GM Aftermarket Performance Parts

Factory Bolt-On SpeedThe performance aftermarket was caught with its pants down in 1996 when Ford ditched the reliable old pushrod 5.0L in favor of the single overhead-cam 4.6L engine. Torque went the way of the dodo, horsepower was down, and Mustang loyalists who would fight to the death to defend the 5.0's honor threw up their hands in disgust at the lackluster 4.6. The DOHC Cobra motor that came out two years later helped, but the Mustang GT was, frankly, a slug. Compounding the problem was its complexity that scared off a lot of the aftermarket parts suppliers, the same companies that had made a killing selling 5.0L performance bolt-ons.

Eventually, the aftermarket came around, and modular performance is no longer an oxymoron. In fact, the new three-valve Mustang GT can be turned into a wicked Corvette killer with ease thanks to the huge factory and aftermarket support of the engine and the car. Showroom sales of Mustangs skyrocketed with the redesign in 2005, and the aftermarket, including Ford Racing Performance Parts, was there at the start to help turn them into hot rods. And based on how well the '03-'04 Cobra responded, I guarantee the GT500 won't be on the street a week until someone gets one to run 10s with easy bolt-ons. The 5.0 and 4.6 Mustang aftermarket is huge and only getting bigger, and I know it has helped Mustang sales over all these years.

I hope General Motors, and especially GM Performance Parts, is paying attention to these same possibilities regarding the new Camaro. GM has a history of putting its performance cars out there and then not supporting them. That's too bad, because it was Chevrolet's production of high-performance parts, encouraged by that now-famous memo from Zora Arkus-Duntov, that made the small-block Chevy the most dominant and most popular engine in the world. That also helped showroom sales of new Chevys because customers saw the potential that lay in wait under their hoods. The new Camaro is the perfect chance for GMPP to come out swinging and not only sell a ton of parts for its own arm of GM, but also help sell a lot of Camaros.

The car will most likely have a Gen IV-based engine, for which there are plenty of parts already. Heads, cams, intakes, blowers-it's easy to make a new GTO or Corvette go really fast. The same will be true of the Camaro, but I think GMPP needs to show the way and beat the aftermarket to the punch. The day the first car hits the showroom, GMPP should have a catalog of hi-po parts for it. Start with the simple, bolt-on stuff that made the 5.0 Mustang aftermarket so huge, like underdrive pulleys, headers, after-cat exhausts, throttle bodies, cold-air kits, gears, and shifters. Then move on to more serious parts like heads, intakes, and blower kits.

Call me a pessimist, but I strongly suspect GM will force us to deal with an independent rear suspension (IRS) on the new Camaro. The '03-'04 Cobra Mustangs have IRS, and they break a lot. You know what the fix is? Stick an 8.8-inch solid axle in it. Ford was thoughtful enough to retain the stock solid axle mounting points and adapt the IRS to it for the Cobra, making the swap a true bolt-in, and guys often make money on the deal by selling their IRS setup for more than the solid axle cost. (Ford learned its lesson, since you'll notice the GT500 has a solid axle). I hope the Camaro has provisions for mounting a solid axle, and if so, GMPP needs to have a bolt-in 12-bolt kit for it 'cause we plan on breaking stuff.

Minutes before we sent this issue off to the press, GM CEO Rick Wagoner announced that the Camaro would indeed go into production at the end of 2008. That's great news. I just hope they don't stick a price tag on it that drives people to their Ford dealerships. The MSRP on an '07 Mustang GT five-speed is $25,275, so that's the bogey, guys. As for GM Performance Parts, I know the folks there pretty well. They're all hard-core hot rodders and racers, and they know what needs to be done. If they can get the corporate suits to give the go-ahead, mark my words: New Camaros will dominate the streets by 2010. -Rob Kinnan