Exactly as I see it.

If someone wants a large coupe, pressing on or beyond two tons, nothing wrong with that. The issue I have with that though, is wanting that car to be a Camaro, and disposing of the ponycar formula. What I think of as a "ponycar", is a tidy, sporty, fun-to-drive, stylish car ------- which can accept a V8. IOW, to me anyways, a ponycar should be appealing and fun even without a V8. And an absolute blast with one.

 

In a world of $5-6 gas (2012?) I think a 4 cyl. Turbo Diesel Camaro would sell well as long as
a) Torque is in the 300ft-lbs. range
b) hwy mileage is 35mpg+.

Tuners would like it because you could up the boost when you want power, turn it down when you want economy.

 

Honestly? Diesels make hybrids look completely ridiculous. They get so much better mileage and only cost a fraction of the price.

VW has a diesel Polo in Europe (which may be coming here), which gets 70 mpg and costs $20,000.

Back to Camaro.....

An I4 turbo diesel would easily get the mpg which you mention. In fact, if a 3,500 lbs Camaro were to get the CTS's upcoming, 2.9L turbo diesel V6, I'd bet THAT one would get better than 35 mpg. And do the quarter in high 13's.

 

I'd be all over that Camaro. I can't wait to see what the 2.9L CTS can do.

 

Thanks for the complement - yes, I do maintain my cars as well as I can.
But to be brutally honest - the guy was specifically looking for a 4-banger for his wife to use as a low-cost daily commuter. They both love the size, feel, and ergonomics of their 5.0 coupe, and the wife apparently has her heart set on the same in a 4-cyl. Has less to do with how well-kept my car is as opposed to the driveline it has in it.

This is not the first time - as I mentioned in the prior post.

I truely feel that people are looking for economical rides that are still fun to drive.

 

You are correct.
I was simply amazed at the performance achieved from diesels during my stints in Europe (all over Europe too FTM).

If we were to see performance oriented diesels here in the states, I can imagine the thrust of adrenaline turbo makers would put into the market, then add methane injections, chip tuners... it could very well be the case that a diesel 4 could smack some serious V8 gas burners on the street while flaunting 30+ mpg.

 

To a couple of the naysayers or those who found major fault with my proposed lineup; I challenge you to present a lineup for all of us to scrutinize.

I'm an open-minded guy - I can be taught something new or fess-up to missing a good approach.

But heck... it's always easy to pick apart someone else's ideas.
So let's hear what you guys think will keep Camaro alive into 2015.

Also, I'd love to hear Scott's take on some of these discussions. I hate he has not browsed through this one yet.

 

Couldn't agree more Charlie, although I personally would like to see a smaller (say 4.0L?) turbo diesel V8 developed for the Camaro.

 

I already did.

My proposed lineup is as follows:

A base model, fuel-efficient V6.
A performance-oriented, direct-injection V6.
A 400+ HP V8.

The performance V6 takes the place of a base-model V8.

 

What is your proposed mileage for each?

 

For the fuel-efficient V6, 35 MPG.
For the performance V6, between 26-30 MPG.
For the V8, 25 MPG should be doable.

I can forsee the fuel-efficient V6 selling a lot of cars, and lower quantities of the performance V6 and the V8 cars being sold. The higher numbers of the base model sales should offset the mileage numbers of the other cars. The entire Camaro lineup combined may not hit 35 MPG, but the rest of GM's lineup should cover the relatively small amount of performance V6 and V8 cars sold.

 

For the 6th gen Camaro that's going to come out somewhere between 2013 (at the earliest) to 2015 (assumed 5 years to production if design begun next year) those numbers won't be good enough imho.

Furthermore, Camaro will never be "fuel-efficient" like an economy subcompact, but propably need to be more efficient that what you're suggesting to survive.

Assuming they go smaller and lighter as some around here would like I can forsee the following for 2015:

base: 1.8L turbo diesel 4cyl - 38-40 mpg
sport: 3.5L E85 V6 - 33-37 mpg
hi-end: 4.0L turbo diesel V8 - 30-35 mpg

 

The new CAFE law says that manufacturers have until 2020 to get their average up to 35 MPG. It seems like everyone is forgetting that CAFE takes into account EVERY model a manufacturer makes. How many 35+ MPG Aveos, Cobalts, small Alpha cars, etc. or their successors will GM be making to counteract a few V8 sports cars?

I don't agree with changing the Camaro over to a mainly diesel engine lineup. It doesn't connect with the Camaro's heritage. Maybe one diesel option should be allowed, and even then, I'm not sure how many people would buy it.

 

Then Camaro should be killed off after the 5th gen. By 2020 most manufacturers had better be well on their way to offering alternatives to the gasoline ICE, otherwise they'll be DOA.

 

Diesel is still made from oil, so you're just trading one problem for another. Because of diesel's better fuel economy, it'll be a slightly slower drain on oil resources, but it still doesn't fix the problem.