When it comes to the hybrid game, Toyota leads the pack, and with its latest intro, continues to set the place. The 2010 Toyota Prius is on the prowl, ready to throw a wrench in everyone else’s hybrid game. Put-putting along at low speeds to achieve maximum fuel economy, the Prius takes the hobby to a whole new interactive level, with technology that is accessible and easy to operate, and endless mpg streaming. (We’ve heard 70 mpg rumors, but unfortunately we don’t have the eco-minded patience to achieve such feats in the Gotryke Garage.) We spent a week in the Prius, being regular, which is at the end of the day what most Prius owners will do, averaging about 50 mpg. That means conducting errands in busy traffic, and making cross-town jaunts to art events and practical stops at grocery stores. We even tested the baby seat and stroller component with our starring backseat 1-yr old evaluator. Truth be told, the baby factor sometimes knocks small cars out of the game, with proportions that cancel out the passenger’s hope of leg room. For a small contender, the Prius survived our gear test. So what do we think about the looks and feel?
It’s a whole new look for the Prius in 2010, but it still looks like, eh, a Prius – a space-age four-door hatchback that seats five people, or three adults and one baby seat. [click to continue…]
Nothing like unseasonable weather to test the limits of a car deemed luxury — particularly when the luxury segment is being turned on it’s head by the stormy perceptions of the moment. These are the make or break entrants — the hybrid SUVS.
Time again extreme weather is the real test of comfort, durability and sensibility — which is the real measure of new luxury. In these times, luxury is no longer about cache, but more about cozy — the indulgences worth investing in. And so the weekend wave of sweltering heat that took over the tri-state area proved to be a good measure of the new prototype Lexus RX450 h. By our estimation, RX450h passed the test. [click to continue…]
Detroit is down shifting. It was not long ago that the Big Three were best known for speed, horsepower and big hefty torque. So 2008. While the Camaro, Challenger and Mustang souped-up additions were on display, their presence was subdued in lieu of the electrified concept machines — making a slower go at fuel economy. The most surprising is the Lincoln C-Concept with a 4-cylinder EcoBoost. Yet, the word about town was how great Chrysler’s EVS are to drive, as one of my colleagues enthusiastically bragged. Personally, I think the Cadillac Converj is a sexy take on refined luxury for a brand that showed promise since it broke out of the shell a few concept cycles ago. [click to continue…]
Live from New York City! We’ve been quiet for several days. Who needs more time on the blue screen during vacation anyway. While information is amazing, disengaging is important, too. And now we’re back, geared up for ‘09. Buckle in and join us for the ride.
We made it cross country safe and sound in a Ford Flex from the New York media fleet to it’s native Detroit, on its way back in from it’s east coast tour of duty that coincided with my annual journey to native country. Generally, media cars have a reputation for being dogged after they make their way through a steady of rotation of journalists who go buck wild on the open road, and I wondered how the Flex would measure up when we picked up the vehicle from the Ford garage shortly before Christm
It seemed ironic to us that my partner Lee Quinones, who recently customized a Flex for Automobile Magazine, and I would take turns helming the wheel on the 600 mile westward journey. During the time he performed the job, Lee spent a great deal of time staring at the Flex for artistic inspiration. As a result, he is now familiar with every panel of sheet metal down to the knobs inside out.
Now we would see if the Flex would live up to the hype of the fly paint job he laced on the show car. And the conditions for our journey proved formidable — sub-zero temps, high winds, and gusts of snow on the I-80 Great Lakes front. We were only three — but with a three month old baby on board and a bale of presents, that’s equivalent to a full load.
The Flex has one of the best interiors I’ve seen in years on a domestic car — interesting stitching and decnt quality fixtures, and it proved comfy on the long journey, too. The spacious interior allowed for easy access to the baby seat. The cabin was quiet and the panoramic glass allows for a wide outlook from the driver’s and passenger’s vantage point.
Our vehicle was equipped with Sync, and we made use of a few of the features. I still have quibbles over navigation systems with too many options. When we dropped off the vehicle we were led on a detour that turned into a wild goose chase, but perhaps blame it on the user. It seems that navigation should also allow passengers to enter addresses even when the vehicle is in motion.
However, we made it to Michigan in good time, a steady cruise control despite winter weather on our heels aided by sure handed all wheel drive assertion. The 3.5-liter V6 that churns out 262 horsepower and 248 pound-feet of torque proved powerful enough for our needs, but thanks to low gas prices and about 23 mpg on highway fuel economy, it was a cost efficient misison.
More to come on details of our return journey in a brand-spanking new Lincoln MKX to come. However, wherever you are today, whatever you’re doing, GoTryke.com want to take moment to stand still and wish you peace in the new year. We look forward to the ride.
The timer has been reset for Detroit — precious billions to spread around for a couple months until the new administration assumes power and rolls up the sleeves for the real work on how to keep the doors open and keep building cars dreamed up by American-based companies. Detroiters across the region are sighing in relief this weekend as the Bush admin choked up the cash. It’s a metaphor for the strung out family member that gets a little extra just because it’s Christmas, a willful present. Not enough to fix the problem, but enough to make it through the cold winter’s night. The message is the same – change or go down with the antiquated ship. But the path to recovery is not so clear.
Yet, while Detroit is temporarily taken off time out, now is the time for mindful leaders to use common sense and acknowledge what needs to be done on a civic level to promote development and change within an industry. That means taking logical steps and stopping the scolding for the sake of political posturing. That means speaking up and acknowledging responsibility for government’s part in the problem. That means examining an infrastructure that is not designed for sustainable transportation in it’s planes, trains and automobiles. That means working directly with fuel companies and emerging companies capable of providing viable renewable resources That means creating hydrogenfilling stations to speed up access to emissions free automobiles. That means working on a federal level with states to modify emissions laws to create a universal standard for diesel vehicles. That means concentrating on encouraging consumers to drive smaller cars and actually encourage Americans to look at new products with some kind of praise. Or do better, and build on existing research efforts at universities such as MIT and the University of Michigan that already are working with a coalition of car companies for the next big green break. That means looking at the global market and take initiatives to be a leader and not a follower of countries like Brazil and Sweden. That means changing how we think about driving and moving ourselves around.
The solution is probably a bit of all of the above. Truth is, we’re still very far off from the solution. The car companies can build it, but the infrastructure can’t sustain it and the question is unclear whether the consumer will actually dish the dough out for it. This SF Chronicle editorial passage explores some of these technological advances with stony realism. Highly hyped and subsidized hydrogen cars rely on the most impractical fuel on the planet. Beyond the estimated $2 trillion we’d need to build production infrastructure and filling stations, hydrogen is the most co-dependent atom on Earth (it just hates to be alone).
The energy needed to pry it from water, compress it into tanks and then convert it into electricity in a fuel cell wipes out 80 percent of its energy at the axle. That energy has to come from somewhere – like a coal-fired power plant. Not to mention the energy needed to truck hydrogen to filling stations. If they existed.Heavily subsidized corn ethanol generates far more carbon than it saves. Intended or not, almost all biofuel production leads to new land being cleared, directly or indirectly – which (whether scrubland or rain forest) releases 93 times the volume of greenhouse gas saved by fuel from that land, according to a Nature Conservancy scientist published in the journal Science.
None of this is to suggest we can’t do better. But hydrogen cars are 80 percent energy-inefficient and 100 percent unaffordable. And biofuels cause 93 times more global warming than gasoline. Take lines like that out of context, and they sound like Ronald Reagan calling ketchup a vegetable. But such is the state of our subsidized knowledge, as of now.
While hybrids also wear a green face, it’s widely known that they just aren’t enough to reduce global warming on their own, with fuel economy numbers that are only slightly better than gasoline counterparts. No one has the solution, but it lies somewhere in the structure, in setting up a process that is not built on earning reports for every quarter, but a long term slow climb, and educating average drivers, riders, and commuters about the choices they are making, in finding a healthy balance between competition and cooperation among all carmakers. It’s about using what we do have — a strong manufacturing arm centralized in the US, with experience and knowledge on how to move the line efficiently forward. We need to support that process with the implementation of green ways that support research, sustain jobs and reach consumers. What we need is a country built on development and the pursuit of a future with clear goals built on firm humble beginnings. We need sturdy vehicles and a collective conscience, too. What we need most is patience and clear thinking.
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