OK, after seeing the RPO codes for some of the new engines, and seeing the article about the new C6 coming with 425hp stock and a 500hp Z06 version to follow, it got me thinking.

If we were to get an F5, could it now be in the 350-400hp range without treading into the lighter C6's territory? If the new Mustang is getting at least 300hp, wouldn't those figures make sense? Or would that be too much power in GM's/general publics eyes?

What do you guys think? Just throwing a thought out there.

 

The Mustang will be getting 300hp from it's BASE V8 . The 400hp genie is already out of the bottle.

The next Camaro will have to have a ~ 400hp 6.0.

 

Knowing the next gen motor specs makes this all very interesting. We now have a broad hp range in which the Camaro could be acceptably placed.

Heres a catch though...

I dont think the next camaro should be 400hp or anywhere close to that amount of power. If it was, the insurance could be crazy and no one young would be able to afford it. I'd much rather have a mass produced LS1 Camaro making 350hp, which is 50hp more than the base Mustang at a much cheaper cost than a more expensive 400hp model. Maybe 375hp max, but I dont think 400hp is necessary.

We have to remember hp doesnt sell cars. If that was teh case the new Nissan 350Z wouldnt be selling that well neither would there be a case for the RX8. Hell, just look at the current Mustang GT. 260hp is plenty enough to be selling +100k units a year.

~350hp will put the Camaro ahead of the competiton acceleration wise and keep the cost down. What we really need is a all around well packaged car. It needs to handle and be built just as well as it accelerates if GM really wants to push units.

 

bigsteve7, a couple of things. A 350 hp smallblock, wouldn't necessarily be "much cheaper cost" than a 400 hp smallblock.

If Mustang outpowers Camaro by 50-75 horsepower, I think that would be a bad thing.

I don't think it's right to artificially bring down Camaro's performance, just so every 18 year old with a part time job can afford it's insurance.

And, I think Chevy may be considering other performance options for entry level Camaro buyers.

 

Steve, good points but you're forgetting the whole Chevy/camaro vs Ford/mustang thing. It's about bragging rights as well. That and GM has spoiled you guys with Hi-po engine options that usually outpowered most of the late-model mustangs. The Cobra will have atleast 400hp and the top Camaro having anything less probably wouldn't sit with the enthusiast or most of the guys onteh camaro camp as well. I'd say match or beat it and that seems to be the general consensus of most everyone here.

I don't want to get into which is the true top dog, so i'll just go by what they were in the 4th gen lineup.

Base- 250-260hp 3.Xv6
RS- 300hp v8
z28- 350hp v8
SS- 400hp v8

Looks like the upcomig Mustang lineup don't it? There's a rumored 250hp v6, a 300hp GT, a 350hp Mach 1 or similar, and a 400+hp Cobra. I think that looks like a good formula. Variety is where it's at.

 

I was assuming the keeping the LS1 in the Camaro would be cheaper than the new LS2... Unless they use the LS6 to make 400hp...

 

PS

Nice Type LT!

 

I say screw the young kids! I couldn't afford the insurance on a Z/28 when I was younger... that's why I waited until my 30th birthday to buy one.

I want as much horsepower as they're willing to give us. 400-450+ from the factory is fine by me.

 

Here we go with the "horsepower/insurence costs" myth and the urban legend that "high performance cars are marketed to youth, and you need to dumb them down for them" once again.

When I bought my Thunderbird SC, it's insurence was lower, even though it had a higher top speed and was less than half a second as quick as the 5.0 Mustang. My 1997 Z28 has insurence rates slightly lower than the same year Mustang GT, and much lower than an Integra. Insurence is based on claims. More inexperienced buyers equals more claims. The Thunderbird and the Camaro had a higher average buyer age, which equaled more experienced, which equaled lower insurence. All sports cars have a surcharge, but the fastest cars don't have the highest rates. See: Corvette.

Top V8 model sports cars are not aimed at youth, were never aimed at youth, and likely never will be aime at youth. Z28 buyers are older than regular Camaro buyers, regular Mustang buyers are younger than Mustang GT buyers, and both the Cobra & Camaro SS buyer's average age in over 40 !!

You can strap a General Electric GE90 jet engine to the roof, and make it a regular production option, and it won't affect demographics or insurence rates as long as it stays in it's same traditional price range, and doesn't have an increase in claims.

Horsepower does sell cars. You fell for the old horsepower didn't save Camaro line that some dummies planted here a couple of years ago, without considering that GM made the decision to kill Camaro years ago, invested nothing in keeping it's design fresh or in marketing, and the fact that the coupe market took a dive in the late 90s (and the F-body was still the 2nd best selling car in it's class!

Every single performance car on the road today has more horsepower than it did 6 years ago, and all are due for even more over the next few years.

 

If the next Camaro Z28/SS gets the 400HP LS2 then that will leave a huge gap between it and the 200-230HP base V6. I think a 300HP will be needed, it will be hard for a lot of people under 25 to insure a brand new 400HP Camaro. The 5.3L LS4 should do nicely.

 

Well, guess my ideas were shot down. LOL.

Anways, just a question... what other cars were considered to be in teh same class? The S2000? RSX? Celica? None of those offered the same power and RWD in the late 90s as the American offerings.

 

Still, there were some people who claimed that LS1 F-bodies had too much power for their tastes. My question is, if an LS1 F-body was rated at 305 HP (310 in 2001-2002) and the next gen Mustang GT comes with 300, will all these same people be saying that Mustang GT is "too much car"? Ironically I don't think that will be the case.

 

If a 400+hp LS2 F-body is too much power for them, they can always buy a 6 banger.

 

I think the base Camaro can snag the people who think that the top-end car has "too much" power.

I also think that without a doubt if the top of the line Camaro approaches Cobra price territory (like some loaded 02 SS's do), it better be pretty competitive. If it has less horsepower for the same price, it better be in a lighter, better designed package or it's in trouble.

 

Just make models comparable to the Mustang and give them 10 hp more across the board. I think my line up would look like

V6, Z28, SS and then make a package that would be the equivilant to the current SS, but call it the RS. Bring back the old Z28/RS and SS/RS combo packages. No extra hp, just some appearance stuff and maybe some suspension stuff.