Hey General Motors:

Closing 4 plants? Time for a gut check.

so for the design, the boss said 'start with the mouth of a whale shark..'

Hey, check it out!

The New Peugeot 308 RC Z Concept


and



Same thing!

Is it me...

Or does the new Ford Flex look an awful lot like a stretched boxy Mini Cooper?

Something about that roof...

Camaro Identity Crisis

Autoblog is reporting that the new Chevrolet Camaro due in 2009 will not be positioned as a "Muscle Car". Why bother then? VP of sales and marketing of GM's Mark LeNeve said that is will be a car "positioned for fuel economy, design". He even went so far as to say the flagship of the model line will be featuring its V6 engine option, not the V8 we've come to hear from months ago.
I'm guessing that 10 or so years from now marketing classes will be using the 2009 camaro as a case study for how you SHOULDN'T market a vintage reissue. The image of the Camaro is based on being a muscle car, it's based on having a big chevy V8 in it that sounds like it's fueled by M80's. Its supposed to give you the image that you can and will grow a ferocious mustache in a day. None of these things exist in the poisition of the new Camaro. It will just be a fat, ugly, slow and gas guzzling (still because it will weigh as much as the moon) hunk of sheet metal with a Camaro badge on it. Where's the old soul? All these things that LeNeve is saying about the Camaro just simply does not exist. Suck it up, admit that the new Camaro is for people who DON'T want a Honda Accord. Because if you tell people that the Camaro is for people that want a well designed, fuel efficent car they will just go buy a Prius.

Porsche says "Welp Cya" in response to new CO2 standards

Reporter- How will Porsche be modifying their cars and SUV's in the coming CO2 demands that Europe will place?
Porsche- We will be quitting life, sir
Reporter- ...did you say 'quit life'?
Porsche- Yeah, we're quitting life. Next question please
Reporter- *Head explodes*

And now for an opinionated explanation:

Europe is planning to pass a landmark standardization for CO2 emissions. What happens if you get caught in violation? 95 Euros, on EACH GRAM, on EACH CAR SOLD. This would effect models like the Cayenne, Cayenne S, the upcoming Panamera, and...well ok, every single Porsche would be heavily fined. Considering that, if the legislation passed in Europe, Porsche would be paying a 15 grand premium on every single Cayenne S made in fees.
So, instead of being optimistic and running head first to fix the problem as best they can (I.E. making every Porsche model a hybrid), Porsche is simply saying "Fuck it". If the CO2 emissions policy were an apocalyptic asteroid heading for earth, Porsche would be the guys sitting on lawn chairs drinking beer waiting for the meteorite to hit them in the face.
Porsche claim that if they were to really abide by the standards, they wouldn't be Porsche anymore. A fleet of hyper green hybrid porsches just isn't the same.
This article then means one thing:
If those CO2 standards are passed, you can better believe Porsche will be packing it's desk. Cause nobody wants a diet-911 Turbo.

Update on Gear

Finalgear.com is reporting that LA times writer Dan Neil is going to be involved with the Americanized Top Gear. Take note however that we don't know if he will be actually hosting, or doing the research. SO...

We got Adam Carolla and Dan Neil, any thoughts on who's gonna be next?

Here's what really grinds my Gear(s)

A few months back during the writers strikes we heard that an american version of Top Gear, (Tentatively titled Gear) will be produced. Heres what we know, and some stuff that we don't know.

1. It will be produced on the Discovery Channel, not on NBC. According to Autoblog.com the discovery channel was shooting the pilot in lieu of showing the usual UK version.

2. The show will remain in roughly the same format as the UK version. That means shooting in a warehouse or big hanger of some sorts, having a large test track for the cars, and three hosts. Expect the Stig and the "Star in a reasonably priced car" segment to follow as well.

3. No hosts have been confirmed by NBC but Adam Carolla has stated that he has been working on the American version. Jay Leno (who has his own enormous world famous car collection) and Jerry Seinfeld (a self admitted Porsche nut) have also been rumored to host the show. Once again none of these people have been confirmed to host.

And that's all we know so far.
Expect updates on Carolla's situation to follow very soon.

GM squanders another oppurtunity to be cool

GM exec's announced today that in lieu of the soon to be revealed redesinged camaro, that they would be making a series of new models across their trio of companies for the next 20 years. However, one of the models that would be not be made is the moustache mauling Pontiac Trans-Am. Seriously, WTF guys. Of all the cool stuff you could make you're choosing an aussie mullet-rocket (The G8) over the Trans-Am?

Smarten up dudes, a Trans-Am revival would be eaten up.

The Viper flatlines

Doesn't matter what happened yesterday or what was shown on the floor in Chicago. The biggest news came from a whisper. Jalopnik is reporting that Chrysler is probably going to drop the V10 firespitting Viper from its product line. America's only true supercar (other than the Saleen S7) is draining money faster than the Viper goes through gas, and for Chrysler, they need it. In their project genesis plan to reinvent the company they are cutting all the pieces of junk they were making before like the Magnum and the P.T. Cruiser, now the Viper is falling under the same plight. Chrysler isn't even giving it a swan song last model refresh, the two remaining models (the standard model and the ACR track model) are being sold as is before production is shut down in 2011. All we can hope for is Dodge to bring the model back in 20 years like they are doing with the challenger right now.

Welp, this sucks. It's sad to see such an insane car be killed off so we can have more Sebrings...Great.

Sup, ChicagoAutoShow08?

All this week we will be bombarded with cars and technology of the like from the Chicago Auto Show. Here are the ones that will matter:

Acura:
Acura is bringing a refresh to the dated-when-brand-new RL series. In comes with a new face that resembles its MDX model line and Acura is saying that the look will be fashioned on its new TSX coming soon as well. It will also get a new V6 engine and you'll be sure to find their SH-AWD as an option as well.

Verdict: Bout friggen time the RL got a face lift. Although i don't know if it was more influenced by their current design goals or by gophers with that huge metal grille.

Suzuki: In an effort to get more products out than what seems possible, Suzuki unveiled a series of pickup trucks concepts from the "Equator" line. They come in 3 different variations starting with the RMZ (a big yellow one), the Equator "Quad" (a crew cab version with big scary black wheels and gunmetal grey paint), and the homonym busting "QUAY" (Pronounced "key"...iknowright?). The goal being to make a pickup truck specifically for towing and stowing all your extreme, and not so extreme powersport equipment.

Verdict: Don't expect to buy one of these for your average truck drivers.

Volkswagen: VW showed off their all new mini-van to compete with the new chrysler town and country to be sold here later this year. Expect to see your normal V6 arrangement with blah blah blah attached.

Verdict: Nothing new here, just a mini-van. Maybe it will drive better than a swimming pool, but thats it. Boring Boring Boring.


Dodge: The Challenger we've all been waiting to see in real life was shown with accompanying heritage video. We also got some specs to go along with it:
Hemi powered 6.1 liter 425 horsepower V8
0-60: 4.5ish seconds
1/4 mile: takes about 14 seconds
Top Speed: 170 MPH

Verdict: Is it enough to beat the all new Camaro from Chevy in the same year? Regardless it will be better than that sad excuse for a Charger revival Dodge gave us in 2006.

GMC: we were shown the teaser of the Denali XT in Detroit and now we got some info about it. It's uniqueness comes not from the fact that its fat and ugly but that it is on a car powertrain. So think a truck made from the frame of a muscle car. It's also supposed to be more economical than most V8 powered trucks.

Verdict: Is this framework something that we will see for most trucks from GM now?



Well thats all i've got for you now, i'll keep you updated if anything worthwhile comes along this week.

Audi to start cutting heads this summer.

The new Audi commercial during the super-bowl showcased the badass-for-dentists R8 in all it's supercar goodness. It's theme was to put "old luxury on notice", and its a good job they did. It's been awkward for Audi fitting into the American market as they can't figure out if they want to be a luxury brand (like Mercedes) or a pure driving brand (like BMW). With this commercial they are finally positioning themselves as an outlier in the German car market. Now lets see some more of that V12 monster we saw at Detroit!

Worlds most vulgar car created. Rolls Royce reportedly pissed.

German tuner HAMMAN bestowed images of their new "Cyclone" body kit for the Porsche Cayenne, complete with python interior...awesome.

Oh yeah, and the body kit comes in an old man sandstone color.

This could be the ugliest car ever made, any disagreements?