Accelerate Mpls

I will be the first to admit that I was not around during the beginning of the pony car wars.  Luckily for me, I am around at the rebirth of the pony car wars.  The Ford Mustang really never left , while the Challenger had been off the market for some time.  The Challenger beat the new Camaro to market, but the Camaro is making up for lost time with killer sales numbers.  So back to the Challenger SRT8, is this beast one blast from the past or should it just be left in the past?

The exterior really is a retouched 21st century take on the original formula.  The exterior lines and design is unmistakably Challenger.  The SRT ups the formula with a chin spoiler, larger wheels and brakes, along with a small trunk lid spoiler.  Up front you have what almost looks like a sucker mouth front clip with four round lamps, the two inner lights being parking lights while the outer two are the headlights.  The fog lights below put out a surprising amount of light.  The character line that flows from the headlights down the side of the fenders and door flows into the rear haunches, which are exaggerated and quite large.  They look terrific.  The rear end is somewhat tall but stays true to the retro recipe set forth by the rest of the styling.  The rear tail light is a strip across the back that is really three pieces – but usually if you look quick, you would not notice.  Two squared off polished exhaust tips peek out from the bottom of the bumper to let you know, “hey I’m here, I can and will let you hear me.”  From the retro metal fuel cover to the raised hood with functional air inlets, I love the exterior lines.  They are classic – pure and simple.

Some have called the Challenger’s interior bland or boring.  I really actually feel it fits the car.  It is not over done, but the materials are all soft touch and have a feeling of quality.  The seats are nothing short of terrific.  I did note the seat bottoms were a little flatter then the seats in the Charger SRT8 I recently tested.  That said, they are terrific ,with great bolsters for your backside.  They were all-day comfortable and then some.  The gauge cluster consists of four round barrels with the tachometer and speedometer in the center and the fuel and engine temp gauges to the side.  The SRT8 model had a built in performance meter set up.  This included everthing from the ability to time 1/4 miles and 0-60 runs, to braking and even a G meter.  I must say this is very trick.  The head unit in this Challenger was the optional Uconnect system.  It is hard drive based and easy to use.  Something of note is that automatic climate control is not currently available in the Challenger.  While this does not bother me, it seems to irk some when they see the price tag on this particular car.  Did I mention the seats?  Overall, I liked the interior.

Like the other SRT8′s, the engine bay is filled with a 6.1 liter HEMI V-8 pumping out 425 horsepower to the rear wheels.  The power is channeled through either a pistol-grip six-speed manual or a five-speed automatic.  I had the later and it was acceptable.  I noted the block of the engine was painted orange in a nod to the history of this vehicle , and I really liked that little detail.

I drove this car in town during the week and went up north during the weekend.  On the open highway the car was a very comfortable cruiser.  Composed at any speed, it enjoys straight lines.  When the turns start coming the car can handle it, but this is no light weight.  The car weighs over 4,000 lbs!  On the way back from up north I had my mother, girlfriend and sister all in the Challenger SRT8, along with a full trunk.  After the nearly four-hour drive I asked how they fared.  Only the person behind me (the driver) said it was cramped.  I still managed to average 22.7 mpg on that highway jaunt with the cruise control set at 77 mph.  In the city I averaged 16.5 mpg, and that included downtown stop and go along with suburb and highway driving.  The car is rated at 13/19, which I easily exceeded.

So what do I make of this modern day remake of the Challenger?  It’s big, it’s comfy (did I mention the seats?) while being somewhat practical for what it is.  A ton of fun, but at a price.  Ringing in at $44,940, this is no cheap trick.  That is a lot of coin considering what Ford and Chevrolet are offering now with the new Mustang and Camaro.  Still, this car has a different personality then both of those cars, and I think it sells on its own merits.  Would I recommend the Challenger? In a heart beat!  Now, if you asked if it is better then the Mustang or Camaro? I would say that is all in your definition of better.

Full Disclosure- The review vehicle was provided by Dodge

The Dodge Charger hit the scene back in 2005 and made quite a splash.  That splash was two fold:  firstly the fact that many people were less then thrilled that the Charger name was applied to a four door sedan.  If you remember, the original Dodge Charger was a 2 door.  The second part was the bold and in your face styling, which was fresh and really spoke to many people.  The Charger has now been on the market since 2005 with only a few major changes (depending on how you look at it).  So lets dive in and see how this once-popular muscle car has fared.

The Charger has a bold styling that can be described as chunky by some.  The SRT8 kicks it up a notch, but in a subtle way.  The hood has an integrated scoop that is functional, funneling outside air into the engine bay to keep that large engine nice and cool.  The front end is lower to the ground and slightly more aggressive.  There is a belt line that runs from the top of the headlights down the side into the rear “haunches” that begin at the rear of the back doors.  These haunches go over the rear wheels and into the tail lights.  The tail lights are one piece but they have been refreshed and now have four (two on each side) circles.  The trunk has a small but raised spoiler.  It is tasteful, but I still wonder if I would want it on my SRT8.  The spoiler is attached by four bolts and I think it could be removed (not that I tried).  The wheels are 20-inches, and ride on low profile tires.  My favorite line on the whole car is the intersection of the belt line and the shoulders in the rear.  It almost looks like a lightning bolt.

The interior was originally a horrible mess.  The materials when the car launched were all hard plastic.  I am not talking about just any plastic.  We are talking about plastic that even Lego would reject for quality control.  Back in 2008, a mild refresh fixed that, and everything you touch and even most things you do not are now soft touch.  Very little hard plastic is still left.  The belt line is high, which makes it feel smaller then it really is.  Sight lines are surprisingly good.  The interior has tons of space both in the front and back.  The rear seats fold down almost flat – the bolsters prevent them from being perfectly flat.  That said, it is nice to see that they are able to fold.  This increases functionality for hauling large items.  The seats were very well bolstered and more then comfortable.  The bolsters are leather and the center of the seat is a suede-like material that keeps you from sliding when driving aggressively.

The SRT8 is powered by not just any HEMI but the HEMI.  The 6.1 liter HEMI puts out 425 horsepower and 420 pound feet to the rear wheels.  The power is channeled through a one-choice five-speed automatic transmission with manual shifting capabilities.  No manual is offered, though how cool would it be if they offered the pistol grip six-speed from the Challenger?  This engine just sounds terrific. You literally just want to slam the gas to hear it over and over again.  Of course you would expect with this amount of power this car has, mileage suffers- -and you would be correct.  It is rated by the EPA at 13/19 mpg, I saw an average of 14.3 mpg with a mix of city and suburb driving.

This car drives like a big sports car.  Wait – well not like just any sports car.  This is not a Porsche, rather this is a large car.  It will push in the corners and you will feel its weight.  That said, it is very composed. It drives European-like which should be no surprise, because the basic frame and transmission is a hand-me-down from the 1999 generation Mercedes Benz E Class (W210).

I actually was moving when the Charger SRT8 was in my possession.  I used this vehicle to see just how practical it was in daily service.  The seats folding down helped and the trunk swallowed a surprisingly large amount of boxes.  The subwoofer in the corner of the trunk did eat into some of the cargo space, but that is minimal.  The practicality of this vehicle was demonstrated in spades.

Alright so what do we have here?  Well, it is practical for a sports car.  A large trunk and large interior while still going like a bat out of hell.  I already know what you are going to say – but Joel it gets crappy gas mileage.  To that I say this – it gets no worse then my Jeep and many other SUV’s that Americans love, yet it is a heck of a lot more fun to drive.  This Charger SRT8 was fully loaded and had a sticker price of $43,730 and that is a lot of coin.  You can get any of the other new muscle cars such as the new Chevrolet Camaro SS or Ford Mustang GT with just as much power, better fuel economy and for a lot less coin.  But they do not have four doors.  It is all about what you need and or want.  I would say this is a great family sedan for the guy that simply wants fast but can not compromise and get a two door. With the Pontiac G8 GXP now dead and gone, this is one of the cheapest four-door sports sedans that houses over 400 hp.

Full Disclosure- The review vehicle was provided by Chrysler

Episode 29 starts with introducing this weeks guest Drew Dowdell owner of CheersandGears.  Moving into the garage we talk about the Chevrolet Camaro Colin was in for the past week.  We also take time for a special report on the Local Minneapolis Fisker Karma unveiling that I attended last week.  We then move along to the major news of the week segment.  This week included-

• May Sales
• 2011 Dodge Charger Leaked
• Nissan Leaf will break the EV silence with a digital whistle
• A myriad of GM talk surrounding Ex-CEO Richard Wagoner Jr. and the possibility of a real RWD flagship for Cadillac

We then proceed to the clip of the week segment.  This week we featured Toyota, finally, although indirectly, is now acknowledging their safety failures for the first time in an ad  which Features their new Star Safety System. This system includes ABS, Electronic Stability Control, and the much needed brake over-ride system. (Link)

Next came our main topic which was discussing Mercury’s death and Lincoln’s future.

Last we discuss we plug our respective blogs, Cheers and Gears,  AutoBird Blog and Accelerate Mpls.

Download this episode (right click and save)

Hold on to your hats folks.  When I was at the GM Product and Technology event put on last August I saw things.  Some things were awesome such as the future Buick Regal, upcoming Chevrolet Camaro convertible and the list goes on.  Some were not so awesome, such as the Buick that was quickly dubbed Vuick.  See it was essentially a re-badged (and I mean literally a new grille inserted) Saturn Vue.

The Vuick thing caught on quick and GM supposedly decided to kill it a mere few weeks later.  In fact they were so proudly announcing how fast they acted based on the negative feedback they were receiving (shocking).  Anyways, next to that Vuick on the floor was a upcoming small crossover for Buick.  This could possibly be dubbed the Encore.  It essentially looked literally like a shrunken down Enclave.  This my friends looked good.  It was most likely based on the new Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain platform.

Yesterday Chris Baccus was driving in Detroit and spotted this test vehicle.  He noted it looked like a Buick grille behind the cladding.  This my friends is one of two things.  The Vuick being resurrected (dear god no) or the baby Enclave (Encore?) that has been severely changed since I saw it and not for the better.  Either way you are looking at something that is not production ready.  I am sincerely hoping this is not the Vuick coming back from the dead rather just a test mule.  I hope they keep the baby Enclaves styling that I saw last fall.

UPDATE-

Some have mentioned this looks an awful lot like the Chevrolet Captiva not sold in America.  I have also just received word from GMInsidenews that GM plans to still sell and produce the Vuick but only for China.  It will be a youth oriented crossover.

Source- Chris Baccus

What you are seeing is believed to be the Camaro used in the upcoming Transformers 3 movie.  The car is known to many as Bumblebee.  The front clip is similar to the one on Jay Leno’s Camaro seen at last years SEMA show.  Other changes include the rear wing, new stripe design, rear quarter panel inlets, wheels and front lip spoiler.  Who knows what if any of these changes will show up on the Z28 if when it shows up.

Source- Camaro5

So I am driving in Uptown yesterday afternoon and stumble upon this massive pile of fail. This isn’t just a fail but a massive pile of fail. This is a Chevrolet Camaro with a bad body kit. Even if the body kit was painted instead of just covered in primer it’s still bad. The icing on the cake? The Honda Accord headlights in the front.

Below is a video taken at Camaro5 Fest put on by Camaro5.  Chevrolet saw fit to bring out the second 2011 Camaro (2011 Camaro #00002) built which happens to have the newly optional heads-up display (HUD).  While the video does not show all the optional screens it does show the start up sequence and a few screens.

Source- Camaro5

Have you ever wanted your cars emblem to have more personality and really come alive?  Yea, me neither, but apparently at least one new company thinks there is a demand for car emblems with pizazz!  Meet Emblem Alive by JEPP Industries

This “innovative” new technology (really?) will make your cars emblem really come alive!  This is accomplished by adding sound and motion.  They utilize a patent pending (really like someone else would patent this) design with VeSAM technology with projected availability in 2011.  The initial launch will be for the Chevrolet Camaro and late model Ford Mustangs (1999-2004, which is old.)  Emblem Alive’s  tag line is “Your Cars Personality Coming to Life.”  I personally do not want my cars personality coming to life in this manner.  I can’t keep writing about this because I can’t stop laughing.  I dare you to watch the video and keep a straight face.

Source- The Car Lounge

What do you do when you have a car that won’t be launching for almost a year? “Leak” your own photos, of course.  Chevrolet did just that this afternoon, posting two photos of the upcoming 2011 Camaro convertible onto their Facebook fan page.  They asked the question, “Anything about this Camaro look different to you?”  Why yes Chevrolet, that looks like a convertible – not a coupe.

Things we can note from this is the rear bumper has the little sensors for a back up sensing system, which will be available on the 2011 Camaros.  We can also see how the rear end has been designed (from a straight on viewpoint).  The vehicle pictured is obviously the V-6 model, due to the missing fake hood intake.  One of the things we already know about the convertible is that it will feature a cloth top rather then a hard top.  I am fairly confident that this is the exact Camaro convertible I saw when touring the various GM design centers during the GM Tech Event last August.  Until we get more pics, enjoy what Chevrolet has provided us.

This past weekend, Autorama’s World of Wheels show came to the Twin Cities.  This show travels around the nation and is one of the premier custom car show series.  The show itself is put on by Championship Auto Shows.  Sponsors include everyone from O’Reilly Auto Parts to Meguiar’s.  I went with Jason Pawelsky and we agreed, without question, that the show had its high points and low points.  So! Let’s get to it.

1970 Mach1 Mustang

Without a doubt, there were some really nice cars there.  A Ford Mustang club was in attendance with a booth filled with Mustangs.  One that really stood out was a 1970 Mach1 with gorgeous canary yellow paint. It was one of the highlights of the show and was just a great looking car. It looked terrific and was sitting next to a fourth generation Mach1 (circa 2000).  Not to be outdone, the Mustang section had competition from their fierce rival,  Camaro.  A Chevrolet Camaro club had a section with classic Camaros from yesteryear including a gorgeous Camaro SS featuring a 427 in the engine bay.  Of course, quite a few new Camaros were on the show floor as well, sitting next to their vintage elders.

A number of old Chevrolet 210 sedans, along with the older Corvettes, were scattered throughout the show floor.  A 1961 Chevrolet Impala was getting quite a bit of attention, probably because it was un-restored and yet looked great for its age.  The car’s paint was not terrific and the interior was slightly faded but many of these cars on the floor were full restorations so it was nice to see something that was original and in rather good condition.

Supercharged LS9 V8

Another highlight was a 1957 Chevrolet 210 2-door sedan.  This car was being done by L’Cars Automotive Specialties in Cameron, WI.  A customer brought the car to the fine people at L’Cars and they have created one heck of a beast for the lucky owners.  Starting with an Art Morrison GT sport chassis and a Ford 9 inch rear end, including a limited slip differential as the base, the engine is a crate supercharged LS9 V8 from the Corvette ZR1 with a Hennessy cold air intake feeding the engine.  The supercharged LS9 is pushing out 700 hp to the rear wheels and 650 ft-lb through a GM 6L80E six-speed automatic transmission.  The exhaust is a polished stainless steel set up from Borla with dual 2.5 inch oval tips in the rear.  The exhaust system has an electric cut out system with straight outlets under the car.  Bringing all this to a stop is 13 inch Wilwood drilled and slotted rotors in the front and rear with 6 piston calipers in the front and 4 piston calipers in the back.  This whole vehicle was 99% completed and they were just working out some fuel delivery issues.  Without a doubt, this was one of the coolest cars at the show.

1957 Chevrolet 210 2-door Sedan with supercharged LS9 V8

Then there were the low points.  One of the saddest things I saw was a GNX and, if you know me at all, you know how much love and respect I have for the GNX.  It was just this particular GNX that just made me sad all over. I was excited when I saw it across the show floor but as I got closer and closer, my excitement turned to devastation.  The paint was in terrible condition with swirls all over and the rear window had a tint job that looks like a child performed the deed with a break in the middle of the rear window where a new piece of tint was spliced in.  The interior was actually in fairly decent condition but the engine bay, which needs no help after leaving the factory, was chromed out. From the ugly, oversized manifold in black and chrome to other oversized things, it was all over the place under the hood. Do not even get me started on the stickers! The thing was just a hot mess, except for the interior. There were more low points because several cars had terrible paint jobs with swirls in the finish.  It is one thing when you have original paint, but to restore a car with a new paint job and improperly use a buffer is just sad.

OMG its Doc Hudson!

Overall the experience was fun.  People were enjoying the cars and the atmosphere. A special attraction for the kids was the Hudson Hornet aka, Doc Hudson, from the movie Cars.  Friends know I am a huge Cars fan and so seeing Doc Hudson was yet another highlight for this big kid.  Overall, the show was a great way to spend a Winter Saturday afternoon as Spring and the season for fun cars approaches.