I honestly don't believe that a V8 should be in the whole Fuel Economy discussion.

Even though I don't like the current Camaro, if you want an economical one, then the V6 is available. It is as always, going to be the bread and butter sales.

Now two different V8s should be one for fast, and one that's faster.

Other than that, who buys a performance car for fuel economy? Kind of a catch 22 in the performance arena.

It's why most of us have a DD, 97 Legacy here.

Even when Fuel Economy talk is thrown into the ring, I think it should be something along the lines of the 4th Gens 6th gear. For performance, it's a useless gear, but it works for a round about 28mpg if you can keep your foot out of it. I'm sure weight and aerodynamics help with that quite a bit though

 

I was more thinking from the perspective of 35.5 MPG CAFE. Maybe the marketing appeal of a V8 Camaro is too great to simply reserve it for the most rabid 10% of enthisiasts - (although those 10% still need addressing if Camaro wants to remain competitive).

If a 6th gen Camaro is to sell a volume V8, it'll probably need to knock down fantastic fuel economy numbers, like 30 mpg or over. It'll be interesting to see what combo of things GM might use here. Smaller, lighter Camaro, GDI, VVT, efficient transmissions, etc. It'll probably also require lots of base Camaros with Ecotecs (turbo or not?). That's probably not a bad thing either.

 

I understand the CAFE regulations, but it's overall manufacturer, not EVERY car.

So, sure if you wanna play plug X engine into base "V6" car to see if it'll get 35.5 mpg then fine, but I still say leave the V8 pushrods alone until they need to be looked into further(performance wise).

So, when you say lighter Camaro or more efficient transmissions I'm all aboard. Maybe even offer a V6/Turbo 4 Option in the base models. I don't think the SS or Z28 need to knock down 30mpg unless it's just light or efficient tranny's though.

 

Well - It's ultimately going to depend on which direction Chevy takes the C7 Corvette. Because generally the Corvette is Chevy's & GM's flagship, and where the Corvette goes the Camaro will likely follow.

Personally I think replacing the V8 engine, with a Turbo V6 as the top option for the Camaro is just stupid. For one thing the Turbo V6 isn't going to improve the Camaro's fuel economy over a V8. Plus traditional Camaro buyers expect for a V8 to be at least an option for the Camaro.

So to improve the fuel economy of the V8 Camaro - the best answer is go with a smaller displacement engine. Then the question becomes how to get more power out of smaller engine without forced induction. The basic answer is - DOHC, multi valves per cylinder.

I agree that these engines are generally heavier & cost more than a pushrod V8 of similar displacement. Still right now it's the easiest way to get about 80-88 hp per liter. Although with some fine tuning it may be possible for the LS-series V8 to get better than 75 hp per liter.

Realistically I wouldn't be surprised if the base C7 Corvette had a V8 with a displacement of only 5.4-5.7L. If that's the case - you could expect that engine may be the top engine in the Camaro.

 

You're assuming that smaller displacement DOHC engines get better fuel mileage than an advanced OHV, but I don't see that on the market currently. Both Chrysler and GM make their large displacement OHVs about as efficient as smaller DOHC V8s.

Maybe someday the more precise valve control possible with a DOHC will make it a requirement for the domestic V8s, but I don't see that we're there yet.