Volt Re-Visit

Sorry for the long delay again in my blogging, my goal is actually to do this every day I just have been so busy it has left me little time to do anything I enjoy! Just wanted to write a quick blog while I could about the Chevy Volt again. I know I have already touched on the subject and was quite negative, but we finally received our demo Volt at the dealership! Here is a photo of it as well, the massive Volt logo will not be on consumer cars just a tacky was for Chevy to tell people what car it is.

So the reason I am rewriting about the Volt is because....I was completely wrong. This car is amazing, it is like nothing you have ever driven before. When you enter the car on the two interior screens a little futuristic Volt intro plays and is almost like you are the Captain of the Starship Enterprise. While the blue power/start button pulsates asking you to start it, you realize that all of the normal keys and dials on a car are all touch sensitive like your iPhone. When you press the power button expecting an engine to start, you hear nothing but the car is ready to go. When you start to drive you hear absolutely nothing but you have power, which is instant torque because of the batteries so before you know it you are going 50 miles an hour.

The only time you hear anything from the car is when the generator is running to power your battery, or when you have the Bose audio system turned all the way up playing the Star Wars theme music because you feel like you are from the future. This car to me now makes perfect sense, on paper it does not but once you get in the car is completely changes your mind. I am all about power and performance, but Volt thank you for showing me what a hybrid car should be. Thank you!!



United States vs. Europe

Wanted to get a quick post out, have been busy with work so it hasn't allowed me a lot of time to get on and write for a couple of days. But busy in the car industry is a good thing. One of the main reasons I decided to write a blog and talk about my passion for motor sports is because of the British television show called Top Gear. It is hosted by the best team of "petrol heads" as they call it that I could ever imagine. They have so much chemistry and their knowledge for cars is mind blowing, besides I can watch their show with just about anyone because even though it is a motoring show they make it entertaining for anyone. They hosts are Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May and I am pretty sure my biggest dream is to go to Europe to watch the show and to possibly meet all three of them.

My comparison today is that being fat and lazy Americans we tend not to have a care for any other part of the world unless they have something beneficial for us. It also tends to make us pretty oblivious to how good we can have it some times. For instance, while we complain that our gas prices are WAY to high at $3.79 a gallon, Britain is paying about 5.75 per gallon if not more. So when we are at the pump filling up our monster V8 land tanks, Britain is at the pumps filling up much smaller vehicles for the same price.

This being said one of my favorite episodes of Top Gear is a fuel efficiency challenge that the boys do racing from Southern Europe to Blackpool England to turn on their annual Christmas lights. Now Hammond and James loves these type of challenges where a lot of planning and coordination are involved, and Jeremy couldn't hate them any more because he loves power and speed and anything to make you have a crisis in your trousers as he puts it. Hammond shows up in a Volkswagen Polo which is mostly a 3 cylinder version of the GTI, James in a Subaru Legacy I think is what they called it in Europe which is comparable to a Outback or a Forester here, and then Jeremy shows up in a MASSIVE Jaguar XJ, with a twin turbo V6 engine because he thinks that this is the worst challenge he has ever had.

The race is about 700-800p miles long and they have to make it on one tank of gas, Hammond and James think they can do it and Jeremy is trying to run out of gas right by his home outside of London. At the end of the trip they all end up making the journey and this is the staggering part of the show to me. Richard in his VW averaged about 78 MPG, James averaged in the low 70's to high 60's and the biggest surprise Jeremy in the high 60's with a massive car and massive engine.

This brings me to my main point of the post. As Americans we still feel it is necessary to put a V8 in anything with four wheels because we will still pay for the gas that goes into them. The biggest joke that we have is calling a Chevy Silverado a Hybrid because it can get 20 MPG in the city. Europe doesn't have a choice their gas prices are very high so they have the technology to make these fuel efficient cars when they best part is, SO DO WE!! But why don't we?? Because they gas companies run our country since oil is a publicly traded commodity! Why?! Every time there is a scare in the Middle East gas prices jump 50 cents! Not to mention they control our Government and also our fuel economy because the more we pay for gas the more benefit they get! I know I may have some of this backwards but it is what I believe. They technology is out there for us to get these high mileage vehicles but we are just not taking advantage of it because as Americans we believe that the most fuel efficient vehicle is the Toyota Prius when it is not.

Hopefully soon we can get these high mileage vehicles and the Chevy Cruze is showing me signs of hope for this because the Cruze ECO just took a 48 state, 9500 mile road trip and averaged 64.4 MPG. I believe in the country and I hope that sooner than later we realize that we are the cause of this gas and oil crisis because every one who owns these big Suburbans and Excursions are mostly single or drive by themselves. I know you want to be high on the road or compensate for your less than mediocre sized boy parts, but get in a smaller car save yourself some money as well as save the oil and make everyone happier.

JM

The Chevy Cruze vs. Chevy Volt

Being a gear head my first thought whenever I hear electric or hybrid car, I think of riding the little kids roller coaster at the amusement park. Sure its fun and seems like a blast when you are young, but then you grow up and realize how much of a loser you were for not looking around and seeing that every single thing around you is better. This comparison is very close to me because I am actually in the market for a Chevy Cruze ECO so I have been doing a lot of recent calculations about fuel economy.

First off, the Volt. Lets take a look at some of its awards before even being a fully released car.

- North American Car of the Year
- 2011 Motor Trend Car of the Year
- 2011 Top Safety Pick
- Green Car of the Year
- 2011 World Green Car
- Automobile Magazine Car of the Year
- Car and Drivers 10 Best
- Top 10 Best Engines

This is unbelievable to me, for one car to win all of these awards is a HUGE accomplishment for an American car company. And in my eyes all I can say is, all of that for a massive waste of money? Hear me out, the car costs around forty thousand dollars and is available in only one trim level. Granted you get pretty much every feature from a digital display in the dashboard which is fully customizable to your liking, to over 2000 lithium ion laptop style batteries which is enough to get Bill Gates excited. Now obviously what will attract people to this car is the "electric" tag on the advertising. Now lets brake it down.

Chevy claims that you can drive 100 miles on the batteries before the gas engine kicks in. Now the gas engine in no way is attached to the drive train, its sole purpose is to act as a generator to charge the batteries for another 275 miles. So you are looking at about 375 miles total using the gas and electric motors. They way I see it is the fuel tank for the generator is about 9.4 gallons in size. After you use 100 miles of electric charge that leaves about 275 miles, if you divide that by 9.4 gallons in the tank you are looking at about 29ish MPG. Secondly the Volt comes with a standard 120 volt charger for the house, which to fully charge your vehicle you will need about 18 hours. Now you can install a home charger that is about 275 volt and will charge your car in about 4 hours, but we haven't seen the prices for that yet.

Probably the biggest fault of the Volt is the batteries, for any of you who have owned a laptop you know that the lithium ion batteries lose their charge after a while. Chevy does admit they will after about 7 years and they are warrantied that long with the power train for 100k miles as well. I fail to believe they will last that long, and after looking at every feature and aspect of the Volt I think that it is a waste.

This is due to Chevy's most recent small vehicle the Cruze. I am 100% in love with this vehicle and I cannot stop dreaming about it. I consider it a "big little" car because it does not seem small at all. It is quiet, comfortable, fun, perfectly balanced, and affordable. The sound system is perfect with USB and AUX hook up, the dash glows blue and makes me feel like I am at the controls of a 30th century space ship. The seats fit me, a 6'9" grown man in a car that costs twenty thousand dollars. The 6 speed manual transmission is extremely easy to operate and could be done by your grandmother...or your dog. I could continue on forever, but all I can say is go drive one. Even if you are not in the market.

Now the comparison, the Cruze quotes itself at 29 city and 42 highway. Being a salesmen at a Chevy dealership I get news from GM themselves and what I received a couple of days ago blew my mind. A couple took their Cruze ECO on a 48 state 9,500 mile trip across America and averaged 64.4 MPG. I think I may have just had a crisis, your telling me I can buy a brand new car, extremely well equipped, with a 12.4 gallon tank drive 768 miles on one fill up for 45 dollars??? Last time that seemed even possible was the great depression!!

So more or less what I am getting at is you can buy a extremely futuristic Volt, which yes will be very cool for around forty thousand dollars. And is already been promised by Chevy to loose its battery power in years to come. Or you can buy a Cruze, for twenty thousand dollars, get 64 MPG and fill up for about the same price as the Volt's gas generator and save yourself for lack of a better word, S#%! ton of money. The choice is up to you, but personally I want the more fun, affordable, and all around better car....the Cruze, compared to its at best wildly mediocre counterpart, the Volt.

JM

2011 Camaro SS Convertible

Where do I begin with this car, I guess with my unending praise for Chevy for finally sticking to a concept car design. We are used to seeing some awesome car with promise of bold lines and "Who the hell is that" appeal if you ever got the chance to own one, but 99% of the time you end up with a car that looks like a slightly modified Ford Focus.

The lines of this car instantly remind me of the 1967 era Camaro and how it is such a sought after car even today, and now you have the chance to own a brand new version today. I will break it down into a couple of categories. Performance, comfort, design, and economy.

To start off performance, of course if I am going to be buying a new Camaro it is going to be the SS trim level with the 6.2L 426 horsepower V8 engine under the bonnet. Now being I work at a Chevy dealer I did just have the chance to drive one. To be honest the first thing I couldn't wait to hear was the exhaust, as I sat down and put the key in the ignition I waited in anticipation turned the key and........it sounded like I started a 98 Honda Civic with a rice burner can on the back. What a disappointment!! I have 426 HP at the disposal of my right foot and all it has to say for it is nothing?? Now I gave it the benefit of the doubt to let it warm up a bit, also taking into consideration all the "green" movement and how not everyone wants a loud car, but honestly who buys a car with that power and doesn't want it. Also, for the faint of heart they do make a 312 HP V6 engine for the Camaro, good on gas...but then it is also only a V6.

Once on the road and I let loose all 426 HP in second gear, I got the sound I was looking for. I felt like the devil himself was inside the engine with the devilish bellow that came from that engine bay. Secondly the steering is a little slow to respond, almost felt like and all wheel drive car to me. But it is a large car, we are still Americans after all.

As far as comfort goes, I loved it. The seats are extremely comfortable and being a two door car the leg room is phenomenal. I did forget to mention that I am 6'9" so I am kind of a stickler for cars that can fit my unusually large frame. That being said if for some reason someone wanted to sit behind me while I was driving, you would have a better chance fitting a square peg in a round hole. The seats are full power and if you happen to be 4'5" they will rise up to put your head above the windshield. Air conditioning and stereo by Boston Acoustics are also great, you would not be unhappy with sitting in this car for a long drive.

Like I mentioned design, well frankly to me it is like looking at the Mona Lisa for the gear head. Perfect. My favorite exterior accessory would be the BMW inspired halo eye band that wraps around the HID headlight, making it look like the car is looking directly at you. The added benefit of the convertible is when the top is up it looks even better than the hardtop with a "chopped" top apperance.

Lastly economy, for someone knowing they are going to be buying a car with a V8 that could tear down a house they will be presently surprised to know their Camaro can get 25 MPG on the highway, yes...25. Now you will average around 14 in the city and for people who drive like me closer to 12. The V6 little brother averaging about 3-5 MPG better.

So overall I would be happy purchasing a Camaro SS except for one thing, the big brother being produced starting in 2012. The Camaro ZL1, which is destined to tear your face off.