I will give Pontiac (or rightfully Holden) credit for what they have done with this car. The G8 GXP will be a good contender no matter what; however, you have to remember that once again the Charger is in its 3rd year and is due for an update. Any advantage they might have initially will be calculated when Chrysler decides to update the models.

If they tested a manual with 4.7 secs, then that will most likely be the faster of the two and does not completely defeat the SRT-8 Charger as the difference is in the margin of error range. The LS3 is a 6.2L engine OHV 2 valve engine that has VVT. The original version of this engine size and technology was used on the Cadillac Escalade and then used on the Corvette for its output version of the LS3. The question is is the output actually lower or are they doing what they did back in 98-02 again with underrating the engine to hopefully prevent sales cannibalization.

The issue about bringing back both models is a simple case of economics. The cost of building two models costs more than building one models in R&D and other expenses, they are wanting to only spend money on one model and unfortunately they are building the wrong one. The one thing I don't like that Lutz is doing is he is building Chevrolet up to being GM's best offering under Cadillac which is a bad idea as it defeats the purpose of Pontiac, Saturn, and Buick. Chevrolet already has the Corvette and does not need the Camaro for its identity as badly as Pontiac needs the Firebird because unlike Chevrolet, Pontiac is GM's performance brand and a performance brand needs a muscle car far more than a cheap, miscellaneous division.