Read it in the latest Motor Trend when it was talking about the Chevy SS.

The Chevy SS uses a HD (Heavy Duty) Sigma platform to support the 430hp 6.0 motor, and Motor Trend said in that article the SS platform will be used for the CTS with the Z06 motor.

 

I expect as much... I don't think they are going to go half-a$$ed on the V-Series cars....

 

Thats cool and all... but I wont be able to afford one for anohter 7 years or so until I graduate and get a job.

Wheres our affordable LS1 RWD car?!

 

Now Im waiting for the people who said it would only get an LS1 to start saying it will cost fifty billion dollars.

 

Well, it sure as hell isn't going to cost the $35k figure that's been thrown around. I'd say 40k minimum.

On to the question of the SS platform. I assume that Heavy duty = heavy weight. Someone mentioned the SS coming in at 4700-4900lbs in another thread. Now the current v6 CTS with the standard 5spd manual weighes in at 3,568lbs. How much do you think the Ls-6, a 6spd tranny (will it get the z06 6spd?), and this heavy duty platform will add?

 

Sounds like alot of to me. The SS concept is pieced together with alot of C4 and C5 parts....not Sigma parts.

 

I doubt there will be much difference. The CTS is already a very stiff platform... and the LS6 is a lightweight all-aluminum engine with simple pushrod valvetrain and a composite intake manifold. What's not to like?

And all this fretting about the price... it likely costs very little extra to install an LS6 vs. and LS1. The pricing will be restrained to keep the car a competitive value in the marketplace.

 

I'm guessing they'll price it somewhere around the BMW M3 - about $50K. That means overpriced!

 

What exactly do they mean by "Heavy Duty" platform?

Of all the car magazines, Motor Trend has a tendancy to be the least accurate. I can see heavier duty components like drivetrain or suspension, but unless all CTSs are getting a "Heavy Duty" structure, I wouldn't put much stock in it. On the other hand, another GM executive came out & said that the CTS would have 400hp, and I believe WERM also mentioned it as well, so Motor Trend's revelation isn't exactly earth shattering.

On the flip side, Z28's right. According to Chevrolet's own press release, the SS is a alumunum chassis car with alot of C4 & C5 suspension parts.

 

It could have been a typo.

 

Platform is not the issue with big power.

The drivetrain is the issue.

Specifically, the IRS and the transmission.

4L60E is on the bleeding edge of what the LS6 can put out, and without significant beefing up, could be a big warranty sink-hole. 4L80E's are very heavy transmissions, so don't look there. The new 6-speed automatic may do the trick.

My guess is that the T56 will get beefed up in the near future. A T56 is staying alive behind the Viper's 8.3 liter.

Now, the good news is that the Corvette and Monaro IRS's seems to survive pretty well behind an LS1/6... so there are some possibilities there.

 

I just read the article this weekend on the way to LA. That's not what it said. It said the SS concept used a custom frame built off Corvette parts. It said a "production" version of the SS may be Sigma based, however that was merely an assumption by Motor Trend.

 

That makes more sense.

 

It is funny how people can missunderstand things at times.
It went from being on a sigma platform to a C4/C5 platform then it ends up at it is sitting on a "custom" platform using C4/C5 parts.

Heck I even misread my thoughts on it being on a trailblazer frame.But that article was saying that the logical platform would be the SSR/Trailblazer platform when it comes to production "IF" it does.(GMhightech)