The Other Chrysler Hemi: Simca Esplanada!

I love stories of American cars that take a weird journey to production in South America, preferably with a dash of European influence added during the journey’s many twists and turns.

I love stories of American cars that take a weird journey to production in South America, preferably with a dash of European influence added during the journey’s many twists and turns. The Argentinean Renault Torino, a Rambler American with Jeep Tornadoengine and Pininfarina rebody is a great example, as is the Willys Itamaraty, a limo-ized Willys Aero sold in Brazil by Ford. The list goes on, but perhaps the greatest, most convoluted tale of them all is that of the Simca Esplanada. How about a late-60s Chrysler product, based on a Dearborn-designed French Ford, with an Ardun-ized hemi Ford Flathead V8 under the hood?

If you read Portuguese, head on over to the Simca do Brasil history site; actually, you should head over there even if you don’t read Portuguese, because the gist of the Esplanada story comes through via the photographs. The Old Car Manual Project also has some Esplanada brochure scans.

It all started in the 1940s with the Ford Vedette.Ford France built this flathead-V8-powered postwar-Mercury-esque machine— incidentally, the first production car in history to feature McPherson strut front suspension— from 1948 through 1954. Ford tired of the constant strikes at the Poissy factory and sold the whole operation, including rights to build Vedettes as well as flathead V8s, to Simca. Simca made the Vedettein France into the early 1960s and in Brazil (as the Simca Chambord, main character of Brazil’s favorite highway-patrol-themed TV show) until 1966.

By that time, Chrysler had taken over Simca, which meant that machines sporting 1930s-vintage Ford V8s now sported Pentastar badging. Henry’s designhad become a little long of tooth by the mid-1960s, so Simca budgeted the funds necessary to design and mass-produce an overhead-valve cylinder head with hemispherical combustion chambers, so as to bring the flathead into the (semi-)modern age.

The heads for the new engine (which Simca dubbed the Emi-Sul) were essentially copies of Zora Arkus-Duntov’s famous Ardun head, but with some performance-enhancing upgrades. The end result was a 140-horsepower OHV V8. Some flathead freaks over at the H.A.M.B.are importing these engines for use in their American hopped-up speed buggies, so we’ll probably start seeing Model Ts with Brazilian V8-60 power soon enough. Naturally, the Emi-Sul still has many fans back in Brazil.

Once the Emi-Sul was ready to go, Simca ditched the Chambord’s ’46 Merc-esque body and replaced it with a vaguely Dodge Coronet/Chevy Chevelle-influenced sedan body. A little blocky, but the Esplanada still had a helping of real Detroit style to go with its V8 guts.

Esplanadas were built for the 1966 through 1969 model years. We can assume that Chrysler management wasn’t particularly happy about selling cars equipped with Henry Ford’s V8s under the hood, not to mention the marketing problems associated with the Esplanada’s ancient design, and so Brazilian Dodge Dart production started that year.

Since I’m on a quest to adopt a Zaporozhetsinto my personal fleet, I won’t be sidetracked a search for a historically fascinating Ford-Simca-Chrysler sedan to drive around Denver… but it’s tempting.

If You Could Choose Only One: Ferrari 430 or Acura NSX?

I try to find what I think are interesting backgrounds to use when taking photos of cars that I review.

I try to find what I think are interesting backgrounds to use when taking photos of cars that I review. Last summer, because of the Independence Day weekend, I was able to keep a Scion FR-S for a couple extra days and, procrastinator that I am, I put off taking some pics until the last moment. Baker’s of Milford, a restaurant and banquet hall located not surprisingly in Milford, Michigan, home of the famed General Motors Proving Grounds, hosts one of the oldest and biggest weekly cruise-in car shows in the country every Sunday afternoon. There are some great two lane roads in that part of Oakland County, including those that circle the Proving Grounds, roads exactly of the sort for which the Toyobaru sports car was designed, so I headed out to Bakers. It was late, they were giving out the raffle prizes, but there were still lots of cars, enough to make a nice backdrop for the photos.

Since a lot of car enthusiasts like to drive something enthusiastic to car shows they attend, when I attend a show I always try to check out the parking lot. There’s almost always something cool or unique, a car or truck worth seeing and this show was no different. I didn’t have to look for very long, because as I pulled into the parking lot I noticed three fairly interesting cars parked together, a Honda S2000 was parked right behind a red and black Acura NSX, which itself was parked next to an even redder Ferrari 430. My immediate car guy question was: so if I had the choice between the two mid-engine supercars for an extended drive, but I could only choose one, which would I choose?

I’ve never driven a Ferrari, which is undoubtedly on the list for every car guy and gal. I’m a car guy. It’s a Ferrari. Capice ? On the other hand, I’ve never driven the all aluminum mid-engine Acura and I know how significant the NSX is and what a great car it is, perhaps an even more significant car than the 430.  The NSX was something new from a completely unexpected source. The Ferrari may be a Ferrari, but it’s just another Ferrari. When it was new, the buff books sang the 430’s praises, as it was said to be a significant improvement over the 360, but that’s sort of how things go with Ferraris. The 360 was considered in its day a significant improvement over the 348/355. Now that the 458 variant of the 430 has been released, the previous model doesn’t get as much attention. The original NSX, though, is the stuff of automotive legend.

That might not be completely fair comparison since the 430 is at least a generation newer than the original NSX.  As it is, many Ferrari 360 owners hold the belief that the folks in Maranello benchmarked that car against the NSX because the Ferrari folks in Maranello knew that Honda’s supercar was in fact superior to the 348 and 355.

In any case, it’s still an interesting thought experiment. If you could only choose one, which would it be? It is a good question, but since everyone seems to still come up with the same answer (what car guy, after all, is going to turn down driving a Ferrari supercar of any vintage?), in addition to the straight up choice between the Ferrari 430 and the Acura NSX, I’ll offer up another couple of questions to the Best & Brightest. Since we all want to drive a Ferrari, how about if you could drive both of them, which would you drive first? That way you can check the Ferrari off of your bucket list and still get to experience what is supposed to be one of the best driving cars ever, the original NSX.

Finally, though we all want to drive a Ferrari, we also know that exotics are not typically suitable for daily use. My last question is if you had to own one for a year, without having to consider purchase price, depreciation or possible profits, but you would have to be financially responsible for any repairs, maintenance and wear and tear, which one would you pick?

Since there are many fans of the NSX among our readers (not to mention that it’s the favorite car of our Managing Editor), I’ve also included some shots of a couple of other NSXs that were at Bakers that Sunday. A red one was in the show, and a late model gold NSX was parked not far from where the Ferrari, Honda S2000 and NSX were. Yes, the early ones with the hidden headlights look much better than the later versions of the original NSX and I’m probably not the only person who thinks they also look better than the production 2016 NSX, just revealed at the Detroit auto show.

Note: This post was revised since originally published.

Ronnie Schreiber edits Cars In Depth , a realistic perspective on cars & car culture and the original 3D car site. If you found this post worthwhile, you can get a parallax view at Cars In Depth. If the 3D thing freaks you out, don’t worry, all the photo and video players in use at the site have mono options. Thanks for reading – RJS

Hyundai, Kia $360M US Justice Department Settlement Approved In District Court

The $360 million settlement between the U.S. Department of Justice and Hyundai and Kia for overstating fuel economy figures was approved Tuesday by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The Detroit News report the approval also rejected a request from the attorneys general in New York, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont, asking the court set aside a minimum of $25 million for their states’ respective electric vehicle programs. The court sided with the Justice Department in its ruling, warning that such a request would threaten the original settlement agreement with more complex and lengthy negotiations.

The agreement includes $100 million in civil penalties, $50 million for independent auditing of the Korean duo’s offerings, and a forfeiture of $210 million in greenhouse emission credits. It also ends the Environmental Protection Agency’s investigation into the overstated figures, and affects 600,000 Hyundai and 300,000 Kia models made between 2011 and 2013.

McLaren Hints At Using Force Field To Replace Windshield Wipers

The techno geek community is abuzz with th e news that McLaren’s chief designer , Frank Stevens, has hinted that they are looking to replace the venerable rubber windshield wiper with an invisible ultrasonic force field that will deflect rain, snow and insects away from the glass.

Several tech websites, including Geek.com, are currently speculating about how the system would work and listing the many advantages that such a system would offer. These include better aerodynamics, lack of smearing and smudging and an end to those pesky jerks at the mall who like to stuff fliers under your wipers while you are shopping. Although owning a McLaren is out of reach for most us in the proletariat the expectation is that once the technology is fully developed it will trickle down market in due time.

The Final Countdown for an Alabama-Mahindra Truck?

This is one of my favorite music knock offs, the Hindi version of Europe’s “The Final Countdown” .

. My point? If the folks at Mahindra Planet are right, it’s only a matter of time before the Bollywood Music types rip off Skynyrd’s classic, “ Sweet Home Alabama.” Which will be pretty awesome, I assure you!

The big box of a building in Muscle Shoals is rumored to be the future home of the Mahindra TR20 and TR40 compact pickups. The truck gurus at Navistar supposedly signed a 10 year lease on the facility this October: could the company that fought Ford tooth and nailtake Ford’s compact truck market share once the Ranger officially dies next week?

But let’s not get too excited about our prospects for a pure compact pickup, a stickshift, gutsy Miata with a bed if you will. Nothing’s ever perfect.

If the EPA figures are right, the TR40 is a bit of a buffet slurping Yankee. Considering the price volatility of diesel and the fuel economy of gas trucks, that’s a big problem. And who knows if these rigs have enough engineering prowess to overcome the road/dirt driving dynamics of a Tacoma. It’s same ( potential ) Achilles’s heel that put the Model T out of production and Chevrolet on the map.  Then again, this interior shot suggests the TR isn’t a bad place to do business.

Rear HVAC vents? Not too shabby! Who knows what the future will provide?

Off to you, Best and Brightest.

Costs, Currency Issues Killed Mitsubishi-Renault Deal

Currency fluctuations and a lack of volume helped bring an end to a deal that would have seen M itsubishi sell Renault-Samsung vehicles as their own in North America , according to a report by  Just-Auto .

While Renault-Nissan and Mitsubishi will continue to share production of a kei- class minicar in Japan, proposed plans to sell a large Renault-Samsung vehicle as a Mitsubishi in North America have been put on hold, along with the potential to export other models in the future. Currency issues and a lack of profitability for Renault-Nissan were cited as the main reasons that the deal fell through. Mitsubishi is apparently still open to searching for a new partner, w hile dealers are said to be growing anxiousabout a lack of competitive sedans in North America.

Electric Cars Aren’t So Dirty, Coal Power at 35-year Low

Electric vehicles aren’t rollin’ coal anymore — or, at least, not nearly as much as they used to.

Reutersreports coal-fired electricity generation is now at a 35-year low in the U.S., and November 2015 was the fifth month in a row more natural gas than coal was used to produce electricity.

With just one month of data missing in 2015, some analysts think power companies may have burned more gas than coal for the full year for the first time in history.

Oh, and guess what’s dirtier than natural gas when burned? You bet: gasoline.

The news comes as more and more SUVs and crossovers are making their way to private driveways and plug-in electric vehicles fall out of favor due to low gasoline prices.

Crude oil prices are currently hovering between $30 and $35 per barrel, resulting in sub-$2/gallon gasoline at the pumps.

Meanwhile, sales volume for the Nissan Leaf was nearly halved in 2015. Nissan sold 30,200 Leafs (Leaves?) in 2014. That number dropped to 17,269 units last year.

Internal Paper Predicts Massive Red Ink At Opel

Without Opel, GM might not be the world’s largest automaker.

Without Opel, GM might not be the world’s largest automaker. But it would be a highly profitable automaker. Opel will cost GM approximately € 1 billion ($1.3 billion) in the coming year and will miss its restructuring plan. Reason for the shortfall: Opel will sell only 1.4 million cars next year, 100,000 less than budgeted. How do we know this? We don’t, but it is in an internal forecast of Opel. The document somehow came into the hands of the German magazine Capital.

Capital most likely did not find the document in a Rüsselsheim dumpster. The bad news look like yet another targeted leak, aimed at scaring the unions into compliance with more job cuts.

By the end of January, GM wants to see a business plan that shows how Opel will become profitable. Capital heard that Opel CEO Karl-Friedrich Stracke is working on an austerity program. Included in the plan are cheaper materials, suppliers that make cost concessions, increased outsourcing, serious cuts in R&D expenditures.

The magazine thinks that the days of the Opel plant in Bochum and the Vauxhall site in Ellesmere port are numbered.

The unions, which have it in writing that there will be no firings or plant closures at least until 2014, will fight the plans vigorously.  A strike is possible if Opel breaks the contract. That would be one way to make fewer cars.

Nissan Poaches Ram Boss, Sparks Chrysler Hiring Shuffle

News of former Ram divsion head Fred Diaz defecting to Nissan has sparked a hiring shuffle over at Chrysler.

Reuters is reportingthat former Dodge chief Reid Bigland will be moving over to head up Ram, while Tim Kuniskis will move from Fiat to replace Bigland at Dodge. Jason Stoicevich takes over from Kuniskis at Fiat.

Diaz’s departure from Ram as well as his post of Chrysler’s Mexican operations was a shock to many, but it also indicates how serious Nissan is at making a run at full-size truck supremacy, something that Toyota has failed to do with the Tundra. Under Diaz, the Ram 1500 went from an also-ran to a seriously competitive, if not class leading truck. A few years go, Nissan and Chrysler were in the midst of trying to jointly develop a full-size truck, but the bailout and Chrysler’s eventual takeover by Fiat ended up scuttling those plans. Now it seems that Nissan has decided to just poach the brains behind Ram, rather than the technology itself.

TARP Oversight Report: Bailout Goals Conflict, Moral Hazard Alive And Well

The Congressional Oversight Panel, which oversees the TARP program on behalf of the legislative branch, has released an update on the auto bailout [ full PDF here ] acknowledging the successes of the government intervention, while airing a number of important concerns.

] acknowledging the successes of the government intervention, while airing a number of important concerns. As has been typical of mainstream media coverage of the auto bailout, the good news has already been well-reported. The report, for example, notes that the bailout brought GM and Chrysler’s capacity utilization up, labor costs down, and allowed them to “[start] to reverse” their decades-long declines in market share. Furthermore, estimated government losses on the bailout have been halved, from $40b to $19b. The report’s summary concludes

While it remains too early to tell whether Treasury‟s intervention in and reshaping of the U.S. automotive industry will prove to be a success, there can be no question that the government‟s ambitious actions have had a major impact and appear to be on a promising course. Even so, the companies that received automotive bailout funds continue to face uncertain futures, taxpayers remain at financial risk, concerns remain about the transparency and accountability of Treasury‟s efforts, and moral hazard lingers as a long-run threat to the automotive industry and the broader economy.

Which brings us to the concerns that have received considerably less media attention…

As COP Chairman Ted Kaufman points out in his video introduction to the report, it is functionally impossible to asses the success to the auto bailout for the simple reason that there exists no set standard for success.The report notes

To analyze the success of Treasury‟s intervention in the automotive industry, there must first be a definition of “success.” Treasury has provided its own views on what would constitute a success. In testimony before the Panel, senior Treasury advisor Ronald Bloom defined success as primarily a question of return on investment: “the greater percentage of the money that we invested that we get back, the greater success.” The investment was not, however, made purely for the purpose of seeing a return on those funds. Mr. Bloom also testified to the importance of job preservation and listed a number of other measures for determining whether the program was successful, including the question of “whether these companies have addressed the long-term problems that we identified,” such as “a declining market share, a poor profitability profile” and failing to increase their ability to provide “good, stable jobs.”  Austan Goolsbee, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, appeared in a recent video [link added] released by the White House to explain the “Rebirth of the American Auto Industry.”  According to Mr. Goolsbee, although taxpayers may soon see a return of the funds invested, the investment “was never really about the stock market.  It was about saving American jobs.”

If the success of the overall automotive rescue, and of the government‟s means of implementing that program in accordance with the principles listed in Section H.1, above, is measured by Treasury‟s ability to meet its own definition of success, the program must: (1) provide a return on investment; (2) create or at least preserve jobs that would have otherwise been lost; and (3) set the companies on a path toward ongoing stability.  Treasury‟s challenge, given its goals, lies not only in the difficulty of the goals themselves, but also in the fact that they may be mutually exclusive at times. [Emphasis added]

The ways in which these goals conflict has long been a staple of TTAC’s bailout coverage, and include several key points.

As TTAC pointed out back in May of last yearwhen GM bought subprime lender Americredit, GM’s “need” for an in-house subprime lender conflicts obviously with the goals of the GMAC/Ally Financial bailout. To the extent that GM succeeds in improving sales through its new in-house lender, GMAC/Ally will suffer, hurting the taxpayer’s chances of repayment from that company. The report concurs, calling Treasury’s decision not to explore the option of folding GMAC/Ally back into GM “disconcerting.” The short-term success of both GM and Chrysler, which determines taxpayer payback, can conflict with their long-term viability, a reality that pits two of Treasury’s main goals against each other. TTAC has also noted:

GM’s understandable impatience with government ownership is pushing it into risky territory. And the dangers of redlining a car business through risky loansisn’t limited to the risk of default: brand degradation, falling resale values, and boom-bust bubbles all come with the territory. Which is not to say GM is incapable of handling more subprime business… but rushing into risky positions in order to goose short-term performance has been a consistent bugbear of The General’s.

The financial turnaround of both GM and Chrysler required a significant loss of jobs. The relative success of GM’s IPO trades off with the chances of successful IPOs from both Chrysler and Ally. The report points out:

In the case of GM, Treasury still holds a substantial share of the common stock, which it must sell at a price approximately 64 percent above the IPO price to realize a profit on the government‟s overall investment.  Investor interest in GM must therefore remain high enough to absorb such a large number of shares.  GMAC/Ally Financial faces various uncertainties before investors are likely to welcome an IPO.  And, in the case of Chrysler, the earliest an IPO is likely to occur is 2012, making it difficult to predict both Treasury‟s ability to sell its entire stake and the amount Treasury is likely to receive in such a sale.  In any case, $3.5 billion of Treasury‟s investment in Chrysler has already been written off, so even a very successful IPO is unlikely to recoup all of the money invested in that company.  Moreover, as discussed in Section E above, Treasury holds only an 8 percent equity stake in Chrysler and is unlikely to be able to exercise its call option to obtain more.  This leaves Treasury with a stake that is too small either to command a control premium or to exercise any control over the timing of the IPO.  Finally, it is not clear whether the market will have an appetite for shares of another large American auto company soon after the GM IPO.

The goals of the government as both an investor seeking to maximize return for taxpayers and the goals of exiting investments as quickly as possible as befits a “reluctant shareholder” also trade off with each other. The COP identifies the recent sale of Chrysler Financial as an area in which the Treasury demonstrably passed on an opportunity to maximize its investment, allowing Cerberus Capital to profit from its desire for a rapid exit. According to the report:

The case of Chrysler Financial may provide an example of the government forgoing potential upside in order to exit an investment as quickly as possible.  The issue is not that the implied value of Chrysler Financial increased by 33 percent in the seven months following the sale of Treasury‟s stake to Cerberus in May 2010.  The Panel acknowledges that there is no exact science to determining the most opportune time to exit an investment.  Rather, the government’s exercise of due diligence in response to the overture from Cerberus to buy out its stake appears to have been surprisingly limited and did not envision other valuation scenarios for Chrysler Financial that would involve a strategic buyer for the asset.

In short, the COP found at least two incidents in which the Treasury not only chose not to pursue maximum payback for taxpayers, but did so without fully exploring its options. The COP report charitably chalks these failures to Treasury’s conflicting goals, but they could just as easily be the product of sheer incompetence. Either way, Treasury did not stick strictly to its first goal (maximize return on investment). The success of its second goal (save jobs) is impossible to determine due to uncertainty about an alternative scenario, although the report does conclude that

It is likely, however, that, had GM‟s bankruptcy been a more prolonged process, a larger number of workers would likely have lost their jobs

As for the third goal (long-term viability), the report concludes that this goal is largely dependent on factors which Treasury can not control, arguing that

Even if the three companies‟ financials are relatively sound now, the domestic automotive sector as a whole must make a strong comeback in order for them to thrive

And even if all three of these goals are eventually fulfilled to the satisfaction of the COP, there remains one final problem: moral hazard. The report notes:

Treasury is now on course to recover the majority of its automotive investments within the next few years, but the impact of its actions will reverberate for much longer.  Treasury‟s rescue suggested that any sufficiently large American corporation may be considered “too big to fail,” broadening moral hazard risk from its TARP rescue actions beyond the financial sector.  Further, the fact that the government helped absorb the consequences of GM‟s and Chrysler‟s failures has put more competently managed automotive companies at a disadvantage.

And this, in a nutshell, has long been TTAC’s core complaint about the bailout. In a deeply competitive industry, where companies gamble with billions of dollars at a time, rewarding failure sets an incredibly dangerous precedent. Especially when the “more competently managed” competitors also employ Americans to manufacture a high proportion of their US sales volume domestically. The “additional views” addendum to the COP report holds up this invitation to moral hazard as “the most significant analysis” in the COP report (after noting that the bailout could have funded four Nimitz-vclass carriers or 25 years of NIH breast cancer research), arguing

The TARP has all but created an expectation, if not an emerging sense of entitlement, that certain financial and non-financial institutions are simply “too-big-or-too-interconnected-to-fail” and that the government will promptly honor the implicit guarantee issued for the benefit of any such institution that suffers a reversal of fortune.  This is the enduring legacy of the TARP.  Unfortunately, by offering a strong safety net funded with unlimited taxpayer resources, the government has encouraged potential recipients of such largess to undertake inappropriately risky behavior secure in the conviction that all profits from their endeavors will inure to their benefit and that large losses will fall to the taxpayers.  The placement of a government sanctioned thumb-on-the-scales corrupts the fundamental tenets of a market economy – the ability to prosper and the ability to fail.

Sunday Cinema: Snow Dancing in a Porsche 911 SC RS

The year was 1984.

The year was 1984. Rally was all the rage. Danger was mainstream. And carcinogens weren’t exclusively advertised by the rumble of tailpipes.

Also in 1984, Porsche was developing a legend, but it was behind schedule: The 959 wasn’t ready when David Richards, the orchestrator of the Porsche-Rothmans deal, wanted to go rallying. So, along with Weissach, 20 examples of the Porsche 911 SC RS were built to take the manufacturer Group B rallying. Those cars also became the foundation of Prodrive, one of rally’s most famous teams.

This is one of those cars. Drifting. In snow.

It’s refreshing to see a priceless competition classic attacking a track; even more so when that track is covered in God’s frozen tears.

The Nurburgring’s Nordschleife is closed during the winter months, but its GP circuit can be used in a limited capacity. Driver Patrick Simon, who we can assume knows the location of the track apexes by memory, was lucky enough to take the 911 SC RS into the fluff.

Just listen to it. My word.

Costs, Currency Issues Killed Mitsubishi-Renault Deal

Currency fluctuations and a lack of volume helped bring an end to a deal that would have seen M itsubishi sell Renault-Samsung vehicles as their own in North America , according to a report by  Just-Auto .

While Renault-Nissan and Mitsubishi will continue to share production of a kei- class minicar in Japan, proposed plans to sell a large Renault-Samsung vehicle as a Mitsubishi in North America have been put on hold, along with the potential to export other models in the future. Currency issues and a lack of profitability for Renault-Nissan were cited as the main reasons that the deal fell through. Mitsubishi is apparently still open to searching for a new partner, w hile dealers are said to be growing anxiousabout a lack of competitive sedans in North America.

NAIAS 2016: VW Goodwill Offer Extended to Touareg, 265,000 Sign-ups So Far

Volkswagen CEO Michael Horn announced Monday at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit that 265,000 TDI owners have opted to take advantage of the company’s Goodwill Package.

The package, which includes a $500 gift card and $500 Volkswagen dealer card, has also been extended to owners of Touareg TDI models.

The announcement comes after Volkswagen revealed a new plug-in hybrid concept based on the Tiguan. The company may also use a new catalytic convertorto fix some 400,000 of nearly 600,000 total illegally polluting diesels in the United States.

The catalytic convertor leaves a disparity in the total numbers and those they may fix. That disparity could include a number of vehicles Volkswagen could eventually buy back from customers.

Michael Moore Thinks Flint’s Water Crisis is a Massive Conspiracy

I’ve always been a fan of Michael Moore — the “Me” in “Roger and Me” and creator of many other documentaries over the years — for tackling controversial topics.

I’ve always been a fan of Michael Moore — the “Me” in “Roger and Me” and creator of many other documentaries over the years — for tackling controversial topics. However, many of his points have to be put in better context. To wit: his latest Top 10 article at EcoWatchregarding the water crisis in Flint, Michigan.

Let’s see what Mikey has to say.

Before the list even begins, Moore opens with this line, just in case you didn’t know his political leanings:

The basics are now known: the Republican governor, Rick Snyder, nullified the free elections in Flint, deposed the mayor and city council, then appointed his own man to run the city.

Politics aside, however, he does have some very valid points: Some 9,000 children under the age of six in Flint have ingested water laced with lead and other toxins, because that’s the total number of children under the age of six living in Flint. It would have cost $100/day to treat the Flint River water properly, but the powers-that-be decided it wasn’t necessary, which is the key reason the water is a problem now. Also true is the fact that GM did get a special hookup to the previous water supply via Flint Township… but more on that in a moment.

The aricle unravels when Moore tries to turn it into a massive conspiracy: Governor Snyder’s wife is a spokesperson for Nestle, which sells bottled water. Snyder himself is trying to control the water supply. Snyder is bowing to GM to get a special water hookup so its precious engines won’t rust, while completely ignoring the fact GM was able to get that hookup thanks to the plant’s proximity to a Flint Township water pipe.

Jumping to Moore’s conclusions, I think, would be giving Snyder and the rest of those in power too much credit. To say they’re all part of a plot to turn Flint into a deserted wasteland implies that they are acting against their own interest. It takes property tax revenue out of state coffers due to that property now being worthless. It makes Michigan less marketable to those looking to do business — as Moore himself touched on. And if Snyder and the Republicans are pro-business, why would they make the state and the city of Flint less attractive to corporate investment?

There is one undeniable truth in all of this: Flint’s residents will pay the price again for something well outside of their own control, and its youngest residents will likely feel the effects of those horrible decisions for many, many years to come.

Reborn Borgward Hires Walker As CEO, Debuting New Model In Frankfurt

Fifty-four years ago, German automaker Borgward’s sun set.

Fifty-four years ago, German automaker Borgward’s sun set. With former Daimler exec Ulrich Walker at the helm of the revival, its sun may yet rise again.

Prior to becoming Borgward’s CEO, Walker was in charge of Daimler’s China operations for the Mercedes-Benz brand, USA Today reports, as well as CEO of smart between 2004 and 2006.

Christian Borgward, chairman and grandson of founder Carl Borgward, praised Walker’s “profound industrial background and broad knowledge of the premium automotive segment in Germany,” while Walker had this to say about his new role:

I’m honored to lead this respected German brand into the future. Borgward is a legendary global brand which has set industrial milestones and created brilliant stories in history. Several of its innovations and classic cars have been widely acclaimed in the industry and I am confident that Borgward will win back its place in the international automotive industry.

The historic automaker plans to unveil its first model in over five decades this September during the 2015 Frankfurt Auto Show – the automaker itself returned to the scene at this year’s Geneva Auto Show – which is said to be an SUV meant to invoke “affordable luxury.” Power for the new model may either come from a hybrid or full-electric system, and production is set for 2016.

Borgward assembled over 1 million vehicles between 1919 and 1961, disappearing from the scene when financial issues forced it into liquidation. The revived automaker has financial backing from Chinese truck manufacturer Beiqi Foton, which produces trucks in a joint venture with Daimler.

[Photo credit: Steve Glover/ Flickr/ CC BY 2.0]

Is Jeep Carrying The Rest of FCA?

Jeep is looking at global growth upwards of 20 percent this year to 1.2 million units and that’s before the brand truly ramps up in China.

Could it be possible Jeep’s success is hiding what ails other brands at the newly-formed Fiat Chrysler Automobiles?

Jeep is on track to record a best ever year in 2015 in terms of unit sales with many of the brand’s models returning higher profit margins than those at other marques under the FCA umbrella. However, there are still problems reports The Detroit Bureau, like the struggles with where to build Jeep’s next generation Wrangler.

“It’s a very important and very sensitive decision,” stated Michael Manley, president of the Jeep brand.

The utility-lifestyle brand is also running at or near capacity at their plants, just keeping up with demand, all the while being leveraged in order to prop up other brands financially. Money once meant to redesign the Grand Cherokee has been earmarked for Alfa Romeo. This seems to be true for other models at Jeepas well. On top of it all, Sergio Marchionne wants a Range Rover rivaling Jeep to conquest even greater transaction prices. If such a model existed, FCA could use even more cash to fuel development of new and redesigned models at other brands, but it seems Marchionne might be counting his chickens before they hatch as he drives Wrangler-loads of cash to Italy before such a Range Rover-ish model can come to fruition.

At some point, FCA’s Jeep gravy train is going to come to a halt, and dumping money into brands that look to only stroke the ego of FCA executives – instead of just dumping the brands themselves – will result in what Marchionne has been saying is the cardinal sin of the automotive industry: wasted capital.

Maybe the best way to save money, Mr. Marchionne, is the reduce the number of brands emblazoned on those dealer signs.

So Musk Now Owns 22 Percent of Tesla, But Does It Matter?

The automotive and tech blogs are aflutter Saturday with news that Elon Musk has gobbled up another chunk of Tesla stock — this time at a discount.

Musk exercised and held a stock option this week that saw the multi-billionaire increase his ownership of Tesla Motors by 532,000 shares. In total, those shares are worth over $101 million as of the last closing price of $191.20/share.

Here’s where the discount comes in: Musk’s option dictated a price pegged to the share value as of Dec. 4, 2009, before the automaker went public, of $6.63/share — or just over $3.5 million.

Sounds like Elon got a stellar deal. But does any of it matter? Is owning 1/5th of Tesla a big deal?

Surely, picking up many fistfuls of shares at a discount and paying out of your own pocket to hold those shares is noteworthy; Musk is $50 million lighter now thanks to the taxes and fees associated with the decision to hold.

And yes, this does increase Musk’s ownership of the company to 22 percent — or a rounded 1/5th, as one outlet is reporting today.

Yet, there are 130.95M Tesla shares outstanding, according to the most recently available numbers. An extra 532,000 shares is a drop in the financial bucket in comparison. To be precise, it equals 0.4 percent of the total outstanding stock volume. This isn’t a massive increase in ownership.

Also, if those 532,000 shares are 0.4 percent of the total outstanding stock, and 22 percent (Musk’s current holding) minus 0.4 percent (what Musk just bought) equals 21.6 percent (what Musk owned before the purchase) … why is AutoBlog reporting Musk now owns 1/5th of Tesla? Musk already owned 1/5th — erm, 21.6 percent — of Tesla Motors.

But hey, it sure makes for a great headline on a slow Saturday.

[Note: To be fair to AutoBlog, the “one-fifth” myth started at TechCrunch.]

This Is the New Honda Ridgeline, Kinda

Have you recently wondered, “What would the face of the redesigned Civic look like plastered on a desert-ready racing truck?” Honda has your number. This is the new Ridgeline.

Except it’s not.

The Japanese automaker announced its return to the Baja 1000 at SEMA on Tuesday and revealed the machine that will carry HPD’s HR35TT race engine — a 550 horsepower, a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 — across the finish line.

Underneath its lightweight body, the Ridgeline Baja Race Truck is exactly that — a tube-frame racing truck with nearly nothing in common with the vehicle with which it shares its name. However, that twin-turbo V-6 does have the same block, cylinder heads and crankshaft as the engine found in the future Honda pickup.

The next-generation Ridgeline will debut in the first half of 2016, Honda said in the release.

Study: Nine Out Of 10 Millennials Consider Car Ownership Important

Allegedly, Millennials care only about the latest iPhone, and not the i8.

Allegedly, Millennials care only about the latest iPhone, and not the i8. Nine out of 10 Millennials would disagree, and consider car ownership important.

The statistic comes from a study by rental car company Enterprise Holdings, The Detroit Bureau says, with the indication Millennials are renting cars they might want to buy later, per fleet operations boss Kurt Kohler:

When we provide our customers with a great rental experience, it doesn’t just keep them coming back to us – it clearly sends many of them into their local dealer showrooms, as well.

Though studies like Enterprise’s are seen more as marketing tools benefiting the company than the consumer, other studies and reports point to the same conclusion: young adults want to drive, and want to own what they drive. One analysis by J.D. Power found Millennials account for 27 percent of all U.S. new car sales at present, with the cohort overtaking Baby Boomers on the sales floor by the 2020s.

Returning to Enterprise’s study, the company found 92 percent of Boomers and Millennials believe owning a car is important, compared to 73 percent in 2013. The spike is likely the result of improving fortunes among the younger cohort alongside the economy following the end of the Great Recession.

Regarding rental-to-showroom sales, 32 percent of Millennials said a positive renting experience led them down the road to their new vehicle, while 30 percent of Gen-Xers and 23 percent of Boomers though the same. Additionally, 45 percent of those surveyed said renting a car prepared them for the technologies they would find in their own vehicle.

The study is more good news for automakers as they seek to bring in more potential customers. Rather than build fleet-ready models for the sake of keeping the lights on, automakers could use the opportunity to claim those sales as marketing for the real thing, especially if they decide to add more technology to a base model to show off what they can do when it comes time to turn the renter into a buyer.

( Photo credit: Mercedes-Benz USA/ Facebook)

For Some States, Getting a Driver’s Test Means Paying Big

Prospective drivers may wait hours for an available examiner, or book months in advance — sometimes hundreds of miles away — for their chance at a road test.

A report by published by the New England Center for Investigative Reporting (NECIR) (via WGBH Boston) details that state’s widening private and public systems for road tests by the Registry of Motor Vehicles.

Prospective drivers may wait hours for an available examiner, or book months in advance — sometimes hundreds of miles away — for their chance at a road test. Or, they could pay hundreds to jump the line, and in some cases, have an examiner come to them.

The story details a growing schism in some places for public tests giving preferential treatment to private businesses because of cash-strapped budgets or over-burdened examiners.

The story detailed one woman, NeÅŸe Lortlar-Ãœnlü, who said she had booked months in advance a 9 a.m. appointment for a driver’s test, only to wait hours after her appointed time for students who paid for private schooling to jump ahead of her.

“They paid extra money to get (a road test) that day,” Lortlar-Ünlü, a Turkish doctor, told the NECIR. “They did not have to wait like us.”

Massachusetts, like many states, implemented a system roughly 20 years ago to help overburdened motor vehicles offices quickly test more applicants. The system, which added off-hours and weekend testing, allowed private schools to pay for dedicated testers — outside of public availability — to quickly evaluate drivers.

Schools would pay the state $20 per test to cover the cost of the inspector for their own dedicated times.

According to the report, data shows that private schools paid for 26,886 tests in 2010. By 2014, that figure had more than doubled to 55,682 tests.

Private schools in that state can charge nearly $200 for a road test, significantly more than the $35 charged by the state, which can be scheduled more conveniently than a public test.

In 2012, at least 10 states had licensed private schools offering road tests, according to USA Today. In Utah and Oregon, where private schools can administer the road test, costs for a road test vary between $30-$75, depending on whether the student attended driver’s education or is using their own car. In South Carolina, driving tests can cost up to $50 and in Louisiana those costs can go up to $100 for schools that advertise no wait times.

Representatives from several driving schools did not discuss their instruction, prices or testing procedures when contacted.

Families in Massachusetts told the NECIR the extra costs were too much to bear.

“This is clear privileged treatment of those taking the road test through driving schools,’’ Selim Unlu, who is married to Neşe Lortlar-Ünlü, said.

A woman who is skeptical that Massachusetts has a fair system for drivers said the costs were too high.

“For working class families (paying a driving school extra money) is too much” Mary-Ann Knott-Craig told the NECIR. “The time taken off work unpaid, the $35 road test fee, it’s all budgeted for. Paying more is not feasible and frankly, it’s not fair.”

H/T to David for sending in the story!

Behold, The Leafamino

Engineers at Nissan’s Arizona proving grounds have created a one-off pickup truck variant of the Nissan Leaf.

The Leaf truck was apparently built to haul people and goods around Nissan’s campus, but is apparently “not very tough”. I can’t say its terribly appealing to me, but I’m sure there are a few of you who would gladly disagree.

Review: A Week In A 2012 Nissan Leaf

Last May, the Nissan Leaf was the hottest thing on the green radar.

Last May, the Nissan Leaf was the hottest thing on the green radar. Limited production and a long waiting list for the press meant that Nissan was lending out Leafs (Nissan tells us that is the correct way to pluralize a Leaf) 62-hours at a time. With my long commute and lengthy 120V charging times, this meant a review with only 217 miles under our belt (read our three-part review here:). Now that a few thousand Leafs have found homes in Northern California and I had practiced my “range anxiety” breathing techniques, I was eager to see if the ultimate green ride was also a decent car beyond the batteries.

2012 hasn’t brought any changes to the outside of the Leaf, – it’s still offered only as a hatchback.  While the style can easily be called polarizing, and one friend thought it looked like a miniature hearse, passengers seemed to be split 50/50 on the look. Nissan tells us there is a reason for the chihuahua-lamps; aerodynamics and noise. When you create a car with a nearly silent drivetrain, wind noise becomes more obvious.  The shape of the lamp modules is designed to cut down on this element while in motion. The big-tire crowd will complain about the stock 205-width tires and 16-inch rims, but I didn’t mind the look. The rear lights? They just look cool.

Up to this point, essentially all cars heat the cabin with “waste heat” from the engine. Since the Leaf doesn’t have an engine, and the electric motor generates very little heat, the Leaf uses a 5kW electric heater to heat the cabin (roughly equal to 5 conventional space heaters). 2012 has brought a few welcome changes to combat this power draw:  heated front and rear seats and a heated steering wheel are now standard. The “luxury” touch of a heated tiller may seem out-of-place, but it takes considerably less power to heat the surfaces you interact with than the air in the cabin. The solution worked well for me, and I didn’t mind turning the cabin heating down to 61 degrees with my seat and steering wheel heating my touch-points on a 35 degree morning. Last time I was in the Leaf, I sacrificed everything in the name of range, but this time I drove it like a normal car.  Should you decide to use the cabin heater, rear passengers will notice some ducting improvements to make it more comfortable in the rear. At 31 inches, rear seat legroom is behind the Camry or Prius (36/38 respectively), but generous headroom all the way around made it possible to comfortably fit six-foot tall humans all the way around. We were also able to squeeze in two rearward facing child seats with two average sized adults up front.

Under the Leaf’s small hood lies an 80kW synchronous AC motor. Throw out most of what you know about engines when it comes to electric cars because they behave quite differently. Because the Leaf has a single-speed transmission and the motor redlines at 10,390RPM, the top speed is 96MPH. This linear relationship is important when thinking about the Leaf’s performance. 107 horsepowers are delivered between 2,730 and 9,800 RPM (25-90 MPH) while peak torque of 207 lb-ft is available right off the line from 0-2730 RPM (0-25 MPH) where it tapers off slightly.

Thanks to the low-end grunt, the Leaf posts a very respectable 2.92 second 0-30MPH time while the 0-60 time stretches out to 8.96 seconds (a considerable improvement over the 10.2 seconds the pre-production Leaf achieved in May). As you would expect with a 1 speed transmission, acceleration is very linear right up to its top speed. Due to some earlier complaints about the battery not charging properly in cold temperatures, Nissan added some basic thermal management in 2012 for the battery pack to keep it from loosing a charge when it is not plugged in and sitting in extremely cold weather.

Unlike your cell phone, the Leaf’s charging circuitry is built-in, and the “charger” is just a smart plug that communicates with the car and supplies the power to the car’s charger. 2011 and 2012 Leafs support three charge modes called Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 (Level 3 is optional on 2011 and 2012 SV models) via it’s internal 3.3kW charger. For those not in the know, Level 1 is 120V AC, Level 2 is 240V AC and Level 3 is 480V DC. Charging the 24kWh battery will take a little over 26 hours at Level 1 via the included “emergency charging cable,” just over 7 hours with a Level 2 charger (available in some public parking lots or installed in your garage at home), or just over 30 minutes if and when 480V quick charge stations become available on our side of the Pacific. Shoppers should note that Nissan confirmed the 2013 leaf will have a 6.6kW charger which would cut Level 2 charging times in half to just over 3.5 hours. The DC quick charge connector was a standalone option in 2011, but with Nissan pushing for DC quick charging infrastructure, they have made it standard on the Leaf’s SL trim for 2012 (still optional on SV). According to EPA tests, the Leaf’s range varies from 138 miles under perfect conditions to 47 miles in heavy stop-and-go traffic. The traffic test cycle was 8 hours long and the A/C was in use for the entire test. I had no problems getting 75 miles out of the Leaf driving it like I would any other vehicle we have tested, with the automatic climate control set to 68 during a mild Northern California winter and mixed driving. Like all battery-powered appliances, your run time will vary.

During our week with the Leaf we noticed considerably wider availability of charging stations than during our first all-electric fling back in May. Among the stations we visited was a “PlugShare” stationat the home of Howard Page, who agreed to an interview with us. Expect a more detailed charging story later, but in essence Howard listed his home charging station on PlugShare (there’s a web site and an app) as available for use. To “fill-up”, you SMS message or call the PlugShare host and ask if you can charge. If the host is feeling altruistic, they say yes, give you their address and any instructions about charging at their home. Our Leaf spent 7 hours in Howard’s driveway one day saving me the $2 per hour at my local public parking garage with the Level 2 charger, as well as allowing me to make i home. The concept is novel to say the least; handing out free electrons to similarly minded early adopters hoping it all evens out in the end. At $5 a complete charge, I wonder how long this system will last without some mini-payment system? Sound off in the comment section below if you would share your charging station to those in need, and similarly, how is this different from a gasoline sharing program where you keep a gallon on your doorstep for passers-by?

Last time we had the Leaf, our range anxiety prevented us from really thrashing the Leaf on windy mountain roads, romping the go pedal from a stop and mashing the brake pedal as we would with a normal car. A full week in the electron powered hatch (and careful pre-planned Level 2 charging arrangements) allowed us to do just that. The handling limits of the Leaf are, as one would assume, defined mostly by the 3,400lb curb weight and low rolling resistance tires. With the “40 MPG car” being all the rage lately, more and more cars are being sold with low rolling resistance rubber, so while the Leaf’s handling is unspectacular, so is the competition. The Leaf’s electric power steering takes some getting used to, but since the target market is unlikely to carve corners, it’s probably a non-issue. Whizzing along above 75 MPH is surprisingly easy and eerily quiet thanks to a nearly silent motor. Our last flirtation with the Leaf was fleeting enough that our Leaf was never fully charged, but this time, things were different.

To help extend battery life, hybrid vehicles never fully charge nor discharge their batteries – a luxury an all-electric vehicle cannot afford. This deep-cycling, or even the micro-cycling caused by regenerative braking when the battery is nearly full can shorten the battery’s life. As a result, the Leaf does something interesting, if you’re fully charged; the car won’t employ regenerative braking until the battery is sufficiently discharged. Why is this important? Because the Leaf’s braking is nicely weighted and balanced when regenerative braking, but for those first few miles in the morning when the battery is 100% charged, the mushy brake pedal feel was surprising and disconcerting until I checked in with a Nissan dealer’s mechanic. Again this probably isn’t a problem for the Leaf’s target demographic, but it does perhaps indicate some of the challenges of going all-electric. The suspension is tuned for a moderate ride, neither floaty, nor stiff and the chassis remains composed over a variety of road surfaces from gravel to pot-holed-asphalt.

The Leaf uses a modified version of the infotainment system available in other Nissan and Infiniti vehicles and includes a standard navigation system. iPod and iPhone integration is standard Nissan issue with on-screen access to playlists, songs, etc but no voice command ability ala Ford’s SYNC product. Speaking of voice commands, the Leaf’s navigation system curiously omits the ability to enter a street address via voice command, the only voice “command-able” destinations are saved destinations and the Leaf’s pre-programmed home address. As you would expect, you won’t find a power-sucking high wattage amp in the Leaf. The standard 6-speaker sound system does however have a neutral balance and is fairly competitive with the standard sound systems in the average mid-sized sedan. For those of you who still remember CDs, there’s a single slot located behind the sliding touchscreen which can also be used to update your nav’s map database.

I’d like to talk competition, but let’s be honest, there isn’t any yet. The Volt vs Leaf war is misguided at best because the Volt is not a pure electric car, as much as GM would like to claim otherwise. Ditto the plug-in Prius. Tesla cars will cost a king’s ransom and the i-MiEV sports one less seat, a considerably smaller interior and shorter range. The only real competition will be the 2013 Ford Focus Electric, which (on paper) appears to have the Leaf squarely in its sights. According to Ford, the Focus Electric will trump the Leaf with more gadgetry, a snazzier sound system, a more powerful 130 HP motor and some undeniably gorgeous looks. Ford is touting shorter recharge times versus the Leaf, but don’t be so quick to believe it. Both have similarly sized batteries (the Ford’s is actually 1kWh smaller) and Nissan has confirmed the 2013 Leaf will have a 6.6kW charger just like the Focus, so 2013 charging times will be equal. On the downside, the Focus is heavier, so despite claiming to be more efficient than the Leaf, if hill climbing is in your repertoire, use caution. The Focus is also $3,500 more expensive than the base Leaf and lacks the DC quick-charge port our SL tester was equipped with. Speaking of pricing, the Leaf starts at $35,200 and the SL model rings in at $37,250 (due to the addition of the quick charger, backup camera, auto healamps, fog lights and a cargo cover). If this price blows your mind, you’re not the target shopper. You’ll also need to factor in $1,500 (installed) for a home charging station (Best Buy tells us they cost $500 less than last year.)

Never before has buying an alternative fuel car meant as much of a lifestyle change. Diesel, natural gas, liquid propane and hydrogen vehicles all fill at a rate that is more-or-less the same as the average gasoline vehicle and deliver similar driving ranges. An electric car on the other hand delivers only 1/3 of the fairly standard 300 mile range you’ll find in most vehicles and takes 42 times longer to “fill”. If these drawback don’t bother you, the Leaf is a solid (if expensive) choice in the green car segment, but I’d wait for the 2013 model with the faster charger and perhaps for our review on the Focus Electric whenever we get our hands on one.

Nissan provided the vehicle, insurance and one full charge for our review.

Specifications as tested

0-30 MPH: 2.92 Seconds

0-60 MPH: 8.96 Seconds

1/4 Mile: 16.96 Seconds at 78.2 MPH

Average economy: 3.7 Miles/kWh over 689 miles

How I Bought A Ridiculously Cheap Brand-new Nissan Leaf

Aaron Cole’s articles about the ridiculous incentives  available for purchasing a Leaf in Colorado  piqued my interest, mostly because: I live in Colorado; and, I like the idea of paying way less than half of MSRP for a new car.

We moved to an inner-ring suburb of Denver about a year ago with a family of six and the requisite three-row crossover: a leased Mazda CX-9. Yet, ever since I bought my Volvo V70R with the way-back seat, we use the Volvo almost exclusively for hauling the family around town. We also bought an RV for long road trips. For the last year or so, the CX-9 has just been a really thirsty, oversized runabout.

I’ve idly thought about picking up something like a Chevrolet Volt for a while, but never pulled the trigger because often my wife has the four kids with her, and the Volt only seats four.

For some reason I thought the Leaf had the same problem, but after I read Aaron’s article I did a little more research and realized it actually seats five, which made it a possiblity. But several questions remained:

Would my wife actually go for it? Is it even feasible to get out of the last year of the Mazda lease without taking a bath financially? Would the Leaf be able to handle our needs? Are all the incentives Aaron mentioned actually available and do they all stack together?

The first question was actually the easiest. My wife loved the idea from the beginning. She almost never drives more than 30-40 miles a day, would greatly prefer a smaller car and she hates filling the car with gas.

Range anxiety? Not my girl.

It seems like every time I use her car it’s running on fumes and I have to fill it up for her. After showing her a picture of the Leaf in “Morning Sky Blue,” she deemed it “cute” and was all in.

Which brings us to the second real question: How do I get rid of a Mazda crossover with a cracked windshield, plenty of wear and tear and nearly a year left on a zero-down lease? I honestly figured this would blow up the deal. I mean, this is why Dave Ramsey and the Internet say leasing is an awful idea, right? There was only one way to find out. I got a lease buy-out quote from Mazda finance and headed to my friendly neighborhood CarMax.

After politely pointing out the dings and dents — including some minor hail damage we didn’t know about — I was expecting a serious low-ball offer. To my surprise, the offer was only a few hundred dollars less than our buy-out. Totally doable.

Next, for the Leaf itself. A zero-option Leaf S has an MSRP with shipping/destination fees of just under $30,000, but nearly every Leaf S we found in Denver had the “Charge Package.” This upgrades the on-board charger from 3.3 kW to 6.6 kW (which is very useful) and adds a CHAdeMO fast DC-to-DC charger (which is less useful, at least in Denver where there are only a handful of compatible chargers around).

The SV includes nicer seat fabric, alloys, navigation, the CARWINGS telematics system and the 6.6 kW charger (but not the CHAdeMO port) for not much more money than the S with Charge Package. We decided that was our target. The only dealer with a Morning Sky Blue SV in stock was 30 miles away in the People’s Republic of Boulder , so we grabbed our CarMax purchase offer and headed in that direction.

We took a quick test drive in the Leaf, my wife pronounced it “fine,” and we moved on to talking turkey.

The final question: Is it really possible to get a Leaf as cheaply as Aaron’s article suggests? Short answer: Yes.

The $5,000 Nissan rebate and no interest for 72 months can  be combined; Dealers are offering discounts way below invoice; The exact amount of the Colorado rebate is MSRP based and requires math — mine will be just under $5,000; Both federal and state rebates come in at tax time, not purchase time.

Another way to look at it is that Nissan and the dealer discounted the car by more than 25 percent of MSRP and tax credits covered more than half of the remainder. Thanks everybody!

The cherry on the cake? Nissan of Boulder offered $1,000 more  than CarMax for the trade-in, so I ended up with positive equity on the lease buy out. I plan to use that check to help pay for installing a Level 2 charger.

So far, the wife and kids love the car. It’s obviously not for everyone, but if you have access to similar incentives and don’t need Tesla level range on your EV, the current Leaf deals are going to be hard to beat.

Submitted by Jason Arrington, who is now my hero. Thanks Jason! — Aaron

2015 Nissan Murano SL AWD Review – Suave Ugly Duckling

2015 Nissan Murano SL AWD
3.5-liter VQ35DE DOHC V-6, Continuously Variable Timing Control System (260 horsepower @ 6,000 rpm; 240 lbs-ft of torque @ 4,400 rpm)
Xtronic continuously variable transmission (2.413:1 – 0.383:1 range, 0.958:1 final drive)
21 city/28 highway/24 combined (EPA Rating, MPG)
22.4 mpg on the Soccer Dad test cycle, 75 percent city (Observed, MPG)
Tested Options: SL trim, all-wheel drive
Base Price (S FWD):
$30,445* (U.S.)/$31,858* (Canada)
As Tested Price:
$39,435* (U.S.)/$41,393* (Canada)
* All prices include $885 destination fee (U.S.) or $1,860 destination fee, PDI and A/C tax (Canada).

“Damn, that’s ugly,” I thought to myself — in addition to saying it openly amongst my automotive journalist friends when Nissan unveiled the new, third-generation Murano at the 2014 New York Auto Show.

“Who’s going to buy this?” I asked myself — in addition to everyone who would possibly listen to my whining.

“I bet this won’t sell,” proclaimed my inner monologue — in addition to my external one.

Boy, was I wrong on that last point. The new Murano’s year-to-date sales in Canada have already eclipsed last year’s entirely (sales surpassed 1,000 units in June 2015 for the first time ever in Canada), and it will likely sell more in the U.S. than it has in the last couple years at the very least.

When I had a chance to drive the newest “lifestyle” crossover from Nissan, I realized why my predictions were so wrong. If you can look past the sheet metal, the aging VQ35DE V-6 engine and the continuously variable transmission that’s become ubiquitous with the Nissan brand, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what is arguably the best lifestyle crossover on the market.

That should be no surprise. One could make a case for the Nissan Murano being a pioneer in this segment. Back in 2002, Nissan rolled out the first-generation Murano to either fanfare or fiery criticism, depending on who you asked.

The non-luxury softroader was born — whether you liked it or not.

Exterior
To better understand the Murano and its “Predator with a Beverly Hills facelift” styling, one must understand the competition — namely the Ford Edge. Neither vehicle communicates a modicum of off-roading intentions, even though both are available with all-wheel drive. Both are targeted directly at yuppie dinks with money to burn and status to reinforce. They want a vehicle that’s visually loud so they can be unique just like everyone else.

Compared to prior generations, the Murano is more visually windswept up front due to its corporate V-motion grille and Z-inspired headlights. It’s a cohesive design regardless of how visually off-putting I might personally find it.

Around the side, the Murano flaunts the same floating roof treatment craze that’s seeing more use at Nissan and elsewhere. Our mid-trim SL tester wore standard 18-inch wheels shod with 235/65R18 rubber that didn’t visually fill the wheel wells as much as the 20 inchers available on the Platinum trim, but still did a much better job of not making the car look plebeian compared to the Edge on its smaller wheels. Actually, the 18s make the Murano look trendy, expensive and — viewing it as a car guy — comfortable.

Around back are some of the most confusing shapes and surfaces you’ll find on any crossover on sale today. The rear lamps sport the same boomerang styling as those up front. The blacked-out floating roof section, when inspected closely, even has some metallic flake in the plastic so it doesn’t look flat and cheap. Like the side, a chrome strip breaks up the lower body cladding and high-gloss paint, like a belt separating black pants and a loudly colored button-up shirt.

Overall, the Murano looks expensive and expressive, but its execution is far from my cup of tea. The Ford Edge ticks the same boxes without being visually nauseating.

Interior
Years ago, I listened to a stand-up comic — whose name completely escapes me — do a bit on yuppies and yard sales.

“Yuppie yard sales are just like normal ones — except nothing is for sale. Yuppies just want you to look at their stuff.”

Nissan knows the typical Murano buyer isn’t going to have kids — or if they do have that elusive single child, the chances of he or she having more than two friends willing to ditch their Facebooks and video games to actually drive somewhere is pretty slim. Instead, what yuppies do have is personal belongings — or at least more personal belongings than their kid has friends — so, understandably, there’s no third row seating. In its place is a cavernous cargo area so you can take all your stuff to the local yuppie yard sale, show it off, and bring it home in a flashy ride.

Unfortunately for the Murano, the Edge can hold even more yuppie junk in its upwardly mobile trunk; 32.1 cu. ft. of cargo space is available behind the second row in the Murano (minus 1 cu. ft. with the moonroof) versus 39.2 cu. ft. in the Edge.

You’d think that maybe the Murano is shorter than the Edge, but it’s actually longer on the outside by 4.7 inches. Wheelbases are similar at 111.2 and 112.2 inches respectively. And, as far as I can tell, the space isn’t being shifted to the passenger compartment.

Murano (w/o moonroof)

Front headroom – 39.9 inches
Front legroom – 40.5 inches
Front hip room – 55.4 inches
Front shoulder room – 59.5 inches
Rear headroom – 39.8 inches
Rear legroom – 38.7 inches
Rear hip room – 55.2 inches
Front shoulder room – 58.8 inches

Edge

Front headroom – 40.2 inches
Front legroom – 40.5 inches
Front hip room – 55.9 inches
Front shoulder room – 60.3 inches
Rear headroom – 40.3 inches
Rear legroom – 40.6 inches
Rear hip room – 57.5 inches
Front shoulder room – 60.5 inches

(Bold is the greater measure.)

I’m flummoxed.

Regardless of the numbers, the Murano is incredibly comfortable up front and I didn’t once think I lacked space for my 6-foot-1-inch lanky frame. Nor did passengers ask for me to scootch the driver’s seat up to give them additional rear legroom. However, if you’re a sizable dink, you might want to opt for the Edge.

When you do find your place of comfort in the driver seat, you’re greeted by a steering wheel that could be found in almost any other Nissan. The push-button start is easily found in the center dash instead of tucked somewhere being the steering wheel. Other controls are quite simple, with HVAC knobs and buttons located below the infotainment screen and shortcuts to navigation, radio and other infotainment features placed on either side. Nissan says it has decreased the number of buttons needed to operate their system and this amount seems like a happy medium.

The instrument panel consists of two large dials separated by a very clear, 7-inch LCD screen with pages that are easily accessible through the steering wheel mounted controls. Unlike the Micra, the Murano is fitted with an actual fuel gauge and not just an LCD representation.

As I mentioned above, the front seats are incredibly comfortable, though they do have a look of cheapness. Maybe it’s the semi-gloss sheen. I just wish they looked as good as they felt. Same goes for the rear.

At least you will be safe, with a full suite of airbags that includes a driver’s knee airbag, just in case.

Powertrain
The 3.5-liter VQ35DE V-6 sitting under the hood of the Murano has to be one of the oldest engines on sale today. Introduced in 2001, the VQ series engine has been constantly updated and comes in a number of tunes depending on its application. However, it doesn’t come with direct injection or some of the other goodies found in competing products.

That said, the VQ is still one of the best sounding engines money can buy — probably because it doesn’t come with direct injection or the other goodies. Even when paired with Nissan’s Xtronic continuously variable transmission, the VQ rumbles with its all-but familiar growl.

When Nissan started fitting its lower-end, four-cylinder cars with CVTs, I moaned a great moan. But this — with the V-6 and some torque to keep revs low — makes boatloads of sense and is exceptionally smooth without the typical whine experienced with smaller engines mated to similar transmissions. To top it all off, Nissan’s combination is 4 mpg easier on fuel on the combined cycle than the Edge, representing a $350 annual savings according to the EPA calculator.

Infotainment
Nissan’s Around View has been on the market for quite some time, but this is the first time it’s been fitted to the Murano (incidentally, after it was fitted to the Versa Note). As one can expect, images from the camera are fairly distorted to give you a better field of vision, but there’s something else that bothers me about it. Image quality is, well, a bit subpar. Even though other systems obviously don’t give you a full 360-degree view of the vehicle on an 8-inch screen, the images offered on the Nissan system look pixelated to the point where you might actually miss something — though if that something is moving, the Moving Object Detection should pick it up. Meanwhile, the “Camera” button on the console lets you activate the system when parking nose first, which is great for someone like me who can’t place a vehicle square between two white lines.

Around View aside, the new NissanConnectSM system is enhanced over the last generation, though its ease of use has been hampered because of it. Thanks to a number of new connectivity features and other digitial knickknacks, the Nissan infotainment system is a bit more bloated. If you like fully featured infotainment, this is a great solution, but this might not be a selling point if you are like the vast majority of vehicle buyers who don’t use all the features provided by automakers.

Drive
What sets the Murano apart from the rest is how it drives. The 3.5-liter engine is as smooth as you can get. The CVT will do some “shifting,” but only so you can feel a little bit of torque transmitted into the seat now and then. Also, those seats are as good as they come.

However, these pieces aren’t the Murano’s killer app. Instead, its suspension tuning and decent tire sidewalls on our SL-trimmed tester that give the Murano a ride befitting its Infiniti luxury brand. Platinum models give you 20-inch wheels as standard, and I’m not sure that’s a good buy if ride quality is No. 1 on your car hunt.

In addition to the suspension, the Murano’s electric power steering also makes it light to handle. Who cares if it feels a bit disconnected? If you are looking for an engaging drive, you are shopping in the wrong segment by looking at the Murano. For a few thousand more, there are some interesting options from the Germans, though you might have to downsize.

Aaron Cole, Chris Tonn, and I all had a chat about the Murano styling. They quite like the Nissan … and they’d take it over the Ford Edge. I’d rather the Blue Oval, based on styling alone, inside and out. Yet, if the Edge didn’t drive as nice as the Murano (and I’m not sure if it does but an Edge is on the way) I’d probably have the Murano … the fuel economy bump for me is a nice to have.

If you’re a yuppie with some coin to spend, the Murano and Edge are like white and red wine: they’re both wine and they both get the job done of looking classy, but it’s all a matter of taste. The Murano, to most, will taste just fine.

Hyundai Reveals Sixth-Generation Elantra in South Korea with Atkinson, Diesel Engines

Hyundai’s compact model, the Elantra, will arrive with the brand’s newly adopted trapezoidal grille, new engines and a number of enhancements to improve perceived quality.

The automaker, who looked at the Dodge Dart and said, “Yeah, that looks good but needs more grille,” revealed the sixth-generation Elantra on Wednesday in South Korea.

While the visible changes are likely to garner the most interest from consumers, the Elantra may be set to receive a new 2.0-liter Atkinson-cycle engine in America. In Korea, the engine produces 146 horsepower and 132 pounds feet of torque mated to either a six-speed manual or automatic transmission. U.S. specs have not yet been released.

Also new for Elantra is a 134-horsepower, 1.6-liter VGT diesel engine and seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox, though don’t hold your breath that the combo will find its way it to the States.

A 1.6-liter GDI engine will continue on in markets outside the U.S. with some revisions. There’s no word on whether the Elantra will be offered again with the 1.8-liter four cylinder in the U.S.

While compact cars are rarely thought of as premium offerings — especially those from Hyundai that sell more on value and content than they do on style and high-quality appointments, the next-generation Elantra will offer improved NVH characteristics through the use of more sound-deadening material, thicker glass and re-engineered windshield wiper blades that “are carefully positioned to dramatically reduce road and wind noise in the cabin,” said the automaker. If the outside world is still too loud, an optional eight-speaker Harman audio system will surely drown it out.

It’s not just NVH, but also ride and handling that gets engineers’ attention this time around. Improvements to the electric power steering system and suspension, specifically the rear shock absorber and spring positioning, are meant to make the car more engaging while improving ride comfort.

Overall, the Elantra does grow slightly. The sixth-generation car will be 20 mm longer and 25 mm wider than its predecessor. That growth translates to a “spacious interior comparable with that of the segment above,” Hyundai said in its release. The Elantra also utilizes 32-percent more high-strength steel, now making up 53 percent of the total steel content.

While the new compact is more stylish, Hyundai won’t be abandoning its value and feature propositions just yet. Integrated Memory Seat (IMS) — because that needs an acronym — for the driver will make an appearance. So does a suite of safety and convenience equipment including Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), High Beam Assist (HBA), Blind Spot Detection (BSD) and Rear Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA). The Elantra will also carry more initialisms than any other car per dollar*.

* probably not true

Hyundai’s Smart Trunk, as seen on the Genesis, Santa Fe, Sonata and Tucson, will also make an appearance on the Elantra for the first time.

The Elantra nameplate has been on sale for over 25 years and sold over 10 million units, said the automaker in the release. According to GoodCarBadCar, 222,023 Elantras were sold in the U.S. in 2014.

How the new conservatively styled Elantra will stack up against the visually bonkers tenth-generation Civic will have to wait ’til next year.

Choose your Own Supercar Test Adventure

Anybody notice I’ve been gone for a while?

No?

Thought as much. Well, the truth is that I’ve been circling the world drain racetrack putting together a comparison test of late-model supercars for you, the discerning TTAC reader. As fate would have it, however, there were too many cars involved . So I need your help.

Ferrari 458 Italia Ferrari 430 F1 Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 (2013 final model, AWD, e-Gear) Lamborghini Gallardo LP500-2 Ad Personam (2013 final model, RWD, e-Gear) McLaren MP4-12C hardtop Mercedes-AMG SLS Roadster Audi R8 4.2 R-Tronic Nissan GT-R Premium

As part of a gig I took last week coaching for a supercar rental company (more about that later, I promise) I was able to take multiple laps around a road course in all of these cars, in both dry and wet-weather conditions , and I took pretty careful notes about the differences and similarities between them.

As a bonus feature, I’ll discuss how three of the up-to-the-moment supercars I’ve driven lately — the Nissan GT-R NISMO, Ferrari 458 Speciale and the McLaren 650S — compare to the ones in our list.

So. Eight cars. Pick four, give your reasons if you like. At the end of tomorrow I’ll read all the comments and the comparison test will run starting Monday. Over to you, B&B!

Doug Drives: Reach Out And Touch Something … Screen or Knob?

I recently had the chance to test out the “new” Volkswagen Passat , which is so new that the designers were explaining to a whole group of journalists how the position of the rear reflectors has changed compared to the outgoing model.

Actually, I kind of like the new Passat. It was impressive in a lot of ways, right down to the new touchscreen, which finally sees Volkswagen catching up to some of the technology and features rival models have been using for roughly five years. As I was driving it, I couldn’t help but think to myself: I like a good touchscreen.

What I don’t like is a knob.

It seems that these are our only choices in today’s infotainment world: a touchscreen or a knob. Some cars have touchscreens. Some cars have knobs. And given that basically every new car has an infotainment system, this is an important choice. Do you want to control your screen by touching it, like a smartphone? Or by moving around a controller located on the center console, like a computer?

Automakers appear to be largely split on this issue. Most mainstream car companies, the Fords and Chevys of the world, offer a touchscreen. You touch, it screens. The benefit of this is that you touch exactly where you want, and the system does exactly what you want, unless you are in a Chevy, in which case it does what you want after it thinks for a few seconds/minutes/it’ll do it this weekend.

High-end brands tend to prefer knobs. Lexus has its famous Remote Touch Controller, which is sort of like a computer mouse in the sense that you move around a little arrow and you click on stuff, but not really like a computer mouse in the sense that you’re supposed to do this at 75 mph. BMW’s iDrive and Audi’s MMI both work similarly: you move a dial to control the infotainment system. You could touch the screen, but it wouldn’t do anything, and you’d just end up getting fingerprints on it.

Me, I personally prefer a touchscreen. Let me tell you why: because it’s incredibly easy to use. A button says “MAP.” I press “MAP.” The MAP comes up. This is very different than in, say, a BMW 7 Series, where a button says “MAP,” so you grab the little dial, and you move over to the button, and you’re about to click on it, but then there’s a bump in the road, and you accidentally click somewhere else, such as on a button that says “CLIMATE,” and now you have no idea where you’re going, so you crash into a bus shelter.

Of course, I am not saying that the BMW 7 Series is scary. What I am saying is that the BMW 7 Series is incredibly scary.

But the manufacturers that use knobs don’t see it that way. They say that if they put the knob in the center console, they can move the infotainment screen higher on the dashboard, away from your reach, which means you have to take your eyes off the road less in order to do things. This is true, of course, but I would like to point out that I would take my eyes off the road even less if I could just touch the damn screen wherever I want.

Maybe the best manufacturer is Mazda, who undoubtedly had this argument in some engineering meeting, which likely led to raised voices and harsh words and maybe even some good old-fashioned chair throwin’. So what they did is, they put in a knob and a touchscreen. This allows you to use both hands to control the screen at any one given time.

No, I’m just kidding, what it allows you to do is use the touchscreen when you’re feeling touchscreeny and use the knob when you’re feeling knobby. I think this is Mazda’s greatest decision since 2002, when they decided to start making decent cars.

Unfortunately, it’s not a decision anyone else seems to be making, as other automakers have all staked their claims: some have gone touchscreen. Some have gone knob. But I will continue to hope that in this great war of in-car screen controls, the touchscreen people will slay the knob people and claim victory over the Great Land of Infotainment. Until then, I will do my best to keep from crashing into bus shelters.

If Honda Could Make This Track Car, That’d Just Be The Best

Honda will show off its Project 2&4 car this year at Frankfurt and 14,000 is the number that stands out the most.

Honda will show off its Project 2&4 car this year at Frankfurt and 14,000 is the number that stands out the most. That’s the redline for its V-4 engine, which is borrowed from the RC213V. Other impressive numbers: The car is roughly 10 feet long, 6 feet wide and 3 1/2 feet tall, and weighs only 405 kilograms (892 pounds).

The mid-mounted engine, which is borrowed from a racing motorcycle, produces 211 horsepower at 13,000 rpm, but only just 87 pounds-feet of torque at 10,500 rpm. A six-speed DCT transmission handles power to the wheels.

If you ask me (you didn’t) Honda should make this immediately because the world needs more track-day cars — we have enough crossovers already. But that’s just me and I’m wrong a lot.

According to Honda, the car was inspired by the 1965 RA272, which Dario Franchitti once called a “flying gas tank.” Here it is in action.

Honda didn’t say whether the Project 2&4 would ever see production, only that the company will show it off in Frankfurt. Stand B11, Hall 9.0 if you’re there.

(Archive photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons.)

2015 Toyota Sienna AWD Drive – Three Mans And A Van

2015 Toyota Sienna LTD AWD
3.5-liter DOHC 24-valve Dual VVT-i V-6 (266 horsepower @ 6,200 rpm; 245 pounds-feet of torque @ 4,700 rpm)
6-speed ECT-i Automatic Transmission
16 city/23 highway/19 combined (EPA Rating, MPG)
22.1 mpg on the 1/99 city/hwy “driving through Hell, Wyoming" cycle (Observed, MPG)
Tested Options: Roof Rack Cross Bars, Remote Engine Start, Four Season (Not Three!) Floor Mat Package
Base Price (Sienna LTD AWD): $43,665*
As Tested Price: $44,824*
* All prices include $885 destination fee.

* A cautionary tale.Â

Traversing the greatstate of Wyoming with hundreds of pounds of men, gear (including a Chairman Mao stencil) and snacks needs no fewer than 14 cupholders.

(Two cupholders were used for drinks, the rest were used for toy cars and various empty wrappers.)

Building a family car isn’t a trick. Rather, it’s a compromise between size and economy, comfort and capability, familiar and futuristic. Anyone can build a battleship, but moving it down the road at 25 miles per gallon requires some finesse.

This isn’t a story about the Littoral combat ship. Instead, it’s a story about three overweight men, eight hours to wonder aloud in a van in Wyoming about Nixon, road noise and absolutely no legal marijuana from Colorado crossing interstate lines. (Sorry to get your hopes up.)

The 2015 Toyota Sienna is a minivan with complex roots. Not necessarily a $45 billion Department of Defense bungle like the USS Independence, the Toyota Sienna benefits from some thoughtful, inexpensive touches, such as storage everywhere and comfortable seating — but ultimately falls short.

The Sienna has some seriously tough competitors. All six minivans left in the U.S. (the Mazda5 is sadly gone) — the Dodge Grand Caravan, Chrysler Town & Country, Kia Sedona Honda Odyssey, Nissan Quest and Toyota Sienna — are hopelessly close to $30,000 when equipped sanely. Our tester, an opulently equipped Limited AWD edition tipped the scales at over $44,000 with expendable options such as remote start ($499) and roof racks ($185). A good example can be had for much less.

Exterior
“Well, it’s no Honda Odyssey,” I continuously said through our run.

Partially because I wished it had central vac like an Odyssey for the filthy animals I was hauling 550 miles across Wyoming, but also because I believe the Odyssey makes good with the van’s limited palette.

With long sliding doors, maximized interior room and boxy proportions, vans have a tough time looking good. As a result, the Sienna is best eaten face-first.

The creased hood, grille and attractive headlights are somewhat let down by the plain jane bumper and nondescript shoulders. It’s hard to fault a van for being boring — but somehow the Sienna is and the Odyssey just isn’t.

Around back, the Sienna has one.

Interior
Like Disney movies, it’s not the exterior appearances as what’s inside that counts: it’s the 14 cupholders and myriad storage cubbies that test a van’s mettle, of which there are plenty in the Sienna. Fully loaded, the Sienna carries four grownups and their gear hundreds of miles across the plains of Wyoming to deliver them to a racetrack in Salt Lake City. Not bad.

The Sienna makes its hay in slogs like these — same goes for a lot of the other minivans — and that’s why they’re likeable.

Like other minivans, the Sienna tickles the common-sense quotient with a handful of Toyota features that range in usability.

Space shuttle seating — which may be the thinnest corporate tie-in imaginable for Toyota — helps the van seat 7 or 8 passengers depending on seat configuration. When the middle row has captain chairs only, seating for adults in that row is comfortable and spacious (I fit two adults in the second row for more than 1,200 miles). In the more expensive Limited models, second-row chairs have leg support.

However, when the middle seat isn’t installed in the second row, there are a few ungainly hooks jutting up from the floor that remind you that something isn’t there. They’re also a little bit of a tripping hazard for small feet.

The much more useful family feature, an amplified voice system for drivers to speak to rear passengers, dubbed “Driver Easy Speak” is the Sienna’s best trick. Using a microphone in the front to project through the rear speakers, talking to children sitting in the rear seats is much easier and clearer — and more importantly — safer.

Day in, day out, the Sienna is just as comfortable as a living room. The easy load height and wide-open spaces made trips to the racetrack and back easy, and around town the Sienna is competent and quiet, which was ideal.

Infotainment
Toyota’s Entune infotainment system is still the best of the bunch and is easier to use than comparable systems in the Honda and Chrysler vans. Bringing up the navigation map still requires pressing buttons on two different screens, something that I hope Toyota changes soon.

Syncing a phone with the system and utilizing its data connection helps the van find movie times, gas pumps and stream Internet radio, which I imagine actually gets used in a van more than it does in their passenger cars.

(My only gripe: the USB port appears to be only .5 amps, which means my toast-sized iPhone Plus couldn’t charge or run off the single USB. I had to plug in a power inverter to one of the 12-volt adapters and noisily run a power inverter. That’s a big problem for families, and something that could have been wrong in my car only. I asked Toyota for some guidance, but haven’t heard back.)

Drive
Our van sported a feature than no van can (see what I did there?) — it’s the only all-wheel drive van available today. Under the hood, a 6-cylinder engine that cranks 266 horsepower is managed by a six-speed automatic transmission. In the real world, the Sienna barely manages around 20 mpg in combined city and highway driving — which is a steep price for a theoretical all-wheel drive.

The mileage isn’t impressive, nor is the trade-off for all-wheel drive. Our all-wheel drive machine hummed away for 1,200 miles through Wyoming, Colorado and Utah over three days, which proved to be long enough to say repeatedly, “I thought it would be quieter in here.”

The Sienna could benefit from more forward cogs, and two fewer drive wheels. (The rear floor was strangely hot after a long drive — hot enough to melt a box of chocolate bars in the back.

The Sienna is interesting like my living room too, and I’m no one’s interior decorator. Despite subtle improvements to the front fascia and rear taillights, the Sienna doesn’t look as good as, say, the Odyssey, inside and out.

But like most family events — or hauling adults and gear hundreds of miles across the country — it’s not how you look doing it, it’s how it gets done.

And it wasn’t pretty. The men, I mean.

Correction: An earlier version of this story didn’t include the Nissan Quest as on sale in the U.S.Â

Are Reports of the Viper’s Demise Premature?

In the past few days there has been a flurry of  about Fiat Chrysler Automobiles ending production of the Dodge Viper in 2017 and closing the Conner Avenue Assembly facility where the v-10 powered sportscar is hand-built.

When I see a news story, I’ll try to seek out the original reporting and if possible, the original source material. Now that I’ve seen that source material, and asked Conner’s plant manager about the matter, I’m not convinced that the Viper’s demise is a certainty. Viper fans shouldn’t go hanging snakeskin* crepe just yet.

In the case of that supposed demise, all the news articles that I could find on the topic — whether from blogs or traditional automotive publications — were based on a rather sketchy report on Allpar.com, which was based on the proposed labor agreement FCA has presented to the United Auto Workers, in the section under product allocation and sourcing.

The Dodge Viper will be leaving in calendar-year 2017, according to the proposed FCA-UAW contract.

The contract wording, though, was not quoted. Now that I’ve read the proposal, I’m not sure if not quoting it wasn’t deliberate, to make the Viper’s death seem like more of a sure thing. It sure got some attention and links to Allpar.

When FCA introduced the latest iteration of the Viper ACR earlier this year in a media event at the Conner plant, I just happened to be in the group that was given the factory tour by plant manager Doug Gouin. It also happened that two decades ago my now-adult son asked for and got his fifth grade class a VIP tour of the Viper factory with a letter to then-Chrysler president Bob Lutz. When I told him the story, Gouin gave me his business card to arrange a return visit for my son for a future story here at TTAC.

Figuring that the plant manager would know the real skinny on its future, I reached out to Gouin, asking if he could comment on the Allpar report. He couldn’t, as FCA only authorizes a small number of executives to speak publicly for the company.

He sent me a gracious, but unrelated email, and forwarded my request about the Viper and plant’s future to one of their communications spokeswomen. She told me that while the contract ratification is underway, FCA will not offer any comment on anything in the proposed agreement, including manufacturing plans. She did, however, help me navigate the UAW’s website to find what it actually says about the Conner Ave plant and the Viper. She said nothing a about the Viper’s future either way.

What it does say in the proposed labor contract doesn’t necessarily bode well for the car or the factory, but what it doesn’t say is that there will be no Viper after 2017 or that Conner Assembly will definitely close. Under the heading of “Product Allocation and Work Retention” for that facility it says: “Current product build out in 2017,” and, “No future product has identified beyond the product life cycle.”

At face value, the contract is simply giving no assurances to the UAW that Conner Avenue Assembly will have work to do beyond 2017. That’s it.

Sure, it doesn’t look optimistic, but it’s also not a formal obituary for the Viper. While “current product” and “product life cycle” could mean the entire Viper program, it could just as likely mean the current Viper generation, which by 2017 will probably need a replacement to stay current in the world of 600+ horsepower sports cars. A lot can happen in the automotive world in two years.

The Viper could die, but then it also could get a last minute reprieve from the governorSergio. If I was a Viper fan of means, I’d go ahead and take Jack Baruth’s adviceand buy a new Viper while I still could, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if someday at a club meet a 2018 Viper sits next to my hypothetical 2016 model.

*I wanted to use “black mamba crepe” but apparently, mambas are not pit vipers.

Note: If any of our readers know how FCA defines “current product” and “product life cycle” and whether those terms apply to a general nameplate or a specific generation model, please drop us a note in the comments below.

Photo by the author.

Ronnie Schreiber edits Cars In Depth , a realistic perspective on cars & car culture and the original 3D car site. If you found this post worthwhile, you can get a parallax view at Cars In Depth. If the 3D thing freaks you out, don’t worry, all the photo and video players in use at the site have mono options. Thanks for reading – RJS