I have had the good fortune to meet Scott and sit and chat with him for a few hours recently. Jason, you are absolutely 100% correct. There are not many like him within GM, and I deal with a lot of those folks all the time(professionally).

It is hard for people, sometimes to understand that he has to protect the interests of GM, which is no small feat these days. His candor and open communication with the Camaro community is something which we should appreciate.

I'll shut up now and watch from the corner.

 

i read some of the posts not all of them and i got to say its kinda funny to see how some of you guys get worked up.

id rather see a slightly higher horsepower engine then the ss and some weight reduction. maybe for a z28 they could use composite doors, fender,trunk lid, and hood and lose the independent suspension and go for a strait axle. maybe they could lose some weight in other places that im unaware of as well. yah it might cost more like 45-50k but i mean whats sounds better a 450hp car thats light weight maybe 34-3500 after a diet if possible or a 550 car that weighs 41-4200 pounds.

and i know the strait axle may seem like a step back for some but to others it probably not. i mean lets face it most people who would buy a 550 hp gas guzzling car are going to enthusiasts and racers. im sure most drag racers would rather have a strait axle.

 

That's cool - I don't mean any disrespect. I'll just say that my experience with 'specialized' engine programs and dealership parts markup are very different from what Scott described...and leave it at that.

Who knows, maybe GM has actually mismanaged their business so much that it actually costs them several times what a hand-built Viper engine or GT engine does. I don't know how you'd pull that off, but more power to them.

And to clarify, I'm a huge fan of the LS7 engine.

 

My head hurts

 

Is the "Gas Guzzler" threshold changing? Right now it's 22.5 MPG.

So I'm not so sure if it's as simple as selling X many Aveos for every one Camaro and then all is good. Imagine for a moment if the threshold does go up - which I'm pretty sure it will. Not only would Camaro be eating up all of those Aveo and Cobalt CAFE mpg credits, (Volt's contribution won't be significant for years), it would also be slapped with a "Gas Guzzler" tax.
Do you think Camaro's traditional audience is willing to pay - oh, say an extra 1000 bucks in tax? Would GM be willing or even capable of absorbing that? I'd think no on both counts.

Like I said, the further down the road we get, the tougher the picture gets for this car.

 

+1

im sure almost any car GM makes, they will need it on the positive side of the MPG scale to offset the trucks.

 

...I may be a long-time lurker and first-time poster, but I've learned a thing or two in the year-plus I've been reading this forum. And one of those things is this: if Scott says it, you can damn sure bet your *** it's legit. And for that I say "Bravo, Scott, BRAVO."

 

I'll just point out on page 10 that GM has announced a 550HP LSA-based Cadillac CTS-V Coupe.

Given that, if I was Bob Lutz, I wouldn't say a word about a possible cheaper Chevy version with the same engine.

 

Scott also said "big honkin V8" but all that was offered is the same ol small block.

Scott also said "forget everything you thought you knew about engines" when the v8 was being discussed/speculated about and in the end it was exactly what everyone already thought with a small variation (L99) being the only difference.

 

i too was a lil disapointed and when pressed about the weight of the vehicle all we got was "keep the faith"

i agree with you on the "Big Honkin V8" part.I was expecting a larger engine (maybe a poor mans LS7 with an iron block and less exotic internals) to possibly take the place of my galaxie, torque is king when you need to push weight of some of these cars! but i guess a small block can still make decent power if you wind it out enough.

 

At what part of the Camaro's developement were these quotes made? Keep in mind that budgets get changed during the developement of a vehicle. Not to mention Gas jumping up in price. This car has been in the works for over 3 years. Look what all has changed since then. Stricter CAFE standards, Higher Gas Prices, an economy that has seen better days. How narrow minded would GM be to stick with a "big honking V8" if that was thier initial plan given those unforseen changes? Sometimes consessions have to be made to fit a changing market from what was originally planned.

 

And another thing...

Keep in mind that the information any one person can give is only as accurate in the end as the corporation allows it to be. What I mean is this: when Scott said "big honkin' V8" (I'm still waiting on a thread-link, by the way) I'm sure that was the plan at the time. What GM does or does not allow to actually make it to production really doesn't have any bearing on the accuracy of the information at the time Scott gives it to us. I repeat: if he says it, you can bet your *** it's legit (at least at the time that he says it).

 

As mentioned above, things can change and can and probably will continue to change. This is true especially in the automotive industry. Anyone who knows anything about the business should already be well aware of this.

Drastic sweeping changes to the economy impacted everything. Again, you all are aware of this because it impacts each and everyone one of us. The automotive industry is not immune to this and was hit pretty hard on a global level and changes had to be made, which directly correlates to the subject of this very thread.

Considering that fact, what Scott says can be considered accurate at the time it is said. This is how anything works with anyone, really. If the facts change like they do, that doesn't make him wrong so there so need to pick apart his every word and then try to call him on it later as he has no reason to lie to anyone, especially us here.

Funny story about his role and misunderstandings...

He actually got direct hate mail for "canceling" the Camaro. I find that funny because people think he made the decision and he is GM. On the contrary, he helped keep it alive for a LOT longer than it was supposed to be. He also helped make the 35th Anniversary package happen with little to no budget...years after the car was supposed to be done. And people blame him.

I was with him the day the car was canceled (blog entry here) and believe me, he was far from happy about the decision that he fought against for longer than anyone else would.

 

I think we are all lucky to have someone like Scott feeding us the information that he has been throughout the whole development of the Camaro. I've pm'ed Scott in the past with questions, and he has been nothing but nice and very easy to talk to. Lets not bite the hand that feeds us by picking apart stuff he says. Scott deserves the utmost respect and I personally feel like there have been times in the past where he may have put his *** on the line to give up that little bit of information so that we would all keep the faith.

 

In light of Congress proposing to bailout the automotive industry, and planning to do so before the elections this November; perhaps a supercharged V8 will be back on the table.