Trying to look unfazed by their company’s shaky financials, GM just unveiled the new 2010 Chevy Camaro. Set for availability in 2009, the new Camaro hopes to that car that would strike the balance between form and substance. And in today’s world of gallon-pinching, the Camaro’s return of 26 mpg makes it practical as well.

The Camaro uses GM’s rear-wheel drive architecture and would feature three variants sporting two different engines - a 3.6L V6 and a 6.2L V8. The V6 dishes out 300 hp while the V8 packs 422 horses. These engines are mixed and matched to six-speed trannies designed to give optimum performance and fuel efficiency.

All variants feature four-wheel disc brakes with ABS and are equipped with GM’s StabilTrak electronic stability control. The car also offers rear parking assist, remote starting, Bluetooth connectivity, airbags for safety, and an XM satellite radio.

I’d like to see how the new Camaro would fare in the market. The features and the performance figures seem to make this a practical choice for those gunning for a sports car that wouldn’t break the bank. Still, it makes me curious whether GM’s image as a faltering company will have an effect to public reception.

Source: Chevrolet

Remember when the ZR1 tried to run around the Nurburgring clocking a 7:40-ish lap? Too bad the YouTube gods weren’t too happy with it and the video’s long gone.

But here’s something new. Just last month, GM test driver Jim Mero released all hell from under the ZR1’s hood (possibly quite a lot of the 638 horses) and clocked a lap of 7:26.4 around the ‘Ring. That comfortably beats the Nissan GT-R’s lap time.

The new Corvette (yes, the ZR1) has created much buzz especially with all the hype about its LS9 V8 engine that pumps out 638 horses propelling the new ‘Vette from 0-60 mph in just 3.4 seconds and 0-100 mph in 7.0 seconds. Impressive numbers indeed.

Now more of the numbers game with the release of the pricing. The car and those spiffy performance figures can be had for $105,000 dollars (inclusive of destination charges). And, on top of that, the tax for $1,700 since this baby would only get you a fuel economy of 14 mpg city and 20 highway.

So it’s a car for those with deep pockets and spare change to burn. It looks nice, it’s got the performance to boot. But are those enough reasons to purchase some American muscle? More or less $0.40 a city mile? And it’s not like you can push the car to its limits on an average day.

Source: Chevrolet

General Motors have gone a long way from proposing a plug-in concept and actually getting the Chevrolet Volt into production. Bob Lutz initially projected a for it to be a very competitive green car with a target SRP of $30,000 but GM has recently announced that the price will get a 10K bump and would most likely to be available at $40,000.

Lutz also mentioned that even at $40,000, GM would most likely not drive a profit with the Volt but is expected to pave the way for the plug-in vehicle market. Still, IMHO, at $40,000, you have to one rich environmentalist to be able to afford it. The readily available Toyota Prius can be had for just under $25,000. Still, who knows how much a gallon of gas will be in 2010 - the expected availability of the Volt.

GM is fairly confident that the Volt will challenge its Asian competitors, declaring the brave statement, “for the first time, our well-thought-of Asian competitors will be left in the dust.”

Source: Leftlane News

It’s got (not only Chevy’s) but GM’s most powerful engine to date under its hood. It’s capable of dishing out 638 horses. It’s the Chevy Corvette ZR1. Hear the roar of the LS9 engine in this video.

Now if this is to redefine American muscle. For its early debut prior to Detroit, the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 was speculated to pack 620 horsepower under the hood. Through a press released by Chevy, it’s now official - the ZR1 will pack not only 620 horses, it is capable of generating 638 hp through its supercharged LS9 V8 engine.

It’s also got a pull of 604 lb.-ft. of torque. That should make a beast out of this piece of metal. The engine is mated to a six-speed manual transmission with race-hardened gears and dual-disc clutch technology for performance. Those translate to the ZR1 being capable of zooming to speeds of 200 mph.

Chevy General Manager Ed Peper claims, “One of the most amazing things about the Corvette ZR1 is the level of refinement that our designers and engineers have attained. Even with all that power, this car has road manners that will allow our customers to enjoy it on the streets as a daily driver, and on the track.”

Interesting claim. The ZR1 as a daily driver? Quite possible with all the refinements in cars nowadays. Heck, the GT-R is considered one, right? The ZR1 goes on sale this summer.

Source: Chevrolet

It seems that it has now become a trend that the Nurburgring be the proving grounds for performance sports cars. We’ve seen the Pagani Zonda F tear down the track, the Nissan GT-R, even the Lexus LF-A, using it as its test track. So who is King? That remains to be proven as there are still a lot of challengers willing to be the king of the ‘Ring.

This time, it’s the 620 hp sports car that is the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. So will it be the Americans who could give the rest a run for their money? Engineers say that test times around the ‘Ring clock at low 7:40s. Not bad at all.

Source: Inside Line YouTube Channel

America invades Europe yet again. And not without some Asian help. But this time, it’s Geneva and with the Chevrolet Aveo.

It’s not the first time, that the Chevrolet Aveo has been under the lights on a European stage as the Aveo made its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show last year. But this one hitting Geneva would be a face-lifted three-door hatchback version that’s based on Korean designed Daewoo Gentra X.

The Aveo will be powered by economical engines with choices between a 1.2L 84-horsepower engine and 1.4L 101-horsepower one. European markets would be seeing the five-door version starting next month. While the three-door variant will hit showrooms by June later this year.

Source: Inside Line

Green. Green. Green. I have no problems going green. In fact, since I’m a firm believer of Al Gore’s manbearpig, I am all for it (though I still have to save up some money before I could drive around smug in a hybrid). One stigma that hybrids need to overcome is the performance part. While many manufacturers have come a long way into making performance hybrids, I guess if everyone pushes for their own zippy hybrids then it would be an industry standard.

While everyone’s trying to do just that, GM isn’t really focusing on those details but they’re just complying with new rules that require fuel efficiency rates must be improved by 40% in 2020. So turning the Camaro to a hybrid is in by no means a way to make zippy hybrids, it’s just that they should be able to turnaround their whole fleet. I wonder why since they’ve got their own breakthroughs in fuel cells anyway.

Imagine that: a muscle car hybrid. And doing that would be a bit costly. That means that they’d be revamping the platforms and the new powerful gas-guzzling engines (the new V8) will be put on hold.

So for now, GM will be totally rethinking their plans on their developments for the Camaro. Though I still think that they’d be able to do that. They be content squeezing out all the juice they can get from a V6. Toyota has already done a performance hybrid with the FT-HS so why can’t they. Let’s see how the two top dogs would duke it out.

Source: World Car Fans

I still remember that scene in that Clarkson DVD where they pitted an Ariel Atom with a US squad car in a “police chase.” Needless to say, the Atom bitch-slapped the squad car. So will all the performance cars on the road today, is there a chance for squad cars to get a decent upgrade and we’re not saying it’s the new K.I.T.T.

Last time we featured a police car here, it was the Carbon Motors E7. But with GM trying to look more cool ever since Transformers, they made a cop car version of the fastest Corvette ever. This Corvette ZR1 cop car with Michigan State Police insignias slapped on, is probably one of the most intimidating sights you’d see on the road. Though I’d like to see some cop try to pit maneuver someone in this $100,000 car.

Too bad for the State Police, they wouldn’t have their paws on this one. But just the thought of a cop car LS9 supercharged 6.2L V8 engine, getting 620 horsepower and 595 ft-lb of torque is quite frightening. That’s more than twice the power of the E7 and we thought that car was already scary.

Source: GM