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Bob Sheaves pointed us to this article in Detroit News, which describes how the government is providing greater tax subsidies for businesses (including "sole proprietors") who buy luxury SUVs and pickups than they do for buyers of environmentally friendly vehicles. The tax loophole appears to be designed to support Big Three profitability at the expense of clean air and national security (since it increases the country's reliance on foreign oil, which tends to translate to providing funding and weapons to governments that pass them along to terrorists).
Federal Express will be using General Motors trucks equipped with fuel cell engines in Tokyo, providing a real-world test of their durability and practicality. Toyota has put fuel cell vehicles into service with cooperating clients as well.
According to just-auto.com, Chrysler will use one of Valeo's "next-generation thermal systems," which combines engine cooling with passenger heating and air conditioning. In keeping with the pre-takeover strategy of the "American kieretsu" - that is, heavy supplier involvement - Valeo will have full responsibility for all aspects of design of the vehicle's thermal systems. Valeo said this would "generate a more cost-effective climate control and engine cooling system that will significantly enhance market appeal. Their systems allow fine tuning of temperature in relatively small portions of the car, so that each passenger would presumably be comfortable even if they like different heat ranges. The system will be used on an as-yet-unspecified future vehicle.
Ward's Ten Best engines for 2003 includes two Chrysler-designed engines, the Hemi and the 1.6 engine used in the Mini. Other companies with two engines on the list were BMW (3 and 3.2 liter I-6) and Honda. Also represented were Ford (diesel V8 - though we always thought it did not measure up to the Cummins), GM (straight-six), Nissan (3.5 V6), and Volkswagen (turbocharged 1.8).
The all-new 2003 Dodge Ram 2500 Heavy Duty has hauled away Motor Trend magazine's prestigious 'Truck of the Year' award following an intensive three-week competition. The Dodge duo of the Heavy Duty Ram 2500 4x2 Quad Cab with 345 horsepower worth of HEMI® Magnum power and the Ram 3500 4x4 with the High Output Cummins Turbo Diesel upstaged all others in the competition.
"From the onset of our 'Truck of the Year' competition, we knew the Ram Heavy Duty was a prime contender," said Kevin Smith, Motor Trend's Editor in Chief. "It fulfills the promise set forth last year by the introduction of an all-new Ram, and now offers the power and capability expected in the three-quarter and one-ton segments - plus features, content, and capabilities that in many ways raise the bar for this class of truck.
"Simply put, after spending weeks with our competitors, evaluating every aspect and nuance, the Ram Heavy Duty stands out as the most significant new truck for 2003," Smith said. "With its excellent powertrains, off-road prowess, smooth on-road driveability, and stump-pulling power, the Dodge Ram Heavy Duty is the hands-down winner of Motor Trend's 2003 Truck of the Year award."
Competitors for Motor Trend Truck of the Year are evaluated on significance, superiority and value. The trucks are put through thousands of miles of testing, including back-to-back comparisons examining each truck's characteristics during normal commuting, traversing mountain roads, cruising freeways, trailer towing, off-pavement running, and loaded and unloaded performance testing. Truck of the Year competitors compete not only against the trucks in the competition, but also against other trucks in their class, whether they are included in the test or not.
Thanks, Bill Cawthon, for bringing this to our attention!
While Ford claimed it would increase gas mileage by 25 percent, Chrysler is the only company to have publicly stated that it can meet the new 2007 gas mileage standards. NHTSA said that, based on information given to it by the automakers, Chrysler would have to pay around $11 million to meet the 22.2 mpg standard, while GM might have to spend over $678 million. GM's 2007 estimate is only .1 mpg better than the current standards, with 20.8 mpg; the world's largest automaker said it would actually fall below current standards before then (it current is below current standards, even though some of its larger trucks are exempt). NHTSA suggested that if GM brought its technology up to date with Chrysler and Ford, and dropped truck engines over 6 liters in size, it could raise economy by a full 1.5 mpg by 2006. (Thanks, Bill Cawthon, for the information.)
Bill Cawthon wrote that Chrysler and Mitsubishi will build small and midsize cars on variations of the same chassis rather than as separate projects. According to Richard Schaum, Chrysler EVP of product development, says there are "significant" savings in sharing a basic platform among as many as nine future versions of current models, like the Lancer, Neon, Stratus and Galant, which now use four different chassis (two Chrysler, two Mitsubishi). Basic chassis and suspension components for the next-generation Lancer/Neon will simply be stretched and modified for the Stratus/Sebring and Galant.
The idea is not new - it stretches back in time, predating even the most extreme implementation, the extended K-cars. There, the same platform (and many basic parts) were used for economy cars, sports cars, minivans, limousines, near-luxury cars, and family sedans. However, Chrysler failed to invest in keeping the platform up to date, and often did not differentiate the models enough, leading many to criticze the idea itself - and leading Chrysler swing far in the opposite direction.
Some may wonder why Chrysler posted a list price on the new Jeep postal Wranglers. Bill Cawthon shed some light on this:
"I believe many rural route carriers buy their own vehicles, for which the governments reimburses them a certain amount. Where I live, our letter carriers drive different vehicles. One has a red Jeep Cherokee, one has a Honda CRV, then there is one who actually drives one of the small standard postal trucks."
Howell Automotive is about to introduce a new intake manifold to increase the performance of the DOHC 2.0 engines used in Neons and other cars. At $500, the part uses the stock throttle body location, so you can use existing air intakes, but has an enlarged throttle body to plenum area, eliminating restrictions from the stock intake; high flow runners; uniform transition from the plenum to the runners; and secondary injector (or nitrous nozzle) bosses on the underside. It works with stock-mounting fuel rails.
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