2016 Chevrolet SS: A Mid-Cycle Refresh, With the Production Numbers Still Missing

2016 brought the SS's mid-cycle refresh: a revised front fascia with vertical outer ducts, LED signature lighting, functional hood vents that actually flowed air rather than just looking sporty, new 19-inch wheels, a dual-mode exhaust, and standard navigation built into the 8-inch MyLink radio, alongside a new Slipstream Blue exterior color. Underneath the new styling, the mechanical package carried over unchanged: the 415-horsepower LS3, the TREMEC TR6060 six-speed manual with its 3.70 axle, and the Hydra-Matic 6L80 automatic with its 3.27 axle, plus Magnetic Ride Control and four-wheel Brembo brakes remaining standard equipment exactly as they had the year before, meaning every meaningful change for 2016 sat on the surface of the car rather than under its skin.¹

Pricing the 2016 SS required weighing two competing claims. A bylined, dated DoubleClutch Magazine road test states the SS started at $45,745; a separate dealer blog instead claims $46,575 plus a $995 destination fee, but that post carries no visible byline, no publish date, and cites no source of its own. Judged on provenance and authenticity, the record uses DoubleClutch's figure rather than treating the two as co-equal claims, since only one comes from an identifiable, dated piece of automotive journalism.²

Two 2016 production figures are on record and they disagree. GM Authority (2016-08-24), citing GM, says just 2,202 were built, 19 of them internal GM vehicles, with 711 having the six-speed manual, a 32 percent take rate. LSX Magazine (2022), citing the GM Heritage Center, gives 2,220 for the year with no stated basis. Both are kept as disputed. GM Authority's color list has black leading at 764 cars, ahead of Heron White at 438 and the newly added Slipstream Blue at 294. The other 2016-specific number is 3,013 US calendar-year sales, which mixes model years, and the program totals from SlashGear, 12,924 SS sedans across model years 2014 through 2017 and 2,645 manuals across 2015 through 2017, do not break down by single year.^3,4,5,6

Fuel economy diverged slightly by transmission: the automatic was EPA-rated 14 city, 20 highway, and 16 combined miles per gallon, while the manual improved slightly to 14, 22, and 17, a small highway-driving advantage for the row of gears drivers had to shift themselves. The 2016 brochure lists an approximate 18.8-gallon fuel tank, 106.9 cubic feet of passenger volume without the sunroof (104.9 with it), and 16.4 cubic feet of cargo space, alongside a nine-color exterior palette that paired new Slipstream Blue with returning shades like Heron White, Red Hot, and Phantom Black Metallic, all sold with a single interior choice, Jet Black leather with red accent stitching.

One lead stays open and the program total is contested. A forum thread claims a complete year-by-year breakdown across the SS program, including 3,144 customer 2015 cars plus 24 internal GM cars and 624 manuals, but the page sits behind a paid-access wall this record could not get past. The program total appears three ways, SlashGear's 12,924, GM Authority's 12,953 (2017) and the 12,921 sum in LSX Magazine, and Wikipedia's uncited 12,860 is a fourth; all are held side by side rather than one being silently preferred.^4,7,6