I traded in my 2010 Camaro 2SS on a 2017 SI Coupe. Is your Camaro a V8 or V6? I assume V8 because my all time average was 20.8mpg which I actually think is great for a 6.2l - I have no complaints with the V8 Camaro/Gas mileage for what it is. I had a V6 Camaro before the V8 and the difference in gas mileage was only about 4mpg average. I would say never buy a Camaro unless it has the V8, lol.
Anyway, I traded for more than one reason-
-After owning two Gen 5 Camaros back-to-back I was ready to change it up and try something completely different.
-I wanted to try something more economical since I didn't think it made sense to own two performance V8s (my other vehicle is a Ford SVT Lightning) and daily commute 2hrs a day.
-All I ever mostly did was baby the Camaro trying to save on gas.
-Once I test drove the Civic I fell in love with the interior ergonomics and for some strange reason I actually found it more pleasant and fun to drive than the big monster V8; and I'm kinda more a techy these days and all the tech the new Civic SI had over my early 5th gen Camaro makes my daily commute more enjoyable.
-I had to rent a car this summer to bring a friend and her kids to the shore in which you just can't fit anyone in the back seats of the Camaro so I also wanted something more useful. I made sure to get in the back seat of the coupe SI before I even took it for a test drive.
With that said, I miss the Camaro because it was a car that got more respect and was more bad-ass with a 426HP raging V8 with killer power and torque but at the same time I don't have any buyers remorse making the trade for the 2017 Civic SI as for some crazy reason I just enjoy driving the new Civic more. It's hard to explain, but it has very good ergonomics, a lot of tech and creature comforts at the price point and I had no idea that the little 4-banger could do 138mph which would actually beat a standard non RS V6 Camaro governed at 119mph so it's still fast enough to get down and boogie, lol.
I would of loved to keep the Camaro for a toy and get the Civic SI for my commuter but after driving 2hrs a day for my work commute the last thing I want to do on the weekend is drive anymore and not to mention the place I live in the lease we're only allowed two vehicles per person and I absolutely need a truck in the household.
Personally if you're coming from a SS V8 I would get the highest HP Civic that you can (SI or better yet, Type-R). Personally I had to have a stick shift. Stick shift keeps my mind kinda occupied on my long commute and is more fun and I think autos are boring as ****.
Also something to think about with gas pricing - are you actually going to save money by buying a brand new economy car? If your Camaro is paid off just image how much gas you could buy with the cost of getting a brand new car! And say worst case scenario, say you're even still financed and say about $2000 upside down vs what they give you on trade, still, the cost of going into a new loan and losing the money you're upside down on....either way you're not really going to be saving money just by the gas savings. There's more to saving money with vehicle ownership than saving a few bucks per fill up in gas. I'm fairly sure if I sat down and did some precision math I'm actually losing much more money by jumping into a brand new vehicle over just keeping my old one even though the new one gets twice the mpg. The cost of a brand new vehicle would probably buy nearly a life time supply of gas in your old/current car. Don't get the Civic soley for gas savings IMO because you could possibly be losing much more in other ways. Get the Civic also because you like driving it or your Camaro was leased and it's time to turn it back in and get a new vehicle but trust me, don't do it solely for gas savings. And definitely consider the SI or Type R coming from a Camaro so you at least have a little more performance to make the vehicle a little more playful and not totally boring in comparison, heh... If you didn't already know, the SI has some upgraded stuff that the other Civics don't have like the limited slip differential, bigger brakes, adaptive suspension for example.
