Volt Concept styling won't make it into production

[Firebird00]

Well that sucks! The Volt was going to be the first cool looking green car to ever be produced. I really like the way the concept looks. I hope they use some of its design features on other cars. I could see a 6th gen Camaro borrowing some of the Volts front end design.

[PA Dweller]

Thats too bad, I liked the way the original looked. I just wonder why it took them so long to figure out that the design wasn't aerodynamic enough for its application? I still have hope for its design and a extra 5 miles range on the batteries won't hurt either.

[Phoenix]

Originally Posted by macphisto

It's going to look a lot like the next Cobalt. See the WTCC Ultra concept to get an idea of its cues.

They'd like to get E-Flex in different sized vehicles. The CTS may get one down the line.

Excellent, I was wondering when we would see something looking like that.

[Slideways]

A Corvette has a low coefficient of drag. I'm not saying it has to look like a Corvette, but there are a lot of good-looking cars with a low Cd. It could have a small frontal area and be low and long, tight wheelwells help, tight panel gaps, etc. It might be more of a challenge to make it look good and be efficient, but it's not impossible.

[HoeyHimself]

Originally Posted by ZORA1

When it comes to wind tunnel efficient design, gm has two vehicles to look at. The EV1 was the best coefficient of drag followed closely by the c5 corvette. I think the c6 vette might have exceeded it though. Either way a sleek nose is the way to go, not dodge style with the block nose. I swear the Charger looks like it could barely hit 100 mph from all the drag that the nose has on it.

I thought the 3rd Gen Firebirds performed the best in the wind tunnel out of all GM vehicles.

[Slideways]

Here's a list from Wikipedia of cars with pretty decent Cd. Notice that there are some on there that are decent looking, and others that you'd think would be complete bricks.

0.338 Chevrolet Camaro, 1995
0.33 Dodge Charger 2006
0.33 [[Subaru Impreza WRX STi] 2004
0.32 Buick Riviera 1995
0.324 Cobalt SS Supercharged 2005
0.32 McLaren F1 1992
0.32 Scion xB 2008
0.31 Honda Civic 2006
0.310 Lamborghini Diablo 1990
0.31 Mazda RX-8 2004
0.31 Nissan Versa 2004
0.31 Saab Sonett III 1970
0.30 Porsche 997 GT3 RS 2007
0.291 Toyota Avalon 2005
0.29 Chevrolet Corvette
0.29 Honda Accord Hybrid
0.29 Lexus LS 400 1990
0.29 Porsche Boxster 2005
0.29 Toyota Prius 2001
0.29 Chevrolet Corvette C5 Z06 2002
0.28 Lexus IS 2006
0.28 Saab 9-3 2003
0.28 Toyota Camry / Lexus ES 2005
0.28 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 2006
0.27 Honda Civic Hybrid 2006

[K Dawg ONE]

I hope it looks like 'The Homer'

There is never a horn around when you really need one!

[crooner214]

Originally Posted by Slideways

Here's a list from Wikipedia of cars with pretty decent Cd. Notice that there are some on there that are decent looking, and others that you'd think would be complete bricks.

0.338 Chevrolet Camaro, 1995
0.33 Dodge Charger 2006
0.33 [[Subaru Impreza WRX STi] 2004
0.32 Buick Riviera 1995
0.324 Cobalt SS Supercharged 2005
0.32 McLaren F1 1992
0.32 Scion xB 2008
0.31 Honda Civic 2006
0.310 Lamborghini Diablo 1990
0.31 Mazda RX-8 2004
0.31 Nissan Versa 2004
0.31 Saab Sonett III 1970
0.30 Porsche 997 GT3 RS 2007
0.291 Toyota Avalon 2005
0.29 Chevrolet Corvette
0.29 Honda Accord Hybrid
0.29 Lexus LS 400 1990
0.29 Porsche Boxster 2005
0.29 Toyota Prius 2001
0.29 Chevrolet Corvette C5 Z06 2002
0.28 Lexus IS 2006
0.28 Saab 9-3 2003
0.28 Toyota Camry / Lexus ES 2005
0.28 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 2006
0.27 Honda Civic Hybrid 2006

I have two thoughts on this list...

1) If the Cobalt is this slick, WTF is up with it's mileage #'s?

2) Let's make sure the Saab version of the Volt is called the Sonett!

[Whitesky]

Great. Another crappy looking fuel efficient bubble.

They need to stay in the ballpark of the concept and not turn it into a Prius-esq turd.

This why I can never see me buying a fuel efficient car, they don't build them with any style. I would rather pay for the extra gas then drive a pod.

[MechEng]

Originally Posted by Slideways

Here's a list from Wikipedia of cars with pretty decent Cd. Notice that there are some on there that are decent looking, and others that you'd think would be complete bricks.

0.338 Chevrolet Camaro, 1995
0.33 Dodge Charger 2006
0.33 [[Subaru Impreza WRX STi] 2004
0.32 Buick Riviera 1995
0.324 Cobalt SS Supercharged 2005
0.32 McLaren F1 1992
0.32 Scion xB 2008
0.31 Honda Civic 2006
0.310 Lamborghini Diablo 1990
0.31 Mazda RX-8 2004
0.31 Nissan Versa 2004
0.31 Saab Sonett III 1970
0.30 Porsche 997 GT3 RS 2007
0.291 Toyota Avalon 2005
0.29 Chevrolet Corvette
0.29 Honda Accord Hybrid
0.29 Lexus LS 400 1990
0.29 Porsche Boxster 2005
0.29 Toyota Prius 2001
0.29 Chevrolet Corvette C5 Z06 2002
0.28 Lexus IS 2006
0.28 Saab 9-3 2003
0.28 Toyota Camry / Lexus ES 2005
0.28 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 2006
0.27 Honda Civic Hybrid 2006

There is more to Drag than just the Cd. You also have to take into consideration the frontal area. So a vehicle like the Dodge Charger may have a low Cd but it will have a fairly large frontal Area so the Drag force will still be quite large.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automob...g_coefficients

[K Dawg ONE]

On closer inspection of the list, I see the xB.
I had an xB...unless im missing something, i dont think it was very aerodynamic, lol (and moreso than a Cobalt??? Wtf?)

[ZORA1]

OK, got figured I'd look it up cause I was sure it was low. EV-1 Coefficient of drag was .19!!! That kills everything else. They have the technology, they can rebuild it.

[CBECK]

Originally Posted by Cloudydaysbehind

I bet it turns bland and ugly and looks like a prius.

I betcha wrong, as of late what car or truck GM has come out with was bland?!!!

[KIDDIESEL79]

This really sucks but come on, who didn't see this happening?

[CobaltSScrazy]

bull...that sucks. hopefully it is 'not' a malibu hybrid with a volt name, but that both get built with this technology.

CobaltSScrazy