By Bill Clark

Pros:

• Bavarian-like ride and handling!
• Comfy leather seats
• Interior and exterior styling

Cons:

• Feels underpowered even with the upgraded V6
• Torque steer when driven hard (front wheel drive model)
• Terrible ergonomics and User interface for electronics

Station wagons carry lots of stuff and drive like regular cars, but they have been labeled the most uncool cars in the world. People seem to avoid them like the plague. Large SUVs are great, but synonymous with gas guzzling and poor handling - and many are based on rough-riding truck chassis. There’s a great middle-ground called the crossover segment and Chevy has made a valiant effort to capture their fair share of this emerging market with the newly restyled Equinox. I’d go so far as to say they’ve built a crossover that can legitimately compete with the popular Japanese and European offerings. Really!

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Look, it’s even more good news out of Detroit. What with Ford actually making a profit, it looks like all the doom and gloom about the number of dealers set to be shuttered might have been estimated on the high side.

At least that’s the case if you believe David Cole, who is Chairman of the nonprofit Center for Automotive Research. Cole told federal investigators that he thought General Motor’s and Chrysler’s projected dealership cuts will reduce market share in small to mid-sized markets. Cole summed it up by saying, “These cuts didn’t make any sense to me.”

David Cole cautioned the investigators that he has no research expertise or experience working directly with dealerships, and that he was asked to come speak only after he sent a letter to the Obama administration’s auto task force earlier this month stating his case for fewer dealership terminations. Although Chairman Cole did agree that terminations in larger metropolitan areas were in fact justified, he made the case that the automakers would be harming their historical stronghold in rural areas as well as modest-sized markets with many of the planned dealership terminations.

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By Danny Chang

Pros
• In-your-face styling
• Plenty of power to burn rubber
• Uncontrollable urge to drive recklessly
Cons
• Very poor visibility
• Jared-from-Subway weight problem
• Less-than-impressive MPG

Introduction
I’ve been pretty stressed out lately, been very busy at work, just moved into a new house and my wife and I are expecting our first baby. Yeah, a little stressed out. So when my editor called to tell me that a 2010 Camaro SS2 was on its way, I was ecstatic! Just as Bumblebee in Transformers coming to Earth to save Sam Witwicky from the Decepticons, this silver ice metallic Chevrolet Camaro SS2 arrived to rescue me from the tense situation in my life. And just like Bumblebee and Sam, I formed an immediate bond with the SS2, with its 6.2 L V8 with SFI pumping out 426 HP paired with a 6-speed manual, capable of hitting 60 MPH in 4.9 seconds. I loved the twin black striping down the middle of this silver tester, making it a Raiders themed kick-ass Camaro.

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Reviews by community members are the foundation of CarReview.com. Share your experience with other car owners by writing reviews for your cars, aftermarket parts, and car audio components. You don’t have to be an expert - everyone’s opinion counts.

Featured Review: 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt SS Turbocharged

Reviewed by: Spectre
Review Date: September 2, 2009
Overall Rating: 4 of 5
Value Rating: 5 of 5
Used product for: More than 1 year
Price Paid: $23000.00 from Oakville Chevrolet

Summary:
Let’s start off with my past vehicle history. I have owned a Pontiac 6000 LE, An AE92 Corolla GTS, a Dodge Neon, A Dodge Neon SRT-4 and now the Cobalt. The Cobalt makes me think of my old Corolla GTS. It wasn’t the flashy sports car, it had somewhat awkward doors, the interior was decent but not amazing and the shifter had it’s downsides.

However, it walked all over Civic Si’s, Neon’s and Z24 Cavaliers, it had surprisingly comfortable seats, it drove quite well on the roads while being able to handle the twisties pretty well. But what set it out from the others the most was the fact that like the Cobalt, it’s a car that you can really become one with. It does what you tell it to, it responds predictably to your every input, it can double as an effective daily driver and it had all the right features to allow for monitoring of the most important systems.

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>> By Anson Tse | >> Photos by Derek Mau

Pros

• Zero lag turbocharged engine that goes
• Well balanced chassis that pushes front wheel drive handling to the limit
• “No lift” shift algorithm
• Incognito appearance

Cons

• Cheap plastic interior panels
• Sub par craftsmanship
• Incognito appearance

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Despite all of the economic turmoil swirling around General Motors these days, they still say everything is on track for the late 2010 debut of the Chevy Volt plug in hybrid. “At this point in time, I know of no reason why we can’t be in production by November of 2010,” said Tom Stephens General Motors’ global product development chief, to a group of journalists on the sidelines of an event at the University of Michigan. He also said that the American automaker is on plan with the development of the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid.

Stephens, the replacement for Maximum Bob Lutz as GM’s vice chairman of global product development, also said that General Motors has yet to make a decision on which of the three remaining GM brands, Cadillac, Buick and GMC, would get a vehicle based on the Volt’s plug-in hybrid drivetrain. As we all know, Pontiac got the axe, and GM is trying to sell off Saturn and Saab as quickly as they can.

“Its best utilized in urban vehicles. We have to consider what is the usage of the person buying the vehicle. For a commuter who drives 40 miles a day and takes it shopping on the weekend, it’s the perfect application,” said Stephens concerning who else would get the advanced hybrid drivetrain.

Many signs point to Buick, a brand that has turned into a surprise hit in China, as being the brand that will get the Volt underpinnings.

Source: CarScoop

Photo from Flickr user Kevin.Ward

In honor of Mother’s Day (it’s this Sunday, so don’t forget people) I thought I’d do a mom-related car posting. In my search, I found a great Web site called motherproof.com. Let’s face it, mothers do a lot of driving. A group of women on motherproof.com take a look at the vehicles, road-test them for two weeks at a time, and then evaluate them based on performance and values. It’s a great idea. Who knows more about car safety than mothers do?

“We load the kids in, test out the latch connectors and the car seats, and the cargo space, and to really ensure that the car that we’re driving would really be a perfect vehicle for the people who visit our website,” said Sara Lacey, a mom-reviewer.

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Ever since I was a kid, American car companies in general, and GM in particular always seemed to be whining about one thing or another. To hear them tell it, it would be the end of the company if the government mandated seatbelts & safety glass (’they’ll think our cars aren’t safe!’) or, like in the early 70s, when the first emission regs came into being (’American’s don’t want small cars! We can’t make cars that are clean and give performance!’), and yet outfits like Toyota and Honda were able to do both. Another thing you’ll notice about GM is that at the end of the war, they were THE preeminent manufacturing concern on the planet; the #1 industrial company on the planet AND the largest automaker in the world. Yet despite having access to resources and engineering talent that were the envy of every other car manufacturer out there, Read the rest of this entry »

Hot off it’s duties pacing the field at the Daytona 500, Chevy’s highly anticipated 2010 Camaro will be pacing this years Indianapolis 500. Duties will start in early May, culminating with the 500 mile race itself on Memorial Day Sunday, the 24th. The revelation was made by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during a press conference that included past winners Johnny Rutherford, Al Unser Jr. and Eddie Cheever Jr. It wasn’t specified who would be driving the pace car this year during the race, but any of those three would be OK chauffeurs, having a total of six 500 wins between them.

Naturally, the Indy 500 pace car Camaro will have a garish paint job, and no doubt this, or some version of it, will be offered as a dealer installed sticker kit on the limited run Camaros sure to follow. No, that’s not official, but Chevy always does this, so it would be pretty safe to assume this time around. In addition to the Indy-specific paint job, the Camaro pace car will also get a roof-mounted light bar, and a special pace car lighting system. Essentially that’s color-keyed strobe lights where the turn signals used to be. Upgrade to the brakes will probably happen, but other than that, it should be pretty much a stock 2010 Camaro SS.

Pace car collectors, start your checkbooks!

Source: Edmunds

Not all the car news is coming out of Geneva these days, there’s big, if low-key news that came out from the auto show in Melbourne Australia. Much has been made about just what GM would do with its highly anticipated Volt hybrid besides selling it in North America. There were rumors of an Opel variant for the Euro market, but other than that, it was a big question mark.

But now GM makes the obvious, yet great move of rebadging the thing as a Holden, a raises the possibility of selling them in the Australian market. The Holden Volt shown at the Melbourne Auto Show is right-hand drive but other than that and the badges, it does not differ in any way from its Chevy counterpart. The Volt, in either GM or Holden form, can travel up to 64 kilometers on electricity before using petrol or producing exhaust pipe emissions, will be launched in Australia in 2012. When compared to similar sized petrol-powered vehicles, the Volt will save Australian motorists up to 1892 liters of fuel a year.

GM Holden Chairman and Managing Director Mark Reuss said, “We think Volt has the potential to change the game in Australian motoring. Since we announced our plans to introduce Volt to Australia, we have been overwhelmed by public interest in the car and the technology that makes it work. At Holden, we believe Volt will play an incredibly important role in our efforts to make motoring better for the environment.”

Source: CarScoop

By Francis Cebedo

Strengths:

• The power is very satisfying
• Ride and handling negotiate a perfect balance
• Build quality and fit feels very good
• Seating for up to eight passengers and a ton of luggage
• Easy to drive for its class
• Split-folding third-row seat is easy to operate
• very good  tow rating
• 115 Volt outlet provided
• Well designed, flowy interior dashboard

Weaknesses:

• Styling is not distinctive at all
• Transmission is slow to down shift
• Tires are a bit noisy
• Roof rack is nosy at speed
• Bose Stereo is really not that good
• Abundance of plastic and hard materials on the dashboard

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Instead of constructing a whole new factory to make engines for its new Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle, General Motors has decided to build them in an existing facility located in Flint, Michigan.

The Chevy Volt is one of the most anticipated American-made vehicles that has come along in quite some time. You might even say that it’s a make-or-break car for GM. The carmaker is going all out to make the Volt a success and a household name.

People like the general idea of this car, because it’s economical, sporty and green. The Volt will rely on a lithium-ion battery pack that will let commuters travel up to 40 miles on electric power alone. The Volt’s engine kicks in after its battery is drained by about 70 percent to sustain the battery’s remaining charge to keep the car running for several hundred miles.

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According to Malaysian auto guy Paul Tan, GM has decided against production of the right hand drive version of its highly anticipated new Camaro. (Yes, here at Car Review, we literally go to the ends of the Earth to get you news.) First, this isn’t all that surprising, given the financial straights that GM is currently in. making an RHD version of a car is not that simple. Lots of things like wiring looms, hydraulic lines and the like have to be re-routed, if not wholly re-designed and that makes the cost go WAY up. Just ask the British. And another thing to note: Why do you think the instrument cluster is centrally located in cars like the Mini Cooper and the Scion xB? Because that way, all you have to swap in the steering column, and you can make either a U.S. or a Japanese version much easier.

The other thing about GM ditching the RHD Camaro is: Really?! Was GM really going export Camaros to RHD markets? That’s strangely fascinating. It seems like a whole lot of work to be able to sell that kind of car in England, India, Japan and Malaysia (who else is RHD out there? You ever notice that those who are, used to be part of the British Empire?).

As Paul Tan himself put it, “If you’ve got loads of cash and really want to drive a Chevrolet Camaro in Malaysia with the help of your friendly neighborhood parallel importer, you’ll have to sit on the left side of the car … “I bet.

Of course this does bring up the interesting possibility that there are gearheads out there in the jungles of Malaysia that are really into American pony cars, and doesn’t THAT sound like a interesting car club?

Source: Paul Tan

Chevrolet is bringing back all the old favorites. First, it was the Camaro and now it’s the Corvette Stingray, which they recently unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show.

When Chevrolet started their pitch to get both post-gen and young drivers interested in what they touted as the “Return of the Camaro” the marketers at GM decided to place the car in the first Transformers movie. It turned out to be a very smart move. As Bumblebee, the new Camaro was a big star in the highly successful film and definitely generated some major buzz.

(Photos after the jump)
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Happy New Year everyone!

Another year has passed by and it is time for reflection upon the past year, as well as looking forward to more good things happening in 2009. 2008 had the debut of the largely anticipated Nissan GT-R which ran rings around the competition from the European stalwarts such as the BMW M3 and Porsche 911. In 2008, gas prices reached an all-time high of over $4 per gallon and dropped below $2 a gallon in less than six months. I don’t even want to mention the controversy surrounding the subject of bailing out the big 3 American auto makers because that conjures up more pain that the taxpayers have to bear. Getting past the greedy oil brokers and money-grubbing banks, there were still some outstanding cars that came out in 2008. CarReview’s editors reviewed the cars for 2008 and picked their favorites. Below is our list of outstanding vehicles that don’t require any handouts from congress.

(The photos are linked to the page with the corresponding consumer reviews.)
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