It probably doesn't mean anything. GM had to have known these changes could take effect in the coming years. I could see a few people comparing this to the emissions/gas crisis that ruined muscle cars in the 70s, but I think Lutz is simply putting it out there to test for a reaction from the public.

 

Guys, the G8 is not in trouble. It will debut a full year ahead of Camaro. Lutz says that everything after Camaro has been put on hold.

Still, I'm not too worried. Remember when Lutz said the entire Zeta program was dead? This could be some more posturing, or a pause in work to re-examine whether or not large RWD cars really will make sense a few years from now. Lutz even said in another article released just a day earlier that GM is beginning to study a new small RWD platform for coupes and sedans.

While all this could mean the new, large RWD Impala has been stopped, it doesn't mean there won't be some sort of RWD sedan from GM, other than G8, in the coming years.

 

Technically, isn't the zeta platforms cost already being spread across the Holden lines? Zeta's on the road in australia

 

I should say "North American" Zeta was "cancelled".....only to be quickly replaced by Holden's structure which was much further along in development and therefore made a lot more financial sense.

Guy has said in a similar thread over in the Automotive News forum that while the large Chevy RWD sedan (which may or may not have been called Impala) is "on the bubble" for production, he'd be surprised if it actually didn't go ahead. Supposedly the tooling and Oshawa plant are most likely too far along to dump the program.

 

I'm watching the video right now, very interesting stuff. Seems very probable as well.

Here is the entire vid on google.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...35300469846467

 

I don't think it is a test.

Does GM know how to get 30 percent better fuel mileage from v8's?

I believe this is the governments way of ending the HP wars, again.

 

I have to agree that this sounds like a knee-jerk reaction to GM not getting its way politically. I'm curious to see some sort of documentation that RWD architecture will seriously effect CAFE. just because a car is RWD doesn't mean it has to get less than 27 mpg, or be powered by a "huge gas guzzling engine". Sure it might weigh a few hundred pounds more, but c'mon. Maybe if GM backed off of building huge SUV's it might even out the playing field for us.

BTW, I'm saying all of this with the assumption that GM wasn't even considering fielding an RWD Impala that would get less MPG than it's FWD predecessor.

 

I'm with you brother!

Yeah, that statement by GM sure doesn't give me a warm fuzzy inside.

.........one more thing we can thank a bureaucracy created by the Federal government for! .......appreciate it guys!!

 

Just throwing some more stuff out there.... what about hybrid SUV's and cars? GM doesn't really have any yet? RWD car's can't be hybrids? Didn't lexus just release some 430+HP hybrid? I'm sure it'll be $$$ at first, but if it spreads across all GM brands the price should drop? Tahoe and Silverado hybrids are supposed to be comming soon... what kind of MPG improvement can we expect from those?

 

I like global warming - I say, lets go back to friggin 500 cu. in. V8s with cast iron blocks, 4 bbl carbs, and NO catalytic converters. I miss the smell of lead.

Seriously though, I can't stand these tree huggers. They are communists. Ruining everything America once was. I'm sick of it. I swear, I would love drive by some hippy protestors and tear some raw steak off with my mouth right in front of them, and leave 100 ft of rubber in my 2009 Camaro Z28.

I cant' stand it.

And no, I do not believe in global warming. Or Santa Clause. As far as I'm concerned, they are both on the same level.

 

perhaps -- but you'd be surprised at what some of those 'scientists' really do for a living ...........they aren't what we think they are.

Now -- everyone -- calm down. I think Mr. Lutz is simply saying 'hey -- before we go off and launch a gazillion RWD cars, we need to find out what impact possible federal legislation may have.........

.......and dear GOD it's a good thing he's saying that. No manufacturer can afford to charge ahead when the government is suddenly sending signals that the rules are about to change.

Calm down -- the Camaro is safe......

 

Al Gore made a movie. These people made a documentary. While you can certainly argue it's validity, it appears to be much more firmly rooted in fact than Al's production.

 

Its a good thing this is the land of the free, and people are allowed to have their own opinions. People throw around the word communist way too much.

 

Well, the boys over at NASA seem to think it is a reality. Last I heard most of them are pretty smart. Agencies within our own government seem to back up the findings as well.

Most of the reports filed in some of the scientifc journals and magazines I try to follow are pretty descriptive on who the research was done by, and what they are affiliated with. Really, in the scientific community global warming is treated as a very real problem.


Both of these are movies, and I would bet both of them are documentaries as well. I dunno, I have never seen the Al Gore movie, so I couldn't comment on it.

 

^ The only answer I am concerned about right now.