New user, saying hello / had a thought on the LS7
 

As the topic says, HELLO! I have been browsing here a while and thought I should finally make an account and communicate. I just recently got a 2013 RS Camaro (2LT) and I am loving every second of it. I also noted that everyone on the forum seem very personable and otherwise friendly, so I am optimistic.

About the LS7 Camaro (if it becomes a reality) why would it be the Z28? It would definitely be a 3SS and 4SS option, complete with possibility of 1LE package. The Z28 will have the LS9... now imagine that machine.

Because the Z/28 is all about track performance. The LS7 puts out great HP without the weight of the supercharger and intercooler. Plus there isn't a heat soak issue.

There doesn't seem to be any real logic in how/when/why Chevy resurrects old nomenclature (or if there is, it's masked by inconsistency).

I'd like to see the LS7 as just an optional engine available in the SS, but I doubt that will happen.

I'd be fine with an LS7 option as well but if you put in the LS7 the driveline will need upgrading, as well as the brakes. That would definitely be the best way to go as far as affordability but I think the LS7 has too much power and history to not have its own model and the name be something well respected like Z28.

I think you nailed it!!:D
Clyde

....as much as I have read the tea leaves from internet offerings and alike, I think we will have to wait 'till 2015-2016 when the line changes over to get the name we want. We will get the LS7, albeit expensive and a limited offering in this model. My main concern going forward is what models and engine offerings will be available. A LF3 TT 6, the FI LT1, and a supercharged LT4 will be the big ponies we will run with?

I don't know what GM will put under the hood of a 6th gen Z/28. The LT1 is a base engine and doesn't belong, no TT V6, and I don't think a supercharged LT engine would work either. There's a reason the ZL1 was named ZL1 instead of Z/28. I am interested in what will power the C7 Z06. An engine based on that may make its way into the Z/28.

Would you rather have an LS7 fifth gen or a 6th gen Z28? If the 6th gen Z28 is made with an LT1 they could supplement absurd amounts of horsepower with all the tech and aero that the Stingray has to make a supercar comparable to today's ZL1. I personally think they will charge premium prices for an LT1 6th gen and the days of an affordable V-8 are coming to a close. I hope dearly that I'm wrong.

I would like to see a 5th gen Z/28 powered by the LS7. I won't be able to afford it due to school but I still hope it's build. It would be an awesome car capable of running with much more expensive cars.

...you are,..my friend...;). The LS7 is part of the LS family, which dies off with the advent of the Gen 5 V8. The LT1 and the LT4, the only two 8 cylinder DI's we know of so far, replace that engine architecture. There are only 5 parts used over from the LS family on the new engine line, mostly fasteners and clips etc... So, it's now or never for the 7.0 L 427 LS7, no news on the horizon for a replacement 7.0 L DI next gen motor., just the the 376 CID DI's. So, we get it in this line, before the change, or never. Scuttlebut says it will come, the VIN card was leaked, for a lack of better words, along with other engine designations for 2014 on another card that was not listed on C5. So, speculation is the LS7 will come, not as a Z/28, but a special edition. I am not trying to fight my way into that line like I did with the 2012 ZL1. I don't have enough juice to be one of the allocations, not by a long shot. Just my o2...:)

:thumbsup:

I predict this will happen. The 5th gen platform will go out with a bang. The question is if it does happen how many will they make?

Yeah, and what will be the price? We have a long wait for that answer if recent history has anything to say about it. The car in question hasn't even been announced yet.

I highly doubt GM will let the 5th gen end without some kind of Z/28 Camaro being built. In my opinion, it would be a massive failure. The Z/28 is one of the, if not the most iconic Camaro trims of all time. It may have lost its way over the years but GM the 5th gen is the resurrection and that can't be complete without the Z/28. They never should have waited to bring it out. It should have been built before the ZL1.

I agree. They won't let a generation go by without a Z28. The ZL1 was timed well. They had to compete with the GT500.

My concern is the same as many of yours, between the few to be built (due to time left) and a high demand for the Z28 we will be price gouged by the dealers. :facepalm:

This just in...

I've just received a communique' from a highly-reliable source within the Team that a ZEE will NOT arrive until AFTER start of production of the Gen-6 commences in Lansing...

Reason given?

If they built a Gen-5 version in Oshawa, they would be obligated by CAW rules, Canadian culture and language to call it a ZED...

The mark up will be insane, you can guarantee it.

Yes, the GT500 needed a competitor but so did the BOSS 302 yet none came from GM. Sure, the 1LE can run with the BOSS but its not the same as a Z/28 would be.

:bellyroll:

I never thought of that before haha

He got me good at first. :bellyroll:

...lets center and simmer a bit......, Z/28, the way we have specified...is too cost prohibitive, its in direct competition with the ZL1, and GM does not have the marketing cohones to do it...plain and simple...aintgonnahappen.gov...., a LTD ED, yes, bells and whistles a blazing, easier to hit the pick 6 than get an allocation, but not a RPO that we seek....

That very well may be true but then why not say something. Why not say the Z/28 is dead for the 5th gen, instead of "stay tuned". If they won't use Corvette engines, then at least modify the base Camaro engine for more power. With the next gen small block coming out, like we have both said, there is a lack of engines to power the Camaro. Anything they will develop is going into the Vette first. So either the 6th gen Camaro will lack high performance versions or wait for years to do it.

I put the price at $52,999 base. That engine is way expensive and with additional drivetrain upgrades it's going to be costly.

..by poking around there is enough written out there to conclude they will put a LS7 in a Camaro before the model change. They did the vert LS7 M6 Vette. That was a special deal, even though the LS7 came with the ZO6. So, question is, will it be named the vaunted Z....as it's been speculated....? No. I feel it will come with a Pedders upgrade over the 1LE package, and get some usual marketing makeup to go with it like the other one off's produced in conjunction with this line. Its gonna be a 1G ++ track screamer and street beater, and limited in allocation. Just sayin...

The more I think about it, the more I think this is the likely outcome. I doubt we will see our Z/28 any time soon. It will be a few years into the 6th gen probably, if they build it at all.

....but I think we will know by the New York Show (end of March/beginning April) if we get it this year.....last minute announcements, like the C7....January announcement for Q3 ordering, hey by the way the ZL1 was officialy announced on the same day in the calender year as the C7 Vette..

I think it will be a Z. I'm reading the tea leaves from good sources. Of course, there are no guarantees.

...but of course, there are no guarantees in anything...;). But for the life of me, I see no fortune in GM making any decision that would include a Z/28 along with the ZL1 in the same lineup....somebody's gotta go...especially going into 2016 with a LT1 and LT4 option. Once the C7, and CTS announces powerplants we will get a little clearer insight. I see contraction, rather than expansion.

Then why build a ZR1 and a Z06 for the Corvette which is a niche vehicle produced in much lower numbers than the Camaro?
As the 5Gen Camaro ages and its main competitor offers a new generation GM needs to "build" excitement for the 5Gen not throw in the towel.

If it comes they have to call it something. What's left? It would create a big buzz just before th next big buzz, Gen 6. Brilliant, really.

Exactly! And you're right what else would you call a 1LE with an LS7 and ZL1 brakes? A Z28 of course! :headbang:

Aintgonnahappen.....LOL.....till the next Gen, drop the ZL1 because there will be no LSA to stick in it, no 7.OL on the horizon, come on guys, think? Where's the motor selection? Now ponder this, keep the Z/28, and put the LT4 S/C in it? Who you wanna dance with ??? Wheres the motor selection to fit your bills? You wanna ZL1 and a Z/28, how is that gonna happen...motor wise...:iono: Like I said before, we are not gonna know anything until they announce what and if they will have a ZO6 and ZR1, and what the powerplants will be.

That's the problem right there, lack of viable power plants that GM is willing to use outside of the Vette. The Vette will get its motors and the Camaro will get the scraps GM is willing to let fall off the Vette's plate. They will have the V6, base V8 and high performance V8.

Because the Corvette is the halo car. It is their main performance car and main concern when it comes to high performance. If there was no Corvette, the Camaro would be treated like the Mustang. It would get what ever engine the designers could come up with.

GM is willing to throw in the towel when it comes to the Camaro. They already did once. They would do it again just as easily IMO.

Guess we will have to wait and see. I'm sticking to my position.

That's the road block to the Z/28. If a S/C engine was acceptable in the Z/28 we would be driving an LSA powered Z/28. Even GM knows that wouldn't represent the Z/28 as it was in the first gen and renamed the car. Is the ZL1 an awesome machine? Yes, it is. Is it a Z/28? IMO, no it isn't. GM can't build 3 engines to power all the various performance cars across all its brands without pissing someone off. They can't build 20 different engines to power all the various cars. Either they build it and tell everyone to take it or leave it, or they drop some of the performance trim levels to make it work as best as possible.

...good insight Hobbs....

Because its GMs answer to all other performance cars from around the world. The Base corvette is a great performance car. the Z06 is even better, but when put up against the best cars in the world the Corvette still needed more. So they built the ZR1, to showcase what GM is capable of. Then that performance trickles down the GM pipeline into other models. GM wanted to be able to build a world beater in performance, what better car in the stable than the Corvette to do it with. Thats why the Corvette gets a ZR1 and Z06.

With all the LS7 talk out there, it does seem that a Z28 is possible in the 5th gen, But I don't see where it fits in with teh current gen 5 line up.

It has to be faster than the SS and 1LE around the track, but cant be faster than the ZL1. The ZL1 is supposed to be the top of the line ultimate Camaro, if the Z28 comes in cheaper, and offers better performance, more people would buy the Z28 than the ZL1

The ZL1 would still be faster in a straight line but it would be similar to the Z06/ZR1 situation where the Z06 is about as fast as the ZR1 around a track.

Thats true too, didnt think about that. But theres a much larger price gap between a Z06 and ZR1 than there would be between a Z28 and Zl1.

Everyone my question was rhetorical. I understand why there are the various offerings of a Corvette. What I don't understand is "why" there shouldn't be a 5Gen Z28? No one has convinced me it is a bad financial or marketing move.

It isn't...and that is EXACTLY why it WILL appear...