G. David Felt

Yes I would agree that for Tesla Roadster, the original .36 was pretty crappy. So be interesting to see what the new roadster looks like. Course that Trans Am was also fully enclosed compared to the open air Roadster from Tesla which is what this .36 is for. So I guess a .31 for the new Roadster 3.0 removable roof version is pretty good then. Most of the pics I see on Google show a lid/roof panel, assumedly the released number is with that in place. Guess the 'formal' rear glass is killing the flow, tho the windshield looks rather upright, also. Just surprised to hear it's where it is. Makes one wonder if that upright windshield will change with the retro kits for the Roadster 1.0 and 2.0 versions when they release the upgrade kits and start producing 3.0 version cars.

Solid Point made Drew, Elon does have a habit of slipping dates. Hopefully GM will do a mid year refresh of battery pack when they do have newer better batteries ready that push the length of driving.

Just don't see a need for it.. Then again.. if I'm going out in any weather where I may need a lot of traction I'm driving my Yukon.. or at the very least the Impala. Thing is I am so anal about my "upper" cars being clean that I wouldn't even drive it in the rain. I can respect you not wanting to get your upper cars dirty, but then it is designed to be driven and have fun. That is why I drive my Trailblazer AWD SS everywhere even in snow, it is a blast to drive. Some day I will have to repaint it and clean it up and replace parts but till then, drive it like I am going to hell and trying to escape.

I could agree with the LED Lights as visual is a big piece to the marketing, but I would have to say BS on the 2.4L DOHC inline Four. 99.999% of people could care less about what is under the hood. As long as it is quiet and reliable with minimal maintenance needed you could have what Dwight has stated with a 3.1L 2Valve single overhead cam engine as long as it is powerful enough with great gas mileage and 100,000 mile tune ups and 7500 mile oil changes at least.

Drew, that would work if all the states would standardize on one database and set of software so that all driver licenses and auto registrations could be meshed into one large database for the NHTSA. Course some folks will yell big brother and scream and yet the IRS already has all their info so why does it matter about drivers licenses or auto registrations.

Yes I would agree that for Tesla Roadster, the original .36 was pretty crappy. So be interesting to see what the new roadster looks like. Course that Trans Am was also fully enclosed compared to the open air Roadster from Tesla which is what this .36 is for. So I guess a .31 for the new Roadster 3.0 removable roof version is pretty good then. I agree that under the hood is important but then GM needs to be setting the standards rather than just following or doing mid level. I would think using the existing battery design and updating the cell design to maximize the Lithium battery packs for range would be a huge win for them in the eyes of the public.

That is what I do not get, with all the advancements in battery technology, you would think they would want to step up to trump Tesla as well as get this powertrain into a AWD CUV or at least a FWD CUV. I could see the VOLT having a 120-160 mile range battery pack come in the following format's 4 door sedan 5 door hatchback 4 door CUV with lift gate style 4 door CUV with Tilt glass and mini stage coach doors Powertrains being FWD or AWD with choice of gas, Diesel or CNG generator.

Very cool, be looking forward to hearing what you do!

At the Seattle International Auto show the University of Washington had a booth showing their auto technology using Carbon Fiber. They had a gas powered auto that had 17" Carbon Fiber rims. They were amazing to see and very lite. I can see in the future that auto companies will eventually move to carbon fiber rims to reduce weight while keeping over all diameter size up on wheel rims.

I like what Germany has done and feel the states have gone overboard in their differences. The US Gov needs to pull back both auto registration and person licenses to have one standard for the country. The states are not loosing their sovereignty but we need standards and the states have been worse in many ways than DC to set consistent standards. This would improve the driving school quality as well as enforce a consistent standard across the nation.

Sounds exciting, love new platforms and the potential they bring.

We'll that explains the weird responses above.

Surface Pro rocks over the Ipad.

Savings or increase in price?

Yes an extra click but over all I like the simpler interface and do not mind the extra click to get into forums.

Sweet Looking little ride! Time to performance tune it.

G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com Tesla Roadster 3.0 and 400 mile range reality? Tesla gave a late Xmas present to electric advocates on December 26th 2014. Roadster 3.0 was posted covering the following top 3 topics: 1. Batteries, 2. Aerodynamics and 3. Rolling Resistance. Tesla talks about the how their battery from 2008 was revolutionary in the auto industry and while it was good then and up till now for their current S sedan, lithium ion battery advances have pushed them to get 31% more energy from the same size battery pack. This new cell now gives approximately 70k Wh in the original battery package. Tesla then moves on to talk about their drag coefficient of .36 on current Roadster and how with a new Retrofit aero kit they can drop it to .31 a 15% improvement. The final bit of technology info is how Tesla talks about rolling resistance on the current Roadster which has a 11.0 kg/ton. An upgrade will give a 20% improvement by allowing the Roadster 3.0 to have a Crr of approximately 8.9 kg/ton. With this improvement come additional improvements for residual brake drag and wheel bearing to reduce drag. This last part is particularly noticeable as anyone who has driven a Chevy Suburban and then gotten into a Cadillac Escalade ESV will notice how much better the Cadillac glides showing that the quality of Bearings, brakes, seals, etc. all can help to reduce drag. Tesla's summary of these improvements is that Roadster 3.0 can achieve an estimates 40-50% improvement on Range over the original Roadster. Tesla goes on to say that they expect to prove this in the early weeks of 2015 with a drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles that is to be non-stop. Tesla finishes up by stating that they will open up for appointments to be made starting Spring of 2015 for existing Roadsters to be upgraded with these 3 major focus points once the battery pack finishes safety validation. They go on to say this will not be the last of the upgrades for existing and new Roadster owners. As of this writing there were 45 comments posted. As expected they are all positive, and yet many also are giving suggestions for powertrain upgrades for performance rather than battery life, reduced weight for better handling or a combination of them. Seems many want their cake and eat it too. This brings up an interesting question, if Tesla is getting ready to release a battery pack that can go 400 miles on a charge, what will Volt 2.0 be for GM or Toyota have for the Prius family of autos? Could we see a change over from gas to electric faster than people have expected?

We'll I have to disagree as I get no WOW factor out of Tesla, impressive for the technology but as a car, you sit on the floor, ease of getting in and out is not there and not impressed with driving dynamics. Cadillac might have some baggage but then so does the over priced cost of repair and low dependable MB and BMW auto's. Only badge snobs buy them and yes if you want to throw money away on $1500 tuneups and wait weeks if not months for replacement parts to come, fine but I think Cadillac beats them both in many ways while still having plenty of options to expand to in the future.

It would be cool to know if the 6 cylinder got all the same advances as the Turbo 4's where it would sit in the HP/Torque.

The clover leaf on and off ramps here if built in the 70's. 80's or 90's are really banked but in the last 10 years they have gotten flat and do require the legal speed unless you do have a performance auto. I enjoy driving the old ramps because it does feel like a race course as you buzz around the banked ramp. It would have been fun to have our interstate highway system built more like the autobahn in Germany. I think we need to expect more out of people driving not less. I am all for having a higher cost to get a license and if you do not really care to drive then take mass transit, taxi's or buy one of the new self driving auto's.

Talked with my friend who runs Performance AutoBody here. They just finished getting one of their guys certified on Aluminum repairs for the Ford trucks. He told me he now feels it was a waste of time as the insurance companies are telling him they are focused on the replace the modular parts rather than repair items. At least he is ford certified for the new trucks, but wonders just how much body work will really be done with a list of prices and parts for replacing the bed, fender, door etc.

I have to disagree with Balthy a bit on this, yes if we really spent a ton of time we could build a complete solution cheaper, but to have an Engine, Trans, wireing harness, electronic control modules, etc so that you can take a 90's or older auto and update it to run with little pain these are great solutions. Sadly Washington and Oregon Copied California laws about emissions and changing out powertrains so for older auto's if your wanting a more reliable modern powertrain to drive you would need an Emissions certified system from the OEM. This gives you that option legally to still pass inspection. The E-ROD package is a great way to go. Especially for wanting a fuel injection system that can go bi-fuel so it can also do CNG. Looking around I found a few more sites that clearly seem to be into selling these packages cheaper and cheaper so it will just be time before more places sell them at a lower price. Amazing but I found these listings and the prices do vary by up to a couple thousand dollars. http://www.gmperformancemotor.com/category/CC.html http://www.summitracing.com/search/part-type/engine-and-transmission-combos http://paceperformance.com/c-158613-performance-engine-drivetrain-crate-engine.html http://www.karlperformanceparts.com/c/Connect-Cruise/17 I like Karl Performance as they list the MSRP price and how much off they are selling them for. Not bad having $2000 off the LS7 kit.

Thanks for the Clarity Drew. Exciting to see and read about when they do show it. Happy Holidays to you and everyone else here.

Did you say the same thing for the 850i? Because it was precisely 26hp more while being slower to 60 by 1.1 sec, yet costing a little more. It was out-handled and out-stopped by the wealthy man's Accord coupe. For its time when it was introduced, the NSX was a precision knife. The problem was that Acura let it rot while others zoomed past it. 15 years is a long time for a car without major updates.

Happy GMC B-Day!