Lutz on the Aura and Impala with 3.9LAFM's Fuel Economy

[Bornfromparents]

June 19, 2006

Drive Time



The Saturn Aura will go on sale later this summer.

By Bob Lutz
GM Vice Chairman
Although I’ve been traveling extensively this month, I have found time to get behind the wheel of some of our vehicles. I’ve driven two recently that I’m quite excited about, because they really illustrate the progress we’ve been making in mid-size cars.
The first is the Saturn Aura, which goes on sale later this summer. Simply put, I enjoyed it very much. It’s a very refined, very civilized car, beautifully put together, with impressive levels of quiet, and wonderful handling.
I believe it’s a major milestone in terms of both refinement and vehicle dynamics, not only for the Saturn brand but also for GM, in the category of mid-size front-wheel-drive cars. Got lots of “what is THAT” looks while driving it, and people were invariably surprised to find out it’s a Saturn. It’s absolutely outstanding and a great value as well.
I’ve also driven an astonishing Impala with the soon-to-be-released 3.9L Active Fuel Management system, which runs on three cylinders a surprising amount of the time.
It switches off half the cylinders whenever the engine isn’t fully solicited. And because of the unique characteristic of the Impala, which for its size is a relatively lightweight and aerodynamic car, it’s ideally suited for Active Fuel Management with the 3.9L V6. You can even go slightly uphill on three cylinders.
On the fuel economy label, there won’t be a lot of difference, because the fuel economy label cycle calls for idle, for example, and on idle you have to run all six, otherwise you get a rough idle. So you don’t save anything there. And you don’t save anything at full acceleration and most of the other requirements they roll into the cycle procedure. But the way most people drive, as you know, can be considerably different from the fuel economy label cycle.
As a result, people are going to be pleasantly surprised; instead of getting worse mileage than the fuel economy label, they’re more often than not going to see better mileage. When I picked up the car it had several thousand miles on it. And the average fuel economy on the trip computer was 29.8 mpg! (We haven’t released final EPA numbers on the 2007 Impala yet, but the average won’t be that high…) I was amazed by that, and I’m sure anyone else who gets into one will be, too. It’s just the kind of thing we need to address the fuel cost issues, and when it’s available, rest assured we’ll aggressively put the word out about it.


Posted by Lutz at June 19, 2006 02:22 PM

Thought this was a good read, I'm glad to hear this from Bob Lutz
Can't wait to drive both of these cars

link: http://fastlane.gmblogs.com/archives...me_1.html#more

[LAMRONH]

Hope the Aura will be good. To me Saturn is still pretty much an invisible brand, the rationale behind its megabucks creation remains a mystery to me.
While I hardly expect Lutz to trash new product in this piece, he does have interesting things to say about the MPG figures for the 3.9. I hope he's proven correct. Why they are not running the 3.05 final drive on it remains another of GM's mysteries. And while 29.8 is a good figure, my experience with trip computers has shown them to sometimes be off by as much as 2 or 3 MPG. Hopefully that one is off on the low side.
I think GM should name their engines. I suggest "Stones" for the 327, "Rocket 88" for the 3.9, "Dynamic 88" for the 3.5, "Iron Mike" for the 3.8 SC, and "Bronze Bruce" for the 3.4.

[vanshmack]

I can't wait until the revised EPA test regimen is put into place in the next few of years. It will be nice to have those estimates on the window sticker actually mean something.

[cadillacpimpin]

Originally Posted by vanshmack

I can't wait until the revised EPA test regimen is put into place in the next few of years. It will be nice to have those estimates on the window sticker actually mean something.

o they have a new system? can u please tell me more about it.

[KingElvis]

They're revising the EPA testing procedure to be more "real world." However NHTSA is actually the arm that administers CAFE. Somehow NHTSA is going to have "cooked" books that reflect the current system, yet the sticker on the window will be lower. Bizarre and Byzantine.

Anyway, shouldn't the "highway" portion still be higher - it's not like you idle on the highway, and most of the benefit of DOD comes at 'cruising' speeds - right?

[GM_Fanatic]

That answers the questions raised in the other thread about whats the point of putting AFM in the 3.9! Good news for sure.

[mgescuro]

I like driving around in a car, where people turn their head and think "What is that?"
The new face of Saturn certainly will be drawing in some new customers.

I can still privately wish they put in the Vectra dash, though.


But if Aura gains new customers -- especially conquest customers -- then this was a successful launch for Saturn.

[b4z]

Is it just me or does the Aura look like a Dodge Stratus?

[jwrebholz]

Originally Posted by b4z

Is it just me or does the Aura look like a Dodge Stratus?

It's just you.

[boblutzfan]

So will AFM make it to the 3.5L as well?

[01cavalier]

I'd love to see it used on the 3.5, though doubt GM has plans for that. If I rememer right they planned to only have it on the 3.9 because of its higher amount of torque. It's good to see that the 3.9 can run on just 3 cylinders even a bit uphill, should really help mileage.

[86fleet]

Just wondering, do the AFM V8s work at idle?

[Murrow]

Originally Posted by b4z

Is it just me or does the Aura look like a Dodge Stratus?

It's the c-pillar, I think.





And check out the spoiler on that Stratus!!! It's horrendous, and that pic is straight from the Dodge website!

[jomo]

Originally Posted by 86fleet

Just wondering, do the AFM V8s work at idle?

I'm assuming you're wondering if the AFM V8s run on 8 at idle or run on four. The answer is they run on eight. You'd still be talking about a rough-idle. Bob's experience matches my own. In real-world driving, my AFM Vortec Avalanche gets slightly better than the predicted EPA numbers. But it's better for GM to under-promise and over-deliver than to be like ToyoHonda with the hybrids and have disappointed customers.

[69Firebird400]

Originally Posted by Murrow

It's the c-pillar, I think.

And check out the spoiler on that Stratus!!! It's horrendous, and that pic is straight from the dodge website!

Yikes! That monstrosity reminds me very much of the huge metal wings that ricers bolt to the trunklids of their 110 horsepower 1995 Civic sedans, often before they even change the wheels from 15" tires and plastic hubcaps.

Regarding the Stratus versus the Aura, aside from the shape of the C-pillar, I the fender flares are another obvious similarity. Also those awful 20-spoke wheels...