1990 Chevrolet C1500 Silverado Standard Cab Pickup 2-door 5.7l on 2040-cars

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GM recalls 638,000 U.S. SUVs, trucks for unintended braking

WASHINGTON — General Motors is recalling 638,000 U.S. sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks because a wheel-speed sensor could fail and cause unintended braking, it said Thursday. The recall covers 2015-2020 Chevrolet Suburban, Tahoe, and Yukon and 2014-2018 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 vehicles equipped with a 5.3-liter engine, a 3.08-ratio rear axle and four-wheel drive. The sensor failure could result in unintended activation of the driveline protection system, and cause unintended braking of the wheel on the opposite side of the failed sensor. That could cause the vehicle to pull to one side unexpectedly, increasing the risk of a crash, the Detroit automaker said. GM said it was not aware of any crashes relating to the issue but found 150 field claims alleging the condition caused unintended braking or lateral vehicle motion. A GM dealer in May submitted a warranty report relating to the issue in a 2018 GMC Yukon, and two days later, a GM brand quality manager submitted the report to GMÂ’s Speak Up For Safety program that tracks potential safety issues, which prompted a GM investigation and testing. Recalls Chevrolet GM GMC Truck SUV

GM exploring ways to raise half-ton Duramax diesel tow rating

Lots of truck owners cheered when GM announced fuel economy numbers for the 2020 Chevrolet Silverado with the 3.0-liter Duramax diesel inline-six. Even after Ram let loose its EPA mileage ratings for the 2020 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel, the Chevy oil-burner still took the trophy. The victory was years in the making, GM engineers spending an entire four-year development cycle refining the LM2 Duramax to increase mileage. The tradeoff, as well all know by now, is towing; the Duramax in half-ton duty pulls a maximum 9,300 pounds in the Silverado. Rivals across town can do more, the Ford F-150 PowerStroke rated at 11,500, the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel game to pull 12,560. GM engineer John Barta told Muscle Cars & Trucks that more hauling chops could be on the way, explaining, "We’re actually looking at upgrading some of the materials around (the engine bay) to see if we can maybe raise our tow rating." Engine bay materials are at issue due to thermal complexities underhood. John Barta, GM's assistant chief engineer of diesel engine controls, said the Duramax's inline-six configuration allowed engineers to get emissions hardware like the combined selective catalytic reduction, diesel oxidation catalysts, and diesel particulate filter unit closer to the engine, where it heats up quicker, getting emissions down quicker. But that filter puts another heat source in those confines, enforcing a cap on the tow rating to keep the engine and other systems from overheating. "If you look under the hood," he said, "youÂ’ll see a significant amount of silver ‘moon tapeÂ’ around to make sure things arenÂ’t getting overheatedÂ… if we were to go up in higher towing, which we can, we start impacting the possibility of deteriorating some of the components.” There isn't much space for more grille, so swapping for a better grade of "moon tape" or a different kind of material could reduce engine bay heat, extracting a higher tow rating in the process.  It's important to note a point Barta's been making for months about the Duramax figures, though. "Even though itÂ’s nice to brag about big numbers, in reality, light duty customers are not towing that large with their trucks," and, "We do know that (95 percent) of our light duty customers donÂ’t tow over 9,000 pounds." On our First Drive of the 2020 Silverado diesel we called out the tow rating, but emphasized that the Chevy and GMC have more important challenges to overcome.

This is what a 2017 Chevy Camaro Z28 could look like

The latest Camaro Z28, the enthusiast darling of the somewhat frumpy fifth-generation pony car, only hit the scene in 2014. It housed the wonderful 7.0-liter, naturally-aspirated LS7 small block V8 and featured a ton of aero bits. The trickest pieces may have been the dynamic spool valve shocks, legitimately race tech for the road. So with the new Camaro out in the wild, we were wondering what a new Z28 might look like, and thus, commissioned these renders based on our best guesses as to what a future Z28 might be. Since Chevy didn't stray too far from the Zeta-chassis Camaro formula with its new Alpha-based car, our vision of a new 2017 Camaro Z28 likewise is a sequel rather than a reboot. The exterior styling and aero details are similar, but sleeker. The defining and protruding front splitter is back, but it's smoothed slightly and better integrated. It shares quad exhaust pipes with the lowlier SS, but they're of the beveled Z06 variety, and sized up to a howitzer caliber. Instead of a weak faux rear fender vent, our version gains a real brake cooling duct. Some iconic elements, like the hood extractor vent and the large decklid spoiler, remain. What we can't see, we have to speculate on. As the track-focused, hardcore pony car in the Camaro lineup, the Z28 will have to do battle with the Ford Shelby Mustang GT350R. There's simply no avoiding it. And whereas Ford distinguished that car with a 5.2-liter, 526-horsepower, flat-plane-crank V8, Chevy is likely to look to the parts bin to find motivation. This isn't a knock; the LS and LT-series small block V8s are both numerous and power-dense. And there's one engine that seems to do the trick: the LSA, last seen in the old CTS-V and still on sale in the Camaro ZL1 (and of course, still being produced as a crate engine). In ZL1 form, the LSA makes about 580 hp, which is a nice margin over the GT350R. It's also a high-zoot but not top-of-the-line mill, having been mostly superseded by the 650-hp LT4. That puts our probable Z28 far enough behind the new CTS-V and current Corvette Z06 in the pecking order to be a safe bet, without hobbling it with the LT1 shared with the Camaro SS and regular Corvette. Will those trick spool-valve shocks from Multimatic make it to the Z28 again? Ford is taking the GT350R very seriously, and if the expensive but supremely capable suspension system is required to manhandle the Shelby at the track, you can bet that Chevy will pony up for it.