Good Tips For Automobile Financing

After the Genesis, which is a bold product draped in drab sheetmetal, and the Genesis Coupe, which looks good but also a bit too much like the underwhelming Tiburon, here, finally, is the Hyundai that really is going to stop people in their tracks. And it will wear the everyday Sonata badge.

While the actual design of the 2011 largely appears to be a 3-D Xerox of the , Hyundai seems to have been peering over Mazda’s shoulder when it drafted the car’s stylistic philosophy of “fluidic sculpture,” which it says is inspired by nature and “tries to reflect sophistication and dynamism in the shape of the vehicle.” Regardless of cues, inspiration, or wholesale design theft, there is no arguing that the shape is dramatic, whether wearing a VW badge or the stylized Hyundai “H.” The surprising design continues inside, with a handsome, upscale blend of materials, colors, and swoopy, modern shapes.

High-Tech and High-Luxe Hyundai promises a comprehensive technological roster, including standard stability control and hill-start assist—although we don’t understand why people need this when the standard transmission is a six-speed automatic—as well as a brake-assist system and adjustable dampers. Available luxury equipment will include a three-piece panoramic sunroof and heated seats front and rear.

Also new is the Sonata’s onboard telematics system—think Korean OnStar. Emergency-notification and anti-theft tracking functions are free for the first two years, but maintenance-monitoring and -alert capabilities are probably going to cost extra.

In Korea, power will come from a 2.0-liter four-cylinder making 163 hp. Our standard motor in the U.S. will be a larger, 2.4-liter four with direct injection and unspecified output we predict will be around 190 hp. Production of the 2011 Hyundai Sonata for U.S. consumption will begin early in 2010 at the company’s factory in Alabama, with deliveries to commence shortly thereafter. Although the Sonata’s sheetmetal might ape the nearly $30,000 Volkswagen CC, its price, thankfully, will not. Hyundai says pricing will begin at the equivalent of $17,600 in Korea, and we expect that won’t change much when it hits American dealerships.

Article source: http://www.caranddriver.com/news/car/09q3/2011_hyundai_sonata_-official_photos_and_info

BMW’s smallish hasn’t even been launched yet, but here we are moving on to the German automaker’s next suburban wagon. We’ve noted before that the current X3 is aging rapidly, and to keep buyers from moving down-market to the fresh-faced X1, the company is rushing the second-generation model towards production.

Slightly bigger than the current X3, the next model will put some distance between itself and the cutesy X1. Our spy photography, taken during hot-weather testing in the Southwest, reveals a sloping front hood and aggressive front air intakes. The side view resembles the X1, with a thicker C-pillar and BMW’s characteristic surfacing with concave elements.

It is definitely a more carlike look than that of the current X3 or the boxy Mercedes-Benz GLK, which tries to mimic the awe-inspiring G-wagen. In look and feel, the second-generation X3 aims squarely at the Audi Q5, which romped to a decisive victory in our most recent

. Inside, the X3 is expected to be more carlike as well, although unlike some other BMW cars, there is no strange-looking second hood on the dashboard. The navigation system is housed lower than the main instrumentation, similar to in the X1 and the X5. BMW’s M division also is designing an M Sport package with interior and exterior modifications.

Engines available in Europe will come from BMW’s vast parts bin. We expect 2.0-liter and 3.0-liter four- and six-cylinder gasoline engines, respectively, with the range topped by the twin-turbocharged inline-six we’ve come to appreciate so well. There will be four- and six-cylinder turbo-diesels, too. It’s uncertain which powertrains will make it to the U.S. (We wouldn’t mind a high-performance version with the M3’s V-8 underhood; we like to imagine it as a German reincarnation of the GMC Typhoon.) Power will be transmitted through BMW’s xDrive all-wheel-drive system, and while a rear-wheel-drive version would technically be possible, we believe marketing considerations will keep BMW from offering such an entry-level model as it will with the X1.

While the current X3 is built by contract manufacturer Magna Steyr in Graz, Austria, BMW is building the next generation in-house, moving assembly alongside the X5 and X6 in the company’s plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The Z4 has been pulled from Spartanburg and is now made in Germany. The U.S. plant is currently gearing up to a total capacity of 200,000 units, all of them SUVs. The product mix will be flexible, but the X3 is expected to be the largest-volume model at about 100,000 units annually. Magna Steyr gets to build the

as compensation.

The weak dollar has become a huge problem for European carmakers, who are finding profit margins to be increasingly thinner on models imported to America. The X3 will therefore be strongly focused on the U.S. market, while the German-built X1 is tailored mainly for European tastes. Look for the new X3 to be officially launched in late 2010 or early 2011.

Article source: http://www.caranddriver.com/news/spied/09q3/2011_bmw_x3-spied

Current Mileage/Months in Fleet: 12,089 miles/4 months

Average Fuel Economy/Range: Service: Normal Wear: Repair: Damage and Destruction: We’re a little late with this introduction, although regular readers may recognize this big

crew cab as the winner of a three-way,

earlier this year. To be accurate, this isn’t quite the same truck as the one that prevailed down in Texas. That one was the top-of-the-line Laramie version, with a base price of $44,935 and an as-tested price of $48,965. It was tops in that test. This one is the SLT trim level, which starts at $36,000, and has been optioned up to within a few hundred bucks of the Laramie in the comparo.

Not only is that SLT base price much easier to live with, but we also can’t imagine that an owner of such a truck is going to feel even slightly deprived. You don’t get the superb needlework that distinguishes the leather surfaces in the Laramie, but you do get leather seats, which are perforated and cooled, too. Other civilizing goodies include automatic climate control, satellite radio (playing through a very good sound system), power everything, shift-on-the-fly four-wheel drive, Hemi V-8 power, and those clever Ram Box storage bins that flank the cargo bed.

The Hemi Habit We’re impressed with this truck’s structure, build quality, styling, comfort, and nifty storage features. But it’s that big ol’ Hemi V-8 that’s the winning element in this big boy’s personality.

Whooma!

Power for sorting traffic. Power for hauling assorted stuff, and lots of it. Power for towing the various vehicles that provide weekend entertainment for several

C/D And there’s the supple ride quality, too. Dodge ignored the traditional full-size-pickup rear-suspension rulebook with the Ram’s last makeover, forsaking leaf springs for a coil-spring setup that does an excellent job of smoothing out lumpy surfaces and is particularly effective off pavement. Even so, the Ram will tow a maximum 10,450 pounds, which is competitive with Ford and Chevy’s leaf-sprung offerings. (Our long-termer, owing partly to its 3.55 rear axle and 20-inch wheels, is limited to 7400 pounds.)

Dodge is betting that the combination of smooth ride and a 390-hp Hemi V-8—capable of hustling 5680 pounds of he-man truck to 60 mph in 6.7 seconds—will be a winning parlay. It has certainly won with us, at least so far.

Bumps and Grinds However, it would be hard to perceive love in some of the abuse we’ve given this Ram so far.

Two incidents stand out in this regard. The first, at about 5300 miles, involved the Ram’s rear window. If you happened to be passing through Lexington, Ohio, in the early morning last May 31 and saw a shiny new Ram in a gas station with a guy standing in the bed resolutely kicking in the center of the rear window, that was your humble narrator. He was on his way to the nearby Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for his first SCCA race of the season, and in the course of a routine refueling stop, the Ram had locked itself up with the keys in the center console well.

Apparently, his passenger, better known as his wife, brushed the lock button with her elbow when she disembarked for a visit to the station’s loo. With a half-hour before it was time to be on the starting grid, five miles distant, there wasn’t any time for finesse. We’d hoped to be able to slither into the cab via the absent window but were stymied by the center headrest, which resisted all attempts at removal.

Eventually, your narrator abandoned the rig in the station, catching a ride out to the track with another customer. He left his wife to deal with the Ram. She resolved the dilemma by enlisting the help of the Lexington Police Department. The keys were soon fished out, and the Ram was back on the road, its interior littered with about a million pieces of crumbled glass.

It was obviously not a warranty item: $764, please.

Three weeks and some 1300 miles later, we arrived at beautiful Road America, in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, for the SCCA’s annual June Sprints race weekend and were horrified to see that the tailgate had suffered a very nasty ding in the middle of its upper edge. To accommodate three sets of spare wheels, we’d used the bed extender, so the tailgate was down, and at some point apparently bounced—hard—off the screw jack mounted on the trailer tongue.

Since the damage was bad enough to keep it from reopening once shut, we replaced the tailgate: $922. Oy!

A Smooth Operator Aside from these incidents, which are pretty hard to blame on Dodge, it’s been smooth sailing so far with this Ram. The logbook is full of praises for the truck’s ride quality, general comfort, storage features, and, of course, power, enhanced by the muted basso rumble of the Hemi.

The only demerits that have turned up to date are for its straight-line tracking, which seems to require constant tiny corrections to maintain; overly sensitive touch-screen secondary controls, particularly those related to the radio; and so-so fuel economy. The EPA rates this rig for 13 mpg city and 18 mpg highway. To date, we’ve averaged just over 13 mpg in a driving diet that’s included very little real city use, although there’s been a fair amount of towing.

One other nonwarranty item that occurred at 2903 miles was a slash in the sidewall of the right rear tire. We don’t know how this injury was inflicted. It looked like a close encounter with a sharp rock. We replaced the damaged skin at Tire Rack for $161.

Aside from that, we’ve had one routine service visit, at 6585 miles, for an oil and filter change plus tire rotation: $75.

We look forward to the miles ahead.

Article source: http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/car/09q3/2009_dodge_ram_1500_slt_4x4_crew_cab-long-term_road_test_intro

2009 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT 4×4 Review

American luxury-car buyers seem unconcerned with fuel efficiency. Why would they be? In countries where the gasoline price is three or four times that in the U.S., there is an understandable emphasis on miles per gallon, even for expensive cars. But sometimes things that are developed in one place for one purpose produce unexpected benefits elsewhere.

Take the new Jaguar XJ. It gets a much-needed boost in interior space and creature comforts and grows a bit bigger outside. Changes such as these tend to add bulk, which is then compensated for with a larger-displacement engine. But in the interests of improved gas mileage and lower carbon-dioxide emissions (which are taxation issues in some parts of Europe), Jaguar has reversed this upward spiral by building the ’04 XJ’s body of aluminum. The monocoque body shell is 300 pounds lighter than it would be in steel, and the XJR model now weighs in at 200 pounds less than its predecessor.

The engine is only modestly enhanced (the XJ’s V-8 follows that of the ’03 S-type and XK-series by being enlarged to 4.2 liters), but the big cat makes a leap forward in performance while using less of the earth’s resources.

The XJ’s aluminum body is riveted and bonded like an aircraft fuselage. That’s a good, if expensive, thing. But how does the car shape up in the face of heavyweights such as the Mercedes S-class, BMW 7-series, Lexus LS430, and new Audi A8?

Jaguar research says its owners prefer evolutionary styling to revolutionary. So this XJ doesn’t turn heads, but it does have hotel car jockeys (some of the world’s greatest automotive experts) admiring the new, more wedgy shape, the XK-like dash, and the increased space for rear-seat passengers and their luggage.

For the U.S., the XJ will come in three models—the XJ8, the Vanden Plas, and the XJR. The first two have the 4.2-liter engine in 294-hp form and what are known in Europe as the "comfort" settings for the suspension, which incorporates air springs along with Jaguar’s CATS adaptive damper system. The 390-hp supercharged XJR has a sportier setup, sits half an inch lower with the air springs adjusted to be 10 percent stiffer overall, and has larger wheels (19-inchers standard, 20s optional).

And here, if you want the tauter, sportier drive, you’ll have to buy the top-dog XJR. If you do, you’ll love it. A while back, Jaguar’s "sport" suspension was inappropriately harsh for a marque that prides itself on a combination of smooth ride and handling. Now it has achieved a much better balance. The XJR goes like a rocket ship and stops with equal brilliance, thanks to its race-bred Brembo brakes, but it also provides a truly excellent blend of grip, body control, precise steering, and insulation from bumps and broken road surfaces.

Article source: http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/car/03q2/2004_jaguar_xj-series-first_drive_review