Energy Bill Puts Muscle Car In Peril

Future Of High-Performance Cars Could Be "Legislated Out Of Existence," GM Engineer Says

(AP)  When General Motors Corp. pulls the cover off a new supercharged version of the Corvette at the Detroit auto show next month, it will unveil a performance car designed to rival or better even the fastest, most expensive exotic cars from Europe.

But the Corvette's chief engineer says the 2009 Corvette ZR1 may be the last in a long tradition of Detroit performance cars, endangered by stronger federal fuel economy regulations and limits on carbon dioxide emissions.

"High-performance vehicles such as this may actually be legislated out of existence," Tadge Juechter said at a recent showing of the ZR1, which is designed to have around 620 horsepower.

President Bush on Wednesday signed into law legislation that will bring more fuel-efficient vehicles into auto showrooms and require wider use of ethanol, calling it "a major step" toward energy independence and easing global warming.

The legislation requires automakers to increase fuel efficiency by 40 percent to an industry average 35 miles per gallon by 2020.

But Juechter said to sell one of the Chevrolet supercars, GM would need to offset that with cars that get 45 mpg.

"It could really be an endangered species," he said.

Aaron Bragman, an auto analyst with the consulting firm Global Insight, said predicting the death of the muscle car might be premature.

The Corvette, he said, is fuel efficient when compared with its competitors. Although fuel economy figures weren't released for the ZR1, the current 505-horsepower Corvette ZO6 gets an estimated 15 mpg in the city and 24 on the highway, according to GM.

The ZR1, he said, gets around the same mileage as a Chevrolet pickup truck, and GM won't be getting out of the pickup business because of gas mileage standards.

"I think it's a little over-dramatization," Bragman said. "GM wants to sell big, high-performance, fun cars. And typically that's what Americans want to buy."

Performance cars of the future may be powered by smaller engines or electric motors, he said, but they won't die.

The ZR1 will have a top speed of more than 200 mph, driven by an all-new supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 engine. It has 19-inch front and 20-inch rear wheels and a suspension tuned to provide extraordinary cornering grip, GM said.

The car has a carbon-fiber hood, fenders and roof for weight savings, and its huge carbon-ceramic brake rotors give it great stopping power, the company said.

The ZR1 will cost around $100,000 and probably will go on sale next summer.

[zuggerjack1]

ToolMangler posted: "A hydrogen-Oxygen powered engine has the potential to out perform the biggest engines of the past century."

Better believe it. A liquid oxygen-liquid hydrogen motor put 12 Americans on the Moon from 1969 to 1972 via the fabulous Saturn V rocket launch vehicle which outperforms everything on the launch pad or drawing boards today. Put this fuel-combo into a car -- better stand way back!

You know, GM really got it right with their ''91 Buick Park Avenue. Luxury beyond belief for six-passengers, air-suspension that''s like riding on a cloud, and that 175 horsepower in case you really need to floor it in an emergency, and the thickest rimmed steel body ever developed. This beautifully designed and contoured vehicle that weighs in at 4000 lb. handles like a sports car.

GM will do it right again, with either a hybrid-electric, or full-electric that has everything any driver will ever want. Because in the near future, our nation will finally have renewable energy sources at low cost, you know, wind, space solar power like in that book I read called Sunstroke by David Kagan, geothermal. And maybe GM might just stick in a hydrogen-fuel-cell powered engine that''ll outperform any ''Vette.

[toolmangler-2009]

A hydrogen-Oxygen powered engine has the potential to out perform the biggest engines of the past century.
You will never see one until the last drop of oil is sucked out of the ground,

[j_flood]

If I were King I would have made the ''energy'' bill based on Co2 output. Dirtier the car engine - the higher the tax on it. I know there''s no replacement for displacement but we''ve had big honking engines for too long. You''d be surprised how large cars can function just fine with smaller engines producing less Co2.

[zuggerjack1]

So, the new energy bill signed by President Bush puts muscle cars on the ''endangered species list''. Too bad.

Well, the GM engineers who designed America''s one-and-only Rolls Royce--the magnificent 1991 Buick Park Avenue V-6 3.8-liter high-performance six-passenger vehicle--did a superlative job by incorporating the finest pollution-control devices and the largest, most efficient fuel-injector system in automobile history to enable this 4000 lb. colossus with 175 horsepower to get 18 mpg city driving and 27 mpg highway. GM aficiandos are earmarking this remarkable vehicle to be the next classic. Why? Because it was designed to be the flagship for all premium luxury cars for the 21st century, and when GM decides to do something right they can actually do it.

Now, can''t GM use their great engineering prowess to manufacture superlative, affordable all-electric cars (and hybrids), keeping in mind renewable energy sources such as hydrogen fuel cells, wind energy, geothermal and space solar power, the type that David Kagan wrote about in his book Sunstroke? This is GM''s ultimate challenge.

[frb01]

For those of us who like cars and appreciate the legacy of the Corvette, the Corvette has always been a showcase of technology and the future for GM. I am sure they will have a version of the hybrid system that is in there SUV''s which allows them to get 20 in the city in the next Corvette, or a diesel or something else. The muscle car won''t die. And when the celebrities driving the hybrids drop traveling in their private jets, than I will get worried. The best solution for the fuel issues right now is a diesel like in Europe, we just don''t want to deal with the emission issues.

[sparks224]

"I have a muscle car. It''''s a 2006 VW Touareg with a V-10 twin turbo diesel motor. It goes 0 - 60 in 7 seconds, and has 555 foot pounds of torque. I run it on biodiesel."
Posted by downtowner97

Why do you hate America?

[downtowner97]

I have a muscle car. It''s a 2006 VW Touareg with a V-10 twin turbo diesel motor. It goes 0 - 60 in 7 seconds, and has 555 foot pounds of torque. I run it on biodiesel.

[aggiescott07]

What about something resembling a luxury tax or sin tax on such vehicles with high emissions? These cars are clearly ''playthings'' for those who can afford them. An emissions tax would deter some buyers while not compromising car performance. Companies pay taxes on their pollution and emisions, why not people too?

[edjohn66]

Boo hoo. No more gas-guzzling playthings for rich guys in a mid-life crisis. Surely the end of Western Civilization is at hand.