I, on the other hand, would be very surprised.

Car and Driver's annual Lightning Lap at VIR has you covered.

 

I betcha it'll go something like this around Laguna Seca:

1) Z06

2) base Corvette

3) Boss

4) GT500

5) Z/28

 

Switch #3 and #4 and I agree. I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised by a switch of #4 (after the aforementioned switch) and #5 as well.

 

I'm gonna give the Z/28 a bit more optimism than you Charlie . I mean, were basically getting a lighter CTS-v coupe in Chevy clothes and the V has no prob battling with the GT500 as is . If this car is gonna play in the $50K area with the GT500 , I'm assuming the magnetic shocks at least have a possiblity of trickling down too .

 

If I were King of GM it would be:

1) Z06

2) Z/28

3) base Corvette

4) whichever

5) whichever

 

i agree. if we want to see how this z28 is going to do, the best things we can go off of now is the cts-v. hoping it may be a bit lighter and quicker. we just need to compare the gt500 to the cadillac and thats the ballpark (performance)numbers

 

I personally pushed for that in previous Disciple focus groups.

 

Yeah, I expect the Z/28 to be slightly lighter than the CTS-V. But I'd imagine you'll have to get more for your extra $15,000 for the V. What that "more" is remains to be seen.

Also lets not forget that these two cars are on completely different architectures.

 

I was just going to say, Sigma's suspension is considered a bit more "sophisticated", especially the front half.

 

This topic was covered in CamaroZ28.Com Podcast episode #261. If this thread interests you, you probably want to tune in to this one.

 

With the CTS-V you are mainly paying for the "luxury" that the Camaro doies not have.

 

Well, everyone seems to be assuming that the Z/28 will perform exactly like a CTS-V or perhaps even better. And I'm not sure how valid that is for alot of reasons. I hope that the Z/28's chassis dynamics are improved markedly, but perhaps some will be disappointed in that regard. I've heard some things.

Can you imagine if Chevy doesn't rate it's LSA at the full 556 hp, and rates it at say 510? I mean, I don't think that'll happen now that the GT500 has 550. But I think it could have happened before that.

Anyway, let's cross our fingers and hope for the best.

 

not sure how wide the tires are on the cts-v but from the pictures i have seen, it doesnt look like hooking up will be too much of an issue. those tires looked beefy. i dont think it will perform the same as the cts-v but i think its a great ballpark number.

 

Power, weight, and weight distribution will be similar.

I don't know which is stiffer, Sigma or ZetaII. I suspect ZetaII.

I don't know if Z28 will get the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 tires that the CTS-V and ZR1 have. That will be an important factor with respect to its performance capabilities.

What's most important in determining the answer to whether it handles like the CTS-V is whether they spend an extensive amount of time tuning it on a worthy road course. The CTS-V's suspension was tuned at the Nurburgring. If the Z28's suspension isn't, all bets are off.

 

Rigidity between the two is probably a wash. The CTS does have a superior front suspension though, (Zeta mafia hates to hear that. ) Their IRS's are also of a different design, but generally, one doesn't have a distinct advantage over the other.

At the end of the day, I guess it really depends on how much effort and focus GM wants to put into the Z/28. It already looks like it's getting the CTS-V's larger brakes, so that's one good thing. I don't know what the current budget is for the Z/28, but before BK it was reported to be $20M. And then shortly after that, slashed in half. And then after that canceled completely. I have no idea what GM is spending on it now, but it's safe to say that the bulk of it's development has already been completed (and has been for awhile), with only minor tweaking left. Pretty much, the cake is baked.

I haven't seen any spy pics of Z/28 mules at the 'ring yet though.....