Last redesigned in 2007, the near-twin Silverado and Sierra make up the company’s best-selling vehicle line and one of its most profitable.
The automaker touts the new trucks as both more capable and efficient than the ones they replace. At the unveiling, GM North America President Mark Reuss called them the "most refined pickup trucks ever."
Following a trend seen in recent Ram and Ford pickup designs, the Silverado takes on a tougher appearance than the model it replaces. Although evolutionary in design, its signature stacked headlights and twin-port grille are larger and more prominent than before, while the slab sides of the outgoing Silverado are replaced with sculpted shapes and bulging, squared-off wheel arches. The Sierra sticks with a pair of solo headlights and a single-opening grille with a thick chrome frame.
For the 2014 Silverado, designers sought to strike the ideal balance between Chevrolet’s deep heritage in full-size pickups and a more modern, refined aesthetic. They also sought to give the new Silverado a more dramatic presence, with a heightened stance and more structural, muscular sheet metal, while also improving aerodynamics to make the new Silverado quieter and more efficient.
The heart of any truck is under its hood and the 2014 Silverado 1500 offers three new EcoTec3 engines developed specifically for the demands of truck duty cycles. All feature a trio of state-of-the-art technologies – direct injection, cylinder deactivation and continuously variable valve timing – that optimize power, torque and efficiency across a broad range of operating conditions.
Neither snow nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night kept product development engineers from swift completion of the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu Turbo,
arriving this month. The location for all of this torture testing?
General Motors’ Climatic Wind Tunnel in Warren, Mich., where all
Chevrolet vehicles take on the elements.
On the hottest days of summer, Malibu Turbo, which starts at $27,710,
withstood blizzard and hurricane conditions inside the wind tunnel,
where the temperature can replicate 40 below zero and the wind can blow
150 mph. Even on the coldest nights of winter, the tunnel’s temperature
can easily climb to 140 degrees under 1,155 watts per square meter of
simulated sunshine.
At this state-of-the-art facility, engineers take vehicle development
and validation testing to the extremes, subjecting powertrain cooling,
cabin heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems to the
harshest weather conditions found from Death Valley, Calif., and Denali,
Alaska.
The wind tunnel also simulates driving actual roads with real-world
weight burdens, such as hauling a fully loaded trailer up a steep
incline by applying resistance through the wheels of the tunnel’s
dynamometer, a tool that also allows simulated driving speeds of up to
155 mph.
“Testing in the Climatic Wind Tunnel reduces the need to travel to
remote locations, which helps save time and money,” said Ben Cruz, GM
engineering group manager for thermal testing at the Climatic Wind
Tunnel. “Tunnel testing also minimizes the safety risks and traffic
interactions associated with testing on public roads, and because the
conditions are repeatable, we’re not limited by the whims of Mother
Nature.”
Engineers used the tunnel’s blizzard-making capability to test Malibu
Turbo’s air induction system, which is designed to prevent snow from
clogging the vehicle’s air cleaning system. The system’s torturous path
of multiple barriers blocks water molecules while allowing air to flow
freely for engine combustion.
Malibu Turbo’s powertrain cooling system was developed in the tunnel
and attuned to the car’s specific powertrain heat outputs and airflow
characteristics to provide optimal performance even in extreme heat and
cold. The system is designed to allow wide open throttle acceleration at
egg-frying Death Valley temperatures, and has been validated in that
desert location.
Malibu Turbo’s occupant comfort is just as important when the going
gets hot. The car’s air conditioning system was tested against tunnel
simulations of the high heat and humidity found along the Gulf Coast.
This torture test helps ensure that Malibu Turbo’s all-new 2.0L engine
delivers the rapid cool-down performance expected of a turbocharged
power plant.
Climatic torture testing helps Chevrolet deliver improved quality and
durability. Malibu topped the midsize sedan category in a recent
third-party quality study, due in part to development work done at the
Climatic Wind Tunnel.
With Canadian weather, we need more reasons why we can trust our vehicle in extreme temperatures. Chevrolet proves to the world once again that we can depend on them!
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The General Motors Foundation, General Motors and Safe Kids Worldwide this week celebrate 15 years of the Buckle Up program that has helped reach millions of parents and caregivers and their young passengers during a rapid evolution in auto safety technology.
With Child Passenger Safety Week starting today, Safe Kids, the GM Foundation and GM continue efforts to keep children and families safe in and around cars through the Buckle Up program, the nation’s most extensive multifaceted child passenger safety program.
"The GM Foundation's 15-year commitment to Safe Kids Buckle Up is a sterling example of corporate social responsibility at its best," said Kate Carr, Safe Kids President and CEO. "There is no doubt that countless child fatalities and injuries have been prevented as a result of this partnership and the GM Foundation's long-term dedication to it," Carr added.
Chevrolet believes that hockey is as much part of Canada as the red and white flag is. As such, they are dedicated to ensuring that all hockey players are safe out on the ice. Chevrolet is once again launching their Safe and Fun Hockey Program.
Let us help your child get a head start on safety with the Chevrolet Hockey Helmet Program. If your child is born in 2007 and is registered in minor hockey, he or she is eligible to receive a free Bauer 2100 youth helmet from Chevrolet.
To learn more about the Chevrolet Safe & Fun Hockey Program visit safeandfunhockey.ca or stop by your local Chevrolet dealer to receive more information.
The 2013ChevroletSparkmini car,
Chevrolet’s first mini car for the U.S. and Canadian markets, is a
sporty four-passenger, five-door hatch. It is designed to excite
first-time buyers and city dwellers with its bold styling and colors,
affordability, the safety of 10 standard air bags, fuel efficiency and
maneuverability.
Spark also is the only car in its segment to provide MyLink Radio – a
seven-inch color touch screen radio capable of displaying
smartphone-based music, videos, photos and contacts for hands-free
calling. MyLink Radio comes with two embedded apps forPandora internet radio and Stitcher Smart Radio and later, BringGo, an embedded app for full-function GPS navigation, will be available for purchase.
Though compact, Spark offers more passenger and cargo room than other
mini-cars such as the Fiat 500, Smartfortwo and the Scion iQ. Equipped
with the Ecotec 1.25L four-cylinder engine and five-speed manual
transmission, Spark offers competitive EPA-estimated fuel economy of 38
mpg hwy.
The Spark is already on sale globally. In the U.S. and Canada, Spark is offered in LS, 1LT and 2LT models.
“Spark is ideal for active city dwellers because it is easy to drive,
easy to park and easy to own,” said Chris Perry, Global Chevrolet vice
president for marketing. “For these customers, Spark is their key to the
city.”
A perfectly real Chevy Suburban police vehicle somehow entered a closed
Transformers 3 movie set in Washington D.C. and — during the filming of
an Autobot driving scene — proceeded to collide with the Bumblebee
Camaro......For those wondering, the crash was not planned and was not
part of the script or the scene; it was purely an accident:
Eighty Five Years ago, GM started their design department, which was actually twenty years after they launched their first car. Since then, a number of iconic cars have come out of the GM design department, including the Camaro and Corvette.
“What was true 85 years ago is still true today: A designer’s role is
to create a beautifully executed exterior with great proportions to draw
you in, and an interior environment that invites you into a
relationship that develops and grows.” says Ed Welburn, GM vice president of global design. (mlive).
Here is a look at some of the gems that have come out of GM's design department in the last 85 years.
1951 Buick LeSabre
1959 Corvette Stingray and 1961 Corvette Mako Shark
The heart of any truck is under its hood and the 2014 Silverado 1500 offers three new EcoTec3 engines developed specifically for the demands of truck duty cycles. All feature a trio of state-of-the-art technologies – direct injection, cylinder deactivation and continuously variable valve timing – that optimize power, torque and efficiency across a broad range of operating conditions.
