Z284ever

Since everyone wants to talk weight again. And an all new Mustang is coming out around '11 with better powertrains and chassis. And Ford has already announced that it's goal is to trim 200-300 lbs off of all next gen vehicles.

All things being equal (or as much as they can be), which would you buy around 2011: a 4,000 lbs Camaro or a 3,500 lbs Mustang?

FS3800

Camaro, because its a Camaro..

that said, the Camaro won't weigh 4000lbs.. why? because it's on the same platform as the G8 which weighs 4000lbs.. and since the Camaro is clearly a smaller car, it will weigh less than that

jg95z28

+1

Bob Cosby

In my best Saturday Night Live voice.....

"Pass"

Z284ever

Just some things for your consideration:

-The Camaro won't be that much smaller than a G8.
-What would the G8 weigh with 20" wheels?

- What would the G8 weigh with a supercharged/intercooled engine and drivetrain and peripherals to support it?

-What would a G8 convertible weigh?

dream '94 Z28

I put something else. Let another flame war commence.

jg95z28

Minus 2 doors it will be significantly lighter. (Those rear doors aren't carbon-fiber.)
Aluminum wheels? No more than 5-lbs per wheel.

Your talking about a top dog G8 now? About 100 lbs more. As for the top dog Camaro? It could have a lightweight hood to offset the difference.

The convertible is a different story. A convertible Camaro could very easily reach G8 territory.

JakeRobb

Just a thought --

People who are this picky about handling don't usually pick the convertible model.

Z284ever

How do you figure that? And why does a ZR1 weigh more than a Z06 then?

Capn Pete

Charlie, you need to stop worrying about the weight!

Nissan already proved that weight doesn't matter anymore ..... it's all about the voo-doo magic under the hood! If their ~3800 lb car can beat our ~3100 lb car, with ~25 less HP, then what's the concern with weight?! We need a fancy turbo like they've got!!

Z284ever

Has that been decided conclusively? I thought there was a big debate still.

Ehh, whatever. I'd still rather have our 3,100 lbs car over their 3,800 lbs car.

JakeRobb

I think the Z06 already has the lightweight hood.

BigDarknFast

This poll is a circus of unknowns and unrealistic estimates... but I went ahead and voted just for the heck of it. (Guess what I voted for )

3500 lb Mustang? Come ON. Not in its price bracket. Extensive aluminum and CF parts... tiny (TEENY tiny) rear legroom... yet another archaic iron fixed rear axle... and draconian limits on creature comforts... ok maybe then the new Mustang will be 3500

Wait! The rumored TTV6, with all its plumbing, pipes and cooling gadgets but two cylinders lopped off that evil V8, will enable this new welterweight! Not!

BigDarknFast

Indeed. People often forget, a 'wheel' includes both a 'rim' and a 'tire'. Make the rim bigger, the tire part gets lighter. So increasing the rim does not automatically have a dramatic effect on the WHEEL weight. What DOES have a big effect - is design and materials optimization, something the carmakers can afford to invest heavily in. Thus, the new Vette has some pretty amazing rims but with minimal handling and curb weight impact. Heck even my low-dollar GP GXP has some very lightweight forged aluminum 18's, straight from the factory.

teal98

All good points that people should consider. The base G8 GT weighs 3995 pounds, according to Pontiac. Yet the versions tested were all around 4100 pounds. What's the difference? Sport package (19" wheels for one, I don't recall what else, but it's common for a sport package to add some pounds), moonroof (the one in the CTS adds 100 pounds all by itself, but the G8 moonroof is smaller), luxury package (power seats, other extra stuff).

Unless other lightening was done, I'd expect a supercharged G8 with 20" wheels, nav, and all the other luxury stuff, plus strategic reinforcements so that GM doesn't have huge warranty claims, to weigh around 4300 pounds.

At best, a Camaro would come in 200 pounds under a G8, I think, unless the G8 is overdesigned or underengineered. Now, it was built for Australian roads, so it may be beefier than necessary for a sports car (maybe overdesigned), but I doubt there was much opportunity for easy weight loss at its design point (not underengineered).

I believe I read somewhere that the target for V8 Camaro was 3600 pounds (but that's from memory and you know how that goes), but that does seem a very aggressive target to me, given what it's based on. Aggressive targets are good. They're also nearly impossible to meet, given time and cost constraints.