The first big post-auto show reveal to look forward to is the long awaited debut of the next generation Chevrolet Camaro. We’re all eager to see what improvements this latest offering will bring, but many of us are curious to see how the Camaro will stack against its newly revised rival, the Ford Mustang. GM’s Mark Reuss was asked this, and he’s pretty sure the bowtie will one-up the blue oval.
“I’m confident. Very confident,” Reuss said, speaking to Fox news. He explained that he had driven both cars back to back the week prior, and the improvements made left him quite satisfied that Chevy is well armed for the pony car wars.
From the details that we know so far, the latest Camaro switches from the full-sized Holden-developed Zeta platform to the Alpha platform that the Cadillac CTS and ATS ride on. Apart from that, the Camaro has 70% unique parts, including a host of “smart” materials for stiffness and lightness.
GM opted to put more aluminum in this generation Camaro than the previous version. This, along with a number of other weight saving options, has resulted in the Camaro now being 200 pounds lighter than before.
“There are some really cool things in the Camaro, that are quite different than the Malibu, [or the] CT6,” Reuss said, as these new vehicles have received a similar treatment.
Under the hood, the Camaro is expected to source the 6.2-liter V8 that powers the Corvette Stingray. In this vehicle, it generates 460 horsepower while, for comparison, the current Mustang’s 5.0-liter V8 puts out 435 hp.
We won’t have to wait too long to find out if the Camaro will cause Ford’s popular pony to bolt for the hills: Chevrolet will reveal the sixth generation Camaro at Detroit’s Belle Isle Park in around a month’s time.