Autoblog

When the current GMT900 SUVs hit the market in 2006, gas prices were already near $3.00 per gallon, but the super-sized transports sold in prodigious numbers anyway. The reasoning from the General and its customers was that there were still people with big boats or trailers to tow, and unibody CUVs just aren't up to the task. In the two years that followed, gas prices have gone from pesky to pandemic, and buyers are leaving their body-on-frame SUVs by the thousands.

The General isn't blind to the trend, and a report from Bloomberg says that GM may be ready to take the drastic step of separating the platforms of its trucks and full-size SUVs by 2012. The move is extreme because SUVs and trucks have saved development time and money by sharing a platform for many decades, but with such a dramatic shift away from the handy but fuel-thirsty rigs, GM has little choice but to think of alternatives. A unibody Tahoe or Escalade wouldn't be able to tow quite like its predecessor, but they would be lighter and have better fuel economy.

Our first thought was that GM already has eight-passenger unibody CUVs like the Enclave, Acadia, Outlook and upcoming Traverse, but without more utilitarian SUVs like the Tahoe, there should be room for a more purpose-built CUV in the lineup. While this news isn't exactly earth-shattering, we're thinking it very accurately illustrates just how fast these times they are-a-changing, and how far automakers will go to stay viable. Thanks for the tip, Fro!

[Source: Bloomberg]

click above to view more high-res pics of the 2008 Callaway Corvette

Callaway, the Connecticut-based Corvette tuner par excellence, has just announced that its 2008 Callaway Corvette will come with a new supercharger package that bumps power in the C6 Corvette to 580 horsepower. Buyers need only hand over $18,500 for the additional 150 horsepower over a stock 430-hp 6.2L LS3 V8, but will also get a host of engine improvements, a 3-year/36,000 mile warranty and still be able to meet California's strict emissions standards.

Callaway has also announced a new, more powerful supercharger for its super-Vette, the C16. The new spool increases output of the hand-built LS3 engine from 616 to 650 hp. It's also fitted with new cylinder heads and valvetrain, a custom cold-air intake, special free-flowing exhaust system and remapped ECU, in addition to the carbon-ceramic brakes, suspension and wheels. Callaway offers the C16 with its custom bodywork and leather interior in coupe and convertible forms for about $150k, or double that for the stunning Speedster. The extra 34 harnessed horses should help the updated C16 break its already-impressive 3.3-second 0-60 time, 11-second ¼ mile and 210 mph top end.

[Source: Callaway]

click above image for many high-res shots of the Callaway C16 Speedster

Twenty years ago, GM asked Reeves Callaway to infuse the Corvette with his particular brand of genius. The result was the most powerful production car ever sold in America. Twenty years later, the results are still coming, and this is the latest: the Callaway C16 Speedster, third in the C16 family introduced this year, joining the coupe and the cabriolet. For a large automaker to launch a car with three variants, in one year, is an achievement. For Callaway to do so, as a specialist producer, is nothing short of spectacular. Fittingly, the Speedster could be the most spectacular version yet. Click Read to get the full story, and check out the gallery to see hi-res images of the new Callaway C16 Speedster as well as the first Callaway Speedster made in 1990. Do you remember it on the cover of Motor Trend like it was yesterday? We do. Warning, though: it's still very green.

When the Callaway C16 Speedster debuted Saturday night at Pebble, another company showed off some impressive new equipment as well. StopTech developed a new carbon-ceramic brake with Callaway to help the 700 HP, 210 MPH C16 Speedster stop as well as it goes. StopTech's new Carbon Ceramic Brake System (CCBS) will be the brake of choice for Callaway, with 15-inch rotors and six-piston calipers up front, and four-piston calipers and 14-inch rotors out back. Together with the lightweight carbon/magnesium Dymag wheels, these lightweight brakes will help the C16 shed an unbelievable 80 pounds of unsprung weight compared to a more typical aluminum wheel and iron rotor setup.

The new StopTech CCBS isn't like most other carbon-ceramics on the market either. Instead of using chopped fibers like most competitors, StopTech uses continuous fiber construction for its discs. This makes them stronger and less prone to oxidation. StopTech will now offer CCBS on all of their current 332mm, 355mm, and 380mm rotors, plus existing customers will be able to upgrade their iron rotor systems to CCBS as well. That should come as pleasant news to owners of sports cars like the Porsche 911 and Lamborghini Gallardo.

[Source: StopTech]