Filed under: Sports/GTs, Government/Legal, Green, Tech, Supercars, BMW, Chevrolet, Lamborghini, Mercedes Benz, Ferrari

Click the ZR1 for a high-res photo gallery

As the 2009 Corvette ZR1 was unveiled on the very same day that President Bush signed into law a new energy bill, the obvious question is where do we go from here? The most prominent part of the bill was the first increase in corporate average fuel economy requirements in over two decades. By 2020, most manufacturers will have to achieve a sales weighted average fuel economy of 35 mpg for their fleets. Note that was "most" and not "all" manufacturers, a subject we'll return to in a moment.

At the press preview of the new LS9 engine, GM Powertrain VP Tom Stephens was asked about gas guzzler taxes and how the energy bill would affect the future of cars like the ZR1. Stephens acknowledged that the ZR1 would have a gas guzzler tax, although the final mileage numbers weren't done yet. As for the future, it's too early to tell. In the past, the death of performance cars has been predicted repeatedly and here we are at a new high water mark. Corvette VLE Tom Wallace said at the car's debut that the ZR1 would last at least through the C6 model cycle. No decisions have been made about the C7 and beyond. Keep reading after the jump.

Gallery: 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1


Gallery: The Chevrolet LS9 V-8

Continue reading What does the future hold for supercars with new fuel economy rules?

Permalink | Email this | Comments


More...
Autoblog
2007-12-20T13:27:00+00:00

While the CIC continues to float around in a gas hog Boeing 747-200B, I'm gonna burn all the gas I can afford.

Boeing 747-200B Fuel burn statistics.....

Average burn rate, 24,000 lbs per hour ...or ...5 gallons of fuel per mile (12 liters per kilometer)

So, every gallon you burn...he's burnt 125.


.

__________________
[http://languageandgrammar.com/2008/01/14/youve-got-problems-not-issues/ ]

"A liberal is someone who feels they owe a great debt to their fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money."

Are you suggesting that our leaders are hypocrites? Thanks for putting my own (lack of) fuel economy in perspective.

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

How dare you insinuate......What EVER makes you think that?..


.

__________________
[http://languageandgrammar.com/2008/01/14/youve-got-problems-not-issues/ ]

"A liberal is someone who feels they owe a great debt to their fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money."

Mistress recently said about the same thing after she saw something about the vast quantities of fuel burned by ships. It makes fuel economy by drivers look pointless by comparison.

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

I dunno... One plane moves 300 people, one train moves 10000 tons of stuff, one ship moves 50000 tons of goods... fuel economy is not just MPG but what it is moving. Ships are still the cheapest way to move goods followed by trains...

In the case of these cars, I think nothing will happen. They are prestige automobiles and CAFE be damned, they will be built. What will happen is that the gas guzzler tax (a waste of time in my opinion) will be raised and the price of the car will increase. When you car is already 100k+ does a few thou more matter?

What will be bad is on the other end of the spectrum where us normal folk will be forced into smaller and smaller plastic boxes run by squirrels.

I am going to keep my diesel forever!

__________________
"I have no convictions ... I blow with the wind, and the prevailing wind happens to be from Vichy"

Current
Monika '74 450 SL
BrownHilda '79 280SL
FoxyCleopatra '99 Chevy Suburban
Scarlett 2014 Jeep Cherokee
Krystal 2004 Volvo S60
Gone
'74 Jeep CJ5
'97 Jeep ZJ Laredo
Rudolf ‘86 300SDL
Bruno '81 300SD
Fritzi '84 BMW
'92 Subaru
'96 Impala SS
'71 Buick GS conv
'67 GTO conv
'63 Corvair conv
'57 Nomad

Wonder what sort of Bosch Starter fits this ?

http://people.bath.ac.uk/ccsshb/12cyl/

.......and it's the most fuel efficient power unit in the world.

and for those of you with time to spare.http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://rhinoracing.org/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/kabegami_flex96c.jpg&imgrefurl=http://rhinoracing.org/&h=768&w=1024&sz=203&hl=en&start=3&um=1&tbnid=OzwWDzoYNPQi3M:&tbnh=113&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3DAioi%2BWorks%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

__________________
[http://languageandgrammar.com/2008/01/14/youve-got-problems-not-issues/ ]

"A liberal is someone who feels they owe a great debt to their fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money."

Yeah, that's quite an engine, isn't it?

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles