View Single Post
Old 02-19-2014, 07:40 PM   #24
WATCHER
My Wife's Cool Guy
 
WATCHER's Avatar
 
Drives: 2013 Coupe RS NAVY BLUE
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: TEXAS
Posts: 56
Look at the release of the 2015 ATS Coupe as a harbinger of the 2016 Camaro. GM will want to shake out the Coupe's build in the factory. Smooth out wrinkles in production.
Economies of scale could indicate the Camaro will be right on its heels.

2015 Mustang wheelbase is 107.1", 3500 lbs. Adding the IRS cancelled all weight loss elsewhere. Nearly a net zero pounds change from the 2014. Wheelbase did not change.
Platform is fundamentally unchanged. Contrary to Ford intentional disinformation, for 2005, the Mustang was NOT based on the DEW/LS/Thunderbird/Jaguar platform and was designed from scratch. There was not enough structural support for the larger V8 blocks, superchargers, et al. Which is why you never saw a 4.6 liter in an LS Lincoln. The investment in the Mustang platform still needs to be milked. GM has known this for some time. So take that as a target to meet or BEAT.

The pictures of the back seat of the ATS Coupe remind me of my 2006 Mustang GT.
The ATS wheelbase is 109.3...size often is an indicator of weight. Do not expect the Camaro to be larger than that. The Camaro needs to lose 250 lbs just to break even with the Mustang as it was/is an excellent design. The ATS Coupe is the direction...and a VERY good one for Camaro.
The only concern would be the space available for the larger motors. BUT...I've seen V-8s in VEGAs and Monzas. (Not Las Vegas).
Current CTS Coupe is 500lbs over a reasonable target weight...and it is being carried over (so I hear)...it is already 250 over the average Camaro. There is a next-gen CTS SEDAN is coming, but the ATS-Camaro will come first. (if I read everything right.)

Soooooo.....the ATS Coupe is a VERY CONSERVATIVE car to not scare customers away, and the Camaro will likely be "Extroverted". Let us hope and pray it doesn't have the Mustang's new nose, cheese-slicer-carved back end, and 7 lines just to define the hood.
Busy and ugly we don't want. Elegant, Definitive, Recognizable, Extroverted should be the goals.

Mustang sales went up in January after people saw the busy-ugly new one.
WATCHER is offline   Reply With Quote