I could not disagree more. The off the showroom floor Camaro is an exceptionally capable automobile. In development form it ran an 8:20 at the Ring in Germany out performing a number of Euro sports cars. You can take your BONE stock 5th Gen to any track you choose with confidence.
Can the Camaro be made better? Of course, anything can be made better. Having personally done development work on the GM built Grand AM Challenge prototype shown at SEMA
I know exactly what the primary concerns were for those on the development TEAM becuase Pedders was a small part of the TEAM. Radius Bushes, Sub-Frame Bushes and Toe Link Bushes. GM solved the sub-frame bushes with hand made Delrin. For the Toe Link and Radius Bushes GM came to Pedders. We went from Math Data to finished product in 12 days including international shipping.
Pedders radius bush snubbers are a GM design. One of the engineers on the Camaro GS TEAM wanted to assure the safety and provide a competitive advantage to SCCA 5th Gen drivers. In T2 you cannot replace bushes. As a safety concern, firming up the large hydraulically damped radius bush was a priority to the TEAM. Reducing unwanted caster changes was a parallel concern. That is why we did the full radius bush in only 12 days from request to delivery. GM wanted to go rag on thier GS at Milford. Back to the snubbers. The snubbers replace a softer rubber insert in the radius bush. The full face snubber goes beyond replacement and transforms the hydraulic bush. It was a great engineering solution from GM. We made up twenty sets for GM and the program was shut down. I asked what I should do with the parts and they said whatever you want. That is how they came to be available to 5th Gen owners.
From the very first day I posted here in 2007 I have been telling anyone that would listen what a great chassis the ZETA II Camaro rides on. Off the showroom floor it is an AWESOME automobile. Does it lean and roll more than many would like, yes BUT it sticks. Does it understeer, yes but it can be driven because the understeer is predictable. Does it have rear end step out, yes but you can drive through it if you know what it is. Can you address the idiosyncrasies of the car with foundational bushes, coil, coilovers and sways yes and your 5th Gen becomes a ridiculous car.
Is a stock 5th Gen scary -- absolutely not. What are the three highest priority upgrades that GM in all thier GS testing came up with -- sub-frame, toe link and radius bush upgrades. The shopping list from GM is exactly the same as our list was for the VE / ZETA / Commodore / G8. EXACTLY the SAME.
Pedders real world experience has been developed with the ZETA and ZETA II chassis for years in AU and then with GM before the Camaro was released to the public. We are not making assumptions on a day at the track. We have lived and worked intimately on the ZETA chassis on test tracks around the world and in millions of miles of every day use by our customers around the world. To be clear, Pedders has lowering coils, fixed ratio damping adjustable coilovers, independent bound and rebound remote reservoir adjustable coilovers, bushes, sway bars and endlinks for the 5th Gen available for sale. You can buy any part you want in any order. How you mod your 5th Gen is your personal choice and we will support you before, during and after your purchase.
However, none of that changes the basics of vehicle development. Stability and predictability begin and end with the foundation of the chassis. If the chassis isn't tight the car won't be right. Foundation, foundation and foundation.