More GM Kappa News - SKY Pricing and a Solstice Wagon?
Today, Saturn announced pricing of the 2007 Saturn SKY roadster. With standard OnStar, ABS, Power Windows/Locks/Mirrors, Remote Keyless Entry as well as the air conditioning that Pontiac saw fit to make optional on the Solstice. MSRP for a 5-speed manual SKY will start at $23690 with the automatic equipped version (also a 5-speed) at $24540. Both prices include destination.
Before you start thinking that Saturn is crazy to ask over 3500 more for the SKY than the Solstice need to take a deep breath, head on over to the Pontiac web site, and price a Solstice with the same equipment. The SKY's premium is actually only about $370. More than made up for by the richer interior that the SKY gets vs. the basic interior of the Solstice.
Also in Kappa news - is this odd contraption that should show up in the next couple weeks at the NAIAS. EDAG, a German engineering firm, came up with this variation on the Solstice to both counter the 'not enough cargo space' crowd as well as to evoke, in their words the 'Pontiac Safari' wagons of the 1950's and 1960's. Read about it here.
Looks oddly cool to me.
Before you start thinking that Saturn is crazy to ask over 3500 more for the SKY than the Solstice need to take a deep breath, head on over to the Pontiac web site, and price a Solstice with the same equipment. The SKY's premium is actually only about $370. More than made up for by the richer interior that the SKY gets vs. the basic interior of the Solstice.
Also in Kappa news - is this odd contraption that should show up in the next couple weeks at the NAIAS. EDAG, a German engineering firm, came up with this variation on the Solstice to both counter the 'not enough cargo space' crowd as well as to evoke, in their words the 'Pontiac Safari' wagons of the 1950's and 1960's. Read about it here.Looks oddly cool to me.
Pontiac Solstice GXP details
2.0l Ecotec 4-cylinder w/ direct injection and 260hp and 260lb*ft of torqueThere, fine, that's what everyone wanted to know anyway.
Now we can get into some more details.
Unique front and rear bumpers, dual exhaust, StabiliTrak standard, 3.73 axle ratio, unique GXP gauge cluster, and if the photos are any indication - yellow will be a new available color...but they'll likely call it something odd like all the other colors on the Solstice (for instance - Black = Mysterious, Aggressive = Red, and so on).
Apparently, the sport suspension on this model will be the same as the available sport suspension already available on the base Solstice.
ABS, limited slip diff, power windows/locks/mirrors, remote keyless entry, cruise control, leather wrapped steering wheel w/ steering wheel mounted controls for the stereo and cruise control, driver info center, and 18-inch polished wheels are all standard on this model as well.
So, you can get basically the same equipment from this model on the standard Solstice, but the GXP brings the kick-butt 2.0l Ecotec. 130hp/liter. Torque is 260lb*ft from 2000 through 5300 rpm - yummy!
Pricing is not yet known - but figure it to be at least $3k more than the same Solstice with all the options listed. So, we'd be looking at something like $27000. Still a nice performance bargain if the 5.5 second 0-60 that GM is claiming is legit.
This should be the same as the Saturn SKY Redline - and still sitting at the top of my shopping list for my next car.
Lincoln to go Alpha for model names
According to this post at Autoblog.com - Lincoln will not be calling the new Lincoln Aviator the Lincoln Aviator. (?!)
It appears that Ford has decided that the real reason Cadillac is kicking Lincoln's butt right now is the abandonment of names for alpha strings (think how Catera became CTS, Seville became STS, etc.) I'm sure it had nothing to do with billions of investment, brand new chassis and powertrains, and really targeting the standard of BMW, Mercedes, and Audi with their cars rather than chasing Lincoln.
The Aviator will actually be badged the Lincoln MKX (hmm, looks quite a bit like Mark X, don't it?).
We'll see how this goes for them - but ultimately, I think great product is the only answer - not new names.
It appears that Ford has decided that the real reason Cadillac is kicking Lincoln's butt right now is the abandonment of names for alpha strings (think how Catera became CTS, Seville became STS, etc.) I'm sure it had nothing to do with billions of investment, brand new chassis and powertrains, and really targeting the standard of BMW, Mercedes, and Audi with their cars rather than chasing Lincoln.
The Aviator will actually be badged the Lincoln MKX (hmm, looks quite a bit like Mark X, don't it?).
We'll see how this goes for them - but ultimately, I think great product is the only answer - not new names.
Forbes.com list of Best Cars of 2005
It seems everyone wants to put together a 'Car of the Year' this or a 'Best of' that...Forbes.com is no exception.
This year they've named enough 'Best of' categories that I'm wondering if they managed to leave any car unrecognized. I mentioned this list was coming in my post about their 'Worst Cars' list - so for the sake of completeness, here's a quick run-down of the plethora of categories and their winners (these are the actual names Forbes uses for the categories):
New Car That Most Lived Up To The Hype - BMW M5
Greatest Driver's Car - Ferrari F430
Greatest Driver's Car (yep, they named two) - Aston Martin DB9
Most Outrageous Car Ever - Bugatti Veyron 16.4
Best Reason To Buy American - Ford GT (Oh, come on, this is the best category name you could come up with? How about "best mid-engined performance bargin to blow away both of your 'greatest driver's cars'"?)
Best Way To Blend In With Celebrities - Bentley Continental GT
Best Way To Make Celebrities Jealous - Lamborghini Murcielago
Fastest Car - SSC Ultimate Aero
All-New But Still The Sub-$40,000 Gold Standard - BMW 3 Series (You would think they could they have tried harder to make this look like something other than a category invented just to give the 3-series a prize)
The Ultimate Executive Ride - Maybach 62
Ultimate Minivan - Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna (Apparently Forbes.com is too wishy-washy to actually pick a best minivan, or they just can't tell these two non-luxury brands apart.)
Ultimate Pickup - Dodge Ram SRT-10
Best All-Around Wagon - Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG (Strange, you'd think there'd be some other wagon category if there is this one for 'all-around' wagon - but there isn't.)
Best Selling Luxury Car (sic) - Lexus RX Note to Forbes.com - tall, two-box designs w/ AWD are typically called by a new-fangled name 'SUV' - not car.
Safest Car - Volvo S80
Best Hybrid - Lexus RX Hybrid (They liked the RX so much, they gave it two prizes.)
All told, a pretty fluffy piece of automotive journalism. Though, I guess that would be a bit too much to expect of a non-automotive magazine/web site.
This year they've named enough 'Best of' categories that I'm wondering if they managed to leave any car unrecognized. I mentioned this list was coming in my post about their 'Worst Cars' list - so for the sake of completeness, here's a quick run-down of the plethora of categories and their winners (these are the actual names Forbes uses for the categories):
New Car That Most Lived Up To The Hype - BMW M5
Greatest Driver's Car - Ferrari F430
Greatest Driver's Car (yep, they named two) - Aston Martin DB9
Most Outrageous Car Ever - Bugatti Veyron 16.4
Best Reason To Buy American - Ford GT (Oh, come on, this is the best category name you could come up with? How about "best mid-engined performance bargin to blow away both of your 'greatest driver's cars'"?)
Best Way To Blend In With Celebrities - Bentley Continental GT
Best Way To Make Celebrities Jealous - Lamborghini Murcielago
Fastest Car - SSC Ultimate Aero
All-New But Still The Sub-$40,000 Gold Standard - BMW 3 Series (You would think they could they have tried harder to make this look like something other than a category invented just to give the 3-series a prize)
The Ultimate Executive Ride - Maybach 62
Ultimate Minivan - Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna (Apparently Forbes.com is too wishy-washy to actually pick a best minivan, or they just can't tell these two non-luxury brands apart.)
Ultimate Pickup - Dodge Ram SRT-10
Best All-Around Wagon - Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG (Strange, you'd think there'd be some other wagon category if there is this one for 'all-around' wagon - but there isn't.)
Best Selling Luxury Car (sic) - Lexus RX Note to Forbes.com - tall, two-box designs w/ AWD are typically called by a new-fangled name 'SUV' - not car.
Safest Car - Volvo S80
Best Hybrid - Lexus RX Hybrid (They liked the RX so much, they gave it two prizes.)
All told, a pretty fluffy piece of automotive journalism. Though, I guess that would be a bit too much to expect of a non-automotive magazine/web site.
Forbes.com list of worst vehicles of 2005
Forbes.com, the web site for the financial magazine, Forbes, has come out with their list of the worst cars of 2005.
They named the worst based on safety, another set for reliability, and a separate set for worst value (based on projections on value in 5 years).
Here's the short version:
Worst safety
Ford Ranger/Mazda B-series truck - 4-wheel drive versions have a 2-star roll-over rating according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
Mitsubishi Lancer and Nissan Sentra tied for worst car safety with a 2-star side impact rating from NHTSA
Strangely enough, Forbes.com seems to ignore any other measures of safety in their online article to justify an overall 'worst' rating. If you want to find details yourself, go to NHTSA's SaferCar.gov website to find details on these and all other cars on the market.
Worst reliability
Infiniti QX56 full-sized SUV. According to Consumer Reports - 300% under industry average for reliability
No car was named as worst reliability. Also, no details were given on how CR arrives at the 300% worse reliability number - though it is accepted that the QX56 has been a problem vehicle for Nissan and they are working hard to get these initial problems corrected (the QX56 has only been on the market for about 2 years).
Worst residual value - after 5 years
Chrysler Sebring sedan - 19%
Second place is a four way tie between the Ford Freestar/Mercury Monterey ;Jaguar X-Type; and Kia Optima - each with 21%.
Values are based on Kelly Blue Book estimates of how much these vehicles will retain of their initial MSRP.
All-in-all, this seems a bit of a year-end fluff piece to promote Forbes.com's automotive section, but it is an interesting attempt to pull resources already available on the web into an aggregate list of cars to avoid for various reasons.
See the Forbes story online here.
They named the worst based on safety, another set for reliability, and a separate set for worst value (based on projections on value in 5 years).
Here's the short version:
Worst safety
Ford Ranger/Mazda B-series truck - 4-wheel drive versions have a 2-star roll-over rating according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
Mitsubishi Lancer and Nissan Sentra tied for worst car safety with a 2-star side impact rating from NHTSA
Strangely enough, Forbes.com seems to ignore any other measures of safety in their online article to justify an overall 'worst' rating. If you want to find details yourself, go to NHTSA's SaferCar.gov website to find details on these and all other cars on the market.
Worst reliability
Infiniti QX56 full-sized SUV. According to Consumer Reports - 300% under industry average for reliability
No car was named as worst reliability. Also, no details were given on how CR arrives at the 300% worse reliability number - though it is accepted that the QX56 has been a problem vehicle for Nissan and they are working hard to get these initial problems corrected (the QX56 has only been on the market for about 2 years).
Worst residual value - after 5 years
Chrysler Sebring sedan - 19%
Second place is a four way tie between the Ford Freestar/Mercury Monterey ;Jaguar X-Type; and Kia Optima - each with 21%.
Values are based on Kelly Blue Book estimates of how much these vehicles will retain of their initial MSRP.
All-in-all, this seems a bit of a year-end fluff piece to promote Forbes.com's automotive section, but it is an interesting attempt to pull resources already available on the web into an aggregate list of cars to avoid for various reasons.
See the Forbes story online here.
Autoshow Season - Camaro is coming!
As I'm sure most have you already know, and much to GM's dismay, word is out that Chevy will be showing a styling exercise as the NAIAS that will preview their Zeta Lite-based 2009 Camaro.
Photos of a styling buck as well as some engineering drawings have made the rounds online with GM chasing (almost) them all down and threatening legal action if they do not remove the stolen material from their sites.
Expect the styling of the Camaro concept to be a strong nod toward the classic styling of the late-60's Camaro with a serious dose of modern sleek layered on top. The Zeta Lite chassis is a reduced cost version of the rear-drive chassis that GM decided to not bring to North America as the basis of a line of new rear-drive Buicks and Pontiacs earlier this year.
After much soul searching and, I'm sure, a few sleepless nights wondering how to counter such hit rear-dirve cars as the new Mustang as well as the Chrysler 300/Dodge Magnum and Charger - a way was found (or at least is expected to be found in time for a calendar year 2008 launch of cars based on this platform).
I certainly wouldn't want to traffic in stolen GM property, but you might get a taste of the car they will show if you look around.
Photos of a styling buck as well as some engineering drawings have made the rounds online with GM chasing (almost) them all down and threatening legal action if they do not remove the stolen material from their sites.
Expect the styling of the Camaro concept to be a strong nod toward the classic styling of the late-60's Camaro with a serious dose of modern sleek layered on top. The Zeta Lite chassis is a reduced cost version of the rear-drive chassis that GM decided to not bring to North America as the basis of a line of new rear-drive Buicks and Pontiacs earlier this year.
After much soul searching and, I'm sure, a few sleepless nights wondering how to counter such hit rear-dirve cars as the new Mustang as well as the Chrysler 300/Dodge Magnum and Charger - a way was found (or at least is expected to be found in time for a calendar year 2008 launch of cars based on this platform).
I certainly wouldn't want to traffic in stolen GM property, but you might get a taste of the car they will show if you look around.
Autoshow Season - Solstice GXP
At this year's Los Angeles Auto Show, Pontiac will debut the long awaited Solstice GXP. This 2007 model will pack a 2.0l Ecotec 4-cylinder with direct injection as well as a turbocharger. GM promises that the GXP will be the most powerful Ecotec equipped car.Of course, they haven't spelled out if that is the US Ecotec they are comparing against or all versions sold world-wide. If it is the former, they could mean 210+ hp. If they are including world-wide versions, then it would have to pack over 240hp. Given the 'direct injection' mention - it is likely that the number will at or above the higher number.
Expect details early next week as GM is expected to preview details on this and other upcoming models well in advance of the normal LA Auto Show media days on January 4 and 5th.
Now, if they'd just hurry up and get the Sky Redline into production.
See more spy photos at Edmunds Inside Line.
Autoshow Season - Kia Soul
It looks like we are officially living in an era of boxy, utilitarian small car 'alternatives'...now it's Kia's turn.At the NAIAS, Kia will show the Soul concept. It appears to hint at a small competitor to the Honda Element, Scion xB, and upcoming Nissan Cube (and to a lesser extent, Chrysler PT Cruiser and Chevrolet HHR).
This vehicle is likely a preview of new entry from Kia to debut in 2007, at the earliest.