All Topics  
GM W platform

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

GM W platform
 
 
  Topics GM W platform Topic Home

The W-body is an automobile platform
Automobile platform

An automobile platform is a shared set of common design, engineering, and production efforts, as well as major components over a number of outwardly distinct models and even types of automobiles, often from different, but related marques....
 from General Motors
General Motors

General Motors Corporation , founded in 1908, is the world's second-largest automaker after Toyota, ranked by 2008 global unit sales. GM was the global sales leader for 77 consecutive calendar years from 1931 to 2008....
 which underpins mid-size car
Mid-size car

A mid-size car is the North American and Australian term for an automobile with a size between that of a Compact car and a full-size car. In Europe, cars of a similar size are often referred to as large family cars, or executive cars....
s with front-wheel drive
Front-wheel drive

Front-wheel drive is a form of Internal combustion engine/transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only....
. The platform, originally code named GM10, began in 1982 under Chairman Roger B. Smith and debuted in 1988 with the Pontiac Grand Prix
Pontiac Grand Prix

The Pontiac Grand Prix was an automobile produced by the Pontiac division of General Motors. First introduced as part of Pontiac's full-size model offering for the 1962 model year, the Grand Prix name was also applied to cars in the personal luxury car market segment and the mid-size offering, slotting below the large Pontiac Bonneville in th...
, the Buick Regal
Buick Regal

The Buick Regal is a mid-size car produced by General Motors' Buick division from 1973 through 2004, during which Buick also used the Buick Century name on mid-size models; the two frequently shared bodies and powertrains....
, and the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme
Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme

The Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme was a mid-size car produced by General Motors for the United States market. It was always at the top of the Oldsmobile Cutlass range....
 coupé
Coupé

A coup? or coupe is a closed car body style, the precise definition of which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and over time. Coup?s are often hardtopped sports cars or sporty variants of sedan body styles, with doors commonly reduced from 4 to 2, and a Close-coupled sedan interior offering either two seats or 2+2 seating ....
s. Sedans followed for 1990. The platform cost $7 billion to develop and was to replace all midsize cars produced by Chevrolet
Chevrolet

Chevrolet is a brand of automobile, produced by General Motors . It is the top selling GM marque, with "Chevrolet" or "Chevy" being at times synonymous with GM....
, Pontiac
Pontiac

Pontiac is a brand of automobiles, produced by General Motors Corporation that has been sold in the United States, Canada and Mexico since 1926....
, Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile

Oldsmobile was a brand name of automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory....
, and Buick
Buick

Buick is a marque of automobile sold in the United States, Canada, China, Taiwan, Qatar, Kuwait, and Israel by General Motors Corporation. Since the demise of Oldsmobile in 2004, it is GM's only North America-based entry-level luxury brand....
. The plan was huge in scope, calling for seven plants that would each assemble 250,000 of the cars, or 21% of the total U.S.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'GM W platform'
Start a new discussion about 'GM W platform'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


The W-body is an automobile platform
Automobile platform

An automobile platform is a shared set of common design, engineering, and production efforts, as well as major components over a number of outwardly distinct models and even types of automobiles, often from different, but related marques....
 from General Motors
General Motors

General Motors Corporation , founded in 1908, is the world's second-largest automaker after Toyota, ranked by 2008 global unit sales. GM was the global sales leader for 77 consecutive calendar years from 1931 to 2008....
 which underpins mid-size car
Mid-size car

A mid-size car is the North American and Australian term for an automobile with a size between that of a Compact car and a full-size car. In Europe, cars of a similar size are often referred to as large family cars, or executive cars....
s with front-wheel drive
Front-wheel drive

Front-wheel drive is a form of Internal combustion engine/transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only....
. The platform, originally code named GM10, began in 1982 under Chairman Roger B. Smith and debuted in 1988 with the Pontiac Grand Prix
Pontiac Grand Prix

The Pontiac Grand Prix was an automobile produced by the Pontiac division of General Motors. First introduced as part of Pontiac's full-size model offering for the 1962 model year, the Grand Prix name was also applied to cars in the personal luxury car market segment and the mid-size offering, slotting below the large Pontiac Bonneville in th...
, the Buick Regal
Buick Regal

The Buick Regal is a mid-size car produced by General Motors' Buick division from 1973 through 2004, during which Buick also used the Buick Century name on mid-size models; the two frequently shared bodies and powertrains....
, and the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme
Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme

The Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme was a mid-size car produced by General Motors for the United States market. It was always at the top of the Oldsmobile Cutlass range....
 coupé
Coupé

A coup? or coupe is a closed car body style, the precise definition of which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and over time. Coup?s are often hardtopped sports cars or sporty variants of sedan body styles, with doors commonly reduced from 4 to 2, and a Close-coupled sedan interior offering either two seats or 2+2 seating ....
s. Sedans followed for 1990. The platform cost $7 billion to develop and was to replace all midsize cars produced by Chevrolet
Chevrolet

Chevrolet is a brand of automobile, produced by General Motors . It is the top selling GM marque, with "Chevrolet" or "Chevy" being at times synonymous with GM....
, Pontiac
Pontiac

Pontiac is a brand of automobiles, produced by General Motors Corporation that has been sold in the United States, Canada and Mexico since 1926....
, Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile

Oldsmobile was a brand name of automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory....
, and Buick
Buick

Buick is a marque of automobile sold in the United States, Canada, China, Taiwan, Qatar, Kuwait, and Israel by General Motors Corporation. Since the demise of Oldsmobile in 2004, it is GM's only North America-based entry-level luxury brand....
. The plan was huge in scope, calling for seven plants that would each assemble 250,000 of the cars, or 21% of the total U.S. car market . It was badly executed from the start, but GM’s 1984 reorganization, combined with changing market dynamics wrought havoc on the program and it never recovered. By 1989, the year before the last of the original GM10's were launched, GM was losing $2000 on every one of the cars it produced . The later revision of this platform was known as the MS2000 or simply the W2-Car. Early versions used a fiberglass monoleaf spring combined with struts in the rear. The second generation cars and the 1995 and up Lumina replaced the leaf spring with coil springs.

Vehicles using the W-body include:
  • 107.5 in wheelbase:
    • 1988-1996 Buick Regal
      Buick Regal

      The Buick Regal is a mid-size car produced by General Motors' Buick division from 1973 through 2004, during which Buick also used the Buick Century name on mid-size models; the two frequently shared bodies and powertrains....
    • 1988-1997 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme
      Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme

      The Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme was a mid-size car produced by General Motors for the United States market. It was always at the top of the Oldsmobile Cutlass range....
    • 1988-1996 Pontiac Grand Prix
      Pontiac Grand Prix

      The Pontiac Grand Prix was an automobile produced by the Pontiac division of General Motors. First introduced as part of Pontiac's full-size model offering for the 1962 model year, the Grand Prix name was also applied to cars in the personal luxury car market segment and the mid-size offering, slotting below the large Pontiac Bonneville in th...
    • 1990-2001 Chevrolet Lumina
      Chevrolet Lumina

      The Chevrolet Lumina sedan and minivan were first introduced in 1989 for the 1990 model year as a new range of vehicles from the Chevrolet brand of General Motors to replace both the Chevrolet Celebrity sedan and coupe, and the Chevrolet Monte Carlo coupe....
    • 1995-1999 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
      Chevrolet Monte Carlo

      The Chevrolet Monte Carlo was an American-made automobile. Originally introduced by Chevrolet for the 1970 model year , it has gone through six generations as of 2007....
  • 109 in wheelbase
    • 1997-2005 Buick Century
      Buick Century

      Buick Century is the model name used by the Buick division of General Motors for a line of full-size performance vehicles from 1936 to 1942 and 1954 to 1958, and from 1973 to 2005 for a mid-size car....
    • 1997-2004 Buick Regal
      Buick Regal

      The Buick Regal is a mid-size car produced by General Motors' Buick division from 1973 through 2004, during which Buick also used the Buick Century name on mid-size models; the two frequently shared bodies and powertrains....
    • 2000-2005 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
      Chevrolet Monte Carlo

      The Chevrolet Monte Carlo was an American-made automobile. Originally introduced by Chevrolet for the 1970 model year , it has gone through six generations as of 2007....
    • 1998-2002 Oldsmobile Intrigue
      Oldsmobile Intrigue

      The Oldsmobile Intrigue was a mid-size sedan manufactured from 1998 through 2002 by the Oldsmobile division of General Motors. The Intrigue's design cues were first seen in 1995 with the Oldsmobile Antares concept car....
  • 110.5 in wheelbase
    • 2000-2005 Chevrolet Impala
      Chevrolet Impala

      The Chevrolet Impala is a Full-size car automobile built by General Motors for their Chevrolet division. Ed Cole, Chevrolet's chief engineer in the late 1950s, defined the Impala as a "prestige car within the reach of the average American citizen."...
    • 1997-2003 Pontiac Grand Prix
      Pontiac Grand Prix

      The Pontiac Grand Prix was an automobile produced by the Pontiac division of General Motors. First introduced as part of Pontiac's full-size model offering for the 1962 model year, the Grand Prix name was also applied to cars in the personal luxury car market segment and the mid-size offering, slotting below the large Pontiac Bonneville in th...


2004

The W platform was updated in 2004 rather than being replaced by a stretched Epsilon platform
GM Epsilon platform

Epsilon is General Motors' new mid-size car front-wheel drive automobile platform. The architecture debuted in the 2002 Opel Vectra#Vectra C and 2003 Saab 9-3....
, as had been planned. Metal fabrication of the floor pan for W-body cars is performed at the Parma Metal Center in Parma, Ohio. The cars are built at GM's two Oshawa, Ontario
Oshawa, Ontario

Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline, approximately 60 kilometres east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of both the Greater Toronto Area and the Golden Horseshoe....
 plants. The transverse
Transverse engine

A transverse engine is an engine in which the crankshaft is oriented side-to-side relative to the length of the vehicle. This is also sometimes called an east-west engine....
 use of GM's small-block
GM LS engine

The LS series is a new design intended as the only V-8 engine utilized in General Motors Corporation' line of RWD cars and trucks. The LS series was a clean sheet design with little in common with the classic Chevrolet Small-Block engine....
 engine in the W-bodies was a major addition for 2005.

Vehicles using the updated W platform:
  • 110.5 in wheelbase
    • 2004-2008 Pontiac Grand Prix
      Pontiac Grand Prix

      The Pontiac Grand Prix was an automobile produced by the Pontiac division of General Motors. First introduced as part of Pontiac's full-size model offering for the 1962 model year, the Grand Prix name was also applied to cars in the personal luxury car market segment and the mid-size offering, slotting below the large Pontiac Bonneville in th...
    • 2005-2009 Buick LaCrosse
      Buick LaCrosse

      The Buick LaCrosse is a mid-size car produced by the Buick division of United States automaker General Motors since 2004 as the 2005 model year....
    • 2005-2009 Buick Allure (Canada)
    • 2006-2009 Chevrolet Impala
      Chevrolet Impala

      The Chevrolet Impala is a Full-size car automobile built by General Motors for their Chevrolet division. Ed Cole, Chevrolet's chief engineer in the late 1950s, defined the Impala as a "prestige car within the reach of the average American citizen."...
    • 2006-2007 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
      Chevrolet Monte Carlo

      The Chevrolet Monte Carlo was an American-made automobile. Originally introduced by Chevrolet for the 1970 model year , it has gone through six generations as of 2007....


External links