This comes as no surprise, and I’m sure the new CAFE regs have everything to do this announcement.

I also think it’s decisions like these that will give car companies a fighting chance to meet CAFE regs.

So much for the BMW competitor aspirations. Why is GM the only company that seems concerned about the CAFE standards? Not that they shouldn’t be, but BMW,for example, who’s engines are high output 6’s, 8’s, and 12’s exclusively, keep going on business as usual? Let alone Porsche..

Utterly worthless, GM still make ye olde Northstar V8 that’s been around since the age of the dinosaurs

Read between the lines… What this means is.
STS is dead (we already knew that)
Next Generation DTS will remain on a front-drive platform.

what this means is GM isnt going to invest heavily in a low volume V8 engine. BMW doesnt need to worry about this sort of thing because the sell cars in Europe and can spread out the cost of the V8s and BMW knows 90% of its 5 series sedans in the US will not be sold with V8s anyway. The M3 and M5 are low volume so they dont mean much. If all else fails BMW will likely just pay fines.

Gah, they need a high tech V8!

@rsg: porsches actually get respectable mileage, 911 turbo gets 25mpg (est. obviously) on the highway, and still puts down 480hp/460lb-ft, find another car with those kinds of numbers.

Big deal … just turbo the six. The market’s too small anyway.

I believe it is better decisions out of GM. Around the world BMW & Benz are selling diesels. 70% of all BMW are diesels and probably even higher number for Benz who is really pioneered and nurtured technology. Benz will go ahead with diesel hybrid, they see the market. GM does have hybrid tranny that can help V6 to get some acceleration. If only GM could get their heads out of their rectums and start certifying Opel 4 cyl engines, they could do well on top of their progress with quality.

Excellent decision! GM can always reinstate revised plans at a later date.

Hopefully they will keep working on it in their labs and maybe bring back V8s in time. Otherwise some hot Hybrids and what not.

But Cadillac will lose any “prestige”status they have or could have if they don’t have hot up-to-date V8s in the future.

Although I’m bummed about not having a smooth DOHC V8, the idea of higher output V6’s sounds cool. As for the V-Series cars, I’m sure they’ll just keep borrowing the beast from under the Corvette’s hood.

Thanks CAFE? I already…feel better?

Not exactly unexpected, but disappointing nonetheless. GM did a fantastic job modernizing their V6 engines with the 3.6L DOHC as the poster child, a new DOHC V8 family would probably have been pretty impressive.

However, with fuel economy being #1 for most buyers now, they already have in their possession one of the best modern V6s out there (both SFI and DI versions) from which to build a series of forced induction engines. That frees up CAFE space for the cars that really need the V8 character, like Corvette, CTS-V, Camaro, and G8.

I don’t think it is CAFE, it is reality of $100/barrel oil prices. Majority of wealthy people are smart. They don’t mind to pay a bit more to be environmentally friendly or to be perceived green. How many Cadillac owners purchased/leased their rides because Cadillac V8 is stronger then BMW or Lexus? or ‘cuase Caddy beats competition in 0-60?

Well GM needed to do something about those Northstar V8’s. I don’t see anything wrong with this at this point. Cadillac doesn’t necesarilly need their own brand of V8’s anyways. If you ask me that’s just a waste of resources. The Cadillac Escalade just will continue to use the same 6.2L V8 that the Yukon, and Tahoe have and are going to have. The STS-V will just probably utilize the LS9 along with the XLR-V and CTS-V. So they dropped the V8 option for the STS. I saw more V6 STS than I saw V8 STS’s and with the output the new 3.6L V6 is putting out why keep the Northstar V8 as an option? And yeah the DTS probably won’t be around after the next few years.

As I just said in another post, autonut, the ECOTEC engines are Opel engines.

LLN? GM and Ford sales results are out….

Heck, I was looking forward to the “16″. If GM can’t make it past 8….

Somebody needs to sneak over to GM and tell them about inline sixes.

This is obviously a result of the new CAFE regulations. Wouldn’t (doesn’t) the cost of gas dictate the market? For example, everyone trading in their yukon’s for hhr’s. Isn’t that incentive enough for a company to reevaluate themselves? Focus on more fuel efficient vehicles? I’m just to cynical to believe CAFE has good intentions. Lobbyist are going to have to make their way to washington and stroke someone off, just as washington intended. For gods sake, private vehicles account for less than 20% of energy consumption in the U.S.

This has no effect on the DTS/STS replacement, nor the Lucerne. Those rwd programs are underpinned by export sales and production which are unaffected by CAFE. Diesels (the 2.9 L V6) and GDI V6s (the 3.6 and a probable 2.8 Turbo) will be the key engines. A high-speed version of the 4.5 L Diesel is still possible but less likely. There is in addition a new DOHC version of the Gen V small block in development, if only for Cadillac, but that will primarily be the equivalent of the 6.3 L AMG V8, and not used in volume except for the Escalade.

Porsche is seeking an excemption from CAFE, which it will probably not get. The Corvette and some versions of the 911 get relatively good mileage because they are small and light. GM can offset the Corvette’s sub 35 mpg performance by selling the Aveo (which beat the Yaris in Dec), and the even smaller, lighter Beat. Porsche cannot (perhaps that’s why they are increasing their stake in VW—get a free VW up! with every 911/Cayenne!).

((HORROR!!))

To answer the fellow who asked about BMW and Daimler, the answer is they pay huge fines for not meeting the CAFE fleet standards. Daimler just paid the biggest fine ever, this year, for not meeting CAFE standards.

My guess is that if BMW and Daimler are already paying a fine at this low CAFE level, I doubt very seriously you’ll be seeing big V8 and 12 cylinder gassers for very much longer.

Hmm that is a fair point. The Germans keep making high powered 8’s, 10’s and 12’s, so why can’t the Americans? I don’t see Lexus deleting the V8 from the LS any time soon either? The problem with GM and Ford compared to most other companies is that they are so reactionary. While it is difficult to plan ahead, they never seem to have long term plans in place. They only ever react to current events. What will they do if in the future, the market for Luxury cars booms because of increased oil production, peace in some middle east and African countries?? I think you have to plan for a number of different scenarios. I don’t see why they can’t do a new V8 with an improved version of the cylinder shutdown, becuase that was a very innovative idea. There are plenty of ways to reduce fuel consumption.

But moreover, I would say if resources and investment money is scarce, then invest in a modern range of diesels that they can use in everything from the Aveo to the Colorado. Diesel takes like 60 to 70% of Europes market alone.

The Germans treat V8s at one like Prestige engines. They don’t make many of them and they sell them for quite a bit.

As for what they will do in the future if Oil dropped in price, which it won’t…

I would like to see that myself but all signs point toward getting away from V8s and some except for sports cars and larger vehicles. The rest will become hybrids.

Time was when V12s were nearly a dime a dozen in the US (back thine 1920s, 30s, and 40s). No longer and V8s seem to be what’s next. But If Detroit is smart and determined (Doubtful except maybe GM) V8s will survive even the new CAFE standards, but they will be very different from the engines we are used to today.

This is atypical GM. I’m willing to bet they realized they were headed in the same direction as the Quad Four and the Twin Dual Cam 3.4 six. Or the Northstar V8 for that matter. All were overly complicated and expensive to build.

This is a good thing. Just possibly GM has finally learned not to let bad history repeat itself.

There are many reasons but I have to agree that the performance of V6’s nowadays are good enough for any sane use in public streets that the development of a V8 would be a waste from a marketing standpoint. 300HP at a price point of well below 40K such as the G35 is already more than enough for US. The only ones really complaining are the germans cause they don’t have many V6’s that go above 300 HP. And seriously what’s the ratio of yearly sales of Toyota, GM, or Ford’s V6 compared to V8?

Imagine if GM turbocharged the 3.6 DI or, based on the new cooling ability and efficiency of the supercharger on the ZR1, supercharged the engine…making what?? 340-360HP?? I wouldn’t miss the idea of a V-8 at all.

Well ain’t that some ****. It’s really sad that in a world of high-tech electronics (PS3s, quad-core chips, etc) we can’t find a way to bump fuel economy to respectable levels in an 8.

Even the SFI version of the 3.6L could easily make 330HP with a decent boost set-up. And that’s at levels that manufacturers would be comfortable with.

I don’t get why GM can’t focus on a twin-turbo I-6 like BMW has, they basically already have a 4.2L I-6 powerplant from the TrailBlazer, all they need is some turbo’s in there and it’d be pretty competitive, IMO.

GM has a perfectly Great engine in th LSx Series,in displacements ranging from 5.3(327 cid) up to 7 liters(427 cid) superchaged(LS9), the LS has even been displayed as a running V16. The LS is free revving, smooth, powerful, fuel efficient and has been around since 1997. I think GM’s decision to discontinue the Northstar and other DOHC engines is due to their complexity and high cost to manufacture and repair. GM is turning to direct injection, turbo and supercharging more frequently – compare a supercharged 5.3 LS to a BMW M-V10 500hp-370 ftlb torque,if you use the power factor displayed by the current LS9 of 100hp per 6.2 liters or 620hp, the 5.3 would be @ 530hp and it would have superior torque numbers over the BMW V10 as well.I think it is a very smart move by GM.

Curse you, CAFE!

Curse GM for making Northstar junk blocks.

Used (1-2 years old)Cadillacs are worthless on the resale market.

Nobody wants to touch this engine, even GM, they tell you to buy a new one.

Just posturing, pouting, and chest beating by Bob Lutz. You want 35 MPG CAFE standards? Then no V-8’s for you!!!

He did the same thing with the Zeta RWD platforms: proclaimed that Zeta was dead due to fuel economy concerns. Turns out it was never killed, and its alive and well today, and will soon spawn the new Camaro and the G8.

The same thing with the new DOHC engine. It’s not dead – watch. They’re too far along in its development to kill it now over CAFE requirements that are still at least 12 years away.

The Northstar will be killed – that’s for sure. It will be replaced by a new DOHC V-8 with direct injection using a similar design to the 3.6L V-6. It just won’t be built at Tonowanda.

Blakkar:

“Cadillac will lose any ‘prestige’ status they have or could have if they don’t have hot up-to-date V8s in the future.”
Straight reality!