Newly revealed Ecotec engines to be boasted in next gen Chevrolet Cruze

So following the new trend of engine downsizing, GM has flaunted their engineering capabilities with revealing of the new range of Ecotec engines.

New Range of Ecotec Engines

Following into the steps of automotive giants like Volkswagen and Ford, engine downsizing certainly seems to be the answer to the dipping sales of cars and GM claims to have made the engines only better than their arch rivals.
GM claims that the Ecotec engines to be quieter than the engines currently available in the market. GM compares their 1.4-liter Ecotec engine with VW and Ford saying that noise intensity is up to 50-percent quieter than Volkswagen’s EA211 1.4L four-cylinder TSI (seen on the Jetta TSI and Octavia TSI in India) and up to 25-percent quieter than Ford’s 1.0L turbo three-cylinder (seen on the EcoSport in India).

Opel Adam

This new range of engines will first show its glimpses on the new Opel Adam, later on this range will be boasted on 27 models of GM by 2017. 

Current Generation Chevrolet Cruze

Production of Ecotec engines will take place in five global locations, however, India is not listed to make these engines.

GM has announced that the next generation Cruze, specifically tailor-made for China, will be launched by the end of this year. For the Chinese Cruze, power will come from a 1.4-liter turbo-petrol engine producing 148 hp and 235 Nm of torque, or a 1.5-liter naturally-aspirated engine producing 113 hp and 146 Nm of torque. The 1.4-liter motor will use an all-new dual-clutch gearbox.

The next gen Cruze may be introduced in India early next year but reports are still yet to be confirmed but possibilities are that the model being introduced will have similar or same features as that of Chinese.

Chevy Says Spark EV Has More Torque than Ferrari 458 [Video]

Chevy Spark EV

Ohhhh no they didn't! Chevrolet just released a commercial for the brand new Spark EV in which they say this little car has 542 Nm, more torque than a Ferrari 458 Italia supercar. Awesome, right?

Except the 458 Italia has exactly 540 Nm, so a 2 Nm difference isn't going to impress anybody. Also, the Maranello marvel takes the 0 to 62 mph (0 to 100 kmph)stride in 3.4 seconds while the Spark probably takes three times as much. Official figures claim the Spark EV has 100 kW (130 hp) and gets to 60 in 8 seconds.

How is that possible? Well, comparing torque form electric engines to that from petrol ones is like apples and oranges apples.

The only speed you should be concerned about is the speed at which the battery is charged. It's also worth nothing that unlike the 458, which you can probably buy in probably every partof the world, the Spark is basically only available in California and Oregon.

“Being able to provide our customers with the best overall efficiency of any retail EV has always been a key target for the Spark EV engineering team,” said Pam Fletcher, GM executive chief engineer for electrified vehicles. “We’re poised to deliver to the market an EV that’s not just efficient, but also thrilling to drive thanks to the 400 lb-ft torque output of its electric motor.”

GM cancels plan for ultra luxurious Cadillac sedan

Though CIEL concept car might never see the light of the day in production but some of its elements could be implmented on future cars.

General Motors has scraped the plans for developing a rear wheel drive range topping flagship model.

Rumors started to gather pace of introducing a flashy flagship model when the eye riveting CIEL concept debuted in 2011 at Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. This particular concept was the marquee of the 2003 concept debuted in Detroit Motor Show 'Sixteen Concept' which made it seem like rumors were materializing into reality but this news has put a rest to it.

   

Through these past five years Cadillac researched about the feasibility the product and came to a conclusion that the model had to be launched at a starting price of 100,000 USD which involved high investment and given that the production would be of low volume, the project seemed to be a little far fetched so they have decided to abandon the project.

The company is currently developing a rear wheel drive model to compete with its German nemesis like BMW 7-Series, Audi A8 and Mercedes-Benz S-Class which is expected to be launched in the latter half of 2016 or early 2017. The model will be based on a new platform entitled Omega designed for large, rear-wheel drive models.

Cadillac sells a large sedan, the front-wheel-drive XTS. But the brand wants a large rwd sedan as it continues to position its lineup head-to-head against the German luxury brands.

It is speculated that the new rear wheel drive sedan will replace the XTS model.