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This is your 2014 Chevrolet SS

Posted Feb 16th 2013 12:01AM

Think you've waited long enough for this? If so, then you'll want to savor the high-res photos we've so far been given of the 2014 Chevrolet SS, the first rear-wheel-drive performance sedan from The Bowtie in 17 years.

We all know its our version of the brand new VF-model Holden Commodore, but what's under the hood that earns the appellation "performance?" A 6.2-liter LS3 V8 engine producing 415 horsepower and 415 pound-feet of torque. That's 35 hp and lb-ft less than the same engine is expected to produce in the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette. Chevrolet says the sedan will get from 0-to-60 miles per hour "in about five seconds."

Shifting comes courtesy of a six-speed automatic with paddles on the steering wheel, while stopping arrive via four-piston Brembo calipers up front, a single sliding piston in back. The forged aluminum wheels are 19-inchers all around, each set supporting right around 50 percent of the sedan's weight, and the aluminum hood and trunk are meant to keep the center of gravity low.

Inside, leather seating surfaces, eight-way power front seats and a soft-touch dash are standard for a cabin said to fit five adults comfortably, along with a nine-speaker Bose sound system, a head-up display and safety tech like Lane Departure Warning and Side Blind Zone alert. A marquee option will be Automatic Parking Assist that can parallel and right-angle park; this is the technology's first appearance on a Chevrolet.

We're in Daytona now and we'll have live shots of the car shortly, along with photos of its NASCAR sibling rumbling through the Daytona 500. So stay tuned, and slake your thirst for what's coming with the gallery above and the press release below.

Related Gallery2014 Chevrolet SS

News Source: Chevrolet

Video

Drifting on a frozen lake with a studded Lexus looks like fun

By Jonathon Ramsey RSS feed

Posted Feb 15th 2013 8:00PM

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Sometimes you come across a list of ingredients and you don't even need to know what's being made, you just know you need to be there when it's done. So if you saw a recipe for a Vimeo video that was one snow-covered frozen lake, one Lexus IS, four studded tires, two ice fisherman and one guy lounging on a couch, do you think you'd have any questions?

We didn't. The dish was cooked up by the Wide Open Drift Team and KSP Productions, and it's exactly what you'd think it is. Right down to the guy on the couch. We're glad we got to partake, and you can too in the video below.

News Source: Wide Open Drift Team, KSP Productions, Vimeo

Report

CNN recreates infamous Tesla Model S drive with miles to spare, others to try this weekend [w/video]

By Sebastian Blanco RSS feed

Posted Feb 15th 2013 7:15PM

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You knew this was coming, didn't you? Even more prisms through which to look at the failed (or is that "failed"?) Tesla Model S drive up the East Coast that The New York Times reported on last weekend. We're going to assume you know what's been happening with this, but if not, then you can get caught up by reading this, this and this. All set? Good.

Today, CNN reporter Peter Valdes-Dapena easily completed all of the miles in a Tesla Model S that the Times' John Broder reported he could not do. The takeaway line: "In the end, I made it – and it wasn't that hard." That Valdes-Dapena managed the trip is perhaps not that big of a surprise, but a small group of Model S owners will try to prove again that 200 miles is no problem, even in the winter cold, for an electric car that's officially rated at 265 miles. The owner convoy is going to set out from the Tesla Service Center in Rockville, Maryland tomorrow morning and then spend the night in Groton, Connecticut, just like Broder did, before turning south again. If you want to follow along tomorrow, stay tuned to TeslaRoadTrip on Twitter. Think it'll start trending?

Also today, Road & Track chimed in to suggest the whole affair is about way more than range, it's about trust: "If you can't fully trust Tesla, then you'll continue to be a customer for the Times. Think for a moment about Broder's article in that context: it's an advertisement for his product at the expense of Tesla's." We're not 100-percent on board with that line of thinking, but it does suggest that there is a lot of meat on the test-drive bones of the original article. Check out the CNN video of its bon voyage below for more.

Related GalleryTesla Model S

News Source: Road And Track, CNN, Green Car Reports

Spy Shots

Revamped 2014 Mercedes C-Class looks dapper in camo

By Jeffrey N. Ross RSS feed

Posted Feb 15th 2013 6:44PM

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With the all-new CLA-Class getting ready to stake its claim as the entry-level Mercedes-Benz sedan, the next-generation C-Class will have a little room to expand its lineup and move up market. And nothing says up market more than the S-Class. Comparing these new spy shots of the 2014 C-Class to recent shots of the next-gen S-Class, we can see that newest version of Mercedes' top-selling model (in the US) will have styling that borrows heavily from the automaker's redesigned flagship.

There is far less camouflage covering the new sedan than the last time we saw it, allowing us to see how the car is shaping up. Up front, we can expect the familiar grille and headlight treatment we've seen on other recent Mercedes introductions, and it also looks like it will also get an aggressively styled front fascia similar to what we saw on the new E-Class models. The rear end will get vertical taillights and integrated exhaust finishers.

The sedan version of the new C-Class is expected to launch first followed shortly by the wagon and then eventually a coupe and a new convertible model as well, but it isn't clear if all the different variations will be built at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Tuscaloosa, AL.

Related GalleryMercedes-Benz C-Class spy shots

Image Credit: CarPix

Review

American Turnaround

By Dan Roth RSS feed

Posted Feb 15th 2013 6:01PM

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Ed Whitacre's Postcard From The Auto Bailout

Ed Whitacre freely admits "I knew nothing about cars. Zero." Which made the out-of-the-blue phonecall from Steven Rattner all the more strange. But he does know management, and that's why Team Auto reached out, because General Motors management was all kinds of bad, and that needed to change now that taxpayer money was at stake.

In his memoir American Turnaround, Ed Whitacre gives his side of the reinvigoration of General Motors. It's another slice in the ongoing dissection of What Just Happened in the American auto business, and Whitacre sets up the story by asking, "How could I even consider taking the reins of a company whose business I knew nothing about?"

The book is written like a chat with Ed Whitacre himself; the words on the page almost twanging. The plain, direct language make the 271 pages of American Turnaround go quickly. The book was released February 12th, and as with any memoir, be sure to pick up a few grains of salt or look into some other perspectives so you can form your own opinions about the history that's now being written down.

There will be critics who write off American Turnaround as a vanity piece written by a typical big-business type adept at tooting his own horn. A memoir by its very nature is going to be filled with a lot of I, Me, Mine, and the inherent inertia in the car business will see Whitacre accused of trying to take credit for things set in motion by the leadership he kicked out. The criticisms might be missing the point, or worse, misinterpreting. Whitacre didn't swashbuckle in like, say, Bob Lutz, brimming with ideas about product development. Instead, he came in and looked at the way the business of GM was run, and according to his account, it wasn't firing on all cylinders. That seems to square with other reports, regardless of what you believe caused it.

Report

EPA says it will more closely monitor fuel economy claims from automakers

By Jonathon Ramsey RSS feed

Posted Feb 15th 2013 5:16PM

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The unintended acceleration brouhaha at Toyota led to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration tightening the vise on recall procedures. Likewise, the fuel economy kerfuffle that blew up with Hyundai and Kia's admission of overstated fuel mileage claims could lead to the Environmental Protection Agency policing automaker assertions by performing more audits.

At least, that's what a senior engineer with the government agency said while in Michigan giving a talk, according to a report in Automotive News. What that actually means, however, is still in question. Just ten to 15 percent of new vehicles – something like 150 to 200 cars per year – are rested by the EPA to verify automaker numbers. The EPA's own tests include a "fudge factor" to adjust lab mileage for real-world mileage, and the agency still relies on automakers to submit data for tests that it doesn't have the facilities to perform. How much more auditing can the EPA really expect to do, or perhaps a more relevant question would be how much more accurate could the EPA's audits become?

The price of gasoline, the psychological importance of 40 miles per gallon to a frugal car buyer, an automaker wanting to further justify the price premium of a hybrid, all of these things contribute to fuel economy numbers that insist on creeping upward. Perhaps the senior engineer encapsulated the whole situation best when he said, "Everybody wants a label that tells you exactly what you're going to get, but obviously that's not possible. A good general rule of thumb is that real-world fuel economy is about 20 percent lower than the lab numbers." If the lesson isn't exactly 'buyer beware,' it's at least 'buyer be wary.'

Related Gallery2013 Kia Soul ! 2.0L: Quick Spin

News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.

Video

Spectacular meteor strike captured in Russian dash cam footage

By Michael Harley RSS feed

Posted Feb 15th 2013 4:29PM

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Chicken Little would have lost his cookies, yet the Russian driver in this video appears to have kept his wits about him despite the unannounced arrival of a massive fireball falling from the early morning sky – a spectacular event caught by an automotive dash cam – that injured nearly 1,000 people in Siberia.

While scientists estimate that tens of thousands of meteoroids fall from the sky each year, most are just tiny particles that burn up unseen. Only about five thousand are large enough to be really visible (at this point called a "fireball") and then break up and explode to earn the name "bolide." The bolide in the video left an impressive smoke trail of particulate during its ablation, but it also sent nearly a thousand Russians to the hospital for injuries suffered when its sonic blast blew out windows.

In case you are wondering, meteoroids enter the atmosphere at speeds between 25,000 and 160,000 mph. However, like a bullet hitting water, the earth's thick air quickly slows them (rapid compression of the air in front of the rock creates the familiar fiery glow) to a more palatable 200 to 400 mph before they impact the surface. The good news, especially for those who are worried about such events, is that most burn up and never make it all the way down. Check out the video below.

News Source: YouTube, The New York Times

Official

Alfa Romeo and IED ready Gloria concept for Geneva

By Seyth Miersma RSS feed

Posted Feb 15th 2013 3:45PM

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Alfa Romeo IED Gloria concept - front three-quarter view

It just wouldn't be right for the Geneva Motor Show not to be stocked with exotic concept cars, so this new one from Alfa Romeo and design studio IED should fit right in. Known as the Gloria Concept, the sleek four-door is the result of twenty Master in Transportation Design students at IED, with guidance from Alfa's own Style Center.

Purely a design exercise, the Gloria Concept carries strong historical Alfa Romeo styling cues, neatly packaged within a slick, athletic body shape. The Italian company's traditional shield-shaped grille has been set prominently apart from the rest of the front end, and the leather straps near the windscreen are mean to evoke "memorable leather straps for the luggage compartments of the brand's historic cars." While chances are good that no actual engine will live under that shapely bonnet come show time, the designers have supposedly made room for a turbocharged V6 or V8 of some capacity.

We anticipate that the taut, curvaceous surfacing will look even more impressive in person, when we report in from the Geneva show next month. Until then, you can click on the image above for an expanded view of the Gloria Concept, or follow on below to browse the Alfa press release.

News Source: Alfa Romeo

Video

Baby's first "Vroom Vroom" a touching moment for dad

By John Neff RSS feed

Posted Feb 15th 2013 2:59PM

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There are a number of reasons why my wife and I still live the kid-free lifestyle. While we enjoy the broods that our friends and siblings are busy creating, we're plenty happy with our choice. But then, sometimes, a moment happens when one of us will think, "It'd be cool to have a kid for X reason." Juan Barnett from DC Auto Geek gave me one of those moments with this video.

It's a moment I've never thought of before, when a child says his or her first "Vroom, Vroom." It's not the consonants and vowels coming from Juan's son or how he puts his weight on the roof of that little, yellow toy Corvette that gets me, but rather what the moment might be: when a child gets bitten by the car bug and begins a life of auto enthusiasm. It could also be Juan's heartstring-tugging style of video editing, too.

It's certainly not guaranteed that Juan's little one will grow up to surf Craigslist with him or strike out on a father-son cross-country road trip in some project car the two of them restored together, but this video must surely give him hope for that, which helps make all those dirty diapers, sleepless nights and food thrown at the wall worth it.

News Source: DC Auto Geek via Hooniverse

Recalls

2003-04 Dodge Viper recalled for sudden airbag deployment

By Steven J. Ewing RSS feed

Posted Feb 15th 2013 2:14PM

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As if driving the old Dodge Viper (not the fancy new SRT model) isn't intimidating enough, imagine trying to wrangle that V10 beast and then suddenly having the airbags deploy. Yikes. That's apparently what could happen to some 3,660 Viper models from the 2003 and 2004 model years, and as such, Chrysler has issued a recall.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, part of the car's airbag control module may fail, causing the bags or seatbelt pre-tensioners to deploy without warning while the vehicle is in operation. That's a dangerous scenario in any car, let alone one offering insane horsepower a near-total paucity of safety nannies should things get squirrely.

Owners will be notified this month about the recall, though a remedy is not expected to be available until later this year. Scroll down for the full NHTSA statement.

Related Gallery2003 Dodge Viper SRT10

News Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Official

Cadillac CTS-V gets Stealth Blue and Silver Frost limited edition models

By Steven J. Ewing RSS feed

Posted Feb 15th 2013 1:31PM

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2014 Cadillac CTS-V Stealth Blue edition - front three-quarter view

A little more than a year and a half ago, former weekend editor Alex Nunez and I were talking about how cool it would be for Cadillac to offer a CTS-V in the Corvette's Supersonic Blue paint, and as if General Motors eavesdropped on our conversation, this showed up. And while the Stealth Blue car you see here isn't an exact duplicate of the hot-looking sedan GM showed off in prototype form, it's really close. And really sweet.

New for 2013, the Cadillac CTS range gets two new colorful editions, starting with the Stealth Blue package available on the CTS-V (in sedan, coupe and wagon bodystyles) as well as the naturally aspirated CTS coupe. In addition to the unique paint, blacked-out grille and dark satin wheels, Stealth Blue cars can also be done up with an optional Twilight Blue leather interior. (And you thought blue-on-blue color schemes died in the '90s.)

Cadillac CTS-V Silver Frost - rear three-quarter view

Cadillac is also offering a new Silver Frost package, but it's a bit more exclusive. Only 100 examples will be built, all in CTS-V Coupe form. The Silver Frost paint is a low-gloss matte finish, in that while it technically has a clearcoat covering, it's reduced in a way that the surface still appears flatter than standard paint. Even so, Cadillac states that the car should be hand-washed only.

Both of these new color packages will be available starting in March. Scroll down for GM's official press blast.

Related GalleryCadillac CTS-V Stealth Blue

Related GalleryCadillac CTS-V Coupe Silver Frost

News Source: General Motors

Video

Which is hotter, Lana Del Rey or the Jaguar F-Type?

By Jonathon Ramsey RSS feed

Posted Feb 15th 2013 12:45PM

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Lana Del Rey's "Burning Desire" video, the first musical collaboration between Jaguar and its hired songstress, is half music video, half long-form lifestyle commercial for the 2014 F-Type. If you like Del Rey channeling glamorous fifties fame as she lays down vocals of sensuous, languid dolor over images of black-and-white yesteryears, you'll like this song off of her new EP, Paradise.

We think the appearance of a red and brand-new Jaguar, though, is incongruous – either Del Rey or Jaguar is the anachronism, take your pic. That's not to say it's not beautiful, however, so enjoy the combination in the video below.

Related GalleryLana Del Rey and the Jaguar F-Type

Related Gallery2014 Jaguar F-Type: First Ride

News Source: Interscope via YouTube

First Drive

2014 Acura RLX

By Steven J. Ewing RSS feed

Posted Feb 15th 2013 11:57AM

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Good. But Good Enough?

Spoiler alert: The 2014 Acura RLX is a good car. But that shouldn't come as a surprise. Despite the fact that Acura is subject to a lot of criticism for things like its odd positioning in the automotive landscape, questionable styling choices in recent years, and the fact that, more or less, its products feel like lux'd-up Hondas rather than something truly unique, the cars have always been inherently good – decent to drive, nice to sit in and reliable to own. That's what happens when you ride that sort of "affordable luxury" line.

Because Acura's sedans don't really fit into any one definable segment, the brand hopes it can draw customers from a broader range who aren't necessarily dedicated to a certain marque. And while there's certainly rhyme to that reason on the more entry-level end of the spectrum, that proposition makes less sense as you move toward higher price points. (Have a gander at the Hyundai Equus, if you will.) On the other hand, Acura pulled data from a 2012 Strategic Vision survey that showed the number one purchase decision for luxury buyers last year was value for the money, with manufacturer reputation coming in at a close second.

Which brings us to the 2014 RLX, a flagship that will compete in the mid/high luxury segment, battling cars like the BMW 5 Series and Audi A6, but, according to Acura, reaches up into 7 Series and A8 territory, as well.

"This is the best car Acura has ever produced," said Michael Accavitti, the automaker's vice president of national marketing operations. And he may be right. But is it truly good enough to be a more renowned player in this higher-end segment than the outgoing RL was? (That shouldn't be too hard, given the fact that the RL was the worst-selling car of 2011.) We hit the roads around Napa Valley to find out.

Vital Stats

Engine:: 3.5L V6
Power:: 310 HP / 272 LB-FT
Transmission:: 6-Speed Auto
MSRP:: $61,345 (as tested)

Related Gallery2014 Acura RLX: First Drive

Spy Shots

Scion FR-S Convertible (in Toyota GT86 form) spied in South Africa

By Seyth Miersma RSS feed

Posted Feb 15th 2013 11:28AM

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Toyota GT86 convertible - spy shot - cropped

Though the eventual existence of a convertible version of the Toyota GT86 (and its Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ versions for America) is a no-brainer, we've yet to get a glimpse of the real-deal car until now.

Spotted in Cape Town, South Africa, of all places, this completely undisguised GT86 convertible seems to be in a remarkably advanced state of development. The image seen here was obviously sniped from quite a distance and without the aid of a powerful lens, but we can still make out a production-ready looking piece of rear bodywork for the convertible top to hide away in, as well as a functioning trunk lid. It's hard to make out with any certainty, based on this evidence, but there does seem to be space retained behind the front seats for two, small rear chairs.

With the first car spotted, we'd expect to seem some more and better images of it flow through in the near future, and if not, Toyota has already confirmed a concept version for next month's Geneva Motor Show, dubbed FT-86 Open, so stay tuned. For now, click through to the FT86Club.com forum to have a slightly closer look at the images.

News Source: FT86Club.com, CarMag.co.za

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Official

This is your 2014 Chevrolet SS

This is your 2014 Chevrolet SS

Related Gallery2014 Chevrolet SS

Drifting on a frozen lake with a studded Lexus looks like fun

CNN recreates infamous Tesla Model S drive with miles to spare, others to try this weekend [w/video]

Related GalleryTesla Model S

Revamped 2014 Mercedes C-Class looks dapper in camo

Related GalleryMercedes-Benz C-Class spy shots

American Turnaround

EPA says it will more closely monitor fuel economy claims from automakers

Related Gallery2013 Kia Soul ! 2.0L: Quick Spin

Spectacular meteor strike captured in Russian dash cam footage

Alfa Romeo and IED ready Gloria concept for Geneva

Baby's first "Vroom Vroom" a touching moment for dad

2003-04 Dodge Viper recalled for sudden airbag deployment

Related Gallery2003 Dodge Viper SRT10

Cadillac CTS-V gets Stealth Blue and Silver Frost limited edition models

Related GalleryCadillac CTS-V Stealth Blue

Related GalleryCadillac CTS-V Coupe Silver Frost

Which is hotter, Lana Del Rey or the Jaguar F-Type?

Related GalleryLana Del Rey and the Jaguar F-Type

Related Gallery2014 Jaguar F-Type: First Ride

2014 Acura RLX

Vital Stats

Related Gallery2014 Acura RLX: First Drive

Scion FR-S Convertible (in Toyota GT86 form) spied in South Africa

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Official This is your 2014 Chevrolet SS

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Vital Stats

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Official

This is your 2014 Chevrolet SS