General Motors Corp. will Install a fuel-efficient 4-cyl. in any vehicle consumers demand — even in models long associated with much bigger engines, the auto maker's powertrain boss says.
“When they want it, we'll give it to them,” says Tom Stephens, executive vice president-GM Powertrain and Global Quality. “I feel so good today, because I have a shelf that is absolutely overflowing with great things. There isn't much you could ask for I couldn't deliver.”
Stephens remarks come in response to questions whether GM would consider placing a 4-cyl. engine in a North American vehicle typically powered by a 6- or 8-cyl., such as the Cadillac CTS sedan or all-new Chevy Camaro coupe.
“We could put one in a Camaro,” he tells Ward's after dedicating a $460 million powertrain facility in Pontiac, MI.
“I would say from a technical point of view, we have the capability to do it today,” he adds. “There's no reason we couldn't (install) just about any engine. You would just have to match it by looking at what your customer wants.”
So far this year, U.S. consumers have been clamoring for 4-cyl. fuel economy. At GM, sales of the Chevy Cobalt compact car are up 18.5% vs. like-2007, and at Ford Motor Co. sales of the Ford Focus are up 27.6%, according to Ward's data.
Perhaps most telling are sales of the Honda Civic, which have gained 21.5% so far this year to push up overall American Honda Motor Co. Inc. deliveries to an industry-best 18.3% against a 10% drop in industry-wide demand.
Auto makers have struggled to catch up with the rapid shift in consumer taste from gas-guzzling trucks to passenger cars with more economical powertrains.
GM thinks it might meet demand in the second half of the year after its recent production adjustments gather momentum. But further down the road, new fuel-economy rules that call for the U.S. fleet to achieve 35 mpg (6.7 L/100 km) by 2020 also will force more economical powertrains on the market.
“What will become the highest-volume engine configuration?” Stephens asks. “By far it's going to be the 4-cyl. By far.”
Over the last 10 years, consumers overwhelmingly have preferred 6-cyl. powerplants. Between 1997 and 2007, 6-cyl. engines accounted for 45% of all light-vehicle installations, with 8-cyl. mills garnering 27.5% of the market and 4-cyls. just 26.3%, Ward's data show.
The trick to downsizing in the future, Stephens says, will be meeting V-6 and V-8 driving dynamics consumers are accustomed to with an I-4.
“You would have to match it by looking at what your customer wants,” he says. “So if you had a very potent six, you'd probably want to run a turbocharged four.”
Stephens points to GM's Ecotec 2.0L turbocharged 4-cyl. as one possible answer to the “potent six.”
Optimized by direct injection and variable-valve timing, the engine makes 260 hp and 260 lb.-ft. (353 Nm) of torque in '09 versions of the Pontiac Solstice GXP and Saturn Sky Red Line roadsters, the Chevy Cobalt SS compact and Chevy HHR SS cross/utility vehicle when mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox.
Fuel economy on those models ranges between 19 and 29 mpg city/highway (12-8 L/100 km). GM recommends premium fuel, although it is not required.
Stephens says he could punch up the Ecotec 2.0L further for larger applications, as the auto maker has demonstrated over the last five years through its front-wheel-drive drag-racing program. GM races a Chevy Cobalt on the circuit with an Ecotec 2.0L that churns out 1,440 hp, Stephens says, and the production version of the engine traces its development to that racing program.
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