AFSCME 3357-HOF'S BLOG

GM to Offer 19 New Engines and Transmissions Next Year
Or Not?

GM has issued a press release that it will offer 19 new engines and transmissions in 2007. The tenor of the announcement seemed to suggest that GM is catching up in the engine race, and will be debuting new engines and up-to-date engines across its product lines. As I read further, there are hints indicating that such is not the case.

It appears that more engines will become E85 capable (more of a re-engineering of the plumbing than the engine). General Motors will introduce its delayed integrated starter-alternator system (a very mild hybrid system that mostly just shuts off the engine at idle) on the Saturn Vue Greenline. GM will expand its cylinder deactivation ("active fuel management in GM-speak) offerings. GM will introduce its 6-speed automatic transmisson. None of this is new news. Most of this technology was expected to be introduced by the 2006 model year, so the 2007 introduction is nothing to brag about.

The one truly new item I found only in the Autoblog post published below. According to Autoblog, in 2008, not 2007, GM will come out with a version of its high-feature 3.6 liter V6 with direct injection and a more sophisticated variable valve timing setup. This appears to be a direct response to Toyota's 2GR-FSE 3.5 liter direct-injected engine which puts out 306 horsepower and still bests its less-powerful GM (and other) competitors in fuel economy. While this is a welcome announcement, when it comes to GM engines, an announced date of 2008 really means 2009. By 2009, I mean 2009 for the first car to use the engine, for it to be widely used, it really means 2014. Who knows what Toyota will have by then.