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GM reportedly developing 2.5-liter turbo four-cylinder

General Motors is allocating a massive amount of resources to developing electric technology, but it's not forgetting about the gasoline-powered cars that make up the bulk of its sales. It's reportedly designing a new 2.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine based on its 2.7. Citing "sources familiar with the matter," enthusiast website GM Authority wrote that the 2.5-liter four is "in [the] final stages of development," meaning it should be announced sooner rather than later (assuming the report is accurate). Technical details are few and far between as of writing. The publication learned that the 2.5 will be part of the Cylinder Set Strategy (CSS) family of engines and that it will be mechanically related to the 2.7-liter currently found in the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, among several other models. It will feature dual overhead camshafts. It's too early to tell which models the 2.5-liter four-cylinder will end up in, or how much power it will generate. The output will likely depend on the application. For context, the 2.7 delivers 310 horsepower at 5,600 rpm and 348 pound-feet of torque between 1,500 and 4,000 rpm in the Silverado. In the smaller Colorado, it provides anywhere between 237 and 310 horsepower depending on the trim level selected. While this is pure speculation, our crystal ball tells us the engine will end up powering crossovers. It's an easy deduction to make. We can't imagine it will be offered in the Silverado, and seeing it in the Colorado is unlikely because its entry-level engine develops 237 horsepower; there's likely not much of a market for a midsize truck with 200 or so horsepower. Putting it in the Corvette wouldn't make sense and the Camaro has nearly reached the end of its life cycle without a successor planned. This leaves us with Chevrolet's range of crossovers, like the Equinox, as well as their GMC-, Buick-, and Cadillac-branded counterparts. We're not discounting the possibility that the cars set to receive the 2.5 haven't been unveiled, but those are likely crossovers, too; the odds of seeing another big Chevy sedan are very, very low. General Motors hasn't commented on the report, and it hasn't publicly announced plans to expand its CSS family of engines. If the report is accurate, we should learn more about the new turbocharged, 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine in the not-too-distant future. Featured Gallery 2022 Chevrolet Equinox RS View 56 Photos Buick Chevrolet GM GMC

2020 Chevy Trax and Buick Encore spied testing

We just recently saw a little crossover SUV from General Motors being tested, and we weren't positive what brand it belonged to. We narrowed it down to Chevy or GMC, but we're feeling more confident that it's a GMC now, since both the next generation Chevy Trax and Buick Encore subcompact crossover SUVs have been spied testing together. Of the two, the Chevy has the more radically different sheet metal. It ditches the somewhat frumpy, lumpy shape of the current Trax for a body inspired by the bigger Chevy Blazer. The roofline has sharp corners, and the hood is wide and flat. The front fascia, though obscured, shows the most connection to the bigger crossover. It has the same split headlight configuration, and it looks as though the grille takes up a sizable section of the fascia. View 7 Photos The Buick Encore on the other hand looks evolutionary in design. The body still has plenty of curves, and the distinctive, sharply rising window sill are all hallmarks of the current Encore design. The headlights and grille are similar, too, though the grille appears to be slightly updated to fit in with the Enclave and Regal. It's understandable that Buick might want to play it safe with the new Encore, since the model is Buick's best seller, selling about 23,000 units in the last quarter, nearly twice that of the next best performer, the Enclave. Since this is the first time we've seen these little crossovers, we expect it will still be a year or two before we get to see them fully revealed. They will probably continue to use small-displacement turbocharged four-cylinder engines with either front- or all-wheel drive. Related Video:

Ford Police Interceptors dominate Michigan State Police testing

Once again, Ford Motor Company builds the fastest police vehicles. The Blue Oval touted the news in an official release following Michigan State Police and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department testing. Ford did very well. Except for one acceleration metric – zero to 10 miles per hour – the Blue Oval's Taurus and Explorer-based cop cars were the quickest, with particular praise coming for the EcoBoost-powered models, which bested Chevrolet and Dodge's V8-powered variants. Dearborn's products also posted the fastest average times around MSP's vehicle dynamics course. But it wasn't all positive for Ford. The only four-cylinder in the contest, the 2.0-liter, EcoBoost Ford SSP Sedan, had both the lowest top speed, 120 mph, and the slowest acceleration figures. It was also the slowest in track testing. Ford's products also failed to match the braking and top speeds of its rivals from Detroit and Auburn Hills – the rear-drive Charger Pursuit posted the best braking stats of the entire test, while the V8-powered Chevrolet Caprice hit the highest top speed, at 155 mph. Ford did score a top speed award, among SUVs, but at 132 mph, the naturally aspirated Police Interceptor Utility had to share its award with the equally fast, rear-drive Chevrolet Tahoe. The LA County Sheriff's timing isn't publicly available, but according to Ford, the EcoBoost-powered police cars put on a similarly impressive show for cops on the West Coast. We've assembled a spreadsheet on Google Docs that offers an easy to browse comparison of the different stats assembled by the Michigan State Police, and divided the vehicles between standard V6-powered sedans, high-performance sedans (EcoBoost and V8 models), and SUVs. You can check it out here. Related Video: