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  • William Maley
    William Maley

    By William Maley •

    GM Can't Make A Business Case for A Small Performance Car

      At the moment, GM can't make a case for a pocket rocket

    It seems a month can't go by without another automaker announcing a new pocket rocket. Currently we have the Ford Fiesta and Focus ST; Honda Civic Si, Subaru WRX and WRX STI; Subaru BRZ, Scion FR-S, and Volkswagen GTI. So that leaves us and a number of enthusiasts wondering - where is GM's contender?

     

    General Motors' vice president of product development tells Automotive News that at the moment, there isn't a business case for one.

     

    "Capital is not a black hole. On those cars, the price point begins to approach the segment of the next car up. We would spend a lot of money and resources, and what are we really doing?" said Reuss.

     

    AutoPacific Inc. analyst Dave Sullivan agrees with Reuss' reason, stating that the added cost and complexity of fitting a bigger engine and manual transmission into either the Sonic or Cruze is prohibitively expensive. But Sullivan does point out that they can pull items and help from their European division. Case in point is the Opel/Vauxhall Astra OPC/VXR with a turbocharged 2.0L four with 276 horsepower.

     

    For the time being, Reuss says that the company is offering a wide selection of accessories to boost performance for not that much cash. Case in point is the $995 performance stage kit and exhaust package for the Sonic. But if you press Reuss, he says a production pocket rocket could be in the timeline.

     

    "The real question is: Is that a big priority? For now, no. Forever? I wouldn't say that."

     

    Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

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    cp-the-nerd

    There's a lot to like about the Sonic RS. I've sat in several of them, the sport seats are simply awesome--full leather with GM's synthetic suede inserts. The manual shifter feels great moving though the gates, the steering wheel feels good, and the overall interior is quite roomy for front occupants. I'd love to have one as a go-cart, haha.

     

    My issues mainly pertain with the lack of added power. The aggressive gearing is a mistake, the car turns 3500-4000 rpm at any highway speeds. That's basically a deal breaker for me as engine drone gives me an incredible headache after an hour, not to mention it ruins highway fuel economy (34 mpg vs 40 for standard gearing).

     

    The Sonic is due for a midcycle refresh, and I'm hoping the powertrain lineup gets revised. An RS with the new 1.5T and near 40 mpg again would be very appealing.

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    daves87rs

     

     

    Nah, I'll think they'll be ready...I onl y have to look at the new Camaro to see where the future lies for cars like the Cruze. I think for the first time in a long time, we'll like what we'll see......

     

     

    Perception is different than reality. Unless you have internal knowledge or concrete facts, you are just posting your opinion.

     

     

     

    Maybe... just can't say.... :scratchchin:

     

    Point is you don't think the new camaro's tech is not going to rub off on other models?

     

     

    Can't dream of a twin turbo Cruze? :metal:  :bowdown:

     

     

    What new tech? Most of the tech already exists and the small cars with performance exist. Bring one then we can talk.

     

     

     

    Maybe I should say more way of thinking...tricks done to the camaro to make it lighter and faster. Models that will get some of that heavy hardware. And if they are going to build a pocket rocket, it better be able to handle some abuse. I think smaller engines are little tougher than the bigger ones just based on how much PSI that little guy can take. While I've seen some good tunes on the Cruze's 1.4, it's also easy to toast if you're not careful. With the right setup, might not be too hard depending on the engine to push some ponies. Watching people beating on their ST's gives me hope GM can do they same.

     

    Besides, it might not hurt GM to take a cue from what they did with the new camaro SS....where a regular production engine is built to be abused on a track....Now that Idea I like......

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