automotive car news blog

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

2010 Mazda 3


This car has always been very cool. Older versions for example, might not have had powerful V8's with 400HP, but it was still a good, solid, comfortable, car. The 2006 model had 150HP with a 2.0L engine (cheapest model), but it was still very good to drive. The new one however, should be even better. The sedan model with a 2.5L engine (borrowed from Mazda 6) will produce 167HP. Doesn't seem like that much, but remember this is not a racing car. The thing is however, that it's still extremely fun. It even has an "Engine Start" button. This could be a family car too, considering it has seats for 5, excellent leg room, leather upholstery, heated seats, and a GPS. It looks kind of good too, almost seems as if it's smiling at you whenever you look at the front. I can't wait to drive this car, and experience the Zoom-zoom.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

2009 BMW X6


This is one of the weirdest looking cars I've ever seen. It's hard to understand whether it's a hatchback, or a 4-door sedan. Plus it has the height of an SUV. However there is a name for this type of vehicle, BMW calls it the Sports Activity Coupe (SAC). This car will come with a 4.4 V8 with 400HP (xDrive50i), or a 3.0 inline 6 cylinder, with 300HP (xDrive35i). The 4.4 and the 3.0 will come with twin turbos. This car will also come with BMW's xDrive system, with four wheel drive. It will have flappy paddles that are connected to a 6-speed automatic gearbox. Plus, this being a BMW it will come with stuff like GPS, automatic headlights, and a DVD player. The xDrive50i base model starts from 66,200, however this being a BMW, it has a ton of options. For example:
Comfort Access system $1,000
Head-up Display $1,200
Heated front seats $500
Running boards $300
Soft close automatic doors $600
HD radio $350
Rear seat entertainment $1,700
BMW Assist $750
Rear-view camera $400
So as you probably guessed, this car is not cheap. Also, I don't like the way it looks. It just seems too high to be a sedan or a hatchback, and it doesn't seem to be large enough to be an off roader. I mean seriously, who would go off road in that?

2011 Chevrolet Volt



This is a car that might be the future. Chevy Volt is an electric car, but uses gas as a secondary source of fuel. Chevrolet's developments enables this car to drive up to 60km (about 37 miles) without using a drop of gasoline. If you're thinking..."Electric car? It's going to take days to charge it up and it will use up a ton of electricity!" then you're wrong. This car can be charged in just 3 hours. I'm not a fan of electric cars, but only becuase they all don't work properly. If GM is saying the truth about this car, it might be actually good. Not good for racing, or handling of course, but I think this is a sensible family car. It's covered with gadgets and screens, and futuristic buttons, and it looks good on the outside too! This car is actually something I'm looking forward to.

2009 Mistubishi Lancer sportback


I'm sure you all know about the war between Subaru Impreza and the Mitsubishi Lancer. The thing is, Subaru has sporty hatchbacks, while the Lancer was always a 4 door saloon. This however, will change in 2009. This is the Lancer Sportback. The Ralliart model will come with a 2.0L 4 cylinder turbocharged engine, that produces 235HP. However cheaper, less powerful versions will be available, 108-horsepower 1.5 liter or 141-horsepower 1.8. There's also going to be a diesel version, which will produce 138HP. It will come with active center differential, and high performance brakes. So far it sounds like a pretty solid vehicle, however in previous Mitsubishi cars, there was always some turbo lag which a lot of people found annoying, so hopefully it's been fixed in this vehicle. This car looks very good too, except the wheels look just a bit to small, but other then that, no problems with the styling at all.



Friday, December 5, 2008

GMC Denali XT concept 2008


Right...this doesn't look good, does it? This is the 2008 concept of the GMC Denali. I've never actualy liked the original one, the suspension felt too soft, and I thought it was going to flip over on hard quick turns. However it did have plenty of room inside, great options, and the gearbox worked very smoothly. It wasn't the best looking SUV in the world, but at least it got the job done. This one however, looks completely USELESS! They wanted to put a 4.9L small block V8 in it, but think about it, what for? It would be useless as a truck becuase of the tiny bed, it'd be useless as a 4-door saloon becuase of the lack of a trunk, and the noisy V8. Also, I'm pretty sure you can see why it wouldn't be a good sports car. This car may look futuristic and flashy...but if you just look at it a bit harder you can actually see how ugly it is. I mean it just seems like a horrible horrible concept.

2009 Nissan 370Z


The old 350Z was generally a good car, it had a 3.5L V6 with 306HP, and you could buy it for $28,510 (base). The new 370Z however, is even better. 3.5 Engine has been replaced with a 3.7, which revs up to 7,000 RPM, and has 331HP. This car has a 6-speed manual gearbox, which shifts very smoothly, whether you're doing up shifts or down shifts. This car look pretty much the same as the old one, except it seems to have a smoother body, but sharper head and tail lights. I'm not sure I like the idea of having those type of lights, they don't seem to be going with the rest of the car. It feels like the body is just a bunch of individual parts kind of fixed to fit together. I don't want to say that I hate the way it looks, but it's just not what I would expect.

2010 Mercedes-Benz S400

Yes...yes...yes...every executives' dream, a Mercedes-Benz S class. In 2010 a new one's coming out! This will be an S class, however it's going to be a Hybrid. It's going to have a V6 engine, with a hybrid module, making it the worlds most economical luxury saloon. It'll still have all the S-class goodies that we all love so much, like smart cruise control, accident avoidance sensors, and much much more. Plus this will still have those S-class looks, which will make any executive look like he arrived to do business. All those things, AND you'll be paying less for gas. There will be a few problems though. The price for this particular vehicle isn't available yet, however considering the '09 S-class started from $89,350 MSRP, I can tell you the 2010 model won't be cheap.