WJH'sFormula

On my way back from lunch today, I happened to gaze upon a peculiar site. At an intersecting road, there was an Aveo sitting at the front of the intersection. To the far side of the Aveo, there was a vehicle's roof barely poking above the Aveo's.

As traffic sped up, the mystery vehicle revealed itself: A first gen GRAND CHEROKEE!?!?!

So, let me get this straight........

In 2005, a sardine can of a sub-compact rivals a MID-SIZED SUV from 1995(ish) in height....!!!

So, I get back to work and pull the #'s. 2005 Aveo sedan: 58.8 inches. 1997 Grand Cherokee (2wd): 64.4. The difference is so miniscule that the coffee mug here on my desk nearly makes up the difference.

So, what the hell does this mindless rhetoric have to do with a Camaro you ask?

WELL........................

I've sat back and watched the majority of people here bicker and bitch about 2 inches in length here, 1.3 inches in the wheelbase, etc... WHAAA, it's not a Camaro if it's longer than 187.383672694783"......WHAAAA.....It MUST have a 107"+ wheelbase.....

I'd say that mostest biggedest imporantest thing we should be concerned with is HEIGHT! Let's put that energy into making sure our 5th gen isn't eye to eye with a damned Tahoe! or Aveo for that matter!

I'm not advocating another rolling hotel bed, but let's get real here....the key to a sleek, sporty pony car is it's height, not it's length. Hell, look at a 4th gen in context on today's highways and byways. The reason it looks so small is because it's suffering from a severe case of midget-itis.......

Now, lets see if that dead horse will grind into dust......

cmc

I can't stand tall cars. Why d'you think I got a Prelude for a daily driver?

It really really ruins proportions to have such an enormously tall roofline.

SNEAKY NEIL

Height definatly is very important. That is one of the biggest gripes I have with the Mustang. It has proportions of a sedan and the height is the main contributing factor for this.

centric

Park a 3rd gen next to a 4th. Let's hope that trend doesn't continue in the 5th.

25thTA

I'm all over the height thing too. In fact, that's one of the things I noticed about the new Mustang. It's just too tall. Standing behind it, the decklid was well above waist height.

I park my two Trans Ams next to one another in the garage. The Firehawk is a bit lower than my 94. Since the Hawk is my daily driver, getting into the 94 seems like I'm in a truck.

So, I agree - the next Camaro needs to be low but I fear that went out of style with hide away headlights.

WERM

For some reason car companies think that people that don't buy SUVs really want their cars to be more like SUV's. That's why they are all taller, have more ground clearance, and "command seating."

I dunno. I guess I kinda miss that "*** dragging on the pavement" feeling.

90rocz

Headroom is important too, I've sat in an NSX, and I DON'T want to have to lean my seat way back to clear the headliner in my 5th gen either...as someone said before, this is the New Millenium, we need to keep with the times.

unvc92camarors

Same.

NewbieWar

well to be honest, my sedan (hyundai elantra) has less headroom then my Firebird. and I hate it for that, I hate in my camry, my head is against the ceiling. I love the fact in my work truck Ram 3500, that the ceiling is still 9 inches above my head. Hell when I'm in my elantra, my elantra has gel from my hair on the ceiling, and my hair is always fraid at some points... it sucks...

On the same tall topic, I'm not that tall, 6 foot, its pretty average I think.
but hell, the way I like to drive, I have to lean to the side to get my sun visor down. same with my camry... the firebird, yea it does that too but I leave it all the way forward because the slope of the window it doesnt get in my way.

SSCamaro99_3

I would like to see the car be low. However, I think all the ninnies will prevail, and we will get "command seating". One of the gripes people had with the 4th gen was impracticality directly linked to the low seating position. If I want to sit up high and go fast, I will mod my Regal.

Big Als Z

Three letters...
GTO.
That is the seating I want. Its low feeling, but its not 4th gen butt dragging.

AronZ28

I hate the tall cars. I've rode in an Avalon, and I have to have the seat all the way down. Even with the seat all the way down, it still feels like I'm riding on the car, not in the car.

I love the low seating position. I think the public would buy a low seating position, because its part of the sports car experience. I think what turned a lot of people off from the Camaro wasn't the low seat position. My 80 year old grandma with two bad knees and a cain says my car is easy to get in and out of. I think the poor visibility combined with the big dimensions turned a lot of people off. I find my Camaro harder to parallel park or get into a spot than my friend's Cadillac Brougham.

Big Als Z

Yeah, id say thats the probelm. I have sat in Celicas and Eclipses, and they have low seat hight, but the car's dimensions are short.

2000GTP

Other peoples tall cars=me being blinded by their headlights through my mirrors.

Ken S

a 3rd gen is one inch taller than the 4th.. and I bet thats from them softening and giving more suspension travel to make it feel nicer than the 3rds.

also, these new a piller to head space restriction, side/head airbags, etc make future cars designs a little upright... you can't have that swooping a piller inches from your head anymore.

Shortened overhangs, low cowls will help with visibility..

Why not shift the engine back behind driver? Then the tallest portion up front under the hood would be the shock towers and front suspension.. Rear visibility might suffer, but thats why we have mirrors, camera's, and lcd screens..

Too bad no car manufacturer won't build a resonably price rear-mid engine sports car anymore.. (with some real power to weight ratio)