tjackson82

I just got back from a lunch where Bob Lutz, GM co-chairman and the keeper of the speed flame at GM (as if we should expect anything else from a guy with two jet warbirds and a jet helicopter in his personal fleet).
Bob, as always, was entertaining and provocative -- he spun a wild tale about how Soviet disinformation the 1960s and '70s derailed nuclear power here and in much of Western Europe as a way to keep us dependent on foreign oil.
But he issued this warning about the new Camaro and, by extension, though not mentioned specifically, the Corvette: You better buy these cars now because when we have to meet the new federal 35 mpg mandate by 2015, we can't do that and keep producing high-horsepower cars.
Now before anyone flames me about what good gas mileage the Corvette gets now, Lutz is looking at the big picture, which means GM will have to produce a lot of small, fuel-efficient cars that get 40 or more miles per gallon to offset the inevitable fleet of crossover SUVs and the like that will get 30 mpg.
He says that in that environment, cars like the Camaro and "OTHER V8 VEHICLES'' (emphasis mine, but Bob's words) will have a short lifespan. Again, no mention directly of the Vette, but it's not hard to see that at least the new ZR1 could be short-lived and the
basic Vette could get scaled back to a V6 at some point.
Lutz remains a big believer in ethanol, though he's now put the emphasis on celulosic ethanol rather than corn-based ethanol. He believes that if Washington would put greater emphasis on E-85, by 2015 we could be free of imported oil and still provide the types of cars people want.
I'm not sure I agree with him on that, but his points are worth considering.
The other interesting tidbit -- GM is working on a way to make the 2010 Volt electric car have an artificial exhaust sound to satisfy drivers who don't want their cars to be silent. He also said the Volt, which he maintains is on track for the year 2010, will "be affordable,'' but will "cost a lot more'' than he'd like when it comes to market. He also
said that GM won't make a dime on the first generation of these vehicles.

extents

Nice post. Thanks for the info. Can you make big power with E-85? I see some hype over it and more GM cars being able to use it, BUT there ain't no place in my area to get it!

I think the horsepower wars will certainly taper off...

El Puto

Interesting. However, I can't help but wonder if he is motivated to boost sales and bolster demand of the remaining V8s at high prices. "Get 'em now folks, coz once there gone you'll never see 'em again". Perhaps a bit of salesmanship on Lutz's part predicting the end of a great era??

El Puto

You bet you can - ethanol has a high octane # and therefore would allow higher boost, more aggressive timing, etc.

Wayne O

Long term...the handwriting's on the wall. I predict a rosy future for tuner shops like Lingenfelter, Katech, etc.

Massive ethanol use creates a whole lot of other problems but it may have its place (to what extent I'm not sure).

An artificial sound for the Volt ....how hokey is that? I certainly feel sound is an integral part of the (performance) car experience but I even think the so-called 'mild to wild' switch is silly.

Nice post though...thanks for sharing the latest.

AORoads

You forgot to put on your flame suit, tj.

I guess the Soviets were just disinforming us when Chernobyl occurred, and all the other potential Chernobyls that exist. rant off.

I'd tend to agree with Lutz tho, the high HP, and by tomorrow's standards, lower MPG cars are definitely going to be looked at very closely. I also think that a V6 isn't out of the realm of possiblity. And if not that, extinction. Or even a turbo four And then extinction.

Let's hope the engineers at GM are really forging ahead with new ideas, altho Lutz doesn't seem to say so.

Nightclaw

The HP wars will taper off, and then after a few years be right back where we're at now. Same thing that happened at the end of the '80s. It's deja vu all over again.

VET4LES

Good information. Thanks.

danl72

Thanks for the info.

User 2623

What comes around goes around, but we could have easily avoided this if were were more proactive in getting us off this oil addiction. Good post ... informative.

Z'ha'dum

Interesting

User 020720

Informative post, thanks.

C-INRED

There's no question it's going to be a different world but we'll still have lots of horsepower and torque...it'll just be from a different source...likely electricity which can provide plenty of both.

Hopefully we can get the politicians to get off the corn ethanol bandwagon...what a white elephant IMO.

GARYFINN

Maybe we could get a nice artificial exhaust sound for our C6's

jschindler

Good post

A couple of points - people will start talking about what great mileage the Corvette already gets. In light of a 35 MPG rating, the Corvette is not even close. Getting 26 or 28 on the highway is nothing like the rating that is used for the CAFE. The combined rating now is around 20- a long way from 35. The car does make up a small volume of GM's total, which could be our savior.

E85.... there are some economies to consider. E85 gets horrible mileage. Best accounts are that it gets 25-33% less fuel economy than petroleum based gasoline. That means that even if the government continues to heavily subsidize it by giving cars an artifically high CAFE score, it still will be very expensive for the consumer.

Right now, the government allows all those "E85" Tahoes and Suburbans you see running around to count at 40mpg for the CAFE ratings that make up the manufacturers overall corporate average. The reality is that if you actually run E85 in one of those bad-boys you will get about 10mpg in the city and 14-15 on the highway. You do the math!

CodyC6

Everything old is new again. That's why we went to 4 cyl turbos, then 6 cyl twin turbos, and right back to monster horspower and V8s. Heck, we even got away from FWD and went back to rear wheel drive sedans etc.

Vinnie T

Only problem this time around is circumstances are not the same as before and gas is not going to go down in price as it did previously.

The new Road&Track has a sidebar on future performance and were talking about a smaller in size Corvette with perhaps a 4.7L V-8 as a top engine. Weight is the key since it's much easier to gain performance through lost weight than increased engine size.

Gannet

I wouldn't be too complacent. It was about a 20 year cycle last time.

TCKT B8

Big HP went away in the 70's, too. And now we're even more reliant on foreign oil and consume even more. My thoughts are that if (rather when) big HP returns again, it will be tied to a different energy source. Car guys and big HP will prevail.

not08crmanymore

I think I'll go listen my NPP on OPEN for a while!!