Monday, September 30, 2013

Lexus Adds Eight-Speed Auto to Rear-Drive 2014 GS350

2014 Lexus GS350

Lexus is gifting its eight-speed automatic with the obligatory steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters to the 2014 GS350 in an effort to improve both performance and fuel economy. There is a caveat to this, however: the eight-speed will be available only with rear-wheel drive—all-wheel-drive GS350s keep their six-speed autos for at least another year.

It's a formula that's worked in the brand's new-for-2014 IS, where the all-wheel-drive 350 variant retains the six-speed while the rear-drive model adds a pair of cogs. Lexus says that this is simply a problem of packaging: the larger transmission won't fit in the driveline when fitted with AWD gear.



Just to further Lexus's point, its flagship LS sedan can be optioned with both all-wheel drive and an eight-speed gearbox. So for those luxury shoppers in the Snowbelt, go big, or go German.

2014 Lexus GS350



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Name That Shifter, No. 147

Name That Shifter

Shifter No. 147It's Monday, and that means it's time to present this week's shifter. You'll have until mid-day Wednesday to identify the make and model of the vehicle whence this shifter came. The first person to respond correctly in the Backfires section below will win a Save the Manuals button and sticker.* Good luck!

(* Offer open to U.S. and Canadian residents only.)



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Buying In Bulk: Make a Deal at Costco, Without the Dealing

Buying In Bulk: Make a Deal at Costco, Without the Dealing

From the October 2013 issue of CAR and DRIVER magazine

Along with 45.1 million other Americans, you're a Costco member and live a Costco lifestyle. You sleep between the warehouse club's Kirkland Signature–brand sheets, you serve Kirkland wine at dinner, and you cover your curves in Kirkland jeans. So of course you'll want to buy your next new car at Costco, too. Well, sort of.

Promoted with vehicles placed near the entrances of nearly all its 449 warehouse stores in the United States and Puerto Rico, the Costco Auto Program (CAP) doesn't allow you to drive away from Costco with a car. Franchise laws still guarantee that nearly all retail new-vehicle purchases must go through dealers; Costco can't make direct sales. Instead, the CAP is a buying program that connects Costco members with dealerships promising to sell specific cars at specific prices.

Established in 1989, the CAP has counted more than 1 million sales over just the last five years. But it's not alone; buying services are also available through auto clubs, credit unions, and other organizations. About 1500 such "affinity groups," including the USAA, many AAA clubs, American Express, and Consumer Reports, offer vehicle-buying services like Costco's, funneling buyers through a network maintained by TrueCar Inc. TrueCar also operates the TrueCar.com website and Auto Lease Guide, which determines residual values.

While the services may vary in detail, they all operate similarly: Affiliated dealers pay the service a marketing fee or, in Costco's case, a set amount each month, which varies dealer to dealer. For TrueCar, its fee is levied for each car sold, usually $299 for new cars. The dealers are basically paying to leverage Costco, AAA, and other entities to help lure more buyers. In turn, the dealers offer set discounted prices to those clients. That effectively eliminates the nerve-racking negotiations over price that many buyers dread.

Sample Prices Through Costco
2013 Toyota Camry LE
MSRP: $23,475
Costco: $19,841
2013 Mercedes-Benz C250
MSRP: $38,705
Costco: $35,446
2013 Honda Pilot LX 2WD
MSRP: $30,350
Costco: $27,409


But while a buying-service price is good, it's rarely the rock-bottom figure for which a dealer will sell that car. Those prices are still the product of thorough research, shopping around, and hard-nosed negotiation. Also, these services typically don't deal with trade-in values or financing and usually aren't much use when it comes to determining exactly which new car or truck is best for a buyer. It can also be a hassle if the dealer to which the service refers a buyer isn't local or is otherwise inconveniently located.

Buying a commodity product such as a Toyota Camry, Honda Pilot, or Mercedes-Benz C250—cars that dealers stack like cordwood—will be pretty straightforward through Costco. But it's problematic for more limited-production vehicles. If you want an oddly optioned or a highly sought-after car, such as a 2014 Corvette, the dealer isn't likely to offer you much of a deal.

For anyone rattled by the buying process, the relative ease of Costco's program takes out the shakes. It's a solid deal that comes with some peace of mind. Even guys who chew through dealership salesmen for sport may find the Costco price a good tool for starting negotiations. After all, information is power, and there's no such thing as being too powerful when it comes to getting a deal.

What We Said: "'Too much money' is not in a car dealer's vocabulary." Showroom Turncoat Comes Clean, May 2006

Buying In Bulk: Make a Deal at Costco, Without the Dealing photo gallery



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Nissan GT-R to Benefit from Williams F1 Hybrid Tech, According to Report

2014 Nissan GT-R Track Edition badge and grille

A report has surfaced from Australian site carsales.com.au that purports that Nissan's GT-R could get some form of Williams Advanced Engineering's flywheel-based hybrid system as early as 2015. Yes, that Williams—as in, the engineering arm of the eponymous Formula 1 team. While it sounds outlandish, the report doesn't seem too far removed from reality—in fact, it might just be spot-on.

We've already reported that Nissan is working on a hybrid system to power the next-generation GT-R, which isn't due out before 2017, and we've even uncovered a trademark filing by the company for "R-Hybrid." We speculated that this badge is destined for the next Godzilla, based on its font style, as well as our knowledge that this development program exists. As for the Williams connection, well, Nissan also recently announced that its high-performance NISMO sub-brand had partnered up with Williams Advanced Engineering to develop high-performance road cars.



However, despite the existence of all of these dots that are seemingly just waiting to be connected, they don't—at least not at this time. For starters, we doubt Nissan would resort to a complex, flywheel-based hybrid system like the one Williams currently hawks to Audi's LMP team for a mid-cycle update or NISMO addition. What we do expect is to see advanced aerodynamics and exotic materials pioneered by Williams to wind up in a forthcoming GT-R—potentially the NISMO model expected to debut at this November's Tokyo auto show—before the British engineering firm's hybrid tech is eventually adopted, likely for the next-gen model. This could get very good, very fast.



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Mercedes-Benz to Produce Limited Run of G63 AMG 6x6s—Just Not for America

Mercedes Benz G63 AMG 6x6

Believe it or not, but the completely over-the-top Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 6×6 will actually be offered to real people—real people with piles of money serving as ottomans, but real people nonetheless. The brand has confirmed that "exclusive small-scale production" will commence, and a price has been set at a dizzying €379,000 (just about $513,000 at today's exchange rates). That's almost four times as much as the pedestrian-in-comparison four-wheeled G63 AMG.

Massively oversized and probably overpriced—at least when you consider you pay 300 percent more for only a 50-percent increase in the number of wheels—it is the perfect toy for your private collection of sand dunes on the Arabian Peninsula. The six-wheeled G-class is inspired by the far more frugal 6×6 G-wagen that Daimler engineered for the Australian armed forces. Powered by a 5.5-liter twin-turbo V-8 making 536 horsepower and 561 lb-ft of torque, the G63 6×6 is claimed to reach 60 mph in seven seconds.

For those hoping that perhaps the Mojave would be suitable grounds to host Benz's toy monster truck, that won't be possible. Daimler executives tell us that there is no chance the G63 6×6 will be sold in the U.S.



The ostentatiousness of the G63 AMG 6×6 probably is unsurpassed, at least as far as factory offers go. Yet we have a suggestion to improve it: We'd like to see the G65′s 603-hp, 6.0-liter twin-turbo V-12 shoehorned underhood. But hey, Daimler just extended its contract with Magna Steyr to continue building the G-wagen until 2019. That gives the skunkworks crew at AMG plenty of time to come up with more craziness.

Mercedes Benz G63 AMG 6x6



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2015 Chevrolet Suburban, Tahoe Video

"The stars at night are big and bright deep in the heart of Texas," and two big stars — the 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban — shone particularly bright last week, debuting at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas. Cars.com Editor-in-Chief Patrick Olsen got a look at the sleeker-styled full-size SUVs, slated to hit dealerships early next year, and checked out new goodies like the Suburban's cargo-expanding feature that drops both the second- and third-row seats at the push of a button. Check out the video for more.

Related
2015 Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban: First Look
2015 Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban: Photo Gallery

2015 Chevrolet Tahoe: More Photos


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The Current Rogue is So Popular that Nissan Says It’ll Keep Building It

2013 Nissan Rogue

2013 Nissan Rogue

You'd think that with Nissan's recent unveiling for the second-generation Rogue, which goes on sale in November, that the company would be hard at work selling off the remaining examples of the outgoing model. This is a typical strategy, one that clears space on dealer lots for the latest and greatest—but in this case, Nissan won't be employing it. In fact, the automaker has announced the unusual—but not unprecedented—move to continue selling the old Rogue alongside the new one "for the immediate future" because of its overwhelming popularity.

The old Rogue will be sold under the new name "Rogue Select," and will go on sale in January of next year. Setting the Select apart—aside from its nearly decade-old styling—will be its price, which Nissan assures us will ring in at less than $20,000. That ensures at least a $3000 price difference between the Rogue Select and the base 2014 Rogue, although Nissan has yet to outline standard and optional feature availability for the former. The outgoing Rogue has seen sales increases through August of this year, which prompted Nissan to continue offering it. Although somewhat strange, it's not uncommon for companies to continue selling outdated goods alongside new stuff. Chevy has done it in the past with the Malibu Classic sold from 2004–2005, and most recently it put the last-generation Impala sedan on life support for fleets.



In case you were concerned that Nissan's Rogue production facility could get mighty confusing with two generations of the same car rolling down the line together, don't be. Rogue assembly switches from Japan to Smyrna, Tennessee, while the Select will continue to be built in Japan. More Rogue Select details, including pricing, will be revealed closer to the new-old/old-new model's on-sale date.

The Current Rogue is So Popular that Nissan Says It'll Keep Building It -  Photo Gallery



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Jeep Grand Wagoneer Returning Sometime After B-Segment Crossover

1991_Jeep_Grand_Wagoneer-450x337

Whispers of the Jeep Grand Wagoneer's return have been floating around for some time now, but official confirmation has finally come from Jeep brass, with CEO Mike Manley speaking about the new model in a Detroit Free Press interview.

Discussing future plans for the brand, Manley outlined his vision for a future B-Segment crossover, which he said will initially be more popular outside the United States than within it. But Manley was optimistic that the small crossover segment, which is booming across the globe, would eventually blossom in America.

Manley also discussed a future flagship product, stating

"And then the nameplate that I would also like to bring back where the majority of the market is in the U.S. and some in the Middle East, is Grand Wagoneer," Manley said. "I see that at the top end sitting above Grand Cherokee."

Talk of the Grand Wagoneer also coincides with some rumors that the Durango may disappear from Dodge's lineup, leaving the Grand Wagoneer as the three-row option for buyers of the Grand Cherokee. The Grand Wagoneer has enjoyed a revival in pop culture as a retro-cool vehicle for the East Coast set, with prices for used example on a steady rise over the last few years.

Earlier this year, Jeep staff visited noted Grand Wagoneer restorer Wagonmasters for a research trip regarding the vehicle and how to maintain authenticity through the next generation. The next Grand Wagoneer, along with the B-Segment Jeep, are expected to bow in 2016.



from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com

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Ghost in the Machine: 2014 Rolls-Royce Wraith Driven

2014 Rolls-Royce Wraith

It is a historical curiosity that when Rolls-Royce first used the Wraith name way back in the late 1930s, the company sold only the running chassis. Independent coachbuilders supplied the bodies, built to reflect the owner's particular (and sometimes peculiar) taste. These days, the new Wraith's running gear traces its ancestry to corporate overlord BMW, while the body is the portion that defines a modern Roller as both distinct and distinctly British. READ MORE ››



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The Europeans Show Ford & GM How Losing Money Is Really Done

Back in the 1950s, when Europe was still rebuilding after World War Two, Ford Motor Company and General Motors decided to show the world what a cost-no-object car was like in the American idiom. First Ford introduced the 1956 Continental Mark II, hand assembled down to the component level, that was said to lose $1,000 on each and every $10,000 Mark II sold. Adjusting for inflation, that loss is the equivalent about $8,600 in 2013 money. A year later, GM started selling the Motorama influenced Eldorado Brougham, at an even steeper $13,074. Motor City lore has it that not only was the Eldo Brougham thousands more expensive than the Mark II, its loses exceeded those of the Mark II by thousands of dollars as well. Now the Sanford C. Bernstein brokerage has looked at how much money various European automakers have lost on particular cars since 1997.

 

VW takes the top spot with the Bugatti Veyron, which Bernstein says loses a breathtaking 4.6175 million euros per vehicle. Even discarding the Veyron as a special case, VW still would hold the top (or bottom) spot with our EIC pro tem's beloved Volkswagen Phaeton, said to lose over 28,000 euros per car. The Veyron and Phaeton weren't the only cars that were bigger financial flops, adjusted for inflation, than the Mark II and Eldorado Brougham were. Renault lost 18,710 euros for every one of the 64,000 Vel Satis pseudo-coupes they sold from 2001 to 2009 (no mention of its twin, the Avantime), and the Peugeot 1007 lost PSA 15,380 euros for each of the 123,000 units sold. Audi's ahead-of-its-time aluminum A2 subcompact was an unsurprising addition to the list, while some of the other entrants, like the Jaguar X-Type and the Smart Fortwo, were just plain bad.



from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com

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TTAC 24 Hours Update: The Benz We Didn’t Race And The One We Did

benz1

Gorgeous, huh? She appeared in the night like a white-robed dream, resplendent in her restrained livery and requiring just four or five hours of work to be ready to race.

Problem was, the race had already started.

In the upcoming week, you'll get to hear from each one of the participants in our ill-fated LeMons race, but here are the salient points: The SLC wasn't ready to race, so we borrowed another Mercedes-Benz that was also not ready to race and a Jetta that probably should not have been racing. We got the Benz ready and it ran for 1.5 laps before it died. Then we got it ready again and it rained.

benz2

How many laps did we complete? Not very many. How did we finish? Not well at all. But our rookies have been appropriately blooded, so to speak, and there was more than the usual hilarity and stupidity involved. Watch this space.

Another thing that didn't happen: our TTAC shirts didn't arrive. When they do arrive, we will be awarding a total of ten shirts to randomly selected commenters in the original TTAC racing post.



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Recall Alert: 2009-2013 Mazda6 Sedans

20Mazda6

Vehicles Affected: Approximately 161,400 2009-13 Mazda6 sedans manufactured Feb. 4, 2008, through Aug. 24, 2012.

The Problem: The door-latch mounting screw may become loose. If all three door-latch mounting screws become loose, the door-latch mechanism wouldn't engage, and the door might open while the car is in motion, increasing the risk of a crash.

The Fix: Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will apply a thread-locking adhesive to the door screws and retorque them, free of charge.

What Owners Should Do: The recall is expected to begin Oct. 18. For more info, owners can call Mazda at 800-222-5500 (recall number is 7013I) or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's safety hotline at 888-327-4236.

More Recalls



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2015 Mercedes-Benz C-class Sedan to Debut in Detroit, Convertible Next Year

Amid the muscle cars of the Motor City at the upcoming Detroit auto show, Mercedes-Benz will pull the wraps off the next-generation C-class sedan. The move is mostly driven by the calendar, we've been told, but with production of the new C taking place in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, an American debut can't hurt.

We've also learned that Americans will have a choice of three engines in the new C-class (excluding the next AMG model): a turbocharged inline-four with roughly 210 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque, a 195-hp, 369-lb-ft diesel four from the E250 BlueTec, and a range-topping V-6. It's the last engine on which details are thinnest, but the intimation is that it'll be the twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter motor from the upcoming E400. All three will be mated to seven-speed automatics at the time of launch—a new nine-speed automatic transmission could trickle down in a few years—and all-wheel-drive should be available across the board.

Some time next year, Mercedes will introduce a C-class convertible and wagon—we've spied test mules of the former—but only the drop-top will sold here. Benz execs saw virtually no interest in the wagon from consumer focus groups, so will instead stick with the C-class–based GLK crossover—which itself will be replaced with a next-generation car in the coming years.



Even with the arrival of the CLA-class, an exec told us, Mercedes isn't planning to crank up prices on the new C-class. The cars appeal to different audiences, and as it stands, the CLA pretty much tops out price-wise where the C begins.



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GM to Constrain Dealer Orders of Brand New Silverado & Sierra Pickups Due To Supplier Issues Affecting 5.3 L V8 Production

2014 Sierra: Best V-8 Pickup Fuel Economy in the Industry

According to sources withing GM, the Bloomberg news agency is reporting that the company is not keeping up with demand for the most popular version of the recently launched Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, the trucks' first complete redesign since 2006. Apparently, a supplier for the 5.3 liter V8 is having trouble  making enough parts so GM is limiting the number of 5.2L equipped trucks that dealers can order. Bloomberg's sources disagree on how long it will take to resolve the supply issue, one said it could be as long as two months.

Full size pickups are not only GM's highest volume, most profitable vehicles, generating up to $10,000 in gross profit per truck, the new trucks are the centerpiece of a rollout of 18 all-new or redesigned cars and trucks for the automaker and represent a chance for GM to take market share from Ford, which won't have an all-new F-150 on sale until next year. Full size pickups account for about 16% of GM's global earnings and a Citigroup analysis says that the new trucks can boost GM's earnings this year alone by over a billion dollars.

The trucks are made at plants in New York, Mexico and Canada and the short supply will most affect those dealers who usually carry only V8 powered pickups. Dealers that order 10 trucks, for example, may only get 8, so the constraints will be measurable but not terribly tight.

The trucks are offered with three possible engines, the 5.3 V8, a 4.3 liter V6 and a larger V8 with 6.2 liters of displacement. Production of the six only began last month and the bigger V8 won't be available until later this year. GM expects the 5.3 to make up ~80% of production, as it did with the outgoing models.

GM has been running advertisements touting the fuel economy of the 5.3 eight, distinguishing itself from Ford's fuel economy offering to truck buyers, their six cylinder EcoBoost engine. A two wheel drive 2014 Silverado with the 5.3 liter V8 is EPA rated at 23 mpg in highway driving, compared to the regular 3.5 liter six cylinder EcoBoost powered 2WD F-150 is rated at 22 mpg (the flex fuel EcoBoost F-150 is rated at 23 mpg). Ford's standard V8 powered F-150 is rated at 21 mpg.



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