New powertains take GM toward a whole new kind of car

Powertrain upgrades that will directly affect Canadians considering GM products will include:

• a 260-hp, turbocharged 2-litre gasoline direct-injection Ecotec inline-four, generating the highest specific output (130 hp per liter) of any production engine in GM history, launches in the Pontiac Solstice GXP and Saturn Sky Red Line
• the first GM V-6 with AFM, which deactivates cylinders when they're not needed to save fuel, will debut in the 2007 Chevy Impala
• a new GM hybrid system that improves fuel economy by 20 percent in the Saturn Vue Green Line, which will carry a premium small enough (about $2,600) to let customers driving average distances every year to save money on gas, and
• new six-speed automatic transmission variants for front-, rear- and all-wheel drive applications launch in nearly 40 global models in 2006 and 2007, most of them in North America.
  

(Photo: General Motors)

Overall, Stephens pointed out, the family of GM Gen IV small-block engines using combinations of AFM, variable-valve timing and E85 capability "is the industry's most powerful and fuel-efficient line of V-8 engines for light trucks." This is more significant for the Yanks, of course, because they have better access to E85 fuel and since the light truck business market (i.e. people who use trucks for work) is a huge deal down there.

To fulfill GM Powertrain's mission as described by Stephens, it requires that the company "provide the right product at the right price, and at the right time."

Stephen said "the right product means having outstanding quality, reliability, durability and performance. The right price means having an affordable price in every segment where we compete, and the right time is right now."

(Photo: General Motors)

For now that means a bunch of sophisticated internal combustion engines and powertrains, with the increased addition of electric motors to different powertrains to create various hybrid-electric vehicles, and sometime in the near term the addition of the holy grail of automotive propulsion, the fuel cell.

Before getting to the nuts and bolts of the newest powertrains, Stephens took the time to re-iterate GM's long-term vision as created by company CEO Rick Wagoner and other senior managers.

"General Motors is on a continuing quest to reinvent the automobile," Stephens said, "and to remove our vehicles from the environmental debate."

Vue Green Line (Photo: General Motors)

Central to this is GM's three-pronged advanced propulsion technology strategy, "which is focused on reducing vehicle emissions, ultimately to zero, while significantly improving fuel economy."

Overall, Stephens said, "GM's long-term vision is hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, but in the meantime and for a long time after the introduction of fuel cell vehicles, we expect many different fuels -- such as gasoline, ethanol, natural gas, diesel, and bio-diesel -- to play major roles, co-existing in the marketplace."

But first, two hot-looking roadsters (Sky and Solstice) with 260-hp engines, a hybrid vehicle (the Vue Green Line) that actually saves you money on gas, more six-speed shifters for quicker starts and improved mileage, and V6-powered mid-size cars using AFM cylinder-deactivation to reduce their fuel consumption.

Amen to that, Brother Tom.
photo:General Motors