Dodge Grand Caravan

Technical Specs

Standard Engine 3.3L V6

Standard Transmission 4 Speed Automatic

Cylinders 6Horse

power @ RPM 175@5000

Torque @ RPM 205@4000 (foot-lbs)

The Grand Caravan is Dodge’s minivan that's offered in extended form. When the original Caravan went on sale in the fall of 1983 along with the Plymouth Voyager, it created a whole new market segment and introduced the term minivan to the market. For 2008, the name has changed to Grand Caravan and is available in SE and SXT trims. Dodge gives the minivan a total makeover with all-new designs to the exterior and interior, more than 35 new or improved features and more powertrain options. The wheelbase is two inches longer than the previous model and the ride and handling has been improved.

The 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan has an all-new look featuring a more athletic appearance that’s complemented by a unique hood, front and rear fascia, grille and taillights. A new Swivel ‘n Go seating system allows second-row seats to turn 180 degrees to face the third row with a removable table that installs between the second- and third-row seats. A number of new comfort and convenience features include a standard front console with removable, dishwasher-safe cupholders, thirteen cup and bottle holders, one-touch power third-row folding seat, heated seats in the first and second row, removable flashlight in rear cargo area, second-row power windows and many more. For added safety, all-row supplemental side-curtain airbags, Electronic Stability Program with traction control and brake assist, LATCH child rear anchor system and an energy-absorbing steering column are standard. Three engines are available including a new 240-horsepower 4.0-liter V6 and a six-speed transaxle is available with the 3.8-liter and 4.0-liter engines.

PIVO 2 Concept

Rinspeed sQuba Concept

Swiss car designer Frank M. Rinderknecht has a fascination with the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me, wherein James Bond’s Lotus Esprit was able to drive underwater. In that vein, Rinderknecht’s latest Rinspeed creation is a Lotus Elise converted into “the world’s first real submersible car,” according to the company. The conversion was largely performed by Swiss engineering specialist Esoro.

The mid-mounted combustion engine of the Elise was replaced by three electric motors (powered by rechargeable lithium-ion batteries)—one provides propulsion on land, the other two drive the screws for navigating the underworld; two Seabob jet drives are located up front, which breathe through special rotating louvers to open and close the water intake. All of which make the sQuba a zero-emissions vehicle.

When driving on land, the sQuba’s stainless coil-over suspension by KW automotive and large Pirelli tires on custom wheels from AEZ should provide better handling than your typical amphibious vehicle.

The sQuba is functional to a depth of 10 meters, but for safety reasons as the car submerges, the interior (done up by Strähle and Hess to be saltwater resistant, with mother-of-pearl trim and diamond-plated, non-slip inlays from KGS Diamond) gets filled with water. In scuba-diving fashion, an onboard tank of compressed air provides oxygen for the occupants. Bathing suits (or water-resistant clothes) recommended.

Source : Road & Track

Honda Fit

Technical Specs

Standard Engine 1.5L I4

Standard Transmission 5 Speed Manual

Cylinders 4Horse

power @ RPM 109@5800

Torque @ RPM 105@4800 (foot-lbs)

Honda gives its new, early 2007 Fit a wonderfully appropriate name.
That's because this small 4-door hatchback slides nicely into the rapidly growing market for cute, fairly roomy, fuel-stingy subcompact cars often bought as entry vehicles by young buyers who automakers hope will eventually move up to their larger, more profitable models.
This market includes upcoming Fit rivals such as the 2007 Toyota Yaris and Nissan Versa.
The front-wheel-drive Fit is called the "Jazz" in Europe and Japan, and actually is pretty jazzy. Utilitarian, fun-to-drive autos such as the Fit are popular in Europe and Japan, where roads are narrow, urban congestion is awful and gasoline prices are seemingly high enough to provide a ransom for a family's first-born.

Honda figured that if BMW's MINI Cooper could be a hit in America, the Fit also can make a splash here. That's especially because few motorists expect gas prices to fall below $2 a gallon anytime soon—and possibly will top $3 a gallon this summer.
Premium Entry CarThe Fit was introduced in Japan in 2001 and more than 1 million units have been sold in more than 70 countries with various engines and trim levels. It's a cute "premium entry car," as Honda describes it. That's because the Fit has a good amount of standard comfort, safety and convenience items—not to mention Honda's reputation for reliability, quality and high resale value.

Such features include air conditioning, an AM/FM/CD audio system with four to six (depending on trim level) speakers, six airbags (including front-seat side and side-curtain bags), fairly wide 65-series tires, anti-lock brakes and power windows, mirrors and door locks.

Some Cost CuttingHowever, there are no power seats or sunroof. And some cost-cutting is obvious. For example, inside door handles are small and feel cheap. And the driver's sun visor has an unlit vanity mirror, while the passenger sun visor has no vanity mirror.

Honda says the Fit is a 5-seater, and there are three-point seat belts at all seating positions. But only four adults have decent room in the sporty two-tone interior because the middle of the rear seat is too hard for comfort.
And, while the supportive driver's seat moves back a lot to accommodate extra-tall folks, legroom becomes tight for a 6-footer behind a driver who slides his seat back a lot.

Magic SeatA 60/40 split "Magic Seat" allows the rear seatbacks, or the entire back seat, to be flipped forward without removing headrests—or rear seat bottoms to flip up to provide lots of seating and cargo carrying configurations. Front seats can recline flush with the rear seats; this creates a long, flat surface, to allow a roadside nap for a driver who can't find a vacant motel.
The Fit's fuel tank isn't located where it's usually found in a car (under the back seat or trunk). Rather it is put toward the middle of the car to provide more interior room and allow those seat arrangement modes, which aren't possible in a regular car.

The cargo area has a low, wide opening and is fairly large even with rear seats in their normal upright positions.

Efficient EngineThe Fit has a smooth 4-cylinder engine, although it's pretty small at 1.5 liters. However, with an overhead-camshaft design, 16 valves and variable valve timing, it pumps out 109 horsepower.

That was enough power to provide my test Fit, which had a 5-speed manual transmission, with fairly quick merges onto freeways and decent 65-75 mph passing with only a downshift to fourth gear needed—at least with no passengers or cargo aboard.
The Fit is lively because the base trim level with the manual gearbox weighs a relatively light 2,432 pounds and the higher-line Fit Sport with an automatic transmission isn't much heavier at 2,551 pounds.

Nissan

Chevrolet Silverado 1500

The 2009 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 adds a new 6-speed automatic transmission paired with the 5.3-liter, 6.0-liter and 6.2-liter engines. A more powerful E85-capable 6.2-liter V8 engine is available on Crew Cab. OnStar 8.0 with Turn-by-Turn Navigation and Destination Download, Bluetooth phone connectivity, XM Satellite Radio with NavTraffic feature, rearview camera system and new 18- and 20-inch chrome-clad wheels are available.





The test vehicle, a light-duty, Extended Cab, two-wheel-drive model with seats for five, showed it's capable of handling both work tasks and family.
There's a big climb up to get inside—made more strenuous by the lack of running boards.
But once there, driver and riders have an excellent view out and over most other vehicles. This helped me manage my speeds and prepare for stops in city and highway traffic well ahead of other vehicles.
I noted, too, that many other drivers gave my Silverado space and didn't ride on my bumper since such a move would mean the driver behind would have no view at all except of my tailgate.
Lots of front-seat headroomThe interior of the Silverado Extended Cab is spacious feeling. The center console between the two front seats is very wide, and the back bench seat can hold three adults, widthwise, with ease.
Then there's the headroom. In the Silverado, it's immense. The 41 inches in the front seat top the 40.8 inches in the Ford F-150. It's more than in the Dodge Ram, too.
Back-seat headroom of 38.4 inches in the Silverado Extended Cab is less, though, than the 40 inches in the Ram Quad Cab. The F-150's SuperCab has 37.8 inches, in comparison.
Still, the Silverado Extended Cab leads the two major competitors in front-seat legroom. It also has more rear-seat legroom than the F-150 SuperCab. But the Ram's four-door Quad Cab has 2.7 inches more.

Smart fortwo

Technical Specs

Standard Engine 1.0L I3

Standard Transmission 5 Speed

ManualCylinders 3Horse

power @ RPM 70@5800

Torque @ RPM 68@4500 (foot-lbs)

The 2008 smart fortwo is offered in three versions for the U.S. market: pure coupe, passion coupe and passion cabriolet. All are powered by a 71-horsepower 1.0-liter 3-cylinder engine teamed with an automated 5-speed manual transmission. The pure coupe includes a tridion safety cell, electronic stability control, ABS, four airbags and central locking. The passion coupe adds a panorama roof, alloy wheels, air conditioning with climate control, 3-spoke leather sports steering wheel with shift paddles, power windows, heated electric mirrors and AM/FM/CD audio system. The passion cabriolet features a fully automatic soft top with a heated glass window that can be adjusted to any position while driving at any speed. The side roof bars can be removed for a full open-top experience.

Drive the smart — a new, two-seater city-car from the capitalization-averse company — and you can't help agree it's a great idea. With gas prices and eco-consciousness at all-time highs, the time is definitely right, the business plan excellent and the car intelligently innovative. But, it does miss our unequivocal approval.
Why? Because of a maddeningly few rough edges in an otherwise fine package. In fact, we attended the introduction of the latest version of the smart fortwo full of hope (previous iterations have been on sale in Europe now for eight years). This bug's ear of a car is charmingly unique, and shows the U.S.'s mini-car future.

Aimed at early adopters, Penske emphasizes attitude and not age is the pivotal demographic identifying a potential smart owner, and we've no argument there. Once past the cute, the smart is about making a statement, about saying you care. It's the anti-consumption poster child, the stylish way of cutting back at the pump and saving half a parking space for the other human.
The smart fortwo is a fresh-step in packaging. Interior room for the two occupants is tremendous in all dimensions, and given the upright seating, clean interior graphics, panoramic windshield, glass roof and generous side glass, the cockpit is bright, cheery and open.

While it would take an NBA-sized adult to max-out the fortwo's interior dimensions, a single grocery cart worth of goods can overwhelm the rear storage area. Easily accessed, the behind-the-seats storage is fine for incidentals, but a week's groceries will require stacking the eggs atop the tomato sauce. And, of course, there is no rear seat or trunk to take up the excess.
Similarly, the 71 horsepower from the premium-gasoline-only three-cylinder engine residing under the seats is plenty to scoot smartly around town, and will put 90 mph on the clock given an open road. But it can't thrust the fortwo over large freeway hills without losing speed. The smart owner will want other options for visiting spotted owl territory.

The largest fortwo advantage is its Lilliputian exterior dimensions, making it a joy in urban centers. Streets are instantly wider, traffic less dense and the abbreviated wheelbase means the smart has a snake-like ability to slither around the double-parked and half-witted. That same short wheelbase gives the fortwo a rocking-horse gait, however, and the tallish center of gravity compared to its footprint means a boat-like heel on freeway ramps.
Such considerations are expected from a specialized micro-car, and give us no pause. But the fortwo's clunky transmission does. Ideal for the fortwo would be a plain-old 5-speed manual, but as gear-changing is becoming a lost art in North America, some sort of automatic shift is now deemed necessary.

Smart's solution is a manual transmission fitted with electro-mechanical servos, which are controlled by a floor-mounted shifter or steering-wheel-mounted paddles. It shifts deliberately and feels more like a robot taking Driver's Ed than a proper automatic transmission. We hated it immediately. After two days, however, we made friends after discovering there were tricks to getting along this worst combination of manual and automatic. Unfortunately, it asks more of the driver than we think reasonable.
Almost as awkward was the primitive-feeling brakes. The pedal requires a noticeable initial effort followed by a long slack period before the completely effective binders take hold. Combined with the clunky gearbox and rocking-horse pitch sensitivity, the fortwo heaves up and down the speed scale, passenger's heads bobbing like a chiropractic advertisement.
And while the smart's avant garde looks suggest 60 mpg, it is expected to returns just 33/41 city/hwy mpg using the EPA updated 2008 testing procedure. For most people, the compromises in passenger and storage capacity, price, long-distance suitability and weird factor means the smart might get a look, but won't boast the justifying mpg compared to more mainstream economy cars — new or used.

So who will buy the fortwo? Rabid early-adopters of course. If nothing else, the smart's look-at-me uniqueness makes it an extrovert's mike-in-hand karaoke-car. Fun-lovers of all ages will be drawn, as will anyone needing basic transport, just two seats and no need for speed. Look for it as primary motivation in the city, a second car in the 'burbs, or tricycle replacement in the senior's trailer park.

The real sales potential is to green commuters, as the planetary consciousness sweeping the U.S. begs for something new to drive to work. With a perceived ballet-slipper carbon footprint, the smart's statement-making social cachet will easily earn it meaningful sales in that camp.
We definitely think America's urban core is ready to see this "smart" solution on its streets, but it's not a trick we'd try down on the farm.