Gmc Yukon Reviews

This month GM released the Hummer H3 and now Gympie-based right-hand-drive conversion company Performax International is unleashing two massive Yank utes.The first fully complianced 2008 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra utes have arrived with 4.5 tonne towing capacity.Performax International recently achieved Australian Design Rule compliance for the United States-built Silverado after completing design, engineering and conversion work in-house at its Gympie factory.The main model offered will be the Silverado 2500HD crew-cab four-wheel drive, priced at $123,000 plus on-road costs with a four-year/120,000km warranty and four-year roadside assistance. Other models from the extensive Silverado and sister GMC Sierra range are available on order.The 2500HD features crew-cab pick-up bodywork, GM Duramax 6.6 litre V8 turbodiesel power, Allison six-speed automatic transmission with high and low ranges and dashboard-selected four-wheel-drive engagement.Peak engine outputs are 272kW at 3200rpm and 895Nm of torque at 1600rpm.The Allison Adaptive Shift Control gearbox with manual over-ride includes a tow/haul mode, which alters shift patterns to maximise engine efficiency in pulling and braking. Tow/Haul mode also engages grade braking, which selects a lower gear to assist hill descents even when cruise control is operating.Performax International general manager Nick Vandenberg says the 2008 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD is the answer for many heavy-duty and long-distance haulers in Australia.“The 2008 Silverado is a big step forward in performance, refinement, styling and comfort for this type of ute,” Vandenberg said. “With towing capacity at 4.5 tonnes, it's the big ute many people have been waiting for."“We had orders for almost 20 even before the ADR compliance process was completed and now we expect many more from both recreational and business buyers.“There is no other new vehicle like it on the Australian market, especially at a price within the range of many less capable 4WD wagons."“The new exterior and interior styling looks great and the cabin provides real comfort, with a spacious rear bench for three large adults, leather upholstery and the comfort and safety items usually found on passenger cars.”Performax International, formerly Corvette Queensland, has been importing and converting American cars for almost 20 years, developing an unequalled reputation for the quality of its engineering work and customer service.It employs more than 40 people and produces about 200 vehicles a year for Australian roads. 

General Motors has demonstrated the wisdom of US baseball player Yogi Berra's quip that, "it ain't over til it's over” by regaining its crown as the world's biggest car maker in the second quarter.Toyota toppled GM in the first three months of the year from the throne, which the Detroit car maker has occupied since 1931.But GM reported global sales of 2.4 million vehicles between April and June, putting it ahead of Toyota's 2.36 million.The Japanese group remains narrowly ahead over the first half of 2007 and is still widely expected to emerge in the top spot for the year as a whole, based on its forecast of global sales of 9.34 million units compared with GM's 9.2 million.GM's second-quarter comeback was due to surging sales outside North America, up from 1.36 million in the first quarter to 1.39 million in the second, equal to 58 per cent of total sales. Growth was strong in emerging markets.GM's sales in Russia more than doubled from a year earlier, driven mainly by its Chevrolet brand. Sales in Europe as a whole reached a new quarterly record. GM is also the biggest car maker in China, where Toyota has, until recently, been a relatively minor player. Brazil posted a 23 per cent jump.Both companies are struggling on their home turf.Toyota is confronted with a shrinking domestic market; GM has lost US market share to Asian and European rivals and is cutting back low-margin sales to the car-rental industry.Toyota's share of the US market, the world's biggest, grew to 16.1 per cent from 14.6per cent a year earlier, according to Autodata. GM's share slumped to 21.7 per cent inJune, its lowest level in decades apart from during a strike in 1998.Both companies have brushed off the closely watched rivalry.“We're more concerned about what the customer thinks about our products,” a GM spokesman said.Toyota has continued to stress its reputation for quality.Still, GM is not giving up its crown lightly, taking the view that the sales race should be judged on an annual and not a quarterly basis.Toyota on Friday said it was making efforts to ensure the impact of the Niigata earthquake on domestic production would not hit exports.All eight of Japan's car makers announced domestic production shutdowns last week due to supply problems at Riken Corp, which makes piston rings and seal rings for transmission parts. Riken's factories were damaged by last Monday's earthquake.The production setback highlights the low level of inventories Japanese car makers keep due to just-in-time delivery strategies.It could cost the industry about 65,000 units in production and Y100 billion ($937million) in revenue, according to Kurt Sanger, car industry analyst at Macquarie Securities in Tokyo. 

GM claims the new model is the most technologically advanced automobile ever built.It is the first vehicle to combine the hydrogen fuel-cell propulsion system with advanced technologies such as wheel-hub motors, steer- and brake-by-wire controls, a lightweight aluminium structure and lithium-ion batteries."General Motors is proving that advanced technology can remove the (car) from the environmental debate and reduce our dependence on petroleum," says GM's vice-president for research and development and strategic planning Larry Burns.And it's as green a concept as you'll find: the five-seat crossover SUV only emits water vapor and uses clean, renewable hydrogen as a fuel.It accelerates from 0-100km/hour in 10 seconds and features 70 per cent more torque, shorter braking distances and a range of 482km between fill-ups. The Sequel was first unveiled in 2005 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit and at this stage is only a concept car.The Sequel joins the likes of the BMW Hydrogen 7 and the Mercedes A-Class and B-Class-based fuel-cell models.

The reason is that most hybrid transmissions use two electric motors/generators - one connected to the engine generates electricity to power the car while the other turns that electricity into motion.This "power split" system works well in the city but it means hybrids cannot run purely on petrol power. The electric generator and motor have to run all the time, even when the petrol engine is doing most of the work.This is less efficient than a conventional transmission in steady, highway speed driving.The "dual mode" hybrid transmission being developed by DaimlerChrysler, BMW and GM adds extra gears and clutches to the hybrid transmission to create an all-mechanical path from the petrol engine to the wheels.In highway driving, dual mode hybrids work the same way as transmissions in conventional cars.A dual mode hybrid uses the electric motor and generator only for accelerating and recovering energy in braking. At steady high speeds it is driven purely on petrol (or diesel) power.That might sound like a step backwards but it's actually an improvement in efficiency.The jointly developed dual mode transmission has four purely mechanical ratios for open road cruising on petrol/diesel as well as the infinitely variable electro-mechanical gearing range of a power-split hybrid for urban driving.

Billions of dollars will be saved. There will no need to signpost roads, cars will become more energy efficient and the trauma-free roads will mean fewer calls on emergency services and health systems.It is a pipe dream, right? Not if you believe General Motors vice president of research and development, Dr Larry Burns.Dr Burns is a self-confessed dreamer who likes to push the envelope. He has persuaded his company to explore affordable technologies with the potential to remove the tragedy of road crashes from society.Audi and Honda have runs on the board, releasing vehicle-to-vehicle safety systems at this month's North American International Auto Show in Detroit.Their systems work by using global positioning, radar, laser and radio to communicate with other road users.Dr Burns, however, has dreams of protecting all road users, not just those who can afford to place sophisticated technologies in their vehicles."Is it pie in the sky thinking? I don't believe so. We have to challenge ourselves, we have to ask those questions and search for the answers, that's how we evolve," he says. "Some of you may be aware that I have a cochlear implant . . . had it not been for the vision of the Australian professor Graeme Clark who thought of the possibility of putting an electronic device inside the ear to assist the deaf, I would most likely not be here talking to you today."So, what can a car in a crashless society look like? Dr Burns suggests it could be something as streamlined as an oversized skateboard - stripped bare of airbags and occupant safety cells among other safety devices - that also will give auto designers a broader scope with which to play.General Motors' answer to a crashless society, at this point in time, is vehicle-to-vehicle communication, along similar lines to Honda and Audi.It is exploring the use, however, of satellites and global positioning systems to map where vehicles are on the road network and have them constantly "talk to each other" - effectively taking human error out of the equation.Satellites are not yet part of the equation with current testing done in a controlled environment where test vehicles can "talk" directly to each other by radio waves. The basis of the vehicle-to-vehicle communication is that every car will know the precise location of all other cars travelling in the immediate area, with elaborate computer systems taking control of braking, acceleration and steering to avoid accidents.Satellite and global positioning technologies also can be used eventually to keep vehicles "on track", with roadways so accurately mapped motor vehicle speeds and the possibility of road runoffs are controlled by the commander system.Navigation will be simple. Punch in your final destination and let the GPS and smart vehicle guide you there.Dr Burns sees the possibility such a system can become so sophisticated it one day will be able to read road gradients and surface types and make adjustments to achieve energy savings.Perhaps the only crashes which cannot be avoided will be those involving pedestrians and animals - the often unexpected intruders on roads.The combination of radar warnings and the ability of the vehicle-to-vehicle communication system to avoid a more serious accident, however, will lessen the impact of such events.This is technology, Dr Burns says, that one day can be included in new cars for about the cost of a tank of fuel - around $70."To work, it has to be in every car and, therefore, it has to be affordable," Dr Burns says. "This kind of technology can be made affordable,"The technology has been proven to work. So confident is Dr Burns in the ability of his company's vehicle-to-vehicle technology, he has done some "real life" testing of the system with his bosses in the fitted out cars.At General Motors' Milford Proving Ground near Detroit, cars fitted with vehicle-to-vehicle communication systems have been used in an all-too-common crash scenarios.Vehicle manufacturers in Europe, the U.S. and Japan have agreed to develop a common standard for the necessary hardware and software and are pursuing standard radio frequencies to assure the system works right around the world.Safety first1949: Volvo introduces the first seat belt.1953: Patents applications for the first airbag system.1959: Volvo invents the three-point seat belt.1968: Allen Breed was holding the patent to the only crash sensing technology.1978: The anti-lock braking system.1990: Various forms of electronic stability programs and traction controls.2000: Radar and sensory equipment begins to find its way into concept vehicles.2006: Vehicle-to-vehicle communication presented as the way of the future for automotive safety.