smk4565

The Ford 5.0 V8 gets 17/25 mpg in the Mustang.

You are right on economies of scale. So it makes sense that the 4, 6, and 8 cylinder engines are all of the same design and architecture. Hyundai obviously gets it, they have 4, 6, and 8 cylinders all sharing technology. The Tau V8 still cost over $200 million to develop, it isn't something they just threw together. It probably isn't an accident that BMW makes a 3.0 straight six and a 6.0 V12 either, or that they use the same double vanos, direct injection and turbo technology across the board. Economies of scale are used by others better than GM, the LS3 doesn't have the same features that the 3.0 or 3.6 V6 have.

Is the hood/engine bay in a Corvette or Silverado small? Packaging shouldn't really matter. They can fit a V12 in an SL roadster, they could fit a DOHC V8 in a Corvette, especially since they already did it back in 1991. E-class and 5-series fit DOHC V8s just fine, the CTS is the same size. The only reason GM sticks with the pushrods is because they don't have the money to make something new. All the arguments for the pushrod V8 were made for the pushrod V6 5-10 years ago, yet the high feature V6 replaced them because that is what the market demands. In time, the market will demand a switch of V8s as well.

A pushrod is not superior on performance, given equal displacement, the DOHC engine will make more power. For example, 426 hp from an 6.2 liter LS3 and 518 hp from the AMG 6.2 liter. Or 315 hp from the 5.3 V8 and 412 hp from the Ford 5.0 V8. Then you have the 7.0 liter Z06 with 500 hp, but he 4.5 liter Ferrari 458 makes 562 hp. Even take the LS9, the most powerful pushrod with 638 hp and 604 lb-ft. The Koenigsegg 4.7 liter V8 makes 806 hp and 678 lb-ft (on E100 it makes 1,018 hp). The Jag XFR gets getter mileage than the CTS-V.

The Italians, Swedish, Japanese, South Koreans, and British use DOHC also. Ford, the best performing American auto maker only uses OHC, and is phasing out SOHC for DOHC. Chances are, that massive group is right, and GM and Chrysler (the only 2 to go bankrupt) are doing it wrong.

If the pushrod was better, everyone else would be copying it. Automakers love to copy and jump on bandwagons. However, no one else, but bankrupt Chrysler has a pushrod. Mercedes has enough money to build any kind of engine they want, yet what do they make. The power similar power/efficiency argument of the LS3 and BMW 4.0 or 4.4Turbo is valid, but all your examples were performance applications. A Luxury car engine has to be refined and whisper quiet in everyday driving and on the highway, that is what the pushrod can't do. About the cost argument, on a Cadillac, cost cutting should not be an issue. Plastic fake wood costs less than real wood, epsilon would be cheaper than sigma, solid rear axle costs less than independent suspension and magnetic shocks. If GM had $30 billion sitting in the bank they would have a DOHC V8, the only reason they don't is because they are broke. So they have to justify why it is just as good as what the Germans and Japanese have. GM has lagged behind the imports in engineering for 30+ years, and it shows when they had 40% market share in the 1980s and about 17-18% market share now. They had cheap pushrods for all that time and half of their customers left, mostly going to DOHC imports. (and it goes beyond V8s, to all the 3100, 3400 and 3800 V6 cars that people traded in for Accords and Camrys)

Cobalt was up 170%, I guess Avis had a big order this month. Good performance from the new models. And it looks like Chevy/Buick/GMC have retained the would be buyers of the dead brands. With 4 brands they are doing better than they did with 8. Toyota falling apart also helps. I hope Toyota's misery lasts a few more months.

I wouldn't exactly call the 550i vanilla, it is a 400 hp car that will do 0-60 in 4.7 seconds. Plus the 2011 model is bursting with techno-gadgets. The M5 will have 578 hp, so a little extra pop over the X6/X5 M. But the M5 isn't just about the engine, it is about the aluminum body panels and carbon fiber roof as well. The BMW V8 shares a lot with the BMW/RR Ghost V12, plus double vanos, valvetronic, direct injection, etc are shared on every engine they make. Hyundai spent $300 million on a V8 to put in the Genesis and Equus, I know they didn't spend that much to just make 20,000 engines a year. That technology is going to spread to 4 and 6 cylinders. You can't just have high tech on one engine line, you need it on the 4, 6, and 8 cylinder engines.

Well the N62 V8 is dead, so all BMW V8s are the N63/S63 twin turbo moving forward (aside from the M3). It makes sense because it is one basic structure with 2 levels of tuning that can be used in any vehicle. Which makes more sense than 4.8, 5.3, 6.0, 6.2, 7.0 liter V8s, and 6.2L supercharged, and the Northstar (FWD and RWD versions). And BMW's V12 is similar in design to the V8, so they can spread that technology across multiple engines and product lines. GM can't spread pushrod V8 technology into a V6, because pushrod V6s are pretty much a thing of the past, I think only the Impala and Lucerne still use one.

This is how it's done. 400 hp @ 5600 rpm, 450 lb-ft @ 1800-4500 rpm or 555 hp @ 6000 rpm, 500 lb-ft @ 1500-5650 rpm

Sadly, somehow Toyota will claim they stopped selling cars in the interest of keeping their customers safe, and they'll spin it some how to look noble. Then the droids that buy Toyotas and drink the Toyo-aid will fall back in line and go buy another Toyota. It will hurt them this month, but people have short term memories, and Toyota will recover. Which is annoying because they don't deserve a free pass, any other car maker would get ridiculed left and right, especially an American one.

I am glad to see this, Toyota is the most over rated car company there is. Most of their products are class average, except for the Rav4 and Tacoma and their reliability/quality/dependability while above average is not the gold standard people make it out to be. Hopefully this makes people realize Toyota isn't all they are hyped to be. Toyota better be careful, otherwise Toyota of the 2010s could look like GM of the 1980s.

And a Cadillac shouldn't have compromises.

If the XTS was a car designed by Mercedes or BMW, all the GM fans here would rip it like crazy for being front drive, they'd claim Mercedes/BMW was selling out, or cheapening their brand, or that V6 only was weak for a big Mercedes. Or if Lexus was replacing the LS460 with the XTS, everyone would call it an Avalon in drag, or that Toyota is just making more hybrids that don't even give that much gain in fuel economy, or that it is another geezer-mobile Lexus. No one here would praise this car if it had an L or 3-point star on the front. If the car isn't worthy of wearing the 3-point star, it shouldn't wear the wreath and crest either. The Wreath and Crest used to mean something, it doesn't anymore, that is what is most disappointing to me.

World leaders, dictators, CEOs, etc like the S-class. The S600 Guard is not only bullet proof and impervious to small explosions (grenades, land mines), but it also has it's own air supply and a fire extinguisher system to put out fires under/around the car. That just makes is very versatile for a wide range of clients. The average age for a BMW buyer is 46, but for the 7-series it is low 50s. So that isn't that old for a car of that price. 7-series is probably close to the CTS and Enclave average buyer age, and obviously lower than the DTS, STS, Lucerne.

Weight balance. Most BMW cars are between 52/48 and 49/51. A DTS has 63% of weight over the front axle. A Lincoln MKS awd has 59% of weight over the front axle. The Audi A8 has 56% up front, a little better because of the longitudinal engine, but still not near the ideal 50-50. When people drive it, they'll feel the difference. And what of those that don't like AWD, personally, I'd rather have RWD over AWD.

"Disguise" good word choice because that is what they are trying to do. Most luxury buyers are too smart to be fooled though. The whole thinking behind the XTS is very much like Cadillac's philosophy of the 80s and 90s. The XTS doesn't take the brand where it needs to go. That is why this car is failure even before it goes on sale.

What is better, a CTS or a TL? A CTS or an MKZ? An Infiniti M or Acura RL? A 5-series or a Volvo S80?

But if you seek a good V6, the Ford Taurus has a 365 hp V6 right now. Why wait 2-3 years for Cadillac to offer me a 350 hp V6? And to me, I'd take a V8 over an equally powered V6 any day of the week. Hybrids are of no interest to me, and only 3% of cars sold in the USA are hybrids. The XTS really does nothing that one couldn't get from a Lincoln MKS right now. Aside from the hybrid system, which will surely be optional, and we don't know exactly what the mileage numbers are.

It just seems like it is the early 1980s all over again. Bad economy and fuel efficiency push, so Cadillac turns to front wheel drive, downsizes their engines, pulls out the V8-6-4, and worst diesel of all time. Yet Cadillacs were still bigger than the European cars, couldn't handle as well as them, and they did gimmicks like digital gauges and lots of chrome to differentiate the Caddies from Olds or Buick. It has come full circle. The XTS is a LaCrosse with an upgraded interior, 4 inch longer wheelbase and optional hybrid system for likely $20,000 more money. That isn't what a Cadillac should be.

Lexus has a hybrid V6 (and hybrid V8) on sale in Europe, AWD, and some decent interiors, yet they struggle in Europe. American cars are thought of as jokes in Europe, the XTS won't change their mind. The XTS isn't a better car than the CTS, and the CTS can't make a dent over there. Cadillac would need a Veyron or Maybach type of car to start to change their image, and I don't see that coming.

RWD cars ride better and accelerate without as much front end lift as a FWD car. RWD is not only better for performance, but for luxurious and smooth ride as well. RWD is just better. Much like V8s are just smoother and sound better than a V6. Mercedes doesn't sell a lot of S65's but what do you think the profit margin on that car is, it has a list price of $201,000. $110,000 more than an S550. And what does it do to enhance Mercedes' image. Cadillac's 350 hp is better than the S400's 295, but you can get 385, 510, or 612 hp in an S-class. Likewise with the 7-series, you can get 6, 8, or 12 cylinders with 330-550 hp. Cadillac offers no choice, just a V6.

BMW not only introduced a 6 liter, 12-cylinder car this year, but they put 2 turbos on it as well. So they aren't cutting any cylinders. AWD (especially transverse engine mounted awd) can not handle as well as RWD. Why not make the Camaro and Corvette fwd/awd with a V6 only and see how they perform.

Acura never did, but in 2004 they had a 300 hp V6 which at the time was almost as good as many V8s, just like Cadillac's 350 hp is almost as good as the V8s. Acura failed, Cadillac probably will too, the market demands a V8 and rear drive. A front drive Cadillac is just as bad as GM making a front drive Camaro with a turbo V6 and claiming it to be a sports car. Mercedes has a hybrid S-class for the ecomentalists, limo companies that sit in traffic and people that drive slow. The S-class has a 612 hp/738 lb-ft V12 option also. That is the difference, I can't choose a V12 XTS, I have to get a V6. BMW has a 480 hp hybrid on sale now, Cadillac releasing a 350 hp hybrid 2 years from now seems rather inconsequential.

The problem with the XTS, is this platform and engine won't be able to command a price premium, much like he Acura RL failed against the 5-series and E-class despite costing much less. No matter what they do with the interior, the platform will hold the car back, thus they'll have to start discounting it or resort to fleet sales, which will just send Cadillac downward more. Once Cadillac sees that the car struggles to sell about $45,000 they'll have to come out with lower content models and we'll be right back to where we are with the DTS. Cadillac doesn't fully understand the luxury market here, and they are clueless globally.