This thought occurred to me late last night.

With all the debate about what trim level will be the top dog, and what engines will be in what trim level, maybe a little outside-the-box thinking is needed.

We know the LS8 is intended for the Camaro. We also know that some sort of base model V8 (possibly the LS3) will make it's way into the Camaro.

What about a third engine, say, the direct-injection 4.9L found in the GMC Yukon Denali XT concept truck? For sh*ts and giggles, we'll say GM markets it as a 5.0L, or 302 ci.

With rumors of a new Trans-Am series pitting the Camaro, Mustang, Challenger, and possibly foreign competitors against each other, along with the announcement of a new "Boss" 302 from Ford going into the Mustang, could we see the Z/28 return to its roots as a road-racer for the street?

This raises the question - What will the "top dog" be, if the Z/28 is out of the picture? My guess is that the SS would end up being the base model V8, while a legendary name among Camaro enthusiasts would get the LS8 - ZL1.

I could be completely incorrect, but it would certainly be an awesome Camaro lineup, and it would give the Camaro some special cars to compete with the Mustang's various special editions.

 

MY feeling is that it will go along with the past couple of generations. All V8's will be Z28's and SS will be a step up from that. That may not sit well with some here, but that's the RECENT history of Camaros.

 

I'm one of those that it would not set well with. They can have a Z/28 and all V-8s should NOT be a Z/28, and they can have an SS, but I do not want to see a Z/28 SS, recent history aside. Could there be a ZL1 in the new lineup? We certainly don't know anything yet on the model/drivetrains that will be offered, a ZL1 would be an OK option as far as I'm concerned, but please no mixing up of optional packages like Z/28-SS and no degrading the Z/28 to all V-8s.
Clyde

 

There was an SS in the "past couple of generations"?

Anyways, that's not how it'll play out. My big concern though, is that the Z/28 will morph into a sort of Camaro GT500.

 

Same here...though - I'm not sure if it's for the same reasons as you.

I want to be able to say "I've got a Z28."
But I won't ba able to afford that 'Camaro GT500'.........
I really think the Z28 moniker should be a - relatively speaking - high volume name...leave the GT500 fighters called something else, and let the 'normal' V8s be called Z28. You can't mistake which car a Z28 is............

 

i think the new camaro will more likely have the same L76 found in the G8, maybe slightly uptuned, than the LS3 as the entry level v8.

 

That would be a horrible move by GM, unless the top V8 is only marginally more expensive than the base V8 (unlike what a 500+ HP beast would be). GM has built to much hype around this car to stick the same/slightly uptuned G8 engine into it, as opposed to giving the people something fresh. Unless the car is incredibly light, I will not be buying it if it has less than 400 HP in the base V8.

 

Remember the days when 220 hp in a ponycar was really something?

 

FWIW, ZL1 was never a "production" Camaro option. Z/28 and SS have more historical precedence.

Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing as a third option a twin-turbo 4.5L Duramax.

 

My 92 225HP 1LE 5-speed Z/28 is a lot of fun! Most buyers will never try using the 400HP anyways. Sort of like Vette drivers where most of them are about image.

 

400 isn't a 'easy' target to expect, imho.

The L76 already has 380 ft/lbs...which makes the butt-dyno happy...so uptuning it a little to, say, 380hp (as opposed to 361) will give you ~400ft/lbs I would think. That's MORE than most anybody would ever use regularly............
Plus you've got the whole AFM feature goin' on.

I for one, believe we will be VERY happy with the engine (and engine features ) GM chooses for the 'base' V8...
besides everything we're talking about right now(LS3/L76,etc) is useless - since we are to "forget everything we thought we knew about engines."

 

What about the RS?

 

Available appearance package on base, SS, and Z/28 models.

 

The ZL1 was technically a "production" car since it was possible to order one. It just wasn't mass-produced.

 

It was a COPO special order engine package. It was not "production" and furthermore limited to only a few actual cars.