Forbes Releases Top 10 Worst Vehicles on the Road

Forbes, the people obsessed with making top 10 lists about, well everything, has just released its list of the worst vehicles on the road. How do you make such a list without accusations of being biased or opinionated? Well with the way Forbes did it, they essentially compiled six studies done by Consumer Reports on the most reliable, best and worst safety, best and worst fuel efficiency, best and worst value, and highest cost of ownership. They then compiled a top 10 list made up of seven American makes, two European makes and one Japanese make.

The Cadillac Escalade embarrassingly took the top score for least value, highest cost of ownership and worst safety scores. I’ll throw in that the Escalade is probably the easiest to steal for good measure.

The Chrysler Town & Country took worst reliability and faired pretty badly for cost of ownership. The Jeep Wrangler and Liberty scored for poor reliability and fuel economy while the Dodge Nitro and Dakota shared in those honours failures as well.

Along with the Escalade, GM took some hits with the Aveo, Colorado and Tahoe Hybrid making the list. All got marks for worst reliability, high cost of ownership and worst safety results.

The two Euros to make the list were both from Mercedes-Benz. The S-class made the list for high cost of ownership and low fuel efficiency scores while the Smart Fortwo was dinged for poor reliability and value.

The lone Japanese vehicle on the list was the Nissan Titan for poor fuel efficiency, reliability and cost of ownership.

With the exception of the three imports which are low volume sellers, people still seem to not get that the above mentioned domestics don’t excel in much. Yet they still sell in large numbers. Are there just that many stupid people out there? But before anyone starts on an anti-domestic vehicle tirade, it should be noted that not a single vehicle from Ford made the list.

[Forbes]

Say Hello to the New Baby Jeep

No, Jeep didn’t drastically change its design language, that’s actually a spy shot of the upcoming Fiat Qubo which isn’t sold in North America. So why is it relevant to us Canucks? Well, the Qubo has been confirmed to come to North America – not as a Fiat though, as a Jeep in 2013.

This new Qubo was spotted cold weather testing in Sweden which means it should be able to withstand Canadian winters as well. The updated Qubo will get a 1.3 litre and a 1.4 litre engine with a 1.6 litre diesel available as well. It’s expected that these Italian engines will carry over to the baby Jeep. In Europe the Qubo is front wheel drive, but expect all-wheel drive to be the order of the day for our version. It is wearing a Jeep badge, afterall. As a result, there won’t be too much part sharing between the Qubo and the jr. Jeep but they will still share certain componants such as the chasis, so expect to see some Fiat parts taken from the parts bin.

And don’t worry all you Jeep purists, this new Jeep will get round headlights and a verticle grille. Jeep CEO Mike Manly has assured everyone that the design of the Jeep will be very much like his last name. Let’s just hope they take care of that rolling over problem that the current Qubo and Citreon Nemo have going on.

[Autoblog]

Chrysler Unleashes Latest SRT-8 Models

Chrysler’s Street and Racing Technology division is still in the game making regular Chrysler product much more interesting. How much more interesting? Well Chrysler has just revealed the new Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT-8 will be the fastest Jeep ever made.

The all-go Jeep will get a 6.4 litre Hemi V8 generating 465 horsepower. 0-100 will take only 4.8 seconds. That’s supercar level of performance! It even comes with steering wheel mounted paddle shifters. Keeping in line with every other automaker, Chrysler’s new V8 is also more fuel efficient despite being more powerful. It will be 13% more efficient thanks to help from cylinder deactivation technology and a new active exhaust system. 13% may not sound like a whole lot but considering the regular Grand Cherokee isn’t winning any awards for fuel efficiency in the first place, 13% is very much welcomed when you throw a Hemi in the engine bay.

However, what is probably the most impressive number is the 0.90 g skidpad rating the SRT-8 Grand Cherokee gets. During my test drive of the Grand Cherokee Laredo X, I noted that one of the downfalls was the lack of handling abilities (along with poor fuel consumption). Looks like Chrysler was able to fix the top-heaviness by incorporating a new Select-Trak system which allows the driver to choose between five suspension modes, one of which being ‘sport’ mode. I have to assume that the Grand Cherokee SRT-8 needs to be in sport mode to achieve those skid pad numbers.

Brakes weren’t ignored in the tuning process either. The Grand Cherokee SRT-8 can stop in just 116 feet from 100 km/h. Considering the weight of this thing, that’s mighty impressive.

So, it seems like there isn’t a whole lot that the Grand Cherokee SRT-8 can’t do, eh? Well, there’s one thing. It will almost certainly be somewhat useless offroad, which is blasphemy to say of any Jeep. But with a lowered ride hide, body clad add ons, massive chrome rims and performance tires, you won’t be getting too far in the mud or a rocky mountain. Still, for those crazy people that demand an SUV somehow perform like a supercar, this looks pretty good on paper. Especially considering the competition in this market is in the form of the BMW X5 M, the Mercedes-Benz ML 63 AMG, the Range Rover Supercharged and the Audi Q7 V12 TDI (which we can’t even get here in Canada). Those cost likely twice the price (although you get a lot more power, refinement and handling abilities). I don’t really get this market at all.

If you don’t get why anyone would want a performance capable SUV either, then Chrysler has another option for you. The 300 SRT-8 sedan. Click past the jump for more info and pics.

[Chrysler]

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Test Drive: 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo X

By Kevin Harrison

As cliche as is it, the old adage “never judge a book by its cover” very much holds true in almost every day to day situation.

For example, have you ever seen the traditional Indian dish called dhansak? I mean, it honestly looks like cow dung, but my goodness is it ever tasty. I almost didn’t try it because it looked so completely unappetizing. That would’ve been a huge mistake.

The same can be said for people. Remember when Susan Boyle walked out on stage with that raggity hair, dodgy lower class dress and that cheeky smile? We all rolled her eyes and laughed in her face. Until she opened her mouth. Which then caused us to shut ours indefinitely. No one would’ve guessed such a beautiful voice existed underneath that exterior.

I have to say, I had a similar experience when I went to pick up the new Jeep Grand Cherokee to write a review. My experience with Grand Cherokees of the past had me dreading this test drive. I assumed my experience this new Grand Cherokee would be no different.

Boy, was I wrong.

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Oh Hi: 2011 Jeep Compass

Normally I wouldn’t blog about a mediocre facelift for a medicocre car, but I’ve just noticed something significant about the 2011 Jeep compass.

For the first time ever, the Compass will be Trail Rated. Jeep doesn’t put the Trail Rated badge on just any of its products. It has to go through the highest standard of off-road testing. That means the new Compass will likely now come with skid plates, tow hooks, a fill size spare tire, 17 inch all terrain tires, a one inch taller ride height, adjusted suspension and low rrange capability.

This means the Compass is more of a significant vehicle than just a Dodge Caliber with a Jeep body. At least if you check off the Trail Rated edition. Regular front wheel drive versions will still be available for off-road wannabees.

On top of that, the Compass gets a re-worked front facia that resembles the new Grand Cherokee, a redesigned interior, yadda yadda.

For more pics, click here.

[Autoblog]

American Cars Are Apparently Appealing

You know you’re a car nut when the first thing you notice about a celebrity sighting is the car they’re driving and not the celebrity themselves.

Case in point, this particular photo caught my eye. The driver is David Beckham known for having a ridiculous $250 million contract to play soccer in the US and also for having a wife that used to be part of the biggest girl groups of all time (aka Victoria Beckham).

Anyway, I don’t really care about David or his kid, but I do care about what he drives and that apparently is a Jeep Wrangler. Isn’t that a bit odd? You have $250 million to your name and you choose a Wrangler? I’m not knocking the Wrangler, it’s actually a capable vehicle and one of the VERY few American vehicles I like. I just don’t understant why anyone with oodles of money would want one.

But apparently American cars are appealing to people who aren’t American. Richard Hammond has an unusual fascination with muscle cars afterall (which Jeremy Clarkson endlessly makes fun of him for..and rightfully so) and Richard Brand apparently is quite fond of American cars as well. Wait, I see a trend here. They’re all British!

Actually this isn’t the first filthy rich person to buy a Wrangler. Jay-Z actually has one as well. No doubt it’s just one of many vehicles he owns. I suspect it’s the same deal with fancy soccer pants boy too.

I just realized that this post was kind of pointless but I already wrote it, so whatever.

[X17Online.com]

The Jeep Liberty is Actually Good At Something

Not rolling over!

Actually it does exceptionally well off-road if I’m honest, but that’s about it. Hang on to these accolades Chrysler, they are few and far between.

The IIHS recently completed roll over tests for 12 SUV’s and ranked them from best to worst. The Liberty took top honours, as mentioned with a ‘Good’ rating, as did five other SUV’s.

Congrats Chrysler! Now bring over those Fiats and Alfas.

I mean, find out who didn’t do so well after the jump (one is quite surprising).

[IIHS]

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