hyperv6

I had a ZQ8 GMC SLS. THe GMC version of the SS. It was a dog of a 4.3 but it was fun on off ramps. I loved that truck. I just feel bad that most people here have owned the power poor versions of the SS and missed on the Powerful SS of the past. I still lover the 80's SS Monte amd El Camino and most of the others Though there were a couple I could have done without. They made some cool cars just it was a shame Chevy did not use the engines they could have used. Imagine a Monte SS with a TPI 350 VS a 305 Carb. It is like the SS always got the short end till the GMPD got ahold of tuning them a couple years ago starting with the Trailblazer SS.

Ok I feel better now I am not alone! Nice black SS S-10!!!

As much as some want to explain away this story the fact remains we will have smaller less powerful more expensive cars in the future at a time the auto industry is hanging by a thread. Much of this could have been solved with just a fuel tax that would have made people want to by the $h! boxed vs having them forced upon them. The point is if you wanted to drive a CTS V you could if you pay for it but with theses laws were will not have that freesdom of choice. The fact is few in Washington had the balls to put the tax in as they knew they would never get re elected. I still expect we will get a fuel tax anyway as the goverment is spending money faster than GM these days and will need the money. Hell they want to tax the hell out of Coke and Pepsi now where is this going to end. Any way I think it is better to set the conditions and let people choose what they want vs limiting their choices. The last time CAFE jumps were added it led to the cars of the 80's. It took the auto insudtry 20 years to recover. This time in their condition they just might be finished off. Anyone remember the Citation!

Maybe we should change this to who owned a SS that cold do at least a sum 15 sec in the 1/4 mile stock. That way we could seperate the sticker cars from the real SS. LOL! There are a lot of SS I would not consider much of a performance car in the 80's and 90's. Chevy got pretty liberal with the SS emblem for a while.

Am I the only one who has had a SS from the 60's and 70's?

1968 Chevelle SS Bench seat 4 speed one of the first built 1972 GMC Sprint SP Rare [ GMC's version of the El Camino SS big block] 2008 HHR SS Funny how the 2.0 4 cylinder is the fastest of all of them.

I had expected the Alpha to be a scales down and lighter Zeta. This just may be it. The Zeta was made to be expandable in wheel base and width so to scale this down and make it smaller would be logical. There is nothing wrong with the Zeta except it size will not fit into the requirements of the future goverment rules. Making it a more efficent car will make it live on. I just would not expect much in a V8 and if they do have a V8 it will be smaller and more expensive. I don't think even DI can save the LS engine after 2016. Note California is already pushing for higher limits now that Obama has rasied the stakes yesterday. There is no comprimise with CARB they will take and take untill someone is willing to step up and stop them. I wonder if this news will make Ford finally decide if they will build a new RWD. Last I heard they were not really pushing a platform till they heard about the Goverment regs. I know they are looking into it but did not want to go public yet with a yea or nay.

Stop being so politically sensitive. You should appologize for that comment. He was making a general comment of goverment in general. Please do not be like so many others today that only want their words to be heard and they insult anyone who disagrees. That is so wrong based on what and how this country was founded. Many of us may disagree with you but we do not condem you on your stands. We all need to be tollorant of each other out of respect. There is enough bad going on in all partys to let everyone to take the blame. The sad part I see no end to the grief of the car enthusisast. We are facing times now that will be more damaging to our automotive interest than ever before. I see the next move to force people into cars they want others to drive will be a large gas tax. This is not just to pay off the gov debt but to also make up for the lost revenue of the higher mpg cars. With gas $5-$7 it will force people into the smaller cars. The excuse for rasing the tax is that we will have higher MPG ratings to help cut the cost of the tax to the people. I have heard folks on both side call for this. The car companies have supported this large tax only because they knew they would be force to build cars no one wanted and this is the only way they can sell them. The tx would be a great help to the Volt. Just one last note To quote a great man "That government : of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." I wish more of us would remember these words other wise their is a lot to lose.

I have found both of the 2008 Chevys I bought the engines under normal driving will get better MPG than listed. My SS was 19 and 27 MPG on the window sticker. to get 19 MPG it has to be all city and I have to have the pedal to the floor all the time. If driven normal in the city it will jump up fast. My 24 mile commute daily is city streets with about 7-9 miles of the 24 being highway stop and go. My day driving will return an average of 24-25 mpg. IF I stick to the highway on a trip 29-30 is easy beating the posted numbers.

I still feel our country is being taken down one step at a time internally. They could not defeat us militarily but they can fiscally. The things I have seen in the last 10 years make me wonder where the hell were going to be in 10 more years.

These are the same guys that are willing to kill out economy even more than it is for the eviroment. No matter if GM is controled by the goverment these are the same people passing laws that will end the Camaro as we know it soon enough. I also fear for racing as this is also something these same people would like to see killed. As far as many of them are concerend they would rather see us on tolleys and trains or even a bike. All this is fine if your going the way they are going but where I live none of these would work for me. You right to own and drive the car of your choice is under attack. Once some of these laws are passed and the right to own some cars are removed we will have a very hard time to get the rights back. As automotive enthusiast we need to fight for our rights and do it soon.

See other than the Corvette the V8 is not as much a factor as it once was. Before it was the only way to make a performance car. But in the world market most companies are using more and more v6 and 4 cylinder cars that make more power than many old V8 engines. Who ever though we would see mostly V8 Ferraris with semi auto trannys? I used to think it was V8 or nothing but today I drive daily a 4 cylinder with near 300 Hp and over 315 FT LBS. This is enought to put 3200 pounds with FWD into the 13's with an automatic. Now I can say I love a good V8 but the fact is performance is performance and I have learned to stop counting cylinders as many people have. I gained 55 HP with just two map senors and a flash. The neat part is it is covered by the full GM warranty. I do admit I wish this was a RWD vehicle but for a FWD it is very nicely tuned by GMPD and makes driving fast feel slow. Note with the GM turbo kit it increased my mileage by 1-2 MPG. I see 25 city and over 30 Highway. The GMPD powertrain engineer said it was an unintended side effect but they were glad to see it. As for electric the technology will explode in the coming years now that more people are spending money on developing it. We will see gains never expected. While they will not dominate in the next ten years they will increase in numbers and reduce in price. Having an electric will no longer require a lifestyle change as it has in the past. I see GM moving to things like the new V6 twin turbo in a lighter smaller car with rew. It will give the numbers we want but still deliver the MPG they need. If it does a 4 sec 0-60 I would not miss two cylinders.

The differance bettween your view and mine is this. I say smaller and ligher perfomance cars with out V8 engines and you think import. My View is Performance is Performance I do define where it comes from buy the type of performance. The world is changing and heritage means little to more and more people. We used to laugh at th import buyers and not they are laughing at us as they are no longer a small minority. My Point is GM is faced with a futuer of higher and highe emission and fuel standards. The BS of well the Vette got 30 plus MPG does not wash on higher volume lines. I am all for RWD but I also understand to keep it alive more than a few years you will have to do more with less. Note Tuesday the Pres will intro a new Coperate average of 34 MPG average by 2016 this will also intail stricter emission laws too. According to reports from both the New York Times and Politico, the Obama Administration plans to announce new CAFE regulations tomorrow that will finally reconcile both federal and state standards. The plan is expected to combine California's strict emission rules with the federal rule, raising the national fleet mileage to around 42 mpg for cars and approximately 26 mpg for light trucks by 2016 – an increase over the current standards of 27.5 mpg for cars and 24 mpg for trucks. I also see lighter cars as not only a way to improve braking and handling but as a way to keep perfromance alive. The plain fact is going into the future the heritage ways are not going to work with the new rules. The imports now are building perfromance cars that can live under the new and coming rules. I just don't want to see GM lose what perfromace edge they have by not making cars they can sell in 15 years. THe present Camaro is done in 2016 and they need to find a way to get more MPG out of it. The future of performance is either adapt to the Change that is here or die. These people in Washington could give a rats a$$ about RWD and 1/4 mile times. So we need to find a way to work inside their new rules. GM is not in a place they can challange it right now. One you give ground it is very hard to gain it back. Unless you put a pick up bed on the Camaro your not going to meet the new rules soon. I will make it plain, I want Perfromance and RWD To reach this I have also grasped it will become harder and harder to do this with a big V8. Unless you have some way of getting more MPG other than DI in a LS time is running out. I am sure the powertrain guys would also like to know how too. The box they can work in is getting smaller and smaller. It is nice to dream on what they could do but when you get the rules it becomes what they can do. As for the modified car you had better tell Chevy as they have given a lot of lead time to the performance aftermarket. They know that is one reason the Fox 5.0 Mustang thrieved in the 80's. It was cheap and easy to mod. So many did. THis was a play out of the old Chevy play book of the first gen Camaro. You my friend vastly underestimate the aftermarket effects on a car like the Camaro. I see the numbers and know what is going on in the industry here. I know for a fact most V8 perfromace cars will see some mod at some point and many V6 Mustangs would if parts were available. Few are. If the cheap parts were not available for the Mustang 5.0 it would haved not thrived as it did. Just look at the first couple years of this car when no aftermarket was available. It did ok but sale swelled as the parts came online with the 5.0 FI.

Time has passes passed on for these cars. Just adding an inteior would buy a year at best. We will have fun cars again but GM needs to build better cars first before they worry about making them fast.

Yes the very same GM that took a Cobalt to a well driven 8:22 lap around the ring as well as a HHR to with in a couple tenths of a Honda 2000S on the same track. The chassis people at GM have been given a green light to make things turn and ride well. The last few new cars have proven that.

On the contary aftermarket parts sales is an industry that was built on the backs of the Camaro and Mustang. These two cars are the most heavily modified cars of all time and you will find the majority have some modification either cosmetic or mechanical. I have judges enough Camaro shows to know where the majority lies. Most of your stock 67-69 were restored from modified condition. You can't just go by numbers and weights but trends. The fact is in the old days it was just Chevy and Ford with a few offerings from the other GM divisons and Chrysler. Now you have many more performance options from many more countries. My point it to seek out what and where this is all going as it is not going to be a 3800 pound V8 in 20 years as the goverment rules have seen to that. We all need to face the reality that the change is coming as the world has changed. Chevy needs to move ahead and quit living in the past. They need to find how to lead this trend and not follow. I unlike some here am glad GM did not go full retro with this car like Chrysler did. That is an indication the guys at GM are moving forward unlike some here. In the future we need to stop counting cylinders and start just dwelling on overall performance that appeals to a large group and not to just a few reliving their past. The new V6 Camaro is the smartest thing GM did on this car. In the end it will be what saves the Camaro if the goverments rules don't kill it. Once gas goes up again and it will this also will prove to be a savior to this car 4 years from now when the newness wears off. The Camaro had better gain sales as if if it does not as Fitz says Pay the bills in the future it will be gone. The 4th gen at the end was not paying many bills.

You can disagree all you like but I make a living selling performance parts. The people buying American performance parts are getting older and older as the import performance parts are getting younger and younger. When I was younger "Camaro's were like A$$ Holes everyone has one" as the saying went. Then we went to the Mustang 5.0 stage where the majority of the performance market went to the Mustang. No one when I was growing up wanted a Honda or Toytota. Few even wanted a 280 Z. Now we have a fast growing group of 4 cylinder tubo drivers. WRX, GTI, etc. Even many of the new staff we have brougth in are now driving many imports FWD and RWD. Most could care less about anything American. I know who is paying the money that pays my paycheck. I see the marketing results and I know what products companies are making. At one time the Camaro was as dominate in this goup as GM was in America. But today it is a very competitive market and the Camaro does not have the must have handle with every teen out their as it used to. At one time the Camaro was on the want list of 75-80% of the young drivers out their, you either had oner or wanted one. Today it is not longer like that. Don't get me wrong there are some young people who dream of this car but no where near the numbers it used to be. And please don't take me as a anti Camaro fan. Hell we just completed a Soap Box Derby car for the Akron derby that is dun up as a Camaro. We have hockey stick stripes and all. We even have the new logo on the side and the new Chevy Bow Tie. I like to say it is the first 2010 Camaro in racing. We have a 6 and 7 with a rookie driver an d a crew chief who is just learning the ropes. If anything with the Help of the local Camaro club we are promoting the car as much as we can. The bottom line is todays kids have grown up in imports and many like what mom and dad drove just as many here grew up in GM cars and made them our choice. The big problem with the Camaro is the first gens are priced our of young hands as the second gens are getting their. Third gens did not hold up well and are near impossible to restore with the lack of avaiable parts. The 4 gen is affordable and solid for the most but few can afford the insurance on a V8. Also performance parts are not cheap for them as the older cars. The real hope is the V6 becomes popular and the insurance stays low. There is a lot of performance parts coming for it so this will really help. If the Camaro was just a little lighter the 2.0 LNF would have made a good option but at 500 pounds more than my HHR SS I would not want one in a car that heavy. The V6 is the best small engine option for the present package. The key is make it fast, make it affordable to own, affordable to buy and affordable to fix up. That has been the biggest edge to the Mustange and imports and not the 4th gen.

I had the present Aveo for a loaner from dealer. I now have a new appreciation for the sorry souls who drive them. I understand cheap and affordable but this car made a Chevette appealing. I drove it on the free way and it bounced and tracked all over the place. It had small horrid tires and lifeless suspesion. I hope time on the ring will make this a true car that is a joy to drive not a chore. Just because it is cheap does mean it has to drive like a golf cart.

THe 3.5 I have never seen as a published option. I agree it was a canaceled fleet or special edition added. There have been some unadvertised options packages for the BU.

There is two markets. The older market that loves the classic and the V8. Then the new market that is younger and dreams of GTR 4, Skylines and G37. The younger market is a growing market and they love their cars like their Hot Wheels over done. The present Camaro will do well but they need to watch the market shift to those who are buying these other cars. Their money is just as good as anyone elses. I hope to see the Future Camaro still has a hint of retro but I would like to see a new clean design. One just as different as the 69 was form the 70. To grow this market GM needs to look at retaining us the Camaro enthusiast but also appeal to the growing younger market of buyers just as GM is working to apeal to the female buyers today. The Classic Camaro buyer in 1968 is now driving a Vette, CTS or G8 uinless he has a second car. GM needs to win the buyers they nerver had in from the 80's and 90's that never owned a Camaro and never even wanted one. This is a tough job but it can be done. The future laws will require smaller and lighter cars. GM can take advantage of that to appeal to this import buyer. One thing I have noticed with most Asian car buyers is styling is not a strong requirement. Just look at somw of the cars they buy and most are over done or well under done. Lets face it the best styled cars from Japan have been styled in Europe.

GM needs to worry more about building and marketing high volume profitable cars and not dwell on low volume low profit deals. The HHR SS panel is nice but it has a very small audience. You can not tow with it. It is a little expensive for a 2 seater that is not a sports car. The panel dose well with small fleets and businesses and small companies. They are efficent and very affordable in the non SS form. The bottom line is 98% sold are window versions and the time and effort to build the SS panel is just not worth the extra cost time and effort for as few as are sold. It is nice if they would offer it but at this time GM has more important things to worry about like getting the Cruze right for the American market. Form what I read it could use the 2.0 Turbo to make it right.

I hope mine makes it as it does one hell of a good job all the way around. On the other hand I can give you 6 others if they shut their doors at the end of today I would toast their loss. IF anything this is a good chance for GM to shead many of the dealers that have done more harm than good. I have had too many GM dealers that false advertise and lie. I usally buy from the ones that treat me right and will not blow smoke up my butt. THey are out there but I hate having to go to the other only to walk out till I find a good dealer.

Guys the problem is the fact Chevy did not have enough money to market all the cars right and only enough to do one at a time right. The reason the 4th gen F body has no marketing and a cheap interior is Chevy spent all the money on the suspension and engne. Scott has stated that in the past. The budget did not let them so all they wanted to do. GM has been short money since the 70's and it has shown if you just look at how they have done things so long only as good as they had to in some areas. The fast they had so many divisions, so many cars and a falling market share left little money to do it all right. I know some will cry we need all the brands and models but the fact GM can't support them properly is a sign something had to go. You can sell 6 divisions and 80 plus models half ass or you can cust it down and design, build, market and sell the best cars you can properly. GM is no different than myself. I can afford to own and restore a classic GTO and make it a show winner. Or I could own a bunch of unrestored GTO's that are nice but not the class of the field. I can not afford to restore them all nor care or store them properly they would suffer for it. GM is just now getting down to where they may be a manageable company and really make better cars and afford to tell people about them. Just look at how Chevy promoted things back in the 60's When they came out with a new model year they promoted all the cars not just a chosen few. I still love to look at some of the old marketing where they would promote all models form Corvair to Corvette in a magazine layout. I hope in the future cars like the HHR and Cobalt SS will not be forgotten and untold to the American public. It is a crime that I get gear heads that look at my HHR SS in disbelief that it is a factory Chevy.

The lack of marketing for the HHR SS is amazing. I drive mine around and have many people tell me they like what I did to mine. Then I tell them it is a stock SS they are like they Chevy makes a SS? I then say yes and it has a Turbo on it. Then I get the dumb founded look. Then when I tell them the HP and top speed they are like you are kidding me. and I then say no! The plain fact is GM sold less than 5,000 SS in 08 and less in 09. the number of panels may be less than 500 built and under 750 if you inclue the half panels. I may even be over estimating this. The regular panels are selling up a storm and I see them everywhere. Many in my are use them for delivery and even a plumbing contrator has a fleet of them. Either way the SS is a rare sight for many as on the HHR site few with a SS have ever seen another in many parts of the country. They are very popular in So Cal and FL. I just ran tandam with a black one identical to mine on the interstate the other day. It was odd to see another one like mine. Most time I see others they are red or the silver one of the guy I work with. Chevys marketing has all gone to the Malibu and this year to the Camaro. Soon it will pass to the Cruze and Volt. Chevy seems to only have enough money top support marketing on one vehicle at a time. Even the Cobalt SS marketing is rare. This is also a unknow to many out side a few road test readers in a couple magazines. It is a shame GM has built two of the best perfromance bargins and most well tuned FWD perfromance cars they have made and fail to tell anyone.

It is a lot less scary after I put the 16 inch tires and Herb Adams suspension kit on. The inch and a quarter rear bar and one inch front make a differance. The Adams rear solid bearing bushings in the rear control arms remove the bump steer. I have the showroom stock set up on accept for the cut springs. I already can hardly get into the driveway as it is now. I wish I had more power but the V6 runs like new and only has 40,000 miles on it. I have many Fiero people who swear this is the ultimate car and they hate it when I told them they never have driven a really good car then. THe Fiero is what it is Cheap fun and a go cart for adults. It is not the ultimate driving machine. On the other hand it is not as bad as some would like to make it. Having crashed in mine at 40 MPH into a Dodge van and then driving it home I can swear for it as a safe car for the 80's. I know todays are better but it was ahead of it's time back then for stiffness.