Recent Comments:
Lutz from Oz: Camaro "as awesome as the concept" {Autoblog}
Oct 12th 2007 2:08PM Ummm, you can come to this conclusion based on what experience? Neither car is out yet. So you are uneducated at best.
And to those who say it looks stale, I was there when it was unveiled in 2006, I was there when they unveiled the convertible this year, and I just saw the red one (the one with no drivetrain) at a show in August, and I'll tell you it looks as sweet now as it ever has. And to be honest, this has had no longer shelf-life than the GT-R. I'd rather them take the time to do it right (which I think they are in both the GT-R and the Camaro's case) than to rush something to production and get it wrong.
2008 Saturn Vue Green Line, 32 mpg highway for $24,795 {Autoblog}
Oct 12th 2007 10:46AM Robert,
I agree that your Mazda3 (if it is the 5-door) will do most of what the average Vue owner will do. I will say that while the Mazda3 will hold 5 people as comfortably as a Vue, it will not hold as much stuff (the Vue's cargo volume is 12 cubic feet larger), so you don't run into the problem of being able to take people, or their luggage, but not both.
That being said, I keep telling people I know who are looking at SUVs to get wagons, they are way better options 99% of the time.
Spy Shots: 2010 Buick LaCrosse {Autoblog}
Sep 28th 2007 2:18PM Ok, so someone who doesn't have a smart ass reply got any ideas?
Spy Shots: 2010 Buick LaCrosse {Autoblog}
Sep 27th 2007 2:08PM I understand the move towards more sloped rooflines for the aesthetics, however, this really crimps access to the trunk. Maybe someone can come up with an innovative way to hinge the trunk so that there is more than a bunker slit opening in it. Anyone have any examples of this done really well?
2008 Harley-Davidson Edition Ford F-Series {Autoblog}
Sep 27th 2007 10:45AM Chris,
I agree that it is somewhat puzzling that Ford's truck interiors are so much better than their car interiors. I sat in a new F-250 King Ranch back at the Detroit Auto show and the leather was easily as high quality as anything in the Porsche display. I can't imagine it would be hard to put some of the same stuff in the Taurus or the Mustang. Good leather goes a long way to increasing the "perceived" quality of a car.
Wipe your feet: Toyota recalls 55,000 floor mats {Autoblog}
Sep 26th 2007 3:00PM I don't care what you drive, if you don't have enough sense to know that your floor mat is sliding around under your accelerator, and end up crashing, you are an idiot, and it is not the car manufacturers fault.
I have had a car "unintentionally accelerate" before, a stuck throttle cable left my engine racing for redline. You know what I did? I stood on the brake with my left foot while alternately kicking and then trying to pry up the gas pedal with my right foot. After a couple good kicks, and after slowing considerably, the gas pedal came free. And that car had somewhere north of 400hp. If a car with drum brakes managed to haul down a 400hp V8, I am thinking the 4 wheel discs on a Camry could stop the ES350 or the Camry despite the best efforts of their V6. I am not saying that the cars shouldn't be recalled, I just find it silly that people allowed themselves to crash for this stupid a reason.
Nissan GT-R will be priced from around $68,000 {Autoblog}
Sep 26th 2007 2:53PM M3Driver,
Any time a new sports car comes out, unless it is a Super Exotic, it is compared to the Vette. Go read any post about any new sports car, in any configuration, and the Vette will show up in the comments.
There is one really good reason for this: the Corvette is the single best bang for your buck performance machine this side of the Ariel Atom (and you can imagine why most people don't mention that car, most have never even seen one). A 911 is a bit nicer on the inside, the Viper is a bit faster in a straight line, an Elise is more "pure" (if you know what I mean), but the Corvette does more than 99% of drivers will ever be able to coax out of it for one of the lowest costs of entry out there.
The GT-R may end up being the better performance bargain, but until it is actually run out there against the current value King of the Hill, and beats it, the Corvette will continue to be brought up in every sports car story. If the GT-R pulls out a distinct victory at a similar price, the GT-R will have that honor instead.
More specs and speculation about the Nissan GT-R {Autoblog}
Sep 25th 2007 12:24PM I am glad that the weight was kept below the rumored 1800kg. If these numbers hold true, then it will be everything most people want it to be. If it does turn out to be closer to 4000 lbs, then I think it will be the same story as the GT500, a hell of a lot of fun to drive, but with untapped potential due to too much weight.
Toyota defends its defense of parallel hybrids {Autoblog}
Sep 21st 2007 2:42PM Peter:
In a train yard, there may be some difference in the rpms of a diesel in a locomotive, but is that train you are hearing a series hybrid? There are plenty of purely diesel trains still out there. By design, there would be no need to change the rpms of a series hybrid ICE, because it would reap no benefit.
My problem with your points is that you are attacking the technology, but if someone says something different, you say "The Volt isn't out yet, so you are wrong!" Well, the technology is out there. It has been proven to work. Yes, GM could screw it up, but when you (and Toyota, as well), attack the technology, you come off looking scared and pathetic.
I for one do believe that GM is more than capable of delivering the Volt at a price comparable to the Prius, at a similar weight (if they are sized the same), and with better highway mileage. And Toyota trying to go on the offensive only proves to me that GM could do it, because if Toyota didn't see it as possible, they wouldn't take the time to attack it. They are the top dog for now, but they are showing fear.
Toyota defends its defense of parallel hybrids {Autoblog}
Sep 21st 2007 2:27PM Cheezewhiz,
The CVT does do that to an extent, but you don't cruise around at 5000 rpm in a CVT equipped car. It really only jumps to peak efficiency for acceleration, because people don't want to scream over their engines while on cruise control. The engines in cars with CVTs are still required to operate at different rpms given different loads, so they do not derive all of the benefits of a series hybrid.
