We're still here Charlie and we still feel the same way. It's just that repeated comments like this...

... make me want to blow my brains out. I'm sure others feel the same way. There's so much wrong with that single staement, where do I start?


I'm hoping for the best with new car but I'm also fearful of what my gut is trying to tell me. I'll just have to wait and see.

One ray of hope for me in all this? It seems that a sensibly optioned F Stock SCCA SOLO prepared Mustang GT is not as overweight as we all perceive it to be. I've read accounts where such cars have scaled under 3500 lbs. It's sad but right now I'd do cartwheels if I could get a 3500 lb (or slightly less) Z28.

 

I'm in the same boat, Chewey. I want to keep an open mind, but I already know the production version is going to be bigger than I want. And it very easily has the potential to be heavier than I'd want.

I'd be happy if the production version could have stayed concept sized and a Z/28 coupe version came in at 3,500 lbs.

But like you said, we'll have to wait and see the final product.

 

I do realize we don't know the details yet. That is why I started my response with "If this is true".

No doom and gloom. I was just stating that for me personally size and weight are important. If it is too big and too heavy, I may look elsewhere.

I stand by everything else I stated in my pevious post.

 

I disagree. For evidence of why, see GT500.

Bob

 

The G37 weighs over 3700 pounds, according to the Aug 2007 C&D. Imagine how much more it'd weigh with a 400hp V8. The 335i is 3600, and that's with BMW having gone to some effort to make the current 3-series lighter (significant amount of aluminum). The Civic Si is over 2900 pounds, with a 197/140 I4.

The Camaro will be competitive with modern cars in the same power range.

 

One question is what would we like and the other is what do we expect. You get very different answers. You mostly seem to be coming at it from what you'd like. Unless you have some influence with the designers, that's just asking for disappointment.

But here goes. I'd like 180" long, 69" wide, 400hp, and 3300 pounds.
Oh, and bring back the Mystic Teal Metallic.

What do you think the actual size will be (and color )?

 

I'd rather not say precisely, but let's call it larger than the concept and abit larger than the Mustang.

 

Same for the weight too?

 

Ditto.

My youngest has a suped up '01 M3. What a freaking awesome little car. (Yes I said little.) Personally handling and performance in the twisties is more important to me than straightline acceleration. However, I think the M3 is too small (short and narrow) to be a "Camaro". Camaro was long known as the hugger, so it needs to be wide. But it also needs to perform on straightaways.

 

Actually your evidence proves my theory. Even weighing as much as it does still can run mid 12's off the showroom floor. A 12 second stocker is a very fast car no matter how you look at it. Name a production mustang that runs quicker than mid 12's stock.

stock 5.0 LX 3100lbs, 225hp mid 14's
stock '05 GT 3500lbs, 300hp mid 13's
stock gt500 3850lbs, 500hp mid 12's

Despite being 750lbs heavier than a LX its 2 seconds faster because it has 275 more hp. See my point?
Sure, if it had less weight it could possibly run 11's but a 12 second car will be fast enough for 95% of the people with the $$$ to accually buy one.
My cousin just bought one. She just got her masters degree and treated herself. She does'nt care that because it weighs so much that it is'nt as fast as the Z06. She did'nt know what the car was all about. She just wanted a Mustang and the GT did'nt intrest her. She did'nt even know the hp. She just said "it has a supercharger or something and its very fast."

How many production cas are able to run 11's anyway?
And if a car is'nt capable to run 11's stock its caledl a "pig" or "slow"
Its kind of funny that people that have cars that are 13 second cars in stock trim put down a car thats quicker and faster in stock trim.
If a mid 12 second shelby is a POS then what would you people consider your 13 second car then?

 

Put that 500hp into that 3100lb LX and you'll run 7/10 quicker than the GT500. You'll have a car less affected by weight in corners and one that does a road course far quicker. If weight weren't the ultimate enemy of all sports cars we would see 5000lb F1 cars. Big and heavy is less efficient no matter what the horsepower. In this age of high fuel prices nobody needs a 4000lb 500hp lead bomb.

 

While its true that with enough hp you can make anything fast, you completely missed the point. Some people's automotive interests are more than one dimensional, they like to turn corners and stop. There is where that extra pork is exposed, not because it 'only' runs mid 12s. Mid 12s is about as fast I'd like to see a production car, so acceleration has been accomplished with that supercharged monster motor. It's also the ability to be tossed around an autoX or road course (or your favorite windy road). Super wide tires will get you 1/2 way there with good skid pad numbers, but you still need to make those left/right tranisions.

Anyway, sorry for the rambling, main point is this: More power makes your car faster. Less weight makes you car faster, handle better, stop shorter and get better mpg.

 

Wouldn't that 500hp also twist the frame of the LX and blow apart the transmission and differential?

The 500hp would go even further in a 2200 pound Honda Civic.

 

OK...didn't get past page 1 -- cuz I don't have the time tonite.

OK everyone -- pay attention.

No LS7. (what makes you think the LS7 is the 'end-all?')

Not an additional 500 pounds.

Also -- we haven't invited journalists to any of our product planning meetings.


Take what you read from the outside with a grain of salt (when it comes to the 5thgen)

The whole point of building a 4th gen with an LS7 is to demonstrate that the engine IS available (for a price......) and it WILL fit into a 4th gen very nicely, thank you........



(.........and it's megaFAST!)

 

The thing is that the vast majority of people who race there cars drag race them. Being able to stop and corner well ,don't help in the stoplight grand prix

I'm willing to bet that there are more people on here that drag race than auto X.

My self I could care less how a car brakes or handles. As long as it can accelerate as fast as a bat outa hell I'm as happy as a pig in s***.

No, a stock LX chassis won't twist that bad with 500hp. My saleen did'nt get frame connectors untill it was in the mid 10's.My saleen ran high 10's with the original 5 speed tranny as well. As for the rear. A friend of mine has a '93 GT that still has the untouched rear and makes over 600rwhp with no problems yet and he's been dragracing it a few years now.
A side note Popular Hot Rodding mag. put a LS1 in a LX coupe. All it had was a cam change and LT's and it went 11.2@120!!!
Weight does help but it is'nt a reason not to buy a car though.
Just my opinion.