hyperv6

Or 70 miles if driven in anger in the cold with the heater on high. I wonder if you could go to Nissan if a cold snap comes and say I need a loaner car for a week. My range has dropped and I can no longer make my commute. I figure the towing industry will love the Leaf. As often as you see people try to streach a tank of gas out and fail I bet many will get home later and say I will charge it tomorrow night. I should have enough to make it. Nissan should put in a small back up cell to get you at least 5-10 miles just for safety. Imagine someone running out on the I5 North near Anahiem CA at 5:30 PM in the middle lane. They could just flip a switch and get off the free way at least. Heck even bikes have reserve tanks.

Seat 5? How often does the average driver of a sedan haul 5 people? You miss my point on the Freeway merge. Both the Leaf and Volt need just enough to get on safely. This spitting game of top speed is just funny. If the people buying these cars care about the Eviroment so much then they should not be doing 101 MPH. This has always puzzled me about the 80+ MPH Prius I see. It just seems counter productive. As for cold my point is the Volt will survive the winter and get the people of the north where ever they go even if it has to use some gas. The counter I see here is the leaf may or may not make it depending on how much power it uses and loses in the cold. Temp and battery condition will keep this a moving target. It also has no luxury of using the engine to cool or heat the car if needed. It will either waste a lot of energy or it will be like a VW Beetle and have more frost on the inside than out. The Volt is just the first step in a new direction for a car. It can expand and improve in several areas. Until better batteries are developed the leaf will be just what it is another golf cart. And I am tired of the price game. This car will get cheaper as time goes on. It is not really any different than the Big Screen TV's. The more they make and sell the cheaper it will become. Once a market is established prices will come down. GM just had to take the risk first to make a car enough people would buy. Right now the Volt looks to be the one to do so. THe EV1 could have never met the price range nor the ability to meet most average drivers demands.

Hey it is a car that will use less fuel, merge onto a on a freeway without getting you killed and still get you home. Three things many other Electic cars will not or can not always do. The real factor with this car is for those of us in the north. This is one of the few electric cars we can buy here and drive year round. While the ICE will kick in sooner and more often it will still get around on a 10 degree day and take us where ever we need to go. I would like to see performance numbers in the cold on this and the Leaf. That is the real test of this type of car.

That is good. This is one of the main taget areas for this car to really make inroads in the So Cal area. Autoblog gave it a pass. They liked the drive but bashed it on interior space and material quality. They have to also throw a tantrum about GM saying the engine assisted the car. I still thing their feelings are hurt. They really need to get over it. I see in this story another EV-1 comment here. I wish more people had driven one or at least sat in one and they would really understand why they were not ready for prime time. THey were a good idea just way before the technology would carry them. They also fail to remember the price on those cars if given at what they really cost would make the Volt look cheap.

The warranty issue is to win the trust of buyers after you were making crap. GM has been making pretty good cars and may not have to win people as much a Kia did but they still need to keep competitive. If they built the cars better then warranties should not be an issue. That way the warranty is less of a cost and more of a promise that you have built a better car. If something does go wrong you will stand by your work. Waranties are gambles but it is one a company can help control the odds. Where do I vote for this one? It is the best choice.

Talk about DUH. No matter how good it looks if people can't afford it what good is it?

That is my point one is not enough anymore in a crowded market. Powertain is a must and there is no choice to meet goverment regs for mileage and emissions. Everyone is doing this already. GM is doing well but needs to still get better to meet future standards. Interior quality See Chrysler comment below. Less weight GM still needs to lose weight like everyone else in the industry to meet future regs. Styling, Look at Chrysler They have has some nice looking cars over the last few years but they had crap for interiors and so so on quality control. How are they doing? You may fool a buyer once with styling but you will never get him back when the engine dies or a cheap door handle on the inside comes off. You already know what bad paint does. Quality and warranties are a must. GM's rep for quality is not so bad they have to get crazy here. They may tweek a few parts of their warranties to keep competitive if the other change much. More affordable in the next 5 years min is a must for all MFG. With the economy in the tank and not moving forward the monthly payment is a major key for buyers. My point is Hyundai is doing all of these questions at one time. They have pulled themselves out of the crapper by doing a balanced approch. Ford now is also using the same approch accept for price part. I understand the question but just don't agree that there is one area that is more important than another since the market is not realy working this way anymore. The winning way to go is stike in all areas equally and grow the name and image back. Leaving one area behind is a short term gain and a way to lose a coustomer when the other companies can offer all the above. My view is GM's main top priority is a balanced approch in all of these areas.

Someone would have to come up with a new cheaper type plant. What you are wanting to do is very similar to what the Goodyear Blimp used to use. they had a APU turbine they would mount under the Blimp car that would help generate power for the night sign when it still used bulbs. Goodyear has since gone to a LCD sign to not only have a better sign but to remove the APU turbine unit. It is funny you brougth this up as I was just on board a old blimp car yesterday and was looking at the set up they used to use. This one had Turbine engines that ran the props and the electric both. Till it crashed a few years back. LOL! The whole system on the older blimps were very similar to what Boeing used in a Airliner in the tail cone to generate power for the airplane. I know they have since made these units smaller and more efficent for generators. I still wonder how the issue of cost is. These are still not a engine you see fo use in the low end market for Home systems from companies like Generac. They are using engines similat to a v twin Harley that don't leak oil. These small Tubines are only uses with very expensive generators in industry that can afford them not mass market. I think with work they could make something like this work but the cost would be much more than any 1.4 or even small deisel engine. Other factors is repair how much to repair a system that failed do to the lack of care. The Turbines on the road would have to have a large filter system and how many people today check their filter like they should. Takes little dirt to damage the blades. A stationary engine has less issue with this.

Sorry but to do it right one is not enough. Just one of these is like sending in a army with more bullets to war but not sending the guns. All of these need to be done. What good is a great looking car with an old engine? OR what good is a light car in a bad economy that no one can afford? We need a all of the above.

I think once these cars hit the road few people will car what does what when they see the results. I just hope the recalls and problems are few. I fear what these media types will do with even a simple recall. You can see the misinformation that come out in a election throught the media so what is to stop them from trashing companies and cars. Toyota, Nissan and Honda are in fear of this car. It can scap all thier plans and money spent on their own plug ins. I can't wait to hear how life with your car goes. you need to start a log here has let us know how daily life is with this car.

I don't believe in the Warming nor The Carbon issue. But I believe like many there is a lot of money to be made off the great lie. While I may not believe in Warming I do have no issue with cleaner and efficent cars if they can be made to a respectable level of performance. I see no harm in this at all. FOr the Believers their money is just as green as the cars I want to sell them. I suspect with the pending CAFE and emissions we will see some of technology GM has learned from the Volt incorperated into future products. While it may never be as advanced it would be cheaper and make the normal car more efficent and cleaner to meet Goverment mandates. It may get to the point the Volt may just fade way and much of what they are going to put into it in the future will find it's way into all the cars. Lets face it, if they move to 62 MPG or lower carbon levels they will have to make some great changes. Dwight I think you are on the right track and suspect GM is on a similar path. The technology in cars will explode just as it has in Cell Phone, Home Computer and just about every other part of our life.

I would say GM never was misleading but vauge in some details. Lets face it they are going in a direction no one has gone and I am sure many things have has to change or be altured to make them work. This was a learning experience. From the time then NACA later NASA first went to work going to the moon they did not do everything the way they first planned. Anyone see the first space suits? Things as they do with any technical advancment changes from what is learned on the road to the final solution. Then once that system is in place it is advanced and improved over time. If ever given a chance compare a Mercury capsule to a Apollo and see just what they learned in a few short years. Then today even small private planes now do things and have navagation equipment that NASA would have killed for in the 60's. If GM could have been able to keep this program dark none of this would have been an issue. They had to go public to keep the stock up in troubled times. It is what it is. No matter how you look at it this is a major advancement in the auto industry and will only improve in the near future. While this car has made some promises GM has been pretty conservitive in their goals. They should meet most of what they set out to do on the first try. The Critics would still be here if they even got 150 miles out of the batteries. The basic of it all are most of the critics are either petty or affraid of what and where this whole car can lead. A lot of companies will be far behinds and out of a lot of money they spent on other systems that may end up going no where. This is almost like the Beta vs VHS or DVD HD vs Blue Ray kind of fight. There is going to be a winner and there is going to be a lot of losers with only the public to decide who it is. There is a lot on the line for all the auto makers here. Some will not fight fair.

The fact is we can toss all the numbers you want around and prices but the fact remains this is just the start of a new kind of car one no one else has ever tried. This is like the first of the home computers. In time they got faster, able to store more info, smaller in size and cheaper. The same with this car is now GM has a system of suppliers now making parts. With a maket to sell the parts on now they can work to make them faster better and cheaper. The whole thing is untill the car is on the market and selling few MFG would want to invest the money into these things. Also with the batteries, it is safe to say more money is now being invested into the batteries in one year than in 10 years in the past. There is now a market for them with the Volt, Leaf and other cars to make a good reason to invest. The company that makes the break through has a pile of money awaiting them. Given the incentive things should progress very fast. I think we all see how electonics hit the market at high prices and then drop in short order as they get made in greater numbers. We will see the same with the Volt. I can hardly wait to see where the Volt will be in 5 years from what it is today. Time will hardly stand still with this car. I suspect we also will see many firmware updates that will be able to be down loaded and update the car for the owners. It will be intersting to see what GM does there. Also a aftermarket can spring up that will modify these cars to do other things. Things that will not be subjected to EPA if the gas engine is not involved. I figure by the time anyone figures out the numbers they will be out dated by next year anyway. This is a car there will be no stop in development from year to year. They will change more than colors.

Good write up. I may be wrong but my feeling is there are people out there working against the Volt in a major way. This car could change the way cars are built after many companies have already invested heavy into their own systems. Media can and has been bought in the past. They are in great need of money at most media outlets with the cut backs in advertising. Some are not beyond being told what to publish with some economic stimulus from another company. This is how so many little things in Politics get blown up and lies are spread.

The advantages over a plug in is that it can be refuled on the fly with gas and continue along any where any time. Also it has the abliltiy of unlimited range per day. If may not be as efficent in the other mode but the fact is it will get there as vs a car that just won't make it. Lets face it a plug in that can not even make the San Deigo to LA run and back will always have a limited appeal to many normal commuters. there is no perfect system but the Volt system would have more appeal to the normal non eco driver. I could be convinced to looking at a car with a Volt like system but I could never live or want any car that only provides 100 Mile range or less unless it can be refueled quickly in some way. I just wish they could move the Hydrogen fuel cells forward but the refuled is limited on where it can be done and time to do so is still slow at many refueling stations if you can find one. Having driven one I found it functioned well and with less weight of the batteries drove much like a normal car. As for you not everyone owns a Semi or van. That is so far off reality. We are talking a 4 passenger car here the bread and butter of everyones garage not a camper or Kenworth. Any car that one is to buy should meet the needs to get the owner anywhere in the country in less than a week. Or in the case of the leaf several weeks. The leaf in the cold will fall well short of the 100 miles recharging is slow and if you do push it till it dies how do you get it home. The reality is people daily run out of gas because they push it too far with a limited range that changes. Many will say I only need 10 more miles and only make it home on a hook. Nissan should have just sold the car and made no offers of a loaner as they are pointing out the greatest flaw. the People who want a Leaf have already accepted that fact it take time to recharge and they are not going far. There is no way to hide that. The other fact is it will limit it sales to a much small group of buyers. Like I have said none of these are perfect or cheap systems and I am sure they will all improve in time. the fact is the Volt system is the only one that would appeal to the non traditional electric car buyers. Other wise most drivers will never even consider a Leaf or other full electric car. The key to all these cars is to win the interst over time of the traditional buyer over time. We are only at the start of these cars and a lot of changes are in the offing. I would not buy a Volt in the present state but Would consider this system with some future improvments as in time the cost will come down. the bottom line is I am glad GM did not just take the simple golf cart way out and offer just another electric car in need of improved batteries. When you come down to it the electric car no matter how they try to spin it really is not much better than the old Detroit Electrics of years ago. They face the same issues in the most important areas. They may be faster and go a little farther but they are still limited in refueling time and range and that is why they failed in the first place.

The Volt is about the best option for this kind of car. Things will develope and improve in time. The Mountain mode is no biggie as the Mountains are not going to sneek up on anyone and catch them by suprise. The heater is a concern. I figured they may run a small gas heater or some other option as it will need something for anyone in the north. Even run the gas enigne in short cycles to keep hear. My Eco heats up in less than a mile so fast warm up's could be done. The main thing this is a car that not everyone will want or can live with. It does improve on many areas traditional plug in's fail in. At least Chevy will not have to loan out cars for long trips like Nissan has planned. That is one of the most sorry things I have ever heard. That is Nissan admitting they have a car that just can't meet the demands of an average customer who owns a single car. I hope this car only enhances GM's image and does GM no harm in the long run. GM has had a history of even their best ideas bitting them in the a$$ down the road.

I often wonder how the 5 cylinder may have hurt the Colorado just because it was a 5 cylinder in the eyes of the public. I know it was a better engine and more powerful than my 4.3 but the image of the odd number and no marketing to support it may have hurt the truck.

Yes a refreshed rehash of the Cavlier that preceeded it that already was long in the tooth. The Delta platform was not all that removed from the J Body. You can change the name but they still were very much alike. The Delta hardly caught up with the compitition when it came out and was old just a few years later. Then they did little to update it. GM did not reach forward enough and the Cobalt was old very early in it's life.

Could not have been said better. Everyone is dwelling on the top sticker price when most of the Cruze purchased will be 19-20k or less. The Malibu can sticker over $31K if you load up a LTZ. But how many does GM sell in relation to the LS stickered much less. This will be a competitive car that few who are interested in buying it will complain about price or engine HP.

I am not saying the BU is not in need of an update..the soner the better. What I am saying is the Cobalt was in much much greater need to replaced on several levels that they may have released the car before the engine updated were available. The Cobalt needed replaced 5 years ago and could not be delayed anylonger since the platform had parts going out of production the like transaxle. The new engines improvments were not anounce till a few months ago and suspect they will be in the new cars comimg like the new Bu. GM has often has new engines first and car later or car first and new engine later if things were just not times right. It looks like the new engine and the new Bu are close and they may just be doing them together? Just a guess.

I also think the suspension tune is a differnet too. It is built in several places around the world. The American ones are built in Lordstown Ohio. The cars are close but they are tuning them and adjusting them to better meet the expectations of the market they are in. You may get a hatch soon that we may see or may never see depending on how demand is. Right now GM says no here.

I suspect we will see a higher HP Turbo in the Regal GS and the Malibu will get a Turbo but I suspect we will see some of the new Eco stuff in it. That may be part of the delay. The car looks ready but is still off a little while. Could they be waiting for the better engines? The need to replace the BU is great but not as great as the Cobalt. The present Bu is still selling and they can use the 6 speed in it vs the Cobalt 4 speed tranny was last built in July. They have closed the plant and sold the equipmnent. The HHR is getting the last trannys from the plant.

Lag in the tuned LNF is not a real issue. in fact what little we have helps in traction. Even in Comp mode the front tires lose traction even at part throttle. 13-17 FSI comes up very fast and is seen in noral driving. I also have hit over 20 PSI not even at WOT. I have my anunciator light set to come on at 20 PSI. I see a solid red light in good acceleration but not WOT. As for how the increase in MPG happened I don't Know. I can only tell you what Bill Duncan the GM engineer told me. We trade E mails and and calls on things that he has help me on with my set up. No offense to you but since he was the lead engineer on this set up and put this kit together from start to finish I will have to yeild to his opinion. I would think no one else would know more on why than he. Keep in mind I see a great increase in torque in this set up at just over 2000 RPM. You really have to relearn to drive the car as with the increases they give it the car becomes a much different car to drive. I have driven a lot of Turbo's over the years and the only one that I can compare to this is the Calaway Vette. The thing to keep in mind the Eco has a greater future and will continue to get more funding. This engine will be the one GM makes more of than any other. I suspect as the new engines come on line the Cruze and other GM cars will get updated. GM could have held the car till a new engine was on line but the need for a Cobalt replacment was much greater. THis engine will buy them some time and I have yet to see any bad reviews on the 1.4 Turbo. Like stated before this class in not all about HP unles they add a SS badge.

I think most here know how companies deal with torque steer. I have to point out that the last part of your statement is not true in the case of the LNF Turbo 2.0 Ecotec. They did lower the Compression to 9.2 from the average of 10:1 that most Ecotec's see. But the engine with a change to a 3 bar T MAP and a flash of the computer increses HP and torque while delivering 1-2 more MPG. The gain on torque in the 5 speed Solstice alone is 260 to 340 FT LB. Boost jumps from 15-17 PSI to 22-25 PSI. Torque remains as flat as Kansas and HP is also very linear. The only thing that limited the torque in the FWD was the old 4 speed and 5 speed transaxles they used. Even the auto Solstice got 225 FT LB. I did not believe such a gain was possible but I have found the MPG gain true as well as many others I know with this this kit also finding the same. My auto 2.0 went from 235 HP and 225 FT LB in to 290 HP and 315 FT LB. My daily drive is 12 miles city and short 80 MPH highway burst getting 23.5 to 24. This is a 1-2 MPG gain. THe highway driving also saw a gain of 2 MPG with an average of 31 seen. These numbers have been repeated time and time again. THey are not from a fuke drive in economy driving mode. The highway MPG was set the cruise at 70 MPG and go. Per Bill Duncan of GMPD their it is a true confirmed gain. He stated the gain is mostly due to the fact the car has a very flat increase torque curve and the extra Torque gets the vehicle to speed faster. This provides more off trottle driving. When one is off the gas no gas flows in the DI system and gains in MPG are much greater. I am not looking to pick an argument here and your general statment may be true in many cases but it is far from a blanket statment to all engines. The only reason I bring it up here is due to the fact we are speaking about the Ecotec. Also having the increase in MPG, HP and great amounts of torque confirmed here by the GM Ecotec driveline engineer. I think Bill's a reliable safe source of info as his title is GM Performance Division High Performance Vehicle Organization HPVO Powertrain Group Design System Engineer Vehicle Performance Center He is based in the Vehicle Performance Center in Warren. Also to be fair the gains on this engine were a suprise to the GM engineers too. They did not expect the gains but said they did learn a lot on tuning this engine. I think with the VVT, Turbo system and DI GM is still at the start of the learning curve with this. This engine was a GM engine but also a lot info came form Saab and a lot of engineering in the engine came from the Lotus engineering group. There are times even good engineers learn something new.

The reviews by normally anti GM press who have driven the cars tend not to agree as they find them suited for what the car is. Also I head no complaints from a friend who drove one. But they only drove the cars what do they know? In time they will need to improve these cars and with new Ecotec engines coming I feel they may better address the car in the future. We will see lighter, smaller and more powerful engines in this line. GM has release new cars only to update them a year or two later. TPI did not come out in the 84 Vette but did in the 85. I suspect the GM money shortage is why the Ecotec is a little behind but soon to catch up. I do agree the SS cars even with 315 FT LB do not have much of an issue with Torque Steer. There is a little put but nothing that darts to the ditch or pulls out of your hands. The key to the SS is the GMPD tuning on the suspension. That is where they improved the cars the most not just the HP. They have new parts under the nose for a reason and they really work well.