BIG APPLE VEHICULAR DEBUTS

New York City, home to the Statue of Liberty; Madison Square Gardens; and masses of Ford Crown Victorias, will host the debut of a few high-impact vehicles. It's not likely that this is your first exposure to Subaru's little electric vehicle, but the R1e will face its first NYC exposure in the upcoming days. This perfect-for-Japan vehicle may someday be seen as perfect-for-the-USA as well, especially with a rapid charging ability of fifteen minutes/80% capacity.  

Nissan will attempt to steal Subaru's thunder (or lack thereof, these being near-silent cars) with an electric Cube. And by Cube, we mean cube. Affix Denki to the nomenclature of this long-lusted after Nissan, for this is the Japanese word for electric. Don't kid yourselves: the market for a vehicle with this size/practicality/enviromental impact quotient would be massive; both in North America and abroad. 

 

See last week's Kijiji Maxima Find here

Based on appearances, Nissan's Maxima is a true letdown after the Cube. In accordance with the overt, aggressive, and harsh lines that seem to be the theme for many sedans this decade (rather than simply eye catching softness and class), the Maxima outdoes most with an unbecoming mixture of Mitsubishi Galant/Lexus ES/Altima.  More details to follow, along with more NYC debuts.

FULL-TIME POSITION, TEMPORARY, CUSHY OFFICE, NO BENEFITS?

Recently, Car & Driver magazine tested a Nissan Altima Hybrid. The Altima's greenest version takes a lot of its technology (and the research behind it) from Toyota. The hardware is very similar to what Toyota offers in the Camry Hybrid, but optimized for the Altima.

Nissan, in the States, does not price the Altima Hybrid at too terrible a premium. A basic Altima (four-cylinder, CVtransmission) would cost $20,915 and the hybrid will likely be around $24,400.

Unfortunately, when the purposes of a vehicle come to no fruition, we have a very inconvenient truth. Car & Driver tested that typical Altima four-cylinder and, by their trustworthy measurements, drove 24 miles for every gallon. The Altima Hybrid was only able to propel them 23 miles for every gallon gulped.

Ouch.

One possible reason could the 398 extra pounds the Hybrid places on the scales. Both vehicles were tested by the automotive press, the former during a comparison test, the Hybrid by itself.

By way of disclosure... the EPA says the run-of-the-mill Nissan Altima is rated at 23/29 miles per gallon in the city and highway and the Hybrid is 42/36 city and highway. Last summer, I drove a Ford F-150 for 1 week and averaged 18 mpg, exactly what www.fueleconomy.gov said I would. I coasted down almost every hill to do get 18mpg, but I did it.

That being said, a Hybrid will offer cleaner tailpipe emissions and in most cases save money at the pumps. What it may not do is actually save you money over the life of the vehicle when you factor in the cost of the vehicle. Car & Driver's example would cost more to buy and more to fuel. Bad car? Not so much. Odd car? For sure.

NAME THE PONTIAC G8 UTE

Will Australia's love for the ute, a phenomenon not seen in other parts of the globe, reignite an El Camino-like passion in North America? General Motors; more specifically Pontiac, certainly hopes so.  

Do recall the on-again/off-again life of previous GM car-based trucks on this continent. In fact, take the Subaru Baja as an example of terrible cartruck sales, as well. Subaru wanted to push around 24,000 Bajas (an Outback with no roof continuation, the Outback being a jacked up Legacy wagon) but only managed to shove 30,000 out dealer doors over four years.  

Read other Pontiac-related articles here

Holden, General Motors' Australian subsidiary, is donating their Commodore to Pontiac where you know it as the G8. Expect success, unlike Holden's last gift to Pontiac, the ill-fated and slow-selling GTO. Assuming rising gas prices but no less need for practical truck usages, the thinking is that General Motors will import the Holden Ute as a G8 cartruck. Sixty extra components help strengthen the longer G8 ute, which makes use of the 6.0L V8 from the G8 GT in the New York concept form.  

Other news involving this ute is that it may not be the G8 Ute, at least by name. Pontiac.com/namethiscar will host the public naming of what Pontiac calls a "sport truck utility vehicle". The site also mentions 3,500 pounds of towing capability and a 1,300 pound payload.

IS IT JUST ME....?

Is it just me, or are the comparisons below completely unflattering?  Does the Lexus GS angle dethrone the Jaguar XF from its lofty perch? An Infiniti EX from the rear 3/4 is just a jacked-up Subaru Impreza?Which car comes out worse for wear, the Renault Vel Satis or Lincoln MKT?  

Apologies for the design-heavy content on GoodCarBadCar today. Ha, who cares - we all love the good, the bad, and the ugly.  

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ANGLE-SENSITIVE HYUNDAI GENESIS COUPE

As pictures flow across the web today (see earlier Genesis Coupe post here), opinions are varied. Rightfully so; for the rear-wheel drive sporting coupe from the upstart Korean automaker, a potential competitor for the oh-so-American Ford Mustang and oh-so-Japanese Nissan 350Z, is varied itself.  

It is very common for cars to be colour sensitive, especially vehicles with extreme angles or unique proportions. Then again, it is common for consumers to have completely different reactions to a vehicle depending on the setting they're in (auto show, dealer showroom, magazine, highway fly-by) and the angle at which the vehicle was noticed.  For instance, Infiniti became the lifelong automotive love of The Good Car Girl when she noticed the hind end of a G35 coupe not long after its introduction; following it for some time on the Trans-Canada Highway. Nothing could've changed the passionate reaction she had to that car and its ilk. (See the FX35 Memoriam here.)

So, back to the GenCoupe.  Looks do matter.  Otherwise, designers wouldn't... er, design.  Stylists would style. And marketing mavens wouldn't attempt to convince you that, "yes; the windshield rake on that minivan does lend itself to Aston Martin comparisons". In fact, looks matter a whole lot more when it comes to two-door vehicles which have the sole purpose of looking better than their sedan equivalent. Without style, there'd be next to no reason to choose a BMW 3-series coupe over the sedan.  

Yet, the Hyundai Genesis Coupe isn't exactly what the concept led us to believe.  Troublingly, the GenCoupe divides an individual's own opinion.  Do I like it?  Or do I not?  The Genesis Coupe will likely be quite a stormer, with 300 horsepower, decent traction, and a quick-shifting gearbox.  It may not be an all-out sportscar, but a budget GT.  Contrast the GenCoupe with the Porsche Cayman in the same way a Maserati GranTurismo would differentiate itself from the Ferrari F430.  

That doesn't answer the all-important coupe question.  Fast; yes. But a looker?  Here are five angles of the Hyundai Genesis Coupe. Feel your way from the first shot (poor) through to questionable, decent, good, and very good.

Disagree with the order, or with the premise altogether?

DODGE WEBSITES PROVE TO BE TRICKSTERS

Struck down at the last second.  Garbage.  Thinking I had a terrific post warming up in the oven; one that Canadians would latch onto like Winnipegers to NHL franchise news; Dodge pulled "destination fees" from out of the closet and the grand title - "Journey Prices Separated By Just $10.00 in North America" - went down the tubes.

Dodge.com displays the Journey's base MSRP on their main page as $19,985.  This is the four-cylinder, front-wheel drive SE Journey, keep in mind.  Now, when you arrive at the build page, you discover that the $19,985 includes the destination charge.  A Dodge Journey SE costs $19,360 but the tab jumps $625 on the order sheet.

Dodge.ca, on the other hand, displays the Journey's price on their main page as $19,995.  (Read this to understand my shock and awe.) Considering the normal price disparity between U.S. and Canadian prices; the anger that wells up inside people which have a stronger dollar but are denied prices any where close to parity.... well, this was going to be big news.  Only a $10 gap.  

Alas, it ain't true.  It isn't even close to true.  Dig a little deeper. Delve into the build section of Dodge.ca. Discover that, unlike Dodge's American division, Dodge Canada does not include the destination charge. In fact, Dodge.ca makes very clear that the destination charge on this side of the border is more than twice as much.  

Now add that $1,300 charge to the $19,995, add $100 for the A/C excise tax, and you've got yourself a Dodge Journey SE that costs $1,410 more than its American equivalent, not $10.00 more.  There may be some content, equipment, and detail changes within that gap, but you can understand The Good Car Guy's disappointment.

Canadian Journeys with front-wheel drive go from that basic SE up to a $24,995 SXT to a $27,995 R/T.  All-wheel drive Journeys are SXT and  R/T only and cost $27,595 and $29,995, respectively.  Tack $1,300 on top of each MSRP.  

Meanwhile, sending power to the front wheels only on American Journeys ratchets the SE price up $3,000 on the SXT all the way to $26,545 on the R/T.  (Only Journeys with the SE tag are powered by a four-cylinder/four-speed automatic tandem - other models are V6/6-speed autos.)  Choosing AWD in the USofA is again exclusively held as a choice for the SXT and R/T.  $25,530 proffers the SXT; $28,295 the R/T.  

Incentivizing has already struck the Journey, something The Good Car Guy warned about in his first Journey-related post back in September. Thousand-dollar "cash allowances" are subtracted from every Journey MSRP on Dodge.com.  

PRODUCTION GENESIS COUPE... DISAPPOINTING?

As a performance car, we've yet to discover the all-around capability of Hyundai's upcoming rear-wheel drive Genesis Coupe.  There'll be no V8, but the hi-po V6 is expected to pump out serious juice.  It becomes obvious that the Genesis will be a budget 350Z. 

Originally (as you can see in older Genesis posts), the concept was soul-stirring.  Orange paint and unpainted carbon fiber contributed to that effect.  Now, with the production GenCoupe revealed, my indwelt Korean exhilaration is dwindling. 

Don't get me wrong: if a 6-speed manual and a V6 fail to excite in this car, I'd be shocked.  But sporty cars like this (and 350Z, Mustang, RX-8) are sold with a heavy emphasis on style. Without style, these cars are simply impractical and pointless.

And, dare I say it, from some angles, the GenCoupe looks like a Tiburon of the past.  Indeed, the Tiburon has been a looker during some stages of its evolution, but I was expecting more than a rehash. Thankfully, the rear-end is terrific.  Enthusiasm?  Remaining.  To what degree? Hmm, I'll get back to you.