Should Chevy Go Bonkers With the New Camaro?
In business, there’s a tactical advantage in being first to market. Being out ahead of the competition means you can capitalize on your sales potential. However, there is a strategic advantage in being last to market. You have the advantage of seeing what everyone else does and adapt your product before shipping.
In the latest generation of modern muscle cars, the 2016 Chevrolet Camaro is the last to market. The Challenger and Mustang both saw refreshes last year, with new power options and better performance.
The Camaro has always been the track star of the muscle car lineup. That handling is improved when you upgrade to the 1LE package, or go whole-hog with the Z/28.
If you wanted straight-line power, you’d go for the supercharged ZL1. But at only 580 horsepower, it’s a bit of a slouch compared to the last-generation Shelby GT500 and the current Challenger Hellcat.
But both Ford and Dodge have shown their hands with their new cars. The Shelby GT350 is going to be a track-focused driver with a naturally-aspirated V8 that’s more Camaro Z/28 than ZL1. While there may be a GT500 in the works with insane horsepower, we haven’t heard anything recently about its development.
Dodge opted for a different approach with the new Challenger. While it does perform better on a racetrack than the previous version, it’s still a straight-line, point and squirt kind of car. But to make it insane, they opted to shoehorn a 707 horsepower, supercharged 6.2L HEMI V8 under the hood.
We know the new Camaro is going to be several hundred pounds lighter than the previous version, we also believe that there will be a turbocharged 4-cylinder, a V6, and a V8 as engine options during the car’s life cycle. We also wouldn’t be surprised if the Z/28 remains in the lineup, but tuned to perform even better when the roads get twisty.
But what about a big horsepower car? While 580 horsepower is more than enough for everyday driving, Dodge has set the bar pretty high for high horsepower cars. Does Chevrolet need to answer with something even more insane?
I think so.
Last year’s Mustang launch was supposed to be the biggest car launch all year, but around springtime Dodge said they were going to build a car with a stupid amount of horsepower. That ended up being the story the rest of the year; the Dodge Challenger (and Charger) Hellcat.
The proof was in the Google search rankings, where more people, for the first time ever, searched for more Dodge products than they did any other manufacturer for several of those months.
CHECK OUT: GM “Very Confident” 2016 Camaro Will Outperform Ford Mustang
A big horsepower Camaro could potentially even have more power than the Corvette Z06, even though it wouldn’t have to outhandle it on the track. Heck, just drop the same supercharged LT4 engine under the hood and call it a day.
If Chevy plays their cards right, 2015 could be the Year of the Camaro the way last year was the Year of the Hellcat.
What say you? Let us know what you think in the forums!
