Darth Xed

The AWD thread got me thinking, since so many people are complaining and making fun of having some things as options on the 5th Gen.

I'm going to list out a just few things that I think the 5th Gen needs to have or should have available (doesn't have to be standard in all cases) to compete in today's world.

Heated Seats
OnStar
Traction Control
Side Curtain Airbags
Driver Information Center


Now, if you disagree with me... it'll be interesting to see how many non-optioned, totally base TrailBlazer LS SS's sell compared to loaded up Trailblazer LT SS's (RWD or AWD). I will bet my HOUSE that it's NOT the former.

Because, if you want a 400hp stripper car, the TB SS with LS trim and no options is about as close as you can find in today's world....

And, on a second note... everything I listed above is available on a COBALT. There is more I could list out, but if COBALT... the ENTRY LEVEL CAR has them avaiable, a car costing significantly more should at least offer them.


Feel free to add other things you feel should be offered (or not offered, I guess)

JasonD

Pretty interesting point. At first I was taking the purist side, but I got to looking at the reasons for havaing them are very obvious.

Heated Seats - totally unnecessary, IMO. Then again, I don't have them now so I am not spoiled by thgem. My friends who have them can't live without them, and I am sure that I would feel the same way if I had them.
OnStar - 80% necessary - for safety/accident reasons alone
Traction Control - 100% necessary for those who drive in bad weather or who can't keep their foot off the throttle
Side Curtain Airbags - 100% necessary, it is safer and may reduce insurance rates.
Driver Information Center - 75% necessary. It is nice to know what is going on with the car and the costs may not be too huge.

How about this one...

Head's up display! - 100% needed! It is too cool not to have and many other cars have them. The Camaro is due!

unvc92camarors

HUD.

CLEAN

Active Handling? W/ some of the doofuses that get into trouble in these things, it could be a godsend for insurance claims over the next few years.

camarofan91

Even though it is a good advantage gm has on almost all of their cars,I dont think onstar is needed.

muckz

I second this. Good traction control system coupled with something like active handling (or vehicle stability control) would probably do more good.

I was on a ramp in the winter, and as soon as i came out I started to accelerate to merge with highway traffic. Hit a patch of black ice, and rear wheels simply spun the car out of control (thankfully nothing happened other than me ending up 180 degrees backwards).

muckz

I don't see it hurting as an option. I can think of parents who have OnStar in their GM vehicles opting to have that option for the sake of safety on the Camaro that they buy for their son/daughter.

Aaron91RS

OnStar is a joke.
Most likely if you crash you either did it on a major road and people are stopping to help because you blocked traffic or if you can press the button and talk you can use your cell phone instead. Not to mention if your that coherent you can probably get out of your car and walk somewhere.


The v6 people(woman mustang owners) will want side curtains, but they won't like the looks.
Honda safety people will never consider the car because well it's not a honda and therefore must not be safe. Plus it's got a huge v6 and not a gas sipping 4 cylinder.

The one thing that will sell the car is the one thing most of us will hate. It has to look less sporty.
It has to be shorter and have a more blunt nose and backend. It has to appear to sit higher.
Look at the mustang. It's short with a blunt nose and sits higher. It's nothing we really want in a sports car but it outsells the Camaro.
Why? Because woman are stupid and they by the v6 model(in green verts usually)
They don't want the power, actually they think because it's a mustang it's fast and that the v6 is the most powerful thing ever. They want to stand out but not too much. The mustang for the past 20 years has been less sporty then the camaro and always blended in better to your average car.
Thats where sales are. Bland boring v6 cars that hint at being just slightly sportier then normal. The base model also needs to be about $500 less then the base mustang.

Bob Cosby

So long as these things are "optional" and not standard, I have no issues with them at all. However, because all of this is personal preference anyway (and given that the earliest I'll be in the market for something new is 2008/2009 - just about right for the new Camaro), here is my personal preference:

Waste of my money. Hope its an option.

Have done without it for years, and not sure it has helped sell any GM cars so far (honestly don't know). However, unless something drastic changes, GM will likely have it in 2008/2009, so no big deal.

Despise it. However, it will likely be standard, so its a mute point. Hopefully I can permanently turn it off with a computer chip/flash (much like I did with my last two Cobras).

If these aren't already mandated by the Feds, I'm sure they will be soon, so its another one I think will be a mute point. The next step will be a foam dispenser that fills the car full of foam upon impact (ala "The Last Action Hero").

I'm only sort of kidding.

God I hope not. More stuff to break.

I disagree with you on most points, but I don't have a clue how many totally base Traiblazer SS's were sold. I agree that it was probably very few.

A TB SS or LS or NoS isn't even sort of the same as any sort of car, and thus cannot be compared, IMHO.

And it likely will offer them - if not come standard (unfortunately, from my perspective.

Live axle (fat chance)
Whatever it takes to bring the car in significantly lighter than the current GTO (fatter chance).

Just my opinions, of course.

camarofan91

I agree with you muckz, keep it optional.

Bob Cosby

Wow. Got stereotypes? Of course, I'm sure you have data to back up your assertions.

UtOhCop

All that **** is going to drive the price up.

ChrisFrez

Heads Up Display!! This is something I really want

A plugin port on the front of the radio to plugin my Ipod (like the HHR, Vue, etc..).

WERM

Heated seats are a waste in some ways...but if you are a die hard ragtop person, they easily allow you to operate the car top down when it's 10* colder than without. After driving a convertible equipped this way, I'd never go without them on such a car.

z2point8

I'm all for those options, if it'll help sell the car. What I would really like to see is the return of individual options, not option groups.

If I want a base car with Power Windows, T-Tops, Cruise Control & a V8, I should be able to get it. I don't want to have to purchase an *LT* model that comes with a lot of other crap, just to get the options I want.