In the wake of yesterday’s rumor du’ jour, namely the recently “leaked” news that Corvette’s entry-level plant for the future C7 will feature a 5.5-liter, 440-horsepower naturally-aspirated revised LS-V8, the wheels in us drama-loving fifth generation Camaro fanatics’ heads are already spinning. Revealed yesterday morning, Motor Trend claims that the next base model ‘Vette to drop some cubes but gain plenty of ponies.

Image: Camaro5

This rumor, coming right after bombshells that the Z/28 is destined to reappear with a supercharged LSA motor via the CTS-V and that the sixth generation Camaro will be switching to GM’s Alpha platform, and that the overall weight of the following Camaro will be lighter, is just another thing to either look forward to, or to question skeptically. As GM tries to streamline its production costs via wider parts sharing across models, its expected that more bits and pieces, especially the more expensive performance stuff, would wind up in various vehicles.

The daily blog of all things 5th generation Camaro, Camaro5 had this to say, “It would not be surprising for the Camaro to adopt this engine (or a slightly de-tuned version of it) at some point after the C7 is introduced. Not only does the Camaro SS currently share the base LS3 engine with the Corvette, but this new rumored engine manages to maintain a high power input while presumably increasing fuel efficiency, a crucial factor in meeting the CAFE standards in the future years.

“Some Camaro fans may cringe at the thought of losing displacement (compared to the current 6.2L LS3), but this is consistent with the entire automotive industry’s move towards smaller, yet more efficient and better engineered motors. However, torque is often a victim of reduced displacement, and it remains yet to be seen what the torque numbers on this new smaller motor will be.”