Quote:
Originally Posted by BigAls87Z28
Sports cars are one thing, but GM has had a huge problem with weight. Bob Lutz was asked about it years ago, and he said he wanted the cars to have extra weight in things like the doors and other panels so they felt solid.
There will be quite the sizable drop in weight for the 6th gen. 5th gen is 250lbs heavier than a 4th gen, but has all metal body panels, 20 inch wheels, sound deadening, IRS, more air bags, heavier seats, and stiffer frame.
And 300-500lbs is a bit drastic. I'd say that, on average, cars weight within 100lbs of the previous generation.
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I understand your point. If they wanted the cars to feel more solid, they could engineer the parts so they were actually solid - not just adding weight, that is the cheap and wrong way to do that.
But an LS1 4th gen weighs 100lbs more than a 3rd gen, even with a 150lb weight penalty for an all iron engine and all metal body panels - so its more like 250lbs for those. I know these cars are now considered ancient, but my point is that GM has been inflating curb weights for some time. And these 2 generations are about the same size dimensionally.
I just don't understand how GM could put out a 4000lb 5th generation car and be satisfied when it requires more power to be as fast as lighter cars and can't deliver the mileage. The car needs the 426hp LS3 to keep up with the 350hp 4th gens, which is going backwards as far as performance is concerned. That same motor in the much lighter Corvette runs low 12's stock and gets better mileage (as an example).
If I was running things at GM, the first thing on my list would be to start dropping weight in each successive car generation as a whole - that shows progress... Any monkey can add weight and charge more.