Posted on 10/24/2014 12:13:24 PM PDT by all the best
Mourn with me.
Cadillac – Cadillac! – no longer sells a single car powered by a V-8 engine. Or such will be the case in about two months, when 2014 fades to 2015. Come Jan. 1, all new Cadillac cars will be powered by fours or sixes. Some will be turbocharged. But none will larger than 3.6 liters.
The last of the V-8 Caddys – the (very) limited production CTS-V sedan/wagon – is being retired. There appears to be a replacement on deck for 2016, but the continued politically viability of V-8 engines within the system (so to speak) is shaky. Not because people don’t want the power. But because government demands “economy” – creating an impossible Catch 22 situation.
The 6.2 liter V-8 in the current (2014) CTS-V produces 556 magnificent horsepower – more horsepower than any ’60s-era muscle car (including the halo’d Chrysler 426 Street Hemi). But its Achilles Heel in this misbegotten age – in which government bureaucrats and political hacks decree car design via regulatory edicts as opposed to the freely expressed wishes of the people who buy the cars – is its hunger for fuel. The CTS-V’s EPA mileage stats are the modern-day equivalent of a racist joke caught on mike: 14 city, 19 highway.conan pic
Hear the lamentations of the women.
And so, GM – like every other automaker – is scrambling to “apologize” for its sins – atonement coming in the form of much smaller (but ironically only slightly more economical) not-V-8s such as the 3.6 liter V-6 that will be the mainstay powerplant in future Cadillac “V” (high-performance) vehicles.
Instead of 556 hp, 420 hp. But hey, 21 city and 31 highway will be your reward. Is it a fair exchange? The loss of 136 hp, two cylinders and 2.6 liters’ worth of engine in exchange for a 7 MPG uptick in city driving – and 12 on the highway?
I would often contemplate taking my ‘64 Skylark convertible and replacing the 300 and it’s stock 2bbl Rochester.... with a 455. Hey the GS came from somewhere, right?
Yup. Big time. Years back I had a 77F250 with a breathed on 460 that literally got stuck on wet grass with ‘normal’ tires. Just sat and spun off idle thanks to the weight distribution issue. Not fun in the snow at all. Today, it would be a dog comparatively.
At work so no volume to go with video... but is that Jay’s Car? Why the New Jersey plates?
When I had mine (70 Cougar) ,, it was in ‘79 to about 82 ,, I didn’t run into many “RAT” powered cars but the Buick GN’s were out in force in my area... the early cars were no problem unless they were worked on.. my friends dad had a 440 Superbird that spilled it’s crank and rods out on the highway ... it was in 4th deep in the big end of the tach..
?.. over 500 easy ...
Dyno’ed at 433
actually I bailed them out. You as a taxpayer got repais
the bond holders lost all
The last good Chevrolet cars were in 1970. The next year was when pollution control went full retard.
The 1970 Chevelle, Monte Carlo, El Camino, and Camaro were the last great cars Chevrolet made.
I had some cars that didn’t have V8 in them. My Pinto and Chevy Citation X11 (loaded) had V6, both fast underrated cars.
Dyno’ed at 433
***************
Add back in the losses from the power steering , water pump , exhaust downstream of the manifolds , a 727 torqueflite , a big dana rear and you get up to about 525 ... That’s the difference between GROSS and NET ... A GM turbo400 sucks about 65-70 hp all by itself in a high powered car ...
Ouch. Expensive problem there. I had a buddy with a 73 Mustang and about 500 hp worth of built 4V Cleveland swapped in. He took me for a ride on the Blue Mnt’ parkway. A beautiful sound at about 7200RPM.
Not a good view from hiding under the dash though ;)
The blue one is not his, the red one is. The dynamic sound of those pipes are just too sweet.
I want - I need - I simply must have - ;>)
?.There’s been people with stock 1971 Buick GS 455s that have posted confirmed top end speeds just above 160mph...
Redine on the engine was 129
Yup. C6 is bad too.
Trucks like to swap ends around on your really fast when traction is lost, dry or wet. Panic brake at either high speed or on ice and you'll do a 180 before you know what happened. Terrifying, especially on our shady mountain roads where black ice lurks in the shadows.
I've lost count of two things:
1. How many times I've come upon the scene of an accident involving a truck where the truck is pointing back away from the flow of traffic (tells the whole story)... and:
2. How many times I've seen 4x4 vehicles upside down or laying on their side in the ditch when the snow comes down or on an icy road; Honchos that lift their trucks too often seem to pick precisely the wrong tires for inclement weather: Fat and wide knobby M/T tires are like driving on bald tires in ice and snow. Tall and skinny A/T tires with plenty of siping wins on icy/snowy roads.
All I have to do is take one look at a guy's truck to tell if he either knows what the hell he's doing or let some tire-mounting retard at the tire store sell him what looked bitchin'.
Winter is coming soon, and I'll be seeing a few dozen more accidents from the flatlanders coming up to ski the resorts in Tahoe who were sure that just having 4x4 is all they needed.
Surface area vs. PSI. the winter tire ‘equalizer ;)
You have it backwards
“99% of the people out there cannot hope to handle 420HP. Much less more.”
Au contrere, Norm! First of all, 99% of the people out there are not interested in the kind of performance these limited production vehicles provide. The new ‘15 Corvette Z-06 will have 650 hp from a direct-injected, cylinder- dropping (i.e. it goes to 4 cyls when that provides sufficient power to move the vehicle) 6.2 liter supercharged V8. With the active management of the traction/braking/cornering, and idiot would have to work at it to have a problem with the power available. (My current car has a bit less power, but it has all these features, which I have to turn off, when I use the car in a track day, because they prevent me from exacting the absolute performance that’s available.) From what I understand, these cars will not have a gas guzzler tax because they get very good milage unless you have a heavy foot all the time. I have a Corvette that’s a couple of years old, and I routinely get more than 30mpg on the highway with combined driving coming in at about 25mpg.
“The last good Chevrolet cars were in 1970”
You have not seen the latest camaro ...
If they have no interest, then giving kids forks for the light socket seems to be a bad idea.
You had a V6 Pinto, lol? Didn’t know Ford made any.
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