09 Base Vette and V8 Camaro to get 450hp

[GM>Toyota]

From a Car Crazy Interview

carcrazy.com assistant editor John Breaux caught up with Saleen at the 2006 Cruisin the Coast Auto Show in Biloxi Mississippi.

Car Crazy: Are you going to bump up the horsepower on your Saleen Mustang cars when Ford adds horsepower in 2009?
Steve Saleen: Yes we are, I just talked to Alan Mulally (Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive) about the 2009 facelift year and what kind of added power the GT and Cobra will get.

CC: What kind of added power did he talk about for the 09 model year?
Saleen: Nothing extreme, it's only a facelift year, but enough to make my current engine upgrades obsolete. They're aiming for 350 horsepower out of the V8 in the GT, and they're only adding about ten or fifteen horsepower to the GT500.

CC: Can you give us an idea of what you'll do to for your Saleen models?
Saleen: We don't know yet exactly, but we've had many meetings on what we want. We're aiming to get around 385 horsepower out of the S281 3 Valve with around 390 lb-ft of torque. The S281 Supercharged model will get 500 horses even with around 460 lb-ft of torque, and expect about a fifteen horsepower increase on the (S281) Extreme Mustang over the 2007 model (that's 565 horsepower and 535 lb-ft of torque).

CC: That's a big power increase on all cars, are the prices going to change?
Saleen: Not counting inflation, the prices should stay the same.

CC: Are the rumors of you teaming up with GM true or false?
Saleen: My team just worked with GM last month on the Transformers movie. We had such a good relationship with them that we are infact going to team up with them on future projects?

CC: What future projects?
Saleen: Well the Camaro project is one of them, I've watched from a distance while they've been putting the production model together. I think it would be foolish on our part if we didn't get a part of that action (Steve laughs).

CC: So are you going to do your own versions of the new Camaro?
Saleen: It's not legally official right now, but that's what we're hoping for.

CC: What kind of upgrades will you make, have you seen the engine GM is using in the Camaro?
Saleen: I hope I don't get in trouble with GM for saying this, but they're using a 6.2 liter 450 horsepower engine for the premium V8 in the 2009 Camaro and the base Corvette. The base V8 will probably be a detuned version of the same 6.2. So we'll just upgrade the 6.2 liter V8 to Saleen level specifications. We're going to upgrade the 6.2 liter V8 if we're given the legal chance by GM. Our base model should have around 485 horsepower, and expect our Extreme Supercharged Camaro to have over 600 horsepower.

http://www.digitalcorvettes.com/foru...ad.php?t=64611

[AdmiralViscen]

**************** yes

[mgescuro]

Sounds VERY promising indeed.

[Hunter]

Camaro...eXtreme!

[Randle2I]

I dont know what to say I'm so excited. I'm grinning like the Joker

[Aerodynamix]

Very good news indeed!

[give_it_all_]

Nice! 450hp!!!! I wonder if that will be a bit much for my second car when my car only has 145hp lol.

[jzEllis]

THATS GREAT!! and considering it's comming from the "enemy", i have little reason to doubt it! MAN!....a Saleen Camaro AND Mustang! plus the challenger and possible v8 grand prix! the future is looking very good in deed!

[56 Starchief]

Great News Except...

...Camaro Is Gonna Start 4 Years Behind...With 50 LESS HP In The Top Model (Z28/SS) Than The Top Mustang? Unless Camaro Is Gonna Be Very Light I Don't See Why GM Would Let A 2006 Shelby GT500 Kick The Ass Of A 2009 Z28 (or SS for arguments sake)

[nascarnate326]

I just hope all the people that say they want the new Camaro, buy it.
A fast version of the corvett is almost a must now, with versions of the camaro beign faster then the general crown jewl.

[dav305z]

Interesting. You'd think GM would team up with SLP again - or do its own work. GMPP took a lot of this stuff in house.

[poncho1982]

Running with the devil....

Saleen Camaro......almost triggers the gag reflex.

[56 Starchief]

pure speculation here--

based on the fact that GM is starting to follow a trend of underpromise and overdeliver on products, profits (as seen this week), and yes--engines,

and that i highly doubt Steve Saleen, in an interview where he would know not to open his mouth as not to jeopardize a deal...

that this is all media hype planting.

[Kappa]

It was hard to tell at first if Saleen was goin to team up with GM after the Transformer movie. But now with the interview, the team up of Saleen and GM was a bit of a surprise. I wonder though, after GM and Saleen agree to work on the Camaro, will Saleen consider doing some work to the Vette to?

[327]

holy ****************! I guess it could happen