AndyL
11-04-2013, 11:24 PM
http://www.usatoday.com/story/driveon/2013/11/04/chevrolet-silverado-cheyenne/3430431/
http://i42.tinypic.com/29uu72f.jpg
LAS VEGAS -- Chevrolet is out to prove that it can create a lightweight version of its Silverado pickup.
Simple formula: Combine the light-weighting with a big honkin' V-8 engine and it clear this truck can be plenty quick.
Chevy calls it the Silverado Cheyenne concept vehicle and is exhibiting it here at the Specialty Equipment Market Association trade show, the big auto industry aftermarket confab known simply as SEMA.
It's a way to lay at least a partial claim to the low-weight title that rival Ford Motor hopes to own when it introduces its 2015 F-150 next year. The rumor mill has said the Ford will use an extraordinary amount of aluminum instead of steel, to cut weight and improve both performance and mileage.
Ford showed a harbinger of the truck at the Detroit auto show in January, but was mum on most details. A brief fact sheet on what Ford calls the Atlas concept emphasized that the frame is steel.
Cheyenne substitutes aftermarket parts for the originals to cut weight.
By sticking in carbon fiber replacements for the bumpers, tailgate and inner cargo box, the trucks loses about 200 pounds from its 4,503-pound base weight. The carbon ceramic brakes are borrowed from a Camaro Z/28, and their rotors weight less than conventional ones.
There is no trailer hitch, spare tire, interior center console and some of the sound insulation was pulled out, all to save weight. Aluminum is used for the wheels, driveshaft and rear leaf springs.
Chevy has some of the lightweight technology already in production. The brand's 2014 Corvette redesign extensively uses carbon fiber and other weight-reducing materials. It amounts to a silver lining in parent General Motors' Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in 2009. Corvette development was halted a total of two years as GM foundered, and that was long enough that some of the exotic materials had become commercially viable and were adopted for use on the well-known sports car.
"Light-weighting is a time-honored method of making the most of a vehicle's performance which Chevrolet has demonstrated time and again with vehicles like the original 2001 Corvette Z06 and the 2014 Camaro Z/28," says Chevrolet's Chris Perry in a statement. "And like those vehicles, the Cheyenne complements its lower weight with more horsepower."
The Cheyenne gets extra push from the 420-horsepower, 6.2-liter V-8 engine.
For looks, Cheyenne has a lowered ride height and six-foot, six-inch cargo box to make it look cool.
Chevy first used "Cheyenne" as the designation for a premium trim level on 1971 full-size pickups, to appeal to a small but growing market of personal-use buyers.
Interesting... Very Interesting...
http://i42.tinypic.com/29uu72f.jpg
LAS VEGAS -- Chevrolet is out to prove that it can create a lightweight version of its Silverado pickup.
Simple formula: Combine the light-weighting with a big honkin' V-8 engine and it clear this truck can be plenty quick.
Chevy calls it the Silverado Cheyenne concept vehicle and is exhibiting it here at the Specialty Equipment Market Association trade show, the big auto industry aftermarket confab known simply as SEMA.
It's a way to lay at least a partial claim to the low-weight title that rival Ford Motor hopes to own when it introduces its 2015 F-150 next year. The rumor mill has said the Ford will use an extraordinary amount of aluminum instead of steel, to cut weight and improve both performance and mileage.
Ford showed a harbinger of the truck at the Detroit auto show in January, but was mum on most details. A brief fact sheet on what Ford calls the Atlas concept emphasized that the frame is steel.
Cheyenne substitutes aftermarket parts for the originals to cut weight.
By sticking in carbon fiber replacements for the bumpers, tailgate and inner cargo box, the trucks loses about 200 pounds from its 4,503-pound base weight. The carbon ceramic brakes are borrowed from a Camaro Z/28, and their rotors weight less than conventional ones.
There is no trailer hitch, spare tire, interior center console and some of the sound insulation was pulled out, all to save weight. Aluminum is used for the wheels, driveshaft and rear leaf springs.
Chevy has some of the lightweight technology already in production. The brand's 2014 Corvette redesign extensively uses carbon fiber and other weight-reducing materials. It amounts to a silver lining in parent General Motors' Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in 2009. Corvette development was halted a total of two years as GM foundered, and that was long enough that some of the exotic materials had become commercially viable and were adopted for use on the well-known sports car.
"Light-weighting is a time-honored method of making the most of a vehicle's performance which Chevrolet has demonstrated time and again with vehicles like the original 2001 Corvette Z06 and the 2014 Camaro Z/28," says Chevrolet's Chris Perry in a statement. "And like those vehicles, the Cheyenne complements its lower weight with more horsepower."
The Cheyenne gets extra push from the 420-horsepower, 6.2-liter V-8 engine.
For looks, Cheyenne has a lowered ride height and six-foot, six-inch cargo box to make it look cool.
Chevy first used "Cheyenne" as the designation for a premium trim level on 1971 full-size pickups, to appeal to a small but growing market of personal-use buyers.
Interesting... Very Interesting...