Car King

Cars of the Future

Wired has a great article on cars of the future being developed now by
the likes of MIT, NASA and Silicon Valley start-ups.

Note the “down-sizing” of vehicles, like MIT’s CityCar. This is a
trend I think we’re already seeing. While SUVs will remain popular, at
least as a pure necessity for families, there’s a backlash occurring
against them and it’s taking the shape of the SmartCar and vehicles
like the Honda Fit and Toyota Echo. I see this continuing for some
time, and we’ll have groups of vehicle enthusiasts…those who love
SUVs, and those who like their pocket cars.

The changes coming, however, involve more than just shear size. Think
radical new engines to increase efficiency through numerous motors,
and fuel systems that will accept a number of different fuel types.

And then there’s the powdered gasoline. Sure, sounds like a great
idea, until we have scores of teenagers hooked on snorting the crap.
You know it will happen.

Article

CarKing

Technorati Tags: Cars of the Future

Toyota Says Their Cars Suck

No really! What else could it mean when a car manufacturer says to the dealerships that sell them, “Hey, build more service bays to fix our cars”?

That’s what Toyota did according to the AIADA newsletter. Of course, of course, Toyota is saying that the reason for requesting dealerships have more service bays is because there are so many Toyotas on the road, and of course, of course, some of these are getting older.

Could it have something to do with, perhaps, just a little, of course, of course, all the recalls Toyota has had the past couple of years? Maybe, just maybe, their product isn’t quite as reliable as it used to be?

Well sure it’s possible, come on, what isn’t? Truth be told, I’m sure Toyota’s reasoning is valid. Toyota’s been selling more product than Paris Hilton’s been whining about jail time. With all those cars out there, there’s bound to be some servicing in the future.

The big question is, why are some resisting? You’d be blind to not build for the future. Service and repairs can make up a huge portion of a dealership’s profit. But until dealerships stop seeing their service and parts departments as the red-headed-stepchildren of their business, this cranky and pathetic bitching will surely continue.

CarKing

Technorati Tags: Toyota

Chrysler Sold To Cerberus Capital Management

DaimlerChrysler, soon to be just Daimler, sold Chysler to Cerberus
Capital Management, a private equity firm looking for a new billion
dollar challenge. They receive the brands Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep,
and Daimler receives some cash. Though the deal says its 7.4 billion,
they’ll really only get about 1.35 since much of the money will be
reinvested in Chrysler.

Daimler will retain a 19.9% share of Chrysler, leaving it with
Mercedes-Benz. So, this time next year, we’ll be reporting on how
Daimler is struggling to improve the reliability of their Mercedes
vehicles…wait, that’s already happening. Sure Mercedes look nice,
but their notoriously unreliable.

Message to Cerberus: I want a Dodge Demon.

CarKing

Technorati Tags: DaimlerChrysler, Chrysler

Chevrolet Volt Is Coming

Larry Burns, VP of R&D, and Vice Chairman Bob Lutz have confirmed that
the Chevrolet Volt is beginning the process of becoming a production
vehicle that will be available in dealerships, though probably at low
volumes to start.

The Chevy Volt will rival the Toyota Prius in the hybrid market.
Unlike other hybrids, however, the Volt will be able to be plugged in
for charging, and so small trips (say 40 miles or less) would not
actually use any gasoline. Since the debut is expected in 2010 at the
earliest, whether this saves consumers any cash will depend on the
cost of electricity, and efficiency of the vehicle. In environmental
terms, the Volt would clearly reduce emissions.

Oh, and it looks cool.

CarKing

Technorati Tags: Chevrolet Volt, Chevy Volt

Got A Sweet Ride? Win A Tee!

The guys at ImportTuner, who were kind enough to sponsor this, are looking for folks to submit pictures and descriptions of their rides for their May, Ride of the Month, contest. If you win, you’re modded, tweaked and tuned vehicular object will be highlighted in an article, and you’ll get a pretty cool Import Tuner t-shirt that you can wear while you sport around town showing it off…which I know you do, admit it, it’s ok. Nobody takes that many trips to the grocery.

I see plenty of rust-buckets with new rims and spoilers, hell, I’ve even seen (yes, it’s true) a decades old Plymouth, maroon, van with shiny-ass rims, flame stickers along the side, and an industrial spoiler. Let’s not send in those pictures, eh? I’ll be returning to ImportTuner.com and I want to see some really cool rides! Those cars you rarely see, where you know the owner loves it like a child. Pampered and fresh, but from the sound you know it’s got a cheetah under the hood! And remember, if it has stickers, it better back them up.

While we at CarKing like getting pics in too, we don’t have t-shirts (sad face). So if you need a new tee, you’ll get one over there. Not here. There.

CarKing

Technorati Tags: Contest

Build Your Own Transformer at Chevy.com

If you’re psyched to see some robot action in this summer’s
sure-to-be-disappointing blockbuster Transformers, then you’ll
probably dig Chevy’s build your own Autobot feature at their website.

So, if Chevy’s got the Autobots covered, who exactly would make up the
Decepticons? Put aside Bush/Cheney/Rice/Tenet and Worldcom/Enron
because we’re talking cars here, people. If only the Taliban made
cars, I think we could easily log them as the evils.

That gets me thinking, what would the Taliban name their vehicles?
Maybe that’s another post.

Build your Autobot.

CarKing

Technorati Tags: Chevrolet, Transformers

Get The Cheapest Gas Prices From Automotive.com

Automotive.com, who’s sponsored this, has set up a pretty cool new feature that allows you to find the cheapest gas prices in your area. I don’t know how exactly the data is collected, but I imagine the detail regarding local gas taxes wasn’t too hard to get. You put in your zip code and the widget (which you can place on your website, if you’re so inclined) outputs the average cost of a gallon of gas for your area.

From there, well, just find a station where you can get it cheaper and you’ve found a deal. In examining the stations in my area, and testing the tool, it seems pretty accurate. It stated a gallon of gasoline is 2.87 where I live, and there are plenty of stations that hover around that mark. The gas station I frequent is almost 10 cents lower, but I’ve known that the gasoline there is more affordable for a while now (hence why I frequent it….they also have good deals on fountain soda so I fill up two tanks while I’m there).

With the price of gas getting so high, every cent you save helps. I’d recommend this tool as a guideline. There’s certainly no reason to buy gas somewhere where you are going to be paying more than the average. Unless their deal on fountain soda is down-right obnoxious.

CarKing

Technorati Tags: Cheap Gas

TVR’s Sagaris Coming To America?

TVR is planning on bringing it’s Sagaris model to the United States, and it’s a sweet looking ride. Check out the exhaust pipes pointing out the rear sides.

TVR has changed ownership a few times in the past decade, and the new owners seem bent on reinvigorating the historic sports car company.
Too bad the 400 horsepower, six cylinder, head-turning sports car will run you $120,000. But they’ll be nice to look at on the road.

CarKing

Technorati Tags: TVR, Sagaris

New Car/Auto Link Directory

CarKing.net has opened it’s auto link directory, In an effort to provide helpful links to visitors. If you own or operate a new car dealership or used car dealership, offer car loans, sell auto parts & accessories, are a car wash, car rental center, car repair and service center, or sell car alarms and car audio equipment, or run your own car related website and would like a link in our directory, go to the Submit page.

CarKing

Technorati Tags: Car Links

The Automotive X Prize Launched

Remember the X Prize that gave a boat load of cash to a team that
could get a passenger vehicle into space safely and cost-effectively?
Now they’re working on an automotive X Prize hoping to create a
viable, affordable, safe, highly efficient car. The teams building the
vehicles must have a business plan and show that the car is able to be
manufactured on a large scale.

The prize itself has not been announced, but the guidelines are up on
the site for review and feedback (a nice first step to ensure they’ve
considered everything).

The competition will end with a race, which would be nice to have on
television, in 2009. The X Prize foundation will be working to bring
the winning car to production. Visit the Automotive X Prize site.

CarKing

Technorati Tags: Automotive X Prize

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