From the headlines-we-never-expected-to-see file: “Stick shifts popular again…” Yes, we thought , what with every carmaker bemoaning low take rates and reports that has decided to in both its sports car and throughout the range of models. But lo and behold, it seems that manuals accounted for 6.5 percent of new vehicle sales during the first quarter this year, the highest take rate since 2006, according to Edmunds.com numbers cited by USA Today.
This surge in popularity comes despite a 10-percent drop in the percentage of new models offering stick shifts in the past five years, according to the report. The change in consumer behavior has surprised some automakers, including , who told the newspaper that demand for a manual in the is nearly 10 percent, more than double the automaker’s original forecast.
Of course before we get too excited – or give credit to the Car and Driver – let’s keep in mind that a decade ago, when we first started to hear the groundswell against the manual from automakers, the take rate for manuals was still running above 8 percent. And we’re still faced with an inevitable demographic shift as Millennials, born after automatic transmissions became dominant, grow up. The best we can hope for is to teach those willing to learn and hope to keep the manual tranny around as long as possible.
As of this month, South Koreans will be able to get themselves into a bought at their local dealer. wants to get more people in more lands behind the wheel of its icon to offset declining sales numbers here at home, and South Korea is an easier target for the moment because of the free trade agreement recently ratified between that country and the U.S.
The 430-horsepowerCoupe model goes on sale May 4 for 86.4 million South Korean won ($76,528 U.S.). Obviously, the anti-tarriff provisions of the free-trade agreement haven’t come into force yet. The Corvette will join eight other Chevy models on sale on the Asian peninsula.
The Environmental Protection Agency hasn’t released its evaluation data for the just yet, but says the compact should be capable of returning some impressive fuel economy figures, particularly with an available Aero package. When equipped with the turbocharged 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine and a manual transmission, the standard Dart is good for an estimated 27 mpg city and 39 mpg highway, thanks in part to active aero shutters nestled in the grille of every model. Should buyers require a few extra miles per gallon, an optional Aero package will see the highway figure jump to 41 mpg. So far, there’s no word on city or combined fuel economy for the package, but there’s time before the trim becomes available, as it won’t be in dealerships until the third quarter of this year.
Chrysler isn’t mentioning how much the Aero package will add to the bottom line or what other tweaks consumers will get for their coin. We do know that with 160 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque, the Dart Aero should be considerably more engaging to drive than the . While that model is good for 42 mpg highway when equipped with a six-speed manual, it does the deed with 22 fewer horsepower and 36 fewer pound-feet of torque. for the complete Dart press release.
Automotive News reports plans to bring its recently unveiled Mirage to the Canadian market, and that the five-door hatch has a 50-percent chance of making it to U.S. buyers as well. Mitsubishi pulled the Mirage nameplate from the U.S. in 2002, but unveiled of the car in Thailand just last month. At a smidge over 146 inches long, the tiny hatch would be a suitable competitor for the likes of the Chevrolet Spark and give dealers a much-needed product infusion. The company the , Eclipse Spyder and the just recently and Mitsubishi showrooms are starting to look decidedly emaciated.
But Mitsubishi says it may not be as simple as dropping the new Mirage on U.S. soil and hoping for the best. The automaker has a reworked coming down the pike, and launching two models in close succession may make already scarce marketing dollars even harder to come by.
Then there’s the fact that the new Mirage is a no-nonsense, bare-bones creation designed to appeal to the budget-minded buyers of South Asia. Mitsubishi has some reservations about unleashing the model on content-hungry Americans. Even so, Mitsubishi says the company has yet to reach an official decision about a U.S. launch.
General Motors and Isuzu were partners for decades before parting ways in 2006. Even now, you can find the final hangover of an alliance that gave us vehicles like the and in the and smallish pickups.
The two companies may start negotiations soon for General Motors to once again take a stake in Isuzu Motors Ltd. with commercial vehicle sales in Asia and Central and South America as the goal, reports the Japanese Nikkei business daily.
GM would go in for ten percent of Isuzu, and this deal would likely spell the end for , as well as smother any capital partnership talks with . Isuzu developed the trucks, and if lashed-up with GM again, a team effort to develop, produce and distribute pickup trucks is being considered. At ten percent, General Motors would pass Mitsubishi Corporation’s 9.2-percent stake in Isuzu to become its largest single shareholder.
North American small pickup fans probably shouldn’t get excited about this, as it appears aimed mostly at markets more suited to smaller trucks. With GM’s new full-size pickups on the horizon, the General likely wants you to forget that there are any other choices for the time being.
Borg-Warner makes the turbos for all three IndyCar engine suppliers, , and , but the engine makers provide two compressor shrouds of their own design for homolgation by the series. Honda’s singe-turbo engine is down on power compared to Chevrolet’s and Lotus’ twin-turbo motors, and Chevrolet has won all every race so far and taken all pole positions this season. Honda had a new shroud ready for the Long Beach GP and IndyCar allowed the change, but Chevy protested so Honda wasn’t permitted to make the switch.
A three-man panel was selected to hear Chevy’s appeal, and their verdict in favor of Honda means that the Japanese automaker was permitted to swap the shroud before this weekend’s São Paulo race. The new shroud is said to be worth 10 to 15 more horsepower, but in the end, Chevrolet-powered racers managed to finish in seven of the top 10 positions.
Chevy had been contesting the ability to make an engine change at this point in the season, when there are no constant-parity clauses in the regulations and IndyCar has for such alterations to create parity. Honda’s argument was that that was meant to prevent turbo wars does allow the change it sought to make. The panel of the parity argument.
Chevy has said the decision. Now it’s up to the Honda-powered drivers fitted with the new 0.74 A/R compressor cover to show they can do better than second place.
Ex-engineer Richard Parry-Jones is now chairman-designate of the UK’s Network Rail. Having looked into the futures of both car and train development, he believes that by the end of this decade the most Earth-friendly internal-combustion engine cars will be about as polluting, on a per-passenger basis, as high-speed electric trains.
Parry-Jones says carmakers are targeting 40g/km of CO2 tailpipe emissions by 2020. If the “average” occupancy of 1.6 people-per-vehicle stays the same in eight years, that would equal 25 gm per person per kilometer and put such cars in the same environmental category as the cleanest mass transit.
Since the emissions of electric cars and trains is usually given as zero, we’re assuming he means diesel-electric high-speed trains; life-cycle emissions wouldn’t be a valid comparison since those aren’t factored into a car’s tailpipe number. According to of , right now you’d have to load four folks in a small diesel topped up with ultra-low sulphur fuel to get down to 42 grams per passenger per kilometer (gpkm), which would put you right with one of Virgin’s Voyager class diesel-electric trains at 75-percent capacity. If you want to go all the way low, though, you’ll need a 50cc two-stroke and a passenger: at that point you’re rocking just 19.5 gpkm. Slowly.
You wouldn’t think $7.7 million is something to complain about, but then again, you’re probably not in the running to be CEO of General Motors. Despite the fact that GM is no longer the largest company in the world – or, depending on whom you ask, even the largest carmaker – it’s a big job. On most days, we imagine it’s a pretty thankless one too. So when you compare the salary of GM CEO Dan Akerson to that of his cross-town rival at , perhaps $7.7 million does seem like chump change compared to Alan Mullaly’s .
And according to a report in The Detroit News, GM apparently isn’t happy to see its CEO sitting in third place among Big Three CEOs when payday comes. GM’s proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday said that the company is having an “extremely difficult” time hiring qualified executives because of limits to compensation set by the U.S. Treasury Department. The Treasury has capped the amount Akerson and other execs can make as part of GM’s 2009 bailout.
Here’s a thought: Maybe GM just needs to do a better job emphasizing all the benefits that come with working for the General, like getting to drive a gratis.
We’ve had the good fortune of getting up close and personal with quite a few of Icon 4×4’s creations, from their off-road wares like the and to one-off restomod hot rods like their . While few people may be able to afford the company’s offerings, the creativity and thought that goes into each of their vehicles is something everyone can appreciate.
We have a particular affection for Icon and its latest project, the Bronco. We went for a brief drive in the very first example just before it made its debut at last year and fell in love with every detail of the modernized off-roader. Every trim piece on the car has been laser cut or machined from stainless steel. The unique gauge cluster is inspired by Bell & Ross watches. The interior aluminum is the same found on the inside of luxury skyscraper elevator doors. The Icon Bronco is capable of proving its worth both on and off-road too, thanks to an Art Morrison chassis, custom-built Dana 60 and 44 solid axle assemblies, and a 5.0-liter V8 under the hood.
Jonathan Ward, creator of Icon, recently invited a documentary filmmaker inside his facility to take a closer look at the Bronco. The resulting film will give you a better idea of what went into developing the Bronco as well what makes Ward tick as both a designer and a builder. If you’ve like any of Icon’s creations, it’s definitely worth a watch. Just and hit play.
When the all-new recently, was still awaiting official EPA certification for fuel economy. Now, though, the numbers are in, and the Blue Oval can confidently state that it offers the most fuel-efficient vehicle in the small crossover segment… with an automatic transmission, that is.
The hero engine for the new Escape is Ford’s new 1.6-liter EcoBoost inline-four, offering up 178 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque. Combined with a six-speed automatic transmission, this engine is good for 23 miles per gallon in the city and 33 mpg highway, besting the highway numbers of the , , and others. At 33 mpg, this means the new Escape is not only more efficient than the outgoing four-cylinder model, but it bests the numbers of the old , too.
But again, this only pertains to automatic transmission-equipped vehicles (the Escape does not offer a manual transmission with any of its powertrains). The with its 2.0-liter Skyactiv inline-four and six-speed manual ‘box is rated at 35 mpg highway, but opting for the six-speed auto drops that number to 32 mpg.
The other powertrains offered in the Escape are returning some pretty impressive fuel economy numbers, too. The naturally aspirated 2.5-liter base engine is rated at 22/31 mpg, and the range-topping 2.0-liter EcoBoost with 240 hp and 270 lb-ft of torque is good for 22/30 mpg. for the full details in Ford’s press release.
You’ve never seen a 1981 Yenko Camaro? Maybe that’s because only 19 were made and they usually sell for well north of what a new will cost you from your local dealer.
One gorgeously restored, matching numbers example is on eBay Motors for the eye-watering Buy-It-Now price of $180k. But please consider the car’s claimed history and stat sheet before passing judgement.
As the legend goes, in 1969, of Murray, Pennsylvania took a 12-year break from modding Camaros. But low compression ’80s engines got under the skin of , and in 1981, the tuning legend proceeded to cram a turbocharged, four-barrel, 350 V8 under the hood of the second-generation car. Horsepower on the rare Yenko is unclear, but it should definitely be way more than the stock Z-28’s meager 175 hp. Reports suggest this was to be , and the owner of this eBay find says this one is the very last 1981 Yenko produced.
On top of all that, the Charlotte, North Carolina seller says that the car has fewer than 30k miles, some of which were supposedly put there by curious automotive journalists. The winning bidder will get the original build sheet, window sticker and a production intent letter signed by Don Yenko.
In the high-stakes world of performance cars, horsepower is king. It’s the first stat bragged about by owners trying to explain why their , or is better than their foes’, and it’s the headline figure promoted by the automakers themselves year after year.
When announced that the would be punishing the pavement with , the world stood up and took notice. Remember, though, these were just estimated figures, as the car had not yet been SAE certified. If reports from the Team Shelby message board prove accurate, the 2013 GT500 has finally gotten its official figures.
How’s about 662 horsepower and 630 pound-feet of torque?
Yep, that’ll do. It’s notable that these figures represent increases of 12 horsepower and 30 lb-ft over the earlier estimates, and they also put even more distance between Ford’s top-performing Mustang and Chevy’s 580-horsepower . It also means the Shelby lays down considerably more ponies that the and its 638 horsepower and 604 lb-ft.
Now, will we see a corresponding horsepower-addled response from or ? Only time will tell.
Zombies are more like us than you’d imagine – although they have different reasons, they hate flossing as much as many humans. That’s one of the insights gleaned from a new web commercial for the in which one of our “zombie overlords” shares his feelings on various topics, including The Bowtie’s small car.
It’s too soon for to have done this, and we know giving the thumbs up to an ad is a matter of opinion, but as far as we’re concerned, to the agency that’s responsible for this, we offer our kudos. to check it out.
There’s a that the designers at might have been dreaming about before they penned the Lithia. We don’t think this kind of inspiration is anywhere near criminal, though, and before anyone broaches the topic of Chinese design, they should know that the is an ex-General Motors man: , who has work on the and the on his resume.
CH Auto helps automakers prepare cars for sale in China, from design through to engineering – part of Darancou’s brief is to make sure those two departments work together. The Lithia, showed off at the , has probably been done as a company calling card. Powered by lithium-ion batteries, the spec sheet claims a 150-kilometer range (93 miles).
Beneath the gorgeous and impossibly long looking hood of the Mazda Takeri Concept lies plenty of real estate. By our estimation there’s room for any number of powerplants, from a high-revving to a twin-turbo V6. However, when launches the new 2014 , which will , it will only contain a measly little four-cylinder, according to Autoweek.
So that’s being a bit harsh, as despite the reported demise of a V6 engine option for the Mazda6, at least it will be getting a four-banger, according to the report. Skyactiv is, of course, Mazdaspeak for its suite of technologies that includes its next-generation powertrain with direct injection and a fancy new automatic transmission design, a combination we when we sampled it in the .
With , , and having dumped their V6’s in favor of an all-four-cylinder lineup for their midsize sedans, we’re not surprised to see Mazda follow course. We do, however, wonder how the intends to compete when it comes to performance.
With 155 horsepower and 150 lb-ft of torque, the 2.0-liter Skyactiv four in Mazda’s new crossover isn’t particularly powerful, so we hope we might see a slightly larger displacement version with a few more ponies for the bigger sedan. Or one with forced induction. Or how about a diesel engine option? Mazda has promised a diesel for North America, though it hasn’t specified which vehicle it will arrive in. The automaker has making 173 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque for the CX-5, at least in Europe. Now that might be just the ticket to make a top-trim Mazda6 get up and go.
While we’re not ready to label this the return of the , count us eager to get behind the wheel of whatever a “2014 Chevrolet SS Performance” turns out to be. Hopefully the appearance of this reference on the OnStar website is more than just a digital placeholder.
Chevy SS rumors have been swirling lately, with General Motors earlier this month, just days after our spy shooters caught what looked like a . Then there’s the NASCAR situation: has said its new entry in the racing series will be both a . We’re guessing that car isn’t going to be the .
So this new OnStar “leak,” if it is such a thing, would point to the Chevy SS being a separate model (you can check it out on OnStar’s site ). If we are reading our tea leaves correctly, the model will be (the same Zeta architecture that underpins Chevrolet’s law-enforcement-only ), while the brand’s front-drive will get a new, sportier variant. We’d also assume that the long-wheelbase version of the Commodore used for the would donate its top-level powertrain, the 355-horsepower, 6.0-liter V8.
Maybe we should just press the OnStar button and ask?
The more things change, the more they stay the same. That age-old adage is once again proven by the video you’ll see . In a classic battle of versus , the 1981 Blazer SUV is pitted against the Ford Bronco in a dealer training video designed to give sales staff all the information they needed to sway customers toward the Bowtie and away from the Blue Oval.
The checklist sounds familiar. Horsepower and torque, fuel economy, standard features versus optional equipment, payload and cargo space – each of these categories are compared. Seems the issues that matter most to car-buying consumers haven’t changed much in 30 years. and watch the video to take a stroll down memory lane.
training video extols the virtues of the 1981 Blazer
We can now add a rendering and a litte more gossip to and its recent designation. GM has used the SS designator for more than 50 years but only got around to trademarking it five years ago, and persistent rumors have suggested that a civilian version of the will simply be called the SS.
previously confirmed that its next NASCAR entry will be , which suggests that the and are disqualified. But a new car called the SS would fit, and the rumormill suggests it will be a derivative of the Zeta-platform Holden Commodore. The folks at Chris Doane Automotive have opened the rendering account and taken this rather conservative stab at what a reboot of a U.S. Commodore might look like.
Yes, we’ve been here before, and in fact, we’re still here. The now extinct but universally lauded was itself a Americanized Holden Commodore, and the current Caprice law enforcement vehicle is a long-wheelbase version of that Holden that packs either a 3.6-liter, 301-horsepower V6 or a 6.0-liter, 355-hp V8. Resurrecting the G8 would return a vehicle that many loved but was handicapped by Pontiac’s zombie status, improve Holden’s fortunes and give Chevy a proper rear-wheel drive sedan with teeth. To all of that, we say Yes, Yes and… Yes.
In the music industry, a band’s third album is typically make-or-break. You start with the debut album, introducing the general public to the band’s polished works, then comes the sophomore record, which proves whether or not the band can keep its fan base happy and gain more traction in the music scene. But the third album must show if that band’s sound and style has a good enough mix of individual flare and mainstream appeal to keep them successful in the long-run.
If you think about it, the same can be said about the automotive landscape, and for the purpose of this review, the . The first-generation Escape, launched in 2000 as a 2001 model, entered during a time when small SUVs and “cute-utes” were booming. The redesigned 2008 Escape built upon the first model’s success, and now, as the curtain is about to close on that ruggedly handsome, boxy Escape, this new third-generation model has some mighty big shoes to fill.
Over the past year, the Escape has been an absolute sales superstar. In 2011, moved over 254,000 of the compact crossovers – a 33-percent gain over 2010’s numbers. To get an idea of just how impressive that is, know that in the same timeframe, moved just over 218,000 , while sold 137,000 and hustled around 193,000 models. Building upon that success, Ford announced that with 60,000 units sold in the first quarter of 2012, the Escape posted its best Q1 numbers in its 11-year history. Talk about going out with a bang.
But rather than sticking to the original formula of a small, trucky crossover, Ford has completely redesigned the Escape for 2013. Perhaps the biggest point of contention surrounding the new model is its styling – the two-box, upright design has been ditched in favor of the automaker’s Kinetic language, employing a more, shall we say, Focused appearance.
So here it is, the ever-important third album. Does Ford’s all-new Escape have enough mainstream appeal to take on the best and brightest of the CUV set while still being able to appeal to loyalists? We headed to the roads around San Francisco to find out.
Chances are, if we asked you to replicate the sound of a small block with a mild cam, you could probably pull it off with nothing more than a little slobber and a few embarrassed glares from your significant other. If you keep practicing that particular skill, you may just find yourself in front of a massive studio audience. Just ask 19-year-old Daniel Jovanovic.
The teenager recently took the stage on the show Australia’s Got Talent and managed to wow all three judges with his impressive engine impersonations. He started with the sound of a Formula One pit stop before moving to a variety of other machines.
Talented? Absolutely. Even if he doesn’t manage to take the top nod, Jovanovic has already soared to internet stardom. to check out the quick video for yourself.
