GM Unveils "Xtra Fuel Economy" Versions of its Full Size Trucks and SUVs

*face-palm*

I keep going back and re-reading the MPG changes. Thinking there is something there that I missed...

Why doesn't GM just make a sizeable investment and have these improvements on all their vehicles? If they divert the funds from their (going no-where)Volt project to improving the already existing vehicles like this, they may come out better in the end.

GM may very well benefit from designing each new generation of its vehicles from the XFE models proposed here.

Go GM?? I guess this is just more marketing.

I like what they're doing and thinking, but either the EPA estimates are a bit modest or the changes aren't helping too much. Good idea nonetheless, but I dont think all the aluminum parts and other changes are working to their full potential. Look at the Cobalt XFE (link in related stories)... its claimed to get 36 mpg highway, up from 31, but only for the manual...
No pricing, though? For some reason i think this will cost $1k+

GM would drop this like a hot potato if gas prices went down.

@JadeTalon: I'm with you on that
"The final numbers are 15 city and 21 highway compared to 14 city and 20 highway for the non-XFE versions"

Huh? 1 measly mile extra? Its an improvement but still, just 1 extra mile for all the XFE excitement?

You have to take that 1 mpg increase into perspective. That 1 mpg more translates into a 7% increase in mileage in the city. Not to shabby when you think of it that way. I'd love to get a 7% increase in mileage in my car.

@Mike

to != too

And the fact that changing anything having to do with a lighter suspension (like aluminium control arms, lighter wheels, ect..) give you a better sprung to unsprung weight ratio. Which in turns should give you a better ride (assuming they also changed the shocks to match the new weight ratio...)

Looks like a step in a better direction. Aluminium is a pain to work with, and using prefab parts like control arms is a good way to cut weight and improve fuel economy.

You also can keep in mind the mid 90's toyota Supra used dished head bolts to help keep the weight down. That probably translates to less than 10 lbs....

10 lb? A typical Suburban owner probably has ten extra pounds in each cankle.

What's next; is GM going to put fiberglass bodies on all their large SUV's?

The Large SUV market is dead and it isn't going to come back unless by some miracle gas prices dip below $2.50 per gallon and stay below $2.50 per gallon.

it's quite obvious that they're just trying to sell their stockpile of SUV's without any major modification.

1 mpg more than before,that so is awesome. I'm trading in my civic.

broehahahahahahaha.....broehahaha.

They also added the X-traStupid package on the option list.

I hate the burst the bubbles of all the people here that hate domestic car manufactures but the truth is GM has more alternative fuel based vehicles on the market today than any other manufacture including Honda, Toyota, Ford and others.

Also, if it wasn't for GM's first electric vehicle being produced in the mid-90's, you wouldn't have Honda or Toyota with Hybrid vehicles today. GM has also invested in solar and fuel cell technology years beyond Honda and Toyota. You can hate them all you want, but in the end, they are the driving force of innovations in the automotive industry. You can also thank many German companies for the efforts in creating safety technologies that you use today in your Japanese based cars. Airbags, ESC, etc are all German technology. The only thing the japs do is make it cheaper and more refined, but once it is refined, they still look toward American or German brain power for the next thing....

Right, because GM shares electric technology with Honda and Toyota?

@ andrew

The only reason the GM made an all electric car was because Callifornia mandated that the 2% of all vehicles, by 1998, sold in CA were to produce 0 emissions. The Big 3, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, and a few other automobile makers were banded together to produce vehicles to meet this mandate. It just turns out that GM produced theirs first.

However, instead of continuing development and support of the EV1, GM sued CA so the mandate would be repealed and then shredded all but a few cars despite numerous offers to purchase them.

Right now GM does produce the most alternative fuel vehicles but alternative fuels aren't readily available yet. They're just now hoping on the hybrid band wagon but their 2 mode hybrid generally only provides gains of 1 or 2 miles per gallon where other hybrids double that.

I will say that GM is on the right track with the Volt and now seems to be more proactive than reactive, but they haven't been the forward-thinking, eco-friendly, customer conscientious car company you've made them out to be. They are getting there though.

=======

As far as this behemoth is concerned, an extra mpg isn't that noticeable. I applaud GM's effort to make this beast more fuel efficient but why not use a smaller V8 or maybe a large V6. The XFE version of the cobalt more likely than not uses the smallest of the available engines so I don't know why GM wouldn't follow suit with their trucks and SUVs

Only 1 or 2 miles per gallon with the dual mode? Let's look at some numbers.

2009 Silverado 2wd 6.2L engine 6 speed auto15mpg combined, Silverado Hyrbid 2wd 6L (Uses the old 6.0L engine, 6.2L replaces it though the 6L HO is still in use in the SS) 6 speed auto 21mpg combined. Improvement in MPG, 29%.

2009 Tahoe 2wd 6L engine 6 speed auto15mpg combined, Tahoe Hybrid 2wd 6L 6 speed auto 21mpg combined. Improvement in MPG, 29%.

2008 (No '09 numbers yet) Honda Civic 1.8L 5 speed auto 29mpg combined, Civic Hybrid 1.3L CVT 42mpg combined. Improvement in MPG, 31%.

2009 Toyota Camry 2.4L 5 speed auto 25mpg combined, Camry Hybrid 2.4L CVT 34mpg combined. Improvement in MPG, 26%.

2008 (No Hybrid numbers for 2009 yet) Toyota Highlander 4wd 3.5L 5 speed auto 19mpg combined, Highlander Hybrid 4wd 3.3L CVT 26mpg combined. Improvement in MPG, 27%.

2009 Ford Escape 2wd 2.5L 6 speed auto 23mpg combined, Escape Hybrid 2wd 2.5L CVT 32mpg combined. Improvement in MPG, 28%.

So as we can see, GM's dual mode hybrid system is one of the most effective systems, falling behind the Honda Civic only, which dropped its engine size 28%. It also does this with GM's largest engines.

GM's 5.3L is more efficient then the 4.3L v6, the 4.8L v8, the 6L v8, and the 6.2L v8, hence why they choose it for the XFE. I would like to see a Dual Mode 5.3L Hybrid.

As for improvements, the Cobalt XFE does 30mpg combined with a 5 speed and 2.2L engine. The regular Cobalt does 27mpg combined with a 4 speed auto and 2.2L engine. It is a 10% improvement in economy, the new XFE's get a 6% bump.

And the Cobalt XFE doesn't use the smallest engine in the Ecotec lineup. There is the 2L, but that is either super or turbo charged, and the 1.6L in the Aevo, which gets 30mpg combined with a 5 speed weighing 2,500 lbs, same as the Cobalt XFE weighing 2,700 lbs. The 1.6L is great around town (2mpg more then the XFE) but horrible on the highway (2mpg less then the XFE).

@D!!,
So do you think Honda is the greatest thing since sliced bread? Just to let you know, I owned a '07 Civic Hybrid and it was a piece of crap. That little engine didn't have enough power to keep up with itself and when the weather was REALLY hot like 90F degree the battery would overheat and kill the AC, Brakes, and power steering... yeah, I wasn't a Guinna pig for Honda...

And from what I am hearing from the Toyota crowd their hybrids aren't what they are cracked up to be... At this stage in the game, they are iPods on wheels!!

I have more faith in GM now than any other manufacture. Honda and Toyota do not need to make quality cars, because people will buy them just on name alone....

GM is different because they need to erase all of the negative comments like yours. They have a long road ahead but they are doing it.

Also, how come the only two companies in the world have built in support lines (GM's Onstar and Mercedes Emergency Connect) and Honda and Toyota do not.. It's because a service like that would erode their huge profit margin!

You can think what you want about GM but you should really test drive their new car lineups. They have come a long way and this is not a marketing clip...

I forgot to mention earlier, I just don't think I could bring myself to buy anything that uses an 'X' at the start instead of the correct 'Ex', just because they want to sound cool and edgy. I thought that whole 'X' thing went out of style in the 90s?

gm0n3y:
Ran out of money to buy E's?

@Jung

From internal GM memo:

"Since our business is going under and we need to save money to make more special edition Corvettes, from now on try to remove a letter or 2 from the badging on all cars, this will save approximately 3 cents per vehicle saving our company thousands of dollars a year. BTW, I'm giving myself a $100k pay raise because of this brilliant idea that our accounting and marketing departments spent the last year coming up with."

Guess BMW ran out of money to fix its electrical problems and Honda ran out of money for their design teams. Seems to me like GM made out then.

Maybe the Fat people who buy these SUVs can save their MPG by loosing some weight.
These SUVs are so freaking UGly. they should just be banned.

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