Michigan wllz

Want to thumb your nose at the environmental elitists? Buy Chevrolet’s Tahoe Hybrid, the most fuel-efficient full-size SUV on the planet.

It still only gets 22 mpg highway, you say. But according to the EPA, the Tahoe actually saves more fuel compared to a similar vehicle than a Toyota Prius does compared to a vehicle its size. It’s city mpg rating (21) is just one below that of a nonhybrid Toyota Camry. That’s quite an accomplishment.

But here’s my issue with the Tahoe Hybrid. There is only one reason to buy one of these big rigs — towing. Anyone who regularly tows a large trailer and needs three rows of seats would love to have a full-size sport ute. But the Tahoe Hybrid’s towing is limited to 6,200 pounds (6,000 for a four-wheel drive model.

Read more »

A popular thought in automotive circles is that Chrysler invented the minivan with the 1983 introduction of the Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager.

The folks from VW would scoff at that notion. The Germans introduced the first Transporter — also known affectionately as the Bus or Microbus — in 1950. And the company has been in the van business ever since, producing a series of vans known as Transporter across the pond, but Vanagon or EuroVan in the U.S. VW still builds Transporters for the European market, so this new Routan seems a little odd.

That’s because instead of bringing the current Transporter to the U.S., VW partnered with Chrysler for a version of its new Dodge Caravan/Chrysler Town & Country.

Read more »

Read more »

Chevrolet HHR SS

In the eyes of many auto lovers, the Chrysler PT Cruiser and Chevrolet’s HHR will forever be linked because they are similar in size and have similar, but different, retro looks.

What a lot of people may not know is that Bryan Nesbitt — most recently General Motors’ European design director but now in charge of Cadillac — is credited with the look of both vehicles.

Nesbitt was a new designer at Chrysler in the late 1990s when he created the PT, possibly one of the most recognizable vehicles made in the last couple of decades.

Read more »

2009 Ford F-150 Lariat

It wasn’t long ago when Ford’s F-150 was the best-selling vehicle in the country, but a lot of those buyers chose a big pickup simply because they liked the image it projects.

Those days are probably over, but there are still plenty of people who work in construction or who haul horses and who like more than just a truck’s persona — they actually work their trucks hard. So why not buy the truck that boasts the most capabilities?

Ford says the new F-150 has the highest towing capacity and the highest payload of any truck in its class. But it also has standard trailer sway control, which takes vehicle stability control to new levels by helping to control heavy trailer loads. There’s also an optional integrated trailer brake controller – so no more add-on controller hanging under the dash.

Read more »

The pronounced prow of the Dodge Ram 1500 pickup leans forward in stark contrast to virtually every other vehicle on the market. It’s if the Ram is thumbing its nose at the fuel economy establishment, saying “To heck with gas mileage.”

Since Dodge introduced the Ram’s in-your-face design for 1994, the big truck has easily been the most stylish pickup on the road. It’s the truck for extroverts, those people who want to stand out from the crowd.

Besides the Ram’s newly pointed schnoz, the big difference for 2009 is the Ram’s new-found sophistication, especially in the interior.

Here’s the bottom line: If the rest of Chrysler’s cars were designed and executed as well as this Dodge Ram, company executives wouldn’t have had to go to Washington begging for money. It’s an outstanding effort, but frustrating at the same time. If this Ram is so good, why is the Dodge Avenger so horrid?

Read more »