Filed under: Sports/GTs, Government/Legal, Green, Tech, Supercars, BMW, Chevrolet, Lamborghini, Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari
What does the future hold for supercars with new fuel economy rules?
Click the ZR1 for a high-res photo gallery
As the 2009 Corvette ZR1 was unveiled on the very same day that President Bush signed into law a new energy bill, the obvious question is where do we go from here? The most prominent part of the bill was the first increase in corporate average fuel economy requirements in over two decades. By 2020, most manufacturers will have to achieve a sales weighted average fuel economy of 35 mpg for their fleets. Note that was "most" and not "all" manufacturers, a subject we'll return to in a moment.
At the press preview of the new LS9 engine, GM Powertrain VP Tom Stephens was asked about gas guzzler taxes and how the energy bill would affect the future of cars like the ZR1. Stephens acknowledged that the ZR1 would have a gas guzzler tax, although the final mileage numbers weren't done yet. As for the future, it's too early to tell. In the past, the death of performance cars has been predicted repeatedly and here we are at a new high water mark. Corvette VLE Tom Wallace said at the car's debut that the ZR1 would last at least through the C6 model cycle. No decisions have been made about the C7 and beyond. Keep reading after the jump.
Gallery: 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
Gallery: The Chevrolet LS9 V-8
Aside from the Corvette, the question actually gets more complicated for other manufacturers. The fuel economy rules actually exempt or grant waivers to manufacturers that produce fewer than 10,000 vehicles annually worldwide. So Ferrari, Lamborghini and Lotus are safe. The trouble comes for the likes of Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, which produce far more vehicles. The latter two at least can balance some of their AMG and M models against smaller more efficient cars. Porsche has no such option, which may be part of why it is taking control of Volkswagen.
In order to get the low volume exemption, the manufacturer has to be a separate corporate entity, which rules out spinning off Corvette as a separate brand from Chevrolet. It all gets lumped together under GM. On the other hand, being part of a large company like GM actually gives the Corvette an advantage compared at least to the German companies. Because the fleet economy numbers are based on a sales weighted average, and the Corvette volumes are relatively small in comparison to overall GM sales, the sports car actually doesn't sway the numbers that much.
It's entirely possible that in the coming years we might see AMG and M spun off from their parents and classed as low volume builders. With technologies like dual clutch transmissions, direct injection, biofuels and some sort of hybrid setup, it's also distinctly possible that enough progress will come that future generations of ZR1, Viper and Carrera will play happily on the back roads with Tesla Roadsters. The absolute truth is that it's anybody's guess what the future holds. But if the past is anything to go by, it won't be what you expect today.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Luis 1:35PM (12/20/2007)
Love the Bad Boy Vette version!
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Yayaja 1:39PM (12/20/2007)
It would be a very sad thing if this corvette did not live a full and long product cycle. However try as they might, i don't think super cars in general will ever be kept down. The safety and other BS requirements added to Formula 1 cars every year to make them safer and slower is incredible, and yet every year those cars are burning off faster and faster lap times.
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fbxcore 5:29PM (12/20/2007)
Yeah but the funding and overall price of producing those cars is ridiculous...I agree with your point but you forget to introduce the costs of the technology into the equation, not economical for the average consumer.
Zane 1:43PM (12/20/2007)
From here (http://legalminds.lp.findlaw.com/list/epa-general/msg00183.html), Ferrari is ineligible for CAFE exemptions since it's owned by Fiat S.p.A. I guess the same applies to Lambo too.
If that's the case, the only manufacturers who might be exempted from this crap law are Aston, Rolls Royce, McLaren and Lotus.
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Jimbo 1:54PM (12/20/2007)
@Zane: Rolls-Royce would be ineligible too. It's owned by BMW.
saysee 2:21PM (12/20/2007)
Yes, but fiat makes a bunch of small cars that already have over 35 mpg (500, pando, soon to be new uno, punto, grande punto) so i think ferrari will be saved by fiats average, especailly when you consider they produce the small fiats in much greater numbers.
psarhjinian 1:59PM (12/20/2007)
Ferrari can still sell cars under CAFE, it's just that they'll pay an awful price premium. Since it's a Ferrari, this is more or less par for the course.
Lambo is part of VWAG, as is Bentley and Bugatti, so the diesel Golfs and Jettas would probably help offset them
FIAT could, if they wanted to play dirty, bring over a 500 and Punto equipped with a 75hp diesel. That'd probably exempt Ferrari and satify North Americans drooling over the 500 as well.
Frylock350 2:58PM (12/20/2007)
I think BMW owns Rolls.
Dinger 5:15PM (12/20/2007)
Saysee,
CAFE only covers the USA. So high mileage cars sold by FIAT in the rest of the world don't count towards the US average. Otherwise GM would be okay with all the high mileage cars they sell in Europe as well.
LeRobert 1:47PM (12/20/2007)
Since the weak American dollar is undercutting the profit margin of German car companies anyways, they might as well quit the US market entirely =). Meanwhile in Canada we will still be able to enjoy Porsches (though for how much longer, it's unclear).
Lawmakers in the US are blatantly drafting laws that are biased towards their domestics; but then again, that's what lawmakers are paid to do.
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psarhjinian 2:09PM (12/20/2007)
They're not drawing up laws against the domestics; the domestics just don't have the kinds of products available that can meet the laws.
In fact, I'd say CAFE allows some pretty big loopholes for the domestics. Instead of actually having to come up with a highly efficient vehicle, it allows exemptions for trucks (which, coincidentally, the domestics make a lot of) and for ethanol (which is a cheap-to-engineer change that most of the domestics have made, or will make soon).
It's rather like the low tax rate on diesel fuel in Germany. It has more to do with propping up VW and MB (who, until recently, had diesel as their only serious advantage over Honda or Toyota) than actually saving fuel or cutting emissions.
I think it's very telling that only Honda has supported CAFE restrictions. It's also telling than Honda's vehicles, class for class, are more fuel efficient than anyone else.
LeRobert 2:21PM (12/20/2007)
@psarhjinian
I said 'biased towards' not 'biased against' =P, we are of the same opinion.
2004m3driver 2:27PM (12/20/2007)
Thats extremely unlikely. They are way too profitable over here. Just like Porsche. USA is the biggest marketplace for automobiles.
B-Rad 2:35PM (12/20/2007)
@2004M3Driver
That is changing (unfortunately). Didn't Europe acount for more auto sales in November than the US?
AMcA 3:51PM (12/20/2007)
Bold prediction: Porsche formally merges with VW for the sole purpose of being able to keep doing business in the US, Porsche's largest market.
wrussi 1:53PM (12/20/2007)
i dont look at it that way
sports cars are not going to become extinct
i think the technology is out there where you can have 4 seconds 0-60 and be on the 30mpg
its just that now r&d engineers need to stop sleeping and need to start creating new technologies. it is possible
now as fas as muscle cars as we know them ( big 8.0L gas devouring behemoth engines) they most likely will be exticnt and i think thats a good thing! after 40 years its about time! come up with something more efficient dodge viper engineers!
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YouFaceTheTick 2:09PM (12/20/2007)
The current 335i gets to 60 in under 5 seconds and on freeway drives you can get almost 30 mpg. With my e90 and the 3.0 I could easily peg 30 mpg and do a 60 run in under 6 seconds. Hell, the BMW diesels get 40+ MPG on the freeway and they're all sub 7 second cars.
refugee7 4:07PM (12/20/2007)
Yea, but what are you expecting in a sports car? I mean even if there is the technology, there is going to be a very discouraging compromise that would create "sports cars" like the horrible Mustangs and Corvettes of 1970s and early 1980's (oil crisis anyone?). Looks like this may be the golden age of horsepower.
Justin 5:03PM (12/20/2007)
wrussi, you read too much into stereotypes. You must not know that the current z06 is 7.0 L, yet is hardly a "behemoth" compared to larger low displacement engines that get less mpg (ls7 gets 16/26 mpg). Also, the 8.1L viper engine you criticized actually gets BETTER mpg (13/22 mpg) than a new ferrari f430 4.3L in a lighter car and making 100 less hp and way less torque (13/17 mpg).
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/FullTests/articleId=122304
http://autos.yahoo.com/ferrari_f430/
Will 5:18PM (12/20/2007)
That highway MPG number is completely due to the Viper's ridiculously tall sixth gear. At 100mph in sixth it's only at 2000rpm, meaning if it had the aerodynamics and the power, it would do 300mph at redline. The 430 has shorter gears to take advantage of the high specific output of the revvy Ferrari V8 and thus doesn't do as well on the highway. But seriously, how many long trips do either of these cars make?