Looks like times sure are tough. Can’t worry about powertrains and emissions for 2020 or 2015 if you aren’t going to make it until 2012. I take this to mean the situation is indeed dire. Only reason to ever mortgage the future is if you are worried about surviving today. That’s how I read this…
General Motors has made yet another tough call as it continues its efforts to dig itself out of the monstrous financial hole it finds itself in, this time announcing that it is indefinitely delaying the launch of its highly anticipated 4.5L Duramax turbodiesel engine for its light-duty trucks.
"We have to make tough decisions right now," says GM Powertrain spokeswoman Susan Garavaglia, who told <i>Automotive News</i> the bad news. A possible option for GM may be to sell the engine design to another company, Garavaglia added. The engine is reportedly far along in development and the automaker had previously announced plans to invest $100 million in its Tonawanda, New York, engine plant where it had planned to built it.
GM truck and diesel fans alike have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the engine, which has been lauded as an innovative design. It was slated to become an option for its Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups.
The engine’s relatively compact design features integral aluminum cylinder head exhaust manifolds, integral cam cover intake manifolds, and a narrow V-angle block. As a result, the engine can reportedly fit in the same space as a small-block V-8 gas engine.
The 4.5-liter diesel was expected to meet LEV2 emissions standards and was supposed to be sellable in all 50 states. Producing 310 horsepower and 520 lb-ft of torque, GM says the engine is designed to achieve fuel efficiency 25 percent better than comparable gas engines and is the first GM engine to employ a selective catalytic reduction NOx after-treatment system with a diesel particulate filter. GM says the new engine reduces CO2 emissions by 13 percent as well as a 90 percent reduction in particulates and NOx.
The cash-strapped automaker says it will continue to offer its 6.6L Duramax engine for its heavy-duty pickups, and that it will continue to modify it to meet future diesel standards. But that’s little consolation to the thousands of diesel fans who were expecting the new 4.5L engine.
4.5 = displacement in litres
TD = Turbo Deisel
TEP = Tonnawanda Engine Plant
Feel free to edit it for clarity if you feel it would help.
… What makes me :lol: is that if it contained abbreviations and acronyms such as: JDM, 2JZ, BOV, B16c5, VTEC… 99% of people here would have no problem discerning what they meant.
Whaaaaaat? Well, I guess I cross GM off my list, I was looking forward to buying a truck with that innovative engine. Nobody needs a 7.4l diesel, or even a 6.6. sigh.
Would have been a cool engine too. It actually breathes in reverse. The intake is on the outer portion of the V while it exhales through the valley where the turbo is located. I hope they can get their finances turned around so in a few years we can see them produce some innovative engines like these.
Sad part is they have been developing and building some really great cars and engines the last few years. I would argue the best they ever have, and on par or even exceding those of many other major auto makers. I hope it isn’t too late for them.
I was 100% waiting for the 4.5 Duramax, ugh :tdown: I was thinking that somehow it would definitely have to make it’s way into an Avalanche and I would buy one for sure.
Damn no LMK for a while. It was supposed to launch fall 2010 I think. They had a lot of them running around at Milford over the summer. Too bad I never got to go see them. Some of my coworkers did.
On the plus side GMT900 trucks only come with autos, it would still be gay.
I was holding out for the 5.0 liter cummins mule we were supposed to get, but I’m not sure if Chrysler is keeping that program or not. I really wanted to see how the Ram with Cummins V8 drove. Not that I could buy a new truck with the economy like it is anyway.
sure they do. i have a friend that tows a 5th wheel camper from NY to TX a few times a year. 3 slideouts. huge. he is pushing it just a little with a duramax 3500.
The more I read about this engine, the more upset I get about it getting canned. GM was really on to something. I’m sure they will come up with a new ugly body kit for a Pontiac instead.
That would suck. They pay a lot of taxes to the Town.
And my pops would be out of a job.
OT: if you are going to spend a tone of money training guys on a specific line, they should probably not get bumped out of their job because of seniority. But, at least he’s still got a job.
^^^^ happened to many of us a few yrs back.We were on the “launch team” for the new 3.5/3.9 V-6.and had to train for close to a yr before they sped the line up and bought all the people over.Few months later pretty much all of the 2nd shift ones got laid off.
That’s how it goes tho.I can’t be working there with 10 yrs and a guy with 20 is on the street.
