Toyota Deals the Final Blow to GM and Ford with New Engine...

Cut engine cost by $1000?

I doubt that! Unless they've found a way to start with seeds.

I have not researched this new proclamation, but it doesn't meet the initial BS test. I don't think there's $1,000 in machining cost there to be saved.

Slave labor?

and

The new engine technology is now in use not only at Bodine, which Toyota bought in 1990, but also at foundries in Japan and China.

*****Partly as a result,**** the cost of building an engine for the redesigned Camry that was scheduled to go on sale in March will be about $1,000, half the cost of an engine for the previous generation of Camrys, says Gary Convis, executive vice president for North American manufacturing.

I'm still a sceptic...

Made of magnesium materials Very impressive! Light weight

Magnesium....WOW I bet the firefighter's will love that.

Care to cite a reference? Could it be

?This is a ridiculous article, apparently written by the Toyota PR firm. The total manufacturing cost for many engines is under $1000, so this seems like a total BS story. I can only assume that the old Camry engine is horrendously expensive, since saving $1000 only reduces the cost by 50%. At $1000 the "new" Camry V-6 still costs more to build than a Buick 3.8L or a Ford 4.6L. So instead of highlighting Toyota's efficiency, it point out how inefficient the company actually is.

You might want to look at this old Wall Street Journal Story from 1996 -

. Back then Toyota was going toreduce the cost to produce an engine from $600 to $400. Seem like they musthave really gone down hill if they are now going to save $1000 tomanufacture an engine, when they claimed they could build them for $400 in1996.

You need to watch Toyota, they cut corners in subtle ways that end up cost the Customer many extra dollars down the road. As incredible as it seems, many Toyota engines don't use hydraulic valve lifters and require very expensive routine valve clearance adjustments. This probably saves Toyota $50 when they build the engine and costs the Customer hundreds when they have the valve clearances inspected and adjusted (if they have it checked at all).

Ed

We will have to waitand see what shaving $1000 off the cost of the engine has in store for the customer 40,000 miles down the road. GM shaaved some cost & weight off the 3800 by installing a plastic intake manifold's and the results were not well received by car owners.

Time Will Tell.

Harryface

05 Park Avenue 34,255 91 Bonneville LE 306,010

You know it's customary to point to some authoritative source for that sort of stuff.

While it's nice to use NG for discussing this sort of issue, MOST of us know our way around the web... and get pissed when others just comment on things without helping rest of us not have to search for it.

Near as I can tell from searching, it's cam covers, etc... not structural assemblies...

Your link says the block is poured aluminum casting. It reminds me of two things. The Vega for one. And those sheet metal blocks of long ago. (Was it the Crosby?) You can test and test a new design like Toyota's. They still won't know until enough are produced whether they meet customer needs or save the money intended.

Magnesium is magnesium. Sure, there's less of it, but it's still there and will still burn VERY hot...

Do you read the links you post? This is certainly apples and oranges. That was the engine for a "dirt-cheap" car to be introduced in Asia. Not very likely to be the same thing as the motor for a Camry.

The proof's in the pudding. Toyota is selling a very nice car at prices competitive with GM and Ford offerings and MAKING MONEY doing it.

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*LOL* I have fond memories of how hot and brightly magnesium would burn in the Science lab! Toyota could add a whole new meaning to "running hot"!!!

So the current Camry engine cost FOUR times as much as a 1994 four cylinder? It is inconceivable that that the third rate Camry V-6 costs $2000 to build. This whole "saving $1000" claim is some sort of silly Toyota PR campaigned designed to polish the Toyota image. What they should have reported is something along the lines of "Toyota finally get a grip on excessive engine costs." It reminds me of managers who inflate their departmental budgets and then, when pushed, announce significant cost savings so that they can look like heros.

If you think third rate designs are "very nice vehicles" then I Toyota is your brand. Toyota charges thousands more for comparable vehicles while paying far less in salray and benefits to their workforce. As far as I can tell the whole Toyota sucess story is based on convincing people that they should pay more for less.

Ed

Doesn't really say what this new "technique" is. Aluminum blocks are not new.Neither is magnesium, ever been to a VW block burning party at the Bonneville salt flats???:-) IMO the "new" technique _could_ be the same GM has used for the last several years on their new in-lines, namely lost foam investment casting.............

Toyota Deals the Final Blow to GM and Ford with New Engine block

just out of curiousity, how hard is it to get them to flame up?

Crosley, it was. CoBra (Copper Brazed) engine. I think they eventually went to a conventional cast block.

nate

Worked for Volkswagen for years...

nate