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This is what a 2017 Chevy Camaro Z28 could look like

The latest Camaro Z28, the enthusiast darling of the somewhat frumpy fifth-generation pony car, only hit the scene in 2014. It housed the wonderful 7.0-liter, naturally-aspirated LS7 small block V8 and featured a ton of aero bits. The trickest pieces may have been the dynamic spool valve shocks, legitimately race tech for the road. So with the new Camaro out in the wild, we were wondering what a new Z28 might look like, and thus, commissioned these renders based on our best guesses as to what a future Z28 might be. Since Chevy didn't stray too far from the Zeta-chassis Camaro formula with its new Alpha-based car, our vision of a new 2017 Camaro Z28 likewise is a sequel rather than a reboot. The exterior styling and aero details are similar, but sleeker. The defining and protruding front splitter is back, but it's smoothed slightly and better integrated. It shares quad exhaust pipes with the lowlier SS, but they're of the beveled Z06 variety, and sized up to a howitzer caliber. Instead of a weak faux rear fender vent, our version gains a real brake cooling duct. Some iconic elements, like the hood extractor vent and the large decklid spoiler, remain. What we can't see, we have to speculate on. As the track-focused, hardcore pony car in the Camaro lineup, the Z28 will have to do battle with the Ford Shelby Mustang GT350R. There's simply no avoiding it. And whereas Ford distinguished that car with a 5.2-liter, 526-horsepower, flat-plane-crank V8, Chevy is likely to look to the parts bin to find motivation. This isn't a knock; the LS and LT-series small block V8s are both numerous and power-dense. And there's one engine that seems to do the trick: the LSA, last seen in the old CTS-V and still on sale in the Camaro ZL1 (and of course, still being produced as a crate engine). In ZL1 form, the LSA makes about 580 hp, which is a nice margin over the GT350R. It's also a high-zoot but not top-of-the-line mill, having been mostly superseded by the 650-hp LT4. That puts our probable Z28 far enough behind the new CTS-V and current Corvette Z06 in the pecking order to be a safe bet, without hobbling it with the LT1 shared with the Camaro SS and regular Corvette. Will those trick spool-valve shocks from Multimatic make it to the Z28 again? Ford is taking the GT350R very seriously, and if the expensive but supremely capable suspension system is required to manhandle the Shelby at the track, you can bet that Chevy will pony up for it.

Poor headlights cause 40 cars to miss IIHS Top Safety Pick rating

Over the past few months, we've noticed a number of cars and SUVs that have come incredibly close to earning one of the IIHS's highest accolades, the Top Safety Pick rating. They have great crash test scores and solid automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning systems. What trips them up is headlights. That got us wondering, how many vehicles are there that are coming up short because they don't have headlights that meet the organization's criteria for an "Acceptable" or "Good" rating. This is a revision made after 2017, a year in which headlights weren't factored in for this specific award. This is also why why some vehicles, such as the Ford F-150, might have had the award last year, but have lost it for this year. We reached out to someone at IIHS to find out. He responded with the following car models. Depending on how you count, a whopping 40 models crash well enough to receive the rating, but don't get it because their headlights are either "Poor" or "Marginal." We say depending on how you count because the IIHS actual counts truck body styles differently, and the Infiniti Q70 is a special case. Apparently the version of the Q70 that has good headlights doesn't have adequate forward collision prevention technology. And the one that has good forward collision tech doesn't have good enough headlights. We've provided the entire list of vehicles below in alphabetical order. Interestingly, it seems the Volkswagen Group is having the most difficulty providing good headlights with its otherwise safe cars. It had the most models on the list at 9 split between Audi and Volkswagen. GM is next in line with 7 models. It is worth noting again that though these vehicles have subpar headlights and don't quite earn Top Safety Pick awards, that doesn't mean they're unsafe. They all score well enough in crash testing and forward collision prevention that they would get the coveted award if the lights were better.

GMC Sierra EV AT4, Chevy Silverado EV Trail Boss caught in spy photos

We've known for a while now that GMC and Chevy have been working on AT4 and Trail Boss versions of their respective Sierra EV and Silverado EV pickup trucks. But we're getting our best look yet at them with these spy photos. They give us a better idea of what body changes there will be, as well as a close-up of the tires, giving us their size and type. Some basics of off-road trim levels are obvious to spot. Both trucks feature bright red recovery hooks up front. But beyond that, there isn't much different from the outside of either truck compared to the base examples of each. The front bumpers are basically the same profile as the base bumpers, with the exception of the recovery hooks. The Silverado has natural black plastic fender flares, whereas the GMC has body color examples with integrated marker lights. They both get the same standard side steps, and the rear bumpers also appear unchanged. Each of these is equipped with the MultiPro/Multi-Flex tailgate. Chevrolet Silverado EV Trail Boss prototype View 14 Photos Really the biggest change appears to be in the wheels and tires. Each of them have unique designs, but they have the same dimensions. They're 18-inch wheels with 285/75R18 tires. That comes out to just shy of 35 inches in diameter, a good size of tire for an off-roader — and note how it doesn't even look all that large on such big trucks. Said tires are Goodyear Wrangler Territory AT all-terrains. The gas-powered trucks come with slightly narrower (275) mud-terrain versions as standard. Both of these trucks should start somewhere below the range-topping first edition models the two brands are currently marketing to the public, which hover between $95,000 and $110,000 depending on specification. The Silverado WT does start at just under $80,000, and we would expect the Trail Boss and the Sierra EV AT4 to come in somewhere above that, possibly between $85,000 and $90,000. Specifications are a mystery. It seems likely that at least the Silverado will get the WT's dual motors with 510 horsepower and 615 pound-feet of torque. The GMC could potentially get the more powerful motors making 754 horsepower and 785 pound-feet of torque as a way to differentiate itself, though this is speculation. The 204-kWh battery pack is probable, though there are rumors that at least GMC is going to start offering a smaller, more affordable 170-kWh pack that could be an option.