Whoopeeee + .001 mpg

[John K]

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2005-09-15-fuel-efficiency-cover_x.htm

GM is going to save .001 mpg by eliminating the attenae on the Tahoe!!! Seems Detroit is finally going to focus on gas mileage....too little too late.

 

[John K]

Tried editing, didn't work. Antennae.

 

[55Test]

"Not to be outdone, Chrysler Group's new chief is curious about whether some of the horses in its engines can be put out to pasture to boost fuel economy. Even the vaunted Hemi isn't off-limit"


Finally, a car manufacturer is thinking in the right direction. Do family sedans really need 270 horsepower? I really don't think so.

 

[kenw]

"To make the car more appealing to gas conservers, Poore's team decided to break with tradition and make it available with fancy trim levels and every option even when it comes equipped with a four-cylinder engine. Normally, the higher-level trim only comes with an upgraded — and less fuel-efficient — six-cylinder engine."


what a concept!!!

 

[T-Keith]

Plus develping a Hybrid system that's coming out next year, that will save many times more gas then Toyota.

Oh yeah that's right, Toyota is the sacred automaker who can do no wrong.

 

[Matt_S]

quote:

---

Originally posted by John K:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2005-09-15-fuel-efficiency-cover_x.htm

GM is going to save .001 mpg by eliminating the attenae on the Tahoe!!! Seems Detroit is finally going to focus on gas mileage....too little too late.

---

That may be a small change by itself, but in combination with everything else, the results are impressive.

quote:

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Little differences add up: GM boosted average fuel economy of its full-size, four-wheel-drive trucks to 20.5 mpg for the '06 models, from 18.2 mpg for the '04s

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The other thing about removing the external antenna is it cleans up the look of the vehicle. My car has the antenna on the rear window. You would never notice it and I get great reception.

 

[brianl703]

Why did they stop putting antennas in the windshield? My mom had a car, if I recall correctly it was a red 2-door Chevy Monza (no idea what year, I'd venture to guess '79 or '80), with the antenna in the windshield. (The Monza was totalled in an accident when I was in 1st grade..a shame, because she bought a 1981 Plymouth Horizon to replace it and that thing had the most interesting problem--that nobody could fix--of only overheating on the highway. Evidentally someone figured it out, though, since she sold it to one of my dad's co-workers who managed to get it from Illinois to Virginia).

It was two fine wires that went up the middle of the windshield, spaced about 1/2" apart, and formed a T shape with the top part of the "T" at the top of the windshield. I remember asking my mom why that was in the windshield, and she told me that it was the radio antenna.

 

[kenw]

our 71 buick had one.....

 

[jason07-1zzfe]

quote:

---

Originally posted by T-Keith:
Plus develping a Hybrid system that's coming out next year, that will save many times more gas then Toyota.

Oh yeah that's right, Toyota is the sacred automaker who can do no wrong.

---

Which one would that be? The Malibu one I heard about was only a 10% improvement. Rather pathetic. They would have to sell them LESS than the regular engine to make up for battery replacement costs.

 

[darryld13]

quote:

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Originally posted by brianl703:
Why did they stop putting antennas in the windshield? ~SNIP~

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I remember reading that GM stopped because owners were complaining about poor reception and humongous replacement costs. Remember, stone chip repair was unheard of back then, so the whole windshied had to be replaced. I think many manufacturers are now putting the antennas in the rear windows to address this.

 

[darryld13]

GM still hasn't budging on oil viscosity. I would think if they would go to the lengths of 0.001 mpg and fairing of fuel flaps, oil can't be too far behind. Does anyone remember if GM was the first in the industry to use 5W-30 or, if not, how soon after its introduction did it take for them to adopt it fleet-wide?

[ September 16, 2005, 04:14 PM: Message edited by: darryld13 ]

 

[brianl703]

I notice that GM is approving 5W20 oils for 6094M.

 

[John K]

Brian - what is 6094M?

As far as the windshield antennae, I remember terrible reception as well. Might have been ok if you lived near the radio stations but we were about 50 miles from Cincinnati. On some stations we didn't even get good reception on regular antennaes.

 

[Kestas]

I can do better if I get my dog to stop putting his head out the window!

 

[jtantare]

My 12 year old volvo has the antenna in one of the back windows with great reception. They use some defroster style lines on the windows. GM is thinking of this now? Good Lord.
Everybody seems to be bashing Toyota (Prius) these days because of the terrible gas mileage it gets. Has anyone actually bothered to find out what kind of mileage the owners are getting? How many midsize cars average 48 mpg? That is average from a sample of 293 cars.
Green Hybrid

 

[brianl703]

6094M is the low temperature pumpability spec for engine oil.

See this post for a list of oils which as of May 2005 meet this spec:

http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=012172

 

[olympic]

Some Montanas have the antenna in the windshield, reception is very good. I priced out a replacement windshield for my van and it's only $20 more than a regular windshield. Years ago the difference was huge.

 

[TheTanSedan]

Had one of those lousy windshield antennas in a '77 Impala wagon. FM was only acceptable, AM was truly poor in comparison to the old manually-retracting type. Todays little 31-inchers are only OK on FM, absolutely terrible on AM.

Yup, mpg = horsepower reduction. Few ways around that one.

 

[brianl703]

Car stereos are designed to get good FM reception using a poor antenna. Most home stereos have terrible selectivity and sensitivity because they seem to be designed by someone who thinks you'll have them connected to a directional rooftop antenna.

As far as AM goes, the problem with that (around the Washington, DC area at least) is less due to the car stereo or it's antenna and more due to the AM stations that haven't bothered to change their antenna transmission patterns since the 1960s, and so anything outside the beltway is pretty much in a fringe reception area for most of the DC AM stations.

When I tried it (at night), I was able to get WGN AM from Chicago in my car in front of my house in Manassas, Virginia.

 

[55Test]

My old Altima had an antenna in the rear window, plus the usual antenna on the fender. The system was designed to take the signal from whichever antenna was receiving a stronger signal.