Monthly Archives: September 2015

Will Volkswagen continue to sell diesels in the US?

After the emissions scandal, Volkswagen moved downhill. Stock fell almost 40% and the CEO of Volkswagen resigned and the head of Porsche took over. Sales of the current diesel models has stopped and production of the next generation of Volkswagen diesel vehicles for the US and the rest of the world. We might have to say goodbye to diesels from Volkswagen in the US. 🙁

 

 

Leave a Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

New “Exotic” SUV’s? Yay or Nay?

The exotic car manufacturers are now moving into the SUV or Sport Utility Vehicle market. Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Lamborghini, Masarati and Jaguar have all released concept SUVs coming in the future. The styling of these SUVs is also questionable. Who decided those wheels looked good on the Bentley? The RR looks like a lifted hatchback. The wheels and suicide doors complement the styling. The Lambo looks like an Aventador that has been stretched upwards and also shortened, raised up on 21″s or 22″s. The Aston Martin is just awful and it looks like an Peugeot and an Aston had a baby. The Masarati looks like a GLA and a Quattroporte had a child.

 

On the other hand, the Jag is really handsome, bold and understated at the same time.

In my opinion, the Jaguar is the only exotic SUV that looks remotely acceptable, and if I had $40,000 in my back pocket, this would be the exotic SUV for me.

 

 

Rolls-Royce_SUV

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leave a Comment

Filed under Yay or Nay?

The new Scion iA

The new Scion iA is not really new. It’s just a Mazda Mazda3 sedan with a Scion front end and a badge. The interior is also remarkably similar. The base model starts at $16,500 and stops at $17,600. It gets 31 mpg in the city and 41 on the highway. Its 1.5 liter 4 cylinder motor produces just over 100 horsepower which propels the iA to 60 in 9.0 seconds to a top speed of 120 miles per hour. This new Scion is a knockoff Mazda and It really isn’t that interesting.

Mazda pictured above, Scion pictured below

FRONT

mazda out 1scion out 1

 

 

BACK

Screen Shot 2015-09-22 at 6.39.04 PM back

 

SIDE

 

mazda sidescion side

 

INTERIOR

mazda inscion in

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Comment

Filed under News

The 2016 Toyota Prius’s Styling: Yay or nay?

The new Toyota Prius has some bold styling changes for the 2016 model year. The exterior is very similar to the new hydrogen powered Toyota Marai and the interior looks as it is heavily influenced by the current Corolla. The exterior seems as if the designers sharpened the points of the already pointy current Prius. The “invisible” D-pillar gives the new Prius a streamlined look and also creates the illusion of speed even when the car isn’t moving. The oddly shaped zigzag brake lights and large vertical rear window as well as the more curved rear bumper give the Prius a more “happy” expression. The Prius from a side view appears more like a normal car then anything else. 

 

Screenshot 2015-09-20 at 8.38.57 PMScreenshot 2015-09-20 at 8.40.58 PMScreenshot 2015-09-20 at 8.41.35 PMScreenshot 2015-09-20 at 8.42.10 PM

All photos retrieved from toyota.com

Leave a Comment

Filed under Yay or Nay?

Volkswagen “Dirty” Diesels?

As of September 18th, Volkswagen has been caught cheating on emission standards. The 2.0 liter diesel engine fitted to many Volkswagen models (including the 2009-current Jetta TDI, Beetle TDI, Golf TDI and A3 TDI, as well as the ’14 and ’15 Passat TDI) was fitted with a monitor that senses if the car was being emission tested. This monitor then activated full smog reduction that is not usually used in normal driving. The smog emitted from the engine without the “restrictor” pollutes 10-40 times as much as the Clean Air Act permits. Volkswagen has halted sales of 2016 models and alerted dealers to stop selling the current models. The recall Volkswagen has placed affects an estimated 480,000 vehicles. The fines imposed by the Clean Air Act could amount to over $37,000 each, creating a total fine for Volkswagen of almost 18 Billion

Also, Volkswagen has removed all “Clean” diesel commercials as well as the “Old Wives Tale” clean diesel videos.

The “clean” diesels we remember were a hoax.

2 Comments

Filed under News