Ford may have EcoBoost, but General Motors has beaten the Blue Oval to the twin-turbo pony car punch, unveiling the Jay Leno Chevrolet Camaro earlier today at the 2009 SEMA Show in Las Vegas.
Motivated by the same 3.6L direct injected V6 you’d find under the hood of the Chevrolet Camaro LS or LT, the Jay Leno Camaro blends performance and fuel economy, thanks to a pair of Turbonetics T-3 turbochargers blowing through an air-to-air intercooler. With about seven pounds of boost on tap the Jay Leno Camaro makes 425 horsepower at peak throttle, but GM says the concept returns comparable fuel economy to the standard V6 Camaro under normal driving conditions.
“Jay’s Camaro offers style, performance and efficiency in a big way,” said Brent Dewar, vice president, Global Chevrolet Brand. “It delivers the power of a Camaro SS on demand, but with the fuel economy of a V6.”
In order to accommodate the twin-turbos, the Jay Leno Camaro also features a large capacity radiator and a custom exhaust system. The car also uses a Brembo six-piston brake package to keep that power under control.
To differentiate the Jay Leno Camaro from stocker models, the SEMA concept sports a unique front fascia with integrated brake cooling vents, a suspension lowering kit and an air extractor-style hood.
11/03, 6:37 PM
posted by:
aesir
Looks like the bumble bee front end from Transformers 2
11/03, 6:51 PM
posted by:
reedfast
it would be sweet if they actually mass produced this.
11/03, 7:01 PM
posted by:
DB9
NO Jay, not silver idrinor will “HATE IT” “HATE IT” “HATE IT”!!!
What the ___ were y’all thinking?/! B1tch – slap!!!
DB9 lol:-))
11/03, 7:03 PM
posted by:
Captain Crunch
Wounder what it’s performance #’s would be. This could be another nail in the V8 coffin.
11/03, 7:30 PM
posted by:
AutoCritical
Ah, this is what they thought was the Z28 on another site, when this image was ‘leaked’ onto facebook.
11/03, 7:38 PM
posted by:
Lawnchair88
It makes sense that this is just a concept. Because it would make far too much sense to actually build a 425 HP V6 camaro with great fuel efficiency. Better to let the current models have a 7 or 8 year run, then do a mild refresh with no change in engines for another 3 or 4 years, then just kill the camaro again when CAFE gets ridiculously high. Sweet.
11/03, 7:58 PM
posted by:
andy
so uh Jay, if you feel like being charitable, my CTS’ 3.6 feels left out
11/03, 8:27 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
So if it’s a Jay Leno Camaro will those horsepower ratings go down after the first week?
11/03, 8:43 PM
posted by:
Blakkarr
Johnny Canuck,
Maybe. Maybe not. But I think GM could take this to heart and at least consider a TT option for the CAMARO, the CTS, and a few other V6 cars.
11/03, 9:03 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
Blakkarr, anyone can take an engine and slap a turbo on it… remember the 80’s? I think Ford’s approach with the Ecoboost is the right way to go.
11/03, 9:23 PM
posted by:
rpmfan
Regarding the 80’s, how about the Grand National. Slapping a turbo on it worked for that car.
11/03, 9:56 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
rpm, you’re absolutely right… and it worked for about 50k miles if you were meticulous with your maintenance and cool down routine. The same could be said for the Daytona, T-Bird etc…
11/03, 10:48 PM
posted by:
eye.surgeon
Why don’t I just take the money required for all that extra hardware (not to mention the complexity) and buy the V8 if I want V8 performance? This difference in mileage between the V6 and V8 is 1 MPG in the city and 5 MPG hwy, meaning you are doing all that for an average of maybe 2.5 MPG benefit!!! Does that make sense to anyone outside of LA LA land? Yeah, this should sell about as well as ad time on Jay’s new flop show.
11/03, 11:50 PM
posted by:
cocksterS
Make an argument either way for the engine. Power and fuel economy at the possible expense of long term engine durability.
But…I don’t think there’s much you can argue against with the fascia and the hood. The new body bits look great!
11/04, 1:29 AM
posted by:
snoogah
the chevy v8 cant possible have very much longterm durability anyways, its a chevy engine for gods sake. so i think either way you cant expect the car to run for very long
11/04, 4:25 AM
posted by:
Soravia
With all the Ford Mustang variants and the Camaro variants, this is the first one that deserves to be in news. Twin-Turbo direct injection on small liter engines are the future. Nissan pulled it off. No reason for GM to not try it.
11/04, 10:42 AM
posted by:
Need more oil for GM
Hells ya! This is the whole reason SEMA exists. General Motors showing off more and more of it’s hot concepts of already amazing vehicles.
Americans finally get it, this is GM Country!
An American Revoution!!!!
11/04, 10:43 AM
posted by:
Dingleberry Divas of Dallas
Still no navigation?
johnnycanuck
So if it’s a Jay Leno Camaro will those horsepower ratings go down after the first week?
This is still like Jay Leno… Still lost and fighting for ratings…
11/04, 1:11 PM
posted by:
armstealer
Mikey Likey.
11/04, 4:16 PM
posted by:
bmwmpower
That looks pretty bad ass
11/04, 4:57 PM
posted by:
ajm11
snoogah – You must be grossly ill informed. General Motor’s V8 Engines especially the LS series engines are incredibly durable. They may not be the most high tech engines but also do not need to be. I would sooner have a 6.2L pushrod LS3 engine in my truck or car than any imported V8 with the possible exception of the 6.6L Duramax Diesel.
11/04, 8:05 PM
posted by:
Blakkarr
Wait. So this is actually a GM Concept and not something Jay Leno and his Wrenchmen put together themselves, right?They just named it after him. Did Jay Leno commission it like he did those EV FOCUSes? I like it more then.
A bit of slight of hand than the V8 SS becomes the Z/28, bumped up to 500+Hp, and this TT-V6 becomes the new SS.
11/04, 11:21 PM
posted by:
iwc5004
Need more oil for GM I still see they are pushing those pos out. No wonder gm went bankrupt. Pos cars. Learn how to design a real car like a gtr or 370z or rx8.
11/05, 10:09 AM
posted by:
dAVE mAN
They should just stick a Z28 badge on this and sell it right now. Also add this as an option to the CTS, a nice model for between the base CTS and the V.
11/05, 11:43 PM
posted by:
NO more oil for GM is retarded
What a piece of crap. Why do they keep producing these overweight pos. There are corners at the end of straights. Typical garbage motors.
Long live the imports.