2016 Chevy Camaro SS Road Trip: From Utah to Montana in the Snow

2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS at Motel ・ Photo by Joni Gray

“Pick your route from anywhere in the 48-continguous states to test drive the new Camaro.” The invitation from Chevrolet was too fun to pass up, so we picked a short, 2-day adventure from Salt Lake City, through Idaho and up to Montana in early November. Little did we know, the first snow of the season would be greeting us as we traveled in our 2016 Camaro SS – a rear-wheel, V8 powered muscle car. The ambitious cross-country road trip crossed 48 states – over 170,000 miles – and included 16 stops in major cities along the way for consumers to interact with the new Camaro. Our small contribution only covered 447 miles of the trip, but for my city-dwelling husband and me, it was a big adventure. Rather than choose the suggested remote nature points of interest, we stayed mostly on the main highways and decided instead to find funky road stops and make West Yellowstone our one and only off-the-beaten-path, big nature point of interest.

The Car: 2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS

After a lottery was held for the type of car we would drive, we were stoked to get the top of the line 2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS with a 6.2-liter V8 engine, an eight-speed paddle-shift automatic transmission with rear-wheel drive, and a whopping 455 horsepower. Our black test car also included Magnetic Ride Control, Brembo brakes, aero-optimized front grilles, vented hood, and a rear spoiler. Thankfully, Chevy decided to swap out the regular 20" Goodyear runflats with all-weather tires, since snow was in the forecast.

Photo by Joni Gray

The Museum of Clean, Pocatello, Idaho

Our first stop, just a few hours out of Salt Lake City, was Pocatello, Idaho and the Museum of Clean. It’s hard to believe there’s enough history of cleaning materials, machines and chemicals to fill a 74,000 square feet building, but if you’re a clean-freak, you'll love every square foot. Did you know that with the advent of carpeting around 1860, inventors started creating non-electric vacuums using bellows and pumps? Well, now you do!

After a quick briefing and walk-through of the car, the big news is that the sixth-gen Camaro has more power, a reduction of nearly 400 pounds, improved engine choices, and major refinements in all areas – interior, technology and exterior design. With the weather in Salt Lake still crisp and dry, our first 2-hour stint on the long, straight Interstate 15 brought the comfort and performance of the car to light. The 0-60 in 4 seconds claim seemed to hold true to form and, with the addition of GM’s Magnetic Ride Control, road feel was minimal – not like the rough ride you'd expect from a muscle car.

Photo by Joni Gray

Using OnStar Navigation

I usually think of GM's OnStar as a button that accidentally gets pushed when I'm trying to operate the sunroof, but the newly designed "Blue Button" on the 7" screen in the Chevrolet Camaro puts you in touch with a human being, who quickly inputs the directions to your destination. 

Frankly, I would prefer a map to the turn-by-turn instructions placed on the screen with only a simple arrow and mileage count, but this car was also equipped with Apple Car Play, and I could have chosen to use my Apple Maps in that mode. To me, it seems somewhat old fashioned to talk to a person and not a machine, but for some, this might be a comfort and convenience. 

Photo by Joni Gray

Mountain View Cemetery, Pocatello, Idaho

Sometimes you just stop for a photo shoot because the background is so cool, you can't help yourself. This was the case when we drove by the Mountain View Cemetery in Pocatello. This 110-year-old graveyard is the final resting place of over 20,000 area residents and its plots date back to the 1800s. Just like this serene setting somewhere in Idaho, gazing at the new Camaro is a feast for the eyes. From front to back, the beautifully sculpted side lines flow without interruption. Just below the driver's window, there's a smoothly sculptured indentation that helps cut through the air, and the roof sports a "reverse Mohawk," providing more headroom for passengers on either side while also contributing to excellent aerodynamics.

Photo by Joni Gray

Idaho Potato Museum, Blackfoot, Idaho

Just north of Pocatello, off U.S. Route 91, you'll find Blackfoot, a small, rural township where potato farmers had a dream to create a museum that would fully cover the topic of "Taters for Out-of-Staters." This kitschy museum is well worth a bathroom stop - if for nothing else than checking out the "largest Pringle," which can also be found in the Guinness Book of World Records.

By this point, we were really enjoying the looks we were getting from passers-by, and the Apple CarPlay technology that not only connected Apple Maps, but also read messages and played our own personal road trip playlists. And even out in the middle of nowhere, we didn't miss an email. The new Camaro becomes a Wi-Fi hotspot that connects up to seven tablets, laptops and other devices.

Photo by Joni Gray

Using the Innovative Heating and Cooling Vents

After test driving a countless number of cars, few features have the ability to delight and surprise me, so the Camaro's heating and cooling integrated vents were so much fun to discover.

It's not so much what they do, it's the convenience of not having to find endless buttons and programs to change the air temperature. Simply turn the outer wheel toward blue or red and point the vent toward you for the perfect temp. This came in handy when the thermometer dropped, and the snow storm hit. 

Photo by Joni Gray

The Snowy Road to Yellowstone

By now, we had left the comfort of Interstate 15 and headed out on U.S. Route 20 toward West Yellowstone, where we planned to hit a recommended stop - the Grand Prismatic Spring. Just as predicted, the first snowfall of the season had begun and white stuff began stacking up on the road. Here we were, in a rear-wheel drive muscle car with little to no experience driving in snow, both of us Southern California natives. Thankfully, this particular Camaro came with GM's outstanding Magnetic Ride Control active suspension that has been used for Cadillac models and the Camaro ZL1 in the past. This system has the ability to read the road and driving conditions at 1,000 times per second and automatically adjust ride comfort and control. Though our knuckles were as white as snow, the car handled beautifully and stayed stable for a 60-mile, slow and steady ride to Yellowstone. 

Photo by Joni Gray

Using the Snow-Ice Mode

The Driver Mode Selector gave us four easy choices for road conditions, and we were a bit more confident driving in snow after selecting the Snow/Ice mode. This mode keeps the acceleration and braking in check for slippery roads, not allowing any sudden fast moves or hard stops that could send you sliding. 

Photo by Joni Gray

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Since West Yellowstone is technically still in Idaho, we made it a point to drive into the park on the snowy roads and touch ground in the State of Wyoming, however, we never did make it to the Grand Prismatic Spring due to weather danger. Part of the requirements of this program was to use the OnStar Concierge service to book the hotel of our choice while on the road. We found this experience surprisingly positive since we were pretty nerve-wracked by the time we got to West Yellowstone. It was great to have a friendly voice coming out of the dash telling us what the best-rated hotel was, then letting us know our reservations were confirmed. And in this situation, it didn't seem old-fashioned at all.

Photo by Joni Gray

Gibson Guitar Factory, Bozeman, Montana

Although Orville Gibson invented the archtop guitar in a small shop in Kalamazoo, Michigan, acoustic Gibson guitars have been exclusively manufactured in Bozeman, Montana since 1989. This unassuming factory is not open to the public, but they will give you a Gibson guitar pick for showing up to their front office. Like the end of a scavenger hunt, our last stop simply checked the box, telling us the trip was over and we had finished the game without the help of GM's roadside assistance. For us, that was prize enough!  

  Looking back on this elaborate undertaking by Chevrolet, there is a reason GM went all-out on the launch of the sixth-gen Camaro. This is an important car that sets new standards in the muscle car market race. This born-again generation of the Camaro will no doubt become a prize-winning front-runner, upping the stakes with design, power, refinement, and technology. It's also an excellent daily driver that can tackle any sort of weather - it got me home in one piece and provided an awesome adventure safely and comfortably. This is a sports car that goes way beyond its genre to deliver much more than mere muscle. 

Photo by Joni Gray