Z284ever

Just a word or two on 4 cylinders and the next Camaro. Get ready, 'cause it's gonna happen. And for alot of reasons.

As Z28x mentioned, there are lots of potential buyers which want a sporty, good looking car, but also want fantastic MPG. Camaro needs to get beyond the 40-55 year old male, V8 starved demographic, if it's going to thrive.

Beyond that, we'll have that little thing called CAFE to contend with. Believe it or not, that's going to be serious bit of business to address.

And we all know how much GM likes to follow Mustang's movements (rather than take the lead). Mustang will most probably have a 4 cylinder again down the road.

It'll be interesting to see what happens with the Buick Regal. Buick has made a concious decision to go 4 cyl only with it. Base 4, midlevel turbo 4 and high perf turbo 4 (upcoming Regal GS).

I think that the consumer at large will show little or no resistance to a base 4 cylinder Camaro or Mustang, afew guys on the internet notwithstanding.

Sixer-Bird

I have no problem with a 200hp+ four as a base engine. A TTV6 offereing the right balance of power/mpg/price would be hard to pass up over a premium priced V8 with more performance. I would imagine for most, the choice would come down to how big of a performance gap there is between the two.

Any chance a dual clutch gearbox is in the mix for the 6th gen?

falchulk

As long as it looks good, sounds good, takes corners well and puts me back in the seat, I dont care whats under the hood. I want whatever they have to put there to keep this segment alive. Its about the experiance that the pony car brings, not the engine technology.

Z284ever

One more thing on 4 bangers....

I don't know what the final engine line up will be on the 6th gen, but one previous proposal had an all I4/V8 engine line up.

Chewbacca

I could easily see such an approach giving us four models rather economically (from GM's POV)...

NA I4 - base model with 200hp
FI I4 - RS (or equivalent model) with 280 - 300hp
6.2 V8 - SS with 450hp
HO 6.2 - Z28 with 475hp (think of the upcoming Boss vs the standard GT)

jg95z28

I believe a TT version of the current 3.6L DI V6 will be nearer to 400hp than 375hp. When you consider a smaller, lighter and more nimble 6th gen Camaro; you have to ask yourself, is a V8 even necessary?

I for one still believe it is. However I'd rather see a smaller displacement twin turbo Gen V DI V8 in the limited top dog Camaro.

My line-up?

LS - Turbo Ecotec (~275hp)
LT - 3.6L DI V6 (312hp)
SS - 3.6L DI TT V6 (~400hp)
Z28 - 5.0L DI TT V8 (~500hp)

The Camaro, after all, is a sporty coupe. Therefore a N/A I4 would be a disservice. Equate it to Hyundai offering a turbo 4 and a N/A V6 in the Genesis Coupe. Furthermore, by not offering a N/A V8, we solve the problem of the TT V6 Camaro being more expensive to produce than the V8 version.

Plague

I so want this TTV6 in a Buick Regal though. It would be my next car.

Plague

I am not thinking that a TTV6 weighs less than a V8. Am I wrong about this?

Sax1031

Not sure on the weights of the motors but the V6 being used by GM now in the Camaro is a DOHC motor. So compared to a pushrod motor it will have some added weight.

Z28x

The 4th gen Camaro had a 160HP engine and was then bumped up to a 200HP, the Mustang has had a 200hp V6 forever. 200HP and 35mpg in a lighter 3300lbs car would sell IMHO. Going to a 4cyl. would also shave about $1500 off the base price too. (see 2010 Equinox).

Slappy3243

When the 4th gens were around, the Mustang did not have a 200 HP V6. The 4th gens led the Mustang in both HP for the V6 and the V8 engines for the entire time the 4th gens were being produced if I remember correctly.

Z28Wilson

It would be interesting to see if a return to 1993 levels of performance in a base sports coupe would be forgiven (and even desired) to get the MPG tradeoff.

Z284ever

Personally, I think that would make a pretty great line up. It would be, as you said, economical for GM to deliver - and in the end cover a very broad spectrum of the market, while protecting Camaro from CAFE.

The base car would give people looking for something stylish and economical a realistic and compelling choice. When I met my wife, she was driving a 3rd gen Firebird. She bought it because she was just looking for a stylish, sporty car in a certain price range. She had no idea regarding what kind of engine it had or any of it's mechanicals. There were tens of thousands of buyers like her every year. Nothing wrong with selling them a car.

The turbo 4 version would service the lower end performance niche. Think of it as the same people who bought SRT-4's and Cobalt SS's. Especially since GM has no firm plans to cater to that market with anything else. Plus, it could bring some fresh new blood into the brand.

The SS could target the traditional buyer. The "gotta have a V8" crowd, but not the ones who want to pay and live with the whole performance thing.

And the Z/28, THAT would be for the rest of us.

falchulk

Funny, 10 years ago I think it was an article in car and driver that said 200hp is great and 300hp is fantastic. If that was the case then why not now? Other then the fact that weight is so much higher today? If the weight were lower...maybe 3200lbs-3300lbs, 200hp in a non truck like motor would still be great. Especially if it had the option to be geared better from the factory. The same car could provide great economy and with a gear change feel very sporty. It might not win drag races but thats what its intent would be.

And it would not be returning to the performance levels of 10 years ago. It would be returning to sensible power levels. Not to mention that we could have pony car corner carvers like we never dreamed of then.

jg95z28

By the time the 6th gen arrives (2014?) we will be over 20 years removed from the 160hp 4th gen Camaro. Its called "progress."

Weight has nothing to due with it. A V6 (even a twin-turbo) can be tuned to be more CAFE friendly than a V8.