GM revving up smaller engines in ’15
Fuel efficiency is one of the goals
General Motors will produce a new, modular family of small, fuel-efficient engines starting in 2015 at five plants around the world, including in Flint, Mich., where GM will invest $200 million on the plant.
The engine family will range from a 1.0-liter three-cylinder to 1.4- and 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder models. Power will range from 75 horsepower to 165 horsepower.
GM calls the engines Ecotec, the name it also uses for its current four-cylinder power plants.
The Opel Adam minicar in Europe will be the first car to get one of the engines when it hits the road with a turbocharged 1.0-liter three-cylinder this summer. GM doesn’t plan to sell the Adam, which is about the size of a Fiat 500, in the U.S.
The 1.4- and 1.5-liter four-cylinder turbos go into production for the next-generation Cruze in China this summer, and U.S. production of the new Cruze and its engines begins next year.
The engines probably will be added to vehicles such as the Chevrolet Sonic subcompact and Buick Encore small crossover later.
GM also plans to produce the engines in China, Hungary, Mexico and South Korea by 2017, when annual global production should reach 2.5 million.
“We’ll use these engines in 64 countries,” Steve Kiefer, GM vice president of global powertrain engineering, said at a briefing this week at a powertrain engineering center in Pontiac, Mich.
They will power 27 models by the end of 2016, and a quarter of all the vehicles GM builds around the world eventually will use engines belonging to this family.
A family consists of engines of several sizes and outputs that share engineering and parts. The new family replaces three separate engine families, which cuts the cost and complexity of mak- ing engines, said Tom Sutter, chief engineer of GM’s Ecotec engines.
Many of the engines will feature direct fuel injection, turbocharging and auto-start-stop systems to boost mileage. They’ll run on regular fuel, unlike some competing high-output small engines that require premium. GM compares the engines’ efficiency and refinement to Ford, Volkswagen and Audi engines.
Porsche boosts power of Boxster, Cayman
Porsche is powering up the performance of its 2014 Boxster roadster and Cayman coupe.
Both models will now be offered for the first time with a Porsche GTS package, increasing horsepower, torque and top speed, and adding some new standard equipment. Both new GTS models are set to arrive in the summer, with the Boxster starting at $74,495 and the Cayman at $76,195.
Both the Boxster GTS and Cay- man GTS have a 3.4-liter sixcylinder engine, increasing the horsepower of their S counterparts by 15, bringing the Boxster's total to 330 hp and the Cayman's to 340 hp. Likewise, torque is improved by 7 pounds-feet to 273 in the Boxster and 280 in the Cayman.
The Porsche Sport Chrono package — which allows changing throttle response and other settings — is now a standard feature with a six-speed manual transmission or an optional sevenspeed. The latter with Sport Plus activated enables a zero-to-60mph sprint of 4.4 seconds for the Boxster and 4.3 seconds for the Cayman; top speeds are 174 mph and 177 mph, respectively.
Both come standard with Porsche Active Suspension Management, offering sport and comfort ride settings.
New standard features include unique front and rear design, blacked-out bi-xenon high-intensity-discharge headlights, 20-inch Carrera S wheels, a sport exhaust system with black tailpipes and GTS badging.
Interior upgrades include an Alcantara-wrapped steering wheel, headliner, center console and sport-seat inserts, along with GTS embroidery in the headrests.
Weak demand shuts Chrysler's Viper line
Chrysler has announced it will shut down its SRT Viper plant in Detroit for more than two months because of weak demand for the supercar.
Ninety-one workers will be laid off because of the temporary shutdown, the company said. Production is scheduled to end the week of April 14 and will resume the week of June 23.
The decision to halt production is the latest blow for the high-performance car, which is meant as a halo car for Chrysler's young SRT brand.
Employees view the car as a symbol of the company's recovery since 2009.
Chrysler discontinued the Viper in 2010 because of financial difficulties but revived it after Fiat took control. The automaker planned to sell at least 1,600 Vipers annually, but sales fell to 591 in 2013 and just 91 through the first two months of 2014, according to Autodata.
The Viper has an all-aluminum, midfront 8.4-liter V10 engine that delivers 640 horsepower. The base price is $99,395 and $122,995 for the GTS model.