an extra 5 g's for a 454 with 600 horsepower and 35 miles per gallon..ppppfffffffffffftttt, where do i sign?


Hey, i can dream!

 

I don't ONLY post in the Z28 vs. SS topics, just mostly!!

 

I'm not really comparing it. I am just pointing out that the idea has a bad track record.

 

I voted, not just no, but "He!! No!". I cannot believe no one thought of this alternative. Instead of putting this technology into a low-production vehicle, why not stick it in an SUV!!! Then, when soccer mom's are doing nothing but running the kids around, they're not needlessly wasting gas. And if you actually do any towing, you'll have that power available. Once GM does this and it's settled in for a few years, then come and talk to me about my sports car. I don't have production figures in front of me, but does anyone really want to dispute the overwhelming sales of SUV's over sports cars??? Didn't think so. This would make a greater impact in a shorter amount of time. Let's target the real problem areas first, then move on to everyone else.

 

Actually that's exactly what the plan is. Trucks and SUV's will be the first to get DoD, and then it should trickle down to cars later. The question was simply "would you want it on the next Camaro." Sure, why not. By that time the trucks should have had enough time with DoD to put our concerns to rest.

 

I read somewhere that the price of D.O.D. will be around $300 per car, although the actual price will probably be determine by the percieved value and payback.

Lets say a Trailblazer 5.3L averages 15mpg, and with D.O.D. averages 17mpg. (GM says 8-25% improvement depending on conditions, I'll use 15%)

If driven 15k miles/year for 4 years, thats 60k miles. With D.O.D. 3530 gal. used vs. 4000 gal. without. At 2$/gallon, that a savings of $940 over 4 years to offset the cost.

Most buyers wouldn't wait for 4 years to break even on the inital investment, 2 years sounds more reasonable. Thats $470 savings. So, my guess is GM could easily charge up to approx. $500 for this option.

Over the life of the SUV (200k miles), thats 1570 gal. saved, or over $3000

GM might just make D.O.D. standard on all V8 equipped Trailblazers, Envoys etc, so the actual cost increase may be somewhat hidden.

 

Well I drove 25K mi last year in my Tahoe, and gas here in California is still well over $2/gal. So let's for arguments sake say gas is $2.25/gal in 2005 when DoD comes on-line. That would net me a savings of over $440 in the first year alone.

If DoD is only $300 additional on the cost of the vehicle, in my case it would be paid for within 8 months of ownership.

Not a hard sell by any means.