Features for '05 models provide safety, activities

[Ming]

Features for '05 models provide safety, activities
October 21, 2004
MARK PHELAN
DETROIT FREE PRESS

It's the 21st Century, and cars still don't fly, but they have some new tricks the creators of "The Jetsons" never imagined. In fact, some 2005 models will do just about everything from frying your breakfast eggs to giving you a gentle warning if your mind wanders and your car begins to drift out of its lane.

The latest technologies usually show up first in high-priced luxury cars, but a few intriguing new ones are hitting the road this year in mainstream vehicles such as the $24,945 Ford Freestyle wagon and $30,190 Chevrolet Silverado pickup.

Cylinder deactivation

A big V8 engine is great when you're accelerating into traffic or towing a trailer, but it's way more engine -- burning way more fuel -- than most drivers need most of the time. General Motors Corp. and the Chrysler Group corrected that this year with V8s that imperceptibly idle half their cylinders when they're not needed, reducing fuel consumption by 8 percent to 20 percent.

This is not a reincarnation of the disastrous V-8-6-4 GM foisted upon a few unlucky customers in the 1980s. Modern electronic controls allow the system to work so quickly and smoothly that the driver never knows how many cylinders are firing.

In fact, Chrysler's system works so imperceptibly that company executives are openly frustrated that they haven't gotten any public credit for the thousands of fuel-efficient V8s they've put on the road this year.

Cylinder deactivation is standard equipment on the Hemi V8-powered Chrysler 300C and Dodge Magnum RT, and on 5.3-liter V8 versions of GM's Chevrolet TrailBlazer EXT, GMC Envoy XUV and Envoy XL midsize SUVs.

Both companies plan to use the system on more engines and vehicles.

Honda also offers cylinder deactivation on high-end models of its V6-powered Odyssey minivan, which is all new for 2005. Minivans equipped with the feature improve their fuel economy by 1 m.p.g. in city driving and 3 m.p.g. on the highway in EPA tests.

Continuously variable transmissions

CVTs have been around for decades, but they hit the big time this year with the all-new Ford Five Hundred sedan and Freestyle wagon.

The fuel-saving transmissions replace the gears in a conventional automatic transmission with a steel belt and two variable-size pulleys, one at the engine's crankshaft and the other linked to the car's wheels.

The pulleys adjust their size to keep the engine running at its most efficient level, giving the Five Hundred and Freestyle a wide range of drive ratios for better performance and fuel economy than a conventional four- or five-speed automatic transmission.

Audi has used a similar system in front-wheel-drive versions of its A4 sport sedan for several years, but the Five Hundred and Freestyle are the first mainstream large family cars to offer a CVT. The Nissan Murano SUV has a CVT that uses a different mechanism from Ford and Audi's belt-and-pulley system. Several vehicles developed specifically for maximum fuel economy also use CVTs, including the Honda Civic HX and hybrid, the Ford Escape hybrid and Toyota Prius.

Saturn initially sold its Vue SUV with a CVT, but so few customers ordered the powertrain that GM dropped the transmission.

Entertainment hard drives

If the kids enjoy watching DVD movies on trips, think of how much easier life would be with a 40-gigabyte hard drive that could store as many as 40 feature films or thousands of recorded songs in your minivan.

GM will offer the first portable hard drive to store movies and music in its new 2005 minivans -- the Buick Terraza, Chevrolet Uplander, Pontiac Montana SV6 and Saturn Relay.

The hard drive -- with as much storage space as an Apple eMac -- will be available as an option early in 2005. The DVD player and video screen are standard equipment on the Saturn and Buick minivans. The hard drive replaces the DVD player and can be removed to download movies and music through a USB connection to a home computer.

GM's minivans are the only vehicles to offer a removable hard drive for entertainment, but the feature seems so useful that other automakers will probably follow suit.

The vans' three-mode entertainment system lets passengers simultaneously listen to movies, CDs and the radio through its headphones and separate audio channels for the front and rear seats.

Gas-electric hybrids

Meanwhile, GM has begun selling its mild-hybrid Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickups, which use a less powerful electric system than the Accord. The trucks' fuel economy improves by only a couple of miles per gallon, but the electrical system includes a generator that can run anything from power tools to a refrigerator or electric grille for those breakfast tailgate parties. The system adds about $1,500 to the pickups' price.

FULL Article Here: http://www.freep.com/money/autorevie...e_20041021.htm

[ponchoman49]

The fuel-saving transmissions replace the gears in a conventional automatic transmission with a steel belt and two variable-size pulleys, one at the engine's crankshaft and the other linked to the car's wheels.

I find it interesting that in the case of the Ford 500 and Mercury twin they acutally get lower mileage with the CVT compared to the 6 speed auto. 20/27 versus 21/29 with the 6 speed. Not sure what the advantage of the CVT is. And i'm willing to bet Ford is going to have teething problems with it like GM did with the saturn.

[polarisSKS]

A CVT transmission can extract more performance from any given engine, becuase of its infinitely variable gearing. Instead on having to accelerate and engine through different rpm levels, you can keep it pegged at a certain rpm, while the transmission adjusts to keep the engine at its peak. CVTs also have a very wide gearing spread. A sled can be geared from 7:1 to 1:1.
Its just like in a snowmobile. Works great, very efficient, low maintenance.
The car is probably a little underpowered, so the tranmission choices are there to compensate for that.

[gmsickofan]

"Cylinder deactivation is standard equipment on the Hemi V8-powered Chrysler 300C and Dodge Magnum RT, and on 5.3-liter V8 versions of GM's Chevrolet TrailBlazer EXT, GMC Envoy XUV and Envoy XL midsize SUVs."

This makes no sense. If you want decent fuel economy in these SUVs, buy the Inline-6. GM could have made a difference with DOD on the Inline-6 or the hybrid engine on the Suburban, or DOD in the Equinox if it didn't have that junky old Chinese engine. Sometimes GM makes me mad with its almost intentional running away from a truly fuel efficient SUV.

GM's Minivans are the only option left.

[VivienM]

Originally Posted by gmsickofan

Sometimes GM makes me mad with its almost intentional running away from a truly fuel efficient SUV.

There's a reason for that, though, and it's called CAFE.

Apparently in the early 90s some politicians proposed increasing CAFE standards by a percentage over an automaker's current CAFE, so for example, if GM gets 28MPG on cars right now, the politicians require a 25% improvement, so GM would have to get 35MPG. If some other automaker already had 40MPG (let's say they sell only small cars), they'd have to get to 50MPG.

Automakers probably worry this idea is going to come back, and what this threat does is give them an incentive to meet their CAFE numbers barely today, and keep the fuel saving technology around in the background so they can pull it out if the CAFE standards increase (which, if John Kerry wins the election, may be reasonably likely to happen). If they were to deploy the fuel saving technology today, it might bump up their CAFE average by 4MPG or something, but it also means that if some politician hikes up the standard in this fashion later, they are in deep trouble.

[MelvinJ]

Originally Posted by gmsickofan

"Cylinder deactivation is standard equipment on the Hemi V8-powered Chrysler 300C and Dodge Magnum RT, and on 5.3-liter V8 versions of GM's Chevrolet TrailBlazer EXT, GMC Envoy XUV and Envoy XL midsize SUVs."

This makes no sense. If you want decent fuel economy in these SUVs, buy the Inline-6. GM could have made a difference with DOD on the Inline-6 or the hybrid engine on the Suburban, or DOD in the Equinox if it didn't have that junky old Chinese engine. Sometimes GM makes me mad with its almost intentional running away from a truly fuel efficient SUV.

GM's Minivans are the only option left.

Have you looked at the EPA estimates for the extended 360's? The Inline-6 gets the exact same mileage as the 5.3L V8 Suburban, which is considerably heavier. I'd love it if the I6 got 2 or 3 mpg better, but it doesn't in these heavy trucks (the EXTs weigh around 5000 lbs). The new DoD V8's get better mileage than the I6 and have a lot more torque.

As I understand it, DoD is considerably more difficult with DOHC engines than with pushrods, although it obviously can be done. The EXTs are a testbed for the new engines since it limits their volume compared with any applications in the full-size trucks. Once production is ramped up throughout the year and the engine has proven itself, you'll see it in the big trucks.

The DoD V6's are being developed, and in 2007, you'll see one in the Equinox.

[mjd1001]

Saturn stopped selling the CVT because so few customers bought it? If I am not mistaken, the CVT was the only automatic transmission available on the vue with the 4 cylinder engine and an automatic. It also was the only automatic transmission available with the Ion Quad coupe.

It's not like customers had a choice. If they wanted any of those vehicles, they HAD to take the CVT.

[VivienM]

Originally Posted by mjd1001

Saturn stopped selling the CVT because so few customers bought it? If I am not mistaken, the CVT was the only automatic transmission available on the vue with the 4 cylinder engine and an automatic. It also was the only automatic transmission available with the Ion Quad coupe.

It's not like customers had a choice. If they wanted any of those vehicles, they HAD to take the CVT.

Did anyone want the 4 cyl. Vue, though?

[impala02]

Who was the first automobile manufacturer to offer CVT? I remember Subaru offered it in their Justy in the late 80's.

[HEVguy]

My perception was that Saturn stopped selling the CVT because the price. True it did have some early quality issues, but they said they fixed those. And I thought it was the only auto availabe in ION, so I doubt they cut it from low sales.

However, as is the case often at GM, the price for the CVT plus the added cost to fix the quality problem, probably got them doing a trade-off study and they saw that 4spd auto was cheaper. Too bad, because when I drove the quad coupe I really liked the feeling of the CVT, it was a novel tranny. If I had decided to get it, I definitely would have opted for the CVT.

Otherwise, this shows quite a few innovations are making it into GM vehicles. I believe DoD is a very good option and should hopefully spread to more V-8's and V-6's. I have also read that it is harder to do on OHC, BUT I think with electrohydraulic valve actuation its supposed to be easier (with OHC or OHV) because you just shut all the valves in the deactivated cylinders. I like the dimming headlights on the STS also!

[goblue]

Also on the "cars of the future" I'll post this article to the news articles, its an in depth study of "Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, and Reality" by motor trend. Basically, hydrogen may not be the answer and may be cost prohibitive. It's a long article, but an excellent read if you want a review of whats out there.
http://motortrend.com/features/consu...gen/index.html