GM Flex Fuel Vehicle List

[Hot Air]

Thought this might be of interest.

http://www.aa1car.com/library/gm_2007_e85.jpg

Conrad

[novaderrik]

how much extra do they charge for different injectors, a yellow gas cap, different ecm calibration, and a "flex fuel" badge for the exterior?
if GM had half a brain, they'd make a few cars with an "E85 ONLY" option consisting of 12:1 static compression ratio and bigger injectors.
seems to me that the Solstice/Skye with the turbocharged, direct injected Ecotec would be a natural for an E85 compatible car, too.

[Pablo]

Originally Posted by novaderrik

how much extra do they charge for different injectors, a yellow gas cap, different ecm calibration, and a "flex fuel" badge for the exterior?
if GM had half a brain, they'd make a few cars with an "E85 ONLY" option consisting of 12:1 static compression ratio and bigger injectors.
seems to me that the Solstice/Skye with the turbocharged, direct injected Ecotec would be a natural for an E85 compatible car, too.

Absolutely... they need something to showcase the performance potential of ethanol.

With GMs resources it wouldn't be hard to create a flex fuel GXP that had an adaptive tune for the fuel used. More boost and timing with the Ethanol could very conservatively boost HP by 30 at least.

Even if this is important to only 2% of their market, it will help generate a positive impression of E85 as a whole. Much like how flagship vehicles like the Z06 and now the ZR1 are only sold to a handful of customers. GM puts a lot of effort into them because they impact marque recognition in a positive way.
The same can be said of E85 if GM were to show off what could be done with it.

[turbofish38]

Originally Posted by novaderrik

how much extra do they charge for different injectors, a yellow gas cap, different ecm calibration, and a "flex fuel" badge for the exterior?
if GM had half a brain, they'd make a few cars with an "E85 ONLY" option consisting of 12:1 static compression ratio and bigger injectors.
seems to me that the Solstice/Skye with the turbocharged, direct injected Ecotec would be a natural for an E85 compatible car, too.

I wish people would do a mouse click or two before making such a statement like that. Do some research! I'm down here in FL hundreds of miles away from the nearest cornfield. You can count the number of stations that sell E85 in the state on one hand! And FL is a big new car market for all of the manufacturers. Why make cars for a limited market? If you want to see E85 only models than get on Archer Daniels case and not GM's. I'm really going to be on my soapbox in the upcoming years as they expand E85 across the board. The 09 Vette and Camaro are supposed to be E85 compatable.

[BlackoutDrunk]

I definitely think it's silly that the Solstice and Skye are not on the flex fuel list. I'm not saying they should be E85 only just E85 compatible to take advantage of what ethanol brings to a turbo charged engine. It would be exciting to be able to just fill your tank with e 85 and add a nice amount of horsepower.

[novaderrik]

Originally Posted by turbofish38

I wish people would do a mouse click or two before making such a statement like that. Do some research! I'm down here in FL hundreds of miles away from the nearest cornfield. You can count the number of stations that sell E85 in the state on one hand! And FL is a big new car market for all of the manufacturers. Why make cars for a limited market? If you want to see E85 only models than get on Archer Daniels case and not GM's. I'm really going to be on my soapbox in the upcoming years as they expand E85 across the board. The 09 Vette and Camaro are supposed to be E85 compatable.

the big automakers all build cars for limited markets- how many people can afford a Viper? or the new Vette with the 600hp LS9 coming out next year? how many $200k Ford GT's have you seen in your neighborhood? how many GNX's did they build?
some car companies are currently selling hydrogen powered cars and fuel cell cars- how many places can you go to refuel something like that outside of a research lab in southern california?
so it isn't much of a stretch for them to build a few "special edition" cars that are designed to only run on E85. it would showcase what an awesome fuel it truly is- the power would be tremendous, and if you build the motor to run exclusively on E85, the mileage will be every bit as good as any gas engine of similar size and output. it would be a win/win deal- the environMENTALists would praise the car company for doing it, and the speed freaks would do the same. plus, they'd be able to sell them in countries like Brazil that power their cars with ethanol.