Chevy Volt

The 2011 chevy volt has high expectations for the coming year. It has already won the "2011 Motor Trend Car of the Year" award. The volt travels off of only electricty. It has a lithium ion battery that can outlast most nickel batteries used in hybrid cars. It uses a range-extending gas generator that can produce enough electricity to power the car for hundreds of miles. If the battery does run out of charge the volt has a small reserve of gas that can be used to create more electricity. The volt can also be opperated some-what from your iphone or droid by using the"MyChevrolet" app. The new Chevy Volt is sure to be a hit in the upcoming year!

Real American Muscle

People love all different types of cars, but I am going to focus on just one group today. This is personally one of my favorite groups of cars; American Muscle Cars. Specifically Camaro, Mustang, and Charger.

Camaro

Mustang

Charger

These three cars are all loved, and disputed my many Americans. Different people claim that different ones are better, and for all different reasons. But when you really get down to it, it is all preference. All cars have pretty much the same statistics. They all handle pretty much the same (American muscle cars don't handle very well). The truth is, all of them have not only a history, but a place in American history. They changed the way we thought about cars, and set the bar high for quality cars. Camaro, Mustang, and Charger will almost always have a place in our garage, and in our history.

Carbon Fiber Usage in the Body-Work of Cars

Carbon fiber has been used to get the weight of performance vehicles down for some time now. Carbon fiber hoods and spoilers are popular in the after-market world due to ease of installation and stand-out looks. A carbon fiber roof (like on the BMW M3) lowers the center of gravity in addition to the overall weight, reducing roll. Carbon fiber wheels though rare, increase acceleration and deceleration. Performance companies recently have started testing with carbon fiber bumpers. Traditional bumpers put a large damper on handling and acceleration because they are very heavy and the furthest points from the cars center. Making street-legal bumpers out of such a rigid material is a great challenge, and they would be very expensive to replace in a crash. Since carbon fiber is associated with expensive cars, carbon fiber "decals" which are sometimes just plastic can be purchased. The root of carbon fiber is racing, so sticking a thick piece of plastic, or even real carbon fiber on just for looks is somewhat disgraceful. It is similar to nonfunctional hood scoops.

I seem to have missed the point

The Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet. Its a crossover. A crossover is basically suv-like body-work on a car chassis with large wheels. The CrossCabriolet is also a convertible. The interesting thing is that in the past many convertibles have been performance oriented. Whether they be high-powered, or just light, they almost always seem to be about the driving experience. The wind, smells, and noise can make something like the Miata extremely exciting despite its small engine. Even Nissan seems to agree that a convertible should be sporty. Just look at their 370Z roadster. So the Murano crossover convertible must be somewhat of a new breed. Were they just going for a car for cruising around town during the day, and sunbathing, or something I am not catching on to? The rear seats are large by convertible standards, but this alleged beach buggy still has only two doors. I say beach buggy because they endorse the fact that all-wheel drive allows this to drive "From the streets to the beach." A slightly more powerful (248 ft-lbs torque and 265 hp engine) will be standard. We look forward to seeing how well this interesting new car sells.
http://www.nissanusa.com/muranocabriolet/#/home 

Respect the Wagon

The Cadillac CTS-V Wagon does not have fake wooden paneling. It does not have sixteen cup-holders. It does not have bias-ply tires (instead it sports 19 inch run-flats). It is not your family vacation wagon of the 1960's. With 551 ft-lbs of torque it climbs to 60 mph in 4 seconds flat. At 191 mph it's the world's fastest production wagon and tied with the world's fastest production sedan (the CTS-V sedan). Unlike the sedan it has 56 cubic feet of cargo space, but don't think this makes it heavy. It still manages to remain under 4400 lbs. The relatively low weight coupled with the Nurburgring tuned suspension keeps it flat in the twisties too. The only thing not great about it is the 63-72k pricetag. Check out their website for more details http://www.cadillac.com/ctsVWagon/2011/features-specs/.