Cadillac Tuner D3 Considering Tuned ELR
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Think quick: what’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of tuning a Cadillac? We’re not psychic, but we’re guessing your answer was somewhere along the lines of “more puh-puh-puh power”. Now, what if we told you that the D3‘s concept of the just-released ELR extended-range EV has nothing to do with power or the powertrain?
To clarify: the Cadillac tuner is considering its own take on the ELR, but instead of increasing the power output of the Voltec powerplant, D3 is thinking about making the already-efficient car even more efficient by improving the drag coefficient, reducing weight, and decreasing rotational mass through upgrade wheels. Not only would all of these things make the ELR more efficient, but it will also make it quicker. The image you see above is D3′s visualization of these kinds of modifications to the ELR.
The GM Authority Take
Rather than (inefficiently) boosting power, why not optimize the vehicle’s inefficient areas? In many ways, this kind of thinking seems like the future of tuning… wouldn’t you say so yourself?
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As an option, they could consider changing the battery pack or modifying it to increase the electric range.
Well, I guess we need to know just how much performance would improve vs. the cost of the enhancements. I would bet that there will be minimal performance (0-60, range, etc) with what they are changing and huge cost. So the benefit to cost ratio will be not so good.
One thing about weight. The way the EPA MPG works is that in the MPG calcs they use weight ranges to make changes to the MPG numbers. In other words if they take 25# out of the vehicle and do not change weight class they do not get a change in the EPA MPG numbers. So just changing one part may not change the number. Not that the above vehicle would ever get a certified EPA MPG number.
If it doesn’t make a big difference, it hardly seems worth it for D3 to bother. And if the gain is minimal and the cost fairly high, I don’t believe it would sell. I have no idea what their plans would be, but somehow they have to find significant gains.
To continue, if they do figure out something they can apply to other electrics down the road, then yes it sounds like they would be creating a future for themselves.
Of course styling revisions alone may make it salable.
Maybe so, 62vetteefp, but they would have to charge quite little for people to buy it. Or at least that’s the way I always see it. I have no interest in just cosmetic upgrades, so it’s tough for me to imagine it being worth much. But, if they manage a significant weight change, so it changes the EPA numbers and boosts performance at least noticeably, then it can sell.