Where's the option for "keep the SS name but change how you market it"?

I love what SS is supposed to stand for, but they ruined it with lackluster cars wearing that badge a while back and they need to do some damage control. For the most part they've stopped putting the badge on lackluster cars, but they haven't drawn enough attention to that fact.

 

I think GM needs an in house performance division much like GMPD but under a different name. one reason because 'GM' isnt the best resonating brand name to people and even more simply because 4 syllables is too long. 3 syllables max. SVT, SRT, TRD, and AMG all have 3. Its easy to say and thus will resonate people. when you say one of those brands people know exactly what youre talking about and what they would be getting. Theyre badged on on the cars so people know what it is. I dont recal if GMPD was ever really badged on any of their cars except maybe in the engine bay.

I'd say you could use SS like how Audi does the RS models but i feel like SS was watered down for so long it doesnt cary the same resonance. It also doesnt help that the top performance car doesnt have the SS trim.

 

SS is what is always has been, no need to change that.......just make a "REAL" Z/28 please......

 

I just wanted to ask you Doug, since I respect your opinion on the subject, do you think there's anything that can be done to a 5th gen to create a "real Z/28" out of it? Frankly, I have my doubts.

 

Let me preface this by saying that I'm certainly no artist, but I know that gold clashes with a lot of colors. Particularly silver or grey, which seems to be the colors that GM loves to use on the cars in their ads.

I'm sure part of the switch to the gold bowtie from the blue was that somewhere in the bowels of GM, somebody decided that blue had too strong of a connection to the blue oval of ford.

As for SS, maybe in the next couple of years, once we get some distance between the "bad" SS cars, we'll all have a different outlook of the brand?

 

I guess my point might be that the "bad" SS cars weren't necessarily really bad. They were what they were and served a marketing purpose. Their image legacy however is somewhat muddled and unfocused.

 

Experimental car circa 1957.

http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z...rvette-SS.aspx
http://www.conceptcarz.com/view/phot...-SS_photo.aspx

 

While I agree, isn't that what they're doing today?

Some models have SS as their top "sports" model and some have LTZ.

 

Yes and no.

To address the Z thing, LTZ isn't it. I am talking about ZL1, ZR1, Z06, Z28, etc. Maybe you could make Z series into the M of Chevrolet.

As to whether or not they are doing that now, there is not a dedicated performance group that is improving any of the cars since GMPD was dissolved. I wonder how many engineers it would really take to make a little version of the Skunk Works that just refines existing models? How many people are at SVT or AMG?

 

I dunno...I think people connect more strongly with SS. When they hear SS, they thing of Cevelle's, Nova's, Monte Carlo's...irregardless of how many not so hot cars have been named SS. It's nice and simple. Someone brings up the Z cars..outside of Corvette and Camaro..all that hits me are Z24 Cavaliers, Z34 Luminas, whatever number Z the Beretta was. It's much more murky. Plus the nunbers thing is confusing and sucky.

 

I know I'm not the one you asked, but let me run something by you. My goal here is to assemble a package that tacks on to an SS (1SS or 2SS, buyer's choice), removing some weight and improving steering, braking, handling, and acceleration for a premium price. I'd expect MSRP on a 2SS with this package to sit just under 40k. I don't expect it to save more than 100 pounds, and probably less than that.

First of all, the need to retune the suspension/steering for better feedback, especially on center. Target on the retune is to beat Mustang GT w/ Track Pack, and I'd aim even higher: BMW M3. All Camaros, even V6s, should get this change. The remaining items here are what I think should make up the Z28 option package:

- Upgrade tires to Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 (arguably the best street performance tire in existence), maybe increasing the width. I'm thinking 265 front, 295 rear.

- Reduce wheel size to 19", or even 18" if the Brembos will still fit.

- Upgrade the suspension with some firmer bushings, revised spring and damper rates, etc. Drop the ride height a touch (this should help offset the appearance problem created by the smaller wheels).

- Don't mess with the brakes, except maybe a pad upgrade.

- Seats with better bolstering. Something from Recaro/Sparco/etc would be good.

- Some fancy low-weight materials wherever appropriate -- maybe a magnesium engine cradle, for example

- Z06/ZR1-style mufflers w/ vacuum-activated bypass.

- Maybe some basic factory performance upgrades -- CAI, exhaust, maybe even a GMPP "hotcam" for enhanced performance without adding weight. SAE certified horsepower should be at least 450 with the upgrades, 475 would be the number I'd aim for.

- Revised gear ratios, either in the TR6060 or the rear end, for better acceleration.

- For visual distinction, lose the "mail slot" and add the hood from Transformers 2.

How would you feel about calling that a Z28?

Finally, if GM were to build such a car, what would you then suggest that they call the supercharged beast that is currently on hold?

 

Funny story, alot of younger people that have checked out my car don't have a clue what Shelby or SVT is, but they know what that Cobra emblem is I have to correct people all the time and tell them "Its not a Cobra, its a Shelby, Ford hasn't made a Cobra since 2004".

 

All those things sound great, but the proof will be in how it drives. The SS I drove, has a long way to go before I'd call it -- as Doug says -- a "Real Z/28".

As far as the supercharged beast, I could care less what they call it.

 

ZL-1 would be my pick (then again if mongoose was not taken )

 

took the words right out of my mouth. ZL1 or COPO. ZL1 would mesh with the counterpart Vette ZR1. It fits the Z cars like Z28 Ive heard all the arguements against. COPO is a Central Office Production Order not a car. ZL1 is a specific aluminum 427 Big block. It was a model no different in my mind than the Z/28 with the DZ, it just never had a name which was intentional.