Chevrolet Camaro Suspension Parts Test

It should come as no surprise that getting good short times from a stock 2010 Camaro on 20-inch wheels and street tires is no easy task. In fact, for our driver, making consistent passes proved almost impossible, as the stock wheel/tire and rearend combo would either spin the tires or engage in violent wheelhop, resulting in aborted runs and potentially broken parts. This, as you can imagine, was frustrating and somewhat embarrassing, with other people at the track constantly asking "why them 2010 Camaros can't ever run fast?" and "why are they slower than the old ones?" The answer to both questions came directly back to weight and traction. So, like any self-respecting track junkies, we set out to fix our wheelhop and wheelspin issues once and for all by adding some sticky tires, some invincible axles, and a set of bridge-truss-inspired rear tailing arms.

Our first issue was finding a tire that would work on our 2010, a task that is more complicated than it seems. First and foremost, the stock tires are tall, coming in at 28.6 inches, which means our drag radial also needed a lot of height. For comparison, the typical 275/50/15 drag radial is only 25.8-inches tall, which would look and drive horribly on a Camaro of this size. Of course, even if we could run a tire like that, it would never fit over our Brembo brakes, which seemingly need an 18-inch wheels at minimum to clear. With that information in hand, we set out to test-fit wheels and tires, finally settling on a set of used 18x9.5 C6 Z06 front wheels wrapped in a pair of massive 305/45/18 Nitto NT05R drag radials.

Chevrolet surprises family

The Chevrolet Cobalt

Wednesday May 26th started off like any other for 29 year old mom-to-be, Amanda McBride. While she was sitting at work, she felt what she believed to be the beginning of labor pains. Jumping into her 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt, she left in a rush on her way to becoming a new mom. Due to her husband having a health issue that can cause seizures when behind the wheel, she swung past her house and picked him on her way to the hospital. Although making good time, Amanda’s water broke, while she was still driving, before arriving at her destination. Her husband suggested they stop and call an ambulance, but determined Amanda thought she could make it to the hospital before the ambulance could make it to her… so she kept driving.

Chevrolet, nee Heartbeat of America

As we enter Memorial Day weekend--which commemorates the U.S. men and women who have died in military service, most of them overseas--it's worth highlighting the increasingly global nature of that all-American car brand, Chevrolet.


From 1986 to 1992, Chevy's ad slogan was "the heartbeat of America," perhaps a reference back to its campaign of the 1960s, "See the USA in a Chevrolet." Memorable pre-CGI image: Dinah Shore perched on a rock tower with an Impala sedan.

2011 Chevrolet Volt Test Drive

GM provided electric-car enthusiasts and a few journalists the opportunity to test drive the new 2011 Chevy Volt in a parking lot near AT&T Park in San Francisco. After a conversation with Team Volt and a few minutes behind the wheel, here are the insights we had.

1. The electricity-driven miles are simple, but the charge-sustaining mode is more difficult. The most famous aspect of the Volt is that it can drive up to 40 miles on electric power alone before the engine kicks in to maintain the charge of the battery pack. During those 40 electric miles, the Volt acts exactly like a pure EV (electric vehicle). The ride is smooth, fast, and very quiet. More drive time is required to make a judgment on the dash instrumentation, but it seemed a bit daunting at first blush.Really, the biggest challenge facing the Volt is what occurs after the 40 electric miles. “The EV mode was the easy thing,” explained Tony Posawatz, the Volt’s vehicle line director. The difficult part, he said, was employing the Volt’s high-tech software to “blend and smooth out” when and how the traditional engine is activated to lengthen the driving range.“At low speeds, the engine almost never comes on in charge sustaining mode. At high speeds, we take advantage of running the RPMs a little bit higher, but never to a point where it affects the pleasability of the car. The engine is never roaring.”
2. Extra driver controls are forthcoming. Several weeks ago, we learned that the Chevy Volt will offer “mountain mode” that lets drivers choose a higher amount of battery charge to offer additional resources for steep, long uphill drives. Posawatz said that the European model of the Volt will most likely offer a “hold” option, but the name of the feature might change. “You can hit a button and wherever you’re at on your state of charge, it will hold the charge sustain at that point. It’s like saving your EV miles,” Posawatz explained. This option could be perfect for conserving your EV miles after a long highway drive in a high-traffic city, where EV miles would probably be more helpful.
3. Auto connectivity is crucial. Yesterday, GM offers additional details about its partnership with Google and also showed that the mobile app for the Volt will let drivers schedule and monitor charging from wherever they are. The app will also have the ability to open and close doors from any location and download directions from the Web to the vehicle’s navigation system.And that’s not all…“If you understand a person’s driving patterns, you can perhaps in the future modify the operation of the vehicle, contoured to his or her driving pattern,” explained Posawatz. He said that the goal is to understand the driver’s needs and real-world behavior, possibly including where to position charging stations.

Chevrolet celebrating Le Mans debut with one-off 2011 Corvette Z06

There will be a special one-off version of the 2011 Corvette Z06 from Chevrolet to mark the 50th anniversary of Corvette making its first appearance at the coveted Le Mans 24 Hours race.

2011 Corvette Z06

The most distinguishing feature of the car will be its number plaque sporting ‘VIN 0001′ along with the same blue and white paint scheme that the 1960 Corvette too had donned and had gone on to win the race in its class that was stages half a century ago. And the good thing is the car will be up for sale later in the year for a cool $85,000 price tag.

Apart from that, the buyer will also have to fork out another three hundred thousand bucks as donation to the National Corvette Museum. And for all the money, what the buyer gets is the special edition Corvette Z06 including the Z07 performance package. The Z07 performance package is in essence the CFZ black carbon fiber package that also has some features from the ZR1 bundled in it.

Chevrolet Volt

Talk about expectations. The Chevrolet Volt, General Motor's extended range electric car, can't just make some modest profits for General Motors.

Now it's expected to save the state of Michigan, says the Associated Press. "The Volt is crucial. So much depends on this car. It cannot fail," the story states.

Yikes. No pressure, here. The car is considered so important because Michigan isn't content with just making cars anymore. Everyone does that. Now it wants to be a high-tech center.

"Detroit," Mike Smith, head of the Reuther Library, is quoted by the AP as saying. It "has two choices: Remake itself. Or die on the vine." He pauses. "We HAVE to reinvent ourselves."

2011 Chevrolet Cruze

2011 Chevrolet Cruze

When the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze goes on sale later this year, 75 percent of the Chevrolet brand's vehicles will offer six-speed transmissions, according to General Motors.

GM states that six-speed automatics are smoother, more responsive, and offer up to 4 percent better fuel economy than traditional four-speed automatics. The 2010 Chevy Malibu, for example, gets 33 mpg highway when equipped with an Ecotec 2.4 liter inline four and six-speed automatic transmission while the popular 2010 Chevy Camaro gets 29 mpg highway with its direct-injection 3.6-liter V-6 mated with either a six-speed automatic or manual transmission. And the Chevrolet Cruze Eco, which will arrive standard with a six-speed manual, delivers a staggering 40 mpg highway while also being able to go from zero to 60 mph in less than 10 seconds.

Spy Shots: Chevrolet Camaro Bumblebee

TF3 Bumblebee Camaro

If there's one thing the paparazzi is good for, it's stalking the likes of Megan Fox. And while we could usually care less about the comings and goings of the Xbox crowd's favorite young starlet, occasionally she wanders into our neck of the interwebs by getting dangerously close to cars like the new Bumblebee Camaro. Fox is currently shooting the next installment of the explosion-rich Transformers saga, and was spotted parading around what appears to be the next iteration of everyone's favorite plucky Autobot.