November 30, 201
GM. Editor-in-Chief's Note: The Chevy Volt is under attack. At this point the battery pack post-crash fires and the lengthy explanation of what has really been going on is getting lost in a media frenzy of Internet headlines and 20-second sound bites that basically go something like this: "Volts Catching Fire." Not "Volt batteries catching fire after crash tests," no, just, "Volts Catching Fire." It doesn't matter that there are well over 250,000 vehicle fires each and every year that cause over 500 deaths here in the United States, according to The Wall Street Journal, all that matters is that the newest and hottest thing in advanced vehicle technology - at least according to the politicians in Washington and Northern California - the much touted "electrification of the automobile" has now hit a roadblock of Bad News: "Volts Catching Fire." This couldn't come at a more inopportune time for General Motors, what with the fact that they've invested hundreds of millions of dollars in developing the advanced - and category leading - Volt extended range electric vehicle technology, and that it's the tip of the company's technological spear. There's more to it than that. The Volt is also the halo for the Chevrolet brand, and they've invested millions upon millions in getting that message across as well. GM's top PR operatives are all over this issue and trying to get out front of it as best they can, and GM's North American chief Mark Reuss is leading the executive charge to defend the Volt's honor as well. But here's the thing. In our world of instant communication gratification, the 24-7 quagmire of punditry, chatrooms and hordes of instant auto "experts" weighing-in on Twitter and Facebook will bury the Volt long before any meaningful evaluations are completed or any real issue is discovered. And that's just flat-out wrong. The Volt will survive this, and GM will survive it too. It's just too bad we have to endure the endless hand-wringing from the massively uninformed in the meantime. - PMD
(GM)
General Motors built its 100-millionth small-block engine yesterday, 56 years after the first production small block. Chevrolet introduced the small-block in 1955 and the production milestone comes in the same month the brand marked its 100th anniversary. The small-block engine has been used in GM vehicles around the world and is currently found in global Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac vehicles, as well as Vauxhall in the United Kingdom and Holden in Australia. “The small block is the engine that brought high-performance to the people,” said David Cole, founder and emeritus chairman of Center for Automotive Research – and whose father, the late Ed Cole, was the chief engineer at Chevrolet and oversaw development of the original small block engine. “There is an elegant simplicity in its design that made it instantly great when new and enables it to thrive almost six decades later.” The milestone engine was a 638-horsepower supercharged LS9 small block – the power behind the 205-mph Corvette ZR1 – which is hand-built at GM’s Performance Build Center, northwest of Detroit. It represents the fourth generation of the small block and is the most powerful engine ever built by GM for a regular-production car. GM will preserve the engine as part of its historical collection.
(VW Group)
The small crossover segment is shaping up to be an intense battleground. Volkswagen has revealed the Cross Coupé concept SUV at the Tokyo Motor Show. A clear indication of what the Tiguan of the future is going to look like, the concept is longer than a VW Golf and shorter than a Tiguan at 171.1 inches overall. At 73.5 inches wide and 60.0 inches high, it also falls right in between those two vehicles. The Cross Coupé also has a very long wheelbase of 103.5 inches, two inches longer than a Golf and an inch longer than the current Tiguan. It looks like this new VW is going to be a very strong entry in the segment.
Editor's Note: This week we're back in Audi land with a 2012 TT. I owned a few Audi sedans back in the day. Then, I got the Mercedes Kool-Aid patch and haven't done much looking around since. I am way into luxury, and Audi has always been a bit too restrained for me in that department. I did warm up to the Audi sedans we drove over the summer, however, especially the A7. So I was anxious to see what this latest TT was all about. When the TT burst on the scene more than a decade ago, I fell in love with its design. As it evolved, it gradually lost its distinctiveness and now I find that it is a bit ordinary for my tastes. I must be alone in this opinion, as Audi continues to get praise for the TT's styling - I just think it blends into the (very crowded) crowd right about now. But that didn't stop me from enjoying all that the 2012 TT has to offer. As Audi's "entry level" TT model, the 2.0 TFSI Quattro S-Tronic Coupe (just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?) delivered unexpected performance and even a bit of fun. The turbocharged 4-cylinder made the 211hp seem like a lot more (but the 360hp of the 2012 TT RS model is what really taunts me). Inside, the TT is oh-so-Audi. Not nearly as luxurious as some of the Audi sedans we've driven recently but every bit as clean and well thought out. This is very much a driver's car, which is enhanced by the purposeful interior design and overall sporty feel (love the three-spoke flat-bottom leather-wrapped steering wheel). But it is very nearly winter, so of course I was more concerned with stuff like heated seats. I love that the TT's system remembers - if I turn the car off with the seat heater on high, it is still on high when I start up again. It also doesn't decrease the heat level over time, whereas the three-pointed star gang has taken it upon themselves to decide when my posterior is too hot and dials the temperature back - this really irks me (sometimes, it's the small stuff). Speaking of small, the TT is described as a two-plus-two seater. I prefer to describe that description as a joke. There is no way any human, regardless of age, could sit in the rear seats. I did, however, like the trunk compartment and the pass-through to the rear seats - plenty of room for the spoils of everyday errands. All in all, there is a lot I really liked about the TT. It is quintessentially Audi, which means it is extremely well executed. And although I'm lukewarm on the exterior design, this car is about driving. And for that, it's a hell of a lot of fun. - WG Editor-in-Chief's Note: It's difficult for the new Audi TT to compete with the visual impact of the original design, but there's no denying the car is more grown up now. It's roomier, sophisiticated, more comfortable and still relatively fun to drive. I say relatively because as long as the TT RS looms out there this car will always be tame. Is it well-executed? Of course. Audi doesn't build average cars. And this TT comes off very, very well. I find it to be a bit pricey for a standard TT, even though it was loaded, but it was fun and lively to drive. So good in fact that for a brief fleeting moment you can almost talk yourself into thinking that you could do quite well with the standard TT drivetrain. Almost. But, nah. We'll wait for the TTS and RS versions, and then we'll discuss "fun and lively." Oh yeah, it looked pretty damn good in its Volcano Red Metallic too. - PMD
2012 Audi TT 2.0 TFSI Quattro S-Tronic Coupe $48,920 ($38,300 Base Price; Volcano Red Metallic $475; Prestige Model – Audi Navigation Plus w/6CD changer, Audi parking system, BOSE Sound System, heated front seats, LED interior lighting package, Black Fine Nappa leather package – $6,100. Audi magnetic ride w/S button program, $1,900; S line package – Black leather/Alcantara seats, 19” 7-twin-spoke-design wheels w/summer tires, matte brushed aluminum inlays, extended leather, headlight washers, S line steering wheel w/shift paddles, S line exterior package, S line door sills, S line fender badging, $1,200; Audi music interface w/iPod cable – replaces 6CD changer, $70.00; Destination charge, $875.00)
Letter from L.A.: Piling on Maybach
By Tom Pease
Beverly Hills. I remember when Beverly Hills Mercedes took over the space on the other side of the lobby in the building they are in (displacing I can't remember what) and putting in finishes that were deemed grand enough for the King-of-the-Road new über car. I thought at the time that if I had just plunked down seriously large cash on a new S-Class that I'd be a bit miffed (to put it politely) that I was now being told that I was a distant second-class citizen in the Daimler-Benz hierarchy, as if I were buying white-label Armani.
The first time I saw one it was being piloted past the dealership. I had a head-on view and the first thing that crossed my mind was "is that a new Chrysler Town & Country?" Then I got the side view and wondered who would buy this graceless, gaudy invitation to class warfare. The answer turned out to be no one, of course, the bottom promptly fell out of that segment and the few people who could afford one would rather have been seen in a Rolls that looked like something Lady Penelope's FAB-1 than a minivan on steroids.
I also (completely irrationally) blame Daimler for killing the idea in GM's mind that they could have gotten away with building the Cadillac Sixteen.
Several years later the windows of the Maybach showroom went dark again for several months; the Maybach selling floor shrunk to about a sixth of the space it previously had and the rest of the area was transformed into a shiny white plastic-clad space reminiscent of the set of Space: 1999, dedicated to selling the next cannot-miss Daimler-Benz product: smart.
Editor-in-Chief's Note: Our good friend Casey Shain (aka "artandcolour") is at it again with a series of new "chops" as he likes to call them. Here are his comments: "I know you don't run older cars, but I thought you'd like to see some of my 60s Cadillacs, so I'm including a couple. One is a 2 door pillarless wagon for the Rat Pack, the Esprit de Ville, and the other is what a 'B-body' Cadillac would have looked like had they been produced in '68, sort of a modern-day Series 61 or LaSalle. I think the '68 GM B-coupe roofline really works with the Caddy! These are all sort of out there on a limb, a wooden limb, perhaps. A few are production-like, though." Always provocative and compelling, Casey's "chops" are very popular with our friends in the design community, and with us. We hope you enjoy his latest creative explorations. - PMD
2013 Audi A4 Allroad: Black Forest Edition with body side Black Walnut micro-veneers. Body has been re-proportioned and lowered.
2013 Audi TT eTron: Bold new concept for the next generation TT coupe. The cautious facelift of the second generation is tossed aside for this 21st century Plug-in hybrid, all-wheel drive, sports coupe. Based on the Audi eTron speedster concept.
2013 Buick LaCrosse Centurion coupe: A re-proportioned large Buick coupe. Based on the just-seen GL concept car, this top-of-the-line coupe would set the stage for a later, reborn RWD Riviera, and full-sized Plug-in hybrid sedan, the Electra.
2013 Cadillac 60-Special: Plug-in hybrid, long wheelbase XTS will bring back the classic 60-Special nameplate, but today "60" refers to the number of miles of pure electric (no gas) driving achievable, 60, almost doubling the Volt's advertised 35 miles. Fender skirts make a comeback as Aerospats, and help lower the drag to .21.
2013 Ford Taurus SHO coupe: I was thinking of Ford's classic coupe roof lines of the 1960s, the '63 1/2 Galaxie slant back, the '66 Fairlane 500/XL coupe, the '67 Galaxie 500/XL coupe. They all had almost parallel, slim C pillars, with great visibility and high style. This SHO coupe was meant to evoke those earlier, highly-desirable, Ford coupes. I'm not sure why there isn't a large Ford coupe. Even the most powerful SHO coupe wouldn't compete with the Mustang. There is room for both in the lineup.
2013 Lincoln Continental sedan: Based on the Lexus LF/A sports car (yes, seriously), this clean-sheet design is for a large RWD/AWD EcoBoost-powered Hybrid sedan.
2013 Lincoln Continental sedan: Based on the 2006 MKR concept car with a taller roof line and longer trunk, this close-coupled Continental sedan would be the Hot Rod Lincoln of the early 21st century.