This has been opened and closed more than 22,500 times – three times more than would be expected in a typical 10 years of use. Some of those cycles were performed in extreme conditions; temperatures ranging from minus-22° F to 170° F and humidity of up to 95 percent.
There is also an eight-minute water test that every Camaro Convertible has to pass at the assembly facility in Oshawa and at an identical facility at the GM Proving Ground in Milford, Michigan. More than 7,200 gallons of water are hurled at the car in a hurricane-like downpour at a pace of 900 gallons per minute.
In addition,engineers use a sophisticated human-ear mimicking device called the Aachen Head to measure noise levels. Camaro Convertible’s three-layer top includes an acoustical liner made of rubber sandwiched between an acrylic square weave outer fabric and an inner reinforcing cotton layer. According to recent GM road test data, the Camaro Convertible achieved a better interior quietness acoustical rating than the Ford Mustang in interior quietness.
“This past winter we even had our engineers driving 80 of these convertibles back and forth to work every day here in Michigan,” said Al Oppenheiser, Camaro chief engineer. “They had to open and close the top five times each day no matter what the weather was like.”
“For many buyers, a Camaro Convertible can be a collector car, something they might keep for generations. So we made sure the tops would retain their quality for a long, long time,” said Oppenheiser. “There is great value in a convertible with the original top.”
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