I was at the Detroit Auto Show in 06 when it was unveiled and asked a GM rep standing next to the car what it will weigh and he said around 3,600-lbs. If that is true, it would be a huge advantage for GM because both the Mustang and upcoming Challenger will be closer to 4,000-lbs. Only time will tell.

 

Challenger I can believe, but the next Mustang weighing in at around 4000lbs??? Where'd you get that info? I dont completely disbelieve you, that just seems like a BIG jump in the mustangs weight.

 

Maybe he's referring to the GT500, it weighs close to 4000lbs. The GT is like 3550lbs I think. The Challenger is gonna be a pig.

 

I think the weight will have alot to do with it's success,and I think GM knows that. my guess is the reason you're not seeing any official replys to the weight question is that right now it's to high. If it's heavier than 3700 it will hurt sales 3350 or lighter it will help. If it's over 3600 I don't see me purchasing one.Perhaps I'm just thinking to much!

 

Sorry, I was referring to the GT500.

 

Hell, the original Challenger weighed in at 3800 lbs, so 4000 really ain't that much of a difference. The Camaro and Mustang on the other hand.....

 

Are there any lightened body panels for our cars (aluminum, carbon fiber, fiber glass, etc.)? I would like to see GMMG (or someone) offer some lightened aftermarket panels (with a safety warning). There were some Pontiacs in the early 60's that had aluminum panels and holes in the frame to lose 125lbs.

 

VFN makes fiberglass stuff for F bodies. I like their hoods but they also make body panels and complete shells.

Their complete camaro shell only weighs 135 lbs.

 

What do you mean by complete shell? You mean a shell that replaces the front quarters, bumper, and hood? I don't know the stock weight of those panels combined, but I guess it's about 400lbs. That mod would lose almost 300lbs!

 

Ok, so I agree for the 92K people signed up on this board weight is probably a significant issue, but in order to move the 92k + cars /year (I bet they'd like to see 200k) that Chevy needs to move in order to make this whole Camaro thing worth while, they need to make it appeal to the masses, who by the way don't give a rats *** about weight. So while Chevy wants to keep the enthusiasts like us happy, ultimately they have to be more concerned about the general car buying public who want a good looking, safe car, that handles well, rides nice in traffic, gets good gas mileage, and offers a nice rush when you hit the go pedal. Believe me, that general public won't even ask whether or not the car ways 3600, 3800, or 4000 pounds and I have to believe GM knows that and will plan accordingly to get the market share they need. Keep in mind, 4th gens were only selling 35k a year which is a good part of why they got axed to begin with. So I hope the car ways 3500 or less but with the Mustang bar being around 3800, I have beleive GM only cares about being in the same ball park +/- a couple hundred or so.

Besides, if the z06 underweighing the Camaro by 700 pounds is what it takes to get a 500 hp motor in the camaro so z06 owners don't feel like they got ripped off, then I'm good with that.

For what its worth, my ttop, traction control, all leather, 99 M6 SS, weighed in at 3620 with me (150lbs) in the car, a full tank of gas, 10" subwoofer and stealthbox, 5 channel 700 watt amp (20" x 12" x 2.5"), spare tire, tire jack, a suitcase with one days worth of clothes in it, a couple empty soda cans, exactly $1.28 in the ashtray , and of course all original interior equipment still installed. Consdering gas is about 6 pounds per gallon and the suitcase and the change in the ashtray would weigh about 7 pounds, that puts my car at a dry weight of about 3370 lbs. I'm of course not serious about the change being an actual consideration in the weight of the car.

 

Thats the problem, the general public dont really know what they want. Lower weight = better handling and better gas milage.

Personally I MUCH rather have a 3300lbs Camaro with a 430hp engine... It will handle, brake, and probably accelerate better. Remember this is a different market than before, people no-adays expect the car to handle and brake really well, not just go really fast in a strait line.

 

Very well said and dead on.

 

Remember that less weight will help gas mileage. Although I think it would be worthwhile if we saw some five star crash test ratings. That would help Camaro and Firebird with families. I'd save up for a C5 if I knew it was safe.

 

GVWR is the rated maximum loaded weight of the car, occupants and cargo..

 

Z28ss4me Thanks for your reply, and I agree with your masses comment,and GM could care less if I buy one.
The real deal is we all want this car to be successful, and that means as you very well stated enough sales to make a strong business case. The Corvette is one hell of a car,but not for the masses, and GM needs a performance car for the masses. This thing has got to be a CAMARO, and a Camaro today better be nibble. Do they all need to be light? No but the lead dog has to be. This car shows it's relation to the 69, and in 69 a relativly few Z28s and 396/375 cars sold alot of lopo cars. Just looking like a 69 is not going to sell enough cars for enough years to keep the car or the R&D money. We all ready know they got the drive train so I'm gonna keep bitchin about weight until I see a spec sheet I like.
Besides Mustangs only one left add is pissing me off, and I would like to leave the Detroit auto show in the near future seeing more than one car from GM I would go buy.

 

I hear you, I really do, and I'd love to see us all get what we want, but the more money they put into it the more they have to sell it for and the more crowd they lose. I think they hit the mark if the base model is mid to high teens, the base Z28 in the low to mid $20s, with the SS in the upper 20's to low $30s. Those cars may not be that light, but if they' make a B4C model it will eventually makes it way to the buying public and we can all praise allah if they mak a 1LE. For my money, I'd really like to see a new model like an "F5R" car that is truly built for racing like ford builds the Cobra R or Chevy builds the C6R, that way the buying public gets what it needs, and we, the 92k people who want it to be ultralight, get what we need in the "R" model. Oh and as long as I'm creating models how about a factory produced ZL-1 that mere mortals can afford. Maybe in the $40s. and smokes the GT500.

BTW I too hate the mustang add. But, let me ask you this. If the Mustang is running 3800 lbs and Camaro comes in at 3900 lbs, which one are you going to buy? And that's why GM really isn't going to be too concerned about weight because they know they've got us as long as they're close, its the public they need to **** and they cant do that if they have to raise the price $2k, $3k or $4k more just to get weight down below 3600. I have to believe GM is thinking perform at least as good as mustang GT and underprice them and the car sells and that's has to be the bottom line.

Besides, how many of the 92k members here are actually still running the cars at stock weight, probably less then half and GM know the racing type are going to turn to the aftermarket to lighten things up anyway.

Fun dicsussion though and I'm glad you didn't take it like I was flaming you, people can get so defensive some times.

 

True, true.

Me too!! But if they made it like that, I'm only buying one, I can't afford to buy the other 100K cars a year they need to sell to make money.

 

So, the demise of the Camaro began sometime around the time they had the Z28 with a 302 cu in engine and they installed the 327, right?

At 3.50 per gal for fuel, the new mpg requirements, V-P Al's movie about the earth warming, and the Democrats large and in charge, what should GM do?

Build a 500 h.p. 3250# Camaro, or something else? Last Thursday I watched an LS-2 GTO run low 12 on street tires. would that be good enough out of the box? Or does it need to paste everything?

 

It needs to paste everything

You're right. We dont need an 11-second Camaro, but a low-12's would be nice. As long as we can mod the motor easily, weight can take a little bit of a backseat.

on the other hand, the Camaro doesnt look too much bigger than a mustang, really. I would expect it to be around the same weight, which is still lighter than the Challenger.

 

it would be nice to see it coming out weighing <3600, but i really dont see that happening....would be nice though

btw, someone mentioned the weight of old cars earlier, my 78 weighs in at 3490 with me in it, at full weight, with a half a tank of gas, so that would put it at about 3270 dry weight