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2016 Chevrolet Camaro powers up, slims down

Don't be fooled by its familiar appearance, the 2016 Chevrolet Camaro is vastly different than its iconic predecessors. It has a new chassis, a fresh engine lineup, and is loaded with clever technologies that promise to invigorate and improve the sixth generation of Chevy's legendary sports car. It was revealed Saturday before a crowd of enthusiastic Camaro revelers on Belle Isle in Detroit. Redesigning the sports coupe was a heady task, especially as its archrivals, the Ford Mustang and Dodge Challenger, drive better and are more powerful than ever. But the new Camaro is aiming to be the best combination of handling and raw performance, with quick acceleration and competitive fuel economy. "Redesigning the Camaro is thrilling and challenging all at once, but the secret is to offer something more," Mark Reuss, General Motors executive vice president of product development, said in a statement. It all began with a weight-loss plan. The new Camaro shed more than 200 pounds compared with the outgoing car, with 133 pounds coming from a lighter body-in-white. Then engineers culled weight nearly everywhere, using aluminum for the instrumental panel frame and some suspension components to trim as much fat as possible. The slimmer body rests on new bones. The Camaro's rear-wheel-drive platform is lighter and stiffer in a bid to improve handling. It's a modified version of the underpinnings used by the Cadillac ATS, though about 70 percent of the architecture is unique to the Camaro. Chevy said structural rigidity is improved by 28 percent. As you'll see, healthy doses of Cadillac and Corvette technologies have been used to bolster the Camaro's drive character and performance. The new car is also expected to handle better thanks to a slightly smaller footprint. It is about two inches shorter in length, with most of that due to the more compact wheelbase. It's also an inch shorter in height and an inch slimmer in width. So yes, the Camaro will be leaner, but it will still be plenty mean. The Camaro SS tops the range (for now) with the Corvette's 6.2-liter V8 pushing put 455 horsepower and 455 pound-feet of torque. Known as the LT1, is has a cast aluminum block and cast aluminum cylinder heads, and it's fortified with direct injection, variable valve timing, and cylinder deactivation. About 20 percent of the engine's parts are said to be unique to the Camaro, including the exhaust manifolds.

Chevrolet planning new crossover between Equinox and Traverse

Chevrolet is taking a crowbar to its crossover lineup so it can slide in a new entry between the Equinox (shown) and the Traverse, according to a report in Automotive News. The current Equinox, a tweener compared to its rivals, will get smaller when the next-generation vehicle moves to the Delta platform that underpins the Chevrolet Cruze. The next Traverse will remain full-size, the liberated space between it and the smaller Equinox making room for a fourth offering from the brand. Designed on a short-wheelbase version of the Traverse platform, AN's sources say it will offer three-row seating, and its architecture will also serve the Cadillac SRX successor, the XT5, and the redesigned GMC Acadia. Yes, the Acadia will also come down a notch in size. Once all the rationalizing is complete, the Trax, Equinox, new crossover, and Traverse would give consumers a quicker, easier way to compare size and features with the competition. As it stands, the Ford Edge, Nissan Murano, Honda Pilot, and Toyota Highlander are all larger than the Equinox. The future offering and its two- and three-row seating options would take clear aim at those four vehicles, and the Equinox could focus on the Ford Escape, Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, and Jeep Cherokee segment. The new Chevy is predicted to go on sale at the end of next year as a 2018 model. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2015 Chevrolet Equinox View 14 Photos News Source: Automotive News - sub. req. Chevrolet Crossover cadillac srx gmc acadia chevy traverse cadillac xt5

Recharge Wrap-up: Chevy Volt class action suit proposed, Tesla stock could outperform in 2015

A class action suit has been proposed against General Motors for a steering problem in the Chevrolet Volt. The plaintiffs claim that a defect can cause the steering to freeze intermittently, and that General Motors either knows or should have known about the problem. The case, filed in New Jersey, also claims that defective parts are replaced with the same or similar parts, which are also defective. The plaintiffs say that claims for the 100-plus-member class exceed $5 million. Read more at Law360 or at BigClassAction. Tesla Motors stock (TSLA) has risen after weeks of losses. It gained 5.4 percent during the week ending December 19, when it closed at $219.29 per share. Since then, it rose slightly more, closing at $222.26 on December 24. Morgan Stanley lowered its target price on Tesla stock from $320 to $290, predicting lower sales on the upcoming Model III than expected before, but still called Tesla a good long-term investment. Analysts at CNBC predicted Tesla to be the best performing stock of 2015. Read more at ETF Daily News. Oslo- and New York-based architecture firm Snohetta has designed a zero-emissions house that also charges an electric car. The ZEB Pilot House, built in Larvik, Norway, uses a solar panel on the roof to power the house, which also provides enough excess energy to charge an EV. To make the most of energy most efficiently, the house uses smart technology to use as much energy as it can once it's harvested. This means one can turn on appliances like the washing machine remotely while the sun is at the optimum angle in the sky - perhaps during mid-day when the residents are at work. The house also uses organic materials and is designed to save as much energy as possible. Read more at Wired.