1980 Chevrolet Camaro V6 - Today's Kind of Driving

As much of a fan as I am of these second generation Camaro's, I've never been a fan of ones powered by six cylinder engines. While modern six cylinder Camaro's are so powerful they almost make the V-8 that's available superfluous, that was far from the case years ago. These were heavy cars and with the most powerful six ever offered in one never making more than approximately 110, SAE gross horsepower, Camaro's with a six "back in the day" were bog slow. That most powerful six, incidentally, in a "second gen" Camaro was a new for 1980, 3.8 liter V-6 like our 1980 subject has.



Chevrolet's switch to V-6 engines as their base passenger car power plant was a fairly historic change; going back to 1929, an in line six was a staple of Chevrolet cars and trucks. In fact, from 1929 through 1954, Chevrolet only made in line six cylinder engines.  It wasn't until 1955 that Chevrolet started making a V-8 but an inline six remained the "base" engine. That all began to change in 1978 when GM's new for 1978 intermediate "A bodies", which included the Chevrolet Malibu, had engine compartments that were not long enough to accommodate an in line six. Thus, Chevrolet had to change to a V-6.

 





Chevrolet actually made two V-6 engines based on their small block V-8. For 1978 and 1979 only, they made a 3.3 liter (200 cubic inch) V-6 and was the base engine in the Chevrolet Malibu; it was never available on the Camaro. Starting in 1980, Chevrolet started building a 3.8 liter (229 cubic inch) V-6 like our subject has; it replaced the Chevrolet in line six in their full size cars as well. A 4.4 liter (267 cubic inch) V-8, that was literally a 200 V-6 with two additional cylinders, was also available on Camaro in 1980 and 1981.



Somewhat more powerful than the inline six, the V-6 was lighter too. And since it was far more compact, there was much less weight directly on the front tires. That, no doubt, helped improve handling.

However, V-6 powered second gen Camaros were, again, far from "fast". Although the V-6 made about 20 more horsepower than the inline six it replaced and the same 190 pounds of torque, V-6 Camaros actually felt less powerful off the line than Camaro's with the in line six. That was because due to its smaller displacement, it had to rev higher to develop maximum torque. Chevrolet, to their credit, was candid in their advertising brochures regarding the lack of performance their  new V-6 engine provided claiming it was designed for "today's kind of driving".

In 1985, the Chevrolet 3.8 liter V-6 was replaced by a 262 cubic inch (4.3 liter) version of the engine. While the 4.3 had applications in mid and full size rear wheel drive automobiles, the 4.3 gained its fame as the replacement for the Chevrolet in line six in Chevrolet and GMC light trucks. Remarkably, the 4.3 liter V-6 that was based on the original 229 cubic inch Chevrolet V-6, was produced through the 2014 model year.