Quote:
Originally Posted by E. Haskell
So are you giving props to the Cobalt or dissing the Camaro? Maybe the Cobalt SS is just VERY good (it does hold the FWD record after all) - that doesn't mean the Camaro isn't good too.
The Camaro 'Ring time you speak of wasn't a GM "official time" and the Cobalt SS actually ran 8:22.85, so that's closer to a 3 second difference.
Oh, and what kind of time do you think the Mustang GT would run? I remember in Car and Driver's lightning lap where the OLD (non turbo) Cobalt SS ran faster than the GT. I'd say the Mustang GT would probably be in the 8:30s at the 'Ring.
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Nobody is dissing the camaro, or saying the camaro isn't good. For a FWD chevy cobalt competitive to the new Camaro is a credit to the Cobalt. 2 seconds or 3 seconds over an 8 minute course for these cars is practically negligable.
Chevy has done a great job on this new camaro. No doubt about it. But looks alone done sell cars today year after year. Hopefully its not too late with most everyones interest now shifting to cars that have high mpg figures. Sure the first year purists and some of the fence sitting camaro fans will opt for this car but after year 1 or 2 it will be hard to keep the momentum going. Die hard Mustang or Challenger fams will not be opting over in large numbers to buy a Camaro, or die hard Camaro fans will not be opting for a challenger. Chevy says they need to sell 100,000 camaros every year to make a profit. That might be a tall order after the second year or 3rd year. By far the bulk of car buyers today in the USA are families looking for a roomy 4 or 6 cylinder car, and they have dozens to pick from foreign and domestic. I don't know how many families will be interested in a 300 hp base car (camaro) with rear seating for 8 year olds today when most are buying roomy 4 cylinder Cobalts, Malibus, Camrys, Accords, and 6 cylinder Impalas. I don't know where the 100,000 Camaro people market will come from year after year. General Motors top selling car the Impala/Cobalt is selling this year at a rate of about 250,000.
Back in the early days Camaro, Mustang, Challenger sold in large numbers, one reason they had little foreign competition, and gas mileage wasn't a real issue until the early 70s, that only lasted a short time. That was then and this is now and things are a lot different today.
Good luck to chevy on this new camaro. They are going to need it to sell the quota they need to make money. Making a profit for GM today is priority #1!