A Word With Tony
Tony Roma is the Senior Engineering Group Manager, Integration and Advanced Concepts, in the High Performance Vehicle Operations (HPVO), one part of GM Performance Division. He was gracious enough to sit down with me recently and discuss topics that are right up our alley, such as performance GM production models, future projects, and HPVO's relationship with GM Performance Parts, which should result in some very exciting products in the near future.
Thanks For Your Time, Tony! So, How Many People Work In Hpvo?
There are about 140 people in the High Performance Vehicle group, between designers, release engineers, development engineers, program managers, and people who work in production.
What Are You Currently Working On?
We're working on everything for vehicles going into production now-Cobalt SS, Trailblazer SS, V-series Cadillacs, and some GXP Pontiac stuff. For instance, our engineers are busy visiting the Lordstown [Ohio] plant once a week making sure the Cobalt SS is being built right, and we're also working all the way out to vehicles planned for 2013. Obviously we're driving the ones that are closer to production-we're doing endurance tests on V-8 Camaro, G8 GXP, and CTS-V.
How Are The Cars Tested?
Depending on the requirements of the vehicle, we typically run from six to 24 hours. There are different levels of duty cycles based on customer expectations; for instance, we run every major iteration of Corvette through a 24-hour endurance test. And it's not like we start the clock and 24 hours later it's over. When the car comes back in the clock is stopped, the technicians will take the wheels off and check the vehicle over to make sure everything looks OK, the wheels go back on, and the clock starts again once it goes back out on track. It typically takes over a week to do one of these 24-hour tests, it's a pretty involved deal.
How Does Hpvo Work With Other Gm Arms, Like GMPP?
There are a lot of initiatives like that that we're working on with the Performance Parts guys right now; for instance, the new Gen IV LS controller for crate motor swaps is a great example of how the production arm and the performance arm can work together. We've been working on that for a while; it sounded real easy to do but the unique software involved meant it wasn't. The finished product is well thought out and well executed in a way so people with a crate engine can take this wiring harness, hook up power and ground, plug in connectors, and hit the key and go.
What Other Performance Projects Are In The Works For You?
Some of the things we've already introduced are the supercharged Cobalt Stage kits. We're working on induction and exhaust systems for various vehicles. All the things that you need to bolt a crate engine into a car, and also a Stage kit for the LNF Cobalt and HHR. We're working on parts for the Camaro-there's been a lot of effort on coming up with an integrated package for it.
All Of Your R&D Can Really Benefit Guys Like Us, Right?
That's right! One of the things we've been working on was this convertible Firebird that was never really designed for a 600-horse LSX engine. As any hot rodder knows, you quickly run into fuel system, cooling system, braking system problems. These are all things we run into with production programs, so our integration group from Milford goes through to do all of the things it takes to make it drive and run right-in fact, we did the orange Camaro first. We keep track of those things in the event that a business case can be made for parts. If we were ever to offer something like this for sale, we'd first have to make sure that we have something that 93 different aftermarket companies don't already have.
Example: a CTS-V shock package. We were at the Nrburgring doing development on the production version of the car. We tuned up a shock that we really loved. It was tied down, and rode really great on the Autobahn. But when we got it back to the States and drove it around on our broken concrete, we said "no way" and put those on the shelf. That compromise was not right for production. However, there is a certain subset of people who would absolutely buy that package. Like the T1 suspension package for the Corvette, the amount of R&D that goes into them is staggering, and the build quality is sound, with vastly increased performance.
There Are A Lot Of Gm Enthusiasts Who Are Concerned With The Camaro's Irs System. What Can You Tell Us About It?
I can't talk specifically about the Camaro ... but I can say that some of the older cars did have a power-hop problem. Some IRS cars like the original CTS-V had problems with power hop. Many people, especially the ones who modified their cars, had problems with the driveline. However some vehicles, like the Corvettes, had an inherently good driveline design that held up great.
However, especially in the last year or so, we've learned so much regarding how to mitigate power hop-so much in fact that we're patenting some of our findings. The trick is to get the resonance out of the system. And all of the right testing is going on right now on the Camaro!