Camino LS6

I would think that it would be in the industry's interest to make that list known in a rather public fashion.

With CAFE on the one side, and new safety regs on the other, someone needs to point out the dichotomy to those geniuses in congress. I'd like to see GM (or any other manufacturer) detail how each safety reg adds weight to the car in direct opposition to the CAFE demands.

I'm still wondering which components are the major culprits here. I think that I can accept that wire weight is one of them, and that huge wheels are another. Where is the rest?

If Federal regs are the problem, they need to be reformed.

Interesting chart. It only took from 1997-2002 for the size increase to erase the weight advantage of the alloy wheels over the steel.

Miniaturization should be able to ameliorate that to a certain degree. I just refuse to believe that this issue can't be conquered. I'd like to see a breakdown of what exact components add how much weight. But the wheels used to be steel...

Time to fix that.

Which begs the question: why does that stuff weigh so much? Compare a modern cell phone to the "brick" phone of the 80s, and I'm perplexed as to how this happens.

I just started a thread about this in the industry forum. I question the safety regs as the source. If true, then ways to lighten the safety equiptment has to be a priority. And, if the regs are way off-base, they need to be reformed to comply with reality.

...global auto industry. Why is it, despite the use of high-strength steel, aluminum, exotic composite materials, and plastic, that cars are still so porky? How is it that modern compact cars built around a unibody structure manage to outweigh larger, much older, cars built out of thicker steel and on a full frame? Modern gadgets? But aren't they getting lighter and smaller all the time? And what about safety regulations? Are they to blame? Tell me, exactly, where all this excess weight comes from. And why, exactly, we haven't been able to conquer the issue.

Been thinking about the weight thing in modern cars lately, myself. That's another area we can hardly point to as progress when old cars are so much lighter when of a similar size. Something has to happen on that front industry-wide.

I have a neighbor who just made an automotive purchase that made me stop and think. He bought a late 70s/early 80s VW Rabbit. But not just any Rabbit, a Rabbit diesel. The car itself is in very good shape since it came from the southwest, but that isn't the kicker. The kicker is the mileage he's getting with this thing. 52 MPG Even better, he brews his own bio-diesel at a cost of .47/gal. Somehow, I think the rest of us lost something along the way from the late 70s to 2011. Made me stop and think.

Pointless notion.

If the GS produced both 325HP and 35MPG, I'd give it its due. The case would be made. In fact, I'd be screaming for the drivetrain to be put into a light RWD coupe so I could enjoy it. But it doesn't.

Perhaps for the Regal, but not for the GS.

Then what's the point of the car? Why use a turbo 4 if it isn't going to deliver both the power and the fuel economy? The car seems... pointless.

It would be a fun build.

I don't buy that bit of spin. Even "mass-market" entries should be at least somewhat impressive within their segments. I'm hearing crickets within GM's halls.

The lack of RWD and a V8 has nothing to do with my criticism of the GS. It simply fails in its mission to provide performance while maintaining MPG. Isn't that what potent 4-bangers are supposed to do? No, this car lacks the capabilities that it promised.

The picture doesn't look too rosey, does it?

Ah, that's my fault. I should have specified GM.

The LS engines love to cruise the highway - super efficient in that mode. Around town they are just too much fun to make good mpg numbers.

CTS and Camaro variants aren't really what I meant. I was thinking "all new" vehicles. All I can think of is the Volt - and it seems like it was around long before BK since we were so exposed to it. Can't think of anything else.

I saw a show featuring them on Speed a while back, but Hyper seems to have the low-down on them.

The GS had better have stunning city MPG, or it is in real trouble.