NightWindDriftr

As long as it comes out some time around the Challenger, perferably before, I will be happy.

IREngineer

People should not be swayed by every thing they hear. A guy could go crazy...

R377

Exactly. Fuel economy is determined more by a car's weight and aerodynamics than what's under the hood. It takes x amount of power to get a car down a road, and to a certain degree it doesn't matter whether it's a 6.0 litre V8 idling along or a 2.0 litre I4 working up a mild sweat.

To build on the C6 example, the M6 model gets 18/28 mpg. A Solstice, that is actually a lighter car with a much smaller engine, gets 20/28. There's not a lot of penalty for high performance anymore if it's done right.

Capn Pete

Too late for that! I think everyone already HAS gone crazy around here!!

guionM

We're getting into Red's time now. Pretty soon, he's going to have alot more freedom to say things, and I'm predicting that Camaro's move to production will be as transparent (and alot quicker) as the Solstice's was.


GM has alot of things on their plate, and the engineers are nearly overwhelmed as it is. As the mainline cars were set, and Holden finished their VE, there became resources available to work on Chevy's RWD chassis.

....and you're right. That CAD drawing was more than a prototype. When GM talks about doing something, it's probally already done. Remember Mark Reuss' comments on what would need to be done to get a Camaro chassis some months ago?


Malibu is still a "new" car. It simply needed a bit more attractive styling.

Espilon 2 by all accounts is a slightly larger AWD capable chassis. Europe is likely to get it first, but it's by no means a priority here. GM has other options available if they push back E2 a couple of years (presumably to free up resources for the RWD chassis.... much like the RWD was held up for GMT900). One option is using the new design on the existing Malibu. Another option is to use tha longer G6-Malibu Maxx version of the Espilon for this restyled Malibu.

Malibu is older than G6, and will likely be redone 1st. I can easily see Malibu on E1, and G6 going on E2 a couple of years later, with yet another Malibu done a couple of years afterwards.

Mike, you are paranoid.

There is nothing on the plate pushing cars to get 50 mpg. There is nothing proposed aiming to get cars to 50 mpg.

You also are unaware of the Transportation Department's requirement that all new regulations be accompanied with it's economic impact on the US. This serves as a check on outlandish proposals.

You can also view all proposed regulations on the NHTSA website. Outside of new interior safety standards (primarily aimed to keep your mellon from smashing against the "A" pillar or the upper edge of the windshield frame and roof standards that basically standarize what most all cars already meet anyway), there are no new substantial safety regulations scheduled for the remainder of the decade. To top it off, all new major regulations need a number of years to phase in (the regulations that doomed the 4th gen started in '97 and will be completely phased in by next September... about 9 years).

Finally, if you look at some of the high powered V8 engines GM is putting out (the 300+ horsepower 5.3, the now deceased 350 horse 5.7, the 400+ horse 6.0, and the soon to be shown 6.2) and compare to some of the multi cam V6's from everyone else, fuel economy is hardly something to be worried about.

The only thing that's going to derail the new performance era is an economic collaspe or the insurence industry revising their role from 1969.

turbo96z28

^^^thanks for sharing what you can Guy. i know Red is going to be bursting at the seams with info after the dust settles from NAIAS, but i just wanted to get an idea of where we stand with all of the rumors of delays and cancellations that have been floating around.