Blogging about everything automotive, but informative enough (and entertaining?) for everyone. No need for a degree in engineering to understand how your engine's timing works or will it require a product knowledge background to determine which wax is best for your car.
Infiniti, Lexus, BMW you might think, but it's actually the new Hyundai Genesis. The car should be at your local Hyundai dealer and the Korean manufacturer hopes to take a chunk out of the above-named luxury carmakers' sales. Does it have the right features to compete amongst the S-Classes, 750's, and LS's? Wood accents, heated seats, navigation with live traffic updates, and adaptive cruise control (which is coming soon), it's all there and a loaded V-8 example will cost about $42,000.
Yes, the new Tau V-8 in which Hyundai spent over 4 years and $260 million developing puts out 368 horsepower and should be plenty of power for the new Genesis. The real question is: Will the Genesis really make waves that Hyundai hopes it will? My prediction is not exactly, at least not on our shores. You see with the weakening dollar, the current state of the economy, and with Hyundai opting to sell the flagship in their own dealerships it will be a tough sell even for cross-shoppers. Sure the styling is unique and tasteful, and the price is perfect to have people make a double-take, but unless Hyundai can get the marketing right, Lexus buyers and Mercedes shoppers wouldn't be caught dead in a Hyundai dealership. That factor alone is why Mazda gave up on trying to compete with Lexus and Infiniti back in the 90's. Good luck Hyundai!
I had the rare experience of seeing the same car twice in the same day. And no, it wasn't my neighbor Pat either. In fact, I had to take my dog to the vet the other day and spotted this particular vehicle on the way to the Dr. Adam's office and then saw the very same car on my way to meeting my wife for lunch three hours later.
"Why does this car stand out?" you may be wondering.
For one it had a professional-looking vinyl decal on the back window most likely advertising the family business. In truth, the business advertised is a great concept which is a kid's fitness center. When I was growing up my fitness routine consisted of pedaling my butt to my friend's house or throwing the football in front of the house, no need for a fancy gymnasium or rock climbing walls required.
What most stood out about the mobile billboard is that the paint on both the roof and trunk was oxidized to the point of the clear coat looked like the surface of a dry, salt lake on a layer of otherwise smooth, black paint. Much like the example below:
Source: www.turboninjas.com
When I laid eyes on this car I looked at the ad and thought great job on the tax write off and obviously the car was paid off (a mid-'90's Acura Legend with a wax job 5 years overdue). To me image is everything and I personally wouldn't want my nieces scampering around this person's indoor playground. I mean: If you can't take care of your car how is your business run? It wasn't like the car was twenty years old, and the community I live in is has a reputation of affluence (trust me, I am somewhat out of place here). Are there rats running around the facility or a general lack of cleanliness rich with bacteria waiting to cause illness to the next child that grabs hold of the rings. My '69 Karmann Ghia's paint job is probably five years older and is holding up much better considering that it's been weathering the elements in Northern California and hasn't been driven in over a dozen years. There's little sign of oxidation on my VW, but rust has shown its ugly face. I certainly wouldn't plaster my name on the car in such a state but that's another blog topic.
Have you seen terrible examples of mobile advertising that make you think twice about frequenting the establishment or calling, or make you wonder if the advertiser is aware that their name is being soured by poor marketing decisions? Send me your examples.
DWD: 39, Miles: 2098. The Fit survived a trip to San Diego this weekend. Theory: Less surface area equals less odds that door edge(s) and sheet metal make contact. Or does a purple car demand respect?
There is nothing more frightening than observing a car slam into another vehicle in your peripheral, especially when your vehicle has no crumple zones or airbags to speak of. The vehicle I was riding was my ’03 Honda Superhawk and the crash occurred about four lanes away during Friday's rush hour traffic. The driver that caused the accident must have been preoccupied, but I couldn't imagine what would have caused this great of a distraction especially given the large amount of cars waiting to exit, nobody appeared to be cut off, and all vehicles in front of the errant driver were stopped. The offender slammed on the brakes and must have hit the vehicle in front at a speed between 10-12 miles per hour. It sounds minor but the force caused the vehicle being struck to plow into the vehicle in front of it. Boom! That’s three motorists whose days were ruined. In addition, the force could have even been severe enough to cause some minor neck injuries.
The accident wasn't as dramatic as the footage above, but you get the idea...
I’ve witnessed such an incident only once before in my life and the action occurred in the very next lane on the San Francisco Bay Bridge, the vehicle I occupied also offered little in occupant protection (a ’69 Karmann Ghia, my restoration project at the moment). That incident involved a family in a Camry that failed to react quickly enough as the vehicle in front of them slammed their brakes on. Airbags were only offered on ultra-luxury vehicles at the time and crumple zones and safety cages were an afterthought to most manufacturers unless you drove one of those aforementioned luxury cars or the hood emblem displayed Volvo. Is somebody trying to tell me something?
I blogged about driver distraction and its potential impact on driving and laws to eliminate them at least those of the communicative variety, but even that legislature may only spare a few lives. The fact is more vehicles are occupying basically the same amount of roads, consider these statistics: between 1982 and 2002 vehicle miles travelled increased by 79% while highway lane miles only increased a mere 3%; total population in 1982 was about 231 million, in 2002 that number grew to over 288 million (obviously the number of vehicles occupying the roads increased), the startling statistic was that in '88 there were about 47,000 fatalities involving motor vehicles, and in spite of the increased number of vehicles occupying the roads and the growing commutes, this number has hovered right between 40,000-43,0000 fatalities every year thereafter. Certainly laws have been altered, some for the better, others with little or no benefit, but the biggest impact are the efforts made by manufacturers along with legislation requiring safety devices such as airbags of all sorts, improved structural design, and improved restraint systems (especially for kids).
Future topic: Electronic stability control and and how it will make you a better driver.
DWD: 25, Miles: 1304 The Fit survived wife's last day of work at her old job. Her commute will now increase almost 20 miles/day.
Take a look at the ad to the left, now you can lease a Bentley convertible for the bargain price of $3000 per month! The dealership must be starving for business (at least on the Bentley side) as this dealership is located some 80 miles from Orange County, California where this ad was found in yesterday's paper. In fact, Riverside County and its neighbor San Bernardino County was once ranked the third-highest ranking region in the nation for foreclosures just last year. The region has also fell victim to ever-slipping home prices which also dipped to an all-time low since 2004. It's a tough marketplace and is part of the reason this dealership is willing to take out such an ad in the greener pastures of Orange County.
A little more info on the ad: the small print down below has some interesting tidbits. For one, the lessee is locked into a 4-year term and the residual buyout after the lease is up is just a measly $107,000! The generous lease also comes with a 5,000 mile/year mileage allowance (one should really limit their trips to the red carpet). It's a beautiful car don't get me wrong, but I would rather drive myself in a Porsche Turbo Cabriolet and put the $70 grand I saved into a some tax-free municipal bonds. It pays to read the fine print on any ad, and any smart consumer can do better (yes, even better than a Bentley). Caveat emptor!
I saw the movie Wanted today. I thought it was okay, definitely had a good twist in the plot. Of course there were previews beforehand and one of particular interest was for the flick: Death Race. It is a loose interpretation of the 1975 cult-classic film Death Race 2000 which starred David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone. The plot is set in the year 2000 (duh!) in which the United States is destroyed by financial crisis (does that ring a bell?), oh, and a military coup. The race is a cross-country tour with gladiator-like cars equipped to dismember unlucky pedestrians along the way. I suppose trying to adapt that last part into the modern remake wouldn't actually be PC, so instead prisoners are trying to kill each other on the way to the finish line. That makes much more sense!
Conducting a search for this title on Wikipedia also generated another appellation: Death Race 1976. The arcade-style video game was perhaps one of the first controversial, violent video games in history (think Grand Theft Auto for the 1970's). The modern version for the Playstation 2 and PC is called Carmageddon. And while the graphics of the original game were nothing to write home about, the thought of gremlins leaping out of your vehicle then having to run them over and upon doing so would generate a tombstone (which resembles a cross more-or-less) is pretty outrageous even by today's standards. I'm sure this game didn't gain popularity on the religious front and is a part of history we can share with our children and children's children; just make sure to show them photos or bust out the Atari 2600 for emphasis.
DWD: 16, Miles: 834: Survived a packed movie theater parking lot again. Was everyone at the movies today?!
Let's talk auto accessories, ever see these stuck on the side of a Honda or similar car: Source: autoanything.com
Most of the vehicle owners pasting these hideous devices on the sides of their rides are younger drivers (typically 18-24 year olds) and I find it silly. I mean why would you want to make your car look like something your grandparents would drive. By that I mean this: Source: auto.howstuffworks.com
Yep that's a Buick pictured above. As a throwback to the classic Buick's of the 50's and early 60's, Buick resurrected the side vents or port holes on the front fenders. The more holes back then meant the more money you spent as there were three and four port hole models. These non-functional adornments on the Lacrosse pictured signify that it has a V-8, and after doing some research I was surprised to learn that this car will do 0-60 in 5.7 seconds. If you're keeping tabs that puts it in Subaru WRX territory which is pretty impressive for a heavy, front-drive luxury-tourer.
On a more solemn note, the average age of a Buick owner is 68 years of age. So I suppose instead of the old-timers complaining about kids and their loud cars, they'll simply fixate their bi-focals on those fender-mounted devices and stare in admiration. Score one for gramps!!
Well it was only a matter of time before this would happen: Utah is the first state to institute a four-day workweek for most of its state employees. You can bet other states will follow suit.
"What does this have to do with a car blog?" some may ask.
Well it's a trickle-down effect mostly. I would kill to have a three-day weekend every weekend and this would free up more time for my newest project, a restoration of my '69 Karmann Ghia. Besides, the extra days' expense of fueling up a vehicle could be put to better use like burying more money into my project. To put it into relative terms, the average worker commutes 29 miles per day, the U.S. average fuel economy for automobiles is about 24.6 miles per gallon, include the average jobs' two weeks of vacation per year, and in fuel cost savings alone, one could pocket $265 per year (based on $4.50/gallon).
Also in the news: car sales have slipped even further. While GM is still outselling Toyota, I wouldn't be surprised if the tables turn by the end of the year. Truck and SUV sales will continue to tank (a huge GM seller), and if you're in the market for such a vehicle, expect to see some big incentives especially towards the end of summer.
Update on that Wawanesa quote: I got my quote about 5 minutes after I made my post yesterday and they made a killing. 12-month quote: $1409, which would save me almost $50/month. I'll eat my words and be making the switch. Thanks neighbor!
Source: http://www.egmcartech.com/
