New CAFE Standards: 42 MPG Cars, 26 MPG Trucks by 2016

[Moose]

I was going to voice my thoughts/opinions on Obama and this topic, (yes, I did vote, but NOT for him) but, WE WANT TO AVOID THIS BECOMING A POLITICAL THREAD as it will end up in a "closed" thread.

It's a shame to see this news as the U.S. Automanufacturers struggle for survival. I think this new mandate is shortsighted.

My only hope is that people will educate themselves and vote peple into office who look to support, grow, and do not go around the world apologizing for the success of the U.S.A..

[ElAntonius]

CAFE applies to the average of all cars SOLD by the company, as I understand it.

The idea is that it allows for niche performance cars to exist, but they must be made up for by higher sales of more fuel efficient cars (legislating for taste? )

The long term net effect is that V8 cars will likely grow more expensive to reduce their market share, with turbo 6's taking over the role.

I'm betting that by 2015 the mustang GT will be a turbo 6, with the 8 cylinder slotting in as a 35k+ cobra or boss model. Hell, there's some talk that it could be in 2011 with the new coyote engine.

I imagine something similar would happen with the camaro.

[greenrail]

Gee, this is all so much like 1973........

I think the engineers are a little more in tune with the efficiency of the engines in these cars than they were backthen.

I would imagine there will be a lull in performance but,there will be improvements coming down the pipe that will make a world of difference compared to what we experienced back in the '70's.

[ItIsWhatItIs]

Originally Posted by RickyTheStorm

From my understanding the emissions regulations are applied to one vehicle in the class. You don't expect the corvette to disappear do you? Regulations change all the time, but sports cars remain because not every vehicle has to meet the regs. Now if Obama is changing that to where every single vehicle meets the regs say bye to pretty much every car manufacturer - those expectations are very high and you are talking about hybrids only.

Hybrids, hrm - that is a disaster in itself. With all the batteries needing replaced in 5-8 years at $5,000+ a pop not to mention environmental issues.

My guess, at least one vehicle in each class must meet the requirements. However, I am not an expert by any means, I didn't even watch or read his actual plan.

Ricky,
I live in Ohio where in my county as in many others you must get an emissions check (ours is called e-check) every two years. This does include Corvettes and Camaros

[GTAHVIT]

Merged.

Woops, sorry moose didn't see you there.

[FNKNSTN]

what are you getting all worked up about?

this is just about American companies being able to compete with higher mileage imports.

do you reall think that lower mileage vehicles are going to be BANNED??

Are they gonna take your Silverado away?

are pickup trucks going to be illegal? are they never going to be made again?

if GM and Chrysler had record breaking high sales for the past 5 years, nobody would be discussing the 30-some mpg mandate.

[Vash]

Yea the cycles are very interesting. It reminds me of the 78 again too. Cause 78 was emissions gimmped HP. And the 5th gen has the 78's nose (the tip.. not the headlamp part).

This is why I purchased my used vette 2 years ago. I saw this coming.

We will become like Cuba with old cars. The GREAT thing Camaro's will be more valued and like club worthy. It's actually more fun this way.

I like being the underdog. Evil law breaking sports car owners.. coming out at midnight for secret meetings and 1/4 mile races. Then skynet sends armed predators and they shoot someones modded 500 HP 2013 camaro with a rocket and the rest of us scatter in a cloud of dust and burnt gasoline....

[GTAHVIT]

Originally Posted by FNKNSTN

what are you getting all worked up about?

this is just about American companies being able to compete with higher mileage imports.

do you reall think that lower mileage vehicles are going to be BANNED??

Are they gonna take your Silverado away?

are pickup trucks going to be illegal? are they never going to be made again?

if GM and Chrysler had record breaking high sales for the past 5 years, nobody would be discussing the 30-some mpg mandate.

In principle I agree with you.

However, Something to consider. No Car company can meet the CAFE Standards as of now. And GM is actually the closest and will be even closer when the Volt is released.

But, I agree with you that this is something that could make GM more competitive. But it won't be easy. My big problem is that CA is now represents the majority of this country. And the current administration seems to be making it more costly for the Big three to do business... CAFE won't be cheap... Seems to be going against the grain with all the financial woes of the Big three.

[fireresq157]

Originally Posted by Moose

I was going to voice my thoughts/opinions on Obama and this topic, (yes, I did vote, but NOT for him) but, WE WANT TO AVOID THIS BECOMING A POLITICAL THREAD as it will end up in a "closed" thread.

It's a shame to see this news as the U.S. Automanufacturers struggle for survival. I think this new mandate is shortsighted.

My only hope is that people will educate themselves and vote peple into office who look to support, grow, and do not go around the world apologizing for the success of the U.S.A..

[lakestar]

Corvettes and Camaros will not go away, they will just be far more expensive or have a much longer wait since GM will be very limited on the number they can make by the sales of their other cars.

So hold on to your 2010 Camaro's. They may rise in value even faster than the 69's did!

[Fogey]

Ferraris et. al.

[ItIsWhatItIs]

Originally Posted by greenrail

Gee, this is all so much like 1973........

I think the engineers are a little more in tune with the efficiency of the engines in these cars than they were backthen.

I would imagine there will be a lull in performance but,there will be improvements coming down the pipe that will make a world of difference compared to what we experienced back in the '70's.

I remember that period of time very well...death of the drag strips and death of the muscle cars. I agree with the engineers more in tune with efficiency but, as my father you to say, you can only squeeze the grape so much before the pit shoots out. All I'm saying is to increasingly achieve these standards two things must happen. 1) change to a different propusion method or, 2) reduce the weight of the vehicle. Does anyone remember what real chrome bumpers looked like?

[rayhawk]

Get your reasonably priced sports cars now, they will be gone soon. Once they are restricted to these limits, the Camaro and Mustang (as we know them) will be dead. They will have to raise the price to prevent people from buying them, which will kill the enthusiasm for the cars and ensure they don't survive. The experts at running the state of California are dictating what the whole country does now and this is what we get for letting it happen.

Corvette will survive due to lower volume, but will likely become more expensive. All I can say is that history tends to repeat itself, and the talk of changing everything in this country for the sake of change tells me we are in for some bad times. You can be sure inexpensive american sports cars will be killed as a result. Get your Camaro soon, this will be the last one of its kind.

[lakestar]

Originally Posted by Fogey

Ferraris et. al.

In the past, I believe companies with total volume under 50,000 units were excluded so that rich politicians and movie stars could still drive their super cars. I would assume that won't change.