hyperv6

They should change the W body name to the Cockroach body. At this rate it would survive even a Nuke attack. I don't think even Billy the Exterminator could kill or relocate it.

The RWD will show up soon but I get the feeling the Caprice name will stay with the LWB Police car. The SWB performance sedan I would think will get another name they already have picked. The Caprice was never a performance car and we already know it will not be an Impala. We may know next week in Chicago.

I see this as just buying time as the car has out lived the old engines and tranny. The 4 speeds are done this year I know they have finished them for the HHR already and suspect the same for the Impala. The engines I would expect are near being built out since nothing much uses them anymore. The sooner GM get the new Impala out the better. The sad part is we are still years away. With this engine and tranny spec this is the car they should have had back in 2004.

X2 We already have too many models and too many variations of these models. I agree the money spent would do more good on the cars we have vs another limited model. Lord knows GM is already going to have to apply many of these ideas to present models along with new developing technology that would apply to all cars. I would rather see GM invest in the new grades on modern steels that are going to be stronger, lighter and they hope cheaper than present Boron Steel etc. Just making it thinner and removing a head rest will not help anyone 5 years from now. But then again I am look at this big picture wise.

The design and compounding of the Fuel Max is amazing. I really is a game changed in the tire market. Goodyear has advanced compounds in the last 6-7 years like no other company. They are still working more into the future with some pretty cool thing yet to come. After some hard times the CEO Keegan invested in new technology and it is really showing in their new model tires. We even had a chance for a Goodyear promo to put normal tires and the Fuel Max tires on a pair of Soap Box Derby cars. Being involved with the Derby cars rolling resistance is everything. They paired up a local driver vs Nascars Greg Biffle. The local driver with the Fuel Max tires one by several car lenghts. They then did a test on the proving grounds here in Akron to show how well they handled and gripped vs normal tires under different conditions. They are not the rock hard tires of the past like the Michelin and others have made.

•Center Head Rest Delete => XFS retain Head Rests How much does it really weigh and this will make this a 4 passneger car in the eyes of the Gov. So eliminate the belts in the center too. •Center Arm Rest Delete => XFS retain Arm Rests Again Really how much weight here? •Thinner Sheet Metal This is insane as the metal is already so thin hail damage in many area is already an issue. You make it thinner the cars will all be dented up in a matter of one year. The only way you can do this is to use one of the new metals they are working on already for lighter but stronger sheetmetal. They are working on cheaperlighter steels now than the present Boron steel. •Reduced Weld Seams Ok so you want to take strenght away from a already desgined chassis. How will this hurt the car in the long run in rattles and stiffness. Also will it take away the 5 star crash rating? •Torsion Beam Axle replaces Z-Link Rear Suspension => XFS keeps Z-Link rear This is not an issue as the Eco rear handles really well. •Unequal Length Half-Shafts replaces Balanced Half-shafts => XFS retains Balanced Half-shafts In a low power application this is fine. I would not want it in anything more than 200 HP. •Automatic front grille shutters I seen no issue here as long as the repair cost is not crazy. •Full underbody tray I expect to see more of this on regular cars anyway. •Reduced Tow rating Not many people tow with little underpowered cars anyway. •Lightweight 17" Forged Aluminum Wheels Again these will be more and more common on all future cars. •Low Rolling Resistance Tires (Goodyear Assurance Fuelmax; 215/55 HR17) => XFS switches to Goodyear Eagle GT; 215/55 VR17 The Fuel Max Tires If you have not triesd them are very good tires and not like any other low rolling resistance tire. If anything work with Goodyear on a low Rolling resistance performance Eagle. I think the are already working on one. •6-speed Manual Transmission (3.83 Final Drive) => XFS switches to 6-speed Automatic Transmission (6T40 w/ 2.89 Final Drive) Ok •1.4L Turbo Engine => XFS switched to 2.0L Miller Cycle Direct Injection Turbo Engine How much more will this cost GM and will it be used in any other cars? The future cars will see some of these idea applied anyways. Things like the grill and underpan will be on the regular cars. Why not just add them to the normal cars and improve the MPG on all cars not just one model.

Now there is a question nobody has asked. I guess you have not driven on the Fuel Max tires yet. There is little differance in traction to most normal tires but the gain in MPG is similar to the high mileage rocks some uses. I have seen the testing results here in Akron and the are amazing tires.

The Chevy sport sedan will be sold on the short wheel base and the Caprice LWB will remain with the cops. The new RWD Chevy will be a V8 update of the G8 size Holden.

One thing to learn is people can change as who ever though Honda or even Hyundai would have been accepted when they fist appeared in this market? Loyalty is not want it once was. GM is now doing things marketing and product wise to change this. It is too early to tell if it will make a impact but we are already seeing things we would have never seen before. So lets wait and see just what we get in the post bail out GM before we write them off. The people under 35 will buy if given the right product and reason. People are going back to Ford are they not? Heck GM's numbers have been on the rise too. Yes the Cruze would do better in a coupe or small hatch than the Malibu. I think if they were to do one that would be the first one to be offered.

This is true we had too many division and today I still think we have too many models. I still think the Malibu and Cruze could have been made into one model. This may be where they are going at some point. No one has ever said what cars we will have in 5 year or so. These may just be holding spots till GM realigns after the Chapter 11. They have said little of the future and much of what we have now is only what was done before Chapter 11. They needed new product now not later and these may just be short term. A large, medium and small sedan should be it with a compliment of trucks, cross overs and specialty cars like the Vette, Camaro and RWD sport sedan, that should be enough.

Read what I posted as I agree with the theory. Just I don't see 10,000 being sold yearly. It will absorb the risk but is it going to be worth the effort? I wonder that point it would take to make enough money to make it worth while? That is also why I think the Regal wagon would have a better shot. The higher price would lessen the need for higher numbers. The big picture is small volume cars like this are so little of the market. It is like worrying about swollowning an fly when the industy is swollowing an elephant. I list wagons in the nice to do but if they do it or not they will change little in the year end profits and sales numbers. If they can pull it off go for it but it is not going to break them if they pass.

I agree theses are worth the risk. The wagon I think would do better at Buick as the higher transaction price would make it more profitable in lower numbers. I think the hatch would work better at Chevy. To me it kind of fixed the C pillar I hate on the Cruze. This way too Buick and Chevy would not compete. The real issue comes down to numbers. Can anyone show how much demand or interest would there be in either. It there enough proven demand to show people really want these cars and would really even consider one enough to buy one. That is the hard thing to prove. At least with these models as you and I have stated the risk would be less on money losses.

I was going to say it was not me as I will give a Postive but I would have to be pressed hard to give someone a negitive just for their opinion even if I don't agree. The whole issue anymore is the MFG's have such a small box to work in anymore. The goverment want safer cars that get crazy MPG while still keeping the price down to the point the averge guy can still afford the monthly payment. Not an easy task. Mix in the fact the public is not as diverse as it once was either. While we are somewhat diverse here on this site the average public buy about 4 kinds of [FWD sedans, SUV/Cross Overs, Pick Ups and Minivans. cars anymore even when offered something else that is different. If only it was as easy to say hey lets build a wagon and we will sell 40,000 of them. Today odds are you will sell less than 10,000 if you are lucky and if it does worse than that how do you justify the investment. If only running a car company was as easy as it is for us on the web. If they did not have to answer to share holders and if they make a product mistake they can just redo it with a new idea next week. They are struggling now to find new markets and new ideas and so often anymore cars like the new Accord Crosstour have turned out to be a disappointment. For a Company like GM they realy can't afford anymore Azteks. Ya I know no risk no big gains but also no risk no big losses in money wasted nore bad publicity of a failed car in a company rebuilding it's image. Today people over 35 know Chevy and have a lot of mistrust behind the wheels of their Honda's and Toyota's. People under 35 really have no attachment to GM nor it's American image. They are the people GM needs to win. The sad fact is young people today are the least car crazy genration we have had since the car was invented. They have had it pounded into their heads that car hurt the enviroment and the global warming crap to the point cars in a way have been made evil to many. They are a way to get where you are going and nothing more. Why do you think they have ads now in Hot Rod Magazine that say take a kid to a car show. They know the younger generation is more interested in Black Op's vs getting an intake for a Small Block. I fully agree that cars today are so close together and over lap often. The real trouble is give me one car that would sell in great numbers to the average buyer to the point they would wait in line for it. That is what many want to know. So far coupes have done ok but most people want the utility of 4 doors with the fwd cars. Wagons have been tried and tried but people would rather have a Minivan or Cross Over and none have sold in great numbers. Convertibles no matter how small get high in price for the average buyer for a daily driver. But we can not dwell on the past as today market is a whole new ball game. Before it was the big three and today we have so many more. It is about price and who can give the best and most for the least price. It is about people who see a car as transportation and not a part of their image anymore. It is about an industry where mistakes often can add up to 100's of millions of dollars and can not be easily fixed. It is about answering to Share Holders. It is about rebuilding a battered image of a great car maker where the public is very unforgiving. Product planning is once of the most difficult jobs anymore as you can be a hero on 6 new products and a Zero on one failed product. Lutz did a lot for GM in the short time he was here and with so little money and difficult times he had to work in. Still people bash him as the wanted more and to be honest he was lucky to get done what he did do. He was playing under conditions that few would have done any better. GM right now just needs to make the best cars they can in each class and not be as good but better than anyone else. Once they re earn their reputation and continue to remain profitable they can go out more on a limb and try some new things. Most of todays money is made on trucks and mid size sedans. GM need to get its core models to be the best and then evolve them into new product. The advantage GM has is they can bring in product that works in other parts of the world and try it here such as the hatch or Holden models. If they work go if not then bring in a small truck from Brazil. If only times and the market were like 1970 again than it would be a lot easier. I gave him a positive and it took one off. If you or someone else can do like wise he will be back to 0 again.

I see Mark is speaking on the Knothole in public now. I suspect it is his way to show he wants to keep it in place. http://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2011/01/gm%E2%80%99s-reuss-puts-new-products-through-the-%E2%80%9Cknothole%E2%80%9D/ I like his thinking. Lutz said he told the people at GM to replace him with someone like him only younger. I think they found their guy if they let him do thinks like he would like too. Lets hope they keep him free to work his ideas.

The Maxx was ugly but people liked it because they could haul. I agree with that. Just imagine if it looked good? As much as a HHR 2 would be I would not hold out much hope on that. It just does not fit the Chevy world vision. The HHR styling is polarizing as it is in the states and overseas few get the 48 Suburban relationship. Besides it would not be bigger because the Cruze is not that big and if it was bigger it would move into the Nox size and GM was bad enough with 3 and 4 version of the same car with other divisions they don't need to start the same crap with in Chevy. As it is the HHR now is a very good size and can carry a hell of a lot more than you think. It has amazed me at time how much I got in it. I load up my sons 6 foot long Soap Box Derby car tool, lift, dolly and Pop up canopy with no issues. I also with that same load out ran a hopped up Vtech Honda and drove away from him. THe Car is right at 155 pounds alone. The Cruze hatch would fit the world effort and would take less development money to do. It also would be low risk as if it sells here fine if it fails as it could then it continues on in the other countries. I think it would be a save investment. Either way the HHR is dead in a month or two and it is time to move on. The retro think has been done to death and people have already moved on with many of the other retro's that were even more popular.

We understand, but it is 2011 not 1972 anymore. Times, Economy, People Choices and the Automotive Markets have changed. It's not just cars but nearly everything has changed. Just look how kids are today. They most often anymore would rather play Mario Cart vs playing with a real go cart. We would have never considered that back when I was a kid. The Automotive market is made up of many factor. Some are Economy, The need for companies to Maximize Profits, Public Demands, Goverment, Regulations, etc. That is how we got here today. It was not just one thing. I learned a long time ago to remember the past but don't try to keep living in it. Other wise you will end up like the 74 year old woman at the cruise in that dances by herself to the live band in the poodle skirt and too much make up. Trust me it is not pretty. I agree with you that it would be nicer to bring some of the best things back but time keeps moving on with out it. Too few other care or even remember this to even demand it. You sometimes just have to play the cards you are given like it or not. I know what it used to be like but those days are over and we have to make due with the best we can get today. Remembering the past is fine but crying over loss of them is a waste of time because few others care.

Too many tend think since only SS and Convets that are restored today were the majority of the Malibu's sold. The truth is the majority were just plain two doors with 307's and 4 doors Malibu's that were just plain good value family cars. Most did not have much in them either like AC or other items that we take for granted today. I remember all the Chevelles we had got the odd and rare options. Things like low washer fluid light, rear window defog and the optional bumper guards. We even got the rare hard top 4 door Chevelle Consourse model in 1968. That was the LTZ of the day. I used to love the smell of those new cars when I was a kid. It was a mix of rubber plastic and lacquer paint. I also remember going over the car as a kid and often finding 4-5 things wrong with each car. Some as simple as two different style ash trays in the back of the 69 Malibu. It was one of the first built and had one from 68 and one from 69 in it. The real fun one was the Buick 225 that they got in 1970 and they left off the fender skirts. They were not in the trunk and the dealer still tried to deliver the car with out them.

The reality is many women like sporty but do not car for the mega HP. Men want the performance and will live with sporty. The Mustang proves that this kind of car can be met. To make a women happy they want a trunk and to be able to get in or out in a skirt. They also want a car that is easy to see our of and drive. For the most the Mustang meets this. The 4th gen F body was a Vette with a back seat. Women had a hard time seeing out of it since they could see little of the long nose and it sat low that getting in and out was not appealing to many. The fact is if you want to sell cars today in any great numbers you need to meet the market demands and half the market is women. You can not ignore either side anymore and try to meet both in the middle. The Vette is low enough production it matters little but when you are trying to move six figures you need ever possible buyer. You leave any sales on the table you are just wasting time and money. People think killing Pontiac was bad. It is 100 times worse to limit any car to half the market.

I saw this the first day they unvailed it at Summit Racing a while back. Scott broght it and showed it for the first time last Sept 11.

Just think off all the Apps we could or may see. Most can not even imagine what we will see. We already have Apps for code scanners for the car. The way I see it On Star needs to adapt and make use of these in the future or other will render them useless. We already have 30 gig hard drives but with the new memeories in the phones and pads it will climb very fast. Your car, TV, Computer, Phone, internet, audio, video, banks, work, weather radar and much more will all be linked into one single unit and will all work together. Once wireless networks are available in more cities they all will work so fast and be so capable. The nav system will be like the old Pong games in the near future. Before long we will be posting on C&G driving down the road with a voice translator. I already have group of guys doing a lot of web chat tech work verbally and not have a need to type much.

Smart phones and I pads will rule the new cars and with web access will improve what can be done. It has already started. Live traffic updates and real sat maps with overlays will be very common. No more recalcuating. I think GM was just hard pressed to save money were ever they could while also tring to sell people on On Star. They push the direction on there as a prime feature. The only time I used it they could not tell me how to get the GM Goodwrench race shop of RCR. Go figure. I did the old fashion thing and read the road signs and found it anyway. I just hope GM keeps upto date on the smart phone intergration and web access as this is the new hot button and it is so able to do more than just give directions. This area will expand fast. Just look at how well sync is doing for Ford. Technology sells. The time has come where the car with the larger hard drive will sell better than the larger cubic inch engine. I just would like to see GM lead with a very good system and make it very affordable so it will be in most cars not just a few high end models.

GM could have made the NAV optional and done the work to put it in. But in the long run how many people buying Bu's really would have ponied up the money to buy it. Some but not as many as some would like to think. Just look at all the Equinox on the road and how few pick up the NAV option. I can count on one hand the NAVs I have seen in the new Nox and I have seen a ton of them. I see more V6 Nox than ones with Nav. I am sure they will work it into the new model as an option at a price structure where they can make money with it as a low volume option. Most Chevy cars are not loaded up on options. They sell many LS and LT1 cars that lack many things you would get standard on a Buick and Cadillac. When it comes to options a Nav unit is easy to leave off to save money as most buyers do to keep the monthly payment down. I do feel GM needs to offer them but don't expect more than 15% if even that of the new Malibu's to have them. The main key is for Chevy to be able to offer it at a resonable price and still make money. Right now the Nox NAV and Video systems cans add a lot to the price of the vehicle. Not the kind of price for the average Malibu buyer to bite on.

The engineering arm has been what has kept them alive for many years. I know about the Eco Turbo work as I have one. Lotus was so bad off that they struggled when GM pulled out of the Opel Speedster deal. They had to make the Elise legal for the US market to make up for the production loss. They were worried if they did not find new markets to sell the car in they would have major money issues. As it turns out the GM dropping of the Speedster and the new US market may have been the best thing for them. Lotus has had many near death times and are still struggling to find the volume to keep the cash flowing in the car production side. Porsche Engineering has also done a great deal of work for many companies. Even GM has used them.

What other reason is that you think they would be doing this? Is it just because they need new product there. Or could it be because of the name change to Chevy world wide? New product to go with the new branding?

Note I said dance partners. Tesla needed Lotus for what they could not do on their own goes with out saying. But Lotus need funds from Investors, Technology Development, and sales including selling off chassis. The development cost of a car far exceeds what Lotus can do on their own. This is nothing new as they have used Engines from so many automakers as they could not afford it themselves. Lotus needs to share cost anyway and where they can. It was not all that long ago they were using GM air bags in cars with Toyota tail lights to save money. All companys are looking to save cost and they all will do it in many ways of buying, selling and sharing products and development cost of items. The needs change depending on the player involved. Tesla needs the car and Lotus needs the money. See both benifit from the dance.