El Kabong

Don't forget the new Y-body (Corvette).

Basically it's a mishmash of guilt for recommending TDIs to friends, a bit of an attempt to place it in context, and a warning to not anger tree-huggers. Link here: http://www.automobilemag.com/features/columns/1601-this-is-going-to-hurt-volkswagen/

We all have the joke now. For four years at least. The SL is nice. It, like the office he now occupies, is an inheritance.

Yup. We're all screwed now.

I must be getting squirrelly as I get older, but I'm really interested to see what happens when some idiot tries to boost the 2.0 to 400hp or so.

Ho-Lee CRAP this is turning into a perfect storm.

Exactly. Except maybe for me. False modesty aside, I had my suspicions quite some time ago.

Yup. ...and they ain't strapped the timing gear to that one either. Stop trying to pin the fanboi tag on me. Seriously. I ain't deaner or badtroll or wings. I just call it as I see it, and I've developed a pretty good rep for getting it right. 3,650 pounds, remember? I'm as interested to see hard numbers as anyone. But a shaky track record in the past is not going to result in glass half-full expectations. For 63 grand, I want to see peeformance at least close to the Z/28. For 50 grand I want to see performance that will destroy the SS.

But it isn't the only thing I base it on. C/D also noted that the GT350s tires weren't track-ready gumballs like the Z/28. And let's not forget that whatever straight-line chops the Z/28 lacked, it did win Best Drivers Car, so it clearly had the intangibles locked up. Sorry man. But Ford doesn't get that benefit of the doubt. I want results.

Same deal in Nova Scotia, only I'm pretty sure it's 70 and 110.

38 grand gets you a Canaro that does 0-60 in 3.9 and the quarter-mile in 12.4. 50 grand gets you a Mustang that one strategically-placed VBox says will do 0-60 in a similar amount of time, and possibly get you 0.2 seconds and a couple of mph trap speed. It's at least food for thought. Badstang and Deaner? Last I looked, MT's mods and Christian Seabaugh himself were threatening them with bans. I'm much better than that.

It will not be a good product for the price. The initial numbers on the SS have already shown that. There is no pot-stirring here-just experience and numbers talking.

Funny story (but only in hindsight): Back when I was gainfully employed at GM, they brought the Camaro Concept to Oshawa. We all gathered around and ooohed and aaahed, because, hey, it DID look awesome. But it was also not too far removed from the bad days yet to come, and we all knew what the car REALLY was at that point: a morale-sustainer at best, a cruel reminder of past glories at worst. Even when it became clear that the car was being built-at Oshawa no less!-the lead time was a source of joking even for us because once again, we all knew that GM was a mess behind the scenes, and the car was still a bit of a decoy. I get the same vibe with the Shelby. Ford now knows that the S550 platform is a knife in a gunfight. They've seen the numbers, they've read the reviews. They know the Shelby's appeal will be largely on a subjective level, not an objective one. And the pricing will make it an uphill battle even then. So... Butter up the journos. Bring out an original GT350. Stir up the nostalgia. And KEEP THE INSTRUMENTS AWAY. It will have to deliver the goods eventually. But not, it appears, today.

Now, lest anyone think that I'm just stirring the pot with such speculation, consider what MT just posted... looks like they're kinda getting tired of waiting for the rubber to hit the road, too: http://m.motortrend.com/features/performance/dyno-battle-gt350-gt350r-and-camaro-z28.html

Isn't that what every manufacturer does? MT has a "first drive review" and then a "first test review" on about every car they get minus the 200k exotics. That's just "the way she goes".Maybe. But consider this (because the writer in the R&T article spelled it out there as well): from the GT350's public debut to its first (non-instrumented) test took roughly eight months (ten when you add in publishing lag times). From the Camaro's debut this summer on Belle Island to first instrumented testing?... whole lot less. To me, that's a definite red flag.

It would have been nice, definitely. But the initial results indicate that the V6 is a decent enough lump. ...on a possibly related note, it's good to see GM being so open with the testers on this car. I just read the latest R&T article on the GT350. They allowed the writer to drive it, but still no instrumented testing. Troubling.

Mad Max 2 is still an awesome movie.

Uh... yay?

So I dropped over to another forum to see what's what. I posted some 2016 Camaro reviews in a thread entitled "2016 Camaro Reviews." I was accused of trolling. Yup. The Mustang guys are pretty freaked out over this Camaro

Admitting in an advertisement that they lied would be a bigger blow to the Germans than any hit to the pocketbook. Pride is a terrible thing.

It was a bit late showing up, but the weekend is finally here.

Let the marketplace decide. If folks consider the V6's refinement to not be worth the extra expense then they'll either gravitate to the turbo-four or the smallblock. Speaking for myself, I understand why the numbers might be a bit of a letdown after the crazy ones generated by the SS. But it is a Cadillac engine first and foremost, and therefore NVH people carried the day. I'm not going to get too upset for that-after all, the chassis that underpins the whole works is a Cadillac as well.

Road & Track just weighed in: "While the Mustang has made the Camaro look and feel fat and sloppy for five years, the tables have officially turned. We couldn't be happier." http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/first-drives/a27066/2016-chevrolet-camaro-ss-first-drive/

It appears to have the edge over the EcoBoost Mustang, so I'm ok with those numbers. I mean, if you have a V6 that'll break 100mph in the quarter-mile you're doing something right.

At 37 large, it comes standard with much of the stuff that used to be optional. Good enough for me. I believe my exact words were "it'll weigh 3,650 pounds in a trim nice enough to let the car mags test." Motor Trend came within a case of bottled water of proving me right.