No matter the opinion of the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, there’s no denying it broke ground. Following its debut, lead Camaro engineer Al Oppenheiser gave the Dodge guys and gals credit and even said the Camaro could come out swinging at the Demon.
Oppenheiser told Hagerty in an interview published on Monday that the Camaro team is “always looking at” a Dodge Demon rival. However, he asked the rhetorical, “But do you want to follow or do you want to lead?”
The sixth-generation Chevrolet Camaro has certainly embarked on a very different journey from its predecessors and competition. While Dodge stays true to straight-line speed, the Camaro team has chased dynamics and track-focused packages. For every R/T, 492 Scat pack, Hellcat and Demon, Camaro offers a 1LE, ZL1 and ZL1 1LE. Two very different approaches, indeed. But it’s one that Oppenheiser believes in, and he called the 2018 Camaro ZL1 a “triple threat”—a car that can dominate the street, drag strip and the circuit.
Even if a proper Demon rival doesn’t come out of the Camaro team, Oppenheiser sounded almost assured a drag package is in the pipeline. His team works closely alongside the same folks developing the Camaro Drag Development parts, shown at the SEMA show.
“We’re looking at ways we can check the box so that somebody who buys an SS on up can order a drag package,” he said.
Comments
“Do you want to follow or do you want to lead?” The most important question anyone from GM has probably ever asked….I hope this is the mindset they have to every car they produce! From the lowliest of Chevys to the grandest of Cadillacs! Be the leader and not the follower!
The only way to do this right is to offer a drag option package from the factory…If it’s offered as from parts I’ll share a worst case scenario:
Parts guys: “your S/C pulley will be here next Tuesday!”
Customer:
Parts guys: “you ordered a S/C pulley? I didn’t get that in today, what’s your order number? Found it, should be here tomorrow, totally was UPS’s fault”
Customer: “My order number was 123, did the pulley arrive yet?”
Parts guys: “Let’s have a look, nope, appears to be stuck in a warehouse”
Customer: “I thought you said it was with UPS?”
Parts guys: “Exactly! It should be here tomorrow”
Customer:
Service: “Hi sir, we had a tech go home sick, we’re going to have to keep it another day”
Customer: “That’s disappointing, oh well, I get a service loaner right?”
Service: “Normally yes, but we’re all out of them”
Customer:
Service: “Wow, this is our first 10 speed replacement and boy will this be an expensive replacement”
Customer: “Good thing its under warranty”
Service: “About that, no, your pulley increased the torque to a level your transmission couldn’t handle therefore warranty claim is denied”
Customer: “I bought the part from you here and paid to have it installed here, this is BS, let me talk to your manager”
Manager: “I agree with service, warranty denied”
Customer: “I demand a regional rep comes out”
Regional Rep: “Warranty denied”
Customer: “What about the Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act?”
Manager: “We have an elite legal team, you’re welcome to sue us”
This is why it needs to be OEM option…
For the blank lines, I had things like “” but didn’t realize they’d be recognized like code…