Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeT
Upgraded V6... upgraded V8s... Cadillac platform... 8 speed autos... at what point would all this stuff result in the Camaro becoming a much more expensive car?
Just askin'
Of course, I want all these improvements as much as the rest of you, but seriously the Camaro right now is one of the very few 'good value' vehicles (i.e., in terms of bang for the buck) in GM's entire lineup. Are we looking at the end of an era... and a Camaro starting north of $28K or something?
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But all the "upgrades" you just mentioned are not really just things the nice and expensive cars get. ALL of GMs stuff is getting this stuff, either currently or in the future. That's just how it is. If they want to keep up, and meet stricter economy demands, and still have powerful engines this is what must be done.
Camaro will still remain a relatively inexpensive option compared to other sports cars that provide similar performance.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChocoTaco369
I don't get it. There is a law of diminishing returns with adding gears on a transmission.
At some point, the lag of having to constantly shift will diminish the increased acceleration provided by the closer gear ratio.
The constant shifting will diminish the ride comfort and make it annoying. I can't stand overly-shifty automatics.
With every gear you add, you add another point of failure.
We are approaching the point of putting in less efficient, less comfortable, less reliable, more expensive transmissions in vehicles just for the sake of marketing more "speeds." It doesn't make sense. 6 gears is the sweet spot, IMO. It allows a tight ratio with a large overdrive and an aggressive first gear. Adding more is fruitless and annoying to deal with.
One of the biggest downsides of the internal combustion engine is that it makes its power in a very narrow range and requires a transmission. This was its Achilles Heel a century ago when it was competing against electric and steam motors. The goal of any engineer should be to make a vehicle function at maximum potential using as few gears as possible. This is how you define drivetrain efficiency. They're just dumping gears in there because a bigger number advertised looks more impressive just like camera manufacturers dump larger MP numbers on their cameras for marketing with no regard to lens or sensor quality.
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Sorry, but I think a large part of your logic here is way off. Yes...using too many gears un-effectively or inefficiently could be a bad thing, but we have these fancy things these days called computers. These transmissions will be smarter, able to skip gears when needed, or use them all if needed. It also gives the car more options to use the optimal gear for a combination of torque and efficiency. Sport mode could use only 5 or 6 gears while regular drive may use all 8.
Now...I'm with you that on the point of not liking overly shifty and confused acting transmissions, but done right these can be a good thing. I think the 6 speed auto in my Camaro is freaking wonderful, and honestly I'd hate it if the next version had an 8 speed and it never knew which gear to use but I have faith it won't turn out that way. What I'd like to see, is another regular drive, sport drive, and manual, but maybe in the manual they only let you use 6 gears, instead of 8??
As far as straight line performance, well I don't know how many gears are too many, but Dodge/Chrysler has proven easily that 8 speeds can out run 5 (I think they had 5 before in their sedans....or was it 6?)