Quote:
Originally Posted by L2SS455
The Sixth-Gen Camaro Deserved Better"
" V-8 portions of the Camaro lineup haven’t seen a single mechanical upgrade since the addition of the 1LE “extreme track package” that brought a plus-sized carbon fiber wing, dive planes, grippier rubber, and F1-style suspension to the 650-horse ZL1’s order guide. That wonderful piece of kit was unveiled at Daytona… in February of 2017. Since that most recent bit of V-8 Camaro news, The Blue Oval has minted the following bent-eight Mustangs:
1. GT Performance Pack 2
2. Bullitt
3. A GT350 mechanical update for ’19
4. A GT350R refresh in ’20
5. Shelby GT500
6. Mach 1
7. S650 Generation GT
8. Dark Horse
Even with the introduction of a literal world-beating track monster, 2018 was the first year that the resurrected Camaro found itself wearing a bronze medal. Rather than fighting to regain market share, General Motors all but watched from the sidelines as sales dwindled. It sent half-hearted, produce-themed “design packages” into battle with historic nameplates like “Mach 1.” Unsurprisingly, these bold tactics left the once-proud Camaro languishing on the last step of the podium in each consecutive trip around the sun."
The Sixth-Gen Camaro Deserved Better
https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cul...served-better/ |
Ford and Chevy took different design philosophies. The Mustang was designed first and foremost for DD practicality and comfort (presumably first and foremost targeting sales of GT and lower moddels). Deficiencies in performance (of which there were plenty) and reliability (plat plane crank V8) provided "opportunities" to introduce revised models and 1-off special versions with small improvements, along with the requisite body panel changes to make it look like a somewhat new offering (albeit on pretty much the same chassis since 2015).
With the G6 Camaro, GM prioritized performance form the get go and (unfortunately) at the cost of practicality. When it came time to offer improvements they could and did go more extreme (1LE offerings, ZL1 powerplant), but after that there was nowhere to go with it. Couldn't really improve performance at the price point (they were already knocking it out of the park compared to the competition) and couldn't address the DD practicality issues as would have required a totally new chassis.
I'm not sad about how things turned out, because I love my SS 1LE and use it mainly as a track car. The fact that production is stopping doesn't change how awesome my car still is, and the fact that it took Ford 6-7 years just to tie the lap times of the SS 1LE (albeit by using wider, stickier tires) shows just how good it is.