Posted on January 18, 2011 in:
General
The celebration of the new book A**holeology The Cheat Sheet comes to a close with a gallery of awful parking jobs.
Bad parking jobs can ruin my day. Even when they don’t affect me personally. If I see someone parked like a d-bag, it just drives me nuts.
It’s usually because the park job says a great deal about the person. They are probably a d-bag in every facet of life. The park job is just another outward display.
Here is a gallery of awful parking jobs. A couple are ridiculous but a few are just subtle enough to make a person want to explode. And they wonder why road rage happens. It starts in parking lots. read more »
Posted on January 16, 2011 in:
General
Probably the sole most moneymaker in the auto industry are the add-on features. Yes, we all know that if you live in LA, you’re going to want a sunroof, and that’s going to cost you a ridiculous $2,000+ dollars.
Or if you live in Boston, what’s a car without seat heaters? So maybe those are reasonable requests, but it’s the odd things that make your car bill go from $20,000 to $32,000. Think again.
Do you really need all those extra features? Ehh…. maybe not. read more »
Posted on January 15, 2011 in:
General
The greatest driving roads in the world should have a perfect mixture between challenging and complicated bends, long fast straights, little to no traffic and especially breathtaking views!
These roads might have enough twists and turns to give you a headache but you’ll feel incredible after you’ve conquered them and you’ll surely want to try it again and again and again.
Here is a list with the 15 Most Beautiful Roads in the World to drive on and another five honorable mentions that you’ll surely like. Enjoy! read more »
Sketched drawings of imaginary sports cars covered my notebook as an elementary school pupil.
Assembled in the ether of a daydream, each penciled design came from an imagination unrestrained by reality, with nary a concession to things like outward visibility, bumper heights or ground clearance. Engines were huge, tires were wide and bodywork was unbelievably sleek.
It didn’t matter that none of the drawings represented real cars. From my naive perspective, I could bring the world’s coolest cars to life in two-dimensional black and white.
Thirty years later, I find myself sitting in the driver’s seat of a 2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage. To a car guy, this artful amalgamate of aluminum, magnesium, carbon fiber, leather, rubber and glass represents pure sensory overload.
As a jaded automotive journalist, I’m supposed to maintain a poker face when presented with such an objet d’art. Plainly, I am struggling today. read more »
Posted on January 9, 2011 in:
Honda
When Honda originally launched the odd duck Accord Crosstour in late 2009, we were told that the only available powertrain would be a V6, but that plans for a four-cylinder hadn’t been completely ruled out.
Now, Honda fansite Temple of VTEC reports that a memo sent to dealerships states that a four-cylinder Crosstour is on the way, arriving at some point later this year.
Details about the four-cylinder Crosstour were not divulged, but we would assume that it’s the same 2.4-liter engine currently found in the Accord sedan.
Temple of VTEC reports that a larger four-cylinder unit for the CR-V crossover is currently in the works, so we won’t rule out the possibility of that new mill finding its way under the Crosstour’s hood, as well. read more »
Posted on January 9, 2011 in:
Ford
The latest news from Oz comes courtesy of Prodrive, which has a close relationship with Ford Performance Vehicles.
Starting with a Coyote V8 engine block, Prodrive has created a supercharged V8 that’s lighter and more powerful than the naturally-aspirated unit it started with.
Known as the “Miami” engine, the supercharged V8 generates 449 horsepower at 5,750 rpm and 420 pound-feet of torque from 2,200 rpm up to 5,500 rpm. By altering the boost levels, Prodrive offers a less powerful version that produces 422 horsepower.
Both versions are planned for use in various trim levels of the Ford Falcon four-door. The 315kw (422 hp) unit will be available in the Falcon GS while the 335 kW (449 hp) engine is offered with the Falcon GT, GT-E and GT-P.
The Falcons will wear the Boss name on the fenders and both versions provide yet another reason to book a flight on Qantas.
Posted on January 9, 2011 in:
General
Back in 1999, about one in four new vehicles purchased were leases. That number dropped throughout the last decade until the Great Recession put leasing on the endangered species list.
Automakers were losing money due to poorer-than-expected residual rates. At the same time, customers weren’t in the mood to spend money on a new car or truck. As a result, Chrysler stopped leasing altogether in 2008, and General Motors limited leasing to its most popular models.
Wards Automotive reports that while leasing has taken a considerable beating, the two- and three-year vehicle rental is now on the comeback trail.
GM and Chrysler are back in the leasing business, and according to Wards, Volkswagen, Hyundai and Kia are pushing hard to increase lease transactions. Are automakers rolling the dice in an effort to move more metal? Maybe not. read more »
Not one to be one-upped by Hertz — which already announced a plug-in rental program that’ll include the almighty Tesla Roadster and the diminutive Smart Fortwo — Enterprise Rent-A-Car has just announced that it’ll be the first to offer Chevrolet’s Volt later in the month.
The company’s Mark Christopher Auto Center in Ontario, California will have an undisclosed amount in stock for daily and weekly rentals, and it sounds as if it’ll be grappling for more just as soon as they roll off of the production line.
For those who can’t quite make it down to the desert, Enterprise will be offering 500 Nissan Leaf vehicles nationwide, with charging stations already installed in Los Angeles, San Diego and Santa Monica.
No word on what type of fee you’ll be hit with when you bring it back with only 20 percent of the batteries charged, but you can rest assured the bigwigs at Enterprise are already thinking about it. read more »
Posted on December 29, 2010 in:
Chrysler
Chrysler has finally been kind enough to serve up a few official details on what buyers can expect from the innards of the 2011 300.
While we know that the company’s big bruiser will be available with either the new 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 or the familiar 5.7-liter V8, but the company has just now let us all in on what they’ve done to update the vehicle’s exterior.
The next-generation 300 now wears a windshield that’s been raked back by three inches, and combined with slightly thinner pillars all the way around, Chrysler says that visibility has been improved by around 15 percent. Given the tank-slit views from the cockpit of the old 300, that’s no bad thing.
Inside, buyers can expect to be met with a smattering of chrome accents and what Chrysler calls “cast-skin” instrument and door panels.
But for us, the really good news is that, like it’s platform mate the Dodge Charger, the 300 comes with the company’s new, fantastically huge 8.5-inch LCD touchscreen. Joy to the world. read more »
Posted on November 23, 2010 in:
Lotus
We’re beginning to think that the real difference between a millionaire and a billionaire is simply whether or not one succumbs to the idea of building your own sports car.
The latest to fall victim to that money trap is Dale Vince – a man with a vision for an all-electric, 330 horsepower beast capable of ripping off the 0-60 mph sprint in 4.4 seconds on its way to 100 mph in 8.5 seconds.
Like a few other specialty racers we’ve seen surface recently, the Nemisis uses a Lotus chassis for its bones, while a pack of lithium-polymer batteries supplies the juice. And according to Vince, the cells can be topped off in 8-10 hours using a trickle charge.
All told, the car has a range of somewhere between 100 and 150 miles and boasts a theoretical top speed of 170 mph. Ecotricity, the company that builds the Nemisis, has its eyes set on besting the UK’s electric vehicle top speed record of 139 mph soon.
So, how much would you have to pay for a car like the Nemesis? Vince isn’t saying, though considering that it cost around £25 million to develop (including a £400,000 investment from the British government), chances are it won’t be cheap should it ever hit production. read more »
