JonCR96Z

Looks fine to me. Maybe you should also be a nominee.

QATransAm

What would have been lightweight in your opinion Sir?

My SS weighs 3400lbs, so do you consider that to be reasonable...or to heavy?

thanks

flowmotion

I'm sorry, but the government does not require "5 Star" safety ratings, as fbodyfather said they were engineering for. GM is (wisely IMO) doing this voluntarily for marketing reasons and to lower the cost of insurance.

I don't know how much weight difference a "Three Star" versus "Five Star" rating represents, but trying to blame this all on the gubernmint is overly simplistic. Unlike in the classic muscle car era, GM values safety over making it as fast as possible.

CLEAN

This should be good!

Z284ever

Preemptive complaining is, IMO, a more effective tool than complaining after the fact.

Fbodfather

I'm not blaming the government on the 5 star crash ratings. What I'm saying is that there ARE safety standards that must be met that weren't mandated 10 or 15 or 20 years ago.

As to a marketing ploy? Please -- I'm begging you -- think about that for a minute. The customer today has almost 270 choices when it comes to a car or truck. Many people must be concerned about the insurance cost. I'm here to tell you that it is a FACT .........let me repeat that -- it's a FACT -- that there were buyers that wanted a Camaro or Firebird in the past -- but had to purchase or lease something else because they could NOT afford the insurance. Don't believe me? Go price insurance on a Camaro SS versus a Cavalier or similar car from the 2002 model year....and while you're at it, put in a city within the state of NJ or California...................and then tell me that a 5 star crash rating isn't important. (the Camaro of 2002 vintage had a 4 star crash rating for the driver and 5 star for the passenger.......) A three star crash rating would put the cost of insurance out of the reach of our average buyer.

I don't mean to belittle you .......but your statement above tells me that you need to think this issue thru just a little bit more.

Fbodfather

I appreciate this post. This may very well illustrate my point of view.

The REAL question for some on this board is "what is reasonable?" My previous post shows that the late 4th gen cars were truly impressive in their ability both on the drag strip and a road course.
This thread was about Q & A about the Camaro Concept and the future. Once again, it has become an issue of weight.

Yes, I'm becoming more and more frustrated and pointed in my comments. It's very easy to say "the car should be 3,000 pounds!" In the same breath, some would say "and it should have a base price of $18,000!" This leads me then to say "and how many cars have you engineered? ---hmmmmm I hear crickets chirping!!!" (and I hate to say that, but I've been holding off long enough.........)

It comes down to price/value. Yes -- we could theoretically make the 5th gen a 3,000 pound car. It amounts to aluminum body panels and some high tech components -- using materials such as titanium. There's a problem with this however -- in order to do so, we'd lose money on every car we build. That isn't gonna happen.

Perhaps I'm stupid -- but I can't for the life of me understand why people think for one minute that GM WANTS the next Camaro to be heavy. I've tried to explain and most understand. (and when they do, there are some that would argue that they're just 'toadying up' to me and GM and I find that very offensive.)

graham

Ah dont worry Scott.

You guys just make it as safe, solid, and quiet as you need to. We'll get the weight where we need it to be.

(the option to order just the unibody "hull" and floor like a certain other brand does with their pony car, would be nice though!)

NVMY68SS

Scott, thanks for the information you shared during the recent podcast and for your comments here. It seems to be getting a little skewed on what we are talking about where.

I for one, could care less about the final weight of this car. I want it to perform, handle, run like a scalded dog and protect me, and anyone in it during a accident. We just had an accident nearby with three teenagers in a convert Camaro.....I don't know year. Definitely 4th gen. The driver ran a stop sign and got t-boned by a full size GM truck in the passenger door. After both vehicles rolled multiple times, unfortunately, the passenger did not make it. But the other two did. As well as the driver of the truck. Any loss of life is bad, but it could have been worse. Much worse.

So, if GM needs time to engineer this car properly and get all equipment right, I have no problem with that. Build me a car that I will be proud to park next to my 68 for many years to come.

I have probably broke my own rule about sticking to the thread, but some of these comments have pushed me a little far too.

Who cares what the car weighs out at? Racers. Who else? I know that goes along with fuel economy too, but, I also want this car to be affordable to ME. If it starts getting into Titanium parts, aluminum chassis, well, we may as well create the first mated hybrid offspring between the Camaro and Corvette. "Camvette? Cormaro?" Nope, just doesn't work.

They are brothers, not conjoined twins searching for their own identity.

I look forward to the next "announcements."

ChevyNovs99

Not to nitpick but wouldn't the 4th quarter be starting October 1st, not September 1st?

QATransAm

Thanks for your reply, I'm happy to see 3000lbs and not 3400lbs as wishful...

I'm not an incredibly smart person...and this is in no way meant to insult you, but it seems as if your point of view is GM doesn't want the car to be heavy, but it has to be...so ignore the weight because the car will still perform better than its competition, and better than a 4th gen. Simply because all of your answers are reasons why the car has to be on the heavy side...

No one can argue...if the 4th gen was 200lbs lighter, everything else being the same...it would have performed even better. What i'm saying is, GM should not justify a 3800lbs top model, by looking at its competition. Make the other two sweat, and have no chance at all!



We're all just itching for more info and specs....i apologize Scott

Z284ever

Not at all? Not one bit?

BigDarknFast

100% agree, well said.

guionM

Redzed comes immediately to mind.

Rob V

Sure, weight is an issue. It's been made very clear that weight is a serious issue. But I am prepared to HAVE FAITH in GM as I always have. Scott has been very gracious with us to keep us informed and to reassure us for the duration of the 'hiatus'.

As for crash ratings... We can never predict when or if we will be in an accident, no one can. That is exactly why it is reassuring to have a high rated vehicle. The problem with the 4th gens is that they are so low in comparison to things like SUVs and Trucks and the majority of the hard-top vehicles are equipped with T-tops. I'm no engineer nor an expert on the subject of vehicle safety but those T-tops would eliminate safety features like, say... Side curtain airbags which seem to be becoming standard.

If my next vehicle purchase is 100 pounds over what I was hoping for, yet has safety features that DRAMATICALLY reduce the risk of fatality in a serious accident, I would not be complaining. I'm nearly 22 and by the time I have my new Camaro, who knows, I could be married and starting a family. I would GLADLY suck it up and accept my car may weigh a little bit more if I had the peace of mind, knowing that GM has designed the car with safety in mind if lord forbid, the unthinkable happens and the vehicle is involved in a serious accident.

We've been saying it all along, we've listened to Scott say "Have Faith". We didn't come this far to throw our hands up in the air and say forget it, just because we are making assumptions based on the competition's products. I'm going to trust Scott's word on this because after all, when has he ever led us astray?