Test Drive: 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid

By Kevin Harrison

The problem with being good at something is that you likely won’t be good at it forever. And even if you are, there’s always someone who will surpass your greatness. If they’re at the bottom and you’re on top, they’ve got nothing to lose so they’ll take more risks to get to that number one spot. If you’re on top you likely won’t change your game up – just keep doing what you’re doing.

Take the car world for instance. Ford was the number two automaker for a good decade, but I never understood why. Their products were cheap, but you got what you paid for. If it wasn’t Explorers rolling over, it was Windstars stalling on the highway. If it wasn’t the sheer blandness and lack of effort put into the Taurus, it was, well, pretty much the same for the Focus. Yet people readily handed over their cash to Ford for sub-par product, much in the same way people hand over cash to McDonald’s for sub-par food. So Ford really didn’t have to do anything – they were still on top.

Toyota, meanwhile, wasn’t exactly on the bottom, but they were aiming for that top spot. Dedication, quality, fuel efficiency, reliability was Toyota’s plan to lure away loyal Ford customers and it worked. Ford got too comfortable on top and Toyota went in for the kill.

Now Toyota is the number one automaker. But it seems Toyota is now the one feeling a bit too comfy being the number one automaker with recalls on almost every single one of their product and and unwillingness to shake things up.

Ford is vying for the top spot yet again, so they’re taking more risks. And you really gotta take a risk if you’re willing to take on the mid-size sedan market where the Camry is sitting quite comfortably on top of most people’s car shopping lists.

Has Ford built a Camry killer, and is it enough to unseat Toyota’s reign at the top?

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Cover Your Ears, Audi Fans

Because Chief Designer for Mazda Europe, Peter Birtwhistle just dissed the iconic Audi SWB Sport Quarttro.

In a recent interview, Birtwhistle called it “bloody ugly”. How dare he? Who the hell does he think he is?

Well, he’s the guy that designed it. Back in the 80′s Birtwhistle was the go to guy for Audi’s designs, so I suppose that makes it ok for him to be critical of them. But he didn’t stop there. Birtwhistle also said the Sport Quattro’s biggest problem was that it was based on the Audi 80′s platform which meant there had to be some sacrifices in terms of design in order to make it work.

I’ll have to respectfully disagree with Birtwhistle on this one. While I never had the chance to drive one, my neighbour had one for a good year or so, so I got an up close and personal look almost every day. And even today, I still say it’s a good looking car. But more to the point, back in its day (the 80′s) the design was almost ground breaking as most car companies were happy using only rulers for their car designs.

[Autocar]

First Fiat 500 Models Already Sold Out

If you wanted to be among the first to own a Fiat 500 in Canada, bad news. They’re all gone. Chrysler Canada announced today that five hundred models of the 500 Prima Edizione sold out in 12 hours.

Reid Bigland, president and CEO of Chrysler Canada had this to say about it:

“I don’t think Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Leafs and the Canadiens would sell out this fast”

What a moronic thing to say. While 12 hours is pretty impressive, why don’t you call up Porsche, Ferrari and Lamborghini to find out how fast their limited models sell out. We’re talking minutes here.

So far as I can tell, the 500 Prima Edizione only has special edition badging so if you didn’t get one, it’s probably not a big deal. Just wait until early 2011 for get your hands on a regular one.

[Canadian Driver]

Need For Speed: Battle of the Italian Stalians

Need for Speed’s latest offering is currently available at your local video game store and for this edition they’ve thankfully decided to go back to the old old days of crazy police chases for Hot Pursuit 2.

To celebrate, Need for Speed decided it would only be fitting to have a real world interpretation of what happens in the game. AKA, they took a real Pagani Zonda Cinque and a real Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 police cruiser, put them in a mountanous road and said “go”.

The video is nothing short of boner inducing. I need to have this game now. Your marketing plan worked on me, Need for Speed.

[Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit]

Oprah Reveals 2012 VW Beetle Sillouette, Audience Loses Their Shit

Orpah Winfrey has got to be the most powerful female in America, or maybe even the entire world. Why? Because she called up Volkswagen and asked to see what the new Beetle will look like and VW happily obliged without hesitation. You don’t say no to Oprah. Try calling up your favourite automaker and see how willing they’ll be to show you their upcoming product. They’ll say, “who do you think you are, Oprah?”

Why did Oprah want to see it so badly? Well it turns out Oprah is very fond of the Beetle and is a proud owner. In fact, Oprah decided it would be awesome if she could feature it on ‘Oprah’s favourite things’. Oprah’s favourite things is a big deal if you’re in the audience because Oprah not only lets you in on what she likes, but you get everything that she likes for free.

As a result, the audiences usually loses their shit when it’s revealed that they’re at a ‘favourite things’ show. It’s actually quite funny/pathetic to see the reactions of the audience. In fact SNL did a hilarious parody of it (look it up on youtube).

Anyway, when the audience found out that Oprah loves the Beetle, they all rightfully lost their shit. Oprah is giving out a New Beetle to every single audiance member.  She had the current version on hand to show off, but it will be the redesigned  version that each audience member will receive. Oprah wasn’t allowed to actually show it off, but VW allowed her to show a sillouette to whet the audiences appitite. As far as I can tell, the 2012 Beetle will be longer and will have a flatter roof.

According to VW, they hope to squash the Beetle’s reputation of being a girl’s car and they want more guys to buy the new Beetle. If that’s the case, why did they show it off on a show that is prodominently female oriented? How many guys do you know that watch Oprah of their own choosing?

[ABC]

Rush Limbaugh Gets Owned By Motor Trend

Motor Trend recently announced the Chevrolet Volt as its Car of the Year winner for 2011 and it apparently has generated lots of controversy.

Not least of which is from the king of controversy himself, extreme right wing asshole radio host, Rush Limbaugh. Recently on air, Rush said this of Motor Trend’s decision to crown the Volt Car of the Year:

I don’t know if words can express the amount of rage I have towards this man. He is so ignorant and unaware of anything that it makes my blood boil. One of my gripes is when people form an opinion on cars (or anything) without knowing anything about the subject. Limbaugh is a classic case of willful ignorance towards the automobile industry.

Hey Rush, the Car of the Year IS NOT BASED ON HOW MANY CAR’S ARE SOLD. It doesn’t matter if GM hasn’t sold any yet, it’s an evaluation of the car itself.

Also, how the HELL can you criticize a car that you’ve never driven or even seen before? The people at Motor Trend are professional automotive journalists – they’ve driven hundreds, maybe even thousands, of cars. They know the ins and outs of what makes a good car way more than you do. You criticizing an automotive magazine’s choice for Car of the Year is like you criticizing… well, anything. Because as far as I can tell, you have no expertise in any subject.

Believe me, I could go on, but Motor Trend has done a pretty good job in defending themselves in a rebuttal to Racist Rush.

Read it here.

[Motor Trend]

Civilian Ford Transit Will Be Produced

Have you ever looked at a Ford Transit and thought to yourself, “Damn, if it had side windows and alloy wheels, I’d definitely buy one”? No, me neither. But Ford is betting that enough people have thought that before, so they’re producing a civilian version of the tranitional work van.

On top of windows and alloys, the civilian Transit (actually called the Transit XLT) will also come with fog lights, a painted grille and will be a five seater only. That means there will be massive amounts of cargo room in the back. And with a rating of 9L /100 kms highway, it will be decently efficient as well.

So huge amounts of cargo room, head room, great gas mileage, very maneouverable and European looks. Maybe making a version available to the public isn’t a bad idea afterall. It certainly makes a great alternative to most full-size SUV’s.

[Ford]

Chrysler Canada Announces Fiat Dealerships, 500 Abarth Coming to North America

Chrysler Canada announced today that it will open 50 to 70 Fiat franchises through existing Chrysler dealerships and as it stands right now, it seems there will be Fiat representation in all of Canada. Oh wait, except the Maritimes. Shocker.

The only Maritime Fiat dealership will be located at Halifax Chrysler Dodge, which will now bear the name of Halifax Chrysler Dodge Fiat. So if you live in New Brunswick, PEI or Newfoundland and you want a Fiat, better start making preperations for a road trip. Oh and also be prepared for a road trip every time your Fiat needs to be serviced or repaired. In Chrysler Canada’s defense, they did say that there will be more dealerships to follow, but that will likely be in the distant future.

In other good news, Chrysler also announced that the high performance Abarth version of the 500 will be coming to North America. The bad news is, we probably won’t see it for a while as the 500′s introduction of models and trim lines will be staggered.

We’ll get the regular 500 first, then we’ll get the 500C, then an all-electric 500 then the 500 Abarth. That would put the 500 Abarth available sometime in late 2012 or early 2013. Good things come to those who wait I guess.

Hit the jump for a complete list of Fiat franchises across the nation.

[Chrysler Canada]

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Ford To Reduce Stake in Mazda

Ford has announced today that it plans to reduce it’s 11% stake in Mazda to 3.5% effective November 19th aka tomorrow.

It’s an interesting move. On the one hand, in this economy, downsizing is probably the safest way to go. GM was forced to do it and Ford has done so by getting selling of Land Rover, Jaguar, Aston Martin, Volvo and killing off Mercury. Mazda is really the only brand it has any stake in now (besides Lincoln).

On the other hand, Mazda is on a roll and has been for the past few years. Keeping a higher stake in a brand that is surely to continue to do well in the future may not be a bad idea. Perhaps that’s why Ford decided not to sell the entire stake. 3.5% in the grand scheme of things, is still pretty significant afterall. As a result, Ford says the two companies will continue to share ideas and technologies.

[Mazda, Ford Photo Credit: Autoblog]

Oh Hi: 2011 Nissan Quest

Oh, Nissan. Who the hell is their Chief designer?

Nissan seems quite content to keep chugging out controversial designs including the Juke, the Cube, the Murano and the Murano CrossCabriolet. Add the Quest to the list too.

After a long hiatus, the Quest minivan is back. The previous generation Quest was controversial in style as well so it seems fitting that this generation is uniquely designed too. Quite boxy in the back, the new Quest almost pays homage to original minivan designs. Very, um, interesting. I don’t know if I can quite call it ugly, but I definitely can’t call it attractive.

Anyway, I barely decided to blog about this since it is still a minivan and as such, it’s pretty boring, but I couldn’t ingore this new styling direction that Nissan seems to be taking.

If, for whatever reason, you wanna know more details regarding the powertrain and other minivan specs, hit Autoblog for more details. They’ll have more pics to peruse too.

[Autoblog]

Oh Hi: 2012 Nissan GT-R

Say hello to the 2012 Nissan GT-R.

Probably about the only noticeable difference in appearance is the addition of LED running lights that remarkably copy the LED light scheme of the Porsche 911 and new Cayenne. It also dons a larger front facia and grille and a redesigned rear facia that supposedly lowers the centre of gravity.

But the big news is the power. The 2012 GT-R will get 45 more horsepower. Since Nissan doesn’t actually know the horsepower rating of each GT-R (because each engine is hand built, and therefore different from the first) it’s hard to say how much horsepower in total is actually underneath the hood. However, it’s widely believed that most GT-R’s have around 480 horses give or take a few. That brings its horsepower total to around 525 while the torque comes in at 488 pound feet.

More horses along with 0.26 less drag coefficient thanks to the redesigned front and rear, means this new GT-R can get from 0-100 in at……wait for it….. UNDER 3 seconds! That’s stupidly fast! Faster than a Ferrari 458 Italia, faster than a Porsche 911 Turbo S and faster than a Lamborghini Gallardo Superlegera!

And get this, pricing will be $89,950 US. That’s a steal of a deal! Sure, it’s likely to hit 100 G’s when you convert to Canadian dollars, but still, that’s tremendous value. In fact, I’d wager to say, dollar for dollar, it’s the best valued car in the market today.

Very impressive!

[Nissan]

Oh Hi: Subaru Impreza Concept

Whoa, much better!

The Subaru Impreza has always been a very capable vehicle, especially in WRX and STi guises, but it was always lacking in the styling department. No matter which generation, the Impreza’s styling has always evoked controversy. The current model is no exception.

Well it appears as though the styling direction for the Impreza is about to very much change for the better. Subaru debuted this Impreza concept at the L.A Auto Show today and while it is still a concept, it definitely showcases Subaru’s intent to be finished with the questionable styling of the Impreza.

More in line with its big brother, the Legacy, the Impreza concept has similar large wheel arches, a trapezoidal grille and large front intakes. See those slits in the intakes? They’re not just styling strips, they’re actually functional fog lights. Pretty cool! Although I doubt they would make it to the production model.

Under the hood is a 2.0 litre 4 cylinder with CVT and that’s all Subaru is saying about it right now. Ditch that CVT, add a couple of turbos and you’ll be all set, Subaru! Build this NOW.

[Subaru]

How to Steal a Cadillac Escalade in 14 Seconds

Recently, the Highway Data Loss Institute released its list of the top 10 and least 10 stolen vehicles for this year and the Cadillac Escalade got the undesirable distinction of most stolen vehicle (the Volvo S80 was the least stolen, by the way).

Well an investigative report has been released which now looks closer at why and how Escalades are such an easy target for car theives. And their findings show that it’s not just the Escalade which is easy to steal, all full-size SUV’s from GM have the same problem. As such, insuring a full-size GM SUV will cost you an arm and a leg and your genitals. To give you an idea, on average, most insurance companies spend about $146 per year per vehicle for teft claims. But for the Escalade, the average is a whopping $11,934 per theft claim. If you are stupid enough to like an Escalade enough to buy one, then I’m glad the permiums are so high because you get what you deserve.

So, how do theives do it? Well, apparently it’s extraordinarily easy to break the metal pin that locks the steering column in place while in park. One good yank of the column-mounted gear shift, and voila. Once that’s done, the lack of a steering wheel lock enables the thief to move the steering wheel when the vehicle isn’t even turned on. And if that weren’t enough, the alarm system apparently does not go off when the window is smashed in. Well done, GM. Well done.

So once all of that is completed you can then maneouver the Escalde onto a flatbed or hook it up to a tow truck and away you go. Or, you can push the Escalade into a more dark and deserted area while you strip the Escalade for costly parts.

So now that you know how to do it, uhhh, don’t.

[WXYZ Action News]

Nova Scotia Set to Introduce Stricter Penalties for Racing, Texting and Talking on Cellphones

Fresh off the heels of announcing a possible change for the used car market, Nova Scotia is also going to make stricter changes for those caught racing, texting or talking on their cellphones.

It is currently illegal to talk or text on your cell phone while opperating a motor vehicle. Under the new rules, fines would go up to $225 for the first offense, $340 for the second offense of $567 for the third offense. The cell phone bad has been in effect in NS for just over two years and in that time, over 8,300 tickets have been given out for talking or texting while driving.

Also being targeted is street racing which will now carry a one year license suspension for the first offence, three years for the second offense, and 10 years for the third. As much as six demerit points can be added as well.

They define racing as “chasing another vehicle and driving 50 kph over the limit”.

[The Chronicle Herald]

Nova Scotia May Incorporate Used Car Lemon Law

Early this week, a proposed amendment to the Motor Vehicle Act targeting used car sales was tabled in the legislature which calls on stricter rules for lemons.

The new amendment would require used car dealerships to disclose to their customers if a vehicle hasbeen previously damaged or rebuilt by placing a sticker on the window. Failure to do so could result in a $1,000 fine. In addition, dealerships that fail to provide a valid purchase of sale agreement, which outlines the obligations of the buyer, cuuld be fined $500.

Also, under the new law, it would be manditory for the dealership to provide the vehicles maintenance history, whereas right now that is just optional.

The hope is to help make it easier for Nova Scotians make more informed decisions when buying a new car and to curb the amount of non-transparity some used car dealers may try to sometimes incorporate for their own benefit.

Paul Arsenault, the provinces registrar of motor vehicles, says the provinces 1,500 plus used car dealerships are generally good cooperative dealers that are generally honest with their customers.

“It’s the ones that are trying to pull a fast one and try to sell you something that they really shouldn’t be selling you, that’s what we are trying to get at,” said Arsenault.

The Nova Scotia Auto Dealers Association thinks the new amendment is a good thing, but would like to see it extended to the customer as well since dealerships can sometimes take a trade without knowing the vehicles history.

[The Chronicle Herald]