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Originally Posted by Number 3
The weight going up is not a fail at all let alone a serious one.
The car has so much technology and features on it that making the aluminum frame and carbon fiber standard on the base car was required.
The aluminum frame and CF we put on the C6 Z06 saved 165 pounds allowing the Z06 to be a huge win. My team had actually removed the power cinching latch on the hatch to save almost 4 additional pounds. It was later put back in as customers wanted the easier closing hatch. But if you look at the ZR1, almost all of the weight was put back in to get the car the leather interior, sound deadening, MR shocks, etc.
The only way the C7 would have weighed less would have been to make it bare bones and that sure wouldn't win Porsche fans over as their cars have wonderful interiors as well as performance.
They may still do a light weight car. Who knows. We used to propose doing exactly that. Take a C6 base car and use the aluminum frame and CF bits but use the base car brakes, engine etc.. This would have resulted in a nearly 3,000 pound car with an LS3. That would have been something.
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Would you be happy if they went to the lighter Alpha platform and did other things to take weight out of the Camaro and then added it all back with increased features and technology? The Camaro needs a weight reduction. If they add alot of great stuff but the weight ends up the same, that is a failure in my opinion.
They did alot of things on the Corvette C7 to reduce weight but then ended up with a slightly heavier car (1LT C7 versus base C6 was a weight increase) because they did add alot of features and technology. Granted that the Corvette didn't need to go on as much of a diet as the Camaro, but it is still going in the wrong direction. At a minimum, I think they should have made sure the overall weight came down slightly so they were headed in the right direction, even if it does mean certain features and technology had to be omitted. Using the weight reductions to make other improvements on the Corvette is fine, just don't end up increasing the weight in the end.
It does give me concern that something similar will happen with the Camaro. I do think they will reduce the weight. However, the Camaro needs serious weight reduction. I am afraid the weight reductions will be less than expected and significantly less than was possible given weight savings measures they take because they likely will add alot of features and technology. About the only weight adders I personally would like to see are in regards to a higher quality (which doesn't mean the addition of a ton of electronics) interior. I have no idea how much weight nicer leather and materials would add to a car (though you may because it sounds like you have experience in car design and in particular with weight impacts).