Aluminum in the Camaro future?
 

Wondering that sense GM is making the Vett out of a lot of aluminum and will be making the pickup using a lot of it, what are the chances of the Camaro being made that way. Imagine the possibilities :confused0068:

Go read up on the Cadillac ATS.... Same platform and plant Camaro is switching towards.

Camaro already has aluminum parts... Id prefer not to have the whole body though

The hood has always been 100% aluminum on the Gen 5.

GM "poo-poo'd" the all-aluminum Ford F-150, then saw the excitement and thought, "Oh Fetch", we better make one too....

Aluminum has come a long way and better manufacturing techniques helps.

I wouldn't say GM poo-poo'd an all aluminum truck body. As someone who works at one of the GM truck plants we were told an all aluminum body is coming in the near future at least a year or more ago.

I wouldn't mind fiber glass like corvettes used to. Aluminum probably because less weight and gas.

Saw a post about GM execs demanding a "diet" for all vehicles. Aluminum was mentioned in the article. Hell braced and supported I see it being a positive.

The trunk lid is too.

If you think aluminum is cool, magnesium is even cooler. We would make steering wheel armatures in both materials. Lots of cross car beams are now magnesium.

The ATS had some aggressive weight targets. I think that car is around 3300 pounds which is incredible. If they can shed 500 pounds with these engines, the next Camaro will be a beast.

When insurance companies start seeing how much it costs to repair these aluminum cars, get ready for huge price increases in insurance rates, not only on the aluminum vehicles but all across the board...

Engine block , heads , pistons , Gearbox case, Wheels ,etc
Heck , even my 12 Avalanche got the drive shaft in alloy

It's inevitable with the new CAFE standards and demand for performance. I think if used properly it is a MAJOR positive.

As for magnesium as mentioned above. It's cool until your car is on fire. I personally don't like burning metal that explodes when I try to extinguish it. Could just be me though.

Insurance already looks at cars as almost disposable as it is the aluminum won't make matters too much worse.

The higher cost of repair will mean it will take even less damage to total a car out.. Which means more and higher payouts by insurance companies.

If you made a car out of Magnesium and it ever caught fire wouldn't it just be one giant bright ass flare... :iono:

Magnesium doesn't ignite like in a lab. Yea magnesium shavings from machining can ignite, but Indy cars been using mag wheels for decades, hit walls at 200 mph and guess what, no fires. My oem valve covers on my BMW are mag. You can throw a match into diesel and it won't ignite. Lots of misinformation.

True but I was told by an insurance adjuster that most cars get totaled when the 500 airbags go off. I'm thinking the Aluminum won't make that much of a difference other than getting them more money to scrap the car. I could be wrong though.

I've put out 100's of car fires in my 15+ year F/F career and I always know when my water stream hits molten magnesium. I've also been to a couple of scrap yards that a pile of Mag caught fire and well lets say when you find out that it is burning Mag the hard way some guys need new underwear.

Ah didn't know that, the only Mg I am use to is the stuff in the lab I work at haha

Wanna bet? Look at this video around the 1:12 mark. When water meets the burning magnesium transfer case of this jeep.



Another one

GM had magnesium wheels as an option on C5 Corvettes. Check into them though and I believe you will find that it isn't worth the cost. I remember reading on motorcycles that it was recommended that you have you Mag wheels x-rayed to confirm no cracking.

GM has been way ahead on materials. Just never got credit for it. GM had aluminum hoods and liftgates on the SUVs which were eliminated simply due to the cost.

GM invented super plastic forming aluminum and used it to put a highly formed decklids on the STS and hatch on the Malibu Maxx.

GM had the one of the first carbon fiber hoods in the industry on the C5 Corvette LeMans special edition. (I managed the team the did that one :) )

Carbon fenders, floors and other trim on the C6 Z06 (did those too :) :) )

Aluminum frame on the C6 Z06 (yep did that)

Magnesium cross member C6 Z06

GM is there in the forefront and has been for years. Just never got the credit for it. Not sure why. Bad marketing? Just being number 1? Never understood it.

It doesn't have to ignite to explode. Everything around it (plastic, rubber etc) burns and it becomes hot enough to be a problem when water is added. Those indy car wheels don't ignite because they're out in the open with nothing around them. The little bits of magnesium in cars now can be dangerous but for the most part just put on a good fireworks show for a fireman that's properly wearing his gear. A large amount would only make things more dangerous for firemen but automakers have never really been concerned with that.

Last time I was working in the auto industry, mag and aluminum parts were the same cost for us to manufacture. Mag was a bit more than alum, but mag is lighter and overall a wash. Mag wheels are probably forged which costs more. Our parts were cast. Mag is considerably lighter than alum. I'm not saying make the whole car out of it, just castings. Years ago mag was uber expensive, that is no longer the case. I've picked up mag indy car racing wheels and its like picking up a bicycle wheel, it's amazing. It's not like you can catch mag on fire with a match. Yes in a car fire, it's hard to put out.

My brother F/F has it spelled out pretty well right here...

Thanks bro. You coming to the fest?

While there is a lot of aluminum in the 2014 Stingray, most of it is in the frame not the body and that is for weight reduction.
The trunk is is not aluminum on a Camaro, at least not on my 2010.

I really would like to but that's a long haul for me and the wife and kid wouldn't survive the road trip. They'd stretch it out an extra day or two. Then the wife knows better than to trust me on my own for that long... lmao!

If they ever pull one off in the SE around the Carolina's or Georgia, Florida would be best for me but I doubt that will ever happen. I would be there in a heart beat. They should do one in Daytona... at the Speedway.

You also can't ignite gasoline with a cigarette, like about 80% of action movies portray. I watched the MythBusters debunk that one, and STILL didn't believe it myself... so I tried it myself, everything from aeration to blazing the brightest cherry on the planet, but, nope: a cigarette will not ignite gasoline.

That's new for 2014

Yeah, I would definitely come to one in Daytona. All the other ones except the first one in GA were too far for me to take my fourth gen.

Just read the article in this month's Car and Driver
They have a Porsche 918 Spider for about $847K basic model , Magnesium , Titanium ,Inconel ,carbon fiber on several parts , even the connecting rods are in titanium
How much are one willing to pay for this things is a different question

Aluminum is high cost. Tooling is different. All chromed working surfaces. Shallow draw. Lots of air release holes. The process is slower and QC is the highest. I can see hood, doors and roof panel but question the rest. Maybe front fenders if the design isn't to complicated. GM is not a leader in this field, so I see some outside contractors doing a lot of the initial work here. This is absolutely nothing like drawing DQSK steel. Not even close. I would recommend to GM to NOT use people from a steel stamping facility to make any aluminum parts. Major mistake. Requires muti-speed transfer presses. FYI the thickest metal used to make any body part was the late 80s Camaro Firebird T top, convertible rear quarters. .040 steel

The problem with aluminum is its a body repairmens nightmare. Its harder to work with and will be more expensive to repair. Some minor repairs on panels will probably be ending replaced than patched costing a lot more.

Isn't that only on the 2014's?

Somebody I was having a conversation about the new F-150 with mentioned "explosive sanding dust" hmmmm... sounds sketchy. It's the way of the future though. Thanks to the new CAFE standards that are here and on the way.

How do we know the trunk lid for the 14's is aluminum? Just curious

Thanks guys

Do we expect to see some prototype by now? or mid year?

It would be great to hear something before I pull the trigger on a 14. I'm wondering if because GM is so quiet, maybe 15 will be the restyle?

^Are you trading your Mustang for a 2014 Camaro?

No, I will be keeping the mustang, at least I'm going to try. I sold my 13 ZL1 and miss it, I guess you could say I'm a Chevy guy at heart.

It's nice to have both :D

Somebody get a magnet!