Jamie LaReau
Automotive News
April 7, 2008 - 12:01 am ET
ATLANTA — Like most General Motors brands, Pontiac is considering technology such as ethanol, diesel, hybrids, direct-injection engines and six-speed transmissions to achieve better fuel economy.
"Pontiac will benefit from all the fuel economy technology, just like the other brands, but it's too early to be specific," said a source familiar with GM's plans.
Pontiac has branded itself as "seductive performance." The company wants its identity to be based on rear-wheel performance vehicles such as the Solstice roadster, G6 sedan and new flagship G8 sedan. But with high fuel prices, GM leaders know they must improve fuel economy.
"You never know what's going to happen," Brian Shipman, product manager for the G8, said at a drive event here. "We're considering a lot of different things. We're even looking at a V-6 for the sport package. There are equal opportunities coming up, but nothing firm yet."
The newly launched base G8 comes with a V-6 engine. The GT variant offers a V-8 engine. The V-8 has active fuel management — a system that shuts off four of the eight cylinders when the driver reaches a steady pace. Active fuel management delivers about a 10 percent improvement in fuel economy, Shipman said.
The V-6 engine uses a five-speed automatic transmission; the V-8 has a six-speed automatic. Shipman indicated Pontiac soon might install a six-speed transmission and direct-injection engine in the base G8. That would boost fuel efficiency. Currently, the V-6 G8 gets 17 mpg city and 25 highway.
GM officials have said they could install the company's mild hybrid system on any four-cylinder vehicle, such as the G5 coupe or Solstice, without massively reworking the vehicle's architecture. The mild hybrid system restarts the engine at stoplights and provides a slight boost upon acceleration. The mild hybrid system improves fuel economy by about 20 percent.
"Right now, I wouldn't say we have a hybrid plan — certainly not on the G8 — but the flexibility on the architecture is definitely there if we need to go that way," Shipman said.
A GM spokesman said offering E85 ethanol is probably the nearest-term solution Pontiac is considering.
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