Camaro Z28 rumors dampened by Bob Lutz, G8 will (update: NOT) survive

[MikesZ]

Heh, heh

[MikesZ]

There is no talk that I'm aware of at Ford of taking the V-8 option away from Mustang lovers and say...only put the V-8 in a Taurus. Yeah, a brillian plan...take the muscle away from the Camaro and put it in a sedan. Brilliant.

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by stovt001

Wow way to read into something that's not even there. No one said because the wonderful G8 will live on the Camaro will become a 4 cyl car. The OP merely said high performance 4 and 6 cylinder engines will be where the emphasis is in the future. That's something we've all known for a very long time. V8s will still be around, but the bulk of performance cars won't have them. That's fine. The OP was very incorrect in stating the Cobalt SS is dead. It is very much alive, and it is one of the fastest FWD cars in the world. Kinda hard to argue with that. So perhaps GM won't build a supercharged Z28, but why should they when an aftermarket company can do the same thing with neither company taking a CAFE hit? It is win-win-win for everyone involved. GM sells a Camaro with fuel economy no worse than an SS, and aftermarket tuner sells its products and services, and the customer gets the supercharged Camaro they wanted. Meanwhile, the Z28 can be repurposed to its original 1st Gen role as a road course star, and GM is still not hit with any worse CAFE ratings. Sounds like a brilliant plan to me.

Originally Posted by FenwickHockey65

Well said.

You know, the problem with people on this site is that they don't realize that products like the Camaro can only come about if other products are successful. The G8 has already been proven to be a highly regarded vehicle of which sales are finally starting to pick up. People on this site, however, don't see that. All they want is their precious Z28 or their precious V8 engine, but what good are these wants if GM doesn't have the money to build them? If the Caprice is a success (which, with Chevy's marketing dollars and image, it should be), then GM will make a ton of profit off them and maybe can build a Z28.

Like I've always said, there are the "car guys" and then there are the "finance guys," and letting either one gain too much control will run GM into the ground.

+1 and to both of you.

Relax. The article dug far too deep into what Lutz said. The Z28 is not "dead", it never has been. But our hopes of a Chevy-badged GT500 are apparently blasted away. For what it's worth, if like Stovt001 said, the Z28 gets a heavy track emphasis instead of more raw power....Hell, I'm happy!!

Will the Camaro's future portfolio be the "perfect" image some of us have in our mind's eye?...No....Has anybody considered their mind's eye might need a pair of glasses?

[UCF w00t]

Good post The_Clear. Good point about G8 GXP "fans" actually buying Camaros or Corvettes. I'm not a big Impala fan. I wouldn't mind it going away and being replaced with a Chevrolet Commodore. And to be honest, I doubt most Impala buyers would either.

[MikesZ]

Heh, heh

[v6sonoma]

Wow hot button issue. The caprice is a great idea. The G8 is a great car....but it's a Pontiac and as much as I love Pontiacs they are no more. So now they have a platform that is well received and that needs to go somewhere why not a caprice? It's not like the G8's gonna eat into it's sales it wont exist. Therefore eliminating the badge engineering problem. As for the powerplant of future Camaros. No v8 no Camaro period. It will always have one as an option the Z28 with a supercharged ls3 might not make much sense? it'll cost almost as much as a vette or a cts-v plus it'll cut into their sales. Who knows what will happen. Thats why I'm buying my 2010 SS/RS/6M because cars like this just wont be around much longer it's a different world with different ideas. Soon it might be nothing but Prius's and Volt's. God thats sad.

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by MikesZ

There is no talk that I'm aware of at Ford of taking the V-8 option away from Mustang lovers and say...only put the V-8 in a Taurus.

You're right! There's also No such plan at General Motors!!!

[sabrescamaro]

Originally Posted by MikesZ

Under their plan for the future, we'll all be driving GT 500's.

Oh, they know we like hideous cars? Their plan for the future is looking like it has to -- completely reasonable cars that are fine for normal people. Sure, it doesn't quite satisfy the performance loving car enthusiast as much as everyone would like, but the government is ruining that... I'm just thrilled that in the chevy lineup I can get a 638HP and 426HP coupe that both look terrific, at the moment. The government won't allow anyone to make exciting cars in the future, so it's only reasonable for them to start planning earlier, since they have to restructure, anyway. (This isn't meant to start a political debate, it's here to explain my thought process to explain why GM is making conservative vehicles). When chevy makes terrific performance cars, people jump on their global warming scores. When they pump up the efficiency, people jump down their throats about the performance. It's a lose-lose situation for them. Put yourself in their shoes before you talk.

[Supermans]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

So....Z28 isn't Dead......and there's some rumor of a FI V6 that we've never heard of......I can foresee a Camaro lineup shuffle in the future.



If it's because there isn't a definitive answer on a Z28 model...then, yeah sorry.

If it's because he said "V6" and "I4" but not "V8" in the same sentence as "Camaro"...then hang on tight, because the Mustang's going to follow suit if it doesn't get there first.

Let's hope its not too bad of a shuffle that it turns enthusiasts and loyalists off. We know that the majority of people could care less what engine is in the car for the base "looks mostly" model of the Camaro.. If it is a 4 cyl, people will still eat it up, especially if it is cheaper. Perhaps that will be GM's goal.. We've reverted back to the 70's once more with those 4 cyl. Mustangs in a sense...

[MikesZ]

Good luck with that one GM.

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by Supermans

Let's hope its not too bad of a shuffle that it turns enthusiasts and loyalists off. We know that the majority of people could care less what engine is in the car for the base "looks mostly" model of the Camaro.. If it is a 4 cyl, people will still eat it up, especially if it is cheaper. Perhaps that will be GM's goal.. We've reverted back to the 70's once more with those 4 cyl. Mustangs in a sense...

Except these four cylinder cars aren't emasculated slow-mobiles....iron duke...*shudders*

I'm not sure what I'm thinking...but without a massive-output V8...I wonder if the SS and Z28 nameplates might switch "back"...with SS being the high-powered straight line car, and the Z28 being a moderately-powered track car, and the base Camaro being a "low" powered (I still maintain the current V6 is NOT low-powered) everyday car. This is pure speculation, and absolutely baseless...I'm just wondering.

[MikesZ]

The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat? Wasn't that also from the 70's?

[Supermans]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

Except these four cylinders aren't emasculated slow-mobiles....iron duke...*shudders*

I'm not sure what I'm thinking...but without a massive-output V8...I wonder if the SS and Z28 nameplates might switch "back"...with SS being the high-powered straight line car, and the Z28 being a moderately-powered track car, and the base Camaro being a "low" powered (I still maintain the current V6 is NOT low-powered) everyday car. This is pure speculation, and absolutely baseless...I'm just wondering.

Hmm,

I didn't think about that.. The Z28 last generation was the middle performance car while the SS was top dog. The way they could decide to bring in the Z28 priced in the $26,000 range slightly lower than the current Mustang 2010 GT so it competes against that better than the pricier 30 grand SS. That would make the most sense..The Z28 could have 350HP for example with one of those newer engines to compete against the Mustang GT directly.. .. Pure specualtion is all we do in here day and day out

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by Supermans

Hmm,

I didn't think about that.. The Z28 last generation was the middle performance car while the SS was top dog. The way they could decide to bring in the Z28 priced in the $26,000 range slightly lower than the current Mustang 2010 GT so it competes against that better than the pricier 30 grand SS. That would make the most sense..The Z28 could have 350HP for example with one of those newer engines to compete against the Mustang GT directly.. .. Pure specualtion is all we do in here day and day out

mm-hmm.

Let me elaborate a bit, though....

A possible scenario...The SS would move up in price point ever slightly...maybe a thousand bucks or so..and the LS3 would be bumped to ~450-460hp. The Z28 would be introduced at about 29k~...and have that new FI 3800 V6 we've read about Maybe 350-400hp. It would be an absolute track star even rivaling the Corvette (I assure you, it's possible).

Or maybe the Z28 should be priced higher than the SS...somewhere between a SS and a GT500....make use of the FI 3800...and make extensive use of aluminum, carbon fiber, and suspension upgrades to make it a Corvette-rivaling track star.