Stump The Best And Brightest: What Car Had Its 6.2 Liter V8 Pulled By Dan Akerson?
In his Detroit News interview, GM CEO Dan Akerson revealed a minor mystery, which I present for your consideration and discussion:
In a recent meeting with engineers, for example, Akerson pressed them to explain the logic behind putting a big 6.2-liter engine in an unspecified car whose competitor has a 4.4-liter turbocharged engine. The engineers replied: “Well, we want to be able to beat the other guy.”
Akerson responded: “I don’t think the average buyer is going to buy an eight-cylinder, 530-horsepower (car).” His point: Decisions must be supported by a solid business case, and not just for bragging rights or as a marketing tool.
The Cadillac ATS-V seems like the most likely candidate, but then there’s also this to consider:
Akerson, who became CEO Sept. 1 and board chairman Jan. 1, already is weighing in on new vehicles. He recently greenlighted the next generation of the compact Chevrolet Cruze, but vetoed a new engine for a sports car set for production in 18 months.
The ATS is a sedan, not a sports car… so is this a different cancelation, or what? Over to you, B&B…
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Cadillac made a 4.4 litre 469 HP, supercharged Northstar V8, so they've beeen there and done that. They don't make it any longer, for whatever reason, and now they need a bigger engine to compete since they are using a two valve, pushrod architecture. As an aside, GM supposedly has a 3.0 litre OHC, supercharged, V8 coming for the C7 'Vette; maybe that will scratch the itch. Seems like a dumb question on Akerson's part..........
Displacement is not the same thing as physical size or shipping weight or cylinder count.
So correct me if I'm wrong but we narrowed it down to basically the ATS-V, Corvette, or Camaro? Would a twin-turbo V6 ATS be that bad though? I'd need more info to know whether or not it was a good decision, sadly I don't think we are going to get that.
Now I see other news sources quoting GM bigwigs as saying they want to go with a 3.0 turbo V8 to chase Porsche and Ferrari, as if the engine is the deciding factor for those buyers. Bah!