Camaro Z28 Confirmed and Discussed
That's right, this bad boy's officially official now! Earlier this week Chevrolet called together representatives from its various Dealerships to have a little chat with them, and one of those dealerships (one Ms. BeckyD from Rodger's Chevrolet) has decided to share the good news with the Camaro loving public. The Z28, or the 'HP Model' as they refer to it in house, will be an absolute monster, outfitted (officially now) with a 6.2L Supercharged engine (can anyone say LSA?) and a lot of other goodies, and will begin its production in Janurary of 2012. The official news is that the Z28 will have these wonderful performance modifications with it:
- 2012 Camaro Z28 production begins January 1, 2012
- Internally referred to as the "HP Model"
- 6.2L supercharged engine
- Magnetic Ride suspension
- 285F / 330R tires
- Hood design to have louvre/slat design seen in spy photos (dealers in attendance were shown a gray Z28 model)
- Slight (not major) updates to the interior, with some brighter trimwork
Let's consider some of these things real quick. The 6.2L Supercharged engine is almost, without question, the same LSA that's in the Cadillac CTS-V. That LSA puts out 556HP in the Cadillac, and is easily good for a lot more. Maybe Chevrolet will tune it down a little bit for the Z28 release, maybe not, only time will tell, but either way the Camaro-loving crowd now has knowledge of the engine's incredible potential. The next thing on the list might be the most exciting of them all: Magnetic Ride Suspension(MRC, or Magnetic Ride Control as it's typically known)! MRC utilizes magneto-rheological fluid0based actuators in the suspension to provide the vehicle with a powerful, adaptive, and incredibly responsive race suspension that offers the vehicle an enhanced range of soft-to-firm damping capabilities, as well as real-time traction control functions. MRC is the same type of suspension system used in the Corvette and the CTS-V, and has been praised world-round for its incredible feel and responsiveness. The tires mentioned are incredibly intriguing as well, as a 285/330 configuration is just sick. The Camaro, currently, can't fit larger than 315 in the rear without having the wheel protrude from the well a bit, either, which means that the Z28 will almost undoubtedly be outfitted with widened rear quarter-panels as a means of fitting those wheels comfortably within the vehicle's body. The wider wheels (which are comparable to the wheel widths found on Corvettes) should really provide the Camaro Z28 with the grip necessary to hold the road as it pushes all 556(maybe) of its HP through the wheels and to the pavement. Ultimately, with the combination of GM's greatest race technologies and their greatest looking body, the Camaro Z28 should end up an absolute monster of a vehicle that will tear apart its competition with relative ease.
Just in Case you had Forgotten about the Z28…
Camaro5 teamed up with Brenda Priddy & Co. to bring us another image of the future Mustang killing machine, this time taking test runs in the snow. There's not much more to say with this photo, honestly, other than the fact that the car looks gorgeous (still). The fact that Chevrolet has continued to test it in all various sorts of conditions, too, speaks volumes to their commitment to providing a top-notch performance machine, and should inspire confidence in the Z28's future.
All in all, seeing the Z28 is always a good thing, because it proves to us that yes it's real, and no, we're not just dreaming (pinch me).
More Camaro Z28 Spy Footage
Camaro5 has done it again by providing the Camaro-loving world with another great video of the Z28 on the Nurburgring. The sound in this video is even more impressive, too. The Camaro sounds absolutely fantastic and looks great tearing up the track. It appears powerful and responsive through some of the Nurburgring's tightest and most dangerous corners, and looks great staying flat through some of the sweepers. The LSA sounds awesome opened up, too. I liked the sound in the first video, but it's even more impressive in this one. If you're not in love already, you're doing something wrong.
There's also another great video of what happens when you take a pure muscle-car like the Camaro SS and allow Neiman-Marcus to get their hands on it. The Neiman-Marcus Camaro is meant to provide a presentation of a muscle car as it can be transformed in to a $75,000 luxury vehicle. The modifications are really only visual and luxury based, but they appear nice, and should make for a really interesting Camaro when they're done.
More Z28 Spy Photos: LSA Engine Confirmed
Camaro5 did it again and got their hands on some very very incredible photos of the Z28. This time, too, they got more than your standard spy photos. The most recent set of images show the engine of the new Z28 proto-type, as well as a better look at the hood on it. There's even a bit of the read end, where it looks like some sort of modified Camaro body kit will be installed. The images look great, and show the LSA engine in all of its glory.
The LSA, is, of course, a complete and total beast. Manufactured for the CTS-V originally, the LSA is a supercharged 6.2L engine which puts out 556 HP and 551 LB-Torque. The Camaro isn't guaranteed to have the same HP and Torque numbers as the CTS-V, but they'll be similar, so that's exciting. Those sorts of numbers should make the Z28 well above its Mustang and Challenger counter-parts so far as performance is concerned. It will definitely be the best looking of the group, too.
The 6.2L Supercharged LSA 556HP Monster
A Spy of the Potential Camaro Z28 Hood from Beneath - Notice Double Heat Extractor Rows
The Camo Wrap Around the Bumper Suggests Greater Changes will Occur in That Area
Notice the Gorgeous Blue Color on this Tester. This is the first image we've seen of a Z28 not in Red. The Blue is a gorgeous medium tone, and looks great on the Camaro. Imagine that with white stripes!
Is this the Z28, or just another impostor?
Well, word has been going around the Camaro community the last couple of days that the official Z28 test car has been spotted. Everyone from Camaro5 to Camaro Forums to Insideline and GMInsideNews, but I wanted to hold off for any sign that it was more official. Thus far, it appears that everyone is basing their information off of the Camaro5 report, so I figured instead of just regurgitating their information, I'd try and do some further investigation to see if there exists any validity behind this statement.
Camaro5 reported that the test vehicle seen in their images sported the LSA 6.2L Supercharged V8, which would be consistent with what Chevrolet themselves were saying would be in the Z28... exactly one year ago. The stipulation was though, one year ago, that the Z28 would not begin any sort of production or testing run until Chevrolet and GM had their financial situation in a better place. Over the last year the Camaro itself has almost single-handedly saved Chevy, while GM has trimmed a lot of their unnecessary fat as a means of cutting their overhead. It seems logical then that in that year's time this vehicle went ahead in production, although maybe a little premature. We know, from what vehicle history has shown us, that vehicles need multiple months to begin their testing phases, and a few more afterwards for production. What that means is that the choice to move ahead with the Z28 would had to have been made maybe 3 or 4 months ago to be at a place where test mules are running today. GM's end of the year numbers would not have been calculated at that point, nor would the Camaro final year sales numbers, but it could be assumed that GM would have been the incredible rate at which the Camaro was selling and made this decision. I say that, based on this, it's entirely possible that the test mule seen was the Z28, but not ultimately probable.
To further complicate the probability as to whether or not the test mule spotted was, in fact, the Z28 is the simple matter that GM and Chevy have been very candid about the Camaro and what their doing with it as time has progressed. A year ago they said they wanted to make the Z28, and said that they wanted it to happen in the not too distant future. They were also candid about their financial situation. They were then candid about Camaro convertible production beginning, well before test mule shots of that were ever seen. When first starting the Camaro production run, the public was getting consistent updates as to what the Camaro itself would entail. They were not keeping secrets then. So, with all of the truthfulness they've offered up to the public concerning the Camaro in the past, why now go to a more secretive nature? I can't imagine any solid reasons. Maybe they want to continue to promote Camaro SS sales, and think that announcing a Z28 production run would cause those to slow while people wait for the Z28, but I can't see that happening logically. If anything, Z28 announcements would mean more publicity for their powerhouse seller sports coupe. Also, because of the Z28's obviously higher price tag, it seems that the majority of the potential Z28 buyers are in a different economic group or class than those driving or looking to drive SS Camaros today. I can't imagine how GM would benefit from keeping the Z28 private, as they say in business "No press is bad press", and the Z28 is nothing but press.
Here are some images of the vehicle that was spotted, maybe you can tell me what you think or how you feel about it. Does it seem reasonable to assume that this is the Z28? There's no Ram Air hood, which is typically indicative of the Z28. The styling just feels off, it doesn't seem that there's enough here to differentiate this Camaro from any other SS on the road (which isn't a bad thing, b/c the SS is a damn beautiful car).
If I were to put a probability on this, I'd say its maybe 40% likely that this is the Z28. The people providing the info seem genuine enough in their belief of it, but something just doesn't seem right. The sudden secretive nature of GM, the all too soon timing of a mule, and the lack of traditional Z28 styling all lead me to believe that we're (sadly) not seeing the Z28 yet. Here's to remaining optimistic towards the Camaro future though, and hoping that I'm wrong and this is the Z28 and the world will soon be graced with its presence.
Click thumbs for jump to large, hi-res images:
