hyperv6

Oh I did not figure these cars would be lost. If GM did not do it I expected the Corvette community would have come in to do it. The only car that will be difficult to restore is the PPG car since it has one off DGP custom body panels. Of course that is the one that fell in first and is up side down under the ZR1 Blue Devil. As for the other cars there is little that is not available or beyond reproducing pretty easily. I just wonder how this will affect some owners loaning their cars in the future. They say lighting does not hit twice but if I have a Million Dollar L88 would I still believe those odds? LOL! It was not long ago the Lingenfelter collection was there in the fall. There were some cars there that would have been even more tragic to lose. One was the Sledgehammer and the other was Zora's personal test car from the early 50's.

I hate the back and C pillar. It has a vibe of the old CV-R and the new Mini Crossman. The back is too flat and has no dimension to it. The rear window also has little real style. The Soul has a solid hammer down look that may sacrifice some space but it has a look all it's own. Now put this nose on the Trax an you might have something. Oh and since it is a Chevy you need a group of Mice or a Rats driving it. You have to have some heritage.

You guys never change. Passing judgment on an exaggerated drawing showing only a part of a car that we are not even sure it will even make productions. Guys takes these only as hints and let them develop. As it is no matter what they come out with half of you will hate it for not being retro enough like a 59 Buick or not being forward thinking enough to move GM ahead. I can see why GM reaching out for new customers as the ones they have now are so narrow minded and short sighted. GM is building cars for normal people in a real world that have to drive them in traffic and to be able to afford them. They also have to meet all the crazy federal laws in crash and other standards along with getting crazy MPG but still sell something larger than a Spark. Time to start playing with reality and understand that the new Lambo is not a normal car and can be treated as such. As for surprises the New Mustang has startled many. The Vette for those who chose not to believe the leaked photos surprised many. GM kept the Z/28 under cover enough even many insiders did not know about what it would have. Anyone got an idea on the new Camaro? Now there will be a big surprise when it breaks cover. I can see why GM is leaving some of you behind as customers like you have been part of the problem of holding them back and giving the idiots in charge a reason not to improve things or keep up with the market. If they can unload the same old Sh*t on you and they did and just look where it got you. Time for you to get out in the real world and really see just what is going on. It is a Different World, Different Market and a Different Future and time for you to get on with it or just sit there in your piss and vinegar of self pity.

There are no absolutes as there are always an acceptation but the fact remains a smaller turbo unit in street trim will spool faster. To make up for the lack in volume they use two. But when it comes to the type of engine, use of engine and how the plumbing has to be run can all be factors. Case in point here is in a street car such as a v6 CTS the TT is much easier to spool up with two smaller units vs. one large mass unit for street driving. This is also why Callaway also chose this for the Corvettes they built. Now if I were doing a 4 Cylinder with lower engine volume and no packaging issues the single will do just fine as you will never approach the size of turbo with a smaller engine that would incur so much lag to spool it up. Now racers like in Drag Racing where they launch at high RPM and often are holding the RPM at the line have no lag as they have already built the boost. This is why so many of the Mustangs and import cars use one single unit. This is not practical for street use. Think of it this way. Take a car and put 33" wheels on it and then do not change the gear in it while running a 3:07 gear. You will find it take more time and effort to get the car to speed faster than if you had smaller diameter wheels. It is simple physics. Now with a turbo you can not just change a gear ratio here either so you have to compromise the top end to gain a less lag with the smaller units. But in a street car with a V6 or V8 once up to speed there generally is enough power to maintain good performance. The sequential units try to bridge the gap buy giving you low end with the small unit but still retain the higher volume of the larger unit. Now engine size and air volume along with how and where the engine is plumb can affect this but the general rule for a V style engine of moderate size a duel system tends to decrease the lag on the street. Here is some info on Turbo units that is helpful http://www.turboneticsinc.com/choose_turbocharger Here is some on the sequential units. http://www.dieselpowersource.com/en/news/twin-turbos-vs-single-turbo/ Here is some info on parallel and sequential http://www.carsdirect.com/aftermarket-parts/the-benefits-and-drawbacks-of-twin-turbos I should make it clear that there are no absolutes here as there are many factors involve. But some as posted here have tried to make it like there is one way and one way only. GM and others have their reasons for using the systems they use and for street use and packaging with a V style engine the two smaller units generally provide less lag. Much of any use of Supercharging and Turbocharging is a compromise anyways and you have to set the goals of what kind of performance you want and what you want to accomplish. I just get tired of someone here who likes to throw out a lot of numbers to make it look like he has the only answer. The reality is he often leaves out the whole story and only likes to support his view only. This is not a case of me or him being right or wrong but a case that there is a lot more to this than he likes to present. Case in point he last post. He takes two different engines with two different needs of air volume and with two different plumbing packages. The difference is the volume needed here for each engine and the packaging of each. Now if he would take a single turbo unit on a 3.6 and a TT 3.6 and compare them with equal volume that the units can move the TT unit will spool up a little faster but the large single unit if you could find a place to put it would give you more top end. The bottom line is GM did not just add TT just for fun and bragging rights as they found it to produce the better driving experience along with the much easier packaging. If they could do It that easy with one they would have done so as I am sure it would save cost. So to be fair I will not say he is totally wrong but he still does not take into account all the factors in play here. I am not trying to prove I am right as so much as I would like to just show that he is no giving the full disclosure. I hope you can see my point.

Since it looks like you guys are a little behind on some of the things going on I wanted to give you a gift that keeps giving the more you look at it. This is part of a Holden ad declaring that they are here to stay. Well the deal is they are here to stay with other models shared with Chevy and possibly Buick/Opel. Take a gander at this photo and check out the Panamera like car at the top, Could this be the Buick Alpha Mark spoke of? The photo's posted on the side wall two with Code R like Grilles with the Holden bar. Also several on the desk. Note too the coupe. Could this be a Camaro/Monaro Alpha? Then look at the studio behind him and you will see a car we have not seen at any other division yet. This spot is much like the Ed Whitaker spot with hints at possible styling and models we may see. The key here is the Holden line is going to show us things we will see elsewhere with the global marketing of models no matter if they keep the name Holden or not. It is amazing what you can find if you just look around. If you check out the video it is the last shot this comes from. Merry Christmas All.

Bla Bla Bla.. So you still think you know more than GM some things never change. LOL! Merry Christmas Sheldon!

Sheldon When are you going to ever learn to use all the facts and not just cherry pick only what works for your wild a$$ theories. You also need to add in less weight, and other parameters like Direct Injection cylinder drop etc. that help the GM truck. Sorry but it is the whole package not just the push rods that have delivered the MPG. If it were only the push rods then everyone would have them. Bazinga!!!!!

Simple it take power to make power with a supercharger. Also packaging can be difficult or expensive in some cased. Turbo engines do not have any drag on them to run a turbo where as a SC engine has to use power to make power. In a larger V8 this is not as much an issue as it would be in a smaller engine where you are working to make power but not take on any power loss with drag or loss in MPG that you are trying to gain. Also packaging can be difficult with a SC where as you have to have a drive system where a Turbo can take power from anywhere in an exhaust system. You can mount a turbo high, low, in front, back or even at the rear axle as one system does today. Also todays Direct Injection engines love turbo charging and react to it very well. Add to it Variable valve timing and the new improved turbo units and drag is pretty much reduced to a point that many do not notice it. With my own turbo the lag is small and the torque is instant so you really do not miss it and if anything it make it more drivable as with 315 FT LBS of torque available at 1800-1900 RPM it can be tricky on in the snow. To be honest most automatic transmissions have more lag in the down shift than most modern turbo engines. Having owned several 3800 SC versions including the last Gen III and a Eco Turbo with the GM upgrade kit I would take the Eco Turbo hands down every time over the 3800 SC. I liked the SC engines but they just do not have the pull or acceleration the Eco has. I can kick it down and spin the tires at 50 MPH and I never could do that with any of my FWD 3800 SC engines. The first time it happened I thought something broke as the power cut, the waste gate popped and I had dash lights that I finally noticed they were for the traction control.

Well the SS is not doomed as GM stated not long after it was announced that it would only be around 2-3 years and a new car was already in the works. The time line also lines up with the new Camaro's arrival. Add to this that GM has stated and has encouraged to say the SS is like a 4 door Camaro. GM would have not put this car in NASCAR just for a couple years for a 4K unit car. There are more unannounced long term plans and that is what we will have to wait for. GM could have waited will the car went into production here but they needed the car in NASCAR now so a token import of the car was in order to make it legal. The car will be an Alpha here and will be an even better car with the new platform. Also we will see more options and more engines when it arrives. There is a plan and we will see more to come. But the reality here is that this is not the Caprice of old where it was the volume car for GM as these full size cars have become more and more a niche model. The MPG, Price and size are not what the general public wants or can afford anymore. Cars like the Cruze and trucks needed the attention first as they pay the bills and make it possible for lower volume cars to happen. Even when up to production the SS will never sell many more than 30K units in NA and will export 20-30K down under. Add in the production of a shared platform Camaro and you will have a pretty busy plant. I also expect a version of the Camaro adapted to a Monaro. The fact is most companies could easily survive with any car that does not sell more than 100K units. Those models under 100K units are just added income and volume. So while they help they are secondary in value to the higher volumes. .

I did forget to also mention that two smaller duels are at times easier to package in some V6 compartments. I believe it is Honeywell that is working on a new Duel Boost Turbo that is a single housing. It is smaller and more efficient with many advantages. Check it out as you will see this as the next step for most gas powered engines.

Well for those who thought I was making it up. http://www.autoblog.com/2013/12/19/chevy-ss-holden-commodore-built-in-america/ I have been hearing this for a while and I also note the time line matches.

Stop it stop it now. Let the rest of the facts get in the way before anyone gets their panties in a bunch. There is a lot to come yet they have not spoke of yet. Still watch for a Alpha sedan from here and possibly a Monaro based Camaro make a trip south from Michigan. The SS is not dead and will be replaced in 2016 as a 2017 hmmm just when the Zeta sedan dies, coincident? Watch NASCAR as Chevy will prepare a new racer for approval there and we will see our first clues there. You guys are going to be happy when all is announce for Chevy and Buick. Well most of you will be happy some just will never be satisfied here. LOL!

So then TT would be the Trademark of Cadillac and leave the same 3.2 T for chevy? You miss the point of the TT set up. They use two turbo's not for power but more so for less lag as the two turbo's will hold the volume of one large turbo but they will spool much faster for much less lag. The TT has none of that GN lag you used to get and with the VVT adjusting for low end torque what lag you have is not any where as detectable. A single turbo would not move much volume and would have a lot more lag. If you want a detuned Caddy engine you put two smaller Turbo's on it or you just hold down on the boost. In the Cadillac you can afford to make the engine Premium required and run a 3 bar T Map but on the Chevy GM likes to run a Premium Recommended rating that give the owner the option but a little less power. Turbo charging is one of the greatly misunderstood things today with all the changes we have seen in the last 5-10 years. DI and VVT along with the better turbo units and computers have totally changed this game. I was as anti turbo as you could get years ago and now that I have learned the new ways I really can appreciate the changed and how well they can make these smaller engines perform. The new engine with the torque curves that are flat as a table from 1800-5300 RPM in my engine are amazing. I have not seen torque like that since a 428 Pontiac. GM will not use an Alfa engine in a Alpha. Though the T maps in my HHR are from a Alfa LOL!

Hell that would be the entry level engine. The 3.2 TT will do so much better than that. My 2.0 is at 300 HP and has no issues on pump gas and holds the full GM warranty.

The Holden thing is not really as big of a deal than it is to a hand full of purist. Number one Holden's present line up is pretty much Chevy bases already including a Volt. GM is not fooling Aussies as they are smart enough to know what a Chevy is and they do love Chevy. Number two They can save a lot of money on rebadging and Holden would be part of the deep pockets of the Chevy global Marketing Program. They would have so much more marketing money than they have now. Number three. GM made it clear the latest Zeta was not going to last long so 2017 is no surprise. Number four look for a Alpha Chevy sedan based on the under pinnings of the Gen 6 Camaro to carry on the SS and possibly a cheaper model with more options choices. This could be exported as Australia only needs 30K units a year and the money exchanges that way better. Number five GM has said it will re enter Japan with Chevy. They can only do this with RHD. Well we already have RHD down under in Malibu, Cruze and other small Chevy eh I mean Holden's so this would lead one to think Chevy for down under. Add to all this the ability to intro a Camaro and even a Corvette down under once the LHD version arrive. They are prime for a Camaro. I have a friend in Perth with a LS powered 68 Camaro and he is excited about this as well as many other of our customers. Many spend a lot of money to buy Chevys and import them. Some have to spend more to convert to LHD if they are in the east and it is a rich mans car. The only real negative is the loss of a old name and some equity here but that is about it. This is a country that has made the Mazda 3 number one so there is little loyalty to the home brands anymore. I would recommend a visit to the Holden site and just compare the line up to Chevy and realize it already is Chevy. Also I would recommend visiting the enthusiast sites and see just how many Chevys are in the country. They are prized and used for shows and racing. We have sold tons and tons of parts for their cars and few go to Holden's. The worst loss here is some 2900 jobs with the Zeta but that is the extent of their production there and that is less than many plants here. The markets have changed and the way we build and sell cars has to change as the cost involved anymore prevent so many brands and models anymore. The overlap has to stop. Like I have said before we will lose more names globally as there are still some weak companies that just can no longer go it alone.

You need to look a little deeper here. Consider the latest news that the Commodore replacement may not be RWD. Now that is not to say there is not going to be a RWD Holden but it may not be built down under. This is what we know. 1. Holden last year only sold 30K Commodores. So you can see where the Ute sales were much less than this. Note sales were down 9% last year and may not be any better this year. 2. Word from down under is that the new Commodore in two years will not be RWD and will go FWD. [since Holden is now really Chevy Down Under will it be a version of our Impala?] 3. The Colorado like the S10 here killed sales of a already low volume model. We saw it here with the El Camino. 4 Now this is where I speculate. I do not believe Holden will be with out a RWD car as Chevy already has made it cleat the SS will be around even after the Zeta dies. Now with the SS I see it going to the Alpha based on a LWB 6th Gen Camaro platform. With a plant able to build the Cadillac models and the Camaro adding a volume of SS and Holden models would not be a stretch. GM already exports the drive line and with the current money exchange sending a G8 like volume of cars down under is something that could easily be done. Now here may be part two of why the Ute Dies. The Alpha was built to be solid but light. They have carved out weight anywhere they could that did not compromise the car but still made a solid platform for the suspension. Now this may be where the Ute may not fit in on this platform. Now while RWD is more popular down under than about anywhere else it is a dying segment. Ford is looking to leave it unless they import the Mustang. Take a look a the top ten vehicles there and only trucks and the Commodore have RWD. Add to this Number 2 Holden sold 119K vehicles last year but Number One in the market Toyota sold nearly twice that. The best selling car has been the Mazda 3 and Hyundai has been one of the fastest growing brands doing so with FWD. Like here the market has changed and so Holden will also have to change. The Cruze last year nearly out sold the Commodore and I would not be surprised if it does not over take it next year. Now we can justify on the web niche models and al sorts of schemes but the fact is large automakers generally would rather shoot for the higher volume models that return more per dollar invested than many low volume models. Sure Holden might make some money on a low volume Ute but they can make a lot more money just selling a Global Colorado. Why work harder on two cars and make as much or more with just one. I am disappointed with the loss but business is business and the key it to make money. If GM does not do it Toyota will take the Aussies money just as well. Note too the low volume Zeta SS for the US market is only here for two reasons. One to fill a need in NASCAR until the new model arrives. Also the SS will open the segment till a higher volume model is built here with a wider price range and more options. The present SS is only holding a place for the new model. Note the SS has been stated as a 4 door Camaro buy some at GM. Also in several Australian spots they have tied the Commodore with the Chevy SS here. Why would they even bring in that tie for their market? My point is there is a lot more in play here and I feel the low volume Ute is just a victim of changing markets and changing platforms.

The pressures in this engine will be greater than the 3.6 TT so we will see the bore shrink just as we did in the ZR1. We saw hints of this engine coming over a year ago and it is no surprise. Even on the Ecotec they went to 2.0 liters to add more pressure for durability so it s very simple to see what they are doing. Now while I do not have the boost numbers I am speaking of numbers that would bury a T type. My GM tune on my 2.0 eco puts out 23 PSI of warranty coverage. With the TT it may not be a high but it will spool up low down and hold it for a long time when called upon. We deal with many Supercharger companies and Turbo companies at work and our customers. Bock damage and blown head gaskets are very common in adapted engines. Ford Small Block suffer the most with only 4 head bolts around each cylinder. With out O ring head gaskets they almost always fail. Block strength, head strength and head bold or studs are also a factor. Just look at the failure alone of the Ford Diesels and their head bolts from a couple years ago. I expect that the 3.2 may show up else where as the High Performance Option. The 3.6 Turbo may not be the performance engine as we though it may just be the normal TT engine and the heavy grunt work will go to the 3.2 TT. The real question is will the TT set up on the V6 and V8 be held as the Cadillac trademark engine to set them apart. The non Turbo and Supercharged V8 may be left to Chevy. While GM may not be able to make a Cadillac engine the TT hallmark could make the engine that GM makes special just to Cadillac. In this segment technology sells and if they want to sell in Europe and Germany they need to address this over there. It is like Americans love NASCAR and Indy car but Euro people love F1 for the technology and not so much for on track passing. Just see how BMW and Benz sell their cars over there as they detail the technology no matter if it is performance of safety over there before anything else. They buy things not for what image they depict but for the technology they demonstrate. Cadillac is going to be global in 10 years and you need to start building a global image now to do that later.

The only way Pontiac would have made the cut it to merge with Opel to become a global brand and replace Buick. But seeing that China has no love for Pontiac since none of their emperor's or Party leaders owned Pontiacs and chose often rode in Buick there was little chance of them to have made this transition. Just being in North America is not longer enough. Now if they had made a 77 TA with a Dragon on the hood and let Jackie Chan and Lucy Lu drive cross country running from the Cultural Police then things may have been different. Any one know how to say Sum Bitch in Mandarin? Let GM and Buick/Opel unfold their new products we have yet to see and you will find they will cover anything Pontiac would or could have done and at a higher price point too. We have to remember much of Pontiac's true base let go after 1979. Once they gutted the Pontiac V8 400 from the line up it really removed the soul of what made a Pontiac a Pontiac. Spend some time at the Pontiac Nationals or POCI event and you will find this out. They could care less about a $80K Firebird built on a new Camaro as they would rather buy the real thing for $40K less and enjoy it while it appreciates with time. The last years Pontiac was not profitable and outside of GM fan web sites where have you heard much out cry of the loss of Pontiac or that they should bring it back. Lets face it the majority of the auto market cares little if they even noticed. I do not even see much hope for a niche market. I love and still own Pontiac's but I also know the damage was done. It was not like they pulled the plug on a division on the rise or in a very strong market position. It is hard to make money just by being sentimental. .

What went on inside GM is one of the few sides we have not heard from. Jay's story does a good job matching up and explaining the Old GM and New GM creation and liquidation. Rick was never as bad as many wanted to paint him. He did make some mistakes but show me a head of a company that has not made a mistake and I can show you one that is not doing anything. Lutz also points out that Rick did a lot of good and took a lot of unfair blame in many areas. His biggest criticism was Rick was too nice and did not lay down the law at time when it was needed. This now puts a kink in Lutz's story on how the government killed Pontiac. According to Jay the divisions were looked at in detail and what could be saved was saved and what could not was let go. The government only approved what GM presented. Looking back I see what GM and Chrysler has done and I feel GM has made the most progress. To be fail Fiat has enough of their own troubles let alone sort out a stagnate Chrysler. If it were not for Ram and Jeep there would be no Chrysler today. I hope Jay or Rick would write a book and give us the story on what went on inside GM when this was going down. Even many at near the top were not in on these plans.

Never Mind! I will just catch up on other sites.

Never mind I need to catch up somewhere else.

You do not pay enough! LOL! Sorry nothing personal. I just was aggravated as I wanted to talk new CTS and this is the place to debate it but it is no longer the first place for news anymore. The other places with the news have so many people with no clue it really is not much of a conversation. Now if you can arrange it So I can hang out with Lutz for a week I may take you up on that. The value of the cigars is more than adequate compensation. I am Sorry Drew this was anything directed at you. I understand what you are up against. Damn if they had just lost the Wreath sooner things would be all that more sunny. LOL!

Better late than ........ Rude. Ya know, I do have a day job. I can't make it to every drive event out there. I drove the car Thursday and you'll have the review Monday... what more do you want from me unless you're proposing to fully fund this site and my travel costs yourself? This is not about waiting around for your test. This is about the lack of a post on recent info and test that have been out on many products. This site no longer always post the latest news like it used to for debate and people will and have gone elsewhere. This has been my loyal prime place to come for the latest GM news and debate but of late to get the latest news and info I have had to go else where. I am not alone. This is not a personal attack on you but just disappointment that things are just not leading as they used to be here. I hate to see a good thing lose it's edge. Debates here are tough and info used to be up to the minute and it made us all better. There was a time where the other reports were noted and it was stated we will have our report in a couple days. In the interim we would has out the reports we did have and then balance against the one here. But this week it has been no news and a debate on an old Eldorado. It is fine to bring up the old things but while new news is breaking nothing is even posted.

You need to check Cadillac's production figures thruout the '70s. They tell the facts vs. your account. Seville was a clean gut-check to mercedes, who thought they had Cadillac right where they wanted them. It was quite a strong contender and got very good press, but by that same year I mentioned above, the 2nd gen veered off in another direction. Fact of the matter is, mercedes changed up their game from the '60s to the '80s to become a LOT more like Cadillac than the other way around. Clearly, they benchmarked. But Roger Smith's '80s sure made things easier for the Germans... Anyway, it's an incredible time to watch Cadillac, the ATS & CTS sure go miles to restore the established tradition @ Cadillac. Meanwhile the german twins are working hard on FWD 'value' cars. Well you might want to check reality vs. your dream. At 1973 the market really began to change and start the decline. It did not happen over night but the monster beast cars were done in that era. While the Seville raised eyebrows the car was nothing but a good looking Nova. As time passes no one was fooled. They moved to the hump back to try to change minds but that did not work either. It was till the first STS that they finally go the idea but due to the lack of fund were not able to complete the deal. Today the development money is there and they are very close to closing the deal started with the original Seville concept. Keep in mind this is also the GM that tried to convince the Grand AM was a Germany competitor too. As for your last comment I agree and I believe that having Buick around to take up that price segments FWD market will pay off for Cadillac as it will nor dilute their mission. GM having three distinct division here may just pay off and give them the ability to do what the others can not do.

I am not sure they are not that far off on refinement. They are right in there and the small details will be worked out with each year and model. The jump From ATS to the CTS has been great and I see the LTS even moving nearer the goal. To be sure they are watching in Europe and know that their sales can take a hit here with these cars. The B boys are not what they once were and have slipped a little in the detail refinements in some areas too.