terps

It's all semantics. Guy's who need the word "muscle" associated with their car are driving the Camaro for the wrong reasons!!

Geoff Chadwick

A base 260hp Turbo DI I4 is still NOTHING to sneeze at. My 240hp GTP is plenty fast enough to be driving at unreasonable speeds for any US highway in 10 seconds. The LT1 fbody was 275hp and plenty fast. The LS1 was worse. The LS2? The LS3???

We're talking about a *base* engine that is going to be nearly as fast as an LT1 fbody, and people are up in arms. My Ex drove my LT1 when it was stock and refused to drive it again because it was 'just too fast'. A lot of people felt that way about the 4th gen.

The 260HP I4 Turbo would also take to mods *much* better than a regular V6 would. A 6spd manual with the DI turbo would make a good combo for power, gearing, and mpg. With mods you could easily get a 325+hp car that would handle amazingly well and still get rocking good mpg.

As one who wants a performance model of the Camaro - the Turbo I4 is a great option. It would be stupid cheap and give modders a *world* of things to do.

As one who would like to see GM knock out a 5th gen that laughs at CAFE, the Turbo I4 is a great option - it could get pretty awesome mpg with a 6spd.

As one who likes room in the engine bay to work on the car - the Turbo I4 is a great option, and spark plug changes of LT1 days would be long gone.

As a car that will steal sales from the import crowd that love turbochargers - the Turbo I4 is a great option. (and then tease them with a V8 model to "move up to" when they get older and more mature)

The 5th gen cant be just a pony car. It cant be just a muscle car. It has to be those things. Plus an icon for GM. Plus an import sales-stealer. Plus a sign that GM wants fuel economy and to be green. Plus it has to handle. It has to ride comfortably. It has to be fast in a straight line. It has to be economical. It has to be well built. It has to be reliable with a 100k warranty.

So marketing it as "A muscle car" is flawed - its much more than that.

The image that the new Camaro could give GM could have more positive impact than the C6 Corvette program could ever hope to achieve. Messiah? Yes. Yes indeed.

BigBlueCruiser

It's a DOHC 4V not SOHC. 400+ will be relatively easy.

And the word from the gurus on the enemy's websites is that that is the MY2011 GT engine.

Eric77TA

I think that there's a little wishful thinking going on over at the enemy web site. Just don't see Ford doing a 400 horse base GT. Especially with fuel ecomony as big a concern over there as it is at GM. Everything I've seen on the blogs and car magazines indicates a 325-350 horsepower 5.0.

TrickStang37

i agree. its wishfull thinking nearly along the lines of the LS3 being the base V8.

5thgen69camaro

Yeah GM would never put a vette LS1 in as the base V8 in the Camaro. I mean LS3

TrickStang37

if they charge a premium for the G8, It would make sense to do the same on a different car with the same platform. what other car is there where a manufacturer makes a premium engine in one car, then turn around and make it a base engine in another while substantially cheaper?

Eric77TA

While I don't disagree that it's possible that the LS3 won't be the base V8, could be reserved for the "Top Dog" whether that's Z28 or SS, the G8 is kind of an unusual circumstance.

First, the G8 isn't expected to deliver volume numbers. It's a niche vehicle. And within that niche, the V6 will make up most of the volume.

Second, the G8, though it shares a platform with Camaro, is slightly up-market from Camaro and more than likely has a higher level of standard equipment on the GT than whatever the base performance Camaro ends up being.

Third, Camaro will be built in Canada, which offers a price advantage over importing from Australia as the G8 is.

G8 GT base price is $29,995. I don't expect whatever the entry V8 Camaro is to be "substantially" cheaper than that.

Nobody is saying that the LS3 will be the base engine in Camaro period, they're speculating it will be the available v8. Camaro will have the same base engine as the G8 - the 3.6 HF V6.

jg95z28

I still say there won't be a "base" V8... although there will be at least two.

Eric77TA

I am not saying that there will be a base Camaro (non Z28 or SS) with a V8. I'm saying that there will be:

Camaro (3.6 only available engine)

Camaro SS SS (L76?) this would be the "base" V8 in that the sense that it would be the entry level V8 - the cheapest available V8 Camaro. The "Base" V8 vs. the upgraded V8 the Z28 would offer.

Camaro Z28 (LS3?)

BigBlueCruiser

So Ford is going to battle the base 380-400hp 6.0 V8 Camaro, what you call a Camaro SS in your little list, with a Mustang GT making 325-350hp. And the DI DOHC 5.0 will manage to crank out 25-50 hp more than the current SOHC 4.6.


interesting.

jg95z28

I am saying the L76 will not go into the Camaro and the SS will get the LS3. The Z28 will get something special.

Eric77TA

L76 is 360 horsepower.

Ford battled the base 275 horsepower Z28 with a 225 horsepower GT and the 305 horsepower Z28 with a 260 horsepower GT.

Ford has tended to be conservative with their entry V8s once they got into the OHC era. I expect the 2010 GT to be around 350 or 360 horses. So it will be on par with an entry V8 Camaro. No, I do not expect a 400 horse Mustang as the lowest level V8 offering.

Eric77TA

I don't think so. I don't think we'll see a V8 not trimmed SS or Z28.

jg95z28

I agree 100%. What I meant was that the SS will get the LS3, or more correctly, the same engine as the base Corvette.