One of the more intriguing features of the concept version of the new Chevy Camaro's interior was the "torque meter" on the four-gauge instrument cluster. Unfortunately, according to Popular Mechanics and now confirmed in a photo taken by Xeper, a forum fan-boy over at GMInsideNews, it's a feature that won't be making it from concept to 2010 Chevy Camaro production accessory. Popular Mechanics' Ben Stewart made the claim first in his review of the pre-production Camaro concept last month:
"The optional console mount gauges on Camaros we've seen before have included a "torque meter." This, we thought, was an odd choice for this valuable real estate. Well, apparently the engineers thought so too. Both prototypes had transmission temperature gauges in place of the torque meter. [Engineering Program Manager Anthony] McCormack says the torque meter is history."
We can see from the shot up top the four gauges in the cluster are now oil pressure, oil temperature, transmission temperature and what appears to be a voltometer. All along we'd assumed the torque meter was basically just a measurement of RPM and acceleration — just like many OBDII-plug-in tools — but by actually including it as a gauge was to us, a very cool idea. Unfortunately, it appears that cool idea won't be making it all the way to production. [Popular Mechanics, GMInsideNews]