GM Features to Look For: Speed Limit Indication, Magnesium Door Panels, and Carbon Fiber Wheels
General Motors has been working on more than just its new car-sharing program—it has also been working on some new and interesting features.
First, you have a specific feature that comes with GM’s newest-generation navigation system—in addition to the directions, the system displays the speed limit of the specific road on which you are driving, right in the center of your instrument cluster, as well as in the Head-Up Display in cars which are equipped with it. This limit is found using a database in the vehicle’s navigation system.
A different feature GM is considering (but has not confirmed) has to do with weight saving, in the form of replacing the heavy steel in the vehicle’s door panels with lighter-weight magnesium. By doing this, GM said that it can shave off a little over 10 pounds per inner-door panel, since the magnesium is 50% lighter than the older steel. In addition, making the inner door panels in the new material allows the company to consolidate seven separate inner-door components into one, increasing stiffness.
Finally, GM announced that it would soon be introducing another weight-saving measure by equipping vehicles with carbon fiber wheels. However, unlike competitors like Ford (who already uses carbon fiber composite wheels on its Shelby GT350R), GM wants to apply these wheels to both on-track performance and regular road use. The wheels offer a number of benefits in addition to saving weight (a savings of about 35 pounds per vehicle)—carbon fiber is stiffer than the aluminum currently popular in car wheels, and are more resistant to damage from potholes and other debris.
News Source: GM Authority
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