Quote:
Originally Posted by Martinjlm
Interesting thing about the trunk opening. I was a Captured Test Fleet driver for ATS Coupe and of course I was fully aware that ATS Coupe was the foundation for Camaro. I spoke with the Chief Engineer for that car about how disappointed I was with the trunk opening. He was very clear that they could do something about it but that nobody would like it, especially Camaro buyers. Even for ATS, the goal was to provide a more rigid chassis than BMW 3 Series with better grip and G-Force. The only way they could hit the targets for structural rigidity (translates into max G-force and handling) was a lot of bracing in the rear of the car and the result was the awkward trunk opening. So the decision was practicality vs performance and it wasn’t even close. So, to Number 3’s point, that decision was made based on a keen understanding of satisfying current Camaro customers’ need for even more performance at the expense of making the car more practical. Camaro buyers were already ok with making that trade-off.
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Thanks for the insider info, James, as always
. However, next time I pop off the taillight cover, I'll check what kind of bracing would need to be cut or removed for split taillights, I don't recall anything being up there that, if missing or smaller or lowered, would hurt much.
I do understand I'm not an chassis engineer and have no experience here, but what I do see is the total lack of engagement from GM in later model years, so unfortunately them simply being unwilling to work on a "best of both worlds" solution is a reasonable assumption.
All water under the bridge, though, given how the Camaro team was disbanded in 2018 and the chief engineer assigned to the Hummer EV project.