Ford Fusion vs. Chevy Malibu vs. Dodge Avenger

The Ford Fusion, the Chevy Malibu, the Dodge Avenger
all very respectible cars in the huge mid-size sedan market, they all offer great features in all catagories.

Starting with the Fusion it has 3 engines a 2.5L I4 (175 bhp), a 3.0L V6 (240 bhp), and the sport has a 3.5L V6 coupled with all wheel drive to produce a (263bhp) and a 0-60 time in the mid 6 second range not bad for $24,000- $26,000 depending on optional luxury you opt for. The gas mileage is respectable on all models the 2.5L engine will get over 30 MPG on the freeway, and even the biggest V6 will manage 25 on the interstate. The price you might ask on this car, starting price is about $20,000 with basic equipment, but can reach close to $30,000 with all options checked off.
(2011 Ford Fusion Sport)

Our Second contender is the Chevy Malibu which has 2 engines a 2.4L four cylinder pumping out 170 bhp, and pretty good 3.6L V6 putting out 252 bhp. These engines like the Fusion with the 4 cylinder will get 30+ on the freeway with gas mileage, and mid- 20's on the freeway with the V6 option. The only thing everybody is wondering why doesn't Chevy make an SS version of this car like Ford did with the Sport. The pricing is not awful either base model is about $22,000, and I know that is two grand more than the Ford, which to me could be a down fall for Chevy.
  
(2011 Chevy Impala)



The last and final contender and in my opinion kind of the underdog when it comes to the American automotive market. The 2011 Dodge Avenger has some simular attributes as the Ford and the Chevy does the 2.4L four banger has aroudn 170 bhp and but the V6 in this avenger is very impressive a 3.6L penstar V6 producing 283 bhp and 260 ft. lbs. of torque 20 horsepower up on the Ford and a huge 30 bhp on the Chevy. With both engines though the Dodge Avenger will get 31 on the freeway and mid 20's with the V6 with interstate driving. But, the best thing about this car is the price it starts at about the same price as the Ford $20,000 give or take 200-300 dollars.   
(2011 Dodge Avenger)

2011 Ford Explorer, can it still explore anywhere

Ford has cornered the market on the entry level SUV's for the past 15 years with the Ford Explorer, and nearly everyone of those years the Explorer rarely disappointed for many. It always offered family convenience and weekend towing capabilities with a decent V6 standard, and a big old V8 as an extra towing capabilities. But, the 2011 model year really hopes to be Ford's new best selling family car. I think that for family 7 seater this will get alot of minivan people intrigued in a new choice in vehicle.
    The biggest issue Ford is trying to tailor in every car they produce in horsepower and fuel economy, and Ford has been working overtime with the Explorer. The Explorer only has at the moment has a new 3.5L V6, but everyone is a waiting that new Eco-boost four cylinder that will produce just as much horsepower and torque as last year 4.0L V6 (about 210 bhp). This new 3.5L V6 will be the only engine available in the 2011, but still makes impressive 283 horsepower and 252 ft. lbs. of torque.

Even though this is down on power from last year's V8, Ford did the research saying
that less than .1% of Explorer owners will ever tow more than 5,000lbs. and the V8 would just be unnecessary for the 2011 model year. Now lets get to the second most important thing Ford says this vehicle is capable of towing, this Explorer is able to tow up to a respectable 5,000lbs. with either front or all wheel drive. The next exciting thing about this vehicle is the terrain managment system which is only availible with the all wheel drive version, what this feature can do is vari the throtle and the wheel slipage to guide the Explorer over all different terrains such as mud ruts, loose sand and gravel mode, snow and ice mode, and the last feature that goes along with this vehicle is hill decent control which down very steep hills keep the Explorer at a constant speed with out you ever touching the brakes on the way down.

Now what seems to be the most important thing in vehicles these days is fuel econmy and this Ford doesn't disappoint the base front wheel drive version can get 17 city/25 highway. The all wheel drive version is not that worse it gets 17 city/23 highway not bad similar to a Dodge minvan, but with alot more grunt and towing capabilities. Now the last and final issue must be addressed price, Ford has done another great job with the Explorer with pricing as well a base model will set you back a reasonable $28,000. Now many say that is really steep,but try to name any other vehicle that offers as many features for the same amount of money I can't think of anything that is even close to the 2011 Ford Explorer.       

Corvette ZR1 takes on the world

       In the past few years the Corvette has evolved from a fast sports car to down right fast supercar, they have improved the enignes, suspension, brakes, absoulutly everything that makes a Corvette a Corvette. For the 2011 model year there are so many great engines and trims to choose from, but I want to focus on the Corvette ZR1 the most powerful car General Motors has ever produced.
  
Lets start with that incredible power and torque, the new ZR1's powertrain is thrusted by a LS9 Chevy 6.2L engine with a supercharger, producing 638 BHP and an equally amazing 604 ft. lbs. of torque.

This means performance wise the ZR1 can hit 60 MPH in a tad over 3 seconds and can do the quarter mile in around 11 seconds, and has supercar top speed of 205 MPH. The Corvette to me simply by these performance numbers has what it takes to beat Ferrari, Lamborghini, and It's main rival the Porsche 911 Turbo. The Corvette has definately cornered it's supercar rivals, but many say that it needs to prove itself in the handling and braking department. I hinsight though the Corvette out brakes and handles just about every competitor the Corvette can brake from 60-0 MPH in less than 100ft. and can pull more than a 1G in cornering on a skidpad now if those are not decent numbers what is. The last part that also make this the ultimate supercar the Corvette ZR1 starts at $114,000 which sounds very expensive, but if you compare it's rivals it is a good $35,000 cheaper than a Porsche 911, and over $150,000 cheaper than a Ferrari 458 Italia, and these more expensive cars do not have any more performance for the money. The Corvette ZR1 what a steal.  

Chysler's new 200c

Over the past 5-6 years with Chrysler they have made some very valid strides to keep up with there competitors, and have done it with new efforts to revive old Chrysler classics and Dodge classics as well. Such as the Dodge Charger

the Challenger

the 300c

and the brand new Chrysler 200c, but not to mention it's just a tuning of last years sebring in a good way.

This new 200 has the goodies all car fans want a reasonible price, good powertrains, stuffed with technology features. But lets exspand on these simple concepts. The pricing starts at a nice $19,245 with a 173 horsepower 2.4L four cylinder, that for the record can get 31 MPG on the freeway. But the real story of the powertrains comes with the new Chrysler engine a 3.6L flexfuel V6 that produces 283 horsepower, it can also get 29 MPG on the freeway, and this model only starts in touring trim at about $23,500 not too bad. Last topic on this car is the technology features that Chrysler offers with the 200 it has some very conveinent features such as bluetooth capabilities, usb conection, mobile device conectivity, and even a DVD media player, very impressive features. Indead Chrysler has made some great strides, but what will they do next.   

Mustang GT, Chevy Camaro SS, Dodge Challenger SRT-8 Who has more Muscle

In the fight for muscle cars the only thing that seems to matter is horsepower and ft. lbs of torque, because you ask a muscle car fan they can always agree there isn't anything a little more horsepower can't fix. So our recent muscle car wars that we currently look at are between the Ford Mustang GT , the Chevy Camaro SS , and finally the Dodge Challenger SRT-8  . The fight between these cars has been going on for the past couple years now and to start they are all great looking cars and lets not argue on which is better looking cause non of these cars would look out of place at a car show. So let's get on to what makes these cars so special the power, torque, and just simply the way they drive. Starting with the Ford Mustang GT
which will equiped with an all new 5.0L V8 
thats produce 412 Horsepower and 390 ft. lbs. of torque, an almost 100 Horsepower Jump over the 2010 model year. But, the performance numbers are what matter according to Motortrend the GT stallion can reach 60 in 4.4 Seconds, and finish the quater mile in the high 12 seconds at 110 MPH. But I know what your thinking gas mileage must be pretty bad, no way Ford was able to make this V8 get 17 City/26 Highway MPG not bad. Also the Mustang has an impressive top speed of 155 MPH, some say though if the limiter was off on the engine computer the mustang could do about 165 MPH or more. Last Comment on the Mustang is its price of about $29,000 for the GT very impressive value for money.

Next contender is the Chevy Camaro SS, not much has changed from last year, but still has the 6.2L V8 
that puts out an impressive 426 Horsepower and 420 ft. lbs. of torque. Motortrend liked this car alot, but when driving fast the visiblity is very bad. They got some numbers performance wise about 13.5 though the quater mile and a 4.7 second 0-60 time and a top speed of around 155 MPH as well but Chevy does not limit this car in the enignes computer so top speed is the top speed. .Camaro like the Mustang has a starting price of around $30,000.

Our last and final contender is the 2011 Dodge Challenger SRT-8 392 which is the most powerful of the 3, but is the heaviest car in the bunch. The Horsepower is very impressive in this Challenger's 6.4L V8  
475 bhp to be exact and also 460 ft. lbs. of torque to drag you along. The Motortrend staff tested this car and it put up very simular numbers as the Mustang 5.0L, about 4.4 seconds to 60 and high 12 seconds in the quater mile at 110 MPH and has an incredible top speed of 180 MPH with a Manual. But this all comes at a base price of $42,000 dollars. So you decide which one is the Muscle Car King.

2012 Ford Focus vs 2011 Chevy Cruze You Decide

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Over the past 10 years in the U.S. the compact car market has skyrocketed, due to rising gas prices. So Ford and Chevy are out to prove not to just each others companies but other foreign world automakers, such as Toyota, Honda, and Kia the list goes on. So to compare the usual american suspects for auto battles lets compare Ford and Chevy's compact cars. To start lets mention styling and on both sides of the arguement they have both done great jobs. Starting with Chevy they took an agressive approch with the styling and really turned out a beeaautiful little car.      

Ford on the other hand of the styling went with a more refined look and still impressively made it agressive. 

So going on to some important questions we all have about cars, Is it fun to drive or does it have good power and handling, and what king of fuel economy are we looking at. Starting with Ford this time the Focus has stuck with their Duratec 2.0L four cylinder engine, but added direct injection (a new system to improve fuel econmy and horsepower Direct Injection Diagram) to put out 160 horsepower and 146 ft. lbs. of torque. This Ford couples 40 MPG on the freeway with the 6 speed automatic, but can also get about 30 MPG City as well. But what Ford has done to make it a fun car to drive are the Active Drive Dynamics which help the Focus stay stable and well planted in sharp corners by varing the power to each of the front wheels, and this also will control the active suspension that helps assist the handling of the car. Now on to what Chevy brings to the table for power and fun to drive capabilities. The Cruze is standard equiped with a 1.8L four cylinder engine putting out 138 horsepower and nearly the same torque, that means about 36 MPG highway, But Chevy will offer a 1.4L turbocharged engine that puts out about 136 horsepower and 42 MPG on the freeway. So as we can tell Ford has a small edge in this category having about 20 more horsepower, but also 40 MPG. On to the interior of these cars Ford and Chevy have made many strides over the past five years to compete on all markets with better interiors and niether one of these cars disappoint by any means, they both are stuffed with tech stuff and all kinds of extra goodies to play with ,but interior are simply in the eye of the beholder.