How Chevrolet Started, Grew & Became $11.5 Billion Company
Success Secrets TV:
How Chevrolet Started, Grew & Became $11.5
Billion Company
The name Chevrolet originated from a Swiss-born
American racer Louis-Joseph Chevrolet, who
founded his company with William Durant in
1911, stayed for four years and then left
his own company to Durant in 1915.
The Chevrolet Company previously called the
Chevrolet Division of General Motors Company
and simply called the Chevy is the automobile
department of General Motors, a manufacturing
company in the United States.
How Chevrolet Began
Twenty years before Chevrolet, Durant was
the founder of a successful Durant-Dort Carriage
Company which manufactured horse-drawn vehicles.
And so Durant wouldn't even touch a car with
a ten-foot pole, let alone allow his daughter
to ride in what he called, "loud and dangerous
horseless carriages."
But as time passed he realized that there
were more cars than carriages on the American
streets; an experience that did not settle
well with the relatively tentative public.
As the government regulated cars for their
safety, Durant had other ideas.
Why not improve the security of these cars
instead?
In 1904, Durant approached a struggling Buick
Motor Company and became its controlling investor.
Within a span of four years, Durant demonstrated
his salesman attitude and transformed Buick
into a leading automobile name amongst the
likes of Ford, Oldsmobile, and Cadillac.
For Durant, however, it was only the start.
Durant figured he could further improve his
odds in the industry if he built a holding
company that would control several automobile
divisions, with each division manufacturing
their own car.
With the Buick's outstanding profits, Durant
had sufficient capital to found the General
Motors Company in 1908.
A year later, General Motors acquired several
car brands like Buick, Oldsmobile, Cadillac,
Elmore, and others.
Unfortunately,Durant got so carried away in
his "automobile acquisition crusade" that
GM suffered cash shortage with their sales
losing to Ford's.
And so, in 1910, General Motors showed Durant
the exit door.
But Durant did not give up.
Having regained his bearings, he reunited
with an old colleague from the days of the
Buick motor company, Louis-Joseph Chevrolet.
Durant knew the Swiss-born American as a man
whose competency for car mechanics matched
his passion for racing.
In 1909, Louis had participated in the Giant
Despair Hillclimb.
An oddly apt name, considering the Hillclimb
race was less about the racers themselves
and more about test-driving the competing
car brands they drove.
Therefore, when Durant offered a chance to
build more automobiles, Louis couldn't resist
signing his name on the dotted line alongside
Durant's.
In 1911, Louis co-founded the Chevrolet Motor
Company with Durant.
Durant used Louis’ racing status as a means
of building a motor company, and his way of
getting back at General Motors.
The first Chevrolet car, the Series C Classic
Six was designed by Etienne Planche with directions
by Louis.
The prototype was ready before the company
was incorporated even though the production
didn’t happen until 1913 where it was introduced
at an auto show in New York.
In 1914, Chevrolet redesigned its logo.
And so a "bowtie emblem" logo was used on
Chevrolet’s first produced cars in 1914:
the Chevrolet H series and L series models.
That same year, Durant and Louis argued about
their differing intentions for Chevrolet’s
future car designs.
Durant wanted simple and affordable cars that
would surpass those of Fords.
On the other hand, Louis preferred playing
it fast and loose, with luxury or racing cars.
These differences split these two associates
and Louis sold his shares of the company to
Durant.
Now alone at the helm, Durant was able to
focus on his next winning car design.
He achieved this in 1916 when the cheaper
Chevrolet Series 490 finally outpaced Ford
in sales and cemented Chevrolet’s place
among the big automobile names.
To say Chevrolet made huge profits during
this period would be a severe understatement.
Durant revisited General Motors as a controlling
investor, purchasing their stocks, which gave
him the leverage to launching himself into
leading General Motors once more.
By 1917, Durant had become the president of
General Motors.
All was right, now that Durant's "big automobile"
dream was back on track.
And of course, his first directive was merging
the highly successful Chevrolet into the parent
company General Motors as a separate division.
How Chevrolet Grew
In 1918, Chevrolet launched a new V8 powered
model, the Series D for open two-seat cars
and the touring cars that could seat 5 passengers.
These models didn't sell well though and they
were scrapped by the next year.
Given Chevrolet's successful track record
in the market, General Motors rebranded and
sold their commercial grade cars and trucks
as Chevrolet with similar appearances with
the Chevrolet’s vehicles in 1919 from Chevrolet
factories located in Flint, Michigan.
The automobile company built several branch
assembly plants in New York, Ohio, Missouri,
California, Texas, and Canada.
Somewhere between the 1920s and 1940s, Chevrolet
would see Durant's vision for "producing simple
and affordable cars" come true.
In fact, Chevrolet, Ford and Plymouth were
known to Americans as "the low priced three".
During this period, one of Chevrolet's most
notable cars was the Stovebolt introduced
in 1929, which was tag-lined "a six for the
price of four".
This and several generations of the car model
blew away the competition of Ford and Plymouth.
In 1953, the Chevy Corvette, a sport’s car
with two seats and a fiberglass body debuted
to become the first mass-produced sports car
in the United States, championing the "America's
Sports Car" appeal.
The appeal of the Corvette and other Chevrolet
passenger cars would be enhanced with the
first-time introduction of Rochester Ramjet
fuel-injection engine as a high-performance
option for the price of $484.
The Chevrolet small block V8 car design made
its debut in 1955 and remained in circulation
longer than other mass produced engines around
the world.
Modifications to the V8 engine including the
aluminum block and heads, the electronic engine
management and the port fuel injection gave
birth to the designs in production today.
In 1958, Chevrolet introduced the Impala series,
which went on to become one of the best-selling
American cars in history experiencing popularity
during the 60s and 70s.
The parent company General Motors introduced
Chevrolet to Europe in 2005.
With rebranded cars manufactured from the
General Motors branch in Korea acquired Daewoo
Motors.
The economic depression between 2007 and 2010
hit Chevrolet hard.
But the road to recovery began in 2010 with
the introduction of fuel-efficient cars and
trucks to compete with foreign automobile
manufacturers.
Within the same year, Chevrolet introduced
the plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, Chevrolet
Volt in America, which was sold under the
name Opel/Vauxhall Ampera throughout Europe
with a record 5,268 units soldand became the
world's best-selling plug-in hybrid electric
vehicle (PHEV) car in 2012, winning the award
for the North American Car of the Year, European
Car of the Year and World Green of the Year.
The series was then named the combined Volt/Ampera
that was sold across the world.
It exceeded the 100,000 unit sales milestone
in late 2005 and eleven years later the Volt
family of vehicles had become the world's
best-selling plug-in hybrid as well as the
third best selling electric car after the
Tesla Model S and the Nissan Leaf cars.
In 2011, Chevrolet set a global sales record
of 4.76 million vehicles sold worldwide
In late 2013, the Chevy brand was withdrawn
from Europe by General Motors leaving the
Corvette and Camero lines.
In 2016, Chevrolet unveiled the first affordable
mass-produced all-electric car the Chevrolet
Bolt EV.
This car too has won several awards.
Where Chevrolet Is Today
Chevrolet now has its headquarters in Detroit,
Michigan, and operates throughout 140 countries
in North and South America, Asia, Australia,
South Africa, and Europe with over two million
vehicles sold annually in the US alone and
a brand value of $11.5 billion.
Thank you very much for watching our videos.
We’ll like to give you another interesting
video for you to enjoy next but before then,
our team will be very happy if you can like
this Video and share it with your friends
on social media.
If you’re new here, don’t forget to subscribe
so you won’t miss other interesting videos
like this.
Look at your screen now to see two other videos
we handpicked for you to enjoy next.
We love you
Albert Gutierrez & His 1954 Chevrolet Bel Air - Lowrider Roll Models Ep. 9
MotorTrend Channel:
- You know I used to be fascinated
about cruising.
You know back in the day,
it wasn't called low riders;
you were cruisers.
And as a young kid,
I remember I was about 12, 13 years old
and I would sit in front of my porch
and I would watch everybody cruising.
I used to just sit there,
and I would just look at it
and think, "One day, I'm
going to have me a nice car."
As time went on, you know,
I just had always a passion for cars.
("Evening" by Zplit)
I think I was only 14 years old
at the time.
One day my brother told me,
he goes, "Hey, there's a 54
Chevy Bel Air car for sale."
So me and my friend,
we went down and looked at it,
and the guy said, "Hey,
yeah it's for sale.
"It needs work,"
but he wanted $50.
Well, I had to save up my money.
Took me about a month
to save up the money.
So I get to the door,
knock on the door,
and tell him, "Hey, I'm here for the car,
"but all I got is $47 and some change."
And he goes, "Yeah, go ahead, take it."
("Beat 101" by Professor Xv)
My car is a 1954 Chevy Bel Air,
two-door hard-top.
The accessories that it came with
was a power seat,
power breaks,
power windows in the front doors,
and it was an automatic.
It's pretty much fully equipped.
The car, back in those days,
Chevy, that was a heavy car option.
The engine that my 54 Chevy has
is still the original engine;
I just had it rebuilt.
It's a 235 6-cylinder;
that was a stock engine
that came with the car.
That's all, 54, you
could get in those days
was the 235 6-cylinder,
which is a good engine.
Being able to say you have your first car
is a really amazing thing.
There's many a time
I've thought of selling it over the years.
Now I look back and I think,
"Wow! There's so many
memories in that car."
I dated my wife in it.
We got married in that car.
It was our first family car.
And as time goes on,
I didn't drive it so much.
I would just park it,
and it stayed parked for almost 20 years.
And finally, I moved it into the garage
that I have now,
and it just sat there until one day I go,
"You know, I got to
restore that car again."
I just look back and I
think it's just so neat.
A lot of people always telling me,
"It's so neat to have your first car."
And I go, "Yeah, if that car could talk."
It has a lot of memories,
that car does.
("That Day" by Joakim Karud)
I started collecting cars in 95.
It was at a part in my life
where financially I was able to start,
plus I was having more time.
I just looked for cars
that are kind of unique.
I've never bought a car
that's already done.
I like getting a car that's either stock
or needs to be restored.
And we like to put our own flavor into it.
As I was restoring cars,
my wife one day mentioned to me,
that she likes Bombs.
So I said, "Okay,"
so we looked and we found one.
It needed to be restored.
What we did is we updated the car,
put a 235 out of 58,
change the trans as well,
and then we open-drived it.
And then when it came to be painted,
we went to the paint shop
and I go, "Well, what
color do you want it?"
And she looked at her finger nails
and she goes, "This is the color I want.
"The color of my finger nails."
So it's a burgundy,
that's the color she liked.
So we painted that car
and she just loves it.
I think,
you know my wife,
she has the same passion as I do.
She loves cars.
The amount of cars that I have,
there's a few cars.
Everybody always asks me,
"How many cars you got?"
I just tell them a few,
but I would say,
I probably have over 15, 20 cars.
("Better Days" by Bensound)
I grew up in Pomona, California.
I come from a family of seven.
In my family, there's three older brothers
and three younger sisters.
My dad was a construction worker.
My mom was a homemaker.
My dad and my mom they
were really good people.
They provided.
My dad always tried
to keep us out of the neighborhood scene.
He always wanted to do right.
Watching my brothers as
they started working,
they had the paper routes,
they were out cutting grass,
helping the family,
and as a young boy I seen that,
and I always wanted to
contribute to my family as well.
So I remember, I think
about 11, 12 years old,
I got a lawn mower
and I started cutting lawns.
I remember coming home
and being able to give
the money to my mom.
Say, "Here you go, mom.
"This is to help out."
I just wanted to contribute.
My dad for the longest time,
used to be my role model.
He was a Marine.
So I think at 14 years old,
I remember taking my older
brother's birth certificate,
going down, and I signed up.
I went in and I remember
taking the physical
and the guy there was looking at me.
And he goes, "You know, you
have the jaw of a 14 year old."
And I just kind of played
off, "I don't know why.
"I'm 18."
But at that time, my mom was crying.
So my brother finally said, "All right."
He went ahead and went to the recruiter
and told them, "My brother,
he lied about his age."
So next thing you know, they found out,
and they sent me back home.
As soon as I turned 17,
I ended up joining the Marine Corps.
I served six years in the Marine Corps.
I wanted to make it a career,
but after having two children,
I just got promoted to Staff Sergeant,
but I was going back overseas again,
and my wife, she didn't like that idea.
She goes, "It's too hard
to be gone for 13 months."
So we made the decision to just get out.
In the service, I got trained
as a heavy equipment mechanic,
so when I got out, that's
what I started working.
I became a diesel mechanic.
When I got out of the service,
I started working for a
company called Detroit Diesel.
I started becoming a diesel mechanic.
And then our company also
worked on generators,
so I ended up transferring over
to the generator department.
And then as time going on,
I started just doing more and more.
And at the end of 1985, I decided that,
I told my wife, "I think it's time.
"I want to go into business."
And business wasn't taking off;
it was taking off kind of slow.
There really wasn't a lot of competition.
There was basically a
lot of larger companies.
So I was able to find a
niche to do a lot of work
where nobody really wanted to do it.
So I ended up praying about it,
and I believe that God gives us favor,
and at that time he did.
He opened the door
and our business just started growing.
We started off in my garage
for the first year,
and then from there I
moved into a building.
I said, after being in
business five years,
I said, "I would like
to buy my own building."
("Peace" by Jordyn Edmond)
I'm the CEO of AG Engineering.
Started in 1985.
The type of work we do is on generators
and our work consists of anything
from a tune-up, overhaul,
repairing the electrical system on it,
updating the generators,
whatever it takes to get a
generator up and running.
Our customers is Verizon,
we're now at Frontier,
Edison, the gas company,
water company,
a lot of high-rise buildings,
just about anywhere there's a generator.
That's the kind of work we do.
I have two sons that work for me.
One of them's an electrician;
the other one is a generator tech.
They kind of both cross-train
and they're good at what they do.
When the time came
that we had our building built,
I decided, I go,
"I'm going to make an
area just for my cars."
In this garage, I do a lot of my repairs.
One side, I try to keep
it all neat and organized;
and the other side,
that's where I have lift
and I do my work.
I'm constantly adding parts
that you need for cars,
special nuts, special bolts,
so I have a nice little inventory
of my own personal stuff
that I use on my cars.
After I restored a couple cars,
I remember looking at them one time
and I remember just asking the Lord,
I said, "Lord, if there's any
way I could use these cars
"to speak into young people's life."
Maybe a month later,
this girl comes up to me,
she's a chaplain at Camp Rock.
She goes, "Al, how would
you like to come in
"and talk to the boys."
And I asked her, I go,
"Well, that's fine."
I go, "Is there any way
I could bring in a car?"
So she checked and she found out.
She goes, "Yeah, you could."
So as I started thinking about this,
I would use these as an example.
I would give a story about a restoration.
One thing I would ask these kids,
I would tell them, "A car has cancer.
"Cancer's rust.
"It eats up the floor,
it tears it all up."
And I would ask them, "How
many of you got cancer?"
And none of the kids
would raise their hands.
And I would say, "No, I'm
talking cancer of the heart."
And that's where a black hates a Mexican,
Mexican hates a black,
white.
I go, "It's your heart, where it's at."
Then they would raise their hand.
So then I would tell them, I go,
"This is where God wants
to change your life.
"He wants to take that away from you."
And so I would kind of talk to them
and tell them that God looks at them
the same way we look at these cars.
You're a trophy winner.
So you know, just being
able to mentor to some kids,
to let them know that they
don't have to go down that road.
There's a much better road to go down to,
if they would just open their eyes
and focus on the right thing
and priorities in life.
I'd rather drive an old car any day
than a new car,
'cause an old car has so much class to it.
The fact that my wife is
able to sit next to me.
When we're in a car,
we kind of just slip back into that time,
and my wife makes me feel
like a teenager again.
She says I make her feel
like a teenager again,
'cause she sits next to me,
she'll put her arm next to me,
listening to the right music.
At our age, people look at us
and they just always give us a thumbs up.
They just think it's so neat
that we could have so much fun.
We live in the greatest country there is.
I'm always telling young kids,
"If you would just put
your priorities right,
"educate yourself,"
I go, "the world is yours.
"You could do whatever you want.
"You just got to believe in yourself.
"Open your eyes and
focus on the right thing
"and priorities in life."
My name is Albert Gutierrez.
I'm the CEO of AG Engineering,
and I'm a Low Rider Roll Model.
("Better Days" by Bensound)
The 2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 Is Actually AMAZING
Vehicle Virgins:
Next to me is the 2019 Corvette ZR1
The fastest Corvette ever made
And with a base price of $118,900, the most expensive Corvette ever made
So is the ZR1 worth the money and can it keep up with supercars of modern day
That's what i'm here to find out
Special thanks to StreetSpeed717 for loaning me this car, this is his personal baby
And I really appreciate it, I've got a link in the description below to his channel if you wanna check it out
Under the massive hood of the ZR1 is a 2.6 liter, supercharged V8
Dubbed the LT5
It's actually very similar in architecture to the ZO6's LT4
Only the blower is 52% larger
Let's go ahead and pop the hood, In fact the new 2.65 liter blower was so big
That they had to completely redesign the hood in order for this to fit
And in order to keep up with the amount of fuel required for the ZR1 at full load
Not only does this have direct injection, they had to supplement it with port injection as well
All combined it results in a massive 750HP and 715PFT (Pound Feet of Torque)
Oh yeah, and the top speed of 212 miles an hour
Around the back we have a newly designed quad tip exhaust
That makes this ZR1 the loudest Corvette ever made
And under full load when the exhaust is heated and up to tempature
It shoots massive blue flames
Now not the type of flames where you accelerate and let off the gas and then is shoots flames for a couple seconds
I'm talking about, when your flat out in the ZR1 it shoots a blue flame... the entire time your on the gas
Like this is some sort of rocket ship
Now you'll notice this wing is a little bit small for the ultimate track Corvette
That's because it's one of two downforce options that Chevy calls the "low wing"
The other one is the high wing and that produces 60% more downforce
Than the current ZO6 with the same levels of drag
It's also fully adjustable up to 5 degrees
If you look at the rear window
A ton of tiny Corvette logos
That forms this nice gradient
Did they have to do that on the rear window? Absolutely not, but it's pretty cool that they did
the front facia of the ZR1 now has 3 air intakes
instead of one
That helps feed air over the newly added radiators
In fact there are 4 additional radiators over the ZO6
For a total of 13 heat exchangers
That's actually 3 more than a Bugatti Chiron has
Cooling was huge issue on the ZO6
When it was first released and Chevy didn't want to make the same mistake again
Well the previous generation ZR1 featured a clear poly-carbonate window
In the hood so that you could see the supercharger
They didn't do that with the new ZR1 that's because
The power-train actually sits 3 inches higher
Than any other Corvettes
So as an engineering challenge, developing a hood
That both fits over the supercharger
and doesn't completely obstruct the view of the driver was quite difficult
They've done that...
Sort of,
Come around to the side of the ZR1 and you'll notice the massive wheel arches
These are actually half an inch wider than the Zo6 to help incorporate the
To help incorporate the wider 10.5 inch front wheel
285 section tires on the front
335's out back with Michelin Pilot SuperSports
Is that enough to tame 755HP, just to the rear wheels
We'll find out, the side profile of the ZR1 actually looks
Very similar to the ZO6
Minus this large carbon fiber vent here
doesn't have that ZO6 insignia looks a little bit cooler
The interior of the ZR1 feels very similar to that of a ZO6
It's familiar yet still upscale and classy
Weve got a plethora of carbon fiber
Alcantara, leather
and you can tell that Chevy took criticism into consideration with the C6 generation
As they radically improved the interior for the C7
And even upped the game a little bit more in the ZR1
There are 2 trim options for the interior of the ZR1
We have the 1ZR package and the 3ZR package
The 3ZR being the more expansive upscale version
It comes with heated and ventilated seats
custom lether interior a ten speaker BOSE sound system
It even had this camera in the front
That allows you to see exactly where the curb is
So that you don't smash the bumper of your ZR1
Into a curb, it also comes with PDR as standard
And a few other optinons as well
With the 3ZR package you also get 11 interior color choices
Instead of just one in the base package
and because this is a ZR1
You have tons of space in the back like all Corvettes
I love the fact that this is a full fledged supercar
Yet you can also carry around a lot of luggage
15 cubic feet of space
Lets compare that to the GT3 RS another car that's
Close to this one in its competition on the track
That only has 4.4 cubic feet of storage
Not even close
Alright well enough talking just stationary
Let's go ahead and put this in first gear and take it for a spin
[sounds of heavens gates opening]
[and closing]
This ZR1 is fitted with the optional
Competition seats they grip you in place a lot better
And they look a lot nicer than the normal GT seats
If I had to describe
The driving experience of the ZR1
with one word it would be brutal
whether its the sound or the acceleration
Everything about the ZR1 is intense and raw
Standard of the ZR1
Is magnetic ride suspension that scans the road
Every single milisecond and
can make corrections in as little as 15 miliseconds
to make sure the suspension is set up
optimally for for the conditions ahead
We have 3 different driving modes in the ZR1
That can be selected via this toggle in the center area here
We've got "Tour", "Sport", and "Track"
There used to be two additional modes, wet and eco
On the ZO6 but, we don't need wet and eco
On the ZR1 there's also four different
exhaust settings as well
There's "Tour "Sport" "Track" and
"Pussy" I mean stealth mode, please never use stealth mode
Not only are the driving modes customizable
Changing the throttle response and steering effort
Suspension layout
The actual dash Display is customizable as well
Your able to link them or make them independent
of what mode your in track mode has this lovely
horizontal display where the tachometer
Revs this way, the rest look like familiar circular tachometers
That's why I leave it in trac
There's a brilliant heads-up display that has 3 different settings as well
With varying amounts of information from what gear your in, RPM
As well as speed, I like the track setting
With all the performance data on that as well
If you equip your ZR1, which this one doesn't have
With the optional ZTK package
That gives you Pilot Sport Cup 2's
Instead of Pilot Super Sports for more grip
You also get a re-tuned magnetic ride suspension
With 30% higher spring rates in the front
And 13% higher spring rates in the rear
It also gives you a massive carbon fiber front splitter
And the higher carbon fiber rear wing
generating over 950 pounds of downforce
At it's new top speed of
202 miles an hour, know the difference of ten miles an hour because
Because of that extra drag caused by the downforce
The ZR1 has 2 transmission options
A 7 speed manual fitted in this car
And a 8 speed automatic having driven
A ton of automatic ZO6's
They have lackluster paddle responce
When you leave it in automatic mode, sure it upshifts and downshifts
Pretty quick but having a car
At that level of performance
When you clock the paddle there's a significant delay in downshifts
It's just disappointing and that's why I think
No matter what you should get your ZR1 with a manual
Sure it's 755 HP
With a manual it's definitely a handful
And you might be a little slower in the quarter mile
And around the track then the automatic equipped car
But there no denying
It's a heck of a lot more fun
And you might notice on the steering wheel itself there's actually paddles
Mounted behind it but what do the paddles do if i'm in a manual car
Well both of them actually activate automatic revmatching
I have that off right now and if i'm in third gear
and I downshift into second I have to actually revmatch myself
Otherwise the car lurches and the wheels spin so
Normal downshifts there, but if I click the revmatching button
I'll shift back up into third
Let's go to fourth watch this
You all of the sudden seem like the best manual transmission driver ever
Go into third perfect downshift, go into second, perfect downshift [exited giggles]
It's totally cheating but it is a little bit fun
Let's turn that back off though
I can throw my own gears
[A Car Lovers Music]
[Parker Laughing At The Merciless Sounds That Exit A ZR1]
This thing is scary
755 Horsepower
[Sweet Mother Off V8's that exhast note is beautiful] *Parker didn't say that, thats just the only way to explain the noise*
Oh wow it is a lot of power
HaHa
The steering feel in the ZR1 is fantastic
It's nice and heavy it feels precise and direct
Making the ZR1 feel nimble
And easy to dance around the track
It actually set the Virginia International Raceway Lap Record
Going around the track 1.4 seconds faster
Than the new Ford GT
That's a really big victory for Chevy especially considering
The Ford GT with options is closer to $500,000 which is
Esentialy four times more than
A ZR1, certainly not getting four times the performance
In fact, actually this car is faster in every measurable statistic
Now a lot of people have been referencing
The 7 minute and 12 second Nurburgring lap time
If in fact the ZR1 did actually set a 7:12 Nurburgring lap time
That would be pretty embarrasing, the new generation GT3 RS
With 245 less horsepower than the ZR1
Just did it in 6:56
That's actually not the case for the ZR1
Yes it did a 7:12, but that was recorded unofficialy
By bystanders on the side of the road
With there own measuring equipment, there's now way to know if there was traffic
on the other side of the track
Or if it was raining or snowing on the other side as well
And they where simply testing the ZR1
Setting benchmarks, they weren't actually going all out for the lap time
Considering the new Viper ACR
Was able to do it in the low 7 minutes
Actually 7:01:03, this things is surely
Capable of a sub 7 minute lap time, what about acceleration statistics?
Well as you'd imagine
With a car that weighs 3,500 pounds
And has 755 horsepower
They're pretty crazy
0-60 happens in a face ripping 2.85 seconds
And the quarter mile in 10.6
At 134 mph
That is serious speed, now how does that compare to it's more
expensive foreign rivals
Well a Ferrari 488 does 0-60 in 2.7 seconds, a little bit faster, and it does the quarter mile in
In an identical 10.6 at 135 mph
Second gear roll on the throttle, it's a little damp out
[The elegant sound of a 755hp LT5 all american beauty of a Chevy V8]
HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO
The fact that this is stock and you can just buy this
2019 Cheverolet Corvette ZR1 Goodness
Oh my god that's ac... that is actually terrifying
What's insane is, the ZR1 is now
Offered in convertible form
Thats right if you live in california and you want limitless headroom
and weather isn't a concern you can get it in a convertible
And the top can reatract at speeds up to 30 mph
Does it make sense to get a track performance monster as a convertible
Not necessarily, but some people might want that
Another new feature although its nothing new is the
Performance Data Recorder (PDR), this actually comes standard
With the 3ZR package
That gives you the ability to record lap times
Both with data, also with audio
and visual, there is a camera
mounted on the back of the rear view mirror, there's also a dedicated
Interior microphone for the PDR system as well
But my favorite part is valet mode
When you put the PDR system in valet mode it records
All around the front of the car
So you can see whats happening outside the car and it also records the audio inside
So if you let somebody else drive your car
Who knows Mike (StreetSpeed7171) might be recording me right now
And upload some weird video in case I do something crazy in his car
A corvette actually captured my Gallardo
While I wasn't driving crashing into a wall
and catching air, thankfully it was on film so I could
So I could figure out exactly what happened to my car
Just take this in
We have Mike aka StreetSpeed717 in the car now
So youve had this car for it looks like 2,295 miles, and before that you had a ZO6
Yeah I've had 2 ZO6's, and 2 Stingrays
And now a ZR1, so I've had the lineup, well except for a Grand Sport, I guess that's the one i'm missing
What do you think of it so far
Well this one it's an incredible machine, it's so, just crazy in your face aggresive
And loud, the sound it makes bone stock
It has such a aggressive crazy exhaust bone stock
Ya know probably, i'm gonna make it louder at some point
But it really doesn't need...
This is one of the few cars that doesn't need to be louder
And your not maiing an excuse like, "Oh, well it doesn't need to be louder cause I wanna daily drive it"
Or so on and so forth, it actually doesn't need to be any louder because it doesn't freaking need to be louder, it is so loud
But yeah, it's been a great 250,000 miles
It had it's first track day, ya know where this car is supposed to be driven
Did very well, felt very stable, was keeping up with Mclarens all day long
And I'm not a track driver
Ya know, I'm getting better
I'm in no way an expert at all
And I'm still keeping up with cars of that caliber that easily
So you where saying something very interesting and that was
This is the current highest horsepower manual car on sale
Yeah, I mean this is one thing that iv'e touched on multiple times in my videos
And I haven't heard anyone else say it, I haven't heard an interview, I havent heard GM like boast about it
But I feel like its the case, and if it's not the case, so be it
But, I feel like this is the most powerful production car you can buy with a manual transmission
And i'm not talking about like Koenigsegg or Pagani, who'll build you your own, Zonda
But, you know, actual production cars
And I feel like this is the most powerfull one
Yeah, cause the Demons only an auto
The Zl1 Obviously less power, I cant think ofanything either
The only thing potential thing that could have more power than this is the new GT500
I'd rather have this though, cause it can lap a track and go crazy fast in a straight line
We'll see about that, i'm exited to see that car
Well dude thanks again for letting me drive this car
It was raining earlier, so the fact that you trusted me out here
In a 755 HP RWD car
Appreciate that
Like always please browse the channel and subscribe, subscribe to Mike if you haven't already, link in the description below
I look foward to seeing you, in the next video
Chevrolet Bolt EV Traction Motor - Deep Dive
WeberAuto:
Hello, I'm professor John Kelly and this
is the Weber Auto YouTube channel.
In this episode we will be disassembling
the drive unit the electric motor and
gear reducer out of our 2017 Chevrolet
bolt on the hoist behind me here. now
this drive unit and electric motor
combination is is all one piece,
unlike the Nissan Leaf that has a drive
unit that unbolts from the electric
motor. This drive unit is rated at 150
kilowatts which is 201 horsepower, it is
also rated at 360 Newton meters of
torque which is roughly 266 foot-pounds
of torque.
Now let's let's talk about torque just a
little bit. That torque rating is what
the motor itself is capable of producing,
that is not the same as the torque that
ends up at the wheels of the vehicle, so
for example the Chevrolet Spark EV
produced by Chevrolet before the Bolt
here
actually had an electric motor that
produced 540 Newton meters of torque, the Bolt EV electric motor only produces
360 Newton meters of torque and so you
might be misled into thinking that the
Spark EV had more torque; well, the motor
did, but not the torque delivered to the
axles that drive the wheels. So the gear
reducer right here on the side of this
drive unit has an impact on that because
gear reduction is also torque
multiplication minus frictional losses, so
the Spark EV had a 540 Newton meter
electric motor but it only had a three
point one five to one gear reduction
unit which resulted in about 1700 Newton
meters of torque at the wheels, at the
axles. the Bolt EV electric motor
produces 360 Newton meters of torque a
whole 180 Newton meters less of torque
from the motor, but it has a seven point
zero five one eight to one gear
reduction through this gear reducer
which multiplies that 360 Newton meters
of torque by seven point zero five one
eight, which gives us over 2,500 Newton
meters of torque at the axles. So there
are other electric vehicles out there
that are being produced right now that
have higher torque higher motor torque
than the Bolt EV
but what would be interesting, I and
I don't know what their gear ratios are
yet, is to see what is the torque
actually to the axles what's the torque
to the ground because that's what you'll
feel when you step on that accelerator
pedal, that's the torque to the wheels
that makes the vehicle move. The design
of this drive unit this electric motor
it has a peak amperage draw of 400 amps
versus 450 as for the Spark EV so it
uses less current to provide more torque
so it's a more efficient better design
electric motor. The electric motor in
this drive unit spins clear up to 8810 rpm where the
Spark EV only spun up to about 4500 rpm,
and we'll take a look at some
differences in the electric motor design
and the stator winding design that
allowed it to spin at those higher rpms
without the AC losses that typically
occur at higher rpm. As mentioned in the
previous video on high voltage
components of the Chevrolet Bolt EV this
drive unit uses about 2.9 litres, around
3.1 quarts of Dexron HP fully synthetic
base transmission fluid automatic
transmission fluid. It also is cooled by
the General Motors Dexcool 50/50 mix
of coolant and deionized water. Okay
let's take a look at the outside of the
housing here of this drive unit. The
official name or designation of this
drive unit by General Motors is the
1ET25. The one means it's a one speed
trans axle, this doesn't shift, E means
it's electronically controlled, T means
it's a transaxle, and the 25 is a
relative torque rating. Alright, right
here on the front of the transmission is
the actual last eight digits of the
vehicle identification number and you
can see that MMF right there, that is
the three-digit regular production
option code the RPO code that you can
find on label in the back of the Bolt EV if
you take out the lower compartment
carpet and look in what looks like a
spare tire tub, there's a label on the
driver's side that has a whole bunch of
three digit codes on it
MMF just means that's which transaxle
or transmission this vehicle came with.
Okay right here on the top of the trans
axle is the transmission range selector
actuator and this is a brushless DC
motor with a gear reducer that actually
moves the shift lever to put us in to
Park reverse neutral Drive and low, now
technically inside of this drive unit it
there's really only park and not park,
but there is a position sensor in here
called an internal mode switch that will
monitor which position the transaxle
range selector is in so that the vehicle
can act appropriately. For example the
shifter itself on the center console is
not directly connected to the drive unit,
it's just an input to the computer that
controls this actuator, so when we go to
the reverse position for the neutral or
drive or low, there's a feedback on the
internal mode switch electrical
connector right here, that lets the
engine control module, even though this
doesn't have an engine, know which gear
range you have selected so that it can
request the trends axle act
appropriately. Also, right here by the
electrical connector for the internal
mode switch is the transmission fill
plug, so if you want to put fluid into
this transmission you need a 14
millimeter wrench or socket to take this
plug out and put the Dexron HP fluid
into the transmission. There are two
drain plugs on this transmission, one for
each side, so there's one down below on
each end of the transaxle the driver's
side and the passenger side, there's
there are two separate drain plugs to
get the fluid out of each side, now
there's only one fluid that goes
throughout this entire transaxle but
because of how its baffled and set up
inside to remove all the fluid you need
to remove both plugs.
Now speaking of fluid and fluid level
when you drain fluid at whatever the
recommended fluid change interval is or
if you're doing service work on the
transaxle here and you're adding fluid
you need to know when to stop adding
fluid, so on the other side of the
transaxle right here is the transaxle
fluid level check plug, so the drain
plugs right down here, the fluid level
check plugs here, the fill plug is on the
other side so you take the fill plug out
you take the fluid level check plug out,
and you add fluid until fluid comes out
over here, and then you let it sit and
stabilize for a minute add a little bit
more and make sure that fluid comes out
comes out to a slow drip, and then the
instructions tell us to put both plugs
back in and go drive the vehicle until
the transmission fluid temperature
reaches 35 degrees Celsius or 95 degrees
Fahrenheit and then double-check the
fluid level again to make sure that
comes out at a very slow drip. Alright,
while we are here on this side of the
transaxle we have an electric motor an
electric pump for the transmission fluid
so there's a big filter we'll see when
we take this thing apart down the bottom
center of this transaxle it will pull
fluid up from the filter and then put it
into what's called the oil sump so the
oil sump is basically just a great big
bathtub looking area up here that the
pump fills full of fluid and then there
are these little drain channels that
fluid drains down to cool the stator
windings and lubricate bearings and so
on and we'll see that once we get the
cover off so we have an electric 12 to 14
volt driven electric motor that pumps
fluid throughout this transaxle. From
what I read this pump only works when
you are in Reverse or Drive, it does not
pump when you're in park or neutral.
Alright, we have another electrical
connector right here, this connector is
for the resolver which measures the
angle of rotation the direction of
rotation and the speed of the electric
motor rotor itself, and then there's a
transmission fluid temperature sensor
that is in the bottom of this
transmission case cover here. All of
those are accessed electrically through
this electrical connector right here. As
you may have seen in my other video on
high-voltage components we have the air
conditioning compressor of the bolts up
here and then we have our coolant pipes
that go into what's called a coolant
sump in the bottom of this transaxle and
we'll see that here in a few minutes but
we have coolant going in coolant coming
back out and goes through a series of
cooling fins and cooling circuits to
absorb heat from the transmission fluid
right here on the back we have the
electrical connection for the
three-phase cables that come from the
the
single power inverter module that sits
two modules above here. Three-phase
orange cables come down to drive the
electric motor, there's a cover
the cables bolt on and then there's a
cover they'll holds the cable in place.
We have a transmission vent right here,
let's just take that vent off while we
vent tube off while we're here now you
can see the oil sump area again on the
top and the cooling sump coolant sump
area here in the bottom all right there
is one additional plug on the side of
the case with the electric motor and
there's nothing in the service
information to indicate this but I
believe this is a pressure test plug to
check the pump output pressure, but I
can't find any information on what that
fluid pressure should be. Okay, I'm going
to be disassembling this transaxle right
here on the workbench but there actually
is a special fixture to hold this
transaxle and allow you to rotate it and
disassemble different pieces of it and
still be able to rotate it for
convenience. I have this special adapter
as you can see here in this photograph
but the way it's mounted it's too high
and too difficult for me to disassemble
in that holding fixture being in a
wheelchair, so the workbench is where I'm
going to disassemble it, but I wanted you
to know there is a special fixture for
that and I tried it it just doesn't work
for me.
by the way this transaxle weighs about a
hundred and seventy pounds or 77.4
kilograms. Okay, well we're ready to
start disassembly, the first step is to
remove this oil pump the 12-volt power
oil pump, it has three bolts right here
and a few seals underneath it as you can
see here there are two seals that seal
the pump to the transmission case right
here there are two bolts that hold the
cover over the pump gears themselves
there are no instructions on
disassembling this so I assume we're not
supposed to disassemble it but that's
exactly what I like to do
take things apart I'm not supposed to as
long as I can get them back together and
make it work again here we go we've got
a Jew rotor style oil pump there's an
o-ring right here that needs to fit in
this groove to seal and then the cover
just bolts on okay the next thing on the
list is to remove the left-hand and
right-hand output shafts that go into
our differential side gears in the gear
reducer this is the left-hand side right
hand side over there it calls for a
slide hammer and a old pilot bearing
removal tool for a manual transmission
so this is the pilot bearing removal
tool right here and a slide hammer and
we are supposed to put this up inside
and put it into the snap ring groove for
the CV shaft and then pop it out well
come to find out the snap ring groove is
thinner than the tip of this tool that's
supposed to go into it and I didn't
realize that's what the problem was and
I had a hard time getting these output
shafts removed I finally got him out but
once I got a mound got looking at the
tool versus what they were supposed to
be grabbing I realized I need to grind
these down make him a little thinner so
that they'll actually fit into the
grooves of the her for these CV shaft
snap rings that are there so since I've
had this entire transaxle apart before
and I'll put it all back together
I've removed those snap rings they'll
hold these output shafts in place so I
can just pull them out by hand right now
this big long left hand output shaft
goes right through the center of the
rotor of the electric motor itself it's
it's hollow in the middle
and it has a big heavy-duty bushing
right here on the outside with the axle
seal and this is our left-hand output
shaft and then the CV shaft itself plugs
into here that goes to the left front
hub and bearing assembly and tire and
we'll assembly so there's our left-hand
axle shaft there's a snap ring that fits
in that groove right there typically and
I've just removed and I've just removed
that snap ring for ease for this
demonstration here obviously I'll need
to put that back in when I reassemble
so that's the left-hand axle shaft on
the other side we use the slide hammer
again and pull out the right hand axle
shaft as you can see this one is much
shorter than the other one and it has
the support bearing in the differential
case itself that holds it in place and
its own snap ring that I've already
removed and of course an axle sill here
on the other side as well okay the next
thing on the list is to remove this
transaxle case to remove the case I've
got to take the linkage off and our
actuator off and then we've got these
bolts to go all the way around and then
we'll be able to see the gear reduction
transfer gear and the final drive ring
gear and differential gear set so I'll
take the clip out and lift up for a
linkage on the shift actuator and then
take the bolts out
okay here's the shift actuator assembly
itself transmission range selector
actuator kind of a great big piece I
I've seen some of these that are smaller
right I'm not sure why this one is so
giant I'm not I've never seen one this
big but it obviously does the job of
mechanically shifting the transmission
range lever since you have an electronic
shifter on your center console alright
let's take these bolts out of the trans
transmission case okay I've got all the
bolts out of the transmission case now
we can attempt to slide it off it has a
couple of dowel pins they'll hold it in
place there's a couple of pry points
plus one right back here and another one
right here there we go
I'm going to come in with a plastic
mallet here and just tap lightly there
we go okay we can see inside of the
transmission case itself and the only
things in here of real interest are the
transmission internal mode switch right
here we got the electrical connector
right here harness right there that
connects to this outer blue connection
connector that will read which Range
Park reverse neutral low you have
selected with your transmission shift
lever and then we have the parking
linkage right here we've got Park
reverse neutral Drive
and low now of course normally
transmission fluid would would be
pouring out of here of whatever didn't
get drained out when you drained it
previously but I've had this apart and
cleaned everything up before we have our
ring gear right here and our
differential gear set and as notice we
have real nice ball bearings here these
bearings since their ball bearings
instead of tapered roller bearings have
to have in place shims so there's a
special shimming procedure to control
the end play of these bearings that will
have to go through when we reassemble it
so you're supposed to take these shims
off and throw them away well and then
replace them with new new ones when you
go back together I suggest that you take
them off and measure them and then hang
on to them because you might you might
need them again when I took these off
previously and measured them they were
almost all identical in the thickness so
there are six of these shims for the six
ball bearings that are in this transaxle
four of these shims measured exactly
half a millimeter in in with the other
two one of a measure one millimeter in
width and the other one measured 0.9
millimeters so you need to keep track of
what thickness shim you had where and
write those down so that you you'll have
an idea of at least what it was before
you took it apart now if you're just
going back together and you haven't
changed any shims or any parts inside
just reuse the old shims but if you're
changing a bearing or any of these
internal pieces you need to go through
the special measurement procedure that
we'll see when we go back together to
determine if these shims are correct
okay so there's there's special shims on
each of these
bearings I've measured all of them RIT
written their dimensions on the ziploc
bag here that I keep them in and will
refer to those when we go back together
all right now we just need to remove the
counter gear right here and the final
drive a ring gear and differential gear
set this is where our short little
output shaft plugged in right here and
then our long one came all the way
through on the other side okay before we
remove these gears there is a an
aluminum gasket with a rubber seal
embedded into it the instructions tell
us that is not reusable
there is also an oil baffle right down
here to channel transmission fluid away
from the ring gear to reduce losses as
it rotates into it and to splash oil up
into different channels to lubricate the
the bearings if we look in this case
half right here you can almost see what
looks like a funnel right there for the
fluid to drain back down and lubricate
this outer bearing and a similar one
here on this other other side for that
bearing so we've got a oil baffle to
remove all right I've got the oil baffle
removed on the other side of that is our
magnet for metallic particles from gear
normal gear wear and other malfunctions
okay now we're ready ready to remove
these gears pull out on the counter gear
and then pull out on the final drive and
it'll come right out if you don't pull
out on that counter gear first there's
not enough clearance for the final drive
Unit two clear so here's our final drive
you can see our open differential gear
set inside there here's our sim on the
other side as well
all right the instructions tell us that
we can if we won't want to remove the
park linkage in the internal notes which
I don't really care about that that's
just regular stuff that you'd see in any
other automatic transmission so let's
continue on with things that are unique
to the bolt
evie drive unit here the one ET 25
transaxle so let's turn the transmission
case around and we'll take off the
transmission case cover here on the
driver's side
now the SAE document the details the the
bolt evey drive unit here that I told
you about in the high voltage component
video tells us that the drive unit
itself was designed to be serviceable in
the vehicle that's why they have a case
removable case cover on one side and a
case cover on the other side for the
gear reduction unit you can leave this
Center portion with the electric motor
in it in the vehicle and just remove one
or both case covers to do service work
on components inside the case covers
seal replacements resolver replacements
internal modes with replacement and so
on but anyway we're going to take off
this case
cover next from the driver's side all
right this case cover is going to be a
little harder to get off than the other
one because the rotor that has internal
magnets embedded inside of it has now
magnetically pulled itself over to the
stator because we are no longer
centering it inside of the stator itself
and so it puts a it pulls it off to the
side just a little bit so there's a
prying
right here
and there's a pride point right down
here another prior point right here
there we go okay so here's our case
cover and it has an aluminum gasket
that's not reusable as well our case
cover has this long transmission filter
that's not serviceable without
disassembling things as you can see has
a temperature sensor down inside of it
right there and then this is our
resolver our serviceable resolver that
measures the position speed and
direction of rotation of the electric
motor rotor inside the transaxle here
let's turn this around oh by the way
down inside of the bearing housing there
is a shim for the ball bearing right
here on the rotor itself so we're
looking at the stator and the hairpin
six conductor deep stator design a
unique design we'll talk about that a
little bit more once we get the stator
out we have a lubrication channel right
here where fluid is going to drip out of
our oil sump and run along and drop down
on to the stator windings themselves and
cool the the stator windings it also has
a drip channel that comes over and goes
down to this bearing here to lubricate
it
so we've just got an 8 millimeter head
bolt holding the filter in place and as
you can see the filter just has an
o-ring seal on the one side and you can
see the pick up filter screen filter
element on the inside so this is going
to reach all the way in up underneath
the the stator itself to pick up the
fluid on the back side of it and on the
back side of it is the inlet of the
coolant so that would be the cooler oil
on the back side there all right then on
the resolver it just has eight three
eight millimeter head bolts to hold it
in place and one electrical connector
this resolver only bolts in in one
location it's not adjustable it has
automatic learn unlike the older Toyota
Prius resolvers that that would actually
come out of alignment
if you unbolted them and there was no
way for you to line them back up okay so
here is our resolver pull back on the
connector position assurance clip
depress the tab and remove the resolver
itself the resolver is a serviceable
unit when and if it ever goes bad but it
should should never go bad all right
then the remaining wire harness and the
pass-through connector here just goes
over to our temperature sensor okay next
on the list we need to remove what is
called the center support this is what's
supported the driver's side ball bearing
of our differential case assembly
okay this is our center support it's
held in place with six bolts and aligned
with two dowel pins right there now with
that removed there's nothing to stop our
transfer gear from sliding out it's just
a tight fit on the bearing in the bore
as it should be just pray lightly
sometimes these will just slide right
out and right in and other times they'll
they'll fight you here we go okay so
here's our transfer gear it's ball
bearing and shim so put that shit over
here with the others okay right here in
the end of the case we still have a
lubrication channel right here from the
oil trough the oil sump I mean right
there and then we have a cover for the
three-phase electrical connector right
here as well then on the other side we
have that oil distribution channel right
here that cools the stator so we've got
to remove that we are now to the point
where we are ready to pull this rotor
out but we just can't grab on to it and
pull it out it has some super strong
neodymium magnets multiple layers envy
configuration inside of this stator
you're not going to pull it out by hand
and you sure don't want to come in here
and start prying on it so the only way
to get that rotor out of there if you
want to remove it for service replace a
bit bearing on it or the gear on the
other side or another bearing or just
replace the rotor itself for whatever
reason loss of magnetism and trouble
code sets or whatever
it takes a special tool to pull it out
without having it rub on the stator
frame itself and without having it
injure you with you trying to pull it
out and it's pulling back in with all
its magnetic strength so true get that
out there's a special guide tool that
will hold it centered in the stator and
we need to set that up next and it
starts on the other side here so there's
a special tool kit that costs almost a
thousand dollars to Center this rotor as
you pull it out I found one on eBay for
a little bit less than that but but it's
a very expensive tool but if you want to
do service work on this transaxle you've
got to have it so let's bring in the
special tools okay so I brought in the
special tools to keep the rotor centered
there's a special spacer with a notch in
it to clear that notch right there this
is just gonna fit in there just like
that then there's a plate that bolts on
over the top of this to hold it in place
these don't need to be super tight
they're just holding that little spacer
in place so I'll just lightly Snug those
up then there's a sleeve here that's
supposed to fit down the center of that
rotor but these sleeves are a little bit
too big I've had to take sandpaper and
send them down to make them fit inside
of this rotor and I don't know if that's
because the tools were made for a first
design rotor and then they changed it or
if they just made the tools incorrectly
but these tools are from what used to be
can't more tools the special tools
supplier for General Motors it's now
Bosch service solutions so Bosch you may
want to take a look at this this tool
here the DT five two zero one one
- one - three because it doesn't fit
it's not doesn't Center up inside the
the rotor as well as it should
i've had to sand it down just a little
bit and then i'm able to tap it in a
little bit there but I think that it's
supposed to be if it's supposed to be a
tight fit but it should be able to slide
in by hand I believe then we have a
guide pin that's going to go through the
center of that then we have this outer
housing the bolts in place to hold the
guide pin in place so the blue sleeve
this one here because there's one for
the other side also centers the rotor
into this plate and then this sleeve is
centered into this plate so we've now
centered the rotor on this side of the
stator so now we need to go to the other
side to put additional tools in to get
it centered and then pull it up and out
okay at this point if I had the
transaxle mounted in that special
rotating holding fixture I would just
simply rotate it on its side and get the
get the rest of the tools hooked up but
I don't I'm not able to use that so I'm
just going to put some extra long bolts
in this side of the case to hold the
case up off of this tool when I tip it
over to support it as we pull the rotor
out
okay so here we go we're going to tip
the tip the whole thing up on its hand
just like that so now we've got
clearance for the tool underneath and we
can get the upper tools set up to pull
the rotor up and out all right while
we've got the transaxle tipped on its
side let's take this oil sump cover off
and show you what's inside of there so
it's just a big empty trough and you can
see has one two three four five six
holes in it where fluid is going to go
out and drip down on other parts inside
of the transaxle for stator cooling and
for the ball bearing lubrication the
cover itself has that same aluminum
gasket that's not reusable also while we
have this transaxle on its end let's
turn it over and take the coolant sump
off next okay here's our coolant sump
you can see this pipe right here is
where the coolant comes in and it has to
wind back and forth back and forth and
then come back out over here the coolant
sump which is visible from the bottom of
the car with the under car cover removed
also has that same aluminum gasket
that's not not reusable why are they not
reusable I don't know maybe the aluminum
crushes these I'm going to see if I can
buy replacement gaskets at the local
Chevrolet dealer it seems like I saw a
service bulletin saying that all these
parts are serviceable now and it gave
the part numbers for them but if not
none of these are damaged it only has 35
miles on it and I'll reuse them and see
what happens
okay so coolant sump oil sump so now we
are ready to pull out the rotor assembly
so to pull out the rotor assembly we
have a guide pin it's going to come in
and screw into that dowel they had a
threaded end on it all right so this
threaded guide pin did not line up
exactly perfect with the guide pin down
below I can't tell if we're just
spinning the whole thing there we go
all right it's screwed all the way into
that alignment dowel from below now we
have this tool that has three holes that
go over the holes where the stator bolts
are so we need to remove the stator
bolts next these stator bolts are not
reusable three stator bolts so we put
this tool over the top of that we want
to be very careful that we don't damage
pry lean or set anything on the stator
windings here that could cause damage to
them so we'll get that lined up just
like that now I'm going to reposition
the camera so you can see
how tall this next tool is that fits on
here all right we have two clamshell
type tools that are going to come in and
clamp down over the resolver cam rotor
there and this bearing they're gonna go
just like that except I need to split
them apart so I can get the next tool in
it says this big tall piece right here
that's going to go over and down into
our stator bolt holes so we've got this
threaded shaft we've got this adapter
right here that these little clamshell
tools are going to hook into and then
the threaded shaft with a nut on the top
of it we're going to tighten that nut
and pull the rotor up out okay so the
tricky part of giving this hooked up is
getting both of these
clamshell tools over this lip right here
so I have to loosen the nut on the top
and let it come down let me turn this
you can see what's going on
there we go okay so we slide that open
clamp the clamshells around it put this
sleeve over the top of it to lock the
clamshell in place snug up this nut to
hold the lock in place and then from the
top here we start to pull up on the
rotor itself I'm going to get
repositioned bring my chair up a little
higher here so I can reach that nut it
takes quite a bit of turning to pull
that out okay here we go thirty
millimeter wrench we want to turn the
nut and prevent the shaft from turning
so I'm just going to hang on down here
as it comes up those guide pins the
guide dowels keep it from rubbing on the
stator frame although although there's
almost a strange ratcheting sound as I'm
pulling this out that makes me think
it's barely contacting the the stator
laminations or the rotor laminations
anyway we'll pull it out and take a look
see if we can see any witness marks you
can see the top of the rotor now is
starting to appear
I think we're finally clearing the top
of the yes we are it all of a sudden got
real easy to turn the nut so we no
longer have the magnet pulling out or
resisting us pulling out okay you can
see the entire length of the rotor here
get another bearing down below it and a
gear below that now we're supposed to
just lift up on this and and pull it out
I'm not sure if I'm strong enough I may
have to bring in the the engine hoist to
pull it out of here but it's just
sitting on these three non-magnetic
aluminum poles here and we've got the
weight of the the rotor assembly itself
I measured it earlier but I can't
remember what it is at this moment but
let's see if we can lift this up and out
though I cannot so let me get the engine
hoist we have to lift it up high enough
to clear that alignment dowel so I've
got to lift it up probably four more
inches 100 millimeters or so okay I've
never tried this before it's just a lift
strap let's bring it up
okay the lifting or the tool was getting
stuck in one of the holes for the the
stator bolts there we go
okay here we go
and we've cleared the alignment dowel so
slide the case out of the way here and
we'll let that back down
oh let's see how much that weighs it
says it weighs 60 pounds with the tool
the tools probably 10 pounds of that
okay we have to remember that this rotor
is highly magnetic very strong eight
pole magnetic field around this thing
and so we need to keep it away from
anything any metal particles or any
tools or anything else that could cost
cause it to receive damage on its
laminations here in looking at the the
laminations from removing it I don't see
any obvious damage at all there let's
let this down and take the the tool off
and just look at the rotor itself
little clamshell pieces out of there
these tools are magnet earth iron some
some sorts so we got to keep those away
from the magnetic field as you can see
these blue bars are aluminum they're not
sticking to the the rotor itself and
then plastic of course works great with
the magnetic fields so now we've just
got our rotor we've got our drive gear
down here I've got a ball bearing and
another ball bearing there's another
shim down inside the case a bigger
diameter shim for this bigger diameter
bearing all right I'm going to get some
wooden blocks to put this in all right
here's the rotor for the bolt
evie as you can see this bearing seems
to have some sort of a gray coating on
the outer race where this one does not
and on the counter gear bearings they
also have this gray coating it doesn't
say anything about what that gray
coating is for I suspect it's to prevent
corrosion from the dissimilar metals
with possible induced currents going
through them with the the motor running
vehicle going down the road I've seen
this type of coating on universal joints
in universal joint caps universal joint
caps bearing caps in an aluminum
driveshaft the same color I don't know
if it's the same material but if any of
you know what this coating is for if
you'd please put that in the comments
below I'd appreciate that
I'm just speculating okay so we've got
the rotor out of the way this is a
serviceable piece now the last piece to
remove is the stator assembly itself and
it has three special guide pins that go
into the stator bolt holes and screw
into the transaxle case and then they're
tapered on the top here and that's to
allow you to slide the stator out
without it binding inside so I'll slide
that over there rotate it down and just
pull out slightly
here it comes just like that so here's
the stator for the Chevrolet bolt Eevee
if we zoom in close and look at the
stator windings you can actually see
there are 1 2 3 rows of these hairpin
conductors which means they are 6
conductors deep in this stator and from
what I read in the SAE document on this
new improved motor that helps reduce the
AC power losses at the higher motor rpm
a typical stator like in the previous
Chevrolet Volt had 2 rows instead of 3
so they were four conductors deep in the
Chevrolet Volts and six conductors deep
here and one of the people that was on
the original design team for the
Chevrolet Volt told me that when they
designed this electric motor and it's
designed for maximum efficiency and hand
power that there was no other motor out
there that could even match the
efficiency of this motor and they said
that they designed this motor to be the
next small-block Chevrolet so to say of
power trains so the small-block
Chevrolet was and still is a very
popular very powerful v8 engine and has
been for many many years and their
intent was to have this motor design
maybe even this drive unit be in
multiple platforms with the same high
power high efficiency motor system if we
look at the other side here of the
stator windings you can see the the
other end of the hairpin conductors and
then there's a drip channel right here
for oil to come out of that oil sump and
to drip down and go down and lubricate
the stator windings because these get
really hot this is the heat source
inside of the transmission and it and
although it gets hot it doesn't get as
hot as the fluid
although the fluid gets hot it doesn't
get hot as a normal planetary gearset
style automatic transmission and the
cooling system surge tank reservoir cap
was only pressurized to 5 psi for this
loop of the cooling system so much lower
amounts of heat compared to an internal
combustion engine with a torque
converter heat generating planetary
gearset style of automatic transmission
now just a couple of things to get
wrapped up with this disassembly video
because we will reassemble it showing
the special measurements for the shims
and everything when we go back together
but one thing I wanted to show you about
these electric vehicles is how simple
they are and when I mean when I say
simple I don't mean simple design
meaning it was easy to design these
simplicity is not necessarily easy but
if we look at the number of rotating
parts in this entire drive unit
there are basically three main rotating
parts we've got the rotor assembly that
then turns the counter gear right here
that then turns the final drive three
pieces no clutch packs no bands and no
sprags no roller clutches no Pistons
none of those hundreds of parts that you
would see in a typical automatic
transmission let alone the internal
combustion engine that this is replacing
of course there are three main moving
parts these pieces here but each one has
two bearings on it so there's six more
pieces so there's nine total and then
inside of the differential here we have
two side gears and two differential
pinion gears so that makes for a total
of 13 possible moving parts inside the
of this drive unit and only when you're
turning corners would the side gears in
the differentials
be rotating at a different speed than
the differential case so a real basic
very reliable system these electric
vehicles and and this one is is very
efficient and that the design is very
compact to where this left-hand output
shaft remember goes right through the
center of the rotor instead of being
offset like on the the Nissan Leaf and
other electric vehicles out there so
congratulations to Chevrolet and the
design team that came up with this
amazing and efficient and simplistic
evie drive unit and I think it's
absolutely beautiful so coming up I hope
to shoot a reassembly video with all the
measurements for this drive unit and
then we've got all of these parts out
the drive unit all of the electronics
and our and our Chevy bolt back here on
the hoist is totally empty yeah under
the under the hood so we've got to put
that all back together and and make it
work again even the battery is out the
whole thing is stripped as far as the
powertrain is concerned and we're gonna
put that back together and and make it
work and hopefully get it converted to a
DC fast charge thank you for watching
Chevrolet Aerovette
Przemek Michalak:
The Chevrolet Aerovette was a concept car created by Chevrolet, beginning life as Experimental Project 882 (XP-882) in the late 1960s.
It had a mid-engine configuration using a transverse mounting of its V8 engine.
Zora Arkus-Duntov's engineers originally built two XP-882 prototypes during 1969, but John DeLorean, Chevrolet's general manager, canceled the program believing it to be impractical and costly.
However, when Ford announced plans to sell the DeTomaso Pantera through Lincoln-Mercury dealers, DeLorean ordered that one XP-882 prototype be cleaned up for display at the 1970 New York Auto Show.
In 1972, DeLorean authorized further work on the XP-882 chassis and gave it a new project code, XP-895.
A near-identical body in aluminum alloy that resembled the XP-895 was constructed, and became the "Reynolds Aluminum Car."
Two of the Chevrolet Vega 2-rotor engines were joined together as a 4-rotor, 420 horsepower (310 kW) engine, which was used to power XP-895.
The XP-895 was first shown in late 1973.
Another Corvette concept, XP-897GT, also appeared in 1973, which used a 2-rotor engine.
However, with the energy crisis of the time, GM scrapped its rotary development work and all plans for a Wankel-powered car.
The XP-897GT 2-rotor Concept was sold to Tom Falconer and fitted with a Mazda 13B rotary engine in 1997.
In 1976, the 4-rotor engine was replaced by a 400 cu in (6,600 cc) Chevrolet V8, and the concept car was named Aerovette and approved for production for 1980.
The Aerovette featured double folding gullwing doors.
The production car would use a 350 cu in (5,700 cc) V8, and be priced between $15000-$18000.
However, after chief supporters Duntov, Bill Mitchell, and Ed Cole had retired from GM,
David R. McLellan decided that a front/mid-engine car would be more economical to build and would have better performance, and canceled the Aerovette program entirely.
Contemporary imported rear mid-engine cars had poor sales in the United States compared to the front-engined Datsun 240Z,
which ultimately determined the Aerovette's fate, further contributing to termination of production plans.
Best Gas Mileage Cars Chevrolet Cruze Road Trip
Will Tinney:
Alright, where are we going guys?
St. Ignace!
How much gas do we have?
One tank!
Whoa, St. Ignace on one gas tank!
Whoa, St. Ignace on one tank of gas!
160 miles to St. Ignace.
We are actually averaging 34.6 miles per gallon mpg right now.
We are taking a quick road trip break. We only have got an hour and a half or two hours to go. And we have over three quarters of a tank of gas.
Whoa!
Hey guys, are we almost there?
Well according to my phone we have two hours left.
We're in Mancilona at Mc Donalds… In our Chevy Cruze
We are just approaching three fourths of a tank… And we made it to Petoskey.
Petoskey welcomes you!
We are now exiting Petoskey and we are just, just under three fourths of a tank of gas. So, we are doing excellent with the gas mileage. It says we still have 381 miles left in the gas tank, which is great, I think we'll actually make it back to Grand Rapids, MI safely and not have to worry about gas.
Hey! We made it to St. Ignace and we are on Mackinac Island!
No, Mackinac Island is over there!
No, It's somewhere.
Guys… Over there.
Oh, Mackinac Island is over there! Whoa!
We are in St. Ignace now. We have averaged 37.7 MPG miles per gallon. We still have well over a half a tank of gas. We have 361 more miles we can go, yet we have already traveled 290.8 miles so far.
So we are currently heading back home to Grand Rapids, MI.
It was a lot of fun but I hope we don't run out of gas because I don't want to push the car.
Let me tell you we don't have anything to worry about we still have over a half a tank of gas, high five!
Yeah, my Jeep would never make this trip.
We are about to reach our final destination, Tinney Chevrolet. We still have an eighth of a tank of gas left and we have driven over 520 miles on one tank.
Yea! We are back at Tinney! Whoa! We made it on one tank of gas!
No pushing for me today.
2018 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Model Review | Edmunds
Edmunds:
[MUSIC PLAYING]
CARLOS LAGO: That's the
new Chevy Camaro ZL1,
and in this video we're going to
give you an overview about what
makes it special.
And the quick version is, it's
more than the 650 horsepower
underneath that hood.
You might be surprised to
hear that the coolest parts
about the Camaro
ZL1 are actually
the stuff you can't see.
The exterior doesn't look
dramatically different
than the standard
Camaro SS or RS models.
You can tell the
ZL1 is different
because it has big exhaust pipes
and a ZL1 badge at the back.
But over on the side, as
we get to the profile,
it retains the shape that we
know to love the Camaros by.
The wheels are bigger, they're
20 inches front and rear,
but they're a staggered
fitment, so the front tires
are a little bit
smaller than the rear.
And that gives it a
nice purposeful look.
But it's the stuff
underneath here
that really makes the car
drive as good as it does.
You have magnetic
fluid-filled dampers
that react super quick, more
so than your traditional motor
controlled dampers when you're
making adjustments on the fly.
You have an electronically
controlled limited slip
differential that continually
biases power left or right,
controls it with a
granularity you can't achieve
with a simple mechanical unit.
Up at the front you
see the big differences
that come with the ZL1.
Up on the hood here, of course,
is the badging and the carbon
fiber dome of the hood.
And there's actually
a heat extractor right
through the bottom there.
You can fit your
hand in, we'll show
you the vents in just a second.
But when we were
talking about making
650 horsepower, what we
really had to pay attention to
is cooling.
This is the same engine that's
in the Chevy Corvette Z06.
And in here, you can
tell the front fascia
is dramatically different,
and it's much larger.
And there's all these
gigantic air openings.
And that's because
this needs a lot of air
to go through it
to keep it cool.
You have heat
exchangers here, here,
here, here, there's
inner coolers
underneath the supercharger,
there's another heat exchanger
lying flat.
And all of this is designed
to get as much airflow
through the front of
the vehicle as possible.
I mean even the Chevy Badge,
you can stick your finger right
through it.
These gaping holes
right here, I mean,
you can imagine what happens if
a small animal flies in there.
It's all made in the name of
getting air through this engine
to keep it cool
under heavy use when
you're making all that power.
Now, let's take a
look at that engine.
Feast your eyes on the glory
of a supercharged 6.2 liter
V8 that makes 650 horsepower,
and 650 pound feet of torque.
This is, frankly, a
hell of an engine.
It doesn't rev that
high, 6,500 RPM.
Actually that's pretty
decent for a pushrod V8,
but really the story is
the breadth of that power.
But also consider it's
a fairly compact engine.
And it can be compact because
that supercharger, this guy
right here, isn't as big as the
last generation supercharged V8
that the previous ZL1 used and
the previous Corvette used.
Now and also the nature
of a pushrod motor
is, because it doesn't
have two overhead cams,
there's not a lot of valvetrain
up here, so it can be short.
And that can help
with visibility.
But as you'll see when
we hop inside this car,
the visibility isn't
really quite there.
And we showed you
the heat extractors
that come through here.
They're functional, you can
stick your hand right up
in there.
And the goal of that is to
promote air flow out of here
to keep pulling air through
the front end of the vehicle
to cool it down.
Let's take a look inside.
Well the first
thing you gotta do
when you slip into the interior
of a Camaro ZL1 is fire it up.
So that's how you
set things off right.
Now, couple of things
you have to accept
with the interior
of the Chevy Camaro,
especially this generation.
There is no interior storage.
You have a couple of pockets
on the left and right.
There's some space
in the armrest.
But there's basically
nothing for anything
bigger than a phone.
Even my phone has difficulty
fitting in the center armrest.
Also, rear visibility
comes up short.
It's like looking out
of a cardboard box.
But at least if you
don't want to sit low
you can raise the height up.
And that certainly helps your
view over the hood and just
at a point, there you go.
If you're concerned about
looking forward over the hood,
you can always do that.
OK now we're back
to normal height.
ZL1 specific changes
are few, but are nice.
These seats are Recaros,
they're nice buckets
with good amounts
of lateral support
but they don't
feel uncomfortable.
The material they're
wrapped with,
and especially the stuff
on the steering wheel too,
is this microfiber
suede-like substance.
It's also on the dash.
It looks and feels nice.
This is, of course,
the 10 speed automatic.
And we'll talk about how that
works once we take it out
for a drive.
For now though, it
just looks and works
like a normal
automatic transmission.
Behind it, these
controls here are
what get us into sort of the
electronic sophistication
you'll find in the ZL1.
You have four
different drive modes,
there's tube or track, sport,
and snow and ice modes.
Now those adjust a
variety of settings,
but within those settings
are further adjustments.
For example, when you go
into track like we are now,
you can double tap the
stability control button
and access the performance
traction management function.
Now this is a multi-configurable
stability control setting
that has one, two, three,
four, five different levels
of adjustment.
And you can also turn
everything completely off.
We'll talk about launch
control, too, and a line lock.
This has both those tools which
are great for drag racers.
And it speaks to the
legacy level of intent
that Chevy knows
Camaro owners are
going to use these cars for.
The ZL1 doesn't do any
one thing particularly.
It's not focused on
just doing one job,
it's focused on being
able to do everything.
It wants to ride
comfortably on your commute.
It wants to be able to tackle
a mountain road or a racetrack.
And it wants to
be able to get you
through a night
at the dragstrip.
And all that stuff
comes together nicely
in this package.
Now this display, as we get back
into more traditional Camaro
grievances, this
display looks funky.
It looks like it's tilted in.
Although when you start
using it, you realize
it's super intuitive.
It also supports Apple
CarPlay and Android Auto,
and that's really nice.
In front of you, you
have two analog gauges
and in the center is
a digital display.
That's multi-configurable
and shows
you a lot of really
nice information.
And above that is
a head up display.
As we dive into the
dash, we'll explain
how some of the drag racing
focused technology works.
I'll put the car in
its track setting,
and then I'll turn the
advance stability control
system to sport, for example.
And what you can
do here is you can
define the amount of traction
the surface that you're
driving on has.
So if you're in sport
one or sport two,
it assumes you're
on a street surface.
But if you go up
to race, it assumes
you're on a drag strip that
has a prepared surface, that
has the traction of
a prepared surface.
So it'll actually account
for all that stuff.
When you go into
the launch control,
you can set custom parameters.
There's an automatic
function, but you can also
set manually your target
RPM, your slip target--
and that slip target is
how much the rear tires
rotate versus how fast you go.
Tires like to spin a little bit
faster than you would think.
They like to have a
little bit of slip
to get the best
launch out of them.
And you can actually define
the percentage of slip
that you want the
rear tires to have.
Which is nuts.
And then beneath that
you have a line lock.
And now what a line lock does,
is it holds the front brakes
but allows the rear tires
to spin freely, which
makes a burn out a lot easier.
I'm in the school of thought
that if you have 650 pound
feet, a burnout's
pretty easy to do,
but it's nice that
the feature's there.
And this is a level
of granularity
for a drag racing that I
haven't seen in a production car
outside of the Dodge Demon.
And it's really cool, because
this car, again, is just
sort of an all-arounder.
Now up next we'll show
you what that means
when we drive it on the street.
Driving on the congested
and Toyota Prius
filled streets of LA may
not be the most exciting way
to experience the Camaro
ZL1, but it does give us
the opportunity to illustrate
just how nice this car is
to drive in general.
Sure the ride's firm, sure
you get some road noise,
but it's nothing that would
make this car difficult to live
with.
This 10 speed automatic
transmission, you might think,
wow that's a lot of gears.
I'm going to constantly see
the tack bouncing around
as it shifts.
But you don't.
You barely notice when
the shifts happen.
And the way they've
tuned this transmission
so it can skip gears
when you step on it
makes for a really
nice experience.
What's funny is
when you really see
a gap, when you nail that gas
it's almost as if the car has
night terrors.
Because suddenly it starts
growling out of nowhere
and making all these
noises and screaming.
And then it gets
really silent again.
It gets really quiet.
It just seems to get more
aggressive the more you drive
it in an aggressive manner.
But of course LA
traffic is the worst.
So we're going to go to a
place where we can explore
the abilities of this car.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
There's just so much power.
The performance of this
vehicle is just incredible.
But it's the tractability
that makes it so dominating.
It just feels so good,
feels so much fun.
This is a large, heavy car,
with pretty poor visibility.
But it just comes into its
own in this environment.
It's so much fun.
Modulating the power and
controlling the Camaro,
got to love that sound.
Get a little sideways.
So even though the
stability control is on,
it still gives you
a bit of freedom
with how much
sideways you get when
you dig into that throttle.
And there's so much
power on tap here.
We have 650 horsepower.
I'm getting a
little bit too close
to the limits of the
stability control system.
I'm feeling it grab
me a little bit more.
But what that's doing
is it's telling me
I'm applying too much throttle.
You can use this system
like a driver's tool.
You can lean on it and
use it the wrong way,
and have it try to fix
your sloppy mistakes.
But you can also
pay attention to it,
pay attention to when
it's cutting the power
and how much power
it's giving you,
and you can dial back
your choice accordingly.
Now what's working
in conjunction
there is the stability control
and electronically controlled
limited slip differential.
Which is biasing power
as it deems appropriate,
based on whatever the vehicle
sensors are telling it.
That's really nice.
And we haven't even talked
about the brakes yet.
These brakes provide
very good stopping power
and have a nice long travel.
So you can dig in to it
without using too much force,
and get the right amount
braking force that you want.
I like this car a lot.
Listen to that.
[ENGINE REVVING]
And that's the
amazing Camaro ZL1.
You want to see more videos like
this, keep it tuned right here.
And be sure to
visit edmunds.com.
2019 Chevrolet Silverado; Mercedes-Benz Goes Electric | Talking Cars with Consumer Reports #167
Consumer Reports:
The truck wars are heating up.
And we just picked up a brand
new Chevrolet Silverado 1500.
Also, Mercedes Benz
introduced their new EQC SUV,
part of their new plans
for electrification.
And we answer your questions
next on Talking Cars.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Hi, everyone and welcome back.
I'm Jon Linkov.
I'm Jennifer Stockburger.
And I'm Ryan Pilakowski.
And some announcements this week
about new electric vehicles,
we've also got the new Chevrolet
Silverado in our test fleet.
We'll talk about
that with the RAM.
And then we have viewer
questions, so lot of stuff.
Let's jump in Jen.
Mercedes Benz introduced
their, or showed,
their new EQC all electric SUV.
Can you tell us about it?
Right, so this is a, you
know, the first in Mercedes EQ
line of electric vehicles.
So that's kind of a big deal.
Electric intelligence is
what it stands for, right?
Right.
And C means that it's
kind of C-class base size.
C-class platform, right?
So it all has meaning, right.
I wondered what the German
word for intelligence
was that made it a Q, but
anyway, different issue.
But anyway, fully electric,
402-horsepower rating,
80-kilowatt battery,
floor mounted,
which means some
of the space stuff
maybe isn't an issue,
two electric motors
for all-wheel drive, right?
So you get all-wheel drive.
But more so it's
kind of the industry
that the big players are
beginning to introduce
electric vehicle lines.
We've talked about Volkswagen,
you know, Mercedes, so yeah.
Tesla had the Model
X. Jaguar has the--
now, let me get this right.
The I-PACE-- the
E-PACE is not electric.
The I-PACE is the
electric, right?
Right.
You know, Ryan, it's kind of
a GLC Mercedes Benz, GLC SUV.
What do you think of that model?
And do you think it would
translate well to electric?
Yeah, I mean, it all sounds
really good actually,
because the GLC we liked quite
a bit here at the test track.
I know I liked it.
If they can make it
actually go 200 miles--
Right, I think that's the key.
That's the key.
It is that size of the GLC.
I think they have something.
The price is probably
not going to be low.
I mean, let's face it.
That's the unfortunate
part I think.
But maybe it'll be reasonable.
I don't know.
But I think they'll have
something if they can do that.
Yeah, I mean, they claim that
you could charge in 40 minutes,
the battery can.
Depending on the
status of the charge,
you know, there's a lot of
caveats with this announcement
right now, almost 80%, from
10% to 80% in 40 minutes.
But does it mean something
big for the industry?
Or where does it fit?
I think it's good news for
the electrification industry,
if you will.
I don't know what
you want to call it.
But Mercedes is a big name.
And they have the infrastructure
and the knowledge,
the know-how to do
this stuff on a bigger
scale I think, than even
Tesla, you know, if it works,
if they can figure that out.
But it's--
We'll, you know, you
raise a good point.
And you know, Jen,
Tesla kind of what?
Proof of concept in a sense.
You know, Mercedes, they're
established, like Ryan said.
Right, right, maybe more--
I mean we joke about German
engineering and the rigidness,
but that's probably a
good thing in this case.
They're going to
make the technology--
And they might --work --have
been using all this time
sitting back a little bit
watching, learning, figuring--
who knows what they
have up their sleeve?
They could do
something impressive.
I find it interesting,
diesel was their way.
When it was hybrid and electric,
the Germans were like, nein.
You know, we are
going with diesel.
Diesel is the way to go and
all of a sudden scandal--
This is a big deal.
That they're accepting the
fact that maybe electrification
is the way.
Well, I think there's
two you talked about.
There's two tipping points.
One Ryan just mentioned,
the 200 miles.
Now, electrics are
a practical vehicle
that you can actually
get somewhere
without having to charge.
And you talked about Tesla.
And I think that's kind of
a hesitation for others.
Tesla did a huge thing, in that
they not just made the car,
they built the infrastructure
and the charging stations.
We have not seen
that from others
introducing electric vehicles.
Volkswagen has the plan as
part of their kind of penalty,
you know, their punishment
for the diesel scandal.
But we haven't seen
it yet, like you said.
But I think those two
need to go hand-in-hand,
that you can get somewhere,
charge, and get back.
I have a question
for both of you.
So OK, is 200 miles
or around 200 miles
acceptable for both of
you or either of you?
And also, would you
buy an electric?
Big toss up.
I think 200 miles is the key,
300 would be even better.
Sure, more is better.
But for me-- and again, we're
here in rural Connecticut.
The infrastructure is not there.
So for me-- and you know,
I think I've mentioned,
we have a place in Vermont.
I'm not going to Vermont
and finding a Tesla
or any other charging station.
They're getting there.
We just passed a coffee shop.
We were in Vermont
over the weekend,
three charging stations in
Newfane, Vermont, new coffee
shop.
Tesla?
I think they were Tesla.
I didn't get close.
But three Tesla
charging stations
in this little rural
town in Vermont.
So it's coming.
What about you, Ryan?
No, not yet.
I mean, if they start
getting up over 200 miles
and there's more to choose
from at a lower price,
I could see maybe
having a second vehicle.
But right now-- and I
forget to charge this thing.
You know, it's just I could
not have just one car.
I'm a dingbat.
I would forget.
And it would just be
not good, trust me.
Oh, shoot, I forgot
to charge again.
I mean, I think--
no, I'd be walking.
I'd be riding my
bike half the time.
I swear, I'd forget.
You have to keep it in the back.
I mean, where I live, if I
worked in the city of Hartford,
because I'm outside of
that, that would work.
If my employer had charging--
I mean, we have them
here, but you know,
it's a different situation.
That would work And
families close enough.
But yeah, a trip to Boston would
be one of those tic-tac-toe,
make connect the dots to charge.
And you know, goodness forbid
there's weather, traffic
jams on I-90, stuff like that.
It kind of leads
to another question
we had from someone
about hybridization
electrification of cars.
And I want to read it, because
it refers to the RAM eTorque
system.
We'll get to that.
Recently, I saw a review
of the 2019 RAM 1500.
Can you explain what
eTorque is and how
it is or is not beneficial?
Is it kind of like a hybrid?
Jen, you want to
jump on that one?
Right, so it is kind of like
a hybrid, a mild hybrid.
We use that word mild hybrid.
So in that they are using
an electric motor to one,
help the stop-start technology.
And I will say, I
found it seamless.
I wasn't sure it had it.
It was so seamless.
Right, it stops at traffic
lights and restarts.
I was like, is it even stopping?
And it was.
And then it's the
other piece of that,
is this 48-volt
power system, which
is, you know, there's so much
running electrically now,
that they're having
this 48-volt platform.
It's going to be necessary
to run all these things.
Online we said,
the 48-volt system
provides a short bump in power
delivery, regenerative braking.
Chrysler estimates this
mild hybrid system.
So that's what they're calling
it, 10% boost in fuel economy.
So we have it in testing.
Yeah, it's a unique system.
I mean, it's a giant
alternator-battery system.
And it acts a an alternator
when you're cruising along,
but it gives you a little boost.
On the v8 model, it gives
you 130-foot pounds of torque
in taking off.
And that's a big deal.
That's where you use a
lot of fuel, just getting
the vehicle moving
a lot of times.
And any little bit
helps, so it's unique.
Well, you know, we're putting
the RAM through testing.
And we'll have fuel
economy numbers coming up.
But it perfectly leads
into a huge competitor
in the giant pickup truck
market, the new Chevrolet
Silverado.
And it's 48,380, the RAM
that we're testing is 50,820.
We all drove it.
We've all been putting
some miles on it.
Both of you tow, so
Jen, let's go first
how it performs
as a tow vehicle.
Right, so I think the
power train's very good.
And I think it'll be great.
It is a bit more truckie riding.
So in towing or when it
has stuff in the bed,
I think it will ride better
when you can settle down
that rear end a little bit.
And personally, it's a little
more bare bones interior,
but I think--
again, you're talking to someone
who uses a truck for a truck.
We have hay and grains and
shavings every single week
in the back of our truck.
And I think sometimes
when you've covered--
excuse me-- covered
in horse hair,
you don't necessarily want
that plush of an interior.
Whatever you're doing.
You know what I mean?
I want it to be cleanable.
So I actually kind of
like the more sparse--
is that the right word?
Spartan.
Interior.
Again--
Utilitarian, yeah.
--it's a $50,000 truck.
But I kind of liked
that it was more
on kind of the functional side.
Ryan, boat towing or--
Yeah, no, that's why
I agree with Jen.
It's firm.
It rides like a truck.
But it was designed to
carry loads and whatnot.
I actually had weight
in both of these trucks.
OK, the RAM and the--
None of this is scientific
or-- this is objective data.
This is subjective.
Like the RAM, I had probably 400
pounds in the back of the RAM.
And it sat down a little bit.
I was surprised.
But it also rides really
nice without weight in it.
Well, it has coiled springs
under there versus a LEAF,
so it has a better
ride overall, unladen.
Exactly.
I had probably a
little less weight
than that in the Silverado
and it settled the truck down.
I mean, I think it even
shifted a little better.
So the RAM was more like
this in the settling.
And the Silverado--
Silverado didn't squat,
but it rode nicer,
because it had some
weight in the bed.
But it's designed that way.
I think it's going to be maybe
a little more of a rugged work
truck than the RAM,
but depending on what
you're looking for, you know?
And that's a key
question, because what
are people looking for,
because you know, in my town,
a lot of--
In Jon's town.
A lot of people buy
really loaded trucks.
And you never see them towing.
You never seen them
carrying a load.
The biggest load
they carry is, you
know, the family coming
back from maybe Costco
or some kind of big-box store.
You know, and they're
$60,000, $70,000--
The loaded paper towel.
--trucks.
You look great.
And the ride can't be--
yeah, right, you look great.
But the ride can't
be that enjoyable.
They're almost like--
well, you said--
Well, it's depending
on the truck.
So in the RAM, it probably
is very enjoyable.
You go back-- do you
remember back in--
we used to do, in our
ride-comfort, a full-load ride.
We actually loaded up
the bed and then judge
the ride based on a full bed.
What we found is
people, to your point,
people aren't using
them like that.
So we don't even do
that test anymore.
They're like a SUV
without a cover.
Yeah, so I would encourage
people, you know,
if you're between--
I don't know what the right way
to get a full load in, maybe
bring some sandbags or something
along and do maybe a test
drive both ways.
If you're going
to use it loaded,
don't judge it completely
on its unladen ride.
You touched on something
about the price.
And I looked at them both.
I mean, the RAM feels nicer.
It has more features really,
than not for much more money.
I mean, we're looking at maybe
$2,200 in our test vehicles.
It has XM.
It has a larger screen
with Uconnect, which is--
the GM one's good,
Uconnect's better.
It is better.
It has power-folding mirrors
and a power-sliding rear window.
Now, the GM truck has
a huge rear window,
makes it easy to see out,
but that venting is nice.
Parking sensors front and rear,
which helps with the truck,
because the front end.
You cannot see over it, right.
The key thing, I mean,
again, let's just make
a round number, 50 grand.
Neither of them has
advanced safety gear.
The RAM has a little bit of a
parking assist for the back.
It'll stop if it thinks
it's going to hit something,
but no automatic emergency
braking, no forward collision
warning, not even blind spot.
And again, you got some
big blind spots in trucks.
That's a disappointment to me.
Something that I
thought was interesting,
is the Silverado-- at least the
1500 always been a lower truck.
This truck's tall.
It's going, I think, after--
you know, Ford always has
these big, brawny grills
and they're tall.
The RAM actually seems lower.
And the Silverado went up.
I needed the handle.
And the hood I notice it's
big and it's a little bit
to look around.
The steering is still better.
I think that it has the best
steering out of the three
trucks, the F-150 included.
I don't care for the
steering in that or the RAM.
But it's a big truck either way.
I was just going
to say, I'm also
looking for stuff that
makes shorter stature.
You know, women buying
trucks, which again,
and we've talked about.
There's a lot of horse women.
In the Silverado, that
step in the bumper that
let you get in the bed,
the assisted gates,
you know, the Silverado
had a power-lift gate.
Most of them are easier
now, grab-handles
to get in, all of them have
that, adjustable pedals.
Silverado did not have
the adjustable pedals.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
RAM does, F-150 does.
So things like that make
it easier for someone
who is a little shorter.
It's an important truck
for GM, in the sense of A,
they compete with Ford for the
best-selling vehicle in America
each year.
Not truck, vehicle.
Vehicle.
Right, right, not just truck.
Small volume.
And secondly, it is
going to be the basis,
the platform basis
for their SUV's,
so the Chevrolet Suburban, the
Chevrolet Tahoe, the GMC Yukon,
the GMC Yukon XL, the big ones.
And last generation, they
didn't launch Silverado well,
according to the Consumer
Reports' annual auto survey
reliability data
from our members.
And those trucks
also had problems.
Hurt the others,
hurt the others.
They also had reliability.
So we'll see getting
them through testing
in the next couple of weeks.
We're going to move to questions
right now, because we've
got a lot of great ones.
We had that one about eTorque.
But we've got a--
We through the
eTorque in up there.
Right.
So the first one, e
have a video question
about all-weather tires.
Take it away.
Hey, Talking Cars.
So I've been thinking
of getting some snow
tires for my new Ridgeline.
But I really don't want to
changing tires over every six
months.
I saw your reviews on
some all-weather tires
from Toyo Celsius CUV,
Goodyear WeatherReadys,
and some Nokian WRG3's,
RG4's or new, I guess.
I'm in the same
state as you guys.
And I don't need to go to
work when it's extremely bad.
But I do need to be able to
drive when it is snowing.
Are these new all-weather
tires decent enough, especially
in something like a Ridgeline?
It's pretty heavy.
I'm leaning towards
the WeatherReadys.
But I also kind of like
the Toyo Celsius CUV.
Thank you, have a great day.
OK, a really good
question and something
we hear from people a
lot about type of tire
for the transitional weather.
Ryan our black-donut expert,
what should this gentleman do?
So it's a great
question, because this
is the exact situation why
these tires were designed for
or what they were designed for.
People that do encounter
snow, but don't
want to be hassled with
the tire change over.
Actually, we just
got done testing
our last all-season
program of car tires.
And there's actually
five all-weather models
that we tested in the
performance all-season group.
And there's a good spread.
I mean, we have a
couple at the top,
middle, and then
closer to the bottom.
And I think they're
a great compromise.
They are still a compromise.
Tires are always a compromise.
In what way are
they a compromise?
Well, you know, you can't have
a tire that is amazing in snow
and is amazing on wet roads.
It's just-- there is one.
He skewed more towards
snow, but yeah,
give up maybe something else.
So yeah, I mean, I definitely
recommend an all-weather tire.
Take a look at our
ratings, we just
came out with all new ratings.
And there's five
different models in there.
If that doesn't work,
if you can't maybe
find something that
fits you, you know,
there, the next
best thing is really
a set of snow tires
on wheels ready to go.
And you can go to
a local tire place.
And they'll mount them
for you, maybe even
store your other tires, so you
don't have to deal with that.
I know sometimes
storage is an issue.
Can you give us a rundown
just in the brands
that are making them?
And also are there any
worries that you may have,
because I think they're
kind of limited.
It's interesting.
You can look at these
tires and they all
look radically different.
I mean, the Michelin looks
almost like a summer tire,
but they do it all
with compounding.
The grip comes from compounding.
The Nokian looks
like a snow tire.
It's really unique.
But it's usable on dry roads.
Exactly, if you
look at our ratings,
you'll see the benefits of each.
So right, consumerreports.org,
we've got our ratings.
And we might have some
free content up there too.
But members can go to
consumerreports.org.
Also, send us your
video questions.
We really like those, text it
to TalkingCars@icloud.com, send
them in via our YouTube site.
Wherever we can get
questions from you,
we want to answer them.
So moving on, we have a
question from a young viewer
who's buying his first car.
Hi, I'm 15.
I love cars.
And I'm coming up on
buying my first one.
I live in a place
that snows a lot.
And my parents want
me to buy a car
with either 4x4 or
all-wheel drive.
I have no idea
what to look into.
And I have a budget
of about $10,000.
What should I get?
So first I'm going to
steal Jen's game, because--
Stealing my game.
--everyone has to come
up with a suggestion.
But I'm going to
go to Jen first,
because Jen maintains a list,
top used cars for teens,
fits right in here.
Jen, go.
At the risk of being repetitive,
just to say, you know,
we try to balance not too big,
not too small, not too fast,
not too slow, obviously
reliable, obviously full
of safety features.
The Goldilocks of cars, right?
Yeah, right kind of the
Goldilocks and that's
how we narrow that
teen driver list.
So my pick was--
I mean, my gut at first was
to go to all the Subarus,
you know, reliable.
I think, you know, I said I'd
lease one for my own daughter.
But if you look there, resale
prices are a little higher.
So where I ended up
for him is a RAV4.
Toyota RAV4.
Yeah, 2009 or later, excellent
reliability, ESC was standard.
I would really like
you to get something
with Electronics
Stability Control,
regardless of what you
buy, please look for that.
Four-cylinder, so
it's not too quick.
But fuel efficient.
Fuel efficient, reliability
was excellent, room,
your all-wheel drive, that's
what I settled on, RAV4.
Ryan, what did you
bring to the table?
So I went down the
Subaru road, just
because all-wheel drive and
they do make great cars, a 2010
or later Legacy.
The Impreza is too small.
I think the Legacy
is a little bigger.
It's a nicer car, I think,
a little more solid.
And like Jen said,
definitely try
to get stability control, 100%.
I was looking-- there's
some Hyundai Santa Fe's
mentioned, Santa Fe Sport.
I saw the Forester.
I went with the Impreza.
Both of you knocked it--
We didn't knock
it, I just didn't.
Truly, I just didn't.
So I'm not knocking it.
I just was weighing out the--
But you both gave reasons
not choose it here.
Non-turbo, key, no
WRX, no WRX, OK?
That's--
And you look at the price range.
You could see these 22,000.
That's the WRX.
And summer tires or super-ultra
high performance all-season
is not going to
give you snow grip.
You know, you can
look 2010 to 12's.
You know, that's
the lower end of if.
You might get some high mileage.
Also, pretty good reliability
and owner satisfaction data
from our annual auto
survey of CR members.
So I think all great option.
You want to know the other
one I through in there?
Toyota Matrix.
There's just not a
lot of them around.
There isn't.
But that was a great car.
I forgot about the Matrix.
You got to put snows.
He wants an all-wheel
drive or 4x4.
Well, you can get
all-wheel drive.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, you could get
an all-wheel drive.
But I thought that was--
Rare car.
Yeah, rare car.
You maybe not be
able to find one.
Proper tires, though.
That's on our list, so.
Right, in any case.
OK, so we have one more.
We have an electric
vehicle hybrid question
from a viewer in the
Dominican Republic.
Hello, from the
Dominican Republic.
Yay, I love our
international audience.
I think it's the first one.
First one from a island
versus --and are Canada.
--youthful.
A whole lot of questions
from the youngsters.
That's good.
Well, they're texting.
They're doing the text.
That's good.
That's good.
So let's start.
Hello, from the
Dominican Republic.
I spend over an hour
in traffic every day,
burning fuel and traveling
five to eight miles at most.
Sounds like he lives in
San Francisco instead.
[LAUGHTER]
On weekends, I take the
family to the mountains,
which is a 200-mile round trip.
I know hybrids and EV's
are different animals,
but which one would perform
better in stop-and-go traffic
driving environment?
What do you think?
We've already talked about that.
Right, so I think in his case
a hybrid is the perfect one.
EV's would work for his commute,
but may not work for the travel
into the mountains.
Exactly what we said
five minutes ago.
That he's not going to find
a charger in the mountains.
So to me perfect
person for a hybrid.
And stop and go is actually
where hybrids excel.
You know, you think
of long commuter miles
on the highway, that's actually
not where they get their most
benefit.
It's in that stop and go,
in the city, perfect car.
So I would say,
absolutely go with hybrid.
Then you have the option and
when you're on your weekend
to the mountains, that
you have the backup.
You don't need to
worry about charging.
I thought a Prius,
Toyota Prius or Prius V.
The V is a little bigger.
You go to the mountains, you
can carry some extra stuff.
You know, one thing that
I was thinking about,
the charging infrastructure.
You know, I mean, what do
we see here in the States?
Right, well, we
were just talking
about how in Connecticut,
we don't have that many.
I mean, there are chargers, but
maybe in this area there isn't.
And you know, that deters me
from wanting an electric car.
I don't know what
it is down there.
I can't imagine it's
better than here, you know,
in terms of frequency
of chargers.
So you know, that's
one of the things.
I looked online.
It seems like there's
only one or two chargers.
Maybe that's only one or two
public chargers in the --it's
Dominican --not
Republic --to say
--he can't have one at
home, but yeah, right.
Right, but still and
then we go to the mileage
of an EV or the range, you're
going to maybe get 200 at best.
And that's a Bolt
or a Tesla Model 3.
If you buy a LEAF,
that's way low, right?
Batteries don't like heat.
You're going to be
using the AC a lot.
You know, that range
is going to be lower.
Any suggestions for Him?
Yeah, the only thing I added--
and you're right, Prius,
Prius V would be
great with something
maybe slightly larger, if
they're camping or going
on a round trip.
I said Highlander
hybrid or a RAV4 hybrid,
so keeping in that
Toyota vain, but yeah.
What about people who
maybe aren't living there,
but want an EV?
There is some news
about them actually.
Right, so we just
published an article.
It's an industry thing.
But right now, if
somebody is looking
to get into the
electric vehicle market,
there is a glut-- we
actually us that word.
Of used EV's in
the used car market
to be had for super reasonable.
We're talking about 1/3
of what they're MSRP was.
$10,000, you can get into a
LEAF or something like that.
Albeit, not 200 miles
range, but if you
wanted to pick up a second
vehicle as a commuter vehicle,
now is the time.
We even said, what a great
way to get new safety features
in a $10,000 car.
We talked about
this young driver.
It's hard to get ESC
yet for under $10,000.
You really got to look.
But a brand new car,
$10,000, great teen vehicle,
great way to try it, great
way to get a second car.
Yeah, if you live in
that kind of situation
I was talking
about, you know, you
have a commute 20 or 20
miles or you can charge,
that really works.
Yeah, if you have the parking
and a charger at home,
would be awesome time.
Yep, well, you know that article
and more about EV's and hybrids
is free on consumerreports.org.
And members can get our
ratings on EV's and hybrids.
That's going to do
if for this episode,
so remember to check the
show notes, also, send us
those video and text questions
to TalkingCars@icloud.com.
We really want them, potentially
for another all-question
episode down the road.
Thanks for watching and
we'll see you next time.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
LEGO Technic Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 review! 42093
JANGBRiCKS:
sometimes some things just don't make
sense sometimes the preponderance of the
evidence points you in one specific
direction but when you follow that
evidence and you follow its prescribed
direction you arrive at a destination
that's completely unexpected that's
definitely the case for me with this
lego technic Chevy Corvette zr1 I was
actually quite down on this thing at
first when I saw the initial reveal of
photographs of it and I continued to be
down on it as I saw better pictures and
even after I bought the thing had the
box right in front of me and was looking
at the best pictures that Lego could put
forth of it I just didn't feel like it
looked good and I started building it
and you know what I wasn't enjoying
myself
I wasn't enjoying the process of putting
this thing together and I already was
prejudiced against the finished product
that was not a good start at all but as
I went on maybe half way through maybe
two-thirds of the way through I gained a
respect for the design especially from a
technical perspective considering that
this is 99% made of LEGO Technic pieces
looking at the pictures of the real 0r1
on the box itself looking back at this
for an hour and 45 minutes or so I
realized that this is actually a very
very good effort and a very strong
design by the Lego designer and it's
pretty well captured given the scale
given the parts count now Technic builds
kind of need to be more than just pretty
static models made with funky pieces
they should have some mechanisms in them
they should have some things that will
do things and some gears and such you
always look for that in the Technic line
and this does not disappear
or does it you see these four half
bushings with brown axles going through
them there are four of them on the other
side as well and they appear to
represent Pistons of the v8 engine and
as you turn the rear wheels as you spin
them well
pistons go up and down which is
interesting but doesn't quite make sense
to me I mean the previous generation zr1
was famous for having that lexan cover
over the motor that would show you some
of the intercooler
but it didn't have clear cylinders and
most of this car here looks pretty well
covered pretty well finished again for a
technic build of this size and
complexity so it just doesn't quite
match to me I think that if there was a
cover over either side that would be
cool because then it would just be
representing the regular full-sized
Technic engines with specialized pieces
but of course this is made with just
regular parts and it just has a little
camshaft inside there that's doing all
the work and these are just basically
free-floating here that would have been
cool but having it exposed like this
really ruins a lot for me of course it
is Lego and especially the way that it's
built you can easily just leave those
out without making too much in the way
of modifications to the entire build and
it'll look much better now there is
steering you access that from the back
of the car and that just uses the play
between Technic pieces so it's not a
fully geared system it's just locked and
limited by the spaces between parts
there's just a solid rack bar that goes
back and forth and it gives a decent
range of motion unfortunately the actual
steering wheel inside the cabin is not
hooked up to that system so you're not
able to put your finger in there and
turn that and cause the wheels to move
and also it's not easy to get your
fingers in there at all or to see in
there because these doors are not able
to be opened
they are angled or canted forward a
little bit to get the the nice angled
shoulder of the vet and they're just
static they're not able to come out or
come off easily if you want any other
Technic functions here well that's just
too bad
there are no other functions the GT wing
is completely static you can't pop up
the hood on this can't open the doors it
does have a differential it's completely
open but you know it is there so that if
you steer this thing around on the
ground it won't experience too much
scrub and you know the main drive is
just going through the very center of
the entire vehicle so you know it just
is ultimately pushing these little
things up and down oh yeah you can
adjust the the mirrors up and down like
this you can also rotate their angle but
you can't turn them in and out so that's
just the limit of it I think the the
choice of main gimmick not using gimmick
in a bad way here but just being honest
about it yeah wasn't wasn't that great I
like the idea but the implementation
here leaves a little bit to be desired
if it had just been hidden away with a
removable second set of pieces as covers
that would have been great that would
have been absolutely ideal there's quite
a bit of gap in the rear fenders I do
like these small smaller fender pieces
that are basically scaled-down versions
of the ones they initially introduced
with the 911 gt3 the big orange one so I
like the size and shape of these they
work really well I like so many of the
building techniques how they got a lot
of these angles in the front and a lot
of it is is pretty straight forward much
more straightforward than I would have
expected I mean I am definitely not up
on Technic building techniques but I
like how this went together ultimately
like I said I didn't enjoy putting it
together at first and for quite a while
but eventually I came to very much
appreciate and respect the technical
know-how and a lot of the solutions the
came together to to create this thing
the only system pieces or non
technically cesare just used here on the
back for the taillights and these small
outlets on the sides everything else is
absolutely pure this does use some
stickers
I think the stickers are well chosen and
used to good effect I have no problem
with those whatsoever but in the end
after all that I have actually gone
right back to the place where I started
not really liking this that much there's
so much here that is right there's so
much here that is really really good but
there's just enough that bugs me that it
kind of turns me off - the entire thing
and I can't fully explain myself you
know I've got some specific things that
I don't like and I've covered those but
just overall being someone who has
appreciated the Corvette for quite a
long time who sees Corvettes all the
time and who is very giddy anytime they
come out with a performance model I'm
just not feeling this scaled-down
version just overall it doesn't cut it
for me and I feel like that's a
completely unfair thing to say given
just how much skill the designer has
brought to bear here but just there's
just a lot of little things that that
bug me with this and with these and the
little bits of blue and there's
something back here that's not quite
right to me even though so many of the
angles are good yeah I'm very torn but
ultimately I'm not a big fan of this
model now if you do like this thing I am
definitely not going to argue against
you or try to convince you not to buy it
because I know that most of the stuff I
dislike is subjective and as far as
value is concerned the price to part
ratio for this especially considering
how many large pieces it comes with is
excellent there are a lot of pins and a
lot of small pieces but there are also a
lot of large pieces and ultimately the
eyes of the completed model is very good
this is all you're left with four spares
at the end of the day just a few pins a
couple of bushings and one of these
spacer bits in gray but yeah value is
very very good here building experience
I feel is worthy even though I wasn't
liking it at first you know it it grew
on me and I think that if you like
Technic you will appreciate this if
you're fairly new to Technic and you
just like the look of this externally
and you want to try this maybe you
haven't done Technic at all
it's pretty good it's not too
frustrating it does require a little bit
of manual dexterity but it's not bad
it's it's definitely a worthy build now
they do have this alternate building
that looks really good it's a good
looking angle though just needs a it
needs a b-pillar I think it's the main
thing that it needs here maybe a little
bit more orange back here as well but
yeah there is a B model a second model
but they don't include instructions for
that in the set you have to go online to
download those and I'm not going to do
that because I'm already worn out from
this thing and just have too many
emotions that are too conflicted about
it and I already don't particularly like
the look of this personally in the front
I think the back part of it looks really
cool but all this here I know is just
going to bug me but you can definitely
check out the instructions for that it's
completely free even if you don't buy
the model if you want to see how the
main Corvette build goes together you
have two options from me you can either
watch the speed build which is shortened
and has some hopefully relaxing music
behind it
or if you want a more pure and complete
experience then check out my pure build
which has no music and is at real-time
and just has the sounds of clicking
parts together
I hope
a link to both write on screen at the
end of this video and I'll talk to you
very soon
Chevrolet Unveils 240mph Concept Car Powered By LASER & You Can Drive It For Free
Point Technology:
Chevrolet unveils 240mph concept car powered
by LASER - and you can drive it for free (although
only in a video game)
Originally designed just to be played in the
computer game - but Chevrolet has now built
a real model
Firm says many of the technologies - including
its laser propulsion system - could be seen
in future racing cars
Capable of a 240-mph top speed in the video
game with 0-60 acceleration capability of
1.5 seconds
Driver lies face down with arms and legs splayed
toward the wheels.
It is a glimpse of the future of racing cars
- where lasers are used instead of combustion
engines, and the only cockpit displays are
beamed onto the driver's helmet.
Chevrolet says the Chaparral 2X Vision Gran
Tursimo (VGT) concept was developed for the
PlayStation 3 racing game, Gran Turismo 6
- but the firm has now built a real model
of it, unveiled today at the LA Auto Show.
It says the technology in the car could eventually
make it onto roads.
The game version of the car will be capable
of a 240-mph top speed in the video game with
0-60 acceleration capability of 1.5 seconds.
'This concept is an audacious and ambitious
vision and one that demonstrates to a new
audience how Chevy's engineering and design
teams challenge norms and explore the technologies
of tomorrow,' said Clay Dean, executive director
of advanced design.
'It also an ode to a unique partnership that
pioneered ground-breaking technologies that
are used today on the track and the street.'
The Chevrolet Chaparral 2X VGThas a unique
shape and an advanced, laser-based propulsion
system.
'It was created in a no-rules atmosphere to
challenge designers and test engineers to
deliver the most exhilarating sensations.
'This is a fantasy car by design,' said Frank
Saucedo, who oversaw the team that worked
on the concept.
'Like the original Chaparral race cars decades
ago, the Chaparral 2X VGT weaves advanced
aerospace technologies into the design to
help achieve its performance goals.'
The Chaparral 2X VGT's concept propulsion
system is inspired by technology derived from
advanced work targeted at space travel and
future aircraft design.
It features a mid-mounted laser beamed-energy
propulsion system, which pulses beams of light
that focus in a shroud, creating shock waves
that generate tremendous thrust in the lightweight
race car.
With a 671-kW laser, powered by a pack of
lithium-ion batteries, and an air-powered
generator to provide 900 horsepower worth
of thrust, the Chaparral 2X VGT will be capable
of a 240-mph top speed in the video game with
0-60 acceleration capability of 1.5 seconds.
The propulsion system's position in the composite
chassis complements an unconventional yet
highly active prone driver configuration face
down with the driver's arms and legs splayed
toward the wheels.
In fact, the race car's propulsion and suspension
systems are built around the driver, enabling
progressive strategies of active and driver-adjustable
aerodynamics.
'Think of it as adapting a wing suit to a
racing car, where the driver's movements control
certain aspects of the aero package,' said
Saucedo.
'In many ways, the Chaparral 2X VGT is like
racing wing suit, with a protective fuselage
for 'flying' very low to the ground.'
The driver-enabled aerodynamics eliminate
the need for large, conventional wings and
other aero devices used to generate grip-enhancing
downforce an attribute that helps reduce the
overall mass of the Chaparral 2X VGT's minimalist
structure.
Only essential elements are on board, with
instrumentation, for example, projected on
the driver's helmet visor.
Additionally, lightweight chassis components
reduce the sprung weight of the race car,
enabling the car to provide tremendous cornering
grip with a relatively small footprint.
'The Chaparral 2X VGT is a vision of how advanced
technology may shape the look and driving
experience of racing,' said Saucedo.
'Chaparral's race cars and methods were seen
as outlandish four decades ago, and with the
innovative spirit still burning at Chevrolet,
the Chaparral 2X Vision Gran Turismo concept
might just be a harbinger of motorsports in
the next four decades.'
Other manufacturers have developed concept
race cars for the Vision Gran Turismo project,
but Chevrolet is one of the few to transfer
it from the digital world to a physical concept
vehicle.
Gamers can race the Chaparral 2X VGT this
holiday season by downloading an online update
for Gran Turismo 6, the latest iteration of
the best-selling PlayStation franchise that
has sold more than 72 million copies worldwide
since its 1998 debut.
Posting Komentar
Posting Komentar