What Car & Driver speculates about Z28 & ZL1

[SSLarry]

The latest edition of Car and Driver arrived at my house yesterday with the 2013 Covette and ZL1 on the cover. They speculate, as I did in my post last week, that the Z28 is coming and may contain the LS7 to directly confront BOSS 302, and be priced in the mid $40's.

It's all starting to make more sense now:

SS w/LS3 targets GT
Z28 w/LS7 targets BOSS
ZL1 w/LSA targets GT500

This may be more C&D b/s, but if it plays out this way, Ford will have it's hands full. This would also mean only manual transmissions on the upper 2 trims.

[BackinBlackSS/RS]

Yep, it make perfect sense to me as well. I'm gonna sit back and and see what all the negative nancy's have to say.

[SSmoked]

99% of the fourm could have told you that...

[SSLarry]

Originally Posted by SSmoked

99% of the fourm could have told you that...

hmmm...I thought 99% of forum thought the Z28 was dead.

[BackinBlackSS/RS]

Originally Posted by SSLarry

hmmm...I thought 99% of forum thought the Z28 was dead.

Not 99%, but there are a lot of people saying "I'll believe it when I see it"

[radz28]

Shoot - I've been saying LS7 is gone... If they hang onto it for Z28, that would be awesome. 500 horsepower for Z28? That'd sock the Boss right in the mouth, lol. Mmm... 427 SB IV rev' to the 7200 fuel shut-off... Now that's music to my ears

[BackinBlackSS/RS]

Originally Posted by radz28

Shoot - I've been saying LS7 is gone... If they hang onto it for Z28, that would be awesome. 500 horsepower for Z28? That'd sock the Boss right in the mouth, lol. Mmm... 427 SB IV rev' to the 7200 fuel shut-off... Now that's music to my ears

As far as the LS7, , but as far as Z28, yeah it's gonna happen.

[SSmoked]

Originally Posted by SSLarry

hmmm...I thought 99% of forum thought the Z28 was dead.

99% of those people are not "keeping the faith"

i have always had a soft spot for the LS7 concept camaro from sema a few years back.
would be nice to see the ls7 make a return. but its highly unlike it will be in a production camaro by 2012

[THE EVIL TW1N]

Originally Posted by radz28

Shoot - I've been saying LS7 is gone... If they hang onto it for Z28, that would be awesome. 500 horsepower for Z28? That'd sock the Boss right in the mouth, lol. Mmm... 427 SB IV rev' to the 7200 fuel shut-off... Now that's music to my ears

the 7.0 Ls7 is an awesome engine, but a z28 is gonna NEED the LS7 to keep up. The Boss puts down over 415rwhp stock in a lighter platform and the engine can go well over 8000rpm without even breaking a sweat. The 428 z06 corvettes average about 435-445rwhp with a more efficent drivetrain than the Camy. The LS7 would be a good match to go against the lil 5.0 though i think its kinda odd that the original z28 was celebrated for its high powered (for the time) well balanced small block and now might have the largest engine ever offered in a Camy to go up against a 302 mustang.

[BackinBlackSS/RS]

I'm not worried about what GM will put in the Z28. They may be slow at getting them to market(not to me, but you know what I'm talking about), but when they bring it they bring it BABY!!!! And then some.

[SSLarry]

Chevy had to give the ultra performing Camaro a name. They could have chosen the most obvious and most popular: "Z28", but they didn't. I believe they chose "ZL1" to leave the door open for a Z28 between SS and ZL1.

Otherwise, the Z28 will be a modded n/a 6.2(?) But why would they do that? A more powerful LS3 will be exactly what the regular SS will need just to compete with the new Mustang. The Z28 will need to be more. So the big LS7 fits the bill nicely. Idk

An LS7 Z/28 will also be able to capitalize on the investment in the Z06's 'track car' image. Again, no automatics will be available.

[OldJedi]

I do not want to come off as a 'Negative Nancy' but I am not really as sure as some of you. Indications certainly seem to point to a return of the Z28, which I am all in favor of. I am just not sure that it will arrive in the current platform or wait for the alpha chassis. There is a strong vote for both. The ZL1 will only live until this chassis is finished and the new chassis takes over, my guess is 2 to 3 years. Chevy certainly can produce a Z28 with a NA LS7 engine or derivative but not likely before the ZL1 which is a year from production. Would they make a Z28 for two years with the current chassis. The majority of forum members seem to think that the current chassis is too heavy to compete with the lighter Boss 302 head to head. Can Chevy afford to wait 2 to 3 years for the new chassis to arrive and give Ford a 3 year advantage. I certainly see Ford making the Boss until their new chassis arrives also in 2 to 3 years. Can Chevy afford to develop a Z28 for just 2 years or are they better off putting money and development into an Alpha chassis Z28 instead. I honestly do not know. I believe that the ZL1 can stay with the Boss and the GT500 but we will not know for sure until the end of the year. If it can, will it be worth putting development money into a current chassis Z28 or just get a head start on the next Alpha chassis Z28. I really have no idea which way Chevy will go.

[tsnow]

alpha chassis Camaro will have next gen DI V8.

[Z_Rocks]

What concerns me for the long run, is the turmoil that is going on within Middle-East, which is basically the main producer of Gasoline and controller of the price. The price of gas is really going up and as the ME stays like this, oil price will stay up close to $4.xx a gallon. This will seriously puts a huge dent into the sales these big cube engines like 7.0 or 6.4 or 6.2 liters.
See how many companies are now jumping on 2.0 liter turbo on gas and diesel and offering some great power.
I'm sure the bean counters @ GM are taking this issue to heart very seriously.