mikeyb
08-12-2005, 07:04 AM
http://www.caranddriver.com/assets/image/2005/0803200511493745.jpg
<TABLE class=cdbgtext cellSpacing=10 cellPadding=0 width=560 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=2>GM plumbs its golden history for its own past-tense cruiser.
BY AARON ROBINSON
<!-- photo -->September 2005
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top><TABLE width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>Not long after Bob Lutz started tearing up rulebooks at GM in 2001, he squished his fat thumbprint into the company's moribund Delta compact-car program. Still smarting from the ignominious failure of the Saturn Ion, the first Delta, the engineers were told by Lutz to now build a class leader regardless of cost. Nobody believed GM's prickly accountants would ever let it happen.
"I'll take care of them," Lutz reputedly said, and locked the engineers in a room for a week to brainstorm improvements to the forthcoming Cobalt. Delta engineering manager John Cockburn (pronounced "co-burn") was in the room.
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"That's where a lot of this stuff came from, that week in the room," says Cockburn. By "stuff" he means the laminated Quiet Steel in the fire wall that hushes engine noise to a whisper, the sophisticated hydroelastic suspension bushings that soften impacts from the twist-beam rear axle, and other fixes that saved the Cobalt from the GM curse of mediocrity.
Behold the Cobalt wagon.
"Heritage High Roof" is what HHR actually stands for. It's pretty self-explanatory, but we get paid to fill this white space. By heritage, GM means the 1949 Chevy Suburban echoed in the HHR's bulldog face and baggy fenders. The roof actually looks low from the outside, thanks to pillbox windows seemingly cut by a hot rodder's torch, but it's not. Comparisons to the PT Cruiser are inevitable. The HHR is bigger, with a half-inch more between the axles and another 7.4 inches in length. Width and height also go to the HHR, but at 63 cubic feet with the seats folded, the Chevy is short one cargo cube to the Cruiser.
The Cobalt was always intended to be a three-car program, and with the styling flavor of the Cobalt sedan and coupe fixed on vanilla, product planners decided to get playful with the third car. GM hopes this five-door wagonoid configuration will also be popular in Canada and Mexico, but it's holding annual volume forecasts at a conservative 60,000, about half of PT Cruiser sales.
http://www.caranddriver.com/assets/image/2005/0803200511493830.jpgBuilt in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, from which Azteks and Rendezvous once sallied forth to make GM ridiculous, the HHR's vintage-vogue steel body proved difficult to stamp. GM leaned heavily on Japanese stamping giant Fuji Dietec to get it done. The HHR's hood with its deep concavity and delicate accent lines requires five separate "hits" from the presses and ranks as one of the most complicated sheetmetal parts GM has ever produced, says small-car vehicle line executive Lori Queen. The holes for the HHR's taillights are carefully punched out of the quarter-panels in a ballet of robotic tooling.
The HHR enjoys all the engineering upgrades bestowed on the Cobalt, plus some luxury touches. The deep-grain dash is formed using a more expensive painted-plastic process, and the gauges and the center-console knobs are fancier. A trim, three-spoke steering wheel with radio and trip-computer controls is standard across the two-model line. The HHR's cavernous interior includes fold-flat rear and right-front seats, three underfloor storage bins, and a movable parcel shelf in back that, when raised, doubles the cargo floor space.
Underneath the HHR you'll find the Cobalt's front-strut, rear-twist-beam suspension and the same disc-and-drum brake combination. Thicker anti-roll bars and revised spring rates are there only to handle the HHR's extra mass (advertised curb weights range from 3150 to 3200 pounds). The Ecotec engine family is also a specification repeat. The base $15,990 LS model and the mid-trim $16,990 1LT (there are two LTs: 1LT and 2LT) offer up a DOHC 16-valve 2.2-liter four making 143 horsepower and 150 pound-feet of torque. Power windows and locks and aluminum 16-inch wheels are standard, even on the LS.
The $18,790 2LT—with larger 17-inch wheels, power seats, and a boomier sound system—gets bored and stroked to 2.4 liters making 172 horsepower and 162 pound-feet. Shift yourself with a Getrag five-speed, or let the computer in a GM Hydra-Matic four-speed automatic do it for you. Other HHR options include a sunroof, leather, traction control, curtain airbags, and satellite radio.
Heritage is something GM has plenty of. Happily, the HHR picks from the best and ignores the worst.
CHEVROLET HHR
Vehicle type: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 5-door wagon
Base price: $15,990-$18,790
Engines: DOHC 16-valve 2.2-liter inline-4, 143 hp, 150 lb-ft; DOHC 16-valve 2.4-liter inline-4, 172 hp, 162 lb-ft
<HR width=150>
Transmissions: 5-speed manual,
4-speed automatic
Wheelbase: 103.5 in
Length/width/height: 176.2/69.2/65.2 in
Curb weight: 3150-3200 lb
Performance ratings (mfr's est):
Zero to 60 mph: 8.4-9.9 sec
Projected fuel economy (mfr's est):
EPA city driving: 20-22 mpg
EPA highway driving: 25-27 mpg
source:http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=19&article_id=9863
<TABLE class=cdbgtext cellSpacing=10 cellPadding=0 width=560 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=2>GM plumbs its golden history for its own past-tense cruiser.
BY AARON ROBINSON
<!-- photo -->September 2005
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top><TABLE width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>Not long after Bob Lutz started tearing up rulebooks at GM in 2001, he squished his fat thumbprint into the company's moribund Delta compact-car program. Still smarting from the ignominious failure of the Saturn Ion, the first Delta, the engineers were told by Lutz to now build a class leader regardless of cost. Nobody believed GM's prickly accountants would ever let it happen.
"I'll take care of them," Lutz reputedly said, and locked the engineers in a room for a week to brainstorm improvements to the forthcoming Cobalt. Delta engineering manager John Cockburn (pronounced "co-burn") was in the room.
<!--
--></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
"That's where a lot of this stuff came from, that week in the room," says Cockburn. By "stuff" he means the laminated Quiet Steel in the fire wall that hushes engine noise to a whisper, the sophisticated hydroelastic suspension bushings that soften impacts from the twist-beam rear axle, and other fixes that saved the Cobalt from the GM curse of mediocrity.
Behold the Cobalt wagon.
"Heritage High Roof" is what HHR actually stands for. It's pretty self-explanatory, but we get paid to fill this white space. By heritage, GM means the 1949 Chevy Suburban echoed in the HHR's bulldog face and baggy fenders. The roof actually looks low from the outside, thanks to pillbox windows seemingly cut by a hot rodder's torch, but it's not. Comparisons to the PT Cruiser are inevitable. The HHR is bigger, with a half-inch more between the axles and another 7.4 inches in length. Width and height also go to the HHR, but at 63 cubic feet with the seats folded, the Chevy is short one cargo cube to the Cruiser.
The Cobalt was always intended to be a three-car program, and with the styling flavor of the Cobalt sedan and coupe fixed on vanilla, product planners decided to get playful with the third car. GM hopes this five-door wagonoid configuration will also be popular in Canada and Mexico, but it's holding annual volume forecasts at a conservative 60,000, about half of PT Cruiser sales.
http://www.caranddriver.com/assets/image/2005/0803200511493830.jpgBuilt in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, from which Azteks and Rendezvous once sallied forth to make GM ridiculous, the HHR's vintage-vogue steel body proved difficult to stamp. GM leaned heavily on Japanese stamping giant Fuji Dietec to get it done. The HHR's hood with its deep concavity and delicate accent lines requires five separate "hits" from the presses and ranks as one of the most complicated sheetmetal parts GM has ever produced, says small-car vehicle line executive Lori Queen. The holes for the HHR's taillights are carefully punched out of the quarter-panels in a ballet of robotic tooling.
The HHR enjoys all the engineering upgrades bestowed on the Cobalt, plus some luxury touches. The deep-grain dash is formed using a more expensive painted-plastic process, and the gauges and the center-console knobs are fancier. A trim, three-spoke steering wheel with radio and trip-computer controls is standard across the two-model line. The HHR's cavernous interior includes fold-flat rear and right-front seats, three underfloor storage bins, and a movable parcel shelf in back that, when raised, doubles the cargo floor space.
Underneath the HHR you'll find the Cobalt's front-strut, rear-twist-beam suspension and the same disc-and-drum brake combination. Thicker anti-roll bars and revised spring rates are there only to handle the HHR's extra mass (advertised curb weights range from 3150 to 3200 pounds). The Ecotec engine family is also a specification repeat. The base $15,990 LS model and the mid-trim $16,990 1LT (there are two LTs: 1LT and 2LT) offer up a DOHC 16-valve 2.2-liter four making 143 horsepower and 150 pound-feet of torque. Power windows and locks and aluminum 16-inch wheels are standard, even on the LS.
The $18,790 2LT—with larger 17-inch wheels, power seats, and a boomier sound system—gets bored and stroked to 2.4 liters making 172 horsepower and 162 pound-feet. Shift yourself with a Getrag five-speed, or let the computer in a GM Hydra-Matic four-speed automatic do it for you. Other HHR options include a sunroof, leather, traction control, curtain airbags, and satellite radio.
Heritage is something GM has plenty of. Happily, the HHR picks from the best and ignores the worst.
CHEVROLET HHR
Vehicle type: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 5-door wagon
Base price: $15,990-$18,790
Engines: DOHC 16-valve 2.2-liter inline-4, 143 hp, 150 lb-ft; DOHC 16-valve 2.4-liter inline-4, 172 hp, 162 lb-ft
<HR width=150>
Transmissions: 5-speed manual,
4-speed automatic
Wheelbase: 103.5 in
Length/width/height: 176.2/69.2/65.2 in
Curb weight: 3150-3200 lb
Performance ratings (mfr's est):
Zero to 60 mph: 8.4-9.9 sec
Projected fuel economy (mfr's est):
EPA city driving: 20-22 mpg
EPA highway driving: 25-27 mpg
source:http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=19&article_id=9863