I guess my perspective on weight is based having owned my 98 SS since new - almost 10 years. To put it in a nutshell. if the 5th Gen car is gonna be faster, handle significantly better while offering better ride quality and get better fuel economy, then whatever the final weight is, (based on it being less than 4,000 lbs.) matters not to me...
Sure, the lighter the better, but just for fun, I did a little comparo about a year ago between a new Mazda RX8 and an '02 SS...
The 2007, 232 HP manual 1.3 litre Mazda RX8 weighs 3029 lb. EPA #'s are 16 city, 22 highway and 18 combined. Compare this to the EPA numbers for the last 2002 manual Z28 which were 17 city, 26 highway and 20 combined. Yup - I'm sure the Mazda is a more nimble, better handling car than an '02 SS - especially with that light little rotary engine contributing to a 50/50 weight distribution... but I sure know which car I'd rather have, based on it being more fun to drive and providing more performance, not to mention better fuel economy... and hey, isn't the 5th Gen car supposed to have pretty darned close to a 50/50 weight distribution?!?
A couple of people have mentioned that weight will not be a factor since they won't be taking the car onto a track. That's something that I've been doing with my '98 since the spring of '99 - and the weight of this 5th Gen, even if it approaches 4,000 lbs. will not be a factor for me. The 4th Gen is a pretty capable road course car and it surprises more than a few people during my track days. However, I feel that my Camaro is
still a better car than I am a driver (but I'm getting pretty close!). From what I gather, the 5th Gen will be able to run circles around my 4th Gen on a road course - and I'm gonna have to start a new learning curve with respect to the 5th Gen's capabilities. Whether it weighs 3600 lbs. or 3900 lbs - it's gonna take me some time before I'm even gonna come close to making full use of this car's handling capabilities! Bottom line is that the new car will be a far better handling car than the 4th Gen and I'm gonna have to work at wringing everything out of it - regardless of what it weighs. Good enough for me!!
Also gotta keep in mind the fact that this is a Chevy and the goal is to market the car "at a Chevy price". A lot more mandatory equipment will be going into this car than what was required in the 3600 lb. 4th Gen. That equipment/technology adds weight. Inorder to achieve less weight, then more expensive materials would need to go into the car. At some point, there's gotta be a saw-off in order to keep the price of the car where most of us would like to see it and where sales can achieve 100,000 units/year.
One car that seems to pop up as a comparison is the 1-series BMW - specifically the 135i with the 300 HP twin turbo which could be a competitor in terms of price and performance. This car weighs about 3450 lbs, which seems ideal - on the surface... here is what one reviewer had to say about tradeoffs to keep the weight down:
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Canadian Driver
Much of that driving purity comes from the 1 Series' light weight and tight dimensions, which exact a price in terms of interior comfort and refinement. There's a fair bit more road, wind and engine noise than we've become used to in modern mainstream BMWs, but that's not really a bad thing: the twin-turbo six, in particular, sounds fantastic. What will be more of an issue to potential buyers is the small interior. The rear seats, for instance, are almost useless if the front-seat riders are any more than average size. Up front, whether the 1 Series feels intimate or just small will depend on how enthusiastic a driver you are. The centre console is tall and wide and the seats are set closely together, while the roof is cut down low; taller drivers would be wise to opt out of the sunroof. There are, however, still plenty of practical storage places in the cabin, while the trunk is well-shaped and easy to access, if not actually all that big.
|
Those are not compromises that I would be prepared to make in order to get the car down to that weight. One of the main reasons I'll be getting a Camaro instead of a 'Vette is that it has a reasonable back seat!
Best regardSS,
Elie