Monday, August 27, 2012
Hyundai Halts Sales of 2011 Sonata Review
Moving Intelligence (you can register for withdraw) reports that Hyundai is suspending sales of the just-introduced 2011 Sonata because advance door bosom modules can put.
5,000 of the vehicles, which arrived in showrooms 2 weeks ago, are in the U.S. and so far, exclusive active 1,300 in buyers' hands.
Parts module tug dealers origin tomorrow and Hyundai says the sales hold present end as shortly as repairs to models in hold are prefab.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Dodge Ram 3500 Laramie Crew Cab Review
What you see is the new Dodge Ram 3500 Laramie Crew Cab in its natural environment. The 3500 is a one-ton pickup...the kind of thing best suited for hauling huge horse trailers (or Brahma bull trailers) around. The ideal rodeo vehicle.
In fact, I would have said that the market for this was pretty well limited to the horses for business and/or pleasure set until I drove it.
You see, as civilized as trucks have become over the years, there's a sliding scale and it has to do with towing/hauling capacity and heavy duty status. It applies across Chevy, Ford, GMC and Dodge pickups. A 1500 is a half-ton pickup...light duty. These have become pretty comfy cruisers.
2500? That's a 3/4-ton. Now we're on the entry end of heavy duty...you climb up to get in and you'd better hang on, because the ride is usually noticeably rougher than the 1500.
And the 3500? Well, unless you're going commercial hauling, that's the big boy. One ton, riding high and....well, like a truck.
It's tough to tame a one-ton, but somehow, Dodge has done it. The 3500 Laramie Crew Cab I drove for a week was not only luxurious, but actually comfortable to drive. Parking? Not so much. I've had smaller apartments.
The key to the livability here seems to be the Laramie trim level. You can get a 3500 for as little as $35,630, but it's a 2-door, bare bones beast. At the base ST trim, a Crew Cab like ours begins at $39,200.
So pop an extra $10,745 (total base $49,945) into the calculator and the transformation is amazing. Suddenly, leather trimmed bucket seats are part of the package, along with heated second row seats, ventilated front seats, an AM/FM/Sirius/CD/mp3/DVD audio system (506 watt Alpine Premium Sound with 9 speakers and a subwoofer), 17 inch aluminum wheels and a bunch of brightwork to make it look...can you say this about a one-ton?....pretty.
The beautification continued on our tester with extra-cost paint...the Deep Water Blue Pearl Coat adds $225 to the sticker...and by the time the Dodge PR deparment finished with the six-speed automatic transmission, power sunroof, a further upgraded audio system (with a 30 gig hard drive and navigation) and Sirius Backseat TV, the price (with destination charge) was $56,820.
Now, that, cowboys and cowgirls, is steep...but it's a testament to just how good the all-new Ram 3500 is that at no point did I think it wasn't worth it. And a big part of that is the engine. The 6.7 liter Cummins Turbo Diesel engine is a marvel...quiet, smooth and powerful. 350 horsepower, but as always with diesel, the story is in the torque...and it's very nearly impossible to beat 650 pounds per foot of torque at just 1,500 RPM.
The word is that the 2011 Ford Super Duty is an amazing truck. It needs to be. Until it arrives, the Dodge Ram 3500 is king of the mountain.
Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon Review manual
For a country that invented the station wagon and pretty much couldn't live without it for 30 years after World War II, America has shunned the concept...while Europe has bought in big, producing some wonderfully useful, sporty wagons.
Now, Cadillac, never a station wagon builder in the glory days (unless you count ambulances and hearses), has decided to get in the game by taking its most European vehicle, the CTS sedan, and making a wagon version.
Competition? BMW sells wagons in their 3 and 5 series in the U.S. and.....well, that's about it.
There's no denying it's a slick looking piece. And it drives almost as well as the CTS sedan, with the usual 304 horsepower V6 mated to a six-speed automatic transmission.
Prices start just south of $40,000, but the one I drove for a week was the "Premium Collection" model. It takes almost everything on the option list, converts it to standard and jacks the price of admission up to $51,720.
Even then, Cadillac found one way to add to the bottom line: The 19" Summer Tire Performance Package. You get 19 inch wheels instead of the standard 18s, summer-only tires instead of the all-season radials, a sport suspension system, steering wheel mounted shift controls, a performance cooling system and performance disc brakes. $2,000. Bringing the total, with destination charges, to $54,635.
You couldn't quite get to that price by loading a 3-series wagon with everything available, and 5-series wagons start at $55,950...so it's possible that Cadillac has found the sweet spot here...at least in the target market.
But just how big a market is that? Not very. To be a success, Cadillac will have to win converts...get people to step out of SUVs and crossovers into a smaller package...always a tough sell in America, even in tough times. But grading purely on the product, Cadillac has scored yet again.