how do they test these cars with the competition? do thye buy them? the competition doesn give them the cars ....do they?

 

I think your right. I was just picturing an interior loaded with equipment for testing purposes and in my mind it "looks" like it would cost more than a camera but I guess technology is moving fast enough that costs keep coming down. Accelerometers are massed produced these days where high speed cameras are not.

 

I assume that they buy them or borrow them. Considering it as part of the hundreds of millions of dollars GM will spend developing a car, a hundred grand purchasing a few cars from the competition to use as benchmarks is basically a drop in the bucket.

 

Damn that car is going to be mean looking.

The new GT500 wheels are not very good looking. Actually, I don't like the new Mustang GT wheels either. I also don't like the way the 19/20 size combo looks on the GT500. Not that the wheels in these pics are the

By all accounts the new GT500 is a serious performer, with the suspension / tire tweaks and the lighter aluminum engine working wonders in the handling department. And it is actually lighter than a regular SS Camaro, which is disturbing. The SS still boasts considerably better weight distribution, however. Hopefully the LSA will not throw it too far off).

Still, just as the SS makes the GT look pretty tame, the Z/28 (should it come to pass) will likely make the GT500 look like a grandma car by comparison. In terms of appearance, not performance, obviously.

I really, REALLY want this car to come in under 4000 lbs and get some suspension tweaks (which the SS should get as well) to sharpen up the handling, at least to satisfy the magazine folks.

Oh, and I want a convertible version.

 

Looks nice I think

 

They buy them. GM actually goes and buys at least one of every new vehicle they are competing with and 100% disassembles it for reverse engineering and testing. Every major car maker does it.

You'll see the craziest stuff at R&D labs. Maybe there'll be some vehicle on a shake test rig to simulate 200k of wear and tear on the interior (in a few weeks versus years) next to a vehicle that's having its doors opened and slammed till the handles break.

It looks like the rocker panels are new for this "Z28" versus something silly like measuring acceleration or body roll.

 

So I was reading motor trend or C&D or one of those earlier today, they tested a CTS V coupe with auto trans.
They got it to run 12.2 @ 118 or somthing very close to that.
So even if the Z28 gets just a regular LSA, and surely it will be lighter than the V, even if its just by a bit. It should run pretty damn good.
Im not sure what kind of numbers a 2011 GT500 is gonna have but I think thats impressive for CTS V even.

 

We've already seen the photo that #2 is a 6AT car. So I am suspecting there's a #1 out there somewhere that is a 6MT car.

 

I think you're probably right, but I don't think it's entirely out of the question that the Z28 could weigh more than the CTS-V Coupe.

 

That would be the biggest fail ever, all the fat pig comments would be warranted if that happens.

 

Incorrect. "Fat pig" comments are crass, rude, and juvenile and insults those who don't hold their standards as high in that department. I like my car. I like my wife. I wouldn't appreciate if anyone were to tell me what either one are "fat pigs" because the remark toward one is just as rude as being directed at the other. If someone doesn't like the weight of the car, that's their problem and they shouldn't try to make their problems become everyone else's problems.

"Too heavy for what I need in a performance car" would be warranted. Anyone who chokes on those words but have no problem throwing around "fat pig" remarks (online of course...not to a Chevrolet engineer's face) can do me and everyone else here a favor and log off this site and not come back. We ALL know who I am talking about, so no need to elaborate any further and I don't need this thread degrading into the same uselessness that those people drag every thread into.

So having said that, back to the "Z28" pics.

 

Any ideas if the Z28 if and when it is released will also be available as a convertible or will it strictly be in coupe form for rigidity like the Z06/ ZR1?

 

i would hope its strictly coupe form, for the sake of the weight and also the price. yeah the mustang gt500 has a vert, but really, if you want a track car like the z28 or gt500, why would you want it to be a convertable?

 

Some people don't want to track the car and want it in a convertible.

 

If GM is actually testing the "Z28" against the GT500 and the GT500 is available in a convertible, then of course the "Z28" will eventually be available as a convertible as well.

Personally, I'll be getting a coupe.