GM done with CVT

http://www.newsday.com/mynews/ny-swctv053956753sep05,0,3149027.story

 

Great, the replacement is a *six* speed automatic. Because 5 speeds
don't shift enough as it is. IIRC, Ford didn't offer a 5 speed on
their recent miivans specifically because the current 5 speeds shift so
much that they're annoying. God knows the 5 in my dad's Honda minivan
does. even with the cruise on, it's STILL at a loss as to what gear it
should be in.

In contrast, a 4L60E behaves just fine, and behaves better around town,
too. Hopefully, GM's six speed will be as well behaved. Really, when
you get down to it, GM's automatic transmissions are the best out
there...

 

You have to be kidding. The crap they iunstall in Tahoes is
just an explosion waiting to happen. A friend lost his
Tahoe's automatic at around 50k miles. THe dealer said - get
in line!

Ed

 

....sorry for top posting - and on a note of digression, I have noticed
several times the weirdest whining noise when I've been in a parking lot
next to a newer, full size GM truck/suv. I'm assuming they can't hear it
inside - it sound almost electronic, any ideas? (just curious)

 

Let's see:

'70s Vega (Turbo 350) - 150,000+ miles.
'87 Celebrity Wagon (towed with it!) - 225,000 miles.
And that's just cars I've been in. plenty of friend who've not blown up
transmissions in GM cars.

Look how SUV owners drive! 80mph, fully overloaded, with 5 supersized
adults, in 90 degree weather, with th A/C on. I see tons of
'invinceable' SUVs stuck by the side of the road in the summer, almost
always an overheat. I won't even go into parking. 99% of the American
public does NOT know how to properly park a car with an automatic.

4L60E. Same basic design GM's used for 2 decades now. The bugs were
worked out long ago. GM has 4 RWD automatics, 1 of which isn't used in
the US (unless you count Isuzu, i think they're still around). The 4L60
is a 20 year old design, the 4L80 is a TH400 with an overdrive, the 5L40
is some thing BMW and Caddy use (Easy way to piss off BMW snobs is to
point out that the automatic tranny is probbably made by GM...)

GM doesn't design a tranny per platform, they have a few designs which
go into EVERYTHING. If the 4L60 was a bad design*, 1/2 of GM's SUV line
would be dropping dead right now. The only real weaknesses of it are
it's not happy at high RPMs, and older non electronic (TH 700) variety
is known to blow up governors. If you've got a TH 700 that won't come
out of first, 99% of the time, it's a stripped gov gear.

Beats Honda's amazing 5 speeds, they're having a HUGE recall action on
just about all of them, due to it being a fucked design. We had the one
in our minivan 'inspected' (i.e., they look at it, yup, it's a
transmission). We're keeping our fingers crossed. The dealer STILL
can't come up with an answer as to WHY the thing can't pick a gear,
period. Honda also did a major action with their Acura line, too.

Chryslers suck too. The recent (i.e. last 25 years) 3, 4, and 5 speeds
are junk.

*it's a weird one, but not a bad one. Also AFAIK the ONLY 4 speed that
has 2 planataries, every other one has 3 or more, save for Ford's AOD
and derrived designs, which have a single planatary in them.

 

Electric fuel pump? They often whine.

 

"Tons"? That'd only be one.

Pat

 

the whining is ,(if its the same thing i have heard) the fuel pumps.
c/k trucks.
my friends 2000 z71 is really loud, as my 2000 z71 do NOT whine.

 

Isn't it enough to make fun of them for getting an automatic in
the first place?

-DanD

 

More useful to make fun of them for getting a BMW. Most overrated cars
next to Lexus. And I don't understand Lexus snobs at all. It's a
rebadged Toyota, nothing more.

 

Lexus, Rebadged and Overpriced. Only a handfull of "old" BMW's I
actually liked (2 seaters mostly) and even if I owned one I'd probably
feel like a pompous ass driving one... Nothing in over 2 decades has
been worth owning by BMW.

 

And Lexus snobs HATE it when you point out...It's a Toyota. It drives
them off the wall.

"But it's a BETTER Toyota!!!"

'Uh, dude, it's the SAME FREAKING CAR, with a different trim level'

"No it's not!!! Lexus is built a lot better!!!"

If you've ever seen an older Lexus next to a same year Camary, they look
identical, and are falling apart in identical ways, too.

I've seen some really old BMWs, with drum brakes and all. I'd get one
for the old car appeal, but I'm not into BMW. They make a decent bike,
though - the old ones are like harleys, you can get parts for them and
they run forever, albeit a bit nicer than a same age Harley :/

A friend of mine drove his friend's Z3, commented it's slower than his
Caprice (this was the first year Z3 with the crappy 4 banger), the ride
quality stunk (something I've noticed BMW excels at), and he didn't
think it was overall that great. The BMWs I've been in didn't impress
me much - lousy heat, for one, harsh ride, and not all that great.

But, oh, they're pricy. And they break in expensive ways.

Don't get me started on iDrive, either. Or BMW drivers in general...

IMHO, BMW is slowly but surely turning into nothing more than an
overpriced Chevy for snobs. Every dip out there has oe, they're really
not that reliable, they SUCK in bad weather, and they're a mass produced
bang together car like everything else. Hell, even a Benz is a POS
these days - they're gone REALLY downmarket, vs the old ones.

 

1956-59 507's were probably the few best looking BMW cars made. I like
the horizontally opposed BMW bikes with the funky looking suspension set
ups. Thats about it.

The Z3 was a 35,000 dollar car new and boy what a waste of money. Save
another 10k and buy Corvette that was 100 times the sports car. The only
thing the Z3 had going for it was its looks. I seen a few ragged out
Z3's and boy do those looks disappear quick. It really stands out as a
cheaply made car once the bumpers hanging off and body panels dont line
up. Probably from shaking apart.

These days? They havent made anything special since the 50's.

 

They're nice bikes (The funky suspension in the back? I thought it was
Indian who had that first?). Recent ones are an aquired taste, not to
mention flaky - they have numerous electrical gremlins. BMW riders are
less snobbish than Goldwingers, at least...

Yeah, no kidding. The Corvette, as much as people hate to hear it, is
one of the best bang/buck performance cars out there. Plus, parts are
available, well, at your local Chevy dealer

I thought they were ugly. The newer roadsters that use the roundels on
the sides as turn signals would be coooler if the things popped out for
a turn, then popped back in. But hey....

Look at any 5 year old BMW. They fall apart quick. Oh yeah, notice the
X5s around with the plastic shields around the exhausts in the bumpers
missing.

Do they still use that silly rubber donut CV joint that blows up every
50,000 miles or so?

Other beef? They're fucking expensive cars to repair, the dealers are
assholes, and they break a lot.

I seriously don't get BMWs. You'd think a so called 'ultimate' driving
machine would be at least somewhat reliable, handle decently in bad
weather, and not fall apart, but darn, even my freaking Saturn can
tolerate snow better, has gone 200,000+ miles without disaster, and
isn't totally trashed.

I do like the yearly fun of watching my neighbors try to get up the hill
in the snow with theirs. They generally get hung up somewhere by the
time they come near our driveway. My old Chevy wagon didn't even care
about the snow, it'd just keep going and going....

 

The r27 is a good example of BMW's funky suspensions.
http://classic-mopeds.x-account.de/bmw/r27.jpg

The savior like set up in the rear was found on both BMWs and Indians.
http://classic-mopeds.x-account.de/bmw/bmw-r61.jpg

They both also have used leaf spring suspension on the front and rear.
http://classic-mopeds.x-account.de/bmw/bmw-r32sw.jpg
http://www.starklite.com/museum/images/mike1.jpg

IIRC BMW copied Indians use of leaf springs for the rear.
http://www.photos.indianmotorbikes.com/16-24pplus/ppl019.jpg