I agree that retro is a bad idea. At this point, GM would not only be copying an old design, but also would be panned for imititating the Mustang.

BTW, what happened to the whole "sport bike" story. Is the Camaro being spoken about now the product of the second "lighter" sport bike project, or is it something completely new?

 

I'm not sure if there are even any firm plans for a future Monte Carlo right now, RWD or otherwise. And I'm not sure how much support there is for two Chevy RWD coupes either.

If it were up to me though, I'd base the next MC on the upcoming FWD Epsilon II architecture. I think it would make a good Solara/Accord coupe competitor and be a good stablemate to a sportier RWD Camaro.

 

I dunno about that. If a Camaro is packaged right for it's size and is not a niche vehicle, last thing it needs is a slightly smaller/same size FWD coupe to cyphen off sales. It needs to stay larger than a Camaro to not compete no matter if it is FWD or RWD. Most people who would buy a V6 Camaro would have no issue buying a hot looking slightly smaller fwd car. Most however will not buy a larger car...especially one the current MC's size. I already think the Cobalt SS makes a V6 Camaro a tough sell....espically with todays import minded youth market where RWD is not considered a positive.


~$20K for a loaded little pocket rocket Cobalt SS?

or

~$20K for a base V6 Camaro?

If the V6 Camaro does not have enough grunt to beat the smaller Cobalt...I know which I would choose in a heartbeat.

However if GM has decided not to go volume with the new Camaro and makes it a V8 only deal...a Solara type Monte Carlo would be nice.

 

Isn't that what the G6 is, though?

 

Actually, I was sorta thinking that an Epsilon MC would be larger than Camaro.

 

Yeah.

 

The current G6 is on the long wheel base Epsilon. The G6 strikes me as a pretty small car..even as a coupe. Unless they strech it again (which would bring it close to W-body size)...I don't see how it would be bigger than the Camaro. That is unless the next Camaro is Honda Civic sized. If GM can make a coupe smaller than a G6 off of a SIGMA dirivative..they deserve some kind of engineering award. Hell put them on Modern Marvels.

 

I was thinking Epsilon to get it in the same ballpark as a 192.5" Solara. The current MC is much larger, and maybe you're right, it should stay larger.

I'm hoping (actually pretty sure), the next Camaro will be substantially smaller than Solara.

 

What if the Monte was a retro V6 Sigma lite coupe and reserve the Camaro name for the V8 car with a more modern appeal?

 

That wouldn't be bad just as long as there was a V8 option for the Monte SS. There is no reason to scale back to a V6 when the car already has(will have) a V8. I t can just keep the LS4 or some new variant.

 

I'd rather have the Monte be a larger sedan version of the Camaro or GTO. Maybe even do a quad-coupe thing just to keep it different from the GTO and Camaro

 

I agree...

I also think Monte Carlo could be an excellent place to use a quad-coupe design!

 

I agree with the notion that if Monte Carlo survives to sit in the showroom with both the Camaro and Cobalt, it needs to be bigger than Camaro. Cobalt is already smaller and appeals to a portion of the market that would not necessarily buy, or completely avoid buying a Camaro. Conversely there are people who currently fall into the Camaro demographic who would buy Cobalts, simply because GM doesn't currently offer a RWD sporty 2+2; or they just migrate to that snazzy new Mustang.

The Monte was always bigger than Camaro and should appeal to people who want a quick, stylish coupe but either need more room than that offered by Camaro or, have less desire for the flash n' go of the ponycar. Hmmm, a quad coupe would be an interesting option now, wouldn't it?

In any event, the Camaro should be the performer of the trio. The base car should out-perform the Cobalt SS and at least be in the hunt with any Monte SS. I don't think any Z28/SS Camaro needs any performance comment.

 

The base car should NOT out perform the Cobalt SS. You'd have to have a V8 or blown V6 to propel any reasonable Camaro weight numbers to Cobalt SS performance. And if you do that say goodbye to Camaro sales and Ford will welcome them.

We don't need the same problem with 5th Gens that the 4th Gens had. If you take away a base V6 your going to eliminate the "daily driver" category altogether and that = a mistake in my book.

I agree the Monte should stay FWD. That would distinguish it from the Camaro/GTO. Now I would say make Impala stay the same (FWD) and make a Pontiac G8...etc... a RWD car. Especially since Pontiac is leaning towards more specialty and performance then Chevrolet.

Making Monte/Impala RWD will probably cause a "Drop" in sales, imho.

 

It depends on what you consider "outperform". If it's strictly 0-60, you have a point. But I think a base Camaro and Cobalt SS should be generally comparable in total performance. Not that a V6 Camaro needs to outperform it in every category, but it needs to be substantially more than a secretary special - and I think it will be.

As far as G8 goes, the only "G8 type" car on the horizon, will be wearing a bowtie not an arrowhead.