Chevrolet Camaro 1LE review

The separate components might not sound like enough to create a car of desire, but the way they have been set up is. Having four, not six or eight cylinders means the motor’s weight is further rearward than any other Camaro, which gives the car a near-perfect 50:50 weight balance.

The suspension somehow manages to be comfortable on the road yet composed on the track. And the staggered tyres, which you can feel unusually well through the steering, have just enough grip to allow you to use all the engine’s power. Plus it’s a manual and rear drive. So it’s very satisfying to drive up to and just over its limits.

The typical Camaro lack of rear vision is still there and the wider tyres generate a fair amount of road noise, but those two things aside its positive, light controls make it a pleasure to thread down city streets and open roads. You could drive this car to work everyday and neither you nor the car would complain. The addition of the track capability has only improved the car’s performance in every way.

The V6-powered 1LE has more punch and is undoubtedly faster down the straights. But the 2.0-litre car has the better balance and, on a tight and twisty track, really wouldn’t be left that far behind if the driver knows what they were doing. And because it is putting so much less load through the brakes and tyres, it can also do lap after lap with little or no degradation in grip and braking performance.