Let's hear what you've got.....

 

All of this could become a moot point. The main thing that will determine this is the price of gas. If gas starts its climb once again up to $4-$5/gal then so many people are going to be buying volt/Cruze/fiesta type cars that will more then offset the number of high performance cars sold.
If gas for whatever reason stays at $2-$3 (don't imagine how it could but imagine) then things could get a bit dicey and GM (or whatever the company is by then) will have to decide where to spend their CAFE credit. One thing you can be sure of, if there is still some demand for high performance and gas is 'cheap' with these standards in place, performance will be very expensive from the factory.

 

We don't have anything to worry about, remember?

In all seriousness, it seems pretty obvious:

- Alpha needs to be extremely focused on weight.
- NA 4/turbo 4 in the base model and make up a majority of sales.
- V6 model becomes 'SS' type model(?)
- V8 'Z28'-type model is limited, exclusive and does not exceed ~400 HP.

That's the only future I see. The elementary question is, will GM (and others) be able to build large numbers of CAFE-negative cars if people want them? If so, those engine choices could be altered somewhat.

 

I can't see cars like the Mustang, Camaro, and Challenger surviving in their current forms.
Remember, it's more than fuel economy. It's also emissions that will be regulated. And the price of gas is certainly going to be higher than it is right now.

I just don't know how cars like that can be justified.

They may attach the name to some dolled up eco-box, but no matter how they will try, a turd just cannot be polished.

 

For starters does anyone know what the Current Camaro's CAFE rating is?

29mpg EPA = 30 CAFE, 33 CAFE, 35mpg CAFE???

A 3300lbs. Alpha Camaro with a 290HP LNF should achieve the same CAFE rating as the current 2.4L A6 Malibu.

 

Sure, 29 MPG (if thats the avg) - Camaro doesn't really have a CAFE rating since its Corporate Average Fuel Economy.

 

The best EPA rating for the current Camaro is 29 - but that's highway. Doesn't CAFE take into account combined city/highway economy?

I don't know, the CAFE laws seem to be a bit convoluted anyway....I wasn't even aware that EPA ratings had nothing to do with CAFE ratings, but that's the government for ya, using two different systems....

 

It needs to have an individual rating before you can average it in with the other cars.

the CAFE number is a number higher than the EPA hwy number

 

And what is that number? And how do they calculate it for a specific model? Doesn't seem to make sense to me.

 

I'd see it the same way if it was just CAFE to worry about. Now the feds have also added CO2 emissions into the mix.

 

True. I keep forgetting about those pesky new emissions standards.

I am not an engineer so I don't know all the keys and tricks to lowering CO2 emissions (maybe we should all conserve our breath ). I would think that if emissions are too stringent and/or are applied to each specific model instead of corporate wide like CAFE, we'd toss the V8 into the garbage. Hooray!

 

I think it's important to look at the politics of this decision. Keep in mind this is a decision made by a very liberal president. He's trying to please the left wing of his party, in this case the environmentalist.

Does anyone think Obama wants people to buy cars like the camaro or challenger or an SUV? IMO, Obama and the environmentalist want people in small cars like they have in Europe.

Furthermore, in a few months GM is going to be owned by the Government. Those in charge like Obama, Reid and Pelosi aren't going to allow performance cars on the road like the CTS-V, R/t, SRT-8. ZR1 etc.

 

Mustang will go back to being the Mustang II, the Challenger to the Mitsubishi supplied 1 of the late '70's, & Camaro will become the new Chevy Monza also of the late '70's. Everything old is new again. Camaro will definately go Alpha with a V-6 as biggest engine. I don't see a V-8 at all in any of them. Not even in a super special, ultra limited edition Z/28. I think Alpha will be packaged for 300 hp & that rules out an 8 even if you could make it fit. In this future the only G.M. car with an 8 in it will be the 'Vette.

 

I don't know. I'm trying to find that out along with what each model is rated, not just the company car and truck averages.



spare us your political BS. He is actually a pretty moderate president unless you are only comparing him to the last guy. He drove a 2005 Chrysler 300C before he run for prez. The VP owns a Corvette. These people are not tree huggers but they will put forth a modern energy policy.

I'm sure people bitched about moving away from coal in the early 1900's too though