There will also be a supercharged version of the Ecotec, but for the time being it will only power the Red Line iterations of the Saturn Ion sports coupe, delivering 205 hp at 5600 rpm and 200 lb.-ft. of torque at 4400 rpm.
There were no Ecotec-equipped cars of any type around to test drive, but there were cars with the other engines on GM's debutante list, the 3900 V6 and the 5.3-litre V8.
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| The Displacement on Demand system, will debut next year in the 3.9-litre V6 in the Pontiac G6 sports sedan. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
The big deal about these engines was something that was completely unnoticeable on various test drives -- the Displacement on Demand system, which will debut next year in the 3.9-litre V6 in the Pontiac G6 sports sedan and follow in a fleet of GM SUVs a little later.
This is as it should be, of course, since DoD is designed to disengage half of an engine's cylinders when full power is not required and then restore full power at a millisecond's notice when full power is needed.
GM expects the DoD system to be a big player in its future product plans, with more than two million vehicles expected to have it by 2008, so this is a lot more than a gimmick.
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| GM expects the DoD system to be a big player in its future product plans, with more than two million vehicles to incorporate it by 2008. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
Every test model had a special system light on the IP that flashed green when the DoD was activated. This was necessary since it's otherwise impossible to tell.
On the test drives on the streets around GM's technical centre, the various vehicles were running on DoD about half the time. This is pretty much what the average driver will be able to expect in a production car, GM says.
Individual results will vary by individual situations, but on the US government's official fuel economy loop mixing urban and highway driving, the DoD engines deliver a six to eight percent fuel economy gain.