What would you guys think about Chevrolet involving themselves in the Hybrid chase? I this board is made up of many "naturally aspirated engine" enthusiasts, but what would you think of a more environmentally friendly performance car? I'm not talking what we have now...but something that would/could be an average performer. Hybrids are certaintly becoming more popular...why not bring this technology into Chevrolets lineup?

On that fact...what would you guys think of a Hybrid LS1? Whats your stand on Hybrids and low emission vehicles? What about E85 powered LS1s?

Of course the cobalt would make a great Hybrid platform, but there will be a need for a higher performer like the LS1.

 

C'mon now people...surely you have something to say on the matter. Hopefully it's positive.

 

I wouldn't mind an E85 ls1....But a hybrid one just seems kinda wuss like.

 

Personally I have no use for Hybrids. I would not buy one unless there was no other option on the market. I'm not an enviromentalist, and I don't see hybrids as a vehicle that will cater to the performance enthusiasts any time in the foreseeable future. Not to mention, the higher MSRP for the same car in hybrid form, and the increased cost of ownership (what will it cost to replace those batteries anyway???). Hybrids are a niche market and will likely remain so in the near and mid term.

IMO, E85/Flex fuel vehicles are more likely in the near term to continue to gain significant marketshare. E10 has already been mainstream in the midwest for many, many years. In fact that's the only gas you can buy in my area.

However, I think it's good that GM is making the move to capture more "green" customers with their planned "Volt" electric car, expected to be offered to the public in 2010. See the my other post here: https://ls1tech.com/forums/automotive-news-media-press/670937-report-gm-targets-2010-production-electric-car.html

I'm always happy to see GM expand into other consumer bases (assuming they can make a profit) and strip market share from Japan, Inc. But personally I'll be sticking to my E10/Gas only engines for as long as possibile.

 

My computer says you posted at 2:53 p.m.......that's during the work day for most folks, and not everyone has computer access to the net during the work day. Patience my friend....

 

Personally I don't really mind the idea of Hybrid vehicles, but I don't see anything of the sort making it's way towards the performance market anytime soon. I know that Toyota recently made a concept car that was a 400hp hybrid, but that's not going to hit the showroom anytime soon. In the area of performance, simplicity and modification are two things that would be choked on a hybrid vehicle. You can't supercharge an electric motor, and you can't fit anything to do such under a hybrid's hood.

I do believe the hybrid market will pick up if companies stop making things like the Prius which, obviously, was shaped with an ugly stick.

As far as the environment part, I am not a tree-hugger, but I do like clean air. Growing up in Birmingham has taught me that smog is no fun. If they can make my car run cleaner without any major inconvenience to me, then great. I'm not going to go out of my way for it.

The best way to bring on a change is to make it convenient. If hybrid cars were cheaper, then I'd support them more. If you didn't have to change their $8k batteries every 60,000 mi then they would be even better.

I too believe that alternative fuels are the way to go. If E85 is cheaper, then I'll switch to it in a heartbeat, but if it's not, then I'm sorry but I'm smoggin'.

With all the whining about "Global Warming" going on lately, I'm personally getting sick of the matter. I don't believe in global warming any more than Al Gore does (check his power bill). IMHO it's the single most politically poisoned subject to date.

Anywho, in short, I'll go green when it's actually economical.

 

Damn right.

I thought I was the only one that caught the article on good ole Al and his $1359 electric bill. Conservationist my a$$. He is the world's greatest hypocrite.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17382210/

What enviromentalist needs a 10,000sqft home anyway?

Back to the topic at hand.... you are absolutely correct about design changes and affordability being required. The current hybrids on the market are either too ugly to be popular, and/or too costly in the MSRP and long-term maintanence department vs. their conventional counterparts to gain any real mainstream marketsahre without significant changes.

 

what will happen to exhaust sound if they use hybridd?

 

I'd say "SUCK MY *****!!!!!"

 

I am with you on this one.
I think a hybrid could be a performer.
They have a lot of touque.
I raced a stock prius at the track last year.
it ran 11.2 in the 1/8th and got 75mpg on the way there.
I know a lot of cars that don't run 11.2 in the 8th and don't get that kind of gas milage.
if it was built to perform I don't see why you couldn't get a fast car with the hybrid.
They do lack the power up top though.

why not build a hybrid that can sit in traffic all day and not use much gas at all but still has the power of a LS1 or whatever.
and the car could be assisted by the eletric motor on launch.
that combined with E85 and dod seems to me would make a high performing low emmision car.

The prius I drove barley used any gas at all in traffic. The slower it goes the better the gas milage it gets. if you go about 5-7mph it does not even start the engine most the time untill the battery gets low then it starts it and charges and cuts back off.

I thougt at first the hybrid has to be slow but I changed my mind after driving the prius. It is ugly though. but it has a tiny engine to run such good times in the 8th IMO.

 

Nothing good.

Not to worry, I think gas engines will still be around for a very long time, decades in fact.

 

It's not all about power. As stated above, sound is important to many of us as well. To me, it's worth the price of gas to hear a well tuned V8.

Hybrids make decent commuter cars. But my weekend toy will need to be gas-only powered.

 

Damn hybrids,.....All this emission crap is why people like me are soo fucked out here in CA. ****'n Al Gore. I wanna kick that Bitchtard in the sack!!!

 

 

Why would it not sound good if it was a big displacement V8 hybrid?
just like if the LS1 was a hybrid. why would it not sound as good?

 

I'm not an expert on hybrid gas/electric, but to the best of my knowledge the electric motor kicks in during low throttle operations, decel, and idle. If that is in fact the case, I would sorely miss the sound of my V8 at steady cruise and idle.

 

.....another thing to consider; mods.

I can't imagine what sort of havoc it would play with the "switch-over" from gas to electric and/or back if you popped in a higher stall TC. Light load, high rpm operation but with only light to moderate throtte input. I assume that would seriously screw with the system.

I'm sure there could eventually be custom tuning to work that out, but it would take a while to get it right. Driveability tuning is already hard enough with modern all-gas engines.

 

I have to say it would sound funny if you had exhaust done and the engine was turning off and on during slow cruising.

most of the time the engine is running during something like 50 mph cruising.
It would have to come a long way to be used in a performance car IMO but all I am saying is I think it could someday be in a performace and make good power.
I mean I used to see a lot more guys at the dragstrip with carb cars saying the same kind of stuff about fuel injection cars. but recently more people are starting to accept the Fuel Injection cars after seeing them perform. of course in the early days they were not as good as they are now but They have came along way

When I brung the Prius to the track some people were like wow I didn't think that car would go that fast (of cours 11.2 is not FAST but my when I had my 3.8 2000 mustang it only ran 11.5 with a V6)and some people were pissed that I was racing a hybrid and they were against hybrids.

 

I see your point, but I think it's going to be a lot harder to bring hybrid technology into the performance sector than it was with fuel injection. I'm not sure if any OEM will want to invest the time and money in R&D for this technology in a performance application when most consumers in that markek will likely reject the option (especially considering the increased cost) and look elsewhere.

Not to get too far off topic here, but this is a liberal excuse on his part.

If you are all about conservation and the environment, you would not want to stop at being "neutral" in your emissions (offesetting emissions by positive contributions). You would want to reduce your impact on the environment as much as possibile, which would mean a modest lifestyle that doesn't include a power-sapping 10,000sqft home and a $1,300 electric bill. Even if the power comes from wind/solar sources, imagine the extra money he could contribute to emissions-friendly causes with a more reasonably sized home and a cheaper bill. Opulence and conservationist/environmentalist don’t belong together, IMO.

 

I'm not going to get into a political debate with you because that is NOT the point of this thread. All I'm going to say is, I disagree 100% with your "positive" assesment of Al Gore. I hate the man. I'll leave it at that.

Any, back on topic, what impact does military use of hybrids for facility power have on the private vehicle sector? The industrial-sized technology they are using to power a hospital has nothing to do with the challenges faced by OEMs in terms of making hybrids more appealing to the masses. Being quieter or weighing less does nothing to offset the increased MSRP, or the higher cost of long term maintenace (battery replacement, etc,). Sure, people willing to look past the initial MSRP save some cash on gas up front, but just wait till they get the first battery replacement bill. They will forget all about the high MPG rating.

Granted, with time cost improvements could be made, but that will only happen if the OEMs start seeing enough profit to expand funding and research in the hybrid sector, making parts cheaper with bulk sales and technological advances. But of course, the catch is that to make these improvements and advances, people need to buy more of the hybrids to make them profitable to the OEMs; and they won't until affordability is improved. And this stalemate is the reason why hybrids are still a niche market. Only a "green" customer is going to be willing to pay considerably more money to get the exact same car in hybrid form.

The OEMs would need to take a major leap of faith (investment wise) on the hybrids if they really wanted to push the market. Right now, that just isn't happening.