2011 Ford Fusion Review

These have to be sweet days for Ford. Not only did they spare themselves the bankruptcies GM and Chrysler went through (by mortgaging the famous Blue Oval logo), theyre making and selling cars.

That probably sounds like a no-brainer...I mean, Fords a car company, right? But the fact is that Ford and the other domestics spent most of the last two decades selling trucks and SUVs. Sure, they made cars, but they werent the companys prime focus (way more profit in the trucks and SUVs) and consumers had long since put Toyota and Honda on the top of their family sedan shopping lists.

Well, thats all changing...and three weeks (yep, an extended test) in a Ford Fusion SE (courtesy Bell Ford in Phoenix, Arizona) goes a long way toward explaining why.

Weve said it before, well say it again: Want to know how good a car is? Get as close to the base model as possible. In this case, the tester was one level up...the four-cylinder SE. A base price of $22,830 buys a six-speed automatic transmission, 8-way power drivers seat, an AM/FM/SiriusXM Satellite Radio with CD, mp3 capability and six speakers, automatic headlamps, foglamps, floormats and 17" alloy wheels.

Loaded?  No. Nicely equipped? Absolutely.  Cloth seats breathe nicely in the summertime, so the lack of leather was actually a plus. And the interior design...the placement of all the controls...is so intuitive, so logical, that the Fusion went from a pleasant ride in its first few days to being an extension of the driver as the days and weeks went on.

As an automotive journalist used to a week at a time, multiplying the test window could expose serious flaws or at least niggling shortcomings, but not with the Fusion. It held up. I could see living with this car for the length of a 5-year car loan. Especially when you consider that the bottom line of this one is right at about $23,500 with delivery charges.

EPA estimates: 23 city/33 highway. Camry and Accord are still strong choices, but they can no longer take for granted that its all theirs.

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2011 Chevrolet Cruze LTZ Review

Its been 35 years since the famous "Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet" ad campaign. But the basic principle is evident in the new Chevrolet Cruze.

If youve heard or read that the Cruze is a quantum leap beyond the car it replaces, the Cobalt, youve heard or read right. This is a thoroughly modern, no-apologies small sedan...ready for battle in an intensely competitive segment.

Whats fascinating is how, in the same year, both Chevy and Ford get serious about building very good small cars, and yet, come up with very different solutions. The new Focus is Ford acknowledging that theyve been building the good stuff for Europe all these years and finally letting us get some...its essentially a German sedan.

The Cruze is, in its own way, every bit as good as the Focus...but its all-American. More like a smaller, tigther, more responsive Malibu (click the link to see that were not damning with faint praise...we like the Malibu a lot).

The Cruze we had for a week was the top of the line LTZ model, loaded at a base price of $21,975 (the Focus Titanium sedan starts at $22,270, so theyre competitive) with a 1.4 liter turbo four-cylinder, six speed automatic transmission, sport tuned suspension, a full complement of airbags, Stabilitrak stability and traction control, four-wheel anti-lock disc brakes, power door locks, theft alarm, remote keyless entry, rear parking assist, six months of OnStar, and tire pressure monitoring.  There are also power adjustable heated outside mirrors, variable wipers, a rear defogger (not a given in small sedans) and 18 inch alloy wheels.

Inside, theres an AM/FM/CD 6 speaker audio system with Bluetooth, steering wheel controls, USB interface and auxilary jack, floor mats, a drivers 6-way power seat (8-way manual for the front passenger), acoustic insulation, automatic climate control, leather appointed seats and steering wheel, a driver information center, tilt and telescoping steering column, power windows, cruise control, and heated seats up front.

The Chevy PR folks loaded ours up further with a power sunroof ($850), a Pioneer premium audio system ($445), crystal red metallic tintcoat pain ($325) and a compact spare tire ($100). Add $720 for delivery and the bottom line comes to $24,415.

Thats about $1300 more than the Focus we tested, and it was a five-door, which starts about $900 higher than the sedan. The Focus is more of a drivers car, manages better fuel economy despite a bigger engine (28 city/38 highway from a 2.0 liter to the Cruzes 24/36 from the 1.4 liter turbo), and seems a lot more like a drivers car...that European influence, no doubt.

So...a slam-dunk for the Focus? Not necessarily. On a lot of levels, the Cruze was more comfortable and easy to live with...and theres a huge segment of the intended audience that is not about performance...theyre looking (especially at prices nudging $25K) for comfort and convenience theyre used to from larger cars with small-car fuel economy.  Its really a matter of taste. And if it were me and my money Id be wrestling with the decision a long time.





 

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2011 Lincoln Town Car Review

The 2011 Lincoln Town Car. The end of the line, the end of an era.

The end of the year clearance sales are on. 2011s are leaving the lot to make room for the 2012s.

Except for the Lincoln Town Car. When the last one is gone, thats it. There will be no more. Its been years since Ford bothered to put one in the press fleet in TireKickers hometown, so we arranged with Fiesta Lincoln in Mesa, Arizona to drive one for a week.

The last Lincoln Town Car is a big deal because its not just the end of a body style or a nameplate, but of a type of automobile. The Town Car is what American sedans were from World War II onward...big, comfortable, rear-wheel-drive, V8-powered machines that sat six adults in great comfort.

The 2011 Lincoln Town Car interior. You may have had smaller apartments.

See that armrest in the picture above? Fold it up, and youll find a seat belt. Theres no center console. The gear selector is sticking out of the steering column. 3 in the front, 3 in the back...and even given contemporary American bodily dimensions (within reason), nobodys crowded. Theres 21 cubic feet of space in the trunk for all your things.

Its more comfortable than a large SUV, certainly has a better ride and arguably better handling, and it definitely gets better mileage (the EPA says 16 city/24 highway, and we saw 22.5 on a long stretch of urban freeway, with our weeklong city street/freeway mix never dropping below 19).

Our tester? Basic as it comes. The Signature model. $47,225. 4.6 liter single overhead cam flexible fuel V8, automatic transmission, halogen headlamps, heated power windows with memory, heated 8-way power front seats with lumbar, leather seating surfaces, leather and wood steering wheel with audio, cruise and climate controls, a dual-zone climate system, an AM/FM/6-CD changer premium audio system,  power adjustable pedals, rear park assist, four-wheel disc brakes with ABS, traction contol and a security alarm. All that packaged with a 4 year/50,000 mile bumper-to-bumper warranty, a 6 year/70,000 mile powertrain warranty and 24 hour roadside assistance.

Complete enough that ours had only one option...whitewall tires ($125). Yes, whitewall tires. You can still get them. And, apparently, reasonably.

All told, with $945 for destination and delivery charges, the Town Car rang in at $48,295. And you know what? We loved it. Its the ultimate road trip car (I rented dozens, if not hundreds over the years as a traveling TV news reporter), and its perfectly fine in city traffic as well. There is, in fact, nothing wrong with it that couldnt be fixed with some cosmetic and convenience updates, and driving the Town Car, I kept coming up with arguments why it should be saved.

But the Town Car got stuck with the label of "old peoples car", and in an acutely image-conscious society thus was doomed to declining sales as its owner base aged, gave up drivers licenses and, well, began dying off. Demand stayed strong in the limousine and executive sedan market, where the combined virtues of room, relative economy and near-bulletproof reliability (300,000 to 400,000 miles is not uncommon for a Town Car) are highly prized.

The 2011 Lincoln Town Car. Off into the sunset.

Why dont civilian drivers who buy large (in some cases, huge) vehicles prize those qualities, too? Room for 6, more than respectable gas mileage, decent cargo space, epic safety ratings and legendary durability and reliability with a starting price under $50,000 would probably be a big draw...on paper..for a lot of buyers in their 40s and 50s.

Until you say the words "Lincoln Town Car".

So we walk away from something that works in favor of more stylish things that dont quite work as well. Our fault and our loss for that. There are a lot of people for whom a Lincoln Town Car would be just about perfect. If you have an open mind, Cars.com says there are 746 new Town Cars on dealer lots in the USA as I type this. Thats 28 fewer than there were when I began writing this review a little less than an hour ago. 26.64 more hours like that and theyre all gone.

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Ferrari 575M Maranello cars Review

The Ferrari 575M Maranello is essentially a revised version of the Ferrari 550 with styling adjustments courtesy of Pininfarina.

Ferrari 575M Maranello cars wallpapers

The Ferrari 575M Maranello was replaced by the Ferrari 599 GTB in the first half of 2006.

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Daihatsu Copen Review

The Copens cite has been drastically widened thanks to the fitment of the homophonic 87 PS engine as the Sirion supermini which not only boosts performance and economy but allows higher wheelwork for much easy cruising. The exclusive difference to the axenic tidy spatiality of the early Daihatsu Copen is a smaller rear reboot mollycoddler and a extent of new flag. Artful and unaltered Daihatsu Copen sports car has metamorphose substantially much desired with a punchy yet much scotch new 1.3 litre engine, higher gearing to compound flawlessness. New Engine Transforms Refer The Copens new 1.3 litre petrol engine totally transforms the weeny cars attractiveness while providing flatbottomed outdo render frugalness and berth jade emissions - a Daihatsu speciality. The engine itself is highly-advanced and is essentially the equal object fitted to the Daihatsu Sirion supermini. Featuring Resurgent Inconsistent Valve Timing (DVVT) which enhances low-speed pulling cause and high-rev greeting, the jibe expense camshaft thing is thick and sick, with an impurity theme and block. The new Daihatsu Copen is exclusive 27 kg heavier than the early 660 cc represent and now weighs a quick 850 kg. Knowledge is 87 PS at 6,000 rpm with torque of 88.5 lb ft at 4,400 rpm. The engine has a 10.3:1 contraction ratio and features a diam and touch of 72 x 79.7 mm. It also features long chains for its camshaft route which compel no upkeep and cannot seize suchlike restraint systems. Oil modification intervals are now 9,000 miles instead of the previous 660 cc moulds 3,000 miles. Mans Gear Self-Regenerating Activator The new Sirion 1.3 litre launched in 2005 featured the groupings prime self-regenerating catalyst. This creativity is also distributed by the new Copen. It effectively extends the brio of the catalytic converter, reducing fixing costs and is kinder to the environs as it keeps the catalyst healthier over a higher mileage significance the already low 140 g/km does not gain as the engine becomes senior. This subverter application mechanism by providing a self-regenerating aptitude in the particles of the treasured mixture which normally degrades. Using nanotechnology, the natural catalyst incorporates bronze ions of metal, the most heat-sensitive of the metals misused in a catalytic convertor. According to temperature and easy gas, the particles break in and out of a limpid land therefore regenerating and prolonging the cats ability to remove weary gasses. The case power with the roof up is comfortable for a weekend departed. With the roof downward, there is place for a little sports bag. The front-wheel cover Daihatsu Copen measures 3,440 mm agelong, has a 1,475 mm width excluding mirrors and is 1,245 mm luxuriously. Its wheelbase is 2,225 mm, overhangs are tiny and the driver sits perfectly between forepart and parent wheels for redundant touch friendliness. The engine is transversely-mounted in the foremost. Active Chassis - Conceived As A Sports Car Anyone expecting the Daihatsu Copen to be a wakeful style-statement faculty be in for a perturbation. The power-steering is especially bluff and illustrative and the handling taut and agile. Graduate Safety Levels Area is supposition nasal precedency in the Daihatsu Copen which - despite its gnomish filler - has all the last life-saving and injury-reducing initiatives. The braking group features servo-assisted front aired disc brake measuring a unsparing 246 mm with 180 mm parent drums. Anti-lock is also acceptable as is Electronic Brakeforce Organization (EBD) which encourage avoids the locking-up of respective wheels during plain braking. Daihatsus much-admired impact-sensing scheme book as an emergency-alert emblem by automatically unlocking the doors pursuing an happening, activity the danger flashers and edged off the render supply.

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