03.27.16 - 2016 Chevrolet SS

2016 Chevrolet SS: The End of an Era

We have known for some time now that the SS would not be made after the 2016 model year as Chevrolet has pulled the plug on the Australian company Holden. That’s really too bad because this is one car that more of us should have bought and enjoyed driving but because it didn’t fit a specific mold it hasn’t been a vehicle that garnered a great deal of popularity over the years. With awesome power and the bones of the Holden Commodore this awesome car will bid us farewell at the end of this year as the performance sedan that is built to be awesome for the entire family.

The SS is a muscle car that has style and grace and a bold and brash attitude to be the perfect car for those of us who don’t need our sports car to yell out to the world. Your whole family can enjoy the awesome horsepower this car brings and make use of the space inside the cabin and trunk to be a practical choice that has the right stuff to be the car you want to drive. Even though this car is at the end of its run Chevrolet upgraded it for this final year with LED lighting, hood vents, 19-inch wheels, an improved MyLink eight-inch navigation system, and a new dual mode exhaust system.

Most of the cars on the road today that look anything like the SS come as front-wheel drive models but this car shows up with RWD which makes it similar to the luxury models, but this is not a luxury vehicle. The SS has direct steering and adaptive suspension that makes it a perfect drive that can give you only the slightest understeer when you push this car to the limits. When was the last time you took your family sedan on the track? The Chevrolet SS is a car that you can do this with.

There is only one engine offered for the SS and it just happens to be the 6.2-liter V8 which brings in 415 horsepower and 415 lb.-ft. of torque. That makes for one powerful and forceful engine which is mated to a six-speed automatic or manual transmission to have the driving you want to enjoy. As mentioned this car is set up in RWD form in order to give you the best feel. As for the fuel mileage, the SS will give you 14 city/22 hwy mpg for the manual and 14 city/20 hwy mpg for the automatic while it thirstily drinks on the premium gasoline. Hey, you didn’t buy this car for the fuel savings anyway.

On the inside of the SS you see how the car take into account the fact that it’s made to carry more than one person. The seating is comfortable and legroom is plentiful. While this is a performance machine you will enjoy the spacious cabin and the metal trim that adorns every part of the dashboard to give it a gorgeous look and feel. The seats are covered in leather with a suede-like material as the trim to make this a great looking car on the inside. All controls are simple to find and use and the 16.4 cubic-foot truck will give you plenty of space for the baggage you want to carry on your road trip.

On the outside you see the secret of the SS. This car looks mostly like an attractive family sedan, not a performance beast. There are fender vents and large openings in the grill along with a rear lip spoiler and standard 19-inch wheels, but all these performance features are subtle to keep from taking over the entire look and feel of the car. This is a sleeper car that can allow you the knowledge of what it can do even if your sports car driving buddies make fun of you for buying it, which they will stop doing once you blow past them on the track.

There is only one trim for the SS and it comes with most of the features you want to give you a long list of great standard features but only a few options. The standard offerings include heated and cooled front seats, a nine-speaker Bose audio system, the Magnetic Ride Control suspension, Chevy’s MyLink infotainment system, an eight-inch touchscreen display, a navigation system, a rearview camera, Wi-Fi connectivity, blind spot monitoring, forward collision alerts, lane departure warnings, a parallel parking assistance and two years/24,000 miles of scheduled maintenance. All these amazing features make for a car that is full of great stuff for you to enjoy and have a drive that is informed and safer than you might otherwise expect from the singly trim level.

There are a few optional features you can have on the Chevy SS. These include the manual transmission (which is the only option that doesn’t cost extra), a power moonroof, and a full size spare which is put in place of the tire sealant and inflator kit. That’s it, no more options for you to add to this car, which isn’t bad considering it’s the last year of this amazing vehicle.

The stand out features for the SS start with the fact there are so many standard features to give you a car that feels fully loaded right from the beginning. There is no reason for you to ask for much more unless you need a moonroof, spare tire or the manual transmission. The manual transmission is the other stand out feature as it gives you one of the most aggressive axle ratios and really allows this car to feel like a true sports car that you want to drive on an open country road or take to the track.

The Chevrolet SS will cost you a little less than $49,000 and for the moonroof you will pay only about $1,000 more. That’s not bad for the power and the performance you can enjoy in this car. Now is the time to buy the SS as it drives off into the sunset to become an instant classic that you should take care of and keep up with while also unleashing the power from within for this super powered family sedan that is a lot of fun to drive.

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