The New Car Purchase

"Fourteen Miles per gallon!"

This was becoming an all to familiar exclamation at the the pump when refueling. Living in the hills of Kentucky will cause any vehicle to suck gas at an alarming rate. When your vehicle of choice is a 2004 F-150 it gets downright ridiculous. Therefore my fiancée and I went on a quest for a new car. It had to be fuel efficient, able to fit my 6 foot 5 inch frame, and safe. I did not care if it looked as good as a Ford Mustang nor if I could go from 0-60 in five seconds flat. At this stage of my life I just need something that is frugal on gas.

Being a car nerd I wanted to draw out the shopping experience as long as possible. The first two cars we looked at were the Ford Fusion and the

Volkswagen Jetta TDI. The Fusion was a nice car. The four cylinder would return around 30 mpg and had plenty of pep to it. Still, we wanted better gas mileage and the Fusion Hybrid was just too expensive. As a result we moved on and gave a long hard look at the Volkswagen Jetta TDI. Those three letters at the end, "TDI" symbolize the diesel engine beneath the hood. For those who are not in the know this does not mean a loud smelly engine similar to those used in cousin Eddy's Peterbuilt. This motor is powerful, quiet, and cleaner than many regular gas engines. The real benefit is its city mpg rating of 30 and highway at 42. Even better, the EPA test for diesels is flawed and real world numbers put the Jetta closer to 50 on the highway. The car was also extremely well equipped and good looking for a reasonable price. We were dead set on this until three weeks prior to the planned purchase diesel fuel was thirty cents more expensive than gasoline which negated a lot of the fuel savings benefits.

Now what? We were set on achieving 50mpg on the highway and we needed to dump my truck before it sucked the bank account dry. I swallowed my pride and drove to the local Toyota dealership to look at the darling car of the green movement. The Toyota Prius.

"It's ugly and small" says my future wife. I looked hard at it and was determined to keep an open mind. I despised the last generation Prius. Its shape reminded me of a cockroach and every brain-dead celebrity claimed to be "green" after choosing it as their mode of transport after stepping off their private jet. Still, the car proves to be economical for the average joe.

Compared to the year before, the 2010 model is slightly sleeker, yet, still controversially styled. I sat behind the wheel for a test drive and surprisingly fit very well. Better than the Honda Insight which I discovered later. My head had a few inches clearance and I was able to stretch out my legs plenty. This could work!

Taking it for the first drive I noticed what everyone else notices when driving a hybrid.

The car is propelled in part by an electric motor meaning it is completely silent when stopped in traffic.

It is also a big adjustment when stepping on the "gas" and feeling no rumble of an internal combustion engine beneath your feet for the first 5-20 mph (depending on how lead footed you are the gas engine will kick on to supplement the electric motor for increased acceleration when necessary).

Inside, the electronic displays mesmerized me as they guided me in trying to squeeze as many miles from a tank of gas as possible. The digital readout was at 50mpg driving around the city. That's a fuel savings of well over $1,800 per year for the amount of driving we do. We were sold.

What about the accelerator pedal and brakes you ask? Would they fail? While Toyota screwed up their image and countless lives because of this I am confident it is resolved. With the Federal government breathing so hard down their neck Toyota is being more proactive than ever. They actually are now including all optional safety features available on their models which include airbags all the way around as well as several electronic stability and braking programs to stop you from locking your brakes, rolling over, etc. They call it the "star safety system". Whatever the catchy name may be, it is a good value over other automakers and quite important if you live off narrow, deer infested roads.

So I am now a man driving a Prius. Anyone who knows me will likely laugh at the thought. To those still slapping their knees I will share this tidbit. My first tank of gas, all highway from Cincinnati to St. Louis yielded 49.5 mpg with the A/C running. What once cost $75 now costs $25. That is a beautiful thing. I'll let you know my impressions after living with it for a few more months.

New Dodge Commercial is Interesting

I found myself doing my usual automotive news reading today and stumbled upon a new ad from Dodge that is debuting during the US world cup game against England. I found it clever and good way to show Dodge as an American company (even if in reality it is owned by Fiat). Check out the video below. Hopefully you will agree that we got more right than just cars and freedom.

Memories of Old Blue: V8 time!

It is only natural to want more in life. It is the American way. While some guys are wanting more money (I know I'll never have it), or more women (I'm happy with my one thank you), I was, and always will, want more power. Before anyone gets the wrong idea and assumes I aspire to become the almighty that is false. The power I speak of, naturally, is horsepower.

For those who are not up to speed on Old Blue I will simply say it was my first car, and a dandy at that. For its age it had proved a reliable runner. No one else had one where I attended high school and that made me feel good. When junior Paul Walker and Vin Diesels' pulled up next to me in their 2Fast2Furious econobox's I would laugh. The only problem was that even old blue could not take the lowest of Honda Civic's at a stoplight as the 300 cubic inch straight six that lived beneath the hood, while strong, couldn't propel it to 60mph in under 12 seconds. Down hill. With a tail wind.

This is where the story gets fun. What would a 16 year old kid do about a strong, reliable, perfectly running, yet slow vehicle? Would I tune up the old straight six? No, too easy. How about buy a new vehicle? If anyone knew me at the time they would tell you that the truck and I would never part ways. What did I do you ask? How about pulling out the straight six and dropping in a fresh 302 cubic inch V8 complete with an Edelbrock 4 barrel carb, intake, full length headers, and machined heads. I had no clue what I was doing, a pocket full of cash from my part time job which was waiting to be spent, and a bunch of friends chomping at the bit to tear something apart. Sounds like fun doesn't it?

Now hold your horses. Before something like this is done some planning needs to happen. I knew that I wanted my engine compartment to look spiffy. Only one junkyard in town had a mulltitude of parts to choose from and it was one of those "do it yourself" places which is always fun. My good friend and partner in crime throughout this project accompanied me to the junkyard in what can only be described as a "rough" part of town. Anyone familiar with Hall Street in St. Louis can understand. Let's just say I made sure not to shave, shower, and have a scowl on my face as I pulled off the exit as I knew just weeks earlier an entire family was killed there so that two gentleman could get the Dubs off their Yukon Denali. Luckily for me, two redneck looking guys in a 30 year old truck did not look all too apetizing to any would be carjackers and murderers. A bunch of parts and a 30 minute long conversation about Jesus later (one of the customers must have saw my friend and I's appearance and decided we were in need of saving) we were on our way back home.

The truck which had just made its journey was then ripped apart piece by piece. Organization was non-existent as any nut, bolt, or screw removed was tossed into a shoebox. The idea was to get her running in a few days with the brand new V8 ready to show those little Paul Walkers' who's boss. How ignorant we were....

Toyota Sales Plummet as GM and Ford Gain

At the height of the auto industry collapse last year Toyota continuously sold more cars in America than any other auto-maker. A sticking accelerator pedal recall later and they are officially out of the number one spot. The numbers this month tell a part of the story yet it is important to remember that production and sales were halted for a time as the company scurried around attempting to fix its sudden acceleration issues. The real curiosity will be sales numbers from March through this summer as both Ford and GM have some of the strongest products coming to market in their history.

The sales numbers for this month are as follows:

#1 Ford- 142,285 vehicles. Up from 99,400 last February. 

#2 GM- 141,951 vehicles. Up from 127,296 last February. 

#3 Toyota- 100,027. Down from 109,583 last February. 

While Toyota may have fallen it is still important to note that they are #3 in America even with the highly publicized recalls.

2006 Detroit Autoshow

Detroit. A city that really does deserve its reputation for crime and corruption. My fondest memories being my first auto show in which my friends and I lurked around Cobo Hall for hours in awe of all the cars. Upon exiting the Cobo Center we began walking down the street to look for a place to eat. One man stopped us and asked if we were from around the area. When we replied "no" he insisted that we leave before dark. As we strolled down the street we noticed all the restaurants and businesses were closed. All we wanted was a burger and a beer. Several hours of walking and drooling overs cars had left us hungry and rather parched. We finally found a Subway that was open and decided to grab a sandwich and pick up a case of the former St. Louis native Budweiser on the way back to the hotel. As we walked into the Subway we noticed it was packed. Several interesting characters were sitting inside with no subs in front of them. It started to get quiet and eyes were looking at us as if we were from a different planet. Without missing a beat we turned around and headed back towards the Cobo Center.

Before we could get to the end of the block an older gentleman told us to run along as we would not want to be here at night. He proceeded to tell us that this was not Disney World and the gangs would not be kind to us. We heeded the warning and began walking faster. A couple blocks to go and I could feel my heart racing as I was a young suburbanite in what is known as one of the most dangerous cities. A block to go we heard a booming voice call out to us. Just as I was ready to hand over my wallet and take a beating I noticed it was a Detroit police officer. He asked us where we were headed and we promptly told him home. His reply was a simple "good" and he waved down a taxi for us and told us to come back tomorrow during the day to see more cars.

Besides the slightly terrifying endeavor it was a blast. Concept cars were everywhere with the show stoppers being the new Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet Camaro. For anyone who has not had the opportunity to attend I would strongly suggest it. It truly is king of North American Auto Shows with LA and Chicago nipping at its heels. Below are some memorable images from the show which was my first venture into the city of Detroit. If you did not get a chance to attend this year make plans for 2011. Just be sure to get out before dark.

Jeep Wrangler attached to rock wall.

Hummer sitting in foe water. They actually cut the wheels in half to make it appear submerged.

Beautiful Ferrari

Mazda Concept

Honda FCX Clarity

Camaro Concept

Ford Super Chief

Dodge Challenger Concept

Ford SVT Raptor F-150: Wow!

Driving down interstate 70 last week I came across something that truly made my head turn. At the surface most would think the Ford SVT Raptor F-150 is nothing more than your average jacked up "pickem-up truck" but it is so much more. This is a four-wheel drive beast created to run across sand dunes at insane speeds. Want to launch it multiple feet off the ground at 60 miles per hour? Go right ahead. How about enter it into the Baja 1000? Go for it! Ford actually did that as part of its "quality control" testing. Sounds like a good excuse for some engineers o have some fun to me.

So what is so impressive about this truck? Certainly their have been trucks built to achieve insane jumps and race over sand dunes at highway speeds. How about building a truck that can achieve this, hold a factory warranty, and be able to pick up some drywall from the Home Depot on a Saturday afternoon. You will not find another anywhere.

This truck is so unique it looks like it was ripped from the SEMA floor. Ford has outfitted it with different fenders, grill, and paint making it impossible to mistake it for your run of the mill F-150. Of course, all the fancy body work in the world won't get you through the Baja 1000 so SVT engineers, the same guys responsible for creating lightning fast street cars, put some of the most advanced suspension bits beneath a chassis that was stretched 7 inches wider than your standard F-150. Shocks are supplied by Fox and allow over 11 inches of wheel travel in front and over 12 in the back. Add some 35 inch BF Goodrich All-Terrain tires and a multitude of other suspension upgrades and you get one serious off road truck.

Currently you can purchase the Raptor for about $39,000 with the base 5.4 liter V8. Soon to come is the new 6.2 liter motor which will bring the price point to $42,000 yet add gobs of horsepower and torque.

Summary: If you want to prove your questioned masculinity you may do well to purchase the orange model and drive it like you stole it.