Forbidden Fruit: GM Ecotec 1.6T

Posted by on June 27, 2012

Photo from flickr user iJayJay of his Cruze T.

Domestic automakers have enjoyed a resurgence of interest from the younger crowd as of late.  After being pulled through the recession by federal money, they have doubled up on their efforts to stay ahead of Toyota and Honda by introducing new vehicles with stunning design and loads of tech.  Just look at the new Fusion, Camaro, Edge, Cruze, etc.  The list goes on forever.  Which is why I am bloody mad that we continue to offer our support, while the big wigs in Detroit continue to short us of their best products.  Just take the Cruze as an example – GM’s most significant small car in a long time was introduced in Europe and Asian in early 2009, while Americans had to wait until late 2010 to buy this vehicle.  If that wasn’t insulting enough, now GM is withholding a new 1.6L turbo 4-cylinder engine from the US market.

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Road of the Month: Mt. Lemmon Highway, Tucson, AZ

MtL5

Posted by on June 26, 2012

A friend and I were talking the other day about being sent for training in other states, and he mentioned that for some reason, he almost always had to train in Arizona in the summer.  This may seem counter-intuitive considering that AZ is extremely hot during the summer, but it actually makes a lot of sense.  The heat means that tourism rates drop considerably in AZ during summers, and that leads to cheaper hotel rates for companies.  Likewise, consumers can also take advantages of these lower rates – but what do you do when it’s 120F outside?  You get in the car and you drive until you hit cooler weather.  Luckily, the Mt. Lemmon Highway, also known as the Sky Island Scenic Byway, is a beautiful road just east of Tucson that’s perfect for escaping the heat.

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Review: 2012 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT

Caravan4

Posted by on June 25, 2012

Summer in America typically means that families all across the country pack up and head out on road trips.  Mine is no different – we have been avid road trippers for a couple decades now, traveling as many as 4,000 miles in a week.  This summer, we decided to fly out to Chicago and road trip across the Midwest – St. Louis, Memphis, Nashville and Indianapolis.  While I was preparing for the trip, all I could think of was what van we would be picking up at the airport.  I’ll admit that I had been hoping for a Toyota Sienna or perhaps a Nissan Quest, so I was a little dismayed when faced with the choice of a Chrysler or a Dodge.  Nonetheless, I was still excited to see what improvements had been made to the 2012 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT.

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Obscure Maintenance: PCV Valve

PCV1

Posted by on May 24, 2012

The average age of vehicles on the road today has steadily increased for numerous reasons.  Better lubrication, better reliability, and a bad economy can all be cited as factors.  That’s why we’ve decided it’s time to start a series on obscure maintenance items – things that may be forgotten as the years pass by on a typical vehicle.  Tires, brakes, engine oil, belts, wipers – those are replaced with some regularity and don’t count.  This series is for components that many people, even true car enthusiasts can forget about – like the PCV valve.

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Forbidden Fruit: Daihatsu Be-Go

http://www.autogaleria.hu -

Posted by on May 23, 2012

This month’s Forbidden Fruit is somewhat odd, considering that the last few have been fast, high performance vehicles that cost twice as much as a sensible person would pay for them.  This month’s quirky little sucker will follow suit with a sub-2.0L engine, high ground clearance, low prices, and a Toyota badge – all things that you would expect for an enthusiast vehicle right?  So why the odd choice then?  Read on to find out more!

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Road of the Month: Tioga Pass, Yosemite National Park

Yosemite 5

Posted by on May 22, 2012

Ask your friends and family what they think of when Yosemite is mentioned, and you’ll probably get a few different answers.  Camping, hiking, trees, crowds, nature, Half Dome…all typical answers.  But ask a driving enthusiast like me, and they’ll tell you the roads in and around the park are enough to warrant a trip out there.  Sure, there is going to be tourist traffic to slow you down, but did you really travel four hours from the Bay Area to rush through the park?  Take a breather, slow down, and enjoy the ride – as I discovered, the scenery is definitely worth it.  But do yourself a favor and make sure that the roads are have opened for the season – Tioga Pass and Sonora Pass, in particular.

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Forbidden Fruit: Renault Megane RS 265 Trophy

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Posted by on April 26, 2012

For as long as FWD cars have been popular, enthusiasts have constantly bashed them for being an inherently inferior platform with lousy handling characteristics.  Personally, I’ve never understood the rivalry – FWD and RWD both have their place, and technology can make any chassis handle well.  If you don’t believe me, just look at the rear-engine, rear wheel drive Porsche 911.  It has been downplayed by many as just a high-tech Beetle, but decades of sales and racing successes have proven otherwise.  Is it the front-engine, front wheel drive platform’s turn to shed its backwards image?  Yes, and that’s exactly what the Renault Megane RS 265 Trophy has done.

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Long-Term Test, 2000 Ford F-250: Fixer Upper

Meaty new tires helped the truck stay afloat on this salt bed in the Mojave Desert.

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The money I saved from not buying a new truck would become real handy as I started bringing the truck up to my standards.  My first actions were to address driveability issues.  New tires helped keep the truck on the road.  ”Necessities” like a new high-flow air filter set up and a tonneau cover fixed some usability issues (the stock filter had a history of letting dirt enter the engine in dusty environments).  An older style camshaft position sensor was a rumored quick fix for idle quality issues, as was a high pressure oil crossover between the two cylinder heads.  A pseudo fuel return system helped prevent air from getting to the fuel injectors, which quieted the engine down quite a bit.  I considered these modifications to be money well spent, considering that they prevent the $5000 engine and the $2000 injectors from becoming useless.

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Horsepower and Torque

Arnold-Bicep

Posted by on April 25, 2012

The automakers have done a great job making much ado about nothing.  Nearly everybody has heard of the term “horsepower,” and yet, shockingly few people know what it actually means or what it measures.  This article attempts to rectify that by putting into perspective how horsepower means almost nothing to the average driver.

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Road of the Month: Pacific Coast Highway, Monterey to Morro Bay

PCH4

Posted by on April 24, 2012

This month’s Road of the Month brings us back to the coast, driving along a world-renowned stretch of highway affectionately nicknamed “PCH.”  The abbreviation, of course, is short for Pacific Coast Highway, a road which spans almost all of the California coast.  Although the various sections of road are associated by name, some sections of the PCH are better than others.  Sections north of San Francisco tend to be socked in by fog and rain, while the highway becomes just another busy street in the SoCal region.  That’s what makes the the drive from Monterey to Morro Bay so special – it is a refreshing vista in a high-tech, fast-paced state.

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