Heads up, compact fans; the configurator for the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze has officially gone live. If you've got a few hot seconds to spare as your work week comes to a close, you can build up your new Bowtie fuel miser any way you so please. It doesn't take long to click off enough options to have the Cruze sitting pretty at just shy of $26,800 including destination. Of course, that kind of coin will fetch you a sunroof, spare tire, RS appearance package, navigation and just about everything else your heart could desire in LTZ trim.
Of course, the frugal among you can sink your teeth into a $16,995 LS model, complete with a naturally aspirated 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine, six-speed manual transmission and not much else. If it were us laying down the coin, we'd probably hold off until we got word exactly how much Chevrolet is going to ask for the super-efficient Eco model. Thanks for the tip, Scott!
General Motors has officially announced that television and movie star Tim Allen will be the new "voice of Chevrolet," starting with a series of ads that will begin airing on September 7. These ads will be for the all-new 2011 Chevrolet Cruze, and while Allen is a big-name with a very recognizable voice, GM's vice president of marketing, Joel Ewanick, reminds us that "the car will be the star."
Allen is best known for his starring role on the long-running 1990s sitcom Home Improvement, as well as his roles in The Santa Clause movies and as the voice behind Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story trilogy. In addition, Allen is also a well-known automobile enthusiast and has an extensive car collection. He is a native of Detroit, Michigan, and has a strong love for classic American muscle cars.
Look Listen for Tim Allen in four 30-second GM spots, scheduled to hit your television screen in the coming weeks. GM says that the Cruze's marketing campaign will ramp up as the cars begin to arrive at dealerships in greater volume. For the full details, hit the jump to read GM's press release.
[Source: General Motors | Image: Michael Schwartz/WireImage.com]
Chevrolet Cruze Hatchback - Click above for high-res image gallery
General Motors will be expanding Chevrolet of Europe's lineup by adding a five-door Cruze, and while we won't get our first look at this new hatchback for a few weeks, GM has decided to preview it early with a few pictures on the web. Sure to be one of the major draws at the Paris Motor Show in just a few weeks, the liftback ought to compete nicely with the 2012 Ford Focus five-door, but don't expect GM to offer the more functional Cruze in the United States. "Americans don't like hatchbacks," remember?
Much like the Aveo RS and Buick Regal GS from this year's Detroit Auto Show, GM calls the Cruze hatchback a "show car," but in this case, that means that it's somewhere between the stages of concept and prototype. Don't expect the body to change, but we can easily see the front LED light bar and larger wheels being scrapped for the sake of cost-cutting.
Chevrolet says it will begin selling the Cruze hatchback across Europe in mid-2011 and pricing will be announced closer to the model's on-sale date. Follow the jump for the full details in GM's press release. Thanks to everyone for the tips!
2011 Chevrolet Cruze - Click above for high-res image gallery
Even with the impending launch of the Volt later in the Fall, the Chevrolet Cruze may be the biggest vehicle General Motors will launch in the U.S. this year. The reason is money. The Cruze should make some of it, while the Volt and its pricey development and battery packs likely won't for a long time.
The Cruze looks pretty good to us, but we know that the new sedan will only be successful if it is properly launched and marketed. So how do you best show off a refined interior, 10 standard airbags and more hip- and shoulder-room than the top sellers in the class? Automotive News reports that The General will ask its 3,000 dealers to purchase a Toyota Corolla and a Honda Civic so Bowtie shoppers can compare and contrast the newest Chevrolet against the C-Segment stalwarts from Japan.
Since the Cruze is all-new in the U.S. market and both the Civic and Corolla are a bit long-in-the-tooth, we're thinking the Chevy will win more than its fair share of buyers, but we'd like to see Chevy stores step up to the challenge of the Mazda3, as well. Perhaps the bigger challenge, though, will be to get customers who would traditionally buy a Honda or Toyota to shop at a Chevy store in the first place. GM plans to officially launch the Cruze in late September.
Chevrolet Vega Car & Track segment - Click above to view the video after the jump
"The goal is to be nifty." Quite a gem of a quote from Car & Track's look into the work behind bringing the Chevrolet Vega to market. C&T was among the first national television shows that covered both auto racing and road tested the cars of its day, and their videos remain fun to watch and offer a glimpse into the past to see cars that have become both famous and infamous in their original context.
Looking at the Vega's design, testing, engineering and construction, C&T calls it "the most precisely engineered car built in America." Uh-huh. Thankfully, 'precisely engineered' means something rather different today, and even if we don't lust after the Vega like other cars from its era, we can still enjoy a glimpse inside some of General Motors' vehicle development and testing methods from some forty years ago. Check out the video after the jump - and be sure to scroll down to see what C&T has to say about the one-and-only 1971 AMC Gremlin, too! Top tip, Tom!
Prospective owners of the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf shouldn't get too excited about driving in California carpool lanes as soon as they take delivery. Late Tuesday night California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signedSB 535 into law, extending access to the high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) lanes to certain very low and zero emissions vehicles. This new class of vehicles known as Enhanced Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emissions Vehicles (enh-ATPZEVs) and includes plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles like the Leaf and Toyota's Prius PHEV.
Unfortunately, there are some caveats. SB 535 doesn't take effect until January 1, 2012 and even then only 40,000 of the special stickers needed for HOV access will be made available. In order to qualify, the vehicle has to be rated as an enh-ATPZEV, which brings up the second problem for Volt drivers. A General Motors spokesperson confirmed that the 2011 and 2012 Volt will not be enh-ATPZEV certified. The requirements to earn the enh-ATPZEV label are significantly tougher than the standard ATPZEV. Given the escalated development of the Volt, GM didn't have enough time to calibrate and verify that the plug-in hybrid would meet the standard over a 10-year/150,000-mile period.
That's also why the Volt battery only has the eight-year/100,000-mile warranty required for the non-enhanced ATPZEV. GM spokesman Rob Peterson verified that the Volt will be updated to enh-ATPZEV in mid-2012 when the 2013 model is introduced. In the meantime, you'll just to make sure to bring a friend if you want to ride in the carpool lane. UPDATE: We just got word from Nissan that the Leaf is eligible for the All Access stickers under a previous bill passed (AB 1500) earlier this year. That means if you take delivery of a Leaf today, you can be flying in the HOV lanes tomorrow.
General Motors confirmed this morning that November 11, 2010 has been set as the official Job 1 date for the Chevrolet Volt. The news initially reported by Translogic was verified to AutoblogGreen by GM spokesman Rob Peterson. November 2010 has always been the targeted production launch timing for the Volt, but a specific day couldn't be set until other development milestones were met.
Now that development and testing is virtually complete and certification testing is underway, production and customer deliveries will soon start unless there are any showstopping issues. Generally, dealer deliveries start about three to four weeks after Job 1, so those early models should be rolling off trucks and onto dealer lots in early December.
However, with California being one of the launch markets for the Volt, we would be surprised if GM doesn't hold some kind of event to deliver the first customer car in conjunction with the press days for the Los Angeles Auto Show on November 17-18. Between now and November, the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant will continue building the pre-production units that are going into GM's captured test fleet for use by employees for real-world evaluation.
FireBreather Camaro - Click above for high-res image gallery
Hollywood movies are chock full of kick-ass superhero cars. There are radical vehicles, like the Batmobile and Mach 5, and then there are the gussied-up street cars like Eleanor, Greased Lightning and Austin Powers' Shaguar. Aside from the extreme styling, most of the mechanized celebrities from Hollywood are only capable of conjuring their supernatural performance on-screen. Step aside Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and make room for FireBreather.
Getting a jump on Jinn, a film due to be released next year by Exxodus Pictures, Classic Design Concepts is introducing its own superhero car. Unlike the aforementioned movie props, relegated to static displays in museums or car shows, the satin-black hero in the upcoming supernatural thriller will make it into limited production and offer enough performance to back up its enhanced persona.
Autoblog caught up with the wickedly-styled Camaro coupe at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance a couple weeks ago. While the venue is hardly an ideal setting for putting any car through its paces, there was plenty of time to take in the FireBreather aura and persuade its supercharged 600-horsepower engine to remove more than a few layers of rubber from the rear tires.
As expected, there were many questions in need of answering. How was it transformed? Who's behind the styling and what's the logic behind the name? Most importantly, what's it like to drive this real-life superhero car? These answers and more, after the jump.
Straight from the "No Surprise" department comes word from GMInsideNews that all of General Motors mid-size offerings will come equipped with four-cylinder engines as the only available powerplant.
GM has made it clear for the last few years that a large part of its future product strategy is to downsize its engine line-up in preparation for the new 2015 CAFE standards. The shift has already begun with the introduction of the 2011 Buick Regal, available with either a 182-horsepower direct injected 2.4-liter or a turbocharged 2.0-liter putting out 220 hp and 258 pound-feet of torque.
The next model to go all-four-banger will be the next generation Chevrolet Malibu, slated to arrive late next year and likely packing - to begin with - the same 2.4-liter four. A range of direct injected engines, both naturally aspirated and turbocharged, are in the works, so the General won't be hurting for options, but expect the V6 to stick around for GM's larger offerings, including the next Impala.
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Chris, Sam, Alex and Dan convene for Episode #193 of the Autoblog Podcast. We cover the Ford Boss Mustang and Roush supercharger package, the latest Chevrolet Volt fuel economy dust-up, the BMW 1 Series M Coupe, Mazda's apparent new design language and the Lotus Evora S and Evora IPS. We finish it off by talking about snow tires, that most summery of topics. It's an a quick 51 minutes, See you next week!
Autoblog Podcast #193 - Hot Mustangs, Volt Mileage, 1 Series M, Mazda design and Lotus Evoras
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The Redster by Fireball Tim Lawrence - Click above for high-res image gallery
Any time Hollywood's current go-to car guy, Fireball Tim Lawrence, is involved in a project, you know it's going to be a rolling masterpiece. So when AutoTrader Classic invited us to see Fireball's latest creation ahead of its public debut at the SEMA show in November, we jumped at the chance. Make the jump for yourself to get up close and personal with The Redster.
Reeves Callaway makes the point that his company's Silverado program is extremely new by saying, "Anything I may have said in this conversation may not be true, 'cause I don't know what I'm talking about yet." Modest and super-nice, he's emphasizing that our recent phone chat covering the details of Callaway Cars' move into the realm of pickup trucks is about a project that's still in its early stages of execution.
"We've got an outline of what we would like to do, now the task is do it, test it," Callaway says. Having made its name building highly-modified Corvettes since the 1980s, Callaway Cars' diverse endeavors have stretched from turbocharger kits for BMWs and Alfa Romeos to building and supporting the Corvette Z06.Rs that race in the FIA GT3 European Championship Series, so a pickup truck shouldn't be all that shocking.
"We've got all of the infrastructure in place to service the Corvette and Camaro," Callaway explains, "we figured it's logical to do a pickup truck too, if for no other reason than the powertrain is already done. We have loads of experience with that." While the tuning is obviously different between the V8s in the Corvette and the Silverado, they use essentially the same engine.
Callaway explains the development program has two main objectives. First, "make the power, which we looked at as the easier of the two." Second, and perhaps more challenging, Callaway wants to do "something that nobody really has ever done, in my experience with a pickup truck, and that is [to] make it handle like a Corvette." This is where you roll your eyes and say, "how are they gonna pull that off." Follow the jump and keep reading to find out.
Todd Schnitt with his Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 - Click above for high-res image gallery
In what may be the ultimate experience for the ultimate Chevrolet Corvette fan, General Motors is allowing buyers of the ultimate versions of its sportscars the opportunity to build their own engines. It's... ultimate, and it's called the Corvette Engine Build Experience. The first person to take The General up on its offer is Tampa, Florida-based radio talk show host Todd Schnitt.
Total cost for the experience rings in at $5,800 (plus travel to Detroit), but Schnitt doesn't seem to mind shelling out a few extra greenbacks: "To build my own engine is over the top," said Schnitt. "When my dealer told me about the option, it was like 'Of course, I'll do it, sign me up!'. I can't wait to get there and build my own LS9. It will be the ultimate personalization for my car. I'm anticipating it being one of the coolest things I've done in my life."
Reading between the lines a little bit, it's obvious that Schnitt is something of a GM super fan. This is the third ZR1 he's purchased in as many years, and he bought a Z06 in '07. He's also attended GM's high performance driving school and traveled to the National Corvette Museum to pick up a previous 'Vette. Oh, and his daily driver is a 2010 Cadillac CTS-V.
Feel free to click on past the break for all the details and a video of the process, and be sure to check out our high-res image gallery below to see what it takes to screw together a supercharged LS9 engine from GM.
Chevrolet Suburban 75th Anniversary Event - Click above for high-res image gallery
Quick, what's the longest-running nameplate in the car business?
If you said Honda Civic, you deserve to be smacked upside the head with a four-inch exhaust tip - it's merely 37 model years old. The vehicle we're talking about is positively prehistoric by comparison. The Porsche 911? Wrong again, as it only predates the Civic by a decade. You're getting closer if you said the Ford F-Series, but still, FoMoCo didn't launch its best-selling pickup until 1948.
You've got to go all the way back to 1935 for the launch of the auto industry's Methuselah, the Chevrolet Suburban. That makes 2010 the 75th anniversary of the full-size SUV archetype. To celebrate, Chevy opened its vault on one of the Dog Days of August to let journalists drive a handful of vintage models.
It was something of a belated party, as GM stopped building 2010 model year Suburbans in June, including the special Diamond Edition model. But we're not going to complain about being given the opportunity to get seat time in eight of the ten historic "Caryall" generations. Model years 1936, 1946, 1951, 1966, 1972, 1990, 1999 and 2002 were on hand, most thanks to GM's Heritage Center.
We decided that the only proper way to approach the task was to drive back in history. This served well to highlight not just how much the Suburban has changed in recent model years, but how much the auto industry has evolved since the pre-war era. But it also showed how consistent the Suburban has been over all these years, offering eight-passenger capability in a roomy wagon body mounted on a heavy truck frame since its inception. History has shown this formula's a winner; Chevy estimates it has built between 2.25-2.4 million Suburbans in total.
Follow the jump for a taste of our experience driving the Suburban back in time to its beginning.
The power-driven minds at Callaway are looking to sink their teeth into the performance pickup truck market. According to PickupTrucks.com, the company has already laid its hands on a new Chevrolet Silverado 1500, complete with a 6.2-liter V8 cranking out 403 horsepower and 417 lb-ft of torque, and has begun exploring potential performance enhancements. We're guessing that means there will be a crap ton more power coming from that mill by the time all is said and done, but there's indication that the final product will be more than a truck with a blower.
Callaway has a reputation for turning mild-mannered Chevrolet vehicles into all-out supercars, complete with a host of suspension upgrades. Whether the company decides to put a Silverado on the ground in the same vein as the old Ford F-150 SVT Lightening or rework the springs for off-road domination in aims of toppling the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor remains to be seen. We're personally hoping for the latter, but the truth is anything with the Callaway name on it tends to point our imaginations in the fun direction.
Chevrolet Orlando - Click above for high-res image gallery
General Motors has released official details on the production 2011 Chevrolet Orlando MPV, which will make its first public appearance at this year's Paris Motor Show. As we reported earlier and confirmed again today, GM has no plans to offer the Orlando in the United States - a shame, too, since this would indeed be a fitting replacement for the aging, less-attractive Chevrolet HHR.
Inside, the Orlando offers seating for seven, though we imagine it's a bit cramped when fully loaded with people since this new MPV shares a platform with the smaller Chevrolet Cruze sedan. Nevertheless, GM says that there will be plenty of family-friendly interior amenities, including a hidden storage area behind the audio system's front fascia, first seen on the Orlando concept back in 2008.
European customers will be able to choose from three different powertrains - a 1.8-liter gasoline four-cylinder that produces 141 horsepower, and two 2.0-liter diesel units that offer 131 and 163 horsepower. We don't have official word yet but suspect that all of these powertrains will be coupled to six-speed automatic transmissions and that power will only be delivered to the front two wheels. Speaking of wheels, customers will be able to choose from a variety of alloy options, ranging from 16 to 18 inches in diameter.
As we've said before, it's easy to understand why GM wouldn't want to offer the Orlando in the States. The HHR is hanging in there in terms of sales, and folks looking for something larger are easily stepping up into the Chevrolet Equinox crossover. That said, neither of those vehicles are able to seat seven. You can read GM's own words about the Orlando in the press release, available after the jump.
Translogic Episode 5.4 - Click above to watch video after the jump
Our brothers from another mother over at Translogic just released their latest episode yesterday, episode 5.4 for whoever's counting. Host Bradley Hasemeyer spent a day with General Motors at the automaker's Milford Proving Ground driving the 2011 Chevrolet Volt and came away with some heretofore unknown tidbits of information about the series hybrid.
For one, in addition to Eco, Normal and Sport modes, the Volt will have what's called Mountain Mode that allows it to climb any grade in the country. A GM engineer says they checked to be sure its Mountain Mode was adequate for any grade in the States and we have proof of at least one major mountain the Volt can climb. When Mountain Mode is selected, ideally about ten miles out from any big hills you want to climb, the Volt will kick on its on-board generator and create extra energy for the batteries. This allows the Volt's drive system to draw more power than normal from the battery packs while climbing a grade. If the battery packs are drained and the generator's already on, Mountain Mode will then increase the engine's RPM to make up the difference.
Bradley also performed an impromptu 0-60 miles per hour test in the Volt, completing the run to highway speeds in 8.53 seconds while the car was in Sport mode. Not earth shatteringly quick, but plenty spry to feel normal in everyday driving conditions. Over the course of the day, Bradley drove the Volt a total of 59.7 miles, 16.1 of which occurred with the gas-powered range-extending on. During that time, 0.59 gallons of gas were consumed, which means the Volt achieved about 100 mpg for the day and 27.3 mpg while the engine was operating.
The rest of the video is full of Volt information of which we're already aware, including how it interacts with mobile devices, charging options and the like, though we can't say we've seen anybody throw around the Volt yet like Bradley did. Follow the jump to view episode 5.4 for yourself and visit the Translogic blog here.
Redline HTR-GS640/SC - Click above for image gallery
There is an old axiom of hot rodding that still stands true today. You can only go so fast as your pockets are deep. We see quite a few outlandishly-tuned exotics come across our inboxes from one day to the next, each boasting supercar-besting power figures and price tags to match. It's much more rare to see a shop create a car with serious power, a warranty, and a price tag that seems like a performance value.
But that's exactly what Howard Tanner of Redline Motorsports and Dan Carlton of DeNooyer Performance have come up with in the Redline HTR-GS640/SC. Take your run-of-the-mill Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport with all of its factory handling, stopping and light-weight goodies, then throw a gamut of aftermarket go-fast parts at the engine. Tanner and Carlton bolt on an Edelbrock E-Force supercharger with long intake runners for big-time low-end torque. Throw in a new cam with more lift and duration, robust valve springs with titanium retainers and chromoly push rods. Ice that cake with a Borla exhaust and MGW short-throw shifter and you've got an $82,000 Corvette capable of popping the formerly almighty ZR1 in the eye.
DeNooyer Performance will even warranty the car for three years or 36,000 miles. Plus, you can remove the roof in the Redline HTR-GS640/SC. Not so much in the Blue Devil. Now if they could only come up with a sexier name for this blown Grand Sport... If you like what you see, Tanner and Carlton will be happy to put a set of keys in your hand. From what we hear, they even take trades and will work up financing. Check their site for more information.
The 2012 Chevrolet Malibu has been busted again, wearing front and rear camo, which is more camo than it wore the last time we saw it. It's clear that the flanks are getting just enough etching to add some visual interest, but we're wondering how far the front and back treatments will move toward Regal-ish styling or whether they'll carve a place of their own. That Volvo- and Camry-esque trunk treatment has really got us going...
According to Inside Line, this version of the 'Bu could go international, which makes the expectation of "a complete interior overhaul" a necessity. Even so, a navigation screen is only expected to be optional. Rumored engines are a direct-injection four-cylinder, a hybrid, a 3.6-liter V6 and a turbocharged ECOTEC.
Chevrolet is air-dropping the Corvette and Camaro back into the UK retail market next year. Corvette supplies dried up in 2009 when the importer closed its doors, and it's been 34 years since the mothership last sold the Camaro in Britain. Autocar reports that Chevy UK is seeking approval for the entire Corvette lineup, while Camaro buyers will be limited to the SS model in coupe or convertible body styles.
Pricing hasn't been finalized, but in 2008 (when Corvettes were last offered in the UK) a standard C6 cost £39,999 ($62,117 U.S.) and the Z06 was £54,995 ($85,405 U.S.). The new pricing is expected to be in the same ballpark, with additional cars like the Grand Sport and ZR1 factored into the mix. Shoppers should see the American sports cars in UK showrooms next May, but in the meantime, Chevy UK would like to interest you in an Orlando MPV, which goes on sale in early 2011.
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