Why Doesn’t Car and Driver Offer iPad Version Free

I have subscribed to automotive magazines for 32 years. I subscribe to performance mags like Hot Rod, Car Craft, Popular Hot Rodding, Corvette Magazine, Mustang Monthly, Super Chevy, etc. Not all of them at once, but each of them at one time or another. Currently just the first 4 of those.

As for new car magazines, the big four are Car and Driver, Motor Trend, Road & Track and Automobile. In the 80s I subscribed to the first three. Automobile came later, and I never saw much reason to subscribe. In fact, I dropped Road & Track because their coverage was too much Track, not enough Car (street cars). Later I dropped Motor Trend because I preferred Car and Driver’s style and occasional project cars. Over the years I was tempted by offers from the “other” three, but Car and Driver is my main stay.

A year or so ago I dropped Motor Trend. Three months ago they sent me a subscription offer in the mail. I remember hearing that Motor Trend provided their iPad version free to print subscribers. When I confirmed that to be true I sent in the subscription with a three year payment. The print versions sit unread… as do the iPad versions on my iPad. I am saving this for my trip to New York at the end of the month, so I don’t have to carry the paper copies.

This weekend a similar offer came in the mail from Automobile. For a mere $6 per year I get the print magazine and the iPad version included free. I sent them a three year payment as well.

Now I have 3 new car magazine subscriptions. But only 2 of them include the iPad version for free.

Car and Driver has been my favorite new car publication since the fall of 1980. I have maintained my subscription to this magazine above all the other new car magazines for 32 years. Where is my free iPad version?

Car and Driver better step up with an iPad version for print subscribers soon… or I might have to break the longest subscription I have maintained.

Well, I have also held active subscriptions for Hot Rod and Car Craft for the same 32 years. Come to think of it… they don’t include iPad versions for print subscribers either. Hmmm! Oh well, it is rare that the performance magazines, with their significantly smaller niche markets, provide the digital versions for free. I’ll give them a pass.

Car and Driver, are you going to offer your iPad version for print subscribers?

Cadillac ELR – Chevy Volt With Class

Cadillac has announced it will produce the ELR. This is an extended range electric car. Sound familiar? It should, its basically a Cadillac version of the Chevy Volt…. and I want one.

I love the idea of a premium small car that happens to get great gas mileage. Wow! I hope this really does make it to production. It will be at the top of my list… when I have a garage with an output to plug it in to.

 

Will The Challenger Survive???

This post is inspired by this article in Automotive News. They wonder if it is already time to put the Challenger out to pasture… after only 4 years. How sad.

I should have titled this post, When Will The Challenger Pass?” With its poor sales numbers it has little chance of lasting. It has two major flaws:

1. It is too big and heavy. This takes its toll on all aspects of performance. The V-6 Mustang can beat the standard Hemi Challenger to 60, and gets a good deal better gas mileage. Unfortunately, since this is built on a shared platform that is big and heavy there is nothing Chrysler can do about it.
2. The interior is a parts bin job. Why didn’t they design a retro looking dash. I know I saw one in some of the early concept cars. The Camaro has a retro styled interior. It is not practical… with four gauges at the end of the console where you can’t see them at a glance. But it looks cool, and today’s cars are so much more reliable than the sixties and seventies cars these cars take their styling from… who cares how easily you can read the gauges. They work and look cool. The Challenger could do this if they wanted.

So, with a car that is slower and gets worse mileage… and has an interior your grandmother would like, but your friends won’t… it is only time before sales continue to drop.

There are only a handful of diehard Mopar fans out there willing to drop nearly $40K for a car with a cramped back seat and no style on the inside to match the styling on the outside.

If you want to save the Challenger you need to act quickly… which they can’t. Do a quick redesign on the interior… mostly with the dash. Also, offer a stripped down V-8 version. Give it a catch name from the past… like a Rallye Edition. Strip it of power windows, sound deadening, and fancy stereo/nav equipment. Put in a plain jane stereo is a standard DIN opening, with room for a double DIN stereo. Let the aftermarket play with the car.

And sell this stripped down V-8 Rallye Edition for $23K. And don’t let dealers mark it up. It will sell like hot cakes. Too bad no one at Chrysler can think outside the box.

If you are a Mopar fan at least they are bringing back the stripped V-8 pickup with the new Express. You get a 390 hp Hemi V-8 in a RAM 1500 EXPRESS for $22,830. A Challenger like this will bring back the Muscle car days. Too bad we won’t see it.

Chevy Volt’s Residule Value Based On Tax Credit

I just read this article on Automotive News. And they report that Kelley Blue Book is claiming the Volt will be worth $17,000 after three years.

They say that is 51% of the value AFTER the $7,500 tax credit the original purchaser gets. In reality… I think they are undervaluing the car, because the 42% of the selling price of $41,000 is how you should view this. Since the feds have changed the rules on these rebates, it is possible that some people won’t get as much of the rebate, as others.

But this is something that is really tricky. Since there is no incentive in the used car marketplace, where to you put the udes car value for something like this.

Is this car really worth so little, down from $41,000 to $17,000 in just three years. Or do you have to consider it as a $33,500 because Uncle Sam picked up part of the tab.

What do you think?

Hankook Tires for Mini Cooper S

Well, with 47,000 miles on my 04 Mini Cooper S it was time to get new tires. I picked up a set of Hankook Ventus V12 Evo tires at Discount Tire. Car and Driver gave them a very favorable review here. So far I am extremely pleased.

I have noticed that overall grip is improved. I can take corners faster with less tire squeal (actually, no tire squeal) and the ride is “day and night” better. Road noise is also greatly reduced, but this last item may be due to the fact that the previous tires were noisy because they needed to be replaced.

The only downside to this tire is a slightly softer initial turn in. The run flats that were on the car had such a stiff sidewall (so it could run without air) that it did help with crisp turn in. I have almost forgotten this. In a couple more weeks I will not be able to remember how the old tires did. Unless you have the chance to drive the tires back to back you won’t notice this.

Oh… and in case you are wondering how I am dealing with non run flat tires on a car with no spare tire… I keep two cans of fix-a-flat in the car.

Happy Motoring!

Brake Override Systems vs. Performance

Thanks to Toyota’s woes over unintended acceleration, manufacturers are beginning to install brake override systems on their cars. This new system will reduce power to the engine if the brake and the gas pedal are pressed at the same time.

That sounds simple. I wonder how the automotive testing magazines are going to like that. For cars equipped with automatic transmissions the typical procedure is to press and hold the brake and gas pedals, then release the brake to launch the car.  This is called power braking. It allows the engine to rev higher at launch which improves the 0-60 and quarter mile numbers. It is also the way you do a burnout with a rear wheel drive car.

But now that won’t be possible if the car is equipped with a brake override system. What happens if you have two cars in a comparison test and only one has a brake override system. Will the one without this new feature have a significant advantage in acceleration tests?

You can bet that people that drag race their cars will figure out how to disable these systems.

Honda CR-Z Misses The Mark

The new Honda CR-Z was shown in production form this week at the Detroit Auto Show. If you want more info read this article from Motor Trend.

The CR-Z is supposed to capture the spirit of the Honda CRX. The Motor Trend article mentions that they gave their Import Car Of The Year award to the first and second generation CRX. I owned a 1989 CRX Si. It was a wonderful little car.

The new CR-Z completely misses the mark on gas mileage. 31 city/37 highway mileage for the CR-Z. I remember my CRX Si (the least fuel efficient version of the CRX) was rated at 28/33 mpg. I regularly got 30 mpg in mixed driving and was rewarded with 38 mpg on a trip from Texas to New York (I was milking the mileage through the mountains of Tennessee, coasting downhill and minimally accelerating uphill… we now call this hypermiling).

Even if you correct for the changes in the EPA rating system over the years, the HF version of the CRX got 41/50 mpg. Even with hybrid technology today we are getting less mileage than was possible 20 years ago.

The CR-Z is a niche market vehicle. It is a two seater… like the CRX. However, the CRX was a cute, fun & affordable car. I don’t know how affordable the CR-Z is going to be with the expense of a hybrid drive-train, but it just doesn’t add up.

The original Insight got 60 mpg, but was too weird looking and didn’t have the fun factor of the CRX. Now we get mileage that is no better than a Mini Cooper. Why doesn’t this vehicle at least match the Toyota Prius in mileage?

When the CRX was cool SUVs were but a glimmer in the eyes of the automotive marketplace. Few two seat cars make it today. Add to that the low volume of hybrid cars and the CR-Z becomes a double niche vehicle. To make a statement this car should be getting the best gas mileage of any car on the market… not a small increase to its predecessor from 20 years ago.

I am puzzled to see how the new Honda CR-Z is going to succeed. Oh, and it doesn’t look anywhere near as cool as the concept.

Mustang GT Steps Up With 5.0 Power

As expected with the recent announcement of the 305 hp V-6 Mustang, the Mustang GT will be getting a new 5.0 engine putting out 412 hp (as reported by Motor Trend). These two engine combinations put the Mustang right in line with the V-6 and V-8 in the Camaro. It looks like the Pony Car Wars are on. Since the Challenger is most handicapped by weight, I wonder if we will see more power in the lower priced editions to keep up.

Real Horsepower for V-6 Mustang

I just read in Automotive News that Ford plans to replace the aging (aged?) 4.0, 210 hp V-6 engine with a new 3.7, 305 hp V-6. The new engine has all the right peices except one. It has double overhead cams, 4 valves per cylinder and variable valve timing. The one missing item is direct injection, which the Camaro has.

Even better… this engine comes with new 6 speed manual and automatic transmissions.

It’s about time.  The Mustang has been behind the curve with the base Mustang against all sport coupe competition in the engine and transmission department.

But the real question is… with a 305 hp base Mustang what will they do to the current 315 hp V-8 Mustang GT. Hmmmm!

Driving a Brand New 1928 Ford Model A

I had the once in a lifetime opportunity to drive this car:

The car had 201 miles on it when I got behind the wheel. I did not drive it for long. This is by no means a road test. It is my brother-in-laws car. He inherited it from his grandfather. No, his grandfather was not the original owner. But the car is a family heirloom. He just finished having it restored a couple of months ago. While the family was over his house for Thanksgiving he gave rides to everyone… and had me drive it. He said someone besides him needed to know how to drive it.

It is a four cylinder with a three speed manual transmission with no synchronizers. That means double clutching, and no downshifting. Here’s how it goes. First flip the gas valve. Next there is a floor start button. You push that with your foot while working the manual choke lever. Once the car is started you press the clutch and put it into first gear. Take off like any normal manual transmission equipped car. Now for the fun part. Step on the clutch, move the shifter to neutral, release the clutch long enough to get the trans and engine speeds to sync, then press the clutch again and move the shifter to second gear. Hopefully without grinding the gears.

I did grind the gears a couple of time and had to shift from 1st to 3rd a couple of times for fear of grinding going into second. But after a few minutes I did start to get the hang of it. It is really in the timing of how long to stay in neutral with the clutch released before going for the up-shift. To downshift you basically come to a complete stop and start over.

This was definitely an E Ticket attraction. Supposedly the car can go up to 46 mph. I never went above 35, but it was more fun at 35 than any modern car.

Saab Follows Saturn

According to Automotive News Koenigsegg is dropping out from buying Saab. Sounds like Penske/Saturn all over.

Bye, bye Saab!

Can Toyota Be Cool?

My Motor Trend newsletter came and it looks like Toyota wants to make a serious effort at a cool car.

It looks cool as a concept. I wonder how much Toyota can bland it out before production. This should give the Accord Coupe and Genesis Coupe a run for their money.

2010 Camaro For 4 Days

My son and I visited New York last week and when we saw the 2010 Camaro in the rental lot we turned around and paid for the upgrade.

2010 Camaro V-6 Automatic

We picked the car up Thursday night and returned it on Monday. Granted, Sunday we took the train to the station to head into Manhattan so it did not get much use that day. But here is my opinion of the car with the 200+ miles I put on it.

Overall

I like the car. You should know that I am a Camaro fan having owned a 1993 Camaro Z-28 and a 1967 Camaro RS Convertible. The car looks great, but you pay a big price for that. This car had the worst visibility of any car I have ever driven… ever. If you get claustrophobic you will hate this car.

The ride was as good as my BMW 335i and grip was amazing. However, steering feel is non-existent and it feels heavy. It is not a nimble coupe like my 93 Z was. Power from the V-6 is adequite, but the weight of the car always makes you think the engine is being strained. It felt like the transmisson was slipping, or the torque converter was too loose. You have to rev the engine too much for good thrust and the engine makes a lot more noise doing it than you would expect for the thrust returned.

I really wanted to like this car, but it makes me want to test drive a 2010 Mustang. The problem there is that the Mustang with a V-6 is a dog, and you would have to compare this car to the V-8 Mustang which hardly seems fair.

Performance

Like I said, the engine seems overworked by the weight of the Camaro. Leaving the transmission in drive the car is sluggish. Put the trans in sport mode and in maintains gears longer, which helps, but it still feels like it should be quicker. Manual mode doesn’t help much. I think a tighter torque converter with slightly short gearing might make a big different in feel. The trans is the weak link hear. Shifts are so slow that any thoughts of a sports car are removed. Does anyone make a shift kit for this trans yet? It needs one. Full throttle from rest gives plenty of speed, but this is the only way it feels good. 1 gear downshifts while cruising increase engine speed and noise with no increase in thrust. You have to push the pedal enough for at least two gears to get any thrust increase and that comes with a significant increase in noise.

There is enough power for the average person. If you are buying this car for style than it is fast enough. But overall I would prefer less noise and more push in the mid range of highway passing at 50-80 mph. I am sure the V-8 does not have this problem.

Ride and Handling

The ride is excellent. Even over pot-holed NY streets it was never a problem. The tires also have a massive amount of grip. No matter how hard I tried I could not get the tires to squeal. The car corners quite flat as well. However, steering response is slow and the car just feels heavy. It reminds me of the drive I took in a Challenger STR8, a big heavy cruiser. Nimble is just not in the new Camaro’s vocabulary.

Mileage

I really wanted to prove the 29 MPG this car gets on the EPA cycle. I could not. But this was as much a problem of New York traffic as anything else. The first morning I averaged 24 mpg in the suburbs of Long Island. That dropped to an average of 19.9 mpg with a drive out on the island in rush hour traffic. I drove out to New Jersey and maintained the 20 mpg overall for the first tank of gas.

I filled up in New Jersey before driving back to Long Island. I reset the mileage assuming this was my best chance… it was around 11:00 PM on a Saturday. Sure enough the trip computer climbed its way up to 28.4, then bounced between 28.1 & 28.4 for about 5 miles. There is no instantaneous mileage readout to help me hypermile the car, so I think this was as good as it was going to get. At this time the GPS had me switch from the Garden State Parkway to the New Jersey Turnpike. I have not lived in New York in over 20 years and it was too late before I realized the GPS was taking me through the Lincoln Tunnel and Manhattan rather than the bridge to Staten Island. Oops. I spent 2 hours in gridlock traffic before we emerged on Long Island. The total trip took 4 hours 15 minutes back to the hotel. The average for the entire trip from Jersey… 20 mpg.

So, I averaged 20 mpg the entire time I was in New York. If you live there you can comapre that to what you get with your own car. In Texas I am sure I could average 25 mpg, and would love to see if I could break the 29 mark on a trip to Dallas (I hit 31.7 mpg in my BMW 335i on my way to Dallas a couple of months ago, and it is rated at 27 by the EPA).

Interior

As I said, this car has the worst visibilty of any car I have ever driven. To the rear is a joke. The view out the rear view mirror looks like looking through a tunnel. Forget looking over your shoulder as you back up, there is nothing to see but the interior of the car. The A pillars are also huge and create blind spots on either side of the windshield. Plus the side windows are so narrow they add to the claustrophobic effect the interior provides. Rear seat legroom in non-existent with the front seats all the way back. I an 5′ 10″ and I had the seat pretty far back. A friend that is 6′ 3″ rubbed his head on the headliner, but the car was equipped with a sun roof which clearly took up 1 – 2 inches. Without a sunroof my friend would just fit, but I could not see him driving a car long term he could just fit in. Up to 6 feet you will do fine, above that you should get a long test drive before buying.

I like the interior. Yes, the gauges on the front of the console are virtually impossible to read quickly, but who cares. You can read them once in a while. So racing this car is out, but for everyday driving I found most of the gauges to be acceptable… except the speedometer. The orange pointer is so wide that it is difficult to accurately tell how fast you are going within less than 5 mph. 60 or 65? Stare long enough to see if it is 65 when you notice that cop car while your in a 55 zone and it could be too late for you. This is all about style. You sacrifice practicality for style with almost everything about the Camaro.

Speaking of practicality and its effect from styling… the truck is a nice size truck… with a tiny opening. You will not be carrying large objects. Not for a problem with the size of the trunk, but for the hole you must stick them through. We could not load our two soft luggage bags at the same time. Stick one bag in and slide it to the side or back then put the next item in. Keep doing it this way until you have a month’s work of close in the trunk.

The interior lighting it excellent. At maximum the dash lights are too bright late at night. This is a good thing. On almost every car I have ever driven I always leave the dash fully lit. I turned down the lighting on the Camaro. I really like the mood light in the doors that come on with the dash lights (and dims with the dash lights as well). This is style that didn’t cost anything in practicality.

And now for the seats. The seats in the Camaro we drive were by far the most comfortable seats I have ever experienced in an automobile bar none. I know this because when we ended our 4+ hour drive back from Jersey my back felt as fresh as when we left. You should know I have class two bulging discs in my back. When we drove to Dallas in the 335i I played with the lumbar support quite a few times during the trip (also about 4 hours or so). I did not have to touch the Camaro’s seat controls once during the 4 hour drive. That’s good because there was no lumbar control for the Camaro. And I didn’t need it. How cool is that.

Conclusion

The Camaro is the most comfortable, least practical Camaro I have ever driven. All that means nothing. This car is acceptable for its purpose. It looks great and can be enjoyed for miles and miles. Would I buy one. If I were single I would have to test drive the Mustang. I would also test drive a manual transmission with the V-6 in a Camaro to see if that makes up for the mild performance problems. Then there is the V-8.

I like this car… and I would put it on my short list of cars in its price range if I did not have kids.

Gas Guzzler Problems

I see problems already. I wrote an article on the Cash For Guzzlers last month. I was worried that dealers would take unfair advantage of this. And I saw the first of that over the weekend.

I saw a commercial for Nissan’s Altima where they listed the price with incentives at something like $13,999. I may be wrong about the final price, but I know I saw the Gas Guzzler incentive listed at $4,500. How many people will be suckered in on this?

If you read my article, you will know that the incentive is your trade, so that means anyone watching the ad thinking they could get a car for $13,999 plus their trade-in is in for a shocker. There is no trade in value for your car with the Cash For Guzzler program.

Also, to get the $4,500 the car you are buying must get 10 mpg better (according to www.fueleconomy.gov) than the car you are trading in. The Altima with a 4 cylinder and manual transmission is listed at 26 mpg combined city/highway. That means you would have to trade in a car rated at 16 mpg or less to get the $4,500. The only other option a $3,500 voucher is the new car get 4 mpg better than the old car.

Finally, the program doesn’t start until July 23, and the commercial made no mention of this. People expecting to leave a dealer with a car before then are in for another surprise.

The commercial is on the verge of false advertising, at the least it is very misleading. There is no clear information about the $4,500 they show being removed from the price of the Altima and many people will be let down when they go to a dealer to try and get the deal. In fact, I believe many people will will not be able to get the deal.

So the troubles begin.

Camaro To The Rescue

I like how The Times says the Camaro is the Muscle Car to the Rescue for General Motors.

Makes me want to run down to a Chevrolet dealership.

Lutz Stays

According to Automotive News it looks like Bob Lutz, GM’s executive in charge of product development, has reversed his decision to retire at the end of this year. This is GM’s best news this year.

Lutz is responsible for a lot of change in GM’s products over the last few years. Many may say that is it too little too late, but I think not. Cadillac’s restyled CTS, the all new Chevy Malibu & Camaro, the Pontiac Solstice & G8 as well as the upcoming Volt are all Bob’s doing. If it were not for Bob Lutz GM would have already gone out of business.

Regardless of your opinion of GM, Bob has done a lot of good over the past 4 years (or so). He is the only executive that should still be there. A true “car guys,” Bob was strategic in getting Chrylser in shape in the 90s with the Viper and PT Cruiser, both huge successes that would never have happened without Lutz’ passion for cars and this industry.

Finally I have a reason to believe GM has a chance. Good luck, Bob!

Camaro Outsells Mustang

Rejoice Camaro Fans! The Camaro wins… for now. As reported my Automotive News, Chevrolet sold 9,320 Camaros to Ford selling 7,362 Mustangs during June 2009.

The last time Camaro beat the Mustang in sales was in 1993. Two things were different then. 1) I bought a Camaro is 1993. It was all new and a great car. 2) Ford’s Mustang was old and awaiting a redesign that would come the following year, 1994.

This time I am not buying a Camaro (because I can’t afford a new car at this time), and Ford has a new Mustang in dealers at the same time as Chevrolet has a new Camaro.

I would not expect this to continue. Remember, Chevrolet had 14,000 deposits for the Camaro before the first one was delivered. There are a lot of Camaro fans out there releasing their pent-up frustration. Some, like me, will not be able to buy a car, and others will. Once that initial band of Camaro fans runs out the car will have to survive on its own.

The 1993 Camaro was better in every measure of performance than the new for 1994 Mustang. But the Mustang has always out sold the Camaro. Even when the Camaro was better. Chevrolet has to be a lot better to out sell a brand like the Mustang.

At least we Camaro fans have a small victory.

With GM’s approval to sell the good parts of itself to a “new” GM maybe the Camaro will be around for a few years.

Bankruptcy… For How Long?

I am reading about Chrysler about to come out of bankruptcy after only about 6 weeks, with the Fiat buyout and more government money. GM just went into bankruptcy with the Obama Administration promising to push them through quickly with another $30+ Billion dollars of aid.

I don’t get it. Delphi, the parts maker that was spun off of GM and has GM as its largest customer, has been in bankruptcy for 4 years. Why doesn’t the government help them out and speed their process.

I have to say I am very disappointed with the way Obama is handling this. I am glad a new Chairman has been named for GM, but I seriously doubt an AT&T executive can understand the car business. Is this better or worse. O.K., it can’t be worse, the current leadership at GM is clueless on how to make cars people really want. They only know how to cut costs and give rebates to get people to buy their cars. I hope the ex-AT&T executive can figure out how to make cars.

It just rubs my grain that the government is taking such a large stake in this… while clearly showing favoritism to the companies that hold the most voters. How much easier does it have to be to see Obama is just protecting his re-election.

Hypermiling

While going to Fort Worth I decided to test my own hypermiling techniques. I wrote about these techniques before I ever heard of the term hypermiling. I called my techniques Deceleration Management.

On the way up to Fort Worth we were driving with my in-laws (in separate cars). I took the lead most of the way and using my radar detector I tried to keep our speed at about 80 the entire way. Granted, trying to maintain 80 was not easy because of traffic, but we were close. This was the only part of driving that was not including in the hypermiling. After all, the best gas mileage comes from going slower.

However, I never used cruise control and I milked that gas pedal for every chance I could. My wife could not even tell i was doing this, that’s how subtle I was with the gas pedal. Leaving from my house I reset the mileage computer and when we arrived at my brother-in-law’s house after 3 stops, I showed an average of 31.7 mpg. This was with out 2007 BMW 335i with an EPA rating of 17/26 city/highway. That means I beat the highway mileage rating by over 5 mpg! Not bad at all.

On the return visit I was trying to make much better time. With two very short stops the mileage I got from the hotel to home was 27.6 mpg. Still better than the EPA, but I was averaging closer to 90 mpg whenever traffic would allow, and frequesntly bursted to that speed when traffic cleared the way.

Chevy and Cadillac ONLY, I Said It First

I just read in Automotive News they think GM only needs Cadillac and Chevrolet. Too bad I said it first. My article on GM’s Brands came out yesterday (even though it is dated June 1, I published it on May 31st).

I believe you can cover the market well enough with a mass market brand (Chevrolet) and a luxury brand (Cadillac). You don’t need Buick to muddy the waters between those and GMC does nothing but compete against Chevrolet for truck sales.

This means all those Buick-Pontiac-GMC dealers should be the dealers that close. Sorry, but that’s what its going to take… assuming GM can be saved.

GM has just a little more than 3 years to fix itself, bankruptcy or not. Obama will do whatever it takes to keep GM afloat… until he gets re-elected. Then GM is going to be on its own. No more help from the government.