Accelerate Mpls

Mark this down next to Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer and the rest of the fallen brands (Oldsmobile and a long list we will not go over). Today Ford announced that Mercury is dead. They will wind down by the end of the fourth quarter this year. Remember how Mercury was going to bring back the Tracer based off the new 2012 Ford Focus? Yea that is not going to happen. More attention will be focused on Lincoln and that division will get seven all new or severely refreshed cars. Ecoboost will spread throughout the Lincoln lineup including the next generation Navigator. That essentially just confirmed there will be a next generation Navigator. Ford went on to say that Lincoln will become a technology powerhouse, with more features and better fuel economy than the competition. It also confirmed that a C segment car based off the 2012 Focus will come to Lincoln now. I actually believe that something can be made of Lincoln is Ford really works at it. Ford will have to either really do something and put its weight behind Lincoln like they say, or else it too will probably have to be on the chopping block at some point. Time will tell.

Leaving work this week I spotted a very large parking fail.  Essentially the Audi TT is for lack of better words, screwed.  The Pontiac Grand Prix and Dodge Stratus boxed him in really good.  The Grand Prix is actually touching the rear bumper while the Stratus at least is not touching though is very close.  Talk about a huge parking fail.  I would be irate if I owned this TT.  I have yet to figure out how some people can be so bad at parking.

It has been four long months of winter wonderland but the sun has finally broken out and the snow is melted.  Another season of Cars & Café has come upon us and the first one of the season did not disappoint.  I was a little nervous as the weather predictions for Saturday were calling for rain, but that all changed last Friday.  I started to get hope as the prediction changed to a chilly 51 degrees and sunny.  I woke up early Saturday morning (late, I was supposed to get up at 6 but had a major alarm clock fail on my part.  I forgot to turn it on and woke up at 6:37 am) and looked outside to find the sun breaking cover.  Excited, I hopped in our 1990 300ZX and headed out to the AutoMotorPlex in Chanhassen.

Our 1990 300ZX

It was a chilly 42 degrees at 7:38 am when I rolled into the AutoMotorPlex.  Gates opened at 6:30 am and only a few tuned up Audi’s and a lonely (read awesome) BMW Z8 were there so far.  I parked in the Japanese parking area and started mingling.  Cars started pouring in around 8 am and it just never stopped.  The sun started warming things up and we reached a nice 57 degrees.  It turned into a huge turnout with couples, families and enthusiasts alike, all coming together with the passion of automobiles.

Some of the more notable (read interesting) rides included a first generation Scion XB that was white with plain steel wheels.  What made it really interesting was it was lowered, had the windows tinted, and had strips of LED lights taped (yes, taped with black duct tape) directly above the headlights.  Parked next to that was a Nissan 240SX with a broken up body kit that was held on with zip ties.  Yes, you read that right zip ties.  The 240SX was painted green with John Deer graphics.  The owner commented on how the zip ties break all the time and he replaces them constantly.

LS1 Shoved into a mid 80's Mazda RX7

All was not lost though because many really awesome cars where there as well.  There were more Corvettes from all different eras than I could count.  Some Corvettes were heavily modified some were plain stock though most were tasteful (save for a few).  A Volkswagen bus showed up and was in really good condition.  When a mid 80′s Mazda RX7 pulled in, I knew something interesting was under the hood mainly because of the sound coming out of it.  Upon further inspection the owner had shoved a LS1 engine under the hood with a custom exhaust system.  One of the most questioned cars was the original Mini Cooper but it was a stretch limo version.  The owner informed people it was originally owned by the Spice Girls and was actually signed by them on the rear.

Spice Girls Mini Cooper Limo

De Tomaso Pantera

The cars garnering the most attention were the Ford GT, Lamborghini Murcielago, De Tomaso Pantera and the Aston Martin(s).  A ton of American cars showed up and they even had their own (decent size) section.  Three Pontiac G8′s were in attendance all parked next to each other.  Two were GT’s and one was a GXP.  The GXP had a Holden badge on the rear and one GT had a custom hiding (flip down) front license plate.

The turnout was terrific. The weather held out and really ended up being beautiful.  I am not sure we could have asked for a better Cars & Café to kick off the season!  Here is looking forward to the first Saturday next month.

Cop cars: No one really wants to see them in the rear view mirror, and yet everyone seems to slow down and gawk when someone else is pulled over.  For a long time, the Ford Crown Victoria, known as the Police Interceptor, has been the police vehicle of choice; with a body on frame design and rear wheel drive these cars were street tanks.  Pulling bent frames, replacing panels, rebuilding and replacing rear ends has become commonplace for police departments.  In all reality, we knew the current Crown Victoria would not soldier on forever and reality has finally set in for the Crown Vic.  Currently, the Chevrolet Impala and Dodge Charger are both being sold for police duty but Ford’s Crown Victoria is still the reigning champ when it comes to the number of police vehicles on the road. But, current Dodge Charger police vehicles walk all over the current Crown Victoria in performance.

New Caprice PPV

Last October, Chevrolet showed off the upcoming Caprice PPV (police patrol vehicle).  This vehicle is based off the Zeta platform, the same platform the now dead Pontiac G8 was based off of.  GM is utilizing the long wheel base version of this platform currently being used in the Caprice in the Middle East market.  GM says that this vehicle will only be sold for police use.  They interior has been modified for police duty, including the seats which are designed to accommodate utility belts.  The center stack is designed to allow a computer to be installed along with the high technology needed. A large touch screen is optional and will take up almost the entire center stack. In the rest of the vehicle, the trunk measures 18.5 cubic feet.  For power, the engine will initially be a one choice E85 capable 6.0 liter. V8 pushing out 355 hp and 385 lb-ft of torque channeled through a six speed automatic to the rear wheels.  After about, a year a V6 should join the engine line up.  Of course, all the heavy duty upgrades will be implemented such as brakes, alternator, transmission and other bits, all upgraded for police use.

Interior of the new Caprice PPV

New Ford Police Interceptor

Last week, Ford unveiled the replacement for the Crown Dinosaur, which happens to essentially be a police duty Taurus.  Of course, this will not be called the Taurus, rather it will be known as the new Ford Police Interceptor.  Like the consumer Taurus, the new Police Interceptor will come in either front wheel or all wheel drive with the same base 3.5 liter, V6 pushing 263 hp and 250+ ft-lb of torque, or the optional Ecoboost V6 pushing out 365 hp and 355 ft-lb.  The base V6 routes the power to the two front wheels while the optional Ecoboost will route the power to all four wheels.  Ford has said that a police vehicle needs ‘cop brakes, a cop motor and cop suspension’.  Apparently, the new Taurus either met these requirements or has had the necessary upgrades to meet the demands.  Additionally, the seats are new and, like the Chevrolet PPV, they are designed to let an officer sit comfortably with their utility belts on.  The trunk measures in at 20.1 cubic feet.  Ford is boasting about how the new Police Interceptor can withstand a 75 mile per hour rear impact: an industry first.  Ford also promised that another Police Interceptor model would be unveiled later this year.  That model would be a utility vehicle of some sorts most likely based off the upcoming new Explorer or the Flex, both of which are variations on the Taurus platform.

Interior of the new Police Interceptor

Current Generation Dodge Charger Police Package

A new Dodge Charger should be unveiled sometime later this year as the new 2011 Charger is scheduled to start production in November.  As the current Charger is gaining traction in the police vehicle market, you can be assured the next generation Charger will have a police package available.  The current Charger uses the 5.7 liter Hemi V8 pushing 368 hp and 410 ft-lb through a five speed automatic transmission.  The interior does not have seats specifically designed for the officer like the new offerings.  The next Charger will, undoubtedly, have more specific police officer focused interior amenities.

Carbon Motors E7

There is also an oddball player that is scheduled to enter the market.  Carbon Motors is set to bring a new type of police vehicle to market named the E7.  This is a all new car coming from an all new company.  The vehicle will utilize a 3.0 liter turbo diesel engine putting out 250 hp and 400 ft-lb with all the power being pushed to the rear wheels.  Some are claiming this vehicle might be capable of 30 mpg on the highway.  This car is the definition of high technology for the police, featuring a touch screen computer in the dash, LED police lights and suicide rear doors.  The back seat will be fully washable as it is made of hard plastic instead of vinyl like the competition.  Carbon Motors is claiming over 12,500 orders for the E7 (which is a codename while the car is in development) from 350 law enforcement agencies across the U.S..  The vehicle is scheduled to be produced in Connersville, Indiana.

A quick break down of the specs we know as they currently stand-

Ford Crown Vic -

239hp and 287 ft-lbs, RWD, 20.6 cubic ft trunk, rear leg room 38 in, 4127 lbs

Chevrolet PPV-

355hp and 385 ft-lbs, RWD, 18.5 cubic ft trunk, rear leg room 43.2 in, 4075 lbs

New Ford Police Interceptor-

263hp (365hp) and  249 ft-lbs (350 ft-lbs), FWD (AWD), 20.1 cubic ft trunk, rear leg room 38.1 in, 4015 lbs (4368 lbs)

Current Dodge Charger-

368hp and 410 ft-lbs, RWD, 16.2 cubic ft trunk, rear leg room 40.2 in, 3900 lbs

So, what we have here is a new war of the cop cars.  While I do not doubt the Carbon Motors E7 will come to market, I wonder at what cost.  The vehicle is technology laden and that is probably going to be its largest issue.  The Taurus is a heavy car and adding all wheel drive adds complexity to the drivetrain.  Long term, the all wheel drive will add cost to the ownership for police departments along with those twin turbos.

I think that many markets in the snow belt, such as the Northeastern part of the U.S. and Minnesota, Detroit, Illinois and others, will embrace the optional all wheel drive in the Taurus and that the rest of the market share will most likely shift to the Chevrolet PPV.  The next generation Dodge Charger will undoubtedly sell some police units and I am sure the Carbon E7 will sell, but it is too early to tell in what numbers.  According to Ford, the police market gobbles up nearly 60,000-70,000 vehicles per year!  My sources tell me that the PPV, with the V8 costing approximately $17,000-$18,000 to the fleets, you can take about $1,000-$2,000 off that price when the V6 launches.  Time will tell who wins this war but without a question, it will be interesting to watch.  Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Episode 14 starts by discussing the past week on both of our respective blogs, AutoBird Blog and AccelerateMpls. The week in review included January’s numbers and Betting on the Little Guy.  We move along to the major news of the week segment.  This week included-

• Latest Toyota recall recap
• GM deciding to keep the Renaissance Center
• Current Saab 9-5 ends production
• All new Saab 9-5 hitting showrooms in Q2

We then proceed to the clip of the week segment.  This week we featured the preview from the documentary on closure of Ohio GM plant which earned an Oscar nomination.

Last but certainly not least, we discuss our main topics.  This week those topics included a goodbye to Saturn and Pontiac along with Colin making the argument that Kia might be in a crisis.

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I do not even know where to start. The Toyota situation is getting so far out of hand it is not even funny. This started months ago when a family was killed when driving a loaner Lexus ES350. That situation has since come into the limelight of both the media and the government. Currently, the total recall count is a little over 6 million vehicles. This is due to the “sticky accelerator.”

The decision came down Tuesday that all sales would come to a halt on the vehicles affected. This sales freeze will be in affect until a fix can be implemented. Toyota has said they expect a fix in the next two weeks rather than months. With that said, they failed to mention what that fix might be. I would call this a “we are scrambling as quickly as possible” tactic. Many are convinced Toyota does not have a fix yet. Others are reporting Toyota already has the fix and new parts are starting to ship. It is hard to know what to believe at this point. The freeze affects eight models which makes up about sixty percent of all North American sales for Toyota. The list of affected vehicles is as follows-

• 2009-10 RAV4

• 2009-10 Corolla

• 2009-10 Matrix

• 2005-10 Avalon

• Certain 2007-10 Camry

• 2010 Highlander

• 2007-10 Tundra

• 2008-10 Sequoia

Avis/Budget car rental announced they will be removing nearly 20,000 Toyota’s from its fleet immediately. Enterprise Rent-A-Car, who now also owns Alamo and National Car Rental, will be pulling all Toyota’s and Pontiac Vibe’s included in the recall. While numbers were not provided by Enterprise it is estimated to be about 4% of their fleet.

It is coming out now that Toyota has known there was problem since mid 2008. In June of 2008, Toyota announced “sticky pedals” are a drivability issue not a safety issue. Well we all know how that turned out now that people have died. Toyota has ignored this problem. They continued to sell cars when they knew something was wrong! This is just ridiculous. Even further, Toyota was contacted last Friday by NHSTA after they heard the models were still being sold. It took four days for Toyota to make the announcement of the sales freeze on the affected models. It almost seems as if they had no intentions of stopping sales until it started hitting the public and governmental eyes.

I have spoken with many people who are shocked at this whole situation. In a conversation with a gentleman in the baby boomer generation the words, “Never in my life have I seen an auto manufacturer halt sales of over half their line up. This is history in the making.” He continued to compare this situation to 9/11, the difference is that this is going on inside Toyota. Another friend compared Toyota to big tobacco.

Many see this whole situation as getting out of control. I have heard some say it is snowballing. I personally think this is far from over and it will get much worse. Toyota’s reputation has now been thrown into question in front of the public view and in a terrible way. It will be interesting to see how current Toyota owners react when it is time for them to purchase a new car. This could benefit Ford, Hyundai, and General Motors. Time will tell if that happens. In recap, Toyota knew what was going on before people were killed, they continued to sell vehicles, more people died, did not fully think through the recall, things are going to get worse. I think I’m going to get sick.

Episode 9 starts by discussing the past week on both of our respective blogs, AutoBird Blog and AccelerateMpls. The first topic was the Cadillac SRX that I drove this past week. The rest of our conversation focused on the year in review. Everything from the sad stuff to the funny stuff, nothing was left out. Things mentioned included the best/worst automotive brand of the year, best/worst nameplate of the year, the Ram brand, losing Saturn, Saab, Pontiac, Hummer, and much much more. We look forward to episode 10 in 2010!

2010 GMC Terrain

Many people have asked me why Pontiac and Saturn are being killed and GMC gets to live.  To many on the outside it does not make perfect sense though the answer is quite simple.  GMC makes money while Pontiac and Saturn do not.  The response I got to that was about how GMC products are mostly rebadged Chevrolet products so how can they make money.  Again a simple answer with two parts.  GMC is not really cross shopped with Chevrolet according to GM.  Also GMC is aimed to be one step above Chevrolet “offering more premium content then Chevy” according to Annalisa Bluhm who works for GM, so that means slightly higher base prices.

The last generation Chevrolet Equinox had a brother and it was the Pontiac Torrent which was about as class competitive as the last generation Equinox was, which was not very.  With Pontiac dead and gone spreading the development costs of the new Equinox with another vehicle was key.  GMC has been successful with the Lambda based Acadia and thus it was logical to make the new Equinox’s brother a GMC.  The new 2010 Terrain, moves GMC into a new segment and gives another vehicle to add to the now empty Pontiac showroom floor space.

Being the brother to the Equinox has its advantages.  The interior of the new Equinox is already more then class competitive it is class leading and so changes were not really necessary to compete in this area.  With a few upgraded materials here and there and some different graining and texture on some dash panels the interior was a nice place before the switch from Chevrolet to GMC.  The exterior styling is what really differentiates the Terrain from the Equinox.  With bold, blocky, in your face looks, the Terrain is much more controversially styled then the Equinox.  With a blunt front end and squared off fenders, the Terrain is much less curvaceous and soft compared with the Equinox.  The huge overly exaggerated fender flares continue this blocky bold styling down the side and towards the rear.  Speaking of the rear again much blockier and more bluntly styled then the Equinox.  The styling seems to be a love it or hate it with everyone having a opinion.  Many people on Twitter seem to thing this is not a good looking rig with one person even saying they thought it was the ugliest vehicle on the road today.  I would not personally go that far but it is definitely in your face and styled differently.

During the Terrain’s stay this week I had a road trip down to Hudson, IA to visit some friends and family.  With the cruise control set the Terrain was a comfortable highway cruiser lugging along at 75mpg I was averaging 26.3 mpg.  It is worth noting that it was chilly here during the trip and this probably affected the gas milage slightly.  The Terrain utilizes the same exact engine choices as the Equinox either the 2.4L four cylinder or the optional 3.0L V6 both engines are feature great new technology.  Utilizing VVT (variable valve timing) and direct injection both these engines are class leading in gas milage ratings.  The Terrain I had was rated at 20/29 mpg due to the all wheel drive.  Without the all wheel drive ratings would have been 22/32 mpg.  The Terrain also utilizes the great six speed automatic used in the Equinox.  Since I had the four cylinder it had the “eco” button which changes shift points. The Terrain drove smoother and I enjoyed the way the transmission worked while in eco mode much more then when not.  According to GM eco mode earns you one mile per gallon more in gas milage.

The Terrain I had was a SLE2 with a few option packages including the convenience package, trailering equipment package, cargo management package, and 18″ machined aluminum wheels.  The sticker price on this particular vehicle was $29,630.  This vehicle was far from stripped yet is only one step above the base SLE with a few option packages.  The convenience package put in heated seats which were great when the temperature dipped into the low 30′s during the week. Also in that package was the remote vehicle start which again was great when the temperatures got into the 30′s.  Bluetooth was another great standard feature in this particular vehicle.  In this writers opinion bluetooth should be standard in every car for safety reasons.  Many cars have fog lights but not many do much for the driver.  The fog lights on the Terrain surprised me adding a lot of extra light on the ground in front of you.  Much more then you would expect especially considering how tiny they are.

At the end of the day we have a platform mate to the Equinox.  It is more controversially styled and is priced about $1,810 more in base price.  I feel the styling is good but then again I think the Mercedes Benz GLK is good looking and that thing is a chiseled block, so blocky does not bother me.  With a premium look and feel this classy vehicle has what it takes to beat the competition.  The looks are polarizing which gets you noticed and that is exactly what GM needs for the GMC Terrain, people noticing it.  Like the Equinox with better fuel economy and overall execution then the main competition mainly Toyota Rav4 and Honda CR-V the Terrain is a great option in a crowded segment.  My recommendation, if the Equinox is not your taste in style check the Terrain before you look else where.