater is a 2012 VW CC R-line. I am however very pro LSX and 4th gen. For someone like me who doesn't have a small fortune to spend on a hobby you get a ton of bang for buck with LS motors. The 4th gen F-Bodies are the same. Relatively cheep and plentiful. Despite their short comings they are simply fun cars to drive. Doesn't hurt that they are easy to wrench on for a hobbiest.

Z Fury

iTrader: (1)

I wonder if that raises the value of mine...

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

While I agree with the title of the article and some of the points made, a lot of it contains opinions I don't share. Nonetheless, I personally agree that 4th gen was the best "all around" version of the name plate; meaning best balance of stock performance (all aspects) and performance potential, price, weather resistance, daily usability, available features without excessive gadgetry, proper rawness without being a forklift (machine vs. appliance, as mentioned above), and styling. This is why I still have a 4th gen, and I'm glad I was able to experience them new and fresh rather than just high mileage, many-owner worn out examples.

transamtom

iTrader: (8)

Funny how they fall in love with it now but were so critical when they were in production.

transamtom

iTrader: (8)

The 5th was never quite good enough to knock the Mustang off its pedestal?

Is he on crack?

Up until the end of 2014 the Gen 5 beat the Stang in sales every year.

Over 500,000 buyers in less than 6 years can't be wrong.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

I think that was just an opinion on his part.

Keep in mind that sales of the 6th gen are well behind Mustang, yet most would agree that Camaro is now the better performer. I think the opposite was true in the '11-'14 years.

His friend's opinion on the condition of that '02 Camaro is also a bit suspect. How can such a perfect, stock, well maintained, lightly used and never abused "time capsule" of a car need a new engine at 10 years old? Sure, there have been a few freak instances of otherwise perfect low mile engines being trashed by random oil pump failure, but that's extremely rare with the revised LS6 pump equipped '01+ cars. I do have to wonder what the circumstances were in this case.

ULTIMATEORANGESS

iTrader: (4)

ill keep it simple. 4th gens forever.

CoreyD

iTrader: (9)

Always nice to see the 4th gens getting some love in newer articles

X-ray

iTrader: (6)

That stuck out like a sore thumb to me. He describes a perfectly maintained, unmolested car. Then he says the engine had to be replaced. The LS1 is one of the major parts in an F-body that should last nearly forever if maintained properly.

Overall I agree with the sentiment of the article. It's sad to realize the 98-02 F-body was the best Camaro considering all of the flaws it has.

Mappinsj

4th gens were before their time. People were not ready for it.

RevGTO

iTrader: (12)

I don't know - his review sounds a lot like the typical road test review back in the day. He goes on and on trashing the interior, complains about the soft suspension, and gives faint praise to the performance (on a par with his Accord V6). Of course, reviewers back then were more impressed by the performance, because as he says, there was nothing that could come close anywhere near its price range.

For him, it's a "laid back cruiser". I don't think that's how most of us experience our 4th gens. I think the article is more about how much he doesn't like the 5th gen than genuine appreciation for the 4th gen.

infinitebird

iTrader: (11)

It's not but a big part of the appeal of the 4th gen for the enthusiast is how easy and cheap it is to make them faster. Comparing the characteristics of how cruising around in a stock one feels to other modern cars in 2016 is obviously going to be a bit more underwhelming than it was in 1998 so I understand the reaction.

01WS6BLACKLS1

Good article. The 4th gen in my opinion set the standard for the modern era muscle car. I mean the only real competition was the mustang at the time but look at how long it took for ford to design a drivetrain to compete with it. The LS1 is an amazing motor. It raised the bar for mustang to have to put a blower on its mustang cobra. Which by the way is an awesome car.

The one thing that irritates me the most is how they always bash the interior. In my opinion the interiors today are a lot better but still use plastic. I have sat in newer mustangs and newer camaros and still see a lot of plastic. Its a performance car for crying out loud not a mercedes. That is why they are called muscle cars.

Long live the 4th gen

JROC

People are stupid. The Gen5 Mustang was a much better car than a Gen5 Camaro so of course the Camaro outsold it. By the same token a Gen6 Mustang isn't even on a Gen6 Camaro's level but it's killing it in sales.

This is nothing new though. The SN95 and NE Mustangs in general were easily bested by the Gen4 Fbody's perform but they easily outsold the Fbodies of those years. People want the slower, lesser performing car. Hell even I was stupid enough to own a 99 GT when I had several friends who had LS1 cars. I was smart enough to trade up for a Terminator though and I always credit that mostly to my Fbody friends giving me grief about my slow Mustang that would only be fast with a Chevy motor. Lol

Cool article overall though.

ULTIMATEORANGESS

iTrader: (4)

explain how a gen 5 mustang was better than a 5th gen camaro.

HUMPorDIE

They aren't any better. The v6 models sell at a rate of nearly 10 to 1 compared to the v8 when it comes to both cars. So our thoughts of one car handling better and being faster than the other, isn't really anything that motivates the majority of people buying these cars sadly.

Felix C

I wager if GM had not gone retro with the 5th Gen it would have been a better car. Holden 60 look is where it is at.

I always hear how 4th Gens are rattletraps after a few thousand miles and speedbumps. The integral t-top flexing the body too much and that large expanse of rear glass.

ULTIMATEORANGESS

iTrader: (4)

tighten suspensions up on 4th gens and theyre very tight rattle free cars.


they arent without imperfections by far but i still like mine very much.