Well, it was a Pontiac G-8 GT, but follow our reasoning:

Same chassis, same engine (tuned for 360 rather than 400 hp,) same transmission, sport suspension, current GM interior standards. We went to give it a go!

We were looking for things that we didn't like, things that might carry over to the Camaro SS. We found nothing at all to not like about the G-8 GT. It drives very much like my mom's BMW 330i. If it was lighter, the stearing was livelier, the suspension was slightly sportier, and it had a couple more horsepower, it would be truly mind-altering.

The Pontiac G-8 GT is great fuel for the "what will it be like?" part of your imagination.

 

I test drove the G8 GT 2 times. and I have been impressed both times. I can just imagine that the Camaro will be better.

 

FYI, not the same engine. The G8 GT has the 6.0L L76. Now if it was a G8 GXP then it would be the same.

 

Same engine in the GXP, but HP rating is different and that car is heavier as well. The GXP sounds and looks amazing, from the articles and test drives that I have read in recent magazine articles. The SS should be quite a bit better all around, but unfortunately even though they are both built on the Zeta platform, they are still quite a bit different!

 

Good points on the engine, the G-8 GT is 6.0 liter, the SS will have a pair of 6.2 liters.

Absolutely, the cars will be very different. Don't misunderstand our intent. We were looking for weaknesses in the G-8 package that might lead us to wait and test drive an SS before we bought into it. We found *nothing* to worry about. GXPs are hard to find for a test drive, G-8 GTs are not. Until we can start reading lots of reviews of the SS in Motortrack and Car and Trend, pushing a G-8 around is helpful to my imagination. The Camaro's handling, braking, acceleration and overall "feel" will be better by a factor of... who knows? I'll be ordering mine shortly. Black, 2SS/RS, loaded, no sunroof, no stripes. My wife and her Mustang GT convertible and I in my SS will play duets in the driveway when we start 'em up, and the soccer moms and their sad, minivan husbands will hate us.

 

I hear you about your intentions with the G8 and the SS. I was just stating that if the G8 is as good as you and a lot of other people are saying about it, then the SS should be a good notch better than the G8 GT and the GXP. I ordered the same combo, except mine is a Victory Red SS/RS with no sunroof and stripes. Was considering the sunroof, but I like the look of the car without a sunroof a lot better and never been a fan of stripes on any car.

 

i think you would have to drive a gxp to get the real feel of how the car is going to be with out actually driving a camaro.

 

Not the same displacement or engine code, but essentially is the same engine..... as the automatic Camaro SS.

The heads on the L76 are the same heads used on the L92, L99, and LS3. Single block for all 4th generation LS engines save the LS9. Only differences are the AFM systems (all are engineered for it... Holden originally sold their L76 with AFM deactivated).

The biggest difference between the G8's L76 & Camaro's L99 is the L99's bigger bore of the 6.2 engine over the 6.0 (4.06" versus 4" even), a difference roughly the length of this dash: "-".

Camaro also has an aggressive engine program and better exhausts. Add the same upgrades to an L76, and odds are pretty certain that you'd end up with close to identical output of the L99.

FWIW, although the engine gurus of this site can go into more detail, all 4th generation LS engines save the LS7 and the supercharged LS9 & LSX versions have been essentially the same since 2004's LS2.