Do you think that General Motors will try to overpower the Hellcat Challenger with the Camaro, or will they leave that task to the Corvette?

 

What exactly do you mean by compete?

I'm guessing that Camaro will continue to sell ~3x more cars than Challenger.

I also predict that Hellcat will not be able to touch Z/28 on a road course, and that it will only really have an advantage at the drag strip.

GM didn't come out with something new in response to the 662hp GT500, and I think we can expect the same here.

I expect C7 Z06 to take and hold the top spot for quarter mile time (excluding exotics).

 

It has all become a big ---- measuring contest anyway. Where and exactly how often does one use 700 HP on the street? Not to mention they'll probably be about as rare as seeing a new $70k Z28 in the wild.

I'd rather see automakers putting their efforts into finding ways to deliver lighter performance cars cheaper, which carries a whole host of positive, domino-like implications. The great new "run of the mill 450 HP" LT1 engine would get better fuel economy, run quicker, the car would stop faster and handle better, and more people would have a chance to experience it all. The current trend of more weight and more horsepower just doesn't really interest me. If 700 HP from the factory isn't enough, how about 800? 1000? I can only imagine the tanks that would be coming in those scenarios....Now, get off my lawn....

 

Insider at Challengertalk says $59900 for the hellcat. And the automatic hellcat will beat the Z06 at the strip.

As far as people bashing horsepower, it never fails that when their brand gets upped by the competition that suddenly hp doesn't matter anymore. All of sudden it's about road racing and curves and handling. Hell even mpg starts coming up.

For that matter, even the current Challenger SRT owners are bashing the hellcat for having too much useless horsepower over on the dodge boards.

The Viper guys seem to have no problem with it. One more car to add to the stable. Along with the GT500 and Z/28

But I'll tell you one thing as an enthusiast. When I finally get into a car and after driving it for a year it still feels faster than hell. And the thought has never crossed my mind about getting a tune, adding headers, or a supercharger. THEN IT HAS ENOUGH HORSEPOWER.

Hail the Hellcat!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Oh, so I'll see at least one a week? (I love living in Michigan!)

Nailed it, except for one thing: I still want 700hp in my cheaper, lightweight car.

How could anyone possibly know that? The relevant performance figures aren't available for either car, but just think about what we know: the Challenger has a 57hp advantage. The Stingray weighs about 900 pounds less than the Challenger SRT 392. Add a supercharger to both and I figure the difference will be similar. The Z06 has aero tuned for downforce over speed, but the Challenger is a giant brick with a HUGE frontal area. The Z06 comes with 335mm wide Michelin Pilot Sport tires (or Pilot Sport Cup R-compounds if you get the Z07 package). The Challenger comes with 275mm Pirelli P-Zeros.

I just don't see how the Hellcat could win, unless the Corvette driver is working with a serious talent deficit.

 

I'm not bashing horsepower, I'm bashing the concept of "just throw more horsepower at it without regard to other dynamics". You've been around long enough to know that I was concerned about the 5th Gen and weight the moment we knew it would be on Zeta - what was that, 8+ years ago now?

 

Hey I live here too....still haven't seen one. Maybe I need to get out more but the fact remains, a $70k Camaro is rather insane.

 

I hear you buddy.

And you're right on that.

I guess i've pretty much given up on cars getting lighter without the prices going way up. Add to that I prefer the bigger muscle car over the lighter pony car.

Dodge stepping up and putting a HD auto in this thing just makes this car a win on all fronts to me.

I hope the new Camaro does even higher performance with less power.

 

Well in sense that is it, a serious talent deficit. Assuming the Z06 comes only in stick, as it should.

We see the same problem in the GT500. Most people who run those things cannot drive it anywhere near its potential.

That's the only reason that I say the auto hellcat will be wasting anything in the other lane at dragstrips and street lights around the country. The 8spd auto behind 700hp, with launch control, really just isn't fair.

But I like it.

 

Oh crap. Just read the 2015 Z06 will have an 8spd auto option.

Can you say 9's?

 

I don't see GM running back and swapping the LSA out for LT4 into a ZL1 and go after the HellCat in 2015.

I think each company has certain objectives and goals for their pony/muscle/sports cars and if it happens to line up like a Viper/Z06/ZR1 or 1LE/BOSS 302 or SRT8/SS/GT then great. If not I think GM is fine with Ford having a 200 mph GT500 and Dodge having 10 second HellCat and they are ok with the Z/28 being the best on the road course.