Blake Noble

Perhaps one of the more anticipated production-related debuts this auto show seaon is none other than Chrysler's new Dodge Caliber replacement, the Dart. The media embargo on the Dodge compact sedan broke this morning and a slew of different images of the car have been surfacing on the internet throughout the day today through various websites. There's even a .The new Dart definitely brings a lot to the table for a car of its class. Chrysler will offer a new, optional nine-speed automatic as well as three different engine options, ranging from a 2.0L 16-valve four-cylinder, a MultiAir 2.4L four-cylinder, and a 1.4L MultiAir turbocharged four-cylinder. The 2.0L and 2.4L are both part of Chrysler's new Tigershark family of small displacement engines. Additionally, the new Dart is also good for an average of 40 mpg (unadjusted). There's also no denying it's quite a looker as well, with many design elements such as the rear taillight panel being borrowed from it's big brother, the Charger. The design translates very well no matter which trim level you choose (the white car shown alongside the red R/T model is in Limited trim). More photos will be uploaded here soon, so stay tuned. More details are sure to come at the Detroit Auto Show, which officially kicks off tomorrow. UPDATE: Full gallery here: View full article

I think the thinking behind the coupe is great. I remember when I drove the last-generation Saturn Vue hybrid that had eAssist (or BAS back then) I thought it would be an awesome feature to have on a sports coupe. It's good to see someone at GM gets the idea. It's honestly the small hatch concept that has me confuzzled a little. I agree that this year's Detroit show will be great for previewing new GM iron. Hell, so far this year's show is shaping up to be much better than last year's. Nope. They're both cars and likely won't preview a bodystyle of an exsisting car. Chevrolet concept one: four-seater, rear-wheel drive coupe with eAssist. Possible retro styling. Chevrolet concept two: Front-wheel drive hatchback with Voltec technology. This is just what I've heard. There's a 60/40 chance it's right. Concept 2. Would that be the Spark with Voltech all electric power? Concept 1 A Camaro with e Assist? And by Camaro I mean a hint at the new direction they may go with the Alpha based car?. Well, they've already shown the all-electric Spark and this particular concept car may be a bit larger than anything that's on Gamma. Plus, like I said, it shouldn't be any sort of additional model or bodystyle of a car currently in production. I'm thinking that's what the coupe concept could very well turn out to be.

Nope. They're both cars and likely won't preview a bodystyle of an exsisting car. Chevrolet concept one: four-seater, rear-wheel drive coupe with eAssist. Possible retro styling. Chevrolet concept two: Front-wheel drive hatchback with Voltec technology. This is just what I've heard. There's a 60/40 chance it's right.

I'm not ashamed at all to admit that I would drive that.

Well, Mark Reuss said that the Colorado would be low-frills for North America. If they add anything to what the Colorado will be for our market, those additions will wind up in GMC's version and not in Chevrolet's.

Well, I've been accepted into college for the Spring semester, but now I have another hurdle to deal with: paying for it.

One is supposed to be a small, rear-wheel drive, retro-styled coupe, so the rumor goes. If so, I'm thinking it could preview certain elements of the Alpha Camaro if not the entire car itself. It's one possible scenario out of three or four that could play out. The small front-wheel drive concept car is something I haven't heard much about.

Some of the other "Beginning of Tomorrow" Firebird ads have been posted here before. I personally can't bear to watch them -- they're far too depressing.

One stupid idea and another stupid idea. I'm very hesitant regarding the Canyon's mileage and 2.8L four-banger.

That can also make someone wonder what would have happened if Opel just rebadged all of their cars as Buicks in the U.S. the first time around ...

Well, design work on the Cruze was well underway before Hyundai designers started work on the current Sonata. I'll admit, though, if anything those sketches take a few cues from the original Mercedes CLS.

I think the sketches were great and got the rear end styling right. The current production car, in comparison, looks like a commitee tried to tweak those sketches over coffee and ulitmately forgot about them.

If there's anything I see them cutting out of the North American model, it's the snazzy uplevel climate control system. Otherwise, the interior looks like it was designed to be relatively inexpensive to develop and produce (that doesn't mean I think it's a cheap-looking interior; it isn't). I have to wonder what the budget to develop this truck was ...

This is slighty unrelated to the article, but when I was hunting down a photo to use for this article, I came across a website that had a few design sketches for the Cruze: http://www.yosax.com/chevrolet-cruze-sketches Try not to get angry when you see them.

If there's one car that's been crucial to GM's recent sales success, it's the Chevrolet Cruze. Since it's global introduction in 2008, the compact Chevy has had healthy sales worldwide and has also handily outsold its competitors at times here in the U.S. market. GM is obviously intent on keeping the momentum going and knows that the only way it'll keep making sales progress is to update the Cruze for the immediate future. So, it comes as no suprise a spy photo of the Cruze's upcoming refresh has already surfaced over on Czech auto website AutoForum. The spy shot reveals that the shape of the grille opening will be modified slightly and the inserts will change from the current honeycomb-style pattern to ones with bold horizontal slats. The fog lamp openings are also changed to ones that are a little more Ford than Chevy in their design. It's unclear if overseas markets will see this facelift a significant time before we do, but when it does show up here we can count on a diesel version appearing and possibly the snazzy five-door hatch as well. View full article

Huh. The speedo/temp and rev counter/fuel guage are basically the same as the Camaro's. I never noticed that. EDIT: Looking at the photos a little bit closer, I see other little ways GM raided the corporate parts bin -- the radio preset buttons are from the old corporate "black tie" radios. I also wouldn't have any trouble believing that elements of the door panels came from the previous-generation Opel Astra. Here's the link to MT's test if you were having problems finding it on Google (like I somehow managed the first time I tried looking for it): link.

It was only a few short weeks ago Nissan released their first teaser of the Pathfinder concept, set to debut at the ever approaching Detroit Auto Show. Now Nissan has decided the time is right to release two more teasers, each revealing the and of the vehicle.Each video only lasts a few seconds each, but they reveal everything you need to see if you were wondering what the front and rear of last month's shadowy profile shot would look like. It's also worth noting that the three-section grille of the current Nissan trucks has evolved into something a little more staid on the Pathfinder concept, which is turning out to be a lazily disguised version of what will go on sale this fall. View full article

Someone remind me why these aren't more readily available again? If I wound up with one I would have to swap those seats out for a set from a G8. That's my only beef with it.

The year has already started off as a whimper so I'm completly expecting to peddle through a year of total mediocrity as a broke, 22-year old college dropout.

It's looking highly unlikely that I'll be admitted into college this semester. Just great. It's all total incompetence on the college's part and not because I don't have the right test scores or grades. I submitted my first application of three total to them on October 21st. When I didn't hear a response from them the first time, I submitted two different ones to them after that during the second and fourth weeks of November. They finally responded about the middle of last month (about a week and a half before they were going to shut down for the Holidays) saying they needed an accurate date of birth (why, I have no idea) and a final high school transcript. I personally hand delivered both of those to them two days after they sent their response letter out. I certainly thought I would've had an acceptance or denial letter by now considering the staff and students returned to campus today and -- guess what? -- nothing's shown up. I called the admininstration department today only to find out they still wanted an accurate DOB and my final high school transcript. Uh ... okay? Then who in the hell did I hand a copy of my birth certificate and transcript to? Even if I do get accepted, the college's poor communication and general stupidity has basically screwed me out of getting any federal aid through FASFA or whatever (deadlines for the Spring semester are at the end of this month). I'm close to demanding that my application fees be refunded. I don't care if I have to go to another school, I have absolutely no problem trying to figure out how to relocate to a new town even in my current situation. In fact, it's looking easier to completly start over from a clean sheet of paper than it is to clean up the mess I have going on right now. As for the Challenger mess, there's a decent chance something stupid will happen this Saturday concerning that end of things. If it yields a result and I decide to break news of it, I want every active member here to post a photo of a white Accord.

It's from none other than the Mini Countryman. So if this article is to be believed, Fiat wants to be an Italian Mini for the North American market. Ohhhhkayyyyy then ...