That Perfect 2015 Volkswagen Golf GTD May Not Happen

The 2015 Volkswagen Golf GTD seems, on the surface, to be the best of all possible worlds. It’s got a near-premium badge that’s not too flashy. It’s got a willing, well-suspended chassis. It’s good-looking and practical, but not so much so that your soul revolts, minivan-style, at the sight of it. The best part? It’s got VW’s high-torque, ultra-efficient, and (arguably) clean-burning EA288 turbo diesel engine. It stops just short of being everything a car guy/gal could ask for …

… which, of course, means that Volkswagen won’t be bringing it to the US.

That word comes down from on high. From Volkswagen’s “CEO of the Americas” Michael Horn, who said that the chances of a 2015 Golf GTD coming to the US are diminishing. “The price point (about $27,000 US) is not really attractive,” says Horn- despite the fact that a $27,000 price-point would put it almost $1000 below the definitely-not-a-premium-brand Chevy Cruze diesel.

Too bad, that. It would have been nice to have a “nearly perfect-er” 2015 Volkswagen Golf GTD wagon to flog around Joliet once or twice a year nestled into the garage with the bikes and the wife’s mommy-mobile. Maybe next year/CEO. Until then, take a look at some GTD pictures and lament what could have been.

Source | Photos: VW, via MotorAuthority; ZerCustoms.

GM Releases First Details On Next-Gen Ecotec Engine Family

General Motors is stepping up its engine game.

Today it released first details of a new range of three- and four-cylinder Ecotec engines from 1.0 to 1.5 liters that replace no fewer than three separate engine families globally.

GM had already shown one variant, a new turbocharged 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine that will appear in the Opel Adam minicar in Europe.

ALSO SEE: 2016 Chevrolet Volt To Launch Next Year: What We Know So Far

2013 Opel Adam

Now we have more details on the range of engines, which General Motors Company [NYSE:GM] is targeting at both Ford’s downsized EcoBoost range and Volkswagen’s range of three- and four-cylinder EA211 engines.

The goal is to gain high volumes on a single family of small engines that is more fuel-efficient and more refined than the engines it replaces.

By the 2017 model year, GM says, fully 2.5 million of the new Ecotec engines will be built each year--one-quarter of the company's entire global engine production that year.

There will be 11 difference engines in total, both turbocharged and naturally aspirated, with power outputs ranging from 75 to 165 horsepower and torque from 70 to 184 pound-feet.

Development took place at five GM centers around the world, with roughly 1,600 prototype units built and more than 2 million miles driven during testing.

One of the units, most likely the 1.0-liter three-cylinder version, is expected to be utilized for the redesigned 2016 Chevrolet Volt.

GM also confirmed that the engine architecture is designed to support a hybrid version, though it didn't release any details. If we had to guess, we'd suggest it would be a next-generation version of the eAssist mild-hybrid system now used on the larger 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine.

There will also be versions designed to handle ethanol up to E100, in markets like Brazil, and bifuel versions capable of running on both gasoline and either compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquid petroleum gas (LPG) for markets like Korea.

The engines will appear not only in the European Opel Adam but also in the next-generation Chevrolet Cruze, which will be launched this year in China with both a 1.5-liter naturally aspirated and 1.4-liter turbo versions of the four-cylinder engine.

And the redesigned Cruze for the U.S. market?

Stay tuned for more, GM says.

Source: Green Car Reports

IMPCO To Offer CNG Conversion For 2014 Chevy Cruze

It took more than a decade for automakers to hop on the hybrid train, and these same companies seem equally tepid about embracing natural gas vehicles. That has left conversion specialists to extend the olive branch, offering post-purchase conversions. IMPCO has developed a CNG conversion kit the 2014 Chevy Cruze with the 1.4 liter turbo engine, making it the cheapest CNG sedan you can buy.

Not that there is much competition in the natural gas passenger car segment. The Honda Civic Natural Gas is the only other CNG vehicle on the market, and with a $27,090 price tag, it sits at the top of the price range of the compact sedan segment. The IMPCO conversion will run you between $5,000 and $6,500 on a Chevy Cruze with the 1.4 liter engine, with the cheapest turbo Cruze model starting at $19,540. That makes it at least $1,000 cheaper than the Civic Natural Gas, which has been bundled with a $3,000 fuel card to motivate slumping sales.

Because it is a bi-fuel conversion, the Cruze will still be able to run on regular gasoline as well, and the CNG tanks give the Cruze an extra 200 miles of driving range. That extra driving range comes at the cost of half the cargo space though, another major stumbling point in the adoption of CNG vehicles.

But if you can do without the trunk space, the much-cheaper price of natural gas could pay back the cost of the conversion in four or five years (depending on your driving habits). The cost is in the same ballpark as GM’s own Chevy Cruze Diesel, which is rated at 46 mpg on the highway and stickers at $25,695.

Is this a CNG Chevy Cruze conversion you would consider? Or is the cost and lack of cargo space still a deal breaker?

Source: Green Car Reports