Quote:
Originally Posted by shaffe
True, but I was relating that to the cost alone. They did it for 12K less than the Z/28.
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Well, then GM turned around and did the SS 1LE for around $25 grand less than the Z/28, with the same track performance.
Chevy seems to always have a leg up on Ford, not just in engine boring, but suspension and chassis development. Chrysler-Dodge just says ****-it and stuffs the biggest engine and blower they can in there and they know it will sell because people are attracted to straight-line performance like crack, they don't try to compete on the track because they get their rear end handed to them every single time. Ford has had some good developments, but it's always lagging behind GM and they never seem to put as "serious" of an effort into it.
I think it started with the 2nd generation CTS-V with the 556hp supercharged engine and the cult-status G8. The Corvette was always there and always getting better with every iteration, but at that turning point in 2009 they offered an absolutely nuts sedan, with the magna-ride and all the goodies that make a modern performance car, holding back nothing. Was it perfect? Of course not, but it was in a category that Ford has simply chosen not to step in for a long time. Then the Gen 5 Camaro showed up, and it was a huge evolutionary leap, it too had flaws, but from a strict performance standpoint, it was miles ahead, this is when Mustangs GTs were coming with 300hp, they had to quickly refresh the model and come out with a HP rating that was similar, but GM had independant suspension and a better chassis, so every attempt to up the performance of the Mustang was easily met and exceeded. But I didn't post this to just talk about mustangs, but C6 Z06s, ZR-1s, Gen 5 ZL-1s, Chevy SSs, ATS-Vs, hell, CTS-V wagons, and so on. GM has been far more serious about performance car development and is far more consistent at putting out a well rounded machine. This is a paradigm shift from what they put out in the 2000s, 90s and before. They put out stuff that was a complete joke compared to performance cars from Europe and even a lot of the snappy handling Japanese sedans and small cars. It seemed like all they could do was make a solid-rear axle overweight soft-car with an auto-trans and low-compression V8, etc.
As cool as the GT350 is, Ford just can't seem to touch the performance car development that GM is into these days. I wouldn't hold out for the GT500, it would really have to be so much faster than anything GM has to bring back some of that credibility, remembering that if they dump enough money into it where it's faster and more expensive than a ZL1-1LE, then there's always the ZR-1 that is a monster, and Ford doesn't even have a chassis to compete with that as far as we know. It comes down to the fact though that car companies are in the business of selling cars, not making the fastest or best cars, so Ford is likely doing what they think will do this. All 3 of the big US manufacturers know that trucks and SUVs are where you make your money. Guys will fork over 40-70K in a heartbeat for a pickup truck with all the goodies.