Correct.

And IIRC, there was quite a bit changed from the old 3.4 to create the next generation 3.5 / 3.9.

 

As for gas mileage, we own an AURA XR, it gets 27-28.5 mpg on the highway. The six speed does shift too much, especially in heavy traffic, low speed hills, it seems like a very beefy tranny but the programming needs work. Note that not all six speed owners have problems, seems older builds have more issues, we have a new tcm and latest update, still not completely right but liveable.

I have also rented G6 GT with 3.5 and A4, its a smoother tranny and my mpg was 28-31 highway. I would not shy away from the the malibu with the I-4/A4, the topend gearing is the most important part for your highway cruise and our XR's gearing is a little too tall for the hills. Plus the car doesnt downshift to 5th for hills or passing, it goes down to 4th and sucks extra gas doing so, maybe still an early build issue.

We also own a Rainier which it similar to the Trailblazer you mentioned, its 4.2L not 4.3L. It gets 21 highway summer and 18.5 highway winter on winter gas.

 

I noticed the same thing.

Although I was going to same something along the lines of... "more than one girlfriend? You definitely have problems."

 

Another thing to consider is most states are now starting to run E10 all year round to reduce emissions. It's starting to sneak into South Carolina. It's hard to find a station that carries 100% gas. This is new to SC this year to run past the "winter months" with E10 and I can say from personal experience my silverado's fuel mileage drops from a solid 15/18 to 13.5-14 city and 17 highway. Pisses me off, especially with as high as fuel is...

NOW, if my truck was E85 capable, I'd be willing to get 12/16 because the fuel is cheaper and I can give a big screw you to the oil companies, but I hate E10 because they charge as much as "regular" gas, but you get screwed in fuel mileage....

/end rant

 

Missouri is now running E10 year round by law - but primarily because it helps the farmers.

But yes, it's a bummer to have to pay the same as regular, unblended gas. There was an article in the KC paper this week about how with regular being E10, it's just as high in octane (around 89) as "Mid Grade" gas, but many stations still charge an extra dime for Mid Grade (around 90.1 octane as E10). They can get away with it because they're advertising "Minimum" octane.

 

I'm pretty certain that is what he means too

 

For what's it worth, I have had a lot of customers bragging about the mileage from their vehicles recently.

In fact today I had a VortecMax 6.0 crew 4x4 customer call me to tell me he has got 23 MPG with his 6.0! Granted, around here in God's country, most customers are mostly at 55-65 MPH, but that's still darn impressive.

My Cobalt SS Supercharged with stage 2 kit is usually at 33-36 MPG when the warm weather comes, 28-32 in winter. I actually had a high of 42, but that was a freak - stuck behind 45 MPH granny - type of situation.

Most all of my LeSabres and Impalas sold get well over 30.

I have Aveo customers telling me they're getting close to and some over 40 with the five speed.

And lastly some previous style Malibu '04-'08 (Classic) and Cobalt customers with the 2.2 are getting better than 38.

Good mileage isn't a thing of the past, but driving styles play a huge factor. Around here, where on-ramps and 65+ speed limits are non-existant, it's easier to get the mileage.

But still, with my Cobalt getting 33-36, nobody said I was going the speed limit....

 

I think the majority of the problem is people who drive like morons crying about their gas mileage. I can easily get 12mpg in my car or 18 in the city with a simple change of my right foot.

The government ratings also don't help but seem to apply to normal drivers not ones who make small changes to their driving habits which can make their mileage go up above where their car is rated.

With that said hopefully the weight of cars will go down sometime soon, so mileage can go up even more.

 

my truck coasting to a stop coming home from the Dallas Auto Show. I drove like a granny at 60-65. 05 Silverado with 06 front end. iron block 5.3L (non-AFM), stock transmission. 3.23 gears with stock 245/70R17 tires. Oh, I do have a K&N filter and a cheap muffler.

 

Where is the Astra XFE? Some of us need a hatch in order to own a small car.

Few things. One, all the gas here (DFW) has been E10 for a few years. Instead of 24-25 mixed in my SVT, I get 23-24. That's also 75k miles later. Watch it over time, it's not as bad as you think.

Two, I just put E85 on this latest tank in my "rented" Suburban. It's mileage went from a solid 16-17 mixed to 11 or 12 mixed. It's substantial. I paid 2.94 for the E85. The same station was charging 3.27 for reg and 4.09 for diesel. Some quick math - my experience shows E85 costs about $0.25/mile and 87 octane costs $0.19. To get the same bang for the buck, E85 would need to cost about $2.20/gal.

 

When you're only getting 15mpg, a drop to 13.5-14 is pretty substantial... at current prices that's about a $6-8 loss per tank. I go through 3 tanks a month. E10 fuel could "cost me" an extra $18-24 per month. Screw that

 

The US Astra needs the Euro Astra gearing. I can't wait for the small cars to get a 6 speed auto and be tuned for max MPG. We have the tech to get 40mpg out of the Astra and Cobalt.

 

This is what I hate about the US... *if* GM did that, then the car would get ragged on by every magazine under the sun for being slow, lathargic, not fun to drive, etc... and some how, because it's not a foreign name plate, the "slowness" will get attributed to "low quality."

 

Heck I'd love to see the euro spec diesel Ecotecs make it over here... provided they can pass emissions.

 

The nominal bore spacing is the same, but it's a different block (hell, the 3.9 even has offset bores), different heads, different crank... how many more new parts must an engine have to be considered "new"?