which would cost more to reengineer kappa or sigma?

 

OK, but isn't the Camaro going on Sigma-lite not Zeta V-car or not. This has been my understanding. Camaro had nothing to do with zeta or the V-cars.

 

Hmm............this feels...............strange.........

Have the stars aligned?


-Mike

 

I can tell you this....Kappa would be virtually impossible.

Last year when Holden revealed their Torana concept I was very,very excited. I felt that this would be the absolute PERFECT platform for a modern Camaro in every way that I could imagine. The right size, the right weight, rigid and light lower dominant structure, world class suspension, potential for economies of scale through model proliferation. Holy crap!!!

I dug deeply to find knowledgeable sources who could give me a nobullsh!t assessment of a Kappa-esque based variant.

For so many reasons, it just can't happen. For example, you can't have a back seat and a fuel tank. And the architecture can't be stretched to fit both a back seat and fuel tank without changing the entire structure....from front to back. I didn't want to believe it at first...but it's true.
Even the suspension control arms can't be shared on a Camaro sized/weight car without a redesign.

Kappa will never be anything more than a 2 seater.

 

Zeta was just a name. A name that will return with more Sigma and less V-car in it.

Camaro = Zeta.

then...

and now.

 

I guess so, bud. Who'd a thunk it?

 

so the curve concept doesn't run then?

 

The Curve and Nomad both run. Their back seats are virtually unuseable though.....and both can only carry less than a gallon of gas.

 

thank for the info. i was hoping GM would change their mind on those two but i guess they can't.

 

Me too.

 

One other point if you tried to start with Kappa to make a Camaro. A V8 makes alot more power than the Ecotec. That would mean you would need to reinforce the chassis to handle the power. This equals more cost and more weight.

Randy

 

3000 pounds with only 2 seats (neither electric), no AC, roll up windows, 4 banger engine, a light duty drivetrain designed to handle no more than a 4 banger with a turbo.

Heck, it wasn't even 12 months ago that people here were lining up 10 deep to condemn the Solstice as being too light and flimsy to be a Camaro. Now suddenly, it's "IN" to say all we need is to drop a in a V8 and we have a lightweight Camaro?

Boy times change.



Low Volume? Yep.
Hand built? Don't think so.

You bring up the point I made in my rant. GM should avoid this place like the plague if they are intrested in making the next Camaro a success.

The Mustang has all this stuff standard. The Camaro being proposed here won't. Yet some of those very same people are driving around in Z28s and SSs that are loaded to the gills!

See why I'm begining to think all this is completely absurd?
Imagine what some of the people creating the car think.

1. GM can't afford to do a Lightning, a Viper or GT (read: Cadillac Cien), or a host of other vehicles because they are pouring money marketing multiple divisions.

2. For $20K you don't get a hand built car. I can probally cough up the vendors who are supplying mass produced components such as the top, the dash & interior components, and the body panels. Everything else is either GM parts bin or stamped, forged, or machined. They're hand assembled like my 4th gen was, though.


Kappa was designed from the getgo for a 4 banger. You would have to create a whole new chassis to create one certified for the horsepower that this Sigma-lite is intended for. Thicker hydroformed steel, different layout (back seat, trunk, bigger heavier drivetrain), then you have to certify all this. Then you'd use Corvette's drivetrain & suspension to save costs, but it would still be expensive.

Then you would end up with a 4 passenger Corvette. This chassis was studied early this decade by GM (Branden did a story on this for BON if I remember), and it was decided that it wasn't cost efficient.

Sure, base Camaros won't have to handle 400 or even 500 horsepower, but GM is going to make ONE chassis. This chassis will handle godaweful amounts of power. Kappa isn't it. Changing the Kappa creates a Corvette variant. Already discarded.

Is there any sane person on this website that actually thinks that GM WOULDN'T take the cheaper and lighter weight way out in creating something???

Didn't think so.

 

What is it about people on this board with '97 Z28s??

 

*stringing noose from ceiling fan*

 

or.....uncapping the drano and pouring it into a mug......