[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by DerScotsman

These clowns know absolutely nothing about the auto industry first off, so they certainly have no business trying to regulate it without some sort of mutual agreement. Now domestics are under the gun.

However, I'm most conerned about how this will effect domestic RWD cars?? What's Soctt's take??

I don't know about Fbodfather, but GM posted this in their blog:

Fuel Economy vs. Fuel Efficiency

The gas engine's demise has been greatly exaggerated

By Dan Hancock
Vice President, GM Global Powertrain Engineering

With the energy bill now pending in Congress, many have questioned the viability of the gasoline fueled-internal combustion engine in cars, citing incremental mileage gains of the past few years as proof the technology has reached its zenith.

But GM doesn’t believe the gas engine is dead. It will absolutely remain a significant part of our Advanced Propulsion Technology Strategy for the foreseeable future. As Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner said on Dec. 3, “The new CAFE standards pose a significant technical and economic challenge to the industry. It’s a challenge that GM is prepared to put forth its best effort to meet with an array of engineering, research and development resources.”

For decades, we have been successful in squeezing more and more miles out of a gallon of gasoline, while driving emissions as close as possible to zero.
And, in 2008, GM once again leads the U.S. industry with 15 models that achieve 30 or more highway miles per gallon. This is a very impressive accomplishment, especially considering the more stringent method that the EPA began using in 2008 for calculating fuel economy labels.

Continuous improvement of conventional powertrains is an important part of our Advanced Propulsion Technology Strategy, and technologies such as direct injection, Active Fuel Management (cylinder deactivation system) variable valve timing and six-speed transmissions have contributed to the advances we have made in efficiency.

These advances have complemented evolving vehicle design trends that have produced vehicles that deliver vastly improved performance and safety.
There is no one “silver bullet” solution for powertrain or energy technology.

It will take a blending of many different sources of energy to reduce both our reliance on oil and the automobile’s impact on the environment, while successfully meeting the growing energy demand. This is why our Advanced Propulsion Technology Strategy is focused on energy diversity, which includes improvements to the conventional engine and transmissions, electrification of the vehicle with hybrids and range-extended vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell technology.

For argument’s sake, let’s compare similar GM vehicles of the past 20 years: The 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt, the 1998 Chevrolet Cavalier and the 1988 Chevrolet Cavalier; each powered by a four-cylinder engine and a five-speed manual transmission:

• 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt: 2.2-liter engine; 148 horsepower; 2,780 pounds; EPA mileage ratings of 24 city and 33 highway.
• 1998 Chevrolet Cavalier: 2.2-liter engine; 115 horsepower; 2,583 pounds; EPA mileage ratings of 21 city and 31 highway.
• 1988 Chevrolet Cavalier: 2.0-liter engine; 90 horsepower; 2,359 pounds; EPA mileage ratings of 22 city and 33 highway.

When comparing the numbers, the ’08 Cobalt weighs approximately 17 percent more than the ’88 Cavalier, yet delivers a significant 64-percent power premium with essentially identical fuel mileage. And when compared with the ’98 Cavalier, the ’08 Cobalt delivers nearly 30 percent more power, almost 6.5-percent better highway mileage and 14-percent better city mileage – despite a 7-percent weight penalty.

By the way, the mileage ratings of the 1998 and 1988 models were originally listed higher, but they’ve been converted here – and on the EPA’s web site – to correlate with the newly adopted fuel economy testing standard from EPA, which is used to calculate the mileage of all 2008 and newer vehicles. You can compare the updated and original mileage ratings at www.fueleconomy.gov.

So, the efficiency of GM’s gas powertrains have made tremendous gains over the years. These gains, however, have been tempered by changes in vehicle design. Some of the changes were driven by safety, such as the use of higher-mass, high-strength steel in body structures and multiple air bag modules – all of which add mass that wasn’t found in vehicles 10 or 20 years ago. The ’08 Cobalt, for example, comes standard with four air bags (dual frontal air bags and head curtain side air bags), but air bags were not offered on the 1988 Cavalier.

Other, customer-desired features, such as larger wheels, navigation systems and even all-wheel-drive systems, also add mass that generally wasn’t found on new vehicles a decade ago. Given the evolution of the market, GM believes continual refinement of the internal combustion engine, such as we demonstrated recently with prototype cars powered by homogenous charge combustion ignition (HCCI) engines, allows vehicles to retain the safety and convenience features that customers have come to enjoy and, yes, expect. HCCI offers the efficiency of a diesel, but without the added cost of an expensive after-treatment system.

Indeed, GM is working very hard to squeeze more miles out of a gallon of gasoline and reduce emissions. HCCI technology is still in the experimental stage, but we are confident that it will be one of the fuel-saving technologies we will offer customers in our future product portfolio.

We’re also delivering five new ’08 gas-electric hybrids, including the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon Hybrids, the Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid and, next year, the ’08 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid. The 2WD versions of the Tahoe and Yukon Hybrids are rated at 21 miles per gallon in the city – equal to the city fuel economy of the ’08 Toyota Camry with the base four-cylinder. The difference is the Tahoe and Yukon seat eight and can tow up to 6,200 pounds. The Saturn Vue Green Line Hybrid returns for ’08 as the SUV with the highest highway fuel economy.

We’ll produce eight gas-electric hybrids during the next four years, including the 2009 Silverado Hybrid that was announced at the L.A. Auto Show. This full-size pickup will use our same patented 2-Mode Hybrid system as the Tahoe, Yukon and Escalade. Plug-in hybrids are also on the horizon. And with nine new fuel-saving six-speed transmissions already in production, we’re years ahead on our commitment to deliver 10 by 2010.

As efficiency continues to increase, the gas engine will continue to play a significant role in the propulsion of vehicles for the foreseeable future. Over the past three decades, in the U.S. alone, General Motors has improved fuel economy on cars by as much as 130 percent and on trucks by as much as 75 percent.

Yes, there are more gains to be had – and we’re finding them everyday.