2016 Alpha platform Camaro

UNKNOWN_370

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...A8StmmWTVnR0cA

Becomes A Different Animal
Comment Now Follow Comments

General Motors GM +0.75%’ (GM) Chevrolet division is staging a high-performance soiree on Saturday to unveil the 2016 Camaro, the all-new, sixth generation of the iconic coupe that, with the Ford Mustang, helped establish in the late 1960s the hallowed era of go-fast, big-engined, “ponycars.”

But the 2016 Camaro marks the end of an era as much as the continuation of a nostalgic automotive time. Yes, it’s still meant to go fast and be comparatively inexpensive – the two primary components of the original ponycar formula – but the 2016 Camaro is sure to be vastly more refined and civilized than any Camaro before it. Chevy would like the Camaro’s newly designed-in refinement to enhance its appeal to a wider range of new-car buyers.

For the underpinnings of the all-new Camaro, GM engineers repurposed the company’s “Alpha” structure; Camaro aficionados and purchase intenders may not care about the savings this delivers to GM’s bottom line – what will matter to them is that Alpha was first designed as the foundation for a Cadillac, specifically the sharp-handling (albeit regrettably slow-selling) ATS compact coupe and sedan. The Alpha platform’s baked-in refinement and lithe handling, not to mention some 200 pounds less weight, should imbue the 2016 Camaro with attributes go-fast-in-a-straight-line ponycars traditionally have eschewed: agile cornering and a supple ride.

In advance of its May 16 unveiling, Chevrolet had not yet allowed media outlets to show photos of the 2016 Camaro. But television network CNBC "mistakenly" broadcast images in its possession, this one showing the new but familiar Camaro front-end styling.
In advance of its May 16 unveiling, Chevrolet had not yet allowed media outlets to show photos of the 2016 Camaro. But television network CNBC “mistakenly” broadcast images in its possession, this one showing the new but familiar Camaro front-end styling.


Rear styling of the 2016 Chevrolet Camaro, again courtesy of CNBC’s unauthorized broadcast prior to the car’s “official” unveiling scheduled for May 16.


Chevrolet’s veer toward musclecar refinement mirrors that of Ford Motor's F +1.38% (F) all-new 2015 Mustang, launched last fall with a similar emphasis on improved handling and a certain, let’s call it “upgrade,” in creature comfort.

But there’s another new-age angle as well: recasting the ponycar recipe with at least a nod toward contemporary concerns regarding fuel economy. Although Chevrolet didn’t release all the details of the 2016 Camaro’s mechanicals in advance of Saturday’s unveiling, it’s probable that the all-new Camaro will, like the Mustang, include the option of – eek! – a four-cylinder engine under its lightweight hood.

It wouldn’t be the first four-cylinder in the Camaro’s history, but it certainly would be the strongest. Beside the fact the Mustang currently offers the more fuel-efficient four-cylinder alternative, the main reason many speculate Chevrolet will offer the new Camaro with four-cylinder is that a strong-performing turbocharged four-cylinder already is in use by the mechanically related Cadillac ATS. Chevrolet already has confirmed the 2016 Camaro will be available with the ponycar-requisite rumbling V8.
Last year, the current Camaro found slightly more than 86,000 buyers, outselling the Mustang for the fifth consecutive year. Through April of this year, however, the new-design 2015 Mustang, with 42,955 deliveries, had jumped well ahead of the Camaro’s 24,229 sales, as those interested in the Camaro may have held off in anticipation of the new sixth-generation model’s impending release. If the 2016 Camaro hits showrooms late this summer or in early fall, it may not have enough time to reel in the Mustang’s sales lead and retain its best-selling ponycar title. The other lonstanding Detroit-made musclecar, the Dodge Challenger, typically runs third in the sales column.

Lighter, more powerful, more fuel-efficient, more refined. New technology has enabled the reinvention of the ponycar. Now what remains to be seen is whether the formula can succeed not only with the Camaro faithful (we predict it will) but gain ground in the crossover vehicle-obsessed U.S auto market.

__________________
Favorite Quote.
"I'm not gonna kill you... I'm just gonna Bash Your Face In" Jack Nicholson-"The Shining". 1980