Quote:
Originally Posted by Cheap Guy
I'm not a fan of what I saw of the 2019's new front end, but I go back to the 4th gen "Geo Storm versus Catfish" and learned my lesson about front end/grille arguments. The 1993-97 Camaros had a much better looking front end IMO than the 1998-2002 but when it came down to the engines and other upgrades to the later models it was no comparison. The LT1 in the 93-97 was terrible. Everyone warned me to forget how the front end looks, but I bought a 1997 anyway and the car was one of the worst vehicles I've ever had. I finally admitted my mistake and bit the bullet and took the loss and bought a LS1 which was an outstanding car.
In short, looks aren't necessarily everything!
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What GM did for the '19 SS refresh is in no way comparible to the 4th gen '93-'97 vs '98-'02 update. Placing the bowtie on the front bumper halfway down the car is just plain gross. It makes the car look like it has a Silverado truck like front end. The revised scooped out tail lights don't do the car any favors either. It makes the car look worse than the model preceding it.
The '98-'02 update improved the looks of the 4th gen even though the front end was a little cat fish like. The biggest improvement the update did was reduce the extreme door stop look of the '93-'97 models.
The hood line was raised slightly at the front and the front bumper profile was blunted out a bit reducing the extreme door stop wedge shape. Then, you had the SS models with the SLP air induction hood scoop and the raised lip rear spoiler. These modifications improved the profile of the car tremendously. Add the slightly wider 17"x 9.5 wheels to the mix and you had a car that looked significantly better than the model before it. Was it perfect? No, but the changes improved the styling a lot especially on the Trans Am WS6 models. And, I think most on here could agree to that sentiment.
Yeah, you still had that stupid severely raked glass tunnel of a windshield, but at least you could see some of the hood line on the SS models when driving them. No more minivan-type driving experience of just staring at huge ugly wiper arms when driving the car.
Styling and design are everything to me. The 5th gen is a (retro) design classic of another design classic, the '69 Camaro. I could never drive an ugly fast car. Why? Because why should I? I could get myself an older Camaro and mod it up to be as fast or faster than any half a$$ styled 6th gen. Or, I could pony up the $7-8k for a stage 3 Overkill supercharger on my current 5th gen and be done with it. I could have my cake and eat it too. A car that looks great with performance to match.
The '19 update is just too ridiculous to even consider no matter how fast it is. The problem is, some rich dude in a Tesla model S running on ludicrous mode would totally destroy it. Sure, that Tesla would destroy my 5th gen even worse, but at least my car looks orders of magnitude better than any Tesla sedan.