Only a year ago, General Motors pledged to invest $300 million in its Tonawanda, N.Y., engine plant for the new double overhead cam V8 engines that would be used in its luxury brands. Yesterday, it canceled those plans. This raises the question, what's going to replace the splendid but aging Northstar V8s currently used in Cadillacs?
Answer: perhaps nothing.
With the new CAFE standard hovering over it, the General is now looking for more efficient ways to get power from its drivetrains. The company's new direct-injected V-6 used in the 2008 Cadillac CTS develops 304 hp, while the current Northstar V-8 only makes 275 hp. What's more, the V6 weighs 150 to 200 pounds less than the Northstar powerplant.
Company officials told me that there are no current plans to switch Corvette to a six-pot mill. And certainly V8s will have extended shelf life in trucks and SUVs--at least for a while. As today's "New York Times" points out, truck sales hit the wall this year, especially those with big engines. It's notable that Bob Lutz told me at the Los Angeles Auto Show that within two years Chevrolet could deliver a Pontiac Solstice that produces the same performance as a Corvette C6 today using a modified version of the current six-cylinder engine.
