2010 Chevrolet Equinox Gets Direct Injection

It looks like the car guys are getting their way over the beancounters at GM. Direct-injection, engines have been trickling into GM's lineup, bestowing every car they land in with superior efficiency, cleaner exhaust right from the combustion chamber (25 percent cleaner on startup), and more power to boot. Joining the Pontiac Solstice GXP, Saturn Sky Red Line, Cadillac CTS, Cadillac STS, and GM's Lambda Crossovers, Chevrolet's once-lowly Equinox SUV gets two direct-injected engines for its next-gen debut on what is likely to be Saturn's VUE platform.

Fitment of the 2.4-liter EcoTec direct-injected four will give the Equnox an estimated 30 mpg highway, impressive numbers even for a small SUV (and this platform is more like a midsize at least in terms of weight). The powerplant will yield 180 hp and 172 lb-ft. torque due to an 11.4:1 compression ratio and special dished pistons.

The Equinox will also feature a 3.0-liter direct-injected V-6, based on the 3.6-liter "high feature" V-6 powering Cadillacs and crossovers. This unit cranks out 255 hp and 217 lb-ft, but GM has not yet provided estimates for its fuel efficiency

Take a look at the image at the left. That's a piston from the 2.4-liter direct-injected engine. The funky little tube curling under the piston shoots pressurized, cooled oil through a channel cast into each piston to keep temperatures down in the high-compression, high-performance engine. Piston-cooling oil jets are common on German and high-performance Japanese engines, not on Detroit iron.

Why do I make an issue of this? Because this is expensive, arguably unnecessary technology, the kind that GM beancounters have been poo-pooing for decades in search of higher profits. I think it's significant that they are replacing the old Equinox powerplant, an entirely adequate - yet antediluvian - pushrod V-6, with this thoroughly modern powerplant that simply blows it away on every level. GM draws 180 horses, only five less, from a package that is over 40 percent percent smaller than the outgoing V-6. It will also beat the outgoing model by a whopping 6 mpg on the highway.

Investment in technology and good products, not smoke and mirrors badge engineering, will hopefully take GM through the dark night of this economy. Kudos, and keep it up.

Sports Car

For a person interested in sports car performance and appearance, the creation of a satisfying conversion will likely lead to a number of difficulties in such details as battery disposition, as such vehicles generally have available space distributed in small volumes around the vehicle. This leads to complexity in securing and wiring batteries. These vehicles can offer stunning performance in the lower speed ranges owing to light weight and rear wheel drive, and may also offer good range due to their superior aerodynamics.

The 1969-1976 Porsche 914 is one of the more successful sports car conversions, as well as being one of the most popular. Once converted, it boasts better performance in range, acceleration and top speed than most other vehicles. Also, its low acquisition costs contributes to its popularity as a conversion candidate. Some manufacturers of conversion kits have made a kit specific to the 914.

Another popular sports car used for conversion is the 1984-1989 Toyota MR2. Reasons for its popularity are low weight before conversion, low cost to purchase the car, and available locations within the car to place the large batteries that most people use (lead-acid and its derivative technologies). The later MR2 body style (Mark 2) does not seem as popular, and as of March 2008, there is only one known conversion Toyota is also known for its hybrid Prius, and the Toyota RAV4 EV.

The Bradley GT II] as well as other VW-based kit cars are very popular conversion candidates due to their being inexpensive, extensive support groups as well as their simple sports car design. Availability of conversion kits for these cars are quite prevalent with commercial retail establishments that specialize in EV conversions.

Argentina to give car loans to boost industry

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina's auto industry will get a 3.1 billion peso ($900 million) boost with cut-rate loans for first-time new car buyers, the government said Saturday.

Production Minister Deborah Giorgi's announcement detailed a key part of a broader economic stimulus package based largely on assets of the recently nationalized pension system.

Giorgi told a news conference that six automakers will each offer two models selling for $10,000 or less for people buying a new car for the first time.

The companies, most of which saw sales drop sharply in November, will have to promise to shun layoffs and hold down profit margins on cars sold under the program.

Buyers can choose a pre-savings plan under which delivery times are determined by lottery or they can contract low-interest financing. Payments are supposed to range around $230 a month.

Argentina's auto industry employs about 150,000 people and exports about $8 billion a year, but the country's automakers association reported that local auto production dropped 28 percent in November from the same month in 2007, with exports down about 25 percent.

The government announced on Thursday that it would invest about $3.9 billion, most of it from state-run banks and pension funds, to grant low-cost loans to farmers, industry and automakers to confront the global credit squeeze.

The government said the program affects vehicles sold by local branches of France's Renault SA and PSA Peugeot Citroen, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. of the U.S., Fiat Group SpA of Italy and Germany's Volkswagen SA.

Plugging the Cars

COULD YOU JUST see it? In another decade or so, scores of electric cars charging through Bay Area roadways. Not only do regional leaders share such a vision, they have put down $1 billion to support such a notion, a bold move during these turbulent times.

The mayors of Oakland (Ron Dellums), San Francisco (Gavin Newsom) and San Jose (Chuck Reed) have made a deal with Better Place of Palo Alto to install charging stations in homes, businesses, parking lots and government buildings by 2012.

This would make the Bay Area the first region in the United States to create an electric car network.

This definitely falls into place with California's quest to cut greenhouse gas emissions, and it's right in line with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's view of how private-public partnerships can deliver breakthrough projects where it couldn't happen on public funds alone.

Also standing to benefit is Better Place, which also has similar deals in Israel, Denmark and Australia, and is now on the ground floor for what could be a major step for an alternative fuel source for automobiles. The company has two prototypes electric automobiles with automakers.

What's interesting is Better Place saw the success of cell phone companies and is taking a similar path. The stations its creating will relieve the costs of batteries to consumers, often a hefty $10,000 or more, which is a big reason why electric cars never took off in the past.

The prototype vehicles have replaceable batteries that would be owned by the company and Better Place would charge a subscription fee to use its recharging facilities. Yet, unlike how things began with cell phone companies, we urge the state to monitor costs and how they are made so consumers get a fair deal considering Better Place, at least initially, would have a monopoly.

Judging how California has gone nowhere on the national stage with cutting emissions, how will we convince automakers to produce enough electric cars to fulfill this vision?

We've seen the hydrogen car fiasco with state-funded autos and a waste of millions in taxpayer funds, although in that case, the car came before the filling stations. And since Congress, with San Francisco's own House Speaker Nancy Pelosi leading the way, wants a specific plan by automakers for a juicy bailout, maybe it's an opportunity to put electric vehicles on the table.

The issue of costs for the cars themselves has to be considered. For this concept to work, people of middle and low incomes must be able to afford these cars and if they're mass produced, that's a possibility.

For the present, an electric car from Tesla Motors can cost as much as $110,000 or there's the EC-R300E Ford Mustang for $99,950. Even the 2008 Phoenix SUV is among the lowest price new electric vehicles, and it costs $49,950. A good percentage of the Bay Area population cannot afford that.

We like the idea of electric cars and the recharging station-concept is intriguing. We do need to get away from fossil fuels and become self sufficient and clean.

Yet there are many hurdles to clear and we fear unless automakers and federal regulators buy into this concept and make cars consumer friendly, it will become another good idea going to waste.