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Those who supported DCX's decision to stay away from full-size trucks may find new support for their arguments, as GM once again added to their highly successful line of oversized SUVs. The Cadillac Escalade ESV takes the two Escalade models one step further, adding 22 inches in size to the already massive (and expensive) SUV. The pickup line will be facelifted and given new technology (as described at acarplace's GM section), while a 345 horse Silverado SS will be added. In the 2004 model year, two new SUVs will debut, the GMC Envoy XUV and the Buick Rainier mid-size (presumably similar to the Bravada/Envoy/TrailBlazer), complete with a V8.
Chrysler has just revamped its once-revolutionary line of Ram pickups, and Ford is due to release redesigned F-150s in the 2004 model year. Both GM and Ford have had marked success in selling high-priced, full-sized pickups and SUVs, and are currently neck-and-neck in pickup sales.
Background opinion: one stated reason why fuel economy standards favor these vehicles (many of which are actually exempt from any economy standards at all, because they are so large and get such poor mileage - go figure) is because Detroit relies on them for profitability. However, we note that Toyota has already shown its ability to compete in this market, at least in other continents - Toyota does make competent but expensive full-size SUVs. We hope Detroit does not become too complacent and cede the family and entry-level car market to Asia, because what happened to these vehicles can and probably will happen to trucks and SUVs as well.
Jason Leffler finished second Saturday to lead the way for the Dodge Ram drivers in the GNC Live Well 200 NASCAR Craftsman Series Truck Series race at the Milwaukee Mile. Ted Musgrave finished fifth in his Ram, grabbing the lead in the season-long NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Standings after nine events. Musgrave has a four-point advantage over David Starr. Leffler ranks fourth in the series standings, 85 points behind Musgrave.
Terry Cook won Saturday's race, a scheduled 200-lap event that was lengthened three laps by a late-race caution to allow for a green-flag finish.
Rookie points leader Brendan Gaughan finished fourth in his No. 62 NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Ram to remain 10th in the standings. Robert Pressley finished seventh in the No. 18 Bobby Hamilton Racing Dodge Ram and ranks eighth in the standings.
Other Dodge finishers were:
* Ryan Hemphill (No. 26 OOIDA Dodge Ram) 16th
* Bill Lester (No. 8 Dodge Motorsports Dodge Ram) 18th
* Brian Rose (No. 4 The Perry Connection Dodge Ram) 19th
* Jerry Hill (No. 179 RDS Racing Engines Dodge Ram) 21st
* Carlos Contreras (No. 43 Hot Wheels Dodge Ram) 22nd
* Tom Powers (No. 55 University of Northwestern Ohio Dodge Ram) 23rd
* Rodney Sawyers (No. 68 Dodge Ram) 27th
* Lance Hooper (No. 5 Diamond Cut Jeans/Blair 5.com Dodge Ram) 30th
* Michael Dokken (No. 51 OOIDA Dodge Ram) 34th
* Jason Thom (No. 81 Ware Racing Enterprises Dodge Ram) 36th
Mark Kinser, driver of the Mopar-powered Maxim, finished ninth in the 40-lap Pennzoil World of Outlaws A feature Saturday night at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa. Danny Lasoski won the race, his 10th of the season, and is now tied with Steve Kinser for the series lead after 33 starts. Mark Kinser finished 13th on Friday night in the preliminary feature. Joey Saldana won that 25-lap event.
Kinser will head into Tuesday night's Outlaw action at Huset's Speedway in Sioux Falls, S.D., ranked third in the standings, just five points ahead of Craig Dollansky.
Alderman advanced to the second round with a victory over Arturo Delgado in round one. The 28-time NHRA national event winner clicked off a 6.985-second lap at 198.70 mph.
A promising weekend turned sour for Dean Skuza and the Mopar Parts Dodge Stratus R/T. After posting the 15th-quickest elapsed time in the third round of qualifying, Skuza's 5.233-second elapsed time at 284.15 wasn't enough to crack the top 16.
Gene Wilson drastically improved his elapsed time in the third session of qualifying , but the heat and high track temperatures were too much to overcome for the rookie Pro Stock competitor. Wilson's Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T lapped the suburban St. Louis quarter mile in 6.943 seconds at 199.37 mph.
Larry Morgan was unable to crack the top 16 after today's two sessions. The Newark, Ohio, resident, who pilots the blue Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T, clicked off a 6.928-second lap at 198.82 mph.
Ford is recalling a quarter of a million Windstar minivans built between 1994 and 1996 for possible brake fluid leaks, and some 1999 Volvo S80s with inadequate fans. Meanwhile, GM is recalling 2002 Malibus to check headlights, and Trailblazer/Envoy/Bravada SUVs built in late 2001 to check fuel filter fittings.
Chrysler, which led aerodynamic design at some points in its history (with the Airflow models and later the Charger Daytona), has opened a new $37.5 million wind tunnel for aerodynamic and acoustic testing. The facility can handle vehicles up to 10,000 pounds, and can be used for tuning racing cars as well as standard passenger vehicles.
The wind tunnel is the quietest in the industry, allowing for better reduction of sources of wind noise. It also has an 18-foot turntable for precise positioning, and fans that can generate winds over 150 mph.
Though Chrysler announced the creation of the wind tunnel as "DaimlerChrysler's new facility" (etc.), it did have one symbolic link to the past: using a Chrysler Airflow to demonstrate the wind tunnel. The tunnel has been in production for about three years, dating back to before the integration of Chrysler as a division of DCX (and therefore technically a Chrysler operation).
Toyota, the first company to produce a standard-production hybrid automobile (the Prius, which is still state of the art), will test-market a fuel cell SUV before the end of the year - in both the US and Japan. While Toyota was the first to bring a mass-produced hybrid vehicle to market, many writers incorrectly referred to Honda's diminutive Civic offshoot (the Insight) as the first hybrid because it was introduced in the United States before the Prius - we suspect Toyota is bringing the fuel cell SUV to the US to avoid such confusion in the future.
Once again, we'd like to thank Rich Hutchinson for covering for us during our week-long vacation. He was responsible for the past week's unbiased and well-written reports - and the way he refrained from ranting (as we just did in the last report!) was admirable. We wish we had the cash to pay him to be a permanent fill-in....!
Chrysler reported that quality efforts largely begun before Stuttgart took over Chrysler have resulted in substantial and profitable increases in quality. In particular, new and redesigned vehicles (Rams and the Liberty) have had much smaller warranty costs than older vehicles - much as the PT Cruiser has been more reliable than the redesigned Neon, and the redesigned Neon has been more reliable than the original. /rant mode on/ It is worth noting that the press release and newspaper articles based on it refer to "DaimlerChrysler quality efforts," as opposed to Chrysler quality efforts, or to "DaimlerChrysler quality improvement." We haven't noticed any increases in Mercedes quality in the actual press releases, just Chrysler - and none of the efforts mentioned can be attributed to Dieter Zetsche or other Daimler-side additions. /rant mode off/
Even though the Samurai is long gone, the lawsuit Suzuki filed against a nationally known consumer magazine isn't. And now it has new life as a Federal appeals court ruled yesterday the suit may go forward. Suzuki is claiming the 1988 test that found the Samurai prone to roll over was biased and flawed.
Some more info about the '03 Sebring coupe. The Car Connection reports a slight update to the front and rear fascias: revised taillamps, new clear headlamps, and a grille reminiscent of the convertible. http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=5021
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