G. David Felt

Naw your not Old and Crabby, that is just fall creeping into the bones and telling you that you are alive and well in this great big blue marble we live on.

The GTO's just Rock Period!!! Very nice Sweet Ride!!! Loved the purple outside/inside! was a husky college color!

Have a contest that covers auto history. Name the failed car company's of the last 50 years. Name the failed tranny technology of the last 50 years. Name the most exciting changes in auto history for the last 25 years. Name the car company with the most recalls for Transmission issues for the last 15 years. Name the Car company with the most Paten Filings for new Technology in the last 10 years. Name the top 5 car lines with the lowest defect rate for the last 5 years. Hopefully you can see my thought process, I think people should be given the chance to use their auto knowledge or their ability to Bing/Google it and search for the answer. Then for multiple correct answers you do a blind draw for who ends up with the actual prize.

Sticky

Think if this had a lite weight 185HP Katech Pushrod V4.

So they have a stupid high HP motor with no Torque. Another ugly design like the Honda S2000. I see no purpose or use for cars like this other than stupid young people driving them with no skill causing more accidents. If they actually put some style into it like the Supra had from the 80's it would be far better, but the outside is a jelly bean to me which I hate that look and the inside is a blah layout. For having gone to college in Japan, I have seen much better auto's on the street over there compared to this. I do not understand why they think the American public is freak-in conservative in willing to deal with new technology and pushing the style envelope. Sadder yet is that the American car companies seem to ignore building a solid light weight commuter car that can have style and speed. Perfect option would be for Chevy to build the 130R with a Katech 285 Push rod V4. This would rock everyone's world.

H'mmmm I wonder just how far before friction renders the additional gears to be a moot point. Yet if it truly can handle the torque and move with greater fuel efficiency then more power to them.

Well, that makes me feel better about it. Truly it will never make everyone feel better, but we have to accept the fact that a global economy will always change things and some of our favorite things will disappear.

Pushrod I4s never made sense -- there is no packaging or efficiency advantage over an SOHC I4. The reasons for DOHC small displacement engines have been more than adequately covered in the thread. As far a the Ultra V8, I do not believe it is necessary or a good investment. At the end of the day luxury buyers are not acronym buyers by and large. If you have the right output, the right refinement and right MPG numbers, it won't matter if you have a pushrod engine or 2-stroke engine with no valves. The direct injected Gen V in a 6.2 liter trim delivering between 450~500 hp will be a more than attractive engine for Caddy's V8 needs if it gets MPG numbers in the 15~17/24~28 range in a 4000 lbs car. If GM wants to build an exclusive, premium engine for Cadillac, the money is better spent on an over-the-top 7.2 liter V12 based doubling the LFX 3.6 V6. Such an engine will deliver about 640hp / 550 lb-ft in normally aspirated trim, rev to 7000 rpm and if turbocharged for special applications yield a 1000hp powerplant. Development cost will be relatively low given that it is not a ground up architecture -- the valves, lash adjusters, pistons, sings, bearings, rods, combustion chamber modelling, injectors, cam phasers and many other parts will come directly from the LFX 3.6's parts bin. Only the block, crank and camshafts will be unique. And, given that the bore size, spacing and bank angle are identical to the 3.6 it can be made on the same assembly line and with the same tooling. I totally disagree with your first statement that Pushrod I4s never made sense -- there is no packaging or efficiency advantage over an SOHC I4. The reasons for DOHC small displacement engines have been more than adequately covered in the thread. While this thread started off with why GM should not build a DOHC V8, I feel that there is more than enough justification to prove that DOHC is OVER RATED! Katech has proven that you can get very powerful efficient engines without all the extra complexity of the DOHC small displacement and loss of torque. To me, the research and history has shown that while marketing did a great job to convince people that they needed to move to DOHC small engines it is not due to better efficiency or gas mileage improvements.Change for change sake does not always make things better.

Personal Space

I agree with Balthazar, with the craze of CUV's, most people can just slid in and out of their cars and no need for swivel seats. It just dawned on me that their are many custom companies that take vans and trucks and customize them and add swivel seats. I wonder if this is a loop hole that is over looked by the Nazi csars of the gov to regulate what you can and cannot have in an auto.

While I love the idea, I had to vote it as a lousy idea due to the fact that I do not see a FWD Electric performance luxury car selling. Hell, Honda tried this and their hybrid based on performance failed and was killed off. I see it as a waste of the few resources Caddy has that needs to go into selling mass volume other cars at this time.

Pushrod Versus OHC/DOHC - Winner Pushrod! Now why do I state the above? I base this on spending half a day at the store locally that sells this new amazing v4 engine and a technical write up in the October 2012 Car & Driver Page 28 Story titled: "Pushrods in Perpetuity - Technology in use since 1886 is still kicking." Since the magazine does not seem to have this great write up on their web site and I do not wish to get Cheers and Gears in trouble, I will only quote sections of this article, In the second paragraph after talking about all the trash talk blame the pushrod v engines get as the favorite fall guy for OHC/DOHC engine makers to use when those engines fail to out perform the OHC/DOHC engines they ask a very important question. Quote: "How can pushrods persist when dual overhead cams and multivalve combustion chanbers offer so many compelling advantages - better breathing, higher efficiency, and lower emissions to name three?" The answer seems to be from Motus Motorcycles and their new MST Sport Touring Bike! http://www.motusmoto...s.com/kmv4.html This new American Motocycle Startup built from scratch a New Pushrod V4 Engine that is already being used in a VW based Dune Buggy as well as their own line of hot American Made Motocycles. The company hired Katech to create a Fuel efficient, powerful small foot print light weight engine and Katech drew upon their years of experiance in powering corvettes to six class victories at Le Mans. According to the web site and the Car and Drive story, Katech sat down and reviewed old and new technologies using the most efficient parts from what the world has engineered to create a 1.6 liter Motus Baby Block V4. This intriging water cooled 90 degree aluminum engine with cast iron liners and billet crankshaft yields a 345-90-195-90 degree firing intervals. Katech tried the following and dumped them due to the added friction and weight gained nothing. sump mounted balance shafts, direct injection with electronic controls and throttle operation and Motus did not see any payoff, do DI was dumped. There were many things tried which failed and in the end Katech and Motus tapped the wealth of small block Chevy v8 knowledge to produce a valvetrain consisting of one block mounted camshaft opening two valves per cylinder through hydraulic lifters, pushrods and rocker arms. Reinventing the combustion chamver and valvtrain seemed a waste of time when a low friction, efficient solution was already in front of them. The result is a 165HP 100 cubic inch Baby Block 130lb V4 that revs to 8000rpm. This engine has a 11.5 to 1 compression ratio and runs on 87 octane. This engine allows Motus to undercut competitors by 100 to 150lbs. It is more compact and easier to work on and its center of gravity is lower than that of competing OHC/DOHC engines. Motus also has a hotter 185hp version for the MST-R bike. Credit for creating a 2nd motor cycle company that falls between the archaic Harley Davidson and the tech compulsive imports. The Dune Buggy seems to get even more power and with taking up 1/3 less space than straight 4 bangers it would appear that car companies need to revisit the benefits and efficient nature of a pushrod v engine. http://www.motusmoto....com/index.html End result is after spending a day reviewing this information and making a trip down to Hinshaws Motorcycle Store in Auburn washington this bike rocks, is extremely compact and is nothing short of but amazing. Pushrod Wins again!!! Your Thoughts????

Park Place

http://autos.yahoo.com/news/10-bad-luck-cars.html The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety offers consumers valuable data about current automobiles. By compiling and analyzing claims information, the data helps drivers choose the safest vehicle available when considering what car to purchase. The most recent issue of the IIHS Status Report, published Sept. 20, contains a table of personal injury protection (PIP) claims for cars manufactured between 2009 and 2011. It also ranks the 10 most dangerous cars on the road by that metric. The data shows that smaller cars were involved in accidents with the most frequency. This is partially a matter of physics, since a small car is more likely than a large car to sustain damage in the event of a collision. But according to Matt Moore, vice president of the Highway Loss Data Institute, a driver’s income, location, and rate of use can also come into play. “Smaller vehicles are more likely to be in urban areas, and smaller vehicles are likely to be driven more frequently because they’re owned by a single person in a given household,” he said in an interview. “Large cars tend to be owned by drivers who have two or three cars garaged, or more cars than people per household.” Since a small car is more likely to be driven by a person who is the sole owner, it tends to get driven every day, he said. This increases its odds of being involved in an accident, where a car that’s driven only once a week is exposed to less risk. Read ahead to see the 10 unluckiest cars in the U.S., according to the IIHS Status Report. All vehicles are 2009-2011 models, and all claim frequencies cited are per 1,000 insured vehicle years. http://autos.yahoo.com/news/10-bad-luck-cars.html Amazing the auto's that are in accidents in this list.

1976 Chevy Luv Series 5, replaced the Isuzu 4banger with gm's small block v8. replaced the rear diff with a posi system and meaty ass tires. Was fun to kick Mustang and Camero butts. Miss that little white Pocket Rocket.

Could you post it here for those of us that refuse to use Facebook? I am interested in reading.

Monopolies

Rock on a true Driving machine!!! This should totally challenge BMW's and other so called driving machines.

Sweet looking Ride! Welcome to C&G amazing space of electrons. May you find us entertaining. I look forward to your input. Rock on with AWD Auto's

But if the auto over all is in good shape compared to the unknown of a $500 beater, would it not be better to repair them, not have a car payment and know the over all state of the auto you are driving?

But will even come to the US Shores? Over all what has been talked about and shown only deserves MEH!!!

Consolidation in a Global Economy will always happen.

Anyone get a picture to share yet? I am excited to see one in person, but none have shown up in Seattle yet.

Too Early to really judge the product. Glad to see that it looks like the Duramax is going to get improvements.