hyperv6

Modded right-It would work. Really. Modded just right my Fiero could be a Ferrari killer too but that still does not mean that it would be a good idea. The 4.3 like the Iron Duke and 3800 all lived and productive lives and now it is time to move on and do a more modern engine from a clean sheet of paper. GM now could afford to do it correctly for the first time in a long time. Investment in a new engine would be wise as it see greater use in the future.

The I5 had better power than the 4.3 but is was just never a smooth engine. It felt as unrefind as the 4.3. So I would call it a good engine but just not good enought for today. I suspect some form of the new turbo and non Turbo HV V6 will be used. These engines are going into many many of GM's future cars and they will do fine. They now have enough power with very flat torque bands. Their only question was would people accept them and based so far with Ford sales they seem to. Not sure on the V8 as the word was the 2014 Vette was to be the first to get the new engine. As it is the new trucks look to be ready before that. We may have a year carry over on the old engines just to confuse things. I suspect we will also get a carry over with some truck like we normally do too. The Old classic deal that makes people buy the bug shields for the wrong body style for a one year.

They actually put in production 20 years ago..remember the Syclone? Yes it slipped my mind. I was also thinking about all the show cars and the Corvette GTP. I should have remembered as I almost bought a Syclone years ago.

I thought the Atlas was going to be the base engine when it came out but it never happened. I later found it was not a cheap engine to build and as we all found it was not all the fuel efficent so keeping the 4.3 looked like a better idea for a entry level truck. The fact is the 4.3 was always a good engine but never a great engine. I have owned pre Vortec and Vortec versions. The last was good but not a great engine. MPG was ok but not great and the power was poor. A I 6 Turbo would be a great engine but I think to do it right for the present market they would have to do an new engine as the Atlas as it was would never cut it in todays market. I wonder if one could add 2 cylinders to a Ecotec? They did make a V8 with the Quad 4 once. As it is Ford has gotten people to buy a V6 in a loaded up truck that is anything but entry level. I just don't see many taking a 4.3 in a loaded up truck, And Yes Chevy tried the Turbo on the 4.3 in several prototypes and it was not a good idea then nor is it now.

You are a funny one! LOL!

The fact remains that the public paid $895 more for a Turbo V6 engine that accounted for 100,000 units 40% of production. With that being said that is a lot of money that is being left on the table by GM and Dodge that they could make on a already highly profitable vehicle. The public has shown a want to spend more on an engine many figured would never sell. It would be intersting to see how many of these buyers were Ford owners and how many were GM and Ram owners. I suspect most were V8 owners as if you were a V6 buyer it was because you did not want to spring the extra cash for another engine and wanted a cheap truck. I wonder how many Chevy V6 trucks were sold last year with a price mark up on their half tons? I bet the V6 did not even account close to 40% let alone make make any extra money on any V6 sold. Ford I think took a risk and it paid off by showing that people are willing and able to buy this package in large numbers. The option to stay with the 8 is there so it did limit the risk. The question is will GM have a response to this package in time for the 2013 release. Just offering the V8 I suspect will not draw in the buyers as the new combo did. Not matter if it is Dazzling marketing ploy with little benefit or not the bottom line is it sold trucks. While it may have only added 1 MPG to their fleet status it is 1 MPG better than they were as a company and they made money doing it. It may not be a package for everyone but the V8 was still there. The fact remains it was a package that brought in money, buyers and still added 1 MPG to the fleet vs taking any away. Where is the down side? As far as I see it it was a good move and Ford should be given credit. They have figured out a way to sell the smaller enginer and get people to pay more for it while still offering the V8 engine. Sounds like someone was thinking at Ford. The bottom line is GM needs an answer for this engine in the 2013. GM also needs to up MPG in future trucks too, even if it is only 1 MPG. .

Just on marketing alone it would be a difficult to sell a new and improved engine with less power and Torque. Even a marginal improvment would give them some brag rights. I also expect Ford to pump more power out of the Ecoboost soon. They also have not even started to tap into what it could do. The fact is the Ecotec is the new Small Block for the auto line up. It will be the economy engine like a 307 but it will also be the performance engine for many models like the LT1 was. The engine will be like the small block and share a design but they will come with many different internals to deal with the power they will produce. The V6 will be the Big Block and provide the option for more of everything in the other cars. The V8 I see limited to the Corvette, Cadillac and trucks. The Camaro will keep it I feel for the next gen only in the top model but I feel it may have a limited life in the future to models like the ZL1. Ford is already to push more Eco Turbo V6 and 4 cylinder Mustangs and I suspect the V8 will also become much more limited to things like a Shelby only. That is down the road but I could see it happening by 2020 at least in the Ford. And don't say it will not and could not work. Who ever suspected people would ever buy 100,000 F 150's with a Turbo V6 in one year at a higher price than a V8. The market and buyers are and have been shifting to new ideas of what they will buy. Higher MPG claims or not they sold a hell of a lot of trucks at a mark up and it should not go un noticed by GM.

I was thinking both too. With the down time it is not a bad time to have some truck in reserve. I wonder with the Ecoboost not selling over 100,000 units this year if GM will have a answer to it? The MPG claim or new technology marketed well it is selling a lot of truck in a combo many claimed would never sell.

We can come up with a lot of specuations and toss around a lot of numbers but what was GM looking at? This is where GM was looking when the money dried up. I suspect that things have not changed a lot and that the new money will be producing engines very similar in power and torque. I'm not saying this is the new engine but we can see what kind of numbers GM was working on and it should give us an idea where they were wanting to be by 2010 and later if they had not had to put many things on hold. I do think GM should change the name Torque Curve and make it a Torque Plain. Note too the cars listed all had transmissions that would be up to task on giving more torque other than the 5 speed Kappa. That may have limited them on this version of the Eco. Today we have stronger drivelines now and coming that will take more. Note the Solstice with the LNF Turbo upgrade was given 340 FT-LBs if it has the 5 speed. This kind of Torque in a ATS would feel very welcome.

The first thing we all need to understand is we can no longer prejudge GM on their cars due to past sins. That is why I state more and more wait till you see the car in person before you make any great judgements. They will not all be home runs but they will all at least be in the fight.

It will be new to them. Also if it is as good as we hope a delay will only generate more interest in the car when it arrives. Either way they drop it now they will drop an old CTS on them that is not intune with their market and only an idiot would drop a single model on their market. GM needs to do this right and there will be a need for each model dropped to be intune to the wants and needs of the Euro buyer as of now only the CTS wagone is anything close to their wants. Also they will need at least two or 3 models when they try again and I don't see the XTS being one of them. Thus the problem with Cadillac's lineup. They can't sell an Escalade or XTS in Europe, I doubt the SRX would sell much even with a diesel or hybrid. So they are left with the ATS and CTS only, and the CTS has already failed there in both generations. It will be hard to have both the ATS and CTS fresh and good enough to break into Europe and steal buyers from the Germans. It is possible, but very difficult to break in. But do you know the plans Cadillac has for the next 10 years for the states let alone Europe? No. At this point the ATS is only the first of the post chapter 11 cars designed and developed with the new money and the new plans. GM has gone dark on what they are working on and how they will market the lines. For once we all have to wait to see what all they have planed. With the work they have done already with product they had already started pre Chapter 11 they have done well so I expect things will only improve at this point We do know there are plans to get more product and imporved product into the Cadillac and Buick showrooms. The key is as you should already know that they have to take it one line at a time as they can not do them all in one year. The cash flow from the ATS will be used for the next car and that cars cash will flow into the next. Also the man power it take to get this stuff done is great. There are only so many people and so many hours. They will get to where they need to be but it will take a few more years. In the mean time The SUV's and present CTS will keep the cash coming in and the show rooms flowing. And as we can see now you understand it will take cars not just SUV's to go to Europe.

It will be new to them. Also if it is as good as we hope a delay will only generate more interest in the car when it arrives. Either way they drop it now they will drop an old CTS on them that is not intune with their market and only an idiot would drop a single model on their market. GM needs to do this right and there will be a need for each model dropped to be intune to the wants and needs of the Euro buyer as of now only the CTS wagone is anything close to their wants. Also they will need at least two or 3 models when they try again and I don't see the XTS being one of them.

That was my thinking. Till we see more like a Wagon I really thing they will focus on the US market for now. Also they need to make sure the cars are right for over there before they do anything as they can not afford to fail again there.

I am more concerned about growing the NA market holdings. There is a lot of ground to regain here but with their new cars it should improve things. I am just concerned how will the public accept the new Malibu. Is it enough to make and retain gains. I think it will but till I see the car I have some open concern. I think the Impala will do very well. They sell the crap out of them as they are I expect a new model will just push them higher. I saw a Sonic sedan today on the road. It is a very good looking small sedan. It should sell well. As for overall records global sales mean little right now as Chevy has really only now just gone global as one unit. Now show me 5 straight years of gains and I will celebrate.

GM always seems to change something in the tune so I would expect a little change. I just hope they don't detune it. This engine is not even near what it can do. I suspect Cadillac will be the first to get it with over 300 HP at some point.

I agree on the differentiation side, but that's too old of an engine... The new GM family of smaller turbocharged 4-cyl engines is due IIRC around 2013. Wonder why a twin turbo diesel hasn't been announced... GM has a twin-turbo 2.0L diesel already and could perhaps apply the same twin turbo concept to the 2.2L diesel used in the Captiva to create a quite competitive diesel offering here in Europe... I sometimes wonder how serious GM is about bringing Cadillac to Western Europe... I suspect the reason is the priority for this car is America and we will see a Diesel later with a later release for the ATS in Europe. I feel GM will do like the Cruze and other models with the ATS but they will this time release it here first and then the other markets later. I have not read that this is what they will do but I just get a feeling they will not release it world wide in the first year or two. I believe they will get this car ready for Europe after they get it right for here. Besides I really don't think they are ready with their new small Diesels yet.

I hate this car and the interior suck. Now where can I find a picture of it? At times I just love the thinking of some here. If I recall the Gamma is what the new Granite is riding on too. This one could prove to be a little interesting, while not as big as a Nox but larger than a Sonic. The Gamma can be flexible and we have yet to really see what all can be done with it. I will be watching to see what they have done here as it sounds like it could be a very small sporting CUV. I will wait to praise or condem till after I see more than a headlight.

I find mine sounds ok. It just does not have that normal Hitachi asian car sound. Yes you got what I ment. But while power goes up I feel the engines will move down in size. But I have been hearing that the regular Vette may be seeing power in NA form closer to the Grans Sports power now. We may see at least in the Vette form a much higher jump than many think.

Dont' hold your breath. Tweels are like many of Michelins other ideas that never really make it to market. I used to work with a lot of prototype Michelin and BFG concept tires and very few ever went anywhere. We may see new ideas but they will have to be embraced by all auto and tire companies. Also it has to be some what cheap and not involve any kind of special wheel. Any idea with a special wheel that only takes one brand of tire has always faded away. Companies are working more with compounds and special construction to make more fue economical tires right now that are no like rocks. the Goodyear Fuel Max tire is a hint at what all of them are working on now. As for tire and wheel size the brake size and stylist have more to do with that as any tire over 18" does not see a handling improvment in a large scale due to size. If anything they make the ride more harsh. The designers want the larger tires for looks and the engineers need them for the larger rotors and calipers on some cars. In other words the ZR1 needs them to clear the brakes.

The new turbo 4 engine will be at some point will go over 300 HP and torque will be over 300 FT pounds. I see future NA 4 cyliners creaping over 200 plus HP. A 270 HP turbo would just be just an improved version of the non performance 220 HP Regal engine we have now. Unless it picks up a lot of MPG to do a 270 with only 234 FT LB as a performance engine would only be a step back. I have more than that now. The 3.0 V6 is comimg and GM has already been free in showing for the last few years a very reliable production ready TT version with 425-430 HP in a Camaro and Holden. The new V8 I suspect with the DI and VVT will see gains over 440-485 HP in the Vette and other applications will vary.

While it will not be true that we will lose all power there will be changes that one old school people will not be happy with. We will have power and fast cars but it will come in more different ways and in cars not like we are always used to. There will be changes. It will be a time to count net HP not the number of cylinders. I see in the future we will get some things we don't have now. Lighter cars that will handle and stop faster than what we have now. We may not be getting the second coming of the traditional 60's muscle car we will get some pretty fun performance cars. Some people like SMK who want to relive the past may be disapointed but the rest of us will learn and still enjoy some great performance cars. By my count 2015 is the 4th or 5th time I have heard the prediction that performance was never coming back.

Actually, sometimes technology makes engines less refined. I can easily name two... Direct Injection -- all else being equal makes an engine significantly noisier and introduces a gritty groan to the acoustic signature. The Port Injected 3.6 V6 is significantly more refined than the DI 3.6 V6 (prior to the LFX revision) specifically because it doesn't have DI Aluminum blocks -- all else being equal are noisier and less refined than Iron blocks because of Aluminum's lower tensile and higher radiative properties. Two leading contributors to the Cruze's 1.4T perceived refinement is that it has an iron block and doesn't use direct injection! The aluminum blocks are more than supported by other means. In many cases cranks and other parts stiffen the engine more than the iron counter part. The LS bottm end is much siffer than other Chevy V8s in the past. To the contrary the noise of a direct inject is mostly the injector noise that is similar in sound to a Deisel. But to combat that they have insulated the engine more and it is not detectable in most cars. So refinement is a matter of where you stand or in this case sit. It is a case of two steps forward one step back. I think they will quiet the DI engines as time goes on. They will come up with much quieter injectors and High Pressure pumps as the system becomes more common. GM added a nice insualted box to cover my injector pump to kill most of the noise. My worst noise is on start up the inake adjust to get the car warm as quick as possible. My engine temp is up in less than the first mile. The intake makes a loud hollow sound that sounds damn near horrible. But it the door shuts once the temp is up. It too is only heard outside car but not behind the wheel. I will gladly accept these sound to get the MPG and power I have.

A Turbo upgrade is easy to do an could add easily add much more power just depending on the ability of the engine and tranny. The future engines are not just Dwights show cases but it is a trend we have been seeing forming for a while in the industry. They are now going for more expensive materials /technologies and are willing to use them to improve MPG with the positive side effect of also being able to use them in adding the extra power. The public so far has not shown much resistance to thes smaller engines. Infact many are embracing them in ways many don't understand.

Anyone who bought a Saab since 2008 should have considered the risk. It is a shame they will pay the price. But in the big picture these cars are not warranty problems for the most and generally are reliable cars. Parts are not going to be an issue and they should be able to drive them till they get the good out of them. The only ones I see at risk are anyone with a major failure which is rare or someone who does not keep a car for more than 5 years or better. I hate to see any car company go but at least this one effects so few people.

I was hoping the RS would get an option on the 220 HP Turbo. Who knows when the new Eco engines come out they may add some options to this car. Power is not just going to vanish in 2015. I most power levels the same or a little better but I do see engines getting smaller on average. With Turbochargers, DI and VVT they can move the torque down enough that cars will feel more powerful than they have in years. The low end torque is what many drivers today have never felt gowing up in 4 cylinder Civics and Toyotas. They will be suprised how well the new engines will feel while still getting good MPG.