Today we have a dual-function Question of the Day. The primary function will be informative; detailing an upcoming new series here at TTAC and explaining how it all works. The secondary function is to solicit ideas from you, our dear readers, for said new series.
By now you’re undoubtedly intrigued, so keep on reading.
As so often happens here at the TTAC ranch, our collective venom turned itself loose on an undesirable car last night. The object of these barbs, hurled in the private confines of our Slack chatroom, was the lowly Fiat 500. The new iteration, not the endearing Italian classic.
While driving a 500 shortly after its launch, I recall cocking my head to the right. Why? The roof was in the way. That’s how insanely outsized I was for a turn behind the wheel of this mass-market vehicle. I felt like Homer after he visits Crazy Vaclav’s Used Car Lot in that episode of The Simpsons. There was no doubt in my mind that the 500 could go “three hundred hectares on a single tank of kerosene.”
Of course, the cramped cabin was only half the story. Another pressing issue, one solved by the addition of an Abarth model, was the 500’s absolute dearth of power. Read More >
On Friday, our intrepid Managing Ed brought us a yaffle of photos from the L.A. Auto Show, wearing out the soles of his shoes in the process. From Ascent to Wrangler, there was plenty of new metal on display in the City of Angels.
What caught your eye at the show?
I doubt there’s much enthusiasm for the ZR1 out there among the Best & Brightest. Can’t say that I blame you. It’s not a very TTAC-friendly automobile, insofar as it costs the same as five Honda CR-Vs in LX trim while offering significantly less space for your companion animals than you would get from even one CR-V. Plus, it kind of looks like the hero car for an edgy Christopher Nolan reboot of Mark Hamill’s best movie.
That doesn’t mean, however, that I am not looking forward to it. It should be absolutely vicious around the NCM West road course and it might manage to combine the best aspects of the outstanding C7-generation Grand Sport and the even more outstanding Viper ACR. Plus, there’s the outside possibility that I could convince Danger Girl to chop in her old C5 Vette and her year-end bonus to get us a spot in the order line. You never know.
Before I get too excited, however, let’s consider some alternatives to the blunt-faced Kentucky wildcat.
Over the past day or so, the Jeep brand has cast off every last bit of mystery that once surrounded the next-generation 2018 Wrangler like a cloak. The long-anticipated model is now laid bare, exposed to more scrutiny than your average Hollywood/media sex suspect.
We know all the intimate details. Every reshaped opening, every rejigged returning feature, every new powertrain option. Jeep may as well have accidentally sent us a series of bathroom selfies.
Having seen all there is to see, does any element of the new JL give you pause? Is anything needling you, leaving you with a less-than-perfect taste in your Jeep-loving mouth? Read More >
At this week’s L.A. Auto Show and Traffic Negotiation Event, Infiniti will reveal the next generation QX50 — an overdue replacement for the aged model formerly known as the EX35. While the introduction of a crossover that’s losing its V6 and rear-wheel-drive platform wouldn’t normally interest me, the model’s new engine does.
Today we’re going to discuss variable displacement and the future of internal combustion engines. Fly or flop, what say you?
None of us can predict the future, but just think of the penthouse-in-Dubai levels of cash that awaits us if we could. Alas, all we can do is follow existing trends and make a best guess.
In the automotive world, the fate of a car model lies at the intersection of sales, industry direction, and emerging technologies. SUVs and crossovers hang like a blade over the necks of all traditional passenger cars, and autonomous vehicles menace everything with a steering wheel. Electric motors threaten to turn the exhaust note into a distant memory. Governments and regulators stand in the shadows, eager to spring forth one day and spoil all of our internal combustion fun. In spite of all of these factors, there’s still bold predictions made every day about the future of the industry in five, 10, 20, 50 years.
Today, we’re asking you to peer into the Magic 8 Ball and make a prediction of your own. A very specific prediction, to be clear, and it only needs to involve one model: the next U.S.-market sedan to die. Read More >
“Win on Sunday, sell on Monday.” For years, this was the missive put forth by race teams and gearheads within the bowels of OEMs who were looking for a slice of the budget. It worked for a time, especially in the halcyon days of the 1960s and ’70s.
Is it the same today? I’m not so sure.
Today, our question circles around cars with issues. The sort of issues that could send an owner to an early grave or perhaps some preventative therapy, at the very least. Cars with widely-known issues, bad ownership propositions for running costs, depreciation, safety, or something else — they all qualify today.
Which cars would you avoid owning at all costs?
Every last one of us remembers sitting in a restaurant, wondering if we’d made a horrible mistake by choosing salad over the potentially superior soup of the day. Soup is unpredictable; salad is a safe choice. But what if the soup, as it sometimes is, was actually the more satisfying choice?
You missed out, and time only makes the doubts and regrets grow stronger.
Out in your driveway, or perhaps stashed in a nearby parking garage, is a car you bought or leased based on the assumption it was the best choice of all available options in your price range. Has the passage of months or years revealed your present vehicle as a safe salad to someone else’s weak-at-the-knees, far more satisfying soup? Did you make a mistake this time around? Read More >
Yesterday, young Mr. Posky brought us news that Honda has recalled a number of Odysseys for problems with their second-row seats. Now, reading into the details, it seems to be more of a user problem, rather than a design flaw. Nevertheless.
I’ve had my own share of recalls hurled in my direction, all of which were attended to with varying degrees of urgency. Our question for you: have any of your cars been recalled? How quickly did you bring them in?
You heard it here yesterday. General Motors will introduce not one, not two, but three new vehicles based on the increasingly popular Chevrolet Bolt electric hatchback. And it’ll do it over the next two years.
Is this a case of too much Bolt, too soon, or is GM within its rights to go whole hog on its green halo model, given the need to get out in front of looming competitors? One of the Bolt-based EVs will be a car, the other two, crossovers. Let’s focus on the latter models right now.
What must a Bolt-derived electric crossover bring to the table to get American buyers interested? Read More >
It’s no use continuing with the idealistic notion that North America will reject advances from Chinese-made cars on our shores. The Buick Envision is Fabrique en Chine, as well as the long-wheelbase Volvo S60, and more recently the Volvo S90. Yesterday, Steph Willems reported on a patent filing from the Guangzhou Automobile Company for its largest SUV offering, the GS8.
You don’t have to like the upcoming Chinese onslaught, but it’s necessary to accept it as reality. So, today we’re asking you to twist your mind and wring from it your thoughts on what it would take for a Chinese auto manufacturer to be successful in North America on a large scale.
Think of the automotive landscape as a high school yearbook. Within those pages, you’ll find more than a few charismatic, brainy jocks and vivacious prom queens eager to earn a science degree — you know, the characters destined for continued greatness. Then there’s the rest.
There’s the ones you forget about instantly, only to read about in the automotive obituaries years later. “Who knew that was still around?” you think to yourself. “No wonder it’s dead.”
Then there’s the more visible ones that, despite possessing many positive traits, never gain sales traction. Many other segment standouts go a little too wild, design-wise, fall victim to corporate dysfunction, or can’t trade on a household name.
But we’re not here today to discuss sales duds. No, today we’re looking at the wallflower who becomes “all that.” The unassuming pupil who makes it big. The stealthy sales stud, at least in your own estimation.
What model gets noticed by scores of buyers, just never yourself? Read More >
Over the weekend, Chevy unveiled the chest-thumping Corvette ZR1, the fastest and most powerful production Corvette the world has ever seen. That they chose to hold the reveal of this great American nameplate in Dubai says a lot about current world affairs.
Regardless of its debut city, we’ll enjoy the fact we live in a world where one can purchase a 755 horsepower Chevy with a factory warranty. Certain corners of the internet weep into their Ovaltine about “the good old days,” hemming and hawing over the superiority of muscle machines from the ’60s and ‘70s. They were great cars, to be sure, but today’s gonzo levels of horsepower have us wondering – and asking you – where’s the upper limit for factory hot rods?
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