Cadillac Looks to Shift Engines in a ‘Changed’ World
Cadillac’s traditional engine of choice for its luxury sedans, the V-8, may be on it way to becoming a thing of the past, or at least a much smaller part of the future.
With the advent of the new energy bill being signed into law, not to mention far higher fuel prices, Cadillac sees its future as one powered by smaller, high-tech V-6 mills.
Cadillac General Manager Jim Taylor seems to understand that his brand is preparing to do business in a world that is greatly changed from even a few years ago, saying in particular of the new energy bill, “on Dec. 19, the world changed.
Comments
Jesda
I want a Cadillac V16. It was promised to me.
BOOOO
Jeb
That's something I'd been wondering about. Buyers looking for prestige may not like not having those eight cylinders, since that has always been THE engine. The real test will be if BMW dumps their V8 and touts the twin-turbo six as the top engine. And BMW has a BUNCH of crap four cylinders in their lineup.
dieselhead
The virtue of the V8 is torque. Diesels deliver competitive torque with smaller displacement. GM needs to get going on diesel development.
In principle, I guess a hybrid V6 could deliver low end torque and decent top end power; I just haven't driven one that felt right. But maybe Caddy and Porsche care enough to make a hybrid that is satisfying. Maybe.
The Stig
Cadillac should look no further than the Acura RL to see what happens to a luxury car when a V8 isn't offered. Isn't Cadillac part of GM, the same company that makes a 400hp Corvette rated at 26mpg? Why don't they just use the same technology from their direct injection on their V8's too to increase the power and fuel economy?
Winding Road » Archive » Cadillac to Show Provoq Concept in
[...] Cadillac has announced that it will show off its newest concept car, the Provoq, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas tomorrow. The Provoq is also set to make an appearance on January 14 at the Detroit Auto Show. [...]
detroit9000
You only need so much power. Now that engines are making a lot of power, it stands to reasons that they'll get smaller.
AMG
The answer is to increase the power of their V-8 engine instead of using dated 8 cylender technology. The German competition uses both hi-tech 6 and 8 cylender engines. In order to be truly world class GM needs vehicles to compete with Mercedes Benz AMG division and BMW's M power vehicles. Only offering 6 cylender engines would not make the grade.
Son of a Beach
A related article of another publication mentioned the advantages of a V12 for Cadillac. Smaller squish area per cylinder, cylinder deactivation, and direct injection would make it much more efficient and viable then the V8 for future applications. Cadillac also has V12 history and credability, and this offering would one-up the competition. Even if the bulk of sales would still be the V6, the cachet of having a larger engine is needed to be perceived as a top shelf luxury brand.
Alex
Son of a Beach may be on to something. Cadillac correctly reads the future as being heavily tilted toward 6 cylinder and alternative powerplants. But, they do need a "prestige" powerplant for halo models. Probably a lot cheaper to do a V-12 by slapping together two of their current hi-feature V6s, than to do a separate V8 (which couldn't share machining with the 60 degree V6). Plus, they get even higher prestige with the V12, and can make it more special since they anticipate it will be a more limited edition model.
Marvin McConoughey
Power is now available in six cylinder form and more will be achieved. Refinement, not still more power, is the key to luxury car engine desirability. The missing ingredient in all current 60-degree V6 car engines is the absence of a counter-rotating balancer weight to eliminate the so-called coupling imbalance. V6 engine vibration levels are tolerable without the balancer, but no more than that. Ironically, one 60-degree V6 engine does have the counter-rotating balancer shaft. It is the Ford 4 liter 60-degree V angled single overhead cam engine used in some small trucks and utility vehicles. The engine design was the topic of an SAE engineering paper and the engine won its designers a top Ford company engineering award.
As V8 engines slowly fade into unpopularity, luxury car makers should turn their attention to creating more refined V6 engines. I've tried several recently and was disappointed by them all.
Winding Road » Archive » Embargo Broken!: Feast Your Eyes on
[...] Cadillac may be phasing out the V-8 from its run-of-the mill sedans, but it’s not going anywhere for the foreseeable future in the V-series. The 6.2-liter engine makes a gratuitous 550 horsepower along with a matching 550 pound-feet of torque. That level of power will launch a lucky driver from 0-60 mph in less than five seconds, a figure that we’re still trying to wrap our heads around from a Caddy. [...]
Post new comment