GM introduces 4.5l DOHC V8 Turbodiesel

[Flybrian]

GM Plans First Light Duty V-8 Clean Diesel for North America

• High-efficiency V-8 scheduled for pickup trucks under 8,600 pounds Gross Vehicle Weight and HUMMER H2
• Low emissions, high performance and excellent fuel economy
• Expected to deliver class-leading torque, power and refinement
• Manufactured at the GM Powertrain Tonawanda engine plant

TONAWANDA, N.Y. – General Motors Corp. will introduce a new, state-of-the-art 4.5L V-8 Duramax turbo-diesel that improves engine fuel efficiency by 25 percent, reduces CO2 emissions by 13 percent and cuts particulates and NOx emissions by at least 90 percent for North American light duty trucks and the HUMMER H2 built after 2009.

The premium V-8 diesel is expected to deliver class-leading torque, power and refinement while maintaining a significant fuel efficiency advantage over comparable-output gasoline engines.

The new dual-overhead cam, four-valve V-8 diesel engine will fit within the same space of a small-block V-8 gasoline engine. This compact size is made possible by using integral cylinder head exhaust manifolds, integral cam cover intake manifolds and a narrow block.

“This new GM light duty diesel is expected to become a favorite among customers who require excellent towing ability and fuel efficiency,” said Tom Stephens, group vice president, GM Global Powertrain and Quality. “It will meet the stringent 2010 emissions standards, and it will be compliant in all 50 states, making it one of the cleanest diesel vehicles ever produced.”

Environmental benefits of the new engine include a 13-percent reduction in CO2 versus gasoline engines, and at least a 90-percent reduction in particulates and NOx compared to diesel vehicles today. This will be GM’s first engine to use a selective catalytic reduction NOx aftertreatment system with a diesel particulate filter to help achieve the Tier 2 Bin 5 and LEV 2 emissions standards.

Technical highlights of the engine include aluminum cylinder heads with integrated manifolding; a variable-vane turbocharger with intercooling; a Compacted Graphite Iron (CGI) block for a stronger and lighter engine base (compared to lower-strength aluminum or heavier grey cast iron); and fracture-split main bearing caps and connecting rods for a precise fit. An electronically controlled, ultra-high-pressure, common-rail fuel system is used, which has the ability to inject fuel five times per combustion event to control noise and emissions.

“This new V-8 is not only a clean diesel meeting the toughest emissions requirements in North America, it also delivers an effortless performance feel because of its high torque across the speed range,” said Charlie Freese, executive director of GM Powertrain Diesel Engineering. “It is also significantly quieter than other diesels on the road today, with noise and vibration performance approaching gasoline V-8 levels.”

Freese said the new V-8’s compact size enables it to fit in the envelope of a gasoline small-block engine, which provides GM the flexibility to introduce this engine in a wide variety of vehicle applications should there be future market demand.

The premium V-8 diesel engine is expected to deliver class-leading refinement, horsepower and torque and fulfill multiple vehicle applications with ratings in excess of 310 horsepower and 520 lb-ft of torque.

GM (Opel, Saab, Vauxhall and GMDAT ) currently offers 17 diesel engine variants in 45 vehicle lines around the world. GM sells more than one million diesel engines annually, with products that offer a range of choices from the 1.3L four-cylinder diesel engine sold in the Opel Agila and Corsa, up to the 6.6L V-8 Duramax diesel sold in full-size vans, heavy duty pickups and medium duty trucks in the U.S.

GM first introduced the Duramax diesel 6.6L V-8 in the U.S. in the 2001 model year and since then, customer enthusiasm for this heavy duty diesel has been outstanding. In fact, GM’s heavy duty pickup truck market share has jumped nearly tenfold in the six years that Duramax engines have been offered.

[Deuce]

This would be awesome if you could get it in a regular cab short-bed pickup. Tire company stock will definitely go up with 520 ft-lbs of torque on tap.

I'm interested to see the integral exhaust manifolds up close. That's a new technology to me, I'm not sure if big trucks already have it.

[Northstar]

Excellent! These will be HUGE sellers! I'm working on construction sites as an inspector this summer and all the HD trucks are diesels, but most of the trucks out there are 1/2 tons. Get the diesel in the 1/2 tons before the competition, and sales will have a HUGE spike. I also can see them doing well in the SUVs.

[loki]

sweet... just have to wait a year and a half.

6 speeds for them or the dual mode?... yes yes, that's a small thing at the moment.

now they just need the 6 and 4 cylinders here too.

[Cadillacfan]

Excellent News for the Western New York Area. With a lot of the automotive related industry shutting down here, it's nice to see that GM means to stay for quite some time.

[thegriffon]

sweet... just have to wait a year and a half.

6 speeds for them or the dual mode?... yes yes, that's a small thing at the moment.

now they just need the 6 and 4 cylinders here too.

4th Q 2009, or more than 2 years from now. Probably 2010 model year. Edited June 16, 2007 by thegriffon

[mrlizzzard]

65% of vehicles in Europe are diesel.GM is like no1 in Europe why such a wait and where do I sign.

[turbo200]

i reiterate what is above. why such a wait. where are the rest of the diesels? diesels are heavily available throughout Europe throughout the lineup.....where's the Astra diesel, and for that matter Cobalt. Where are the Malibu diesel plans to match the upcoming Accord? Where's the diesel hybrid? With GM's massive resources, you'd think they'd have more flexibility and ample time to get things worked out.

I agree this is good news. SUVs with this should do very well. GM needs to get the right mileage, and then market them the right way, with bold ads that are attention-getting and interesting.

[thegriffon]

Honda gets a lot more for the Accord than GM will probably get for the Malibu. That pays for a lot of extra technology- NOx catalysts, Direct injection, Turbo etc..

[turbo200]

Honda gets a lot more for the Accord than GM will probably get for the Malibu. That pays for a lot of extra technology- NOx catalysts, Direct injection, Turbo etc..

You're telling me through commonality GM couldn't use the same tech for this engine as a series of 6 cylinder engines, like it has with the Vortech I-6 4200 or the Northstar line or many other engines? Or it couldn't use the many diesel 6 cylinder engines it offers in European cars? Or it couldn't update that tech from the 4 cyl and 6 cyl diesels in Europe and use it here?

Again with the paying money argument....this goes back to GM's own inept product imaging. They are the ones that decided to equip thier cars with cookie cutter interiors with the lowest common denominator materials along with paying the least amount of attention to build quality, such as the thunk of a door, that all add up to an impression of a well built car worth the money. They are the ones that sacrificed technology thinking consumers were not discerning enough to tell the difference.

Don't give me that argument because it does nothing to dig GM out of the hole it's in now. To invest in thier future, they'll need to burn through cash now.

[thegriffon]

Umm, there is a unit cost involved as well as a development cost. You can't share the block because the diesel used a CGI block instead of aluminum, a diesel adds a turbo, common rail injection system, a NOx catalyst—these are all additional costs, that on a $40K Cadillac aren't that expensive, but on an $22K Malibu are significant. Besides the Accord will be a 4-cylinder, but priced in the low 20s. The Gm Daewoo 2.0 TD from the Epica would probably be a good fit in the Malibu and offer more power thanthe Honda, but it will be decades before people will pay even close for a Malibu then they do for a Honda. we don't even know if they'll buy the Honda yet.

[Drew Dowdell]

Umm, there is a unit cost involved as well as a development cost. You can't share the block because the diesel used a CGI block instead of aluminum, a diesel adds a turbo, common rail injection system, a NOx catalyst—these are all additional costs, that on a $40K Cadillac aren't that expensive, but on an $22K Malibu are significant. Besides the Accord will be a 4-cylinder, but priced in the low 20s. The Gm Daewoo 2.0 TD from the Epica would probably be a good fit in the Malibu and offer more power thanthe Honda, but it will be decades before people will pay even close for a Malibu then they do for a Honda. we don't even know if they'll buy the Honda yet.

I think he is suggesting that if GM has to build the diesels for Europe anyway, why not sell them here also.

[G. David Felt]

So I finally get my Suburban with a Diesel again Duramax BABY!!!! Wonder what the gas milage will be, they say 25% better, but I know my brother inlaw who has a 1 ton crewcab took hit family over to eastern washingto to visit relative and averaged 22 miles per gallon, so that would mean this engine would be around 28-29 miles per gallon. That would be Sweet!

[AAS]

So I finally get my Suburban with a Diesel again Duramax BABY!!!!...

Have they said that it will go into the SUV's? All I've seen is that it will go into the H2 and the GMT 900 Trucks. It would be good if the SUV's get it later on, but I haven't read anything about it.

[thegriffon]

I think he is suggesting that if GM has to build the diesels for Europe anyway, why not sell them here also.

Much lower car prices in the US, and thus less room for expensive options such as diesel. You expect a midsize Chevrolet to cost as much as a Passat, MKZ or Maxima? No problem. Otherwise, it's not as easy to justify the price. Remember, the small Ford Europe crossover will be too expensive to be a Lincoln in the US market. Diesels are usually considerably more expensive than a similar size or power gasoline engine in Europe, but there are significantly lower running costs, not only because of much higher fuel prices, but annual vehicle taxes based on "fiscal" horsepower and CO2 emissions as well.

[K.C.]

Oh man! This is great news. I can't wait to drive a half tonner with this oil burner under the hood!

[Drew Dowdell]

Much lower car prices in the US, and thus less room for expensive options such as diesel. You expect a midsize Chevrolet to cost as much as a Passat, MKZ or Maxima? No problem. Otherwise, it's not as easy to justify the price. Remember, the small Ford Europe crossover will be too expensive to be a Lincoln in the US market. Diesels are usually considerably more expensive than a similar size or power gasoline engine in Europe, but there are significantly lower running costs, not only because of much higher fuel prices, but annual vehicle taxes based on "fiscal" horsepower and CO2 emissions as well.

diesels are only more expensive to produce because there isnt the scale there that gasoline engines have. I'm not saying for GM to build the engines in Europe and ship them here, the exchange rate prohibits that. I'm staying take the design and build it here.

The reason the small Ford crossover was too expensive was because they were going to build it in Europe and ship it. Had they built it in Atlanta at the old Taurus plant, the result may have been different. Still there wasn't going to be enough of them produced to justify a whole plant for a single model Lincoln.... they would have needed to share the line with Mercury, Ford, and probably Mazda..... like Ford *needs* another crossover/cute ute.

[thegriffon]

Oldsmoboi, there is no such thing as a free lunch. You can't add a turbocharger, a high pressure peizo-electric common-rail direct injection system, a NOx catalyst etc. and build the engine at the same cost as a gasoline engine without any of those components. Each added component adds costs. Sure the unit costs decrease as production expands, but there will still be significant additional costs involved. At the very least you have to expect a diesel 4-cylinder version to require a price premium at least as high as the 2.0 DI Turbo (and that still ignores the NOx cat and multiple injection system etc.). Given that an SS has other equipment unrelated to the engine to justify a higher price you can probably expect a diesel to be cheaper than the turbo Cobalt or HHR, but of course with 150 instead of 260 hp and without the sport seats, uprated suspension and other kit people tend to expect for such a premium price.

[turbo200]

Oldsmoboi, there is no such thing as a free lunch. You can't add a turbocharger, a high pressure peizo-electric common-rail direct injection system, a NOx catalyst etc. and build the engine at the same cost as a gasoline engine without any of those components. Each added component adds costs. Sure the unit costs decrease as production expands, but there will still be significant additional costs involved. At the very least you have to expect a diesel 4-cylinder version to require a price premium at least as high as the 2.0 DI Turbo (and that still ignores the NOx cat and multiple injection system etc.). Given that an SS has other equipment unrelated to the engine to justify a higher price you can probably expect a diesel to be cheaper than the turbo Cobalt or HHR, but of course with 150 instead of 260 hp and without the sport seats, uprated suspension and other kit people tend to expect for such a premium price.

I understand that market demand and pricing are the main issues for Chevrolet. Why not put it out there in the marketplace anyways, at a premium price? They have the tools and diesel engines already going into NG Opel Vectra; why not just take a bold risk, and charge, hell, $3000 for an upscale, fuel-sipping engine choice. Market the engine as helping reduce the foreign oil dependance [what powers diesel fuel anyhow?], as well as achieving remarkable fuel efficiency. Having the engine offered across the line from Cadillac to Buick to Chevy would [a] make some impact on CAFE allow those brands to have fuel efficiency claims [c] help produce efficiencies of scale [d] address some market demand for fuel efficient cars, there is after all demand for Jetta diesel, and VW is a niche brand. Educate the consumers, and I bet you Honda will be considered ahead of the curve when thier Accord diesel engine achieves ~50 mpg while feeling more powerful than a 4 cyl, and they might just surprise you. Cadillac and Buick would then be allowed to have efficient engines at a low tarriff [maybe none at all].

I believe it's one of the many gas-saving measures that GM should be looking into. Cut executives' pay, get rid of the UAW, and start reinvesting the funds to secure the future of the company.

[Moon]

Yeah,i also understand that market demand and pricing are the main issues for Chevrolet.And also I believe it's one of the many gas-saving measures that GM should be looking into. Cut executives' pay, get rid of the UAW, and start reinvesting the funds to secure the future of the company.

Thanks.

[z71stampede]

I think he is suggesting that if GM has to build the diesels for Europe anyway, why not sell them here also.

The reason they aren't diving in head-first with diesels is two-fold:

1) None of the European diesels could hit 50-state emissions requirements.

2) Many Americans still have a bad taste in their mouths after the last round of pathetic passenger car diesels a couple decades ago.

I agree--they should have stepped up R&D and production a little sooner--and now with 35 mpg CAFE I'm sure they wish they had made diesels a priority. For the GMT 900's you can bet there will be a waiting list a mile long, plus some hefty upcharges for this evidently awesome engine. I may have to step up to a gas engine now, and hope the diesel-mania has died down a bit when it comes time to replace it. The good news is that you get alot of the price premium back when you trade or sell, the bad news is that (at least here in the Northwest) diesel has been and continues to be .30-.40 per gallon more expensive than gas. Ouch!

[Drew Dowdell]

The premium V-8 diesel engine is expected to deliver class-leading refinement, horsepower and torque and fulfill multiple vehicle applications with ratings in excess of 310 horsepower and 520 lb-ft of torque.

Helloooooo RWD Impala SS!

[regfootball]

The reason they aren't diving in head-first with diesels is two-fold:

1) None of the European diesels could hit 50-state emissions requirements.

2) Many Americans still have a bad taste in their mouths after the last round of pathetic passenger car diesels a couple decades ago.

I agree--they should have stepped up R&D and production a little sooner--and now with 35 mpg CAFE I'm sure they wish they had made diesels a priority. For the GMT 900's you can bet there will be a waiting list a mile long, plus some hefty upcharges for this evidently awesome engine. I may have to step up to a gas engine now, and hope the diesel-mania has died down a bit when it comes time to replace it. The good news is that you get alot of the price premium back when you trade or sell, the bad news is that (at least here in the Northwest) diesel has been and continues to be .30-.40 per gallon more expensive than gas. Ouch!

diesel here was almost .60 higher last week. at that point there is no use for diesel over gas because the cost of the fuel outweighs the mpg benefit.

[Drew Dowdell]

diesel here was almost .60 higher last week. at that point there is no use for diesel over gas because the cost of the fuel outweighs the mpg benefit.

you make baby jesus cry

[aldw]

The latest info on the 4.5 diesel seem to show quite a number of impressive qualities, if GM gas engines were as innovative as this diesel, Toyota wouldn't have much of a leg to stand on there.

Edited February 9, 2008 by aldw

[thegriffon]

Advanced Technology Makes Diesel Engines Quieter and Smoother

February 2008 (Medialink) - Diesel engines have a reputation on American highways for being loud, large and dirty. When most drivers think diesel, they think of transit buses and semi trucks, not passenger cars. But, in many European countries this is not the case. In fact, their highly refined diesel engines are smooth and quiet and make up over 60% of passenger cars.

A diesel engine gets on average 25% better fuel economy than a comparable gas engine. In Europe, where fuel prices can be double what they are in the U.S., diesels are a popular choice. So, why aren't they popular in America? The answer is emissions. The U.S. has the highest emissions standards for passenger cars in the world.

American manufacturers are currently working on producing advanced engines that will meet, and in some cases, beat comparable gas engines in emissions, fuel economy and torque. General Motors already offers turbo diesel in its heavy duty pickups, full-size vans and medium duty trucks. They also announced that their engine plant in New York will produce a new advanced turbo diesel engine for light duty pick-up trucks and passenger cars in the near future.

http://www.mediaseed.tv/Story.aspx?story=34686

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

I heard rumor that the petro companies were charging more for diesel "just because we can"

I wonder if they're not trying to sway the automakers/the government to stick with gas engines so that we'll continue to pad their pockets. then again, with diesel as high as it is, why not force that fuel on us.

It's sad that these companies are allowed to run their oligopoly and rob us like they do.