9/16/08

Chevy Volt

The Chevy Volt has finally been officially revealed. And at first glance, it does look decent. In fact, I think this might be a good thing for the brand. For a few years now I have been looking at the Prius as a replacement for my daily driver, something easy on gas yet would not be a small car like the MINI is. The Clubman was starting to get the hint but as I look more at it, I am not sure it is enough. What I would like is a normal looking everyday car that had the benefits of a Prius but that did not look like an oddly shaped spaceship. As a quick knee jerk reaction, I think this might me a good fit for the mainstream car buying public.

Now the big questions here is how much. people are guessing as much as $40 grand but we'll see if they are smart enough to negotiate some government rebates or control the price to make this a little more affordable for the masses. Also looking at the interior, I am not sure how the center console works with the white casing and 2nd LCS display.

9/14/08

Diggnation on Cars

Kevin and Alex of Diggnation fame chatted a bit on the general public view of diesel and cars that are working to change that view. They were discussing a businessweek article about a ford that reached 65mpg but since it was a diesel engine, they just don't see the US buying them.  I could not help but think of all the jumping and screaming DB has been doing over at Moteringfile trying to get MINIUSA the bring the MINI Cooper D to the states with no success... yet. 
It also comes to the design of the car itself. I have never heard of people saying how good looking a Prius is but it's almost impossible not to mention the car's looks when talking about the MINI. Skip to about the 23 minute of this episode if you don't want to watch the whole thing when they mention how the MINI gets it right when it comes to small cars and god looks. I can't help to agree with their view on this.  Diggnation is certainly worth taking a look at.