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First Drive: 2011 Chrysler 200

Filed under: Budget, Sedan, Chrysler, First Drive

Sebring Successor Goes A Long Way to Address Old Ails

2011 Chrysler 200

2011 Chrysler 200 – Click above for high-res image gallery

Chrysler isn’t into mincing words about the company’s recent past. After years of corporate and product neglect, those at the helm of the smallest of the Big Three know that the company has a long way to go to regain buyer confidence. While a rash of new and revised models are hitting Jeep and Dodge show rooms over the next few months, it’s clear that the company is beginning to gain momentum under the guidance of Fiat. But the models under the Silver Wing seem to be staring down the barrel of a more uncertain future. With plenty of product overlap with Dodge and a lack of any real brand cohesiveness, Chrysler has yet to yield any clear indication of progress away from the dark days of the company’s past. As a result, buyers are having a hard time knowing what to make of the company or where it’s headed.

Still, after Chrysler emerged from Chapter 11, it was clear that wherever the carmaker was going, the Sebring wasn’t coming along for the ride. After a long, degrading life of rental car service and all out neglect from designers and engineers alike, the Sebring had mutated into a car that was a few leagues behind the competition, even when the third-generation bowed in 2007. To that end, Chrysler sent the Sebring name to the burn pile by revealing the 200 – a small sedan that rides on the same bones as its ill-fated predecessor but wears new sheet metal and a revised interior along with a slew of significantly reworked mechanical components. The result is the vehicle that Chrysler should have built in the first place – a competent economy cruiser with plenty of content even at lower trim levels. Is it enough to banish thoughts of the Sebring from our minds? We hopped behind the wheel to find out.

Gallery: 2011 Chrysler 200: First Drive

2011 Chrysler 200

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First Drive: 2011 Chrysler 200 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 19:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BMW celebrates 25 years of all-wheel drive

Filed under: Classics, Technology, BMW

BMW celebrates 25 years of AWD

BMW celebrates 25 years of AWD – Click above for high-res image gallery

BMW says that after 25 years, one in four of the company’s vehicles is sold with xDrive all-wheel drive. The German carmaker currently sells a total of 45 models that put power to all four tires, and it says that figure may rise in the near future. In order to celebrate just how far the company’s all-wheel drive system has come over the past quarter decade, BMW has rolled out a quick stroll down memory lane. The first BMW to wear an X on its trunk debuted in 1985 and offered buyers a vehicle that was as capable when the road turned slippery as it was when the tarmac grew twisty.

Since then, BMW says that it has worked to give all of its all-wheel-drive vehicles the same rear-wheel bias as the rest of its products to maintain the now classic BMW driving feel. Hit the jump to see the full press release for yourself, and be sure to check out the gallery full of vintage BMW goodies.

Gallery: 25 Years of BMW AWD

[Source: BMW]

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BMW celebrates 25 years of all-wheel drive originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 26 Oct 2010 17:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BMW planning rear-wheel drive 2 Series?

Filed under: Hatchback, BMW, Rumormill

BMW M2 Rendering Consider our fingers crossed. With all of the talk of front-wheel-drive BMW models coming down the pike, we simply assumed that the future of small German hatchbacks with roundels on the hood would be littered with soulless heaps. According to the sleuths over at Car and Driver, however, that’s not the case. After discovering that BMW had filed for U.S. patents for the names 228, 230 and 235, someone at BMW let it slip that the new 2 Series would, in fact, send its power to the aft. But hold onto your teacups, kids, it gets better.

BMW has also filed for a patent for the M2 moniker.

Now, we know as well as anyone that a patent doth not a production vehicle make, but it’s still exciting to know that BMW isn’t walking away from the notion of a smallish, fun-to-drive model anytime soon. Supposedly the company is planning a rash of models positioned below the current 1 Series to help decrease its corporate average fuel economy, but the news of a rear-wheel drive model with an M badge on the back goes a long way toward salving any ails inflicted by the thought of a front-wheel-drive Bimmer.

[Source: Car and Driver]

BMW planning rear-wheel drive 2 Series? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 25 Oct 2010 17:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Chevrolet Volt is out there on the test drive circuit, too

Filed under: Hybrid, Sedan, Chevrolet, Event Alert

Chevrolet Volt

Chevy Volt Tour hits L.A. Fashion Weekend – Click above for high-res image gallery

The Nissan Leaf is on a nationwide tour to spread the electric gospel, and it turns out the Chevrolet Volt is also making a national round to pitch its “More Car than Electric” mantra. We swung by its L.A. stop more interested in the L.A. Fashion Weekend show that was going on behind the test drives. This particular blogger had never been in the Volt and hadn’t thought much of it beyond the three years of headlines it’s been making – especially because our tastes tend more toward words like Gumpert Apollo and Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport and Aston Martin DBS Carbon Black and Lamborghini Murciélago.. and Fisker Karma.

But then we drove it. Twice. Once with the engine juicing the battery, once on battery power alone. They were short drives, just around a few blocks. And, um, we hate to go all Volt homer with this, but we have no choice: it was fantastic. As coincidence would have it, we rocked up to the event in a Honda Insight and discovered that the Volt is at the opposite, highly enjoyable pole of hybrid driving. We characterized it as “the best hybrid experience we’ve ever had.”

Of course, we can’t pass judgment on the car as a complete proposition because we had just a moment of seat time. Yet it was long enough to know that we’re going to get in one again as soon as we get the chance. And it was long enough for us to recommend that if the Volt tour comes your way and you’re into cars at all, then take our advice: drive it. For dates and cities, have a look at the info after the jump.

Gallery: Chevy Volt tour in LA

[Source: General Motors]

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The Chevrolet Volt is out there on the test drive circuit, too originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 24 Oct 2010 14:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Canadian dealer association looks to ban right-hand drive cars

Filed under: Government/Legal, Safety, Canada

The current law in Canada allows for right-hand drive vehicles older than 15 years to be imported into the country, a loophole that allows for the importation of neat foreign iron that includes Japanese kei cars like the Suzuki Cappuccino as well as larger enthusiast cars like the Nissan Skyline. But the Canadian Automotive Dealer Association appears eager to stop the influx of these elderly RHD vehicles. The CADA claims that the cars and trucks, which the group claims are imported from Asian countries, are “dirty and unsafe.” The CADA goes further by saying that the vehicles are often used for “street racing and other reckless acts,” and it claims that the vehicles are 40 percent more likely to be involved in an accident. The proposed solution for these right-drive nuisances is for the Canadian government to change the antique designation to 25 years to reflect the changes made by the U.S. and Australia.

Critics suggest that the real reason these vehicles are so unpopular with the 3,300 dealers associated with the CADA is that the imported vehicles are nibbling away at their car sales. As the reasoning goes, the older RHD vehicles aren’t as safe or as environmentally friendly as newer vehicles, but neither are the left-hand drive vehicles on used car lots all over the country to our north. Hit the jump to read over the CADA’s official press release.

[Source: Canadian Automotive Dealer Association]

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Canadian dealer association looks to ban right-hand drive cars originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 22 Oct 2010 17:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feeling charitable? Be one of the first to drive the 2012 Ford Focus

Filed under: Sedan, Marketing/Advertising, Ford

2012 Ford Focus

2012 Ford Focus – Click above for high-res image gallery

Ford wants to let the entire world have a shot at test driving the redesigned 2012 Focus. The automaker has announced a new contest that is designed to give interested folks a shot at some time behind the wheel of the compact car. The contest is being held via Ford’s Focus fan page on Facebook. Prospective entrants are invited to upload videos explaining why they should be invited to test drive the new Focus, a setup that reminds us quite a bit of the Blue Oval’s wildly successful Fiesta Movement.

This is not your average test drive, however, as winners will be flown to an as-yet-determined location in Southern Europe. It’s not just about the car, either, as select participants will be given their market-equivalent of $10,000 to donate to a charity that they’re passionate about. In all, Ford plans to provide $500,000 for the driver-chosen charities. Ford is tagging this event as the chance to “start more than a car.”

One hundred participants from around the globe will be invited to drive the brand-new Ford Focus and donate a large sum of money. The winners will be chosen based on the creativity of their entries, social media networking skills and the overall number of votes they receive. If you are interested in participating, head over to Facebook.com/FordFocus.

Gallery: 2012 Ford Focus

2012 Ford Focus hatchback

[Source: Ford]

Continue reading Feeling charitable? Be one of the first to drive the 2012 Ford Focus

Feeling charitable? Be one of the first to drive the 2012 Ford Focus originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 22 Oct 2010 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Drive: 2011 Chevrolet Volt

Filed under: Hybrid, Sedan, Hatchback, Chevrolet, First Drive, Electric

“She Blinded Me With Science”

2011 Chevrolet Volt – Click above for high-res image gallery

The Chevy Volt has finally, successfully, made the leap from science fiction to fact. Quite a bit has changed in the nearly four-year journey from the 2007 Detroit Auto Show to last week, when General Motors let us drive a production-spec car. The Volt may not be the stuff of Blade Runner, but it’s a technologically advanced showpiece for GM, and the first widely practical electric vehicle, ready and waiting for mainstream acceptance.

Give GM credit for building the Volt during the most miserable turn of events in the company’s long and storied history.

But first some basics: The Volt is a four-passenger, compact hatchback. While there’s considerable controversy over whether or not to call it a plug-in hybrid, that’s how we’ll be referring to it, following the lead of the Federal government. GM prefers “extended-range electric vehicle,” which is somewhat misleading, since the Volt is only an electric vehicle for the first 25-50 miles. In EV mode, the Volt’s electric drive system draws power exclusively from a 16 kilowatt-hour battery pack, at all speeds up to its 100-mph maximum. Once the battery gets drawn down to 35 percent of its capacity, the Volt’s gasoline engine fires up, spinning a generator to produce more electricity.

Of all the changes GM’s engineers have wrought since the first Volt concept, the most controversial has to be the design of the transmission, which GM kept a secret until last week. GM has been saying all along that the Volt was driven purely electrically, but as it turns out, this is not exactly the case. At highway speeds in extended range mode, the Volt’s gasoline engine is actually clutched together with the electric drive system inside the vehicle’s transaxle. There’s no point in belaboring the controversy beyond saying that the design is 10-15 percent more efficient, according to GM. Since efficiency is pretty much the whole point of the vehicle, we’re satisfied, even if we’re not happy that we (along with the rest of the media) were misled. However, it’s time to move on and focus on evaluating the Volt as a vehicle, and to that end, it’s an amazing piece of machinery.

Gallery: 2011 Chevrolet Volt: First Drive

2011 Chevrolet Volt

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First Drive: 2011 Chevrolet Volt originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 20 Oct 2010 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Second Drive: 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid

Filed under: Hybrid, Sedan, Hyundai, First Drive

Hyundai Aims To Lead The Mid-size Hybrid Pack

2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid – Click above for high-res image gallery

At some point, the minds at Hyundai got serious about the company’s mid-sized sedan game. Seemingly in a heartbeat, the Korean manufacturer went from being completely under the radar of the average American family sedan buyer to a viable alternative to default buys like the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. That jump fell solely on the shoulders of the all-new 2011 Sonata, a sedan that has so far delivered the kind of styling, efficiency and low MSRP that sends consumers scrambling for their checkbook. But if you want to go the full distance in this segment, you had better come to the fight packing more than just a competent base model.

That’s something you don’t need to tell Hyundai. The company has shored up its Sonata line with a potent turbocharged 2.0-liter model designed to tango with V6-equipped competitors as well as the car you see above – a hybrid model that comes loaded with nearly all of the latest and greatest tech to keep fuel consumption at a minimum. Is it enough to put the Sonata Hybrid ahead of the electrified versions of the heavy hitters already prowling the scene? We took the wheel to find out.

Gallery: 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid: Second Drive

2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid

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Second Drive: 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 18 Oct 2010 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Want to test drive a Nissan Leaf? Live in Southern California?

Filed under: Etc., Marketing/Advertising, Hatchback, Nissan, Event Alert, Electric

2011 Nissan Leaf

2011 Nissan Leaf – Click above for high-res image gallery

Nissan is running around the country to promote its all-electric Leaf. The Drive Electric tour has already had two stops in California – the AltCar Expo in Santa Monica and the Orange County Auto Show in Anaheim – and a third one is planned for this coming weekend. SoCal residents, this is your opportunity to get behind the wheel of a 2011 Nissan Leaf and see what it’s like to drive a full-size electric vehicle.

The San Diego stop of the Drive Electric tour is located at the NTC Promenade. The event kicks off today and will be open from 9:00 AM until 6:00 PM. The EVs will be in San Diego through Sunday, October 17th.

Interested in attending this weekend’s EV fun? Head over to DriveNissanLeaf.com and register. If you don’t live in Southern California but want to the chance to drive a Leaf, take a look at the schedule to see if the Drive Electric tour is coming to a town near you.

Gallery: 2011 Nissan Leaf: First Drive

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Want to test drive a Nissan Leaf? Live in Southern California? originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 15 Oct 2010 13:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Drive: 2011 Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid

Filed under: Hybrid, SUV, Technology, Volkswagen, First Drive, Luxury

A Porsche Cayenne Hybrid For The People

2011 Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid

2011 Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid – Click above for high-res image gallery

Fuel economy is a funny thing. In Europe, better efficiency has always boiled down to two simple concepts: diesel fuel and turbos. But like the 35-year-old who won’t drink tequila because of a bad experience in college, American buyers’ stomachs start turning whenever manufacturers talk about oil-burners – clean or otherwise. That’s a problem for carmakers like Volkswagen. You see, the company can build an arsenal of clean diesel vehicles that have no problem turning out excellent fuel-economy numbers without the weight, complexity or burden of lugging around a partially electric drivetrain, but that doesn’t mean Americans will buy them. Nope. On this side of the pond, fuel efficiency translates into just one word: hybrid.

And that’s exactly why Volkswagen has taken to electrifying its beefy 2011 Touareg, the very first production hybrid in the company’s history. Volkswagen has made no secret of the fact that it plans to be the world’s number one automaker, and that part of its plan for global domination involves broadening its appeal in the still-juicy American market. If you were wondering exactly what that meant for the company’s lineup on our side of the world, wonder no more. We’re living in the future, and it’s a place stocked with a blazingly-quick, fully capable and quasi-efficient SUV from Germany with love.

Gallery: 2011 Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid: First Drive

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First Drive: 2011 Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 15 Oct 2010 11:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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