|
|---|
Monday, February 18, 2013
Ages from now, when we look back at 2008–2013 with 20/20 hindsight, we’ll likely deem GM’s quick-rinse bankruptcy a blessing. Case in point: the 2014 Chevrolet SS sedan arriving later this year. This car is an amalgam of a once-revered nameplate (SS) and one of the best cars developed by pre-Chapter 11 GM, the Pontiac G8. Without GM’s trip through the reorganization wringer, a rear-drive Chevy flagship might not have happened.
The SS evolved into the more successful Sting Ray racer that begat the 1963 Corvette (C2) Sting Ray production model. In 1961, Chevy resurrected the badge for an optional ($54) Impala package consisting of various chassis, interior, and exterior upfits. Over the years, the double-S escutcheon has been hung haphazardly on Chevys ranging from convertible pickups to front-drive Impalas to current V-8–powered Camaros.
The new Chevrolet SS is an updated version of the Australian-built Pontiac G8, which thrived for barely 18 months before sinking, along with GM’s “excitement” division, in 2009. When it knocked off Dodge’s Charger R/T in our June 2008 comparison test, we dubbed the G8 GT “the BMW that Pontiac always wanted to build.” When it perished the following year, GM’s Bob Lutz said the full-size four-door G8 was too good to waste, and he pledged that it would reappear as a Chevrolet.
Lutz’s forecast was dead-on accurate. The Chevy Camaro, essentially a shorter-wheelbase (112.3-inch) coupe version of the G8, arrived before the onset of Pontiac’s death throes. In late 2009, Chevrolet announced a 118.5-inch-wheelbase Caprice PPV perp coach built on GM’s large rear-drive platform, which was formerly code-named Zeta. The new SS is the meat in the sandwich. It rides on the size-medium 114.8-inch wheelbase of the old G8, but features a host of updates such as re-creased sheetmetal, a new electrical architecture, a retuned chassis, and contemporary Chevrolet interior and exterior earmarks. All Zeta siblings have unibody construction, front struts, and a multilink rear suspension.
The production SS due this fall will have an LS3 6.2-liter V-8 burbling under its hood, backed up by a six-speed automatic with standard paddle shifters. Packing 415 horsepower and 415 lb-ft of torque—as well as a 3.27:1 final drive—Chevy says the car should sprint to 60 mph in the five-second range.
Thanks to: Car and Driver
0 Comments:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
LinkWithin
