Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums - Camaro5.com - I was there @ Chicago Auto Show Camaro GTG. More ZL1 info.

I was at the breakfast. Some of you guys were also there. It was great to meet those of you who were there. Most of you were C5G members also, so I'm sure that I'll be seeing more of you when I start going to some more meets in the area.

For everyone not there, the Chicago Auto Show is a huge event, and GM took out an enormous amount of space for the Volt driving range and the rest of the Chevrolet booth. I would describe the Chevrolet section as 40% Volt, 40% Camaro, and 20% everything else.

Before going up to the display, some of us got to ask some important questions about the Camaro to some of the greats at Chevrolet, including John Fitzpatrick (marketing), Al Oppenheiser (engineering), Scott Settlemire (fbodfather and self-described "VP of Very Cool Things"). I took pages of notes on questions and answers. I'll give you some of the most important information.

GM put 2.2 million miles under the Camaro coupe before we ever saw them. It was frustrating to watch GM drive these cars while we all drooled, but it was worth it. All of that work led to the finely tuned machines we drive today. GM did it right.

There were 15 million 4th generation order combinations. At one point in the discussion this came up because Settlemire was having a talk with someone else at GM. He was told that you can't have fog lights without power windows. It seemed strange but the reason was sound. Without the wiring harness, GM couldn't install the fog lamps, so GM had to hike up the price of that harness and features associated with it because the car had too many different packages. With the 5th generation Camaro, we all might wish it had just 1 more thing that no one else wants or even 1 less thing because we don't need it. GM made it this way because it just makes the most sense and makes everyone happy. If you want something different, GM wants to encourage you to make it yours.

"It is a track car. It is a drag car." Al Oppenheiser described the ZL1 as a machine intended to race. Those of you who get one will not be disappointed. When asked about what benchmarks GM had in mind, all three of them simply said that they want to be the best.

The steering wheel is functional. Besides turning the car, it is also smaller to give you a better grip on the car. You'll need it when you're tearing through a track at 150 mph.

The ZL1 will have all colors available. While they have not decided whether any additional colors or future colors will be offered on the ZL1, they said that the logical choice would be to share all Camaro colors on all Camaros because they are all built together.

Keep your garbage to yourself. Can we come up with a new term for the big mufflers? They didn't seem to like the term "garbage can" when it came up.

GM is "always looking for opportunities." When there is an opportunity for GM to enter a market, it will do all the proper research and decide what to do. This came up a lot.

There is no confirmation of the Z28. I'm sorry guys. They said that they are "looking for opportunities." They also said that fist fights break out over things like the Z28 because there is so much passion about what it means. If it makes sense, it sounds like GM would do it.

"The saga continues." Scott Settlemire said only that the saga continues when asked if Shunt is in the trunk.

The last thing that happens is pricing. GM has not even come close to deciding the price of the car because GM does not know for sure how much it will cost to build.

May the best car win. Compare the Camaro to well-known luxury brands. Notice how the patterns all match across the Camaro's interior even though each of those panels may be made by a different manufacturer. All of the blacks are the same black. Now go find a major luxury car manufacturer. Do the blacks match? Does the texture feel consistent across panels? Is it the same stitching all over the interior? GM wins.

This is the ZL1 interior. It is based on the current interior. The obvious changes include suede, which they suggest might be an option. I'm guessing the suede might be replaced with another option in other ZL1s.

The ducts are functional. If there is a duct on the car, it works. The brakes have ducts, like the Z06. The hood has heat extractors and even carbon fiber. They all work.

Bob Lutz had a direction. Lutz told them to hit the concept with the 2010 Camaro. They hit it within "a gnat's ass." The new direction is to be the best and stay there.

They are listening. The Camaro team is quietly online looking for feedback. They said some of the people you already know online are members of the Camaro team, and we have no idea who they are. When we post how we feel about something, GM pays very close attention.

Convertibles will have black or beige canvas tops. They had really bad experiences with vinyl in testing, and the white looked awful once it got dirty.

Testing involves the competition. The convertible top is way better than the Mustang. The Camaro is designed to beat the competition. When GM builds a car, they want it to win all the time, so they figure out what the competition is doing and beat it.

Short passengers, rejoice. There is a 6-way driver and passenger seat. They wanted to do this in 2010, but safety regulations got in the way. Apparently, the new passenger seat will be able to bolt into all current 5th generation Camaros. If you have a really short passenger, you can install an adjustable seat. Your dealer won't do it, but it would make a good DIY project. In fact, do it, and then post a Camaro5 DIY discussion.

I took some footage of Al Oppenheiser publicly introducing the ZL1. Please enjoy. :popcorn:

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