Blake Noble

I need new pants.

A few things: Adding to what DF said, the 2013 Ram should be offered in more monochromatic Express and Sport trims. Only trims like the Laramie Longhorn, etc., will have an abundance of chrome trim. The rotary knob for the Hemi/8-Speed combo will only be in the higher end trucks, replacing the console-mounted shifter in the current trucks. ST, Tradesman, Express, and some SLT trim trucks will still probably have a column shifter for the 8-speed auto. Also, guys who buy Ram Laramie Longhorns or Laramie Limiteds buy them for toys like rotary knob gear selectors and the Marlboro Man image, they don't buy them for actual work. In a recent write-up I did for the 2012 Ram Express, I saw an average of about 18 mpg out of the current Hemi/6-Speed powertrain on regular gas. Is that exceptional gas mileage? No, it's still by all means thirsty, but that is almost 20 mpg out of a heavy-ass pickup truck with almost 400 horsepower and over 400 lb. ft. of torque. I'd say it's right up there with whatever mpg figures a V8 Silverado or F-150 can get.

I'm getting this wierd "XTS rip-off" vibe from the profile shots of the new Avalon. The front fascia, especially the lower grille, is also very derivative of recent Ford and Hyundai designs. I hate it.

You might be thinking of the Internet Wayback Machine. Here's a link for some archived versions of C&G: http://wayback.archive.org/web/*/http://www.cheersandgears.com

The Verona? You mean the Suzuki Verona? Righhttttttt ...

You know, it would be nice if we could somehow integrate Word Press and IPBoard. That might could solve a lot of our issues, I think.

Interesting idea, Mr. Bacon. Anyway, I only have one thing to say about the Crosstour Concept: Why bother?

What software are you using? Photoshop and even newer versions of Paint have an option where you can "link" the dimensions of an image together, so if you change the width of an image to, say, 1024, it'll automatically adjust the height accordingly and not distort the image when you make the change. I use either InfraView or GIMP 2.. Will need to see if GIMP has something like that.. I know in Photoshop there's pretty much just a box you check on the input panel for resizing images to link the changes together. I'm not too familiar with either InfraView or GIMP, though.

Can't say I'm a fan of the front fascia. It looks like someone fired up a Xerox machine, set it to 200 percent, and copied the hell out of the grille from the Versa.

Not bad. There are some undertones of older Impalas blended into the design. The four-cylinder engine options are slightly unexpected and somewhat confusing.

What software are you using? Photoshop and even newer versions of Paint have an option where you can "link" the dimensions of an image together, so if you change the width of an image to, say, 1024, it'll automatically adjust the height accordingly and not distort the image when you make the change.

Thanks guys. In a sort of indirect way, yes. The way I see it, the GMT-900's work truck dash is a polishing and progression of the general layout and shape of the GMT-800's, which evolved from the GMT-400's.

These images are actually from Forza Motorsport. There's a front three-quarter shot floating around on the net which shows the old airplane hangar from the in game version of the Top Gear test track in the background.

G. Noble Editor/Reporter CheersandGears.com April 3rd, 2012 I’ll admit it, right here and right now — I’ve never been the biggest fan ever of pickup trucks. As a work proposition, I know they make a hell of a lot of sense, yes. But as a proposition for daily driving, I’ve always found the experience to be rather cumbersome, partially crude, lazy and inefficient, and subtly vulgar. A truck, for me at least, has always seemed to lack the necessary refinement, communication skills, road manners, and charisma that keeps me behind the wheel of a car. Never mind the tough-and-ready attitude, the commanding seat position, or the lovely experience of a V8 soundtrack that many pickups afford you, in my opinion the only way you could drive something more primitive and harsh on an everyday basis would be to strap yourself to the back of a gorilla. So, when I took the keys to the jet black, regular cab Ram 1500 Express featured in this review, I expected more of the same. I expected to get behind the wheel of a vehicle as wide as Texas, which rode like a Buick Park Avenue on busted shocks, and would maul me if I didn’t shove enough gasoline down its throat. However, what I found absolutely surprised me. (Cont. page 2) At a passing glance, the fourth-generation Ram seems to carry on the typical Dodge truck tradition of packing as much raw visual testosterone as possible under a cut-off sleeve t-shirt. The front fascia still appears as macho as every other Ram since the 1994 redesign with a wide maw of a grille that is, as always, large enough to eat small children whole and a chiseled bumper that’s bigger than Jay Leno’s chin. It also still stands freakishly tall like the last-generation Ram. The truck featured in our review wasn’t even equipped with four-wheel drive and it still managed to eclipse my 6 foot-and-some-odd-inch frame, which made it a little tough for even me to get in and out of. That’s judging the book by its cover, though. Upon closer inspection things aren’t quite so crass. The new Ram’s exterior is littered with subtle design touches that take the edge off what is otherwise a hulky-looking vehicle. The big-rig look the Ram is famous for is still sort of there, but it’s now far evolved from the caveman worthy brutality of its predecessors. Whereas the second and third-generation Rams so desperately and blatantly wanted to be Kenworth tractor-trailer trucks with their pronounced separate front fenders and huge domed hoods, this new model seems to tone those aspirations down a touch with front body panels that better flow into one another. In fact, the entire design is a rather organic celebration of weight bench-toned shapes and intelligently formed curves. This new-generation Ram is also one of the more wind-friendly trucks out there. Unlike all pickup trucks of yore which had heavy, massive chromed steel front bumpers that doubled as fuel-sucking battering rams, the new Express has lighter and more aerodynamic body-color plastic bumpers that aren’t much different than what you see on most passenger cars. That toddler-eating front grille is also canted forward at a slight angle to improve the airflow of the truck as it’s barreling down the road. The tailgate also incorporates a wide top edge that spills over to the side and tucks in to form a sort of impromptu ducktail spoiler, once again in the name of aerodynamics. It all makes for a truck that’s more air efficient than any Ram ever built. Wrapping up the Ram’s standard visual package were a set of 20” chrome-clad rims wrapped in Goodyear Wrangler tires. These rims, which are a standard item on more expensive Sport models, were a $400 option on the Express. Honestly, they’re worth the extra money because, in conjunction with the chrome exhaust tips, they added a classy touch to the Ram’s monochromatic black “creature-of-the-night” appearance. So, overall it looks … well, pretty good. If the previous Rams were truly the rolling visual embodiment of Chuck Norris as Walker Texas Ranger with spurred cowboy boots and a steer’s head belt buckle, this new one is Christian Bale in an injection-molded Batman costume.It’s still macho and bad ass, just a different sort of macho and bad ass. (Cont. page 3) The interior of our 1500 Express test vehicle was as near basic as basic gets in the Ram hierarchy. That’s because the Express models, like the ST and Tradesman trucks, aren’t available with the fancy leather-bound dashboard, country-western themed, laser-etched cow-hide seats, excessive chrome and plood frills, and trick-looking instrumentation that you get in the more expensive trims, like the Laramie Longhorn. The seats here are instead trimmed in vinyl that is by no means terrible considering it is tastefully stitched rather than just thrown on like what you see in other lesser model trucks. But don’t kid yourself; it won’t be fooling anyone if you tried to pass it off as leather. Oh well, at least they’re comfortable. Since the dashboard isn’t slathered in an animal’s hide, the Ram’s dashboard is a composite of variously colored plastics, which looks maybe a tad too busy. And while the textures are all nice, sorry dash-humping aficionados, none of it is worthy of sleeping in the nude on. That’s okay, though, because this interior was designed for durability and function, not for beauty and form, and hard plastics are common order here. That said, fit and finish was surprisingly good and the only bit of trim that runs the risk of slicing your fingers off is on the exposed side of the expanse of plastic that houses the air-con vents. The switch gear, especially the rotary knobs for the headlamps and HVAC panel — which appear to be derived from the ones GM uses in their trucks — all felt pretty solid and worked fairly smooth. Missing from the lesser Ram interiors is the nifty two-tier glove box, so in the place of the upper glove box, there’s an ugly, huge empty hole. Curiously, the Ram Express regular cab only can seat a maximum of three people but had a total of 7 cupholders — two in each door and three that folded out of the center instrument panel. Excessive? I think so. Also worth noting is that the trinket bin on top of the center IP still proudly reads “Dodge” so if you were worried that, somehow, Chrysler’s Italian benefactor Fiat was breaking up the company to sell off to the highest bidder fear not. They might be marketing these trucks solely as Rams, but they’re in fact still branded as a Dodge, as obscure of a place as it might be. As a whole this is the best work-oriented truck interior out there. While the three different shades of gray don’t exactly mesh perfectly, it keeps things from feeling too drab like, say, the laughably depressing “bleed-to-see-color” experience Ford gives you in the basic F-150. The basic Chevrolet Silverado interior, as old as it might be, is the worthy contender here to the experience the Ram affords you and choosing between the two isn’t easy. In the Silverado’s favor, the basic gauge cluster does give you oil pressure and voltmeter gauges unlike the Express and a two-tier glove box is standard. But the Ram feels slightly better polished than the Chevy and it doesn’t suffer from a vast real estate of black plastic stretching from end to end. Cheap hole in the passenger-side dash aside, this interior is almost sort of worthy of a car. (Cont. page 4.) Driving this particular generation of Ram is quite unlike driving any other full-sized pickup that’s out there, new or used. Yes, it indeed still feels as wide as Texas just like any other big pickup, but it oddly doesn’t drive like it. It feels nimbler than what its size suggests. The steering feels light — maybe even just a touch too light — and you never find yourself wondering if the tiller is connected to the front wheels. It’s no Lotus Elise of course, and still not an effective tool for carving even small canyons, but it is a decent point-n-go experience and neither you nor the truck will complain if there’s a corner to go around. Speaking of driving on a twisty road, this is the first truck I’ve driven on one that wasn’t saturated with body roll. The truck feels well planted in most driving situations, even if you try to push things close to the truck’s limits, which are little better than average. This is also the first truck I’ve driven where the chassis didn’t feel like it was molded out of cherry Jell-o over potholes and wrinkled roads. That’s mostly because Ram engineers decided that it was finally time for the large pickup to grow up and get civilized by finally doing away with the time-honored tradition of rear leaf springs. In their place is a multi-link coil spring suspension that isn’t terribly unlike the setup Jeep used on the front of the old compact XJ Cherokee. It’s proven to be rugged but makes the ride and handling characteristics without much fault versus the competition. It doesn’t come without a price. While the Ram is certainly the most civilized body-on-frame truck on the road, its payload and towing capacities trail behind its rivals. Maximum bed payload for the Express in this road test was just a cocaine-addicted anorexic supermodel over 1500 pounds and the towing capacity rings in at about 9,100 pounds. Those sound like galactic numbers because they are, but Toyota and Ford will both boast to you that their half-ton trucks can tow Saturn and haul the moon in their beds. That maybe true, but for the plethora of buyers who buy trucks these days as daily drivers, a Ram equipped like our test vehicle is more than capable of lugging home whatever you need from Home Depot. Anything more in a half-ton truck is just penis compensation really, and neither the F150 nor especially the Tundra would be as nice to tool around in. Standard for the Ram Express models is Chrysler’s brilliant 345 cubic-inch, 5.7 liter Hemi V8. This warhorse of an engine generates a huge 390 horsepower and gut-wrenching 407 pound-feet of torque. Those figures can be felt from the seat of your pants as you scoot to 60 mph in around 6.5 seconds. Okay, that’s not the fastest 0 - 60 times in the world, but hey, there are some sports cars out there that lust about being that peppy. Plus, it’s a Hemi and it makes a great noise through its standard 2 inch dual pipes. The six-speed automatic transmission shifts as soft and smooth as Emma Stone bathed in butter, although it can make the engine note sound a bit strange at times on upshifts. The EPA rates the Ram Express at 14 city, 20 highway and with the Hemi’s cylinder deactivation system we observed an average of 17 to 18 mpg. Not bad, but make no mistake, it still drinks more than a college frat boy parked in front of a kegerator. (Cont. page 5) So, with the muscle-toned styling, the stripped down interior, the decent ride and handling characteristics, and the performance of the Hemi V8, what Ram has really built here isn’t a pickup truck. It just isn’t as crude as something belonging to that genre, it’s just too charming. Instead, according to the formula described above, what they seem to have built is a big old muscle car only with a big old back porch. So, yes, it’s still a tad vulgar, but judging the truck from that perspective sort of makes it okay. And at around $24,000 dollars before any applicable incentives, there is little else out there that gives you this sort of performance and flexibility of customization for the money, since Chrysler’s Mopar division and a full host of aftermarket companies make a wide variety of parts for these trucks. God help me, I absolutely adore this big oaf of a machine. Cheers: -Styling that's better balanced than previous Rams -Decent interior -Good road behavior … for a truck -Solid performance figures from Hemi V8 power -Good value for money Jeers: -Some interior trim can slice your fingers -Too many cupholders for so few passengers -Towing capacities aren't suited for hardcore truck buyers or buyers needing to — ahem! — compensate -Tall overall height can make entry/exit awkward even for vertically blessed people -A touch too thirsty Verdict: -Ram sets out to build a truck, builds a muscle car instead Note: Chrysler didn't provide anything for this review. View full article

Anyone notice they're revising the badge? Along with the updated V6/8-Speed powertrain combo, I'd say they'll also debut a few minor styling tweaks.

G. Noble Editor/Reporter CheersandGears.com March 30, 2012 With much bated breath, Jeep enthusiasts have been keeping a close eye on what will turn up to replace the Liberty. While most, if not all Jeep-philes have been clamoring for a revival of sorts of the venerable old XJ Cherokee — the SUV the Liberty originally replaced back in 2001 — recent news seems to suggest that Jeep’s upcoming new model will be anything but. We’ve seen the photos of a few mutilated Alfa Romeo Giuliettas running around in hiking boots on stilts. After that, what those images suggested was confirmed; the Liberty’s replacement would use a Super-Sized version of the front-drive CUSW platform that pins the upcoming Dodge Dart compact sedan. It’s that news that has hardcore Jeep fans everywhere worried the brand is catering more to buyers who buy Jeeps just for the “rough-n-ready, tough-n-steady” image, not for the legendary, uber military-grade off-road capability they’re renowned for. On the upside though, it was also more or less confirmed afterward the new mid-sized Jeep would have a nine-speed auto and a 3.2 liter version of the corporate Pentastar V6. However, that news alone is by no means enough to put any worries the die-hard Jeep guys out there have about the Liberty’s replacement to bed. Lately, after a media preview of a few new Jeep concepts set to officially debut during the Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, Utah, Jeep’s chief designer Mark Allen spilled a little info about the Liberty’s replacement to the Toledo Blade. And while what’s coming down the pipeline is certainly going to be much different from the current model, Allen says there is no chance the new model is going to disappoint anyone expecting it to live up to Jeep’s rugged image. “It’s definitely not the old Liberty,” Allen said. “It’s a step in the right direction. It’s a much more efficient Jeep. It’s a much more efficient-looking Jeep, honestly. It’s not what we have now.” Mr. Allen declined to give any technical details about the upcoming model, only saying that he was proud of its design. Aside from the shrunken Pentastar V6 and umpteen-speed transmission which should help with fuel economy, the Liberty’s replacement should offer all-wheel drive in addition to the front-wheel drive layout expected on lesser trims. Dealers who have been keyed in on the new model’s front-wheel drive offerings aren’t worried it will turn away any potential buyers, though. Neither is Mark Allen, although he is aware of concerns Jeep loyalists have about another front-wheel drive Jeep joining the stable. “Will it have off-road chops? It will. I’m impressed with what I’ve seen so far,” he said. “It’s not a Giulietta with a Jeep body on it. It’s not. There’s some specific Jeep hardware in it.” As for what they’ll call it? While Chrysler officials haven’t said anything, it seems as if they’ll either continue with the Liberty moniker or bring the Cherokee name out of mothballs. When asked about the issue, Jeep’s CEO Mike Manley said, “The Cherokee has a huge amount of equity. Liberty, I think, has built up some equity as well. I don’t think we’re going to invent a name.” Manley says the Liberty’s replacement will debut early next year, and that only means one venue: the 2013 Detroit Auto Show. Source: The Toldeo Blade View full article

Wait ... who's car is this again? My Toyota-holic uncle has a Camry similar to that, although his has a set of rather blasphemous "American Edition" decals. I think he's managed to milk 200,000 miles out of it so far.

The rumored new Barracuda is supposed to be a blend of contemporary styling and a few retro cues pulled from each generation of Barracuda. It won't just be a revival of the old E-Body Barracuda like the LC Challenger was a revival of the old E-Body Challenger. It's also hard to say if the roofline would be like a '68 or something completely different, too. It's interesting you mention the apparent size of the design study. There are rumors the new Barracuda may turn out to be Avenger-based, since the next Avenger may turn out to be rear-wheel drive and have a lot in common with a new rear-drive Alfa sedan. Chrysler is supposed to be working heavily in tandem with Fiat on a new "CUSW compliant" rear-drive architecture for a host of new mid-sized vehicles. There are also rumors that the revival of the Barracuda doesn't signal the end of the Challenger, either. The Belvedere plant is rumored to shut down for a period of time at the beginning of next year while a new car is also rumored to show up at the Brampton plant. If this new rear-drive architecture is supposed to be "CUSW compliant," then it makes sense Belvedere shuts down to tool up for two new models (the 'Cuda and new Alfa). Also the plant shutting down in early 2013 to tool up for a new vehicle or two could also mean it would've been shown to the public in the fall, which is when it's rumored Chrysler will show some sort of confirmation for the new Barracuda. If the 'Cuda is produced at Belvedere, then what will be the new car at the Brampton plant? It only makes sense the Challenger would be that car, since a larger Challenger would fill a different niche than the Barracuda. Also, if the Barracuda is branded as an SRT vehicle and not a Dodge, then it's completely logical to assume Dodge would want their sole coupe to continue on. The waters are certainly murky.

Nah, not around here. That would be the role of Waffle House. EDIT: It sort of says something about the car in question when we'd rather discuss Shoney's, Stuckey's, and pecan logs.