GM almost lost one of its faithful, open letter to Chevrolet

[H3LL1ON]

No offense but did you go from wanting a Camaro to wanting a Camaro AutoX equipped to a Mustang to a Corvette Grand Sport for what $100,000.00? Also at roughly 2x the cost of any car you were considering or wishing GM would build?

[ShnOmac]

Originally Posted by Slick1

Unless you mean because the GT is better you're mistaken

How about a car that is actually in production that competes with a Vette?

[OrangeVert]

Originally Posted by NicksVSix

I couldn't care less about performance...a Mustang is still just a Mustang. Nice cars and all, but Camaros they ain't. It goes beyond performance.

+1

Originally Posted by BilJ

A vivid testament to the simple fact that you can not please all of the people all of the time...at least most of us are happy with our ride.

+1

Driving OrangeVert this weekend, everyone who commented seemed to love the IO Camaro vert and sound of the LS3!! Can it beat a Mustang? Maybe, maybe not. Didn't buy it to race.

It's a bundle of fun to drive, makes me and my wife feel like rock stars! And oohh the throaty SS V8 roar, thirsty bird but oh what fun!! '68 to '72 era again, but this time we were able to do it right!! Can't wait for next weekend's outings!

[ravensjeff]

Is a lower weight that important?

Mustang = anorexic 70 lb girl.

Camaro = a smokin hot 110 lb victoria secret model.

[daveagogo1]

Originally Posted by Slick1

Unless you mean because the GT is better you're mistaken

In what area would the Ford GT beat a ZR1 Corvette exactly? It certainly isn't in the o-60 or the 1/4 or top speed or cornering and braking. Not to mention the GT cost about 40k more that a base ZR1 does today.

[TCAT]

Since we are on the topic of mustangs, I hear people talking about how the new 5.0. Mustang GT runs a tad faster than the SS. I would believe that with JUST new gearing in the SS that as at least equivalent to the 5.0's 3.73, they would be on par.

[JJKJ]

Originally Posted by 1o.f00t.570rk

When the 5th Gen Camaro platform has been out as long as the S-197 and still hasn't offered anything, then you might have grounds to complain. But expecting to see this kind of stuff on the third model year into production doesn't sound reasonable - it sounds petulant.

Ford doesn't have a Corvette equivalent. The Mustang is all they have to compete with both the Camaro and Corvette, so they are definitely going to release trim packages that the Camaro can't compete with but the Corvette can, and that's not a failing of the Camaro.

You have a good point regarding the lifespan of the S197 and the C5, however the Camaro has been in planning for much, much longer than it's been in production. Chevy has the technology to make this happen, and I don't doubt they have a Camaro sitting somewhere in the R&D dept just like I'm describing.

Originally Posted by BilJ

A vivid testament to the simple fact that you can not please all of the people all of the time...at least most of us are happy with our ride.

I'm not asking them to build me a custom Camaro. All I've said is that I wish they'd listen to not just my request, but the requests of many Camaro/potential Camaro owners.

Originally Posted by Russo

the Camaro can compete with the GT, but the Boss is a track day car that is in it's own category. what GM brings to that fight is still an overweight, big wheeler.. of course you can get a Grand Sport at much more money, and it's a great car, but i think for the price would you rather have a Boss or a widebody c6? if only GM got serious as Ford, Porsche, Lamborghini, and Ferrari when it comes to lightweight options...

My choice was a widebody C6 .

Originally Posted by H3LL1ON

No offense but did you go from wanting a Camaro to wanting a Camaro AutoX equipped to a Mustang to a Corvette Grand Sport for what $100,000.00? Also at roughly 2x the cost of any car you were considering or wishing GM would build?

Not sure where you're getting your pricing on Grand Sports, but I paid less for my Grand Sport than the common rumored $50k price of the upcoming ZL1 Camaro.

But to answer your question, I started shopping for a fun daily driver that can pull double-duty for some weekend fun. That fun will be autox, some occasional drag-strip runs and probably some track day fun. Any of the above put a value on weight reduction and two of the three emphasize handling.

There was a time when the F-body held title to all of those grass-roots racing forums. The 3rd and 4th gen Camaros/Firebirds tended to dominate, especially when it came to events that emphasized handling. There has been a role-reversal in that aspect with the C5 and S197. I'm just asking that GM retake that leadership role.

And for those who are too new to the F-body game to know, I'm not asking for something GM hasn't done in the past. The 1LE cars, especially the 1LE 3rd gens, were special and sold well.

[JJKJ]

Originally Posted by TCAT

Since we are on the topic of mustangs, I hear people talking about how the new 5.0. Mustang GT runs a tad faster than the SS. I would believe that with JUST new gearing in the SS that as at least equivalent to the 5.0's 3.73, they would be on par.

In reality the 3.31, 3.55 and 3.73 Mustangs all have almost identical times on stock tires due to traction issues. The car I drove had the 3.55 and required quite a bit of feathering to launch without tons of spin.

I don't doubt the Camaro would benefit from a more aggressive ratio.

My intent wasn't to start another Mustang vs Camaro thread. My intent was to express an opinion on my desire to see additional options on an already very cool platform.

[TCAT]

No problem there. I appreciate mustangs and I don't have that whole "rivalry" thing. Sports cars are all sweet to me.

[Carzzy]

First I want to say "congrats" on the Grand Sport! A Corvette Grand Sport convertible with a 6 speed manual and dual mode exhaust, will be my next car! Couldn't afford one this time around, but will try to buy a two or three year old one in the future!
I too am a long time GM guy and have owned several Vette's new and used along with new Camaro's, Trans AM's and a couple of Grand National Buicks.
GM is watching Ford as Ford has been watching GM! Actually, we have Ford to thank for the Corvette and Camaro. In late 1954 the Corvette was seriously considered to be discontiued when over a 1000 cars were not sold at the end of the model year. Ford came out with the Thunderbird for 1955 and there was no way Chevrolet was going to let Ford have the edge (even though the early TBirds out sold the Vette by a large margin). Chevrolet stuck with the Corvette and soon became a real sports car. When Ford came out with the Mustang in '64 Chevy's answer was the Camaro in '67. And it goes on and on and on! There will be a Camaro Z/28 to compete with the Boss 302 just as the original Boss 302 came out to compete with the Z/28 years ago. For now, I think it was more important for Chevrolet to go after the Shelby with the ZL1.

[ibeck]

Originally Posted by Slick1

Unless you mean because the GT is better you're mistaken

New ZR1 toasts it.

[Camaro_hx]

i hope General Motors takes action!

[StangKiller-SS]

A real GM fan wouldn't find a poorly built car better than the GM product just because the Ford is lighter. Maybe GM could shave some weight from the Camaro by using Power Wheels interiors too.

[newmoon]

Why the fascination with the Boss, how many do you see on the street? The ones that are out there will more than likely be sitting in a hvac controlled garage. IMO we have the 5.0 covered, now what Chevy has to do is cover the GT500 ala ZL1. Chevy is on the right track.