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!