Review – 2012 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Centennial Edition [w/video]

Chevrolet has been churning out vehicles for over 100 years now. The automaker was founded in November of 1911 by a man named Louis Chevrolet, which is pretty convenient in hindsight. Mr. Chevrolet was a Swiss-born Frenchman with a penchant for racing. He came to the States and began piloting quick cars for for Fiat. Soon after he was tasked by General Motors to run race cars for the Buick brand. During his time with Buick, Lou Chevy began to understand just what it takes to design and build cars. Chevrolet automobiles sprouted up, and the Bow Tie-brand continues to pump out cars and trucks to this day.

As a tip o’ the cap to Louis, Chevy has put out a special edition Corvette that serves as a proper homage to the man that founded the company. Racing was in his blood, and these Centennial Edition Vettes are set to boil off your own precious red fluid. I was lucky enough to spend a week with the 2012 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Centennial Edition… and I think Louis would be happy with the modern sports car that his namesake is churning out.

Keep reading to learn more, and watch a video where I spend my time from dusk to dawn getting my hoon on.

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Review: 2011 Chevrolet Volt

Silently, the Bow-tie-badged car coasted through the darkness of the evening. A singular, soft glow that was utterly alone on this particular stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway. It sped swiftly. I was sunk in my own thoughts as I piloted the vehicle through the inky black of night. In the cabin, I was awash in colors that emanated from the both the seven-inch screen at the top of the center stack and the information display taking part in Occupy Dashboard.

The numbers were impressive.

I’d spent a week with the 2011 Chevrolet Volt. During that time, I managed to use just 3.1 gallons of gas. With no office to arrive at each morning, I was free to journey to locations near and far. The near destinations being related to the grocery store, the dry cleaner, and the rather large beer section at my local Whole Foods. Distant destinations saw me trekking to visit friends who’ve moved away from the cool climes of coastal California, to find warmer days inland. How far did that 3.1 gallons of gas get me? A hair over 300 miles.

Is there more to the 2011 Volt then miserly gas adventures? Yes. A lot more, in fact.

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2012 Chevrolet Camaro Convertible 45th Anniversary Edition

When the idea of the Camaro was introduced to the press in 1966, the attending journalists were curious to know more about the name. When asked what the word meant, General Motors product managers responded by saying that a Camaro is a small, vicious animal that eats Mustangs.

Fast forward forty five years, and the Camaro and Mustang are still bumping heads on streets across the country. Yes, it’s been forty five years since GM produced a competitor to Ford’s fast coupe. Both cars have gone through many changes, and both are creating a new generation of pony car fans.

Chevrolet has chosen to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Camaro, which officially launched in 1967. The 2012 Chevrolet Camaro is available with a 45th Anniversary Package, and we’ve got our hands on the convertible version. Are we holding the keys to an everyday droptop wearing new badges and vinyl or is there a small vicious animal parked in our driveway? Keep reading to find out…

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Hooniverse Motorhome Monday – Say, didn’t you work here sometime ago?

Yes, this is an impromptu Motorhome Monday here on Hooniverse. Jeff Glucker (you remember him, right?) did a great review over at Autoblog on a new Airstream Avenue. This is basically an upscale Chevrolet Express converted to do camping duties, and it seems impressive for what it is.

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2011 Chevrolet Cruze Eco

For some time now, I’ve wondered if GM is capable of making a good boring car. Between the Vette, GTO, CTS-V and various SSs, GM’s demonstrated they’re were capable of making kickass cars that represent impressive performance bargains. Unfortunately, the market for kickass isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. Toyota spent two decades building an automotive empire by selling the best vanilla available. They’d mastered the art of making cars for people who don’t like cars: inoffensive commuter appliances that manage to be “nice,” without being awesome in any way.

Fast forward to 2011 and Toyota’s suffering the consequences of building a customer base incapable of shifting into neutral or putting both feet on the brake pedal. Meanwhile, GM just posted a ten figure profit. And what of the Cruze? Well, it seems GM might’ve finally delivered some kickass vanilla.

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2010 Camaro LT

There’s an advantage to being near the bottom end of the automotive media food chain. By the time most manufacturers let us at their press fleets, the big guys have long since established readers’ opinions for them. We’re not part of that crucial first round of reviews where manufacturers learn whether their latest products meet the grade. In the case of the 2010 Camaro LT (that’s V6 in Chevy-speak), that’s a very good thing.

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First Drive: 2011 Chevrolet Cruze

Chevy and the compact car go together like sunshine and ginger kids. At least that is the way it used to be…until now.

The minds behind the Bow-Tie have developed an all-new compact sedan, the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze, with lofty goals in mind. They don’t just seek to play catch-up to the likes of Honda’s Civic, Ford’s Focus, and Toyota’s Corolla. Their aim is to present a product which shoots for for “more” in all categories. Presenting an “upscale presence”, as they put it, in an affordable and efficient package is no easy task. Guess what though?

They did it…

…and the damn thing looks good too.

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The 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS – A Young Hoon’s Review (Part 2 of 2)

[Ed. Note: Friend of Hooniverse Nick Gregson recently rented a Camaro SS and hit the California roads for a weekend adventure. Click here to read part one of his story. This is part 2, the final piece]

Things got more interesting as we headed towards St Helena. My passenger / navigator had found us a windy backroad that took us to St Helena instead of the freeway, which turned out to be a very tight, poorly paved strip of asphalt that snaked up into the hills, trafficked mainly by large SUVs. However, after turning at a fork, there was no more traffic and I really got a chance to put the Camaro SS through its paces. I discovered by accident that by tapping the Traction Control button twice, the display in the instrument cluster flashed a graphic of a car leaving a set of elevens behind it with the words “Stabilitrak Competitive Mode”. Frankly, I had a hard time finding details about just what this did in the owner’s manual and there are no instructions on how to engage it, but eventually found that it functions as launch control and makes the stability control significantly less intrusive and sharpens other functions, but just what is unclear.  The owner’s manual states that “the engine may consume more oil than usual when using competitive mode”. Thinking like a hoon, I knew this looked promising. I made it a point to use it immediately.

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The 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS – A Young Hoon’s Review (Part 1 of 2)

[Ed. Note: Friend of Hooniverse Nick Gregson recently rented a Camaro SS and hit the California roads for a weekend adventure. Here is part one of his story]

It all started on an overcast Friday morning, not unlike any other June-Gloom overcast morning in coastal southern California when I showed up at the Long Beach Airport. There it sat in the lot, a freshly delivered 2010 Camaro SS, gleaming in an eye-grabbing shade of yellow. I had the choice between yellow and black, and being a Transformers fan, I naturally had to get the Bumblebee yellow one, though this one lacked the rally stripe package. At first glance, though, I was quite pleased with the looks of the thing in person. For something so full of sharp lines, the car looks remarkably sleek and its wide, muscular hipline is unmistakably American, and it’s obvious to anyone familiar with cars that this is the descendant of the ‘69 Camaro.

Sure, I realize by now hundreds of publications have driven the 2010 Camaro, but it hasn’t been reviewed from a hoon’s perspective. Shamefully, I’ve never driven a Camaro before, but this also meant that I approached the car with an open mind. The plan for the weekend was a roadtrip from Route 66 in Glendora to Sonoma’s wine country and back on as many windy strips of asphalt as possible. Ultimately, the journey would hit San Fransisco, Sonoma, St. Helena, Bodega Bay, Petaluma, Santa Cruz, Carmel, Big Sur and San Luis Obispo.

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2010 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport

I want to admit this to you right off the bat; I’ve never been much of a Corvette fan. I always thought the C1s were cool, and the C2s were kind of bad ass but the rest of the lineup does nothing for me. That is until I drove my first Corvette two years ago – it was a 2008 Z06 and it was excellent. About as much fun as the wilder Dodge Viper but it wasn’t actively trying to kill me like the Chrysler. The noise, power and acceleration are things I expected to be there but they all arrived with a greater tone, force, and speed. I didn’t expect the car to be comfortable but it was quite accommodating for my US-bred bottom. That Z06 was an eye-opener.

For 2010, Chevrolet has taken their base Corvette and added a few of the go-fast bits from the Z06 to create an attractively entertaining package. Slap an iconic name from the Corvette’s racing past on to the vehicle and we have the 2010 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport. … Continue Reading

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