Car Chute

It’s almost the end of the decade for the 2000’s and it’s time to look back and review what trucks were the most significant. PickupTrucks.com and AutoPacific has just announced a list of the Most Significant Trucks of the Decade. As expected the list were made up of trucks that were technologically cutting edged advanced and who pushed the envelope in terms of quality and design.

So here they are:

• 2000 Nissan Frontier Crew Cab
• 2001 Chevrolet Silverado / GMC Sierra Heavy Duty with 6.6-Liter Duramax Diesel
• 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche
• 2004 Nissan Titan
• 2005 Toyota Tacoma
• 2006 Honda Ridgeline
• 2007 Toyota Tundra
• 2009 Dodge Ram 1500
• 2010 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor

And the Most Significant of the Decade:

• 2009 Ford F-150

Why It’s Significant: Remains the gold standard against which other half-ton pickup trucks are compared.

Ford gave its F-150 half-ton pickup a major revision for 2009 and gave buyers an astonishing seven different models to choose from before they even considered engine choice or cab type. Two more models have been added for 2010! It’s not the most powerful truck but the F-150 features an excellent six-speed transmission and innovative features like Ford Work Solutions that make doing jobs with a truck easier. From contractor to urban cowboy, Ford has an F-150 to meet almost anyone’s needs.

“On balance, we thought the 2009 Ford F-150 was the most significant pickup of the last decade,” said Jim Hossack, vice president of consulting for AutoPacific. “It sells in high volume, owners like it and its body, chassis and powertrain are all first rate. Features abound, and there are more models, series and options than can be counted. It’s a good looking truck and suitable for the widest possible range of tasks and uses.”

Congratulations to the Ford F-150 team for creating a Pick-up Truck that ruled a decade.

Press Release

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After a couple of best cars awards list, I think it would be fair to look at the other extreme: the worst ones. Although it may not seem nice at first, it’s a way for the auto industry to look back and learn for their past mistakes to ensure that they don’t name a particular vehicle the wrong way. A good way to start would be Cars.com’s Worst Named Cars of All Time List.

After 30 years of looking back at the automobile industry, Cars.com presents the Worst Car Names of All Time!

10. The Entire Lincoln Lineup
Lincoln is a brand with a considerable history, and we know they know how to give cars strong iconic names such as Continental or Navigator. Somewhere around 2007, many of those easy-to-remember names went out the window, leaving consumers with a hodgepodge of names starting with “MK.” That’s a shame because Lincoln has a strong lineup right now. What’s the difference between the MKZ, MKX and MKS? Gimme a second to look it up because I honestly can’t remember which is which.

9. Hyundai Equus
The inclusion of the Equus might be premature considering it’s not even on sale yet, but this could be the push Hyundai needs to give the car a proper name before it’s released. Companies occasionally give Latin names to products to make them sound sophisticated or fancy, but Equus just makes us think of the Broadway play of the same name — most recently starring Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter fame — where a young man loves horses a little too much.

8. Toyota Yaris

There was a girl in my dorm freshman year who organized her shoes alphabetically by mood. She majored in dead languages and responded to every single question with “no worries.” She once set the dorm microwave on fire by overcooking a ham-and-cheese Hot Pocket. Yes, that story is ridiculous and nonsensical … sort of like naming a car Yaris.

7. Kia Forte Koup
As writers, we’re particularly offended when companies take liberties with the English language in an effort to be cutesy — and this is no exception. We actually like this car! But Kia is asking us to overlook years of schooling and experience to accept their quirky spelling of coupe. It might require a few sessions with a therapist before we can get to that happy place.
6. Subaru B9 Tribeca
Here we’ve got a family crossover named after a fashionable neighborhood in lower Manhattan and … a World War II bomber? Consumers didn’t understand the B9 moniker either; that part of the name got the ax when Subaru redesigned the SUV for the 2008 model year.

5. Volkswagen Touareg
A few Volkswagens could’ve made this list, but the Touareg was easily the name that tripped up our American mouths the most. Early Touareg commercials in the U.S. even depicted people struggling to say the name. When an automaker has to spend precious time and ad dollars helping consumers learn to pronounce the car’s name — something is wrong.

4. Ford Probe
There are many borderline inappropriate jokes you could make about a 1990s sport compact named Probe, but we’re far too classy for that. Even if you don’t take into account the tasteless jokes, this is just a bad car name. There is nothing cool about a probe (the word, not the car). What thesaurus was Ford using where probe was synonymous with sleek and sporty?

3. Subaru Brat
Although Brat is technically an acronym — it stands for Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter — it’s a particularly unfortunate one. “Brat” is almost never used to describe something positively. A brat is not a calm, confident driver who knows what he wants and how to get it. A brat is busy throwing a hissy fit in the corner because his mom won’t let him borrow the car to go buy the new Styx album.

2. Isuzu VehiCROSS
Isuzu deserves a little credit for creating an attention-grabbing crossover before it was even a recognized vehicle segment, but the name practically beats consumers over the head with the idea (think SUV plus a cross-training sneaker). Add to that the unnecessary capitalization and the fact that VehiCROSS is a mouthful, and you have one bad name.

1. Ford Aspire
It’s pretty safe to say that many drivers’ dream cars fall under the category of sports car or luxury auto; few children hope to one day spend their commuting hours behind the wheel of a 63-horsepower subcompact hatchback. When Ford slapped the Aspire name on the back of this car, they were basically saying: “Yeah, even our car knows you wish you were driving something cooler.”

Well, there they are, hopefully this list won’t grow longer…

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If you had a classic British car around you know how hard it is find any replacement parts in the US as it usually it means importing the expensive parts from the UK. However, two British car enthusiasts from Michigan, Brian Thornton and Keith Leigh-Monstevens, have made it easier for you as they have established Heritage Spares, a distributor for North America of AP Braking (used to be known as AP Lockheed) breaks and clutch replacement parts.

“By reintroducing genuine AP brake and clutch replacement parts to the U.S. and Canada, we are providing the British car enthusiast with the optimal maintenance or restoration solution – the ability to fit factory specified, original equipment replacement parts to their cars,” said Brian Thornton, president and vice president of sales and marketing for Heritage Spares.

The following parts are available:

Heritage Spares customers will have access to: front and rear brake drums; calipers; remote and direct acting servos; single and tandem master cylinders; brake valves; repair kits; brake hoses; wheel cylinders; clutch master cylinders; clutch slave cylinders; clutch hoses; and clutch dampers. The parts will be applicable to models spanning the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and 1970s for several of England’s classic brands, including: Austin; Austin-Healey; BMC; Jaguar; Land Rover; Mini; MG; Morgan; Morris; Riley; and Triumph.

If you have any doubts to their credibility as British car experts from North America, then it would be wise to know that Leigh-Monstevens spent 40 years in AP companies, including AP Braking as its chief engineer. Know that you are dealing with people who live and breath British cars.

Press Release

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Where have all the quality and safety in American cars gone to? It seems that overseas manufactured cars and automotive vehicles seems to be the one that’s taking a look at quality and safety more than it is over here. No wonder our automotive industry is down in the gutters. This is further proven after Car and Driver Magazine just listed down the 10 best cars of 2010: and it’s no surprise that only two of the top ten belong to American car manufacturers.

Following are the 2010 Car and Driver 10Best winners (in alphabetical order), followed by the number of times each model has made the list:

• 2010 Audi S4 (2)
• 2010 BMW 3-series / M3 (19)
• 2010 Cadillac CTS / CTS-V (2)
• 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid (1)
• 2010 Honda Accord (24)
• 2010 Honda Fit (3)
• 2010 Mazda MX-5 Miata (11)
• 2010 Mazda 3 / Mazdaspeed 3 (3)
• 2010 Porsche Boxster / Cayman (3)
• 2010 Volkswagen GTI (7)

The list is not in a ranked order. A panel of 18 Car and Driver editors determined the winners by rating them on a scale of 1-100 with a focus on functional performance, driving satisfaction and value. Vehicles considered for the award must be available in the United States by January 2009 and priced below the cap of $80,000, or 2.5 times the average transaction price as of summer 2009. Winners from the previous year are re-nominated if they are still available under the price cap.

Hopefully this is a wake up call to American car manufacturers to do their best to produce quality cars that will attract not only local buyers but foreign ones as well.

Press Release

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Although this is primarily a car blog, I believe that this particular article be added as this may save a lot of people from road accidents. Since the invention of the mobile phone, most drivers just cannot stop checking their email or SMS while driving. Although it’s already been outlawed on a lot of states, some people still risk killing others or themselves just to check out who texted them.

It’s fortunate then that the application called Drivesafe.ly was created to help people hear their SMS and emails while on the road. This allows them to see straight and keep their hands on the wheel while listening to the message on their mobile phone.

“DriveSafe.ly is taking off because people want to stay connected while they drive, and do it in a safe way” says Heath Ahrens, CEO of iSpeech and creator of DriveSafe.ly. “I recommend that everyone install DriveSafe.ly, not because I work for the company behind it, but because I actually use it and it stops texting while driving.”

Indirectly, this also allows blind people to hear messages to their mobile phone. This application could do a lot of good for a lot of people making their lives a bit safer on the road. It’s so good that it has been nominated for an award.

“DriveSafe.ly, which was just yesterday nominated for the prestigious 2009 Mashable Open Web Award for Best Mobile App,reads text messages and emails in real-time without any action from the user.”

Please install it for you and the people around you while you drive.

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For car owners who are constantly using their iPhones for communication and mobile entertainment, here is a handy device that also makes use of BlueTooth connectivity and a hands-free kit. Parrot’s latest car stereo gives you access to all iPhone functions. Travelers can listen to music stored on their iPhone or iPod while benefiting from Parrot’s expertise in digital acoustics for in-car phone conversations and voice recognition.

Parrot RKi8400 is an FM/AM RDS car stereo that features multiple connections for digital music, including USB port for portable hard drive or USB key, SD Card reader and a double line-in socket for analogue sources. It also offers advanced hands-free telephony functions. One of its unique features is the practical storage compartment located behind the removable front panel, ideal for protecting and recharging an iPhone or iPod.

Equipped with a 200W MOS-FET amplifier, the Parrot RKi8400 is a fully-integrated car audio system. Music and conversations are played through the vehicle’s speakers for optimal listening and music experiences.

(Source) Press

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For millions of car owners, the answer to feeling better about their current vehicle is to make it look and run better. Not everyone can afford a new car, and the Cash for Clunkers program only worked for a small minority of vehicle owners. A brand new site called Auto Grill Craft can help dress up an older vehicle and give it back that new look.

A car expresses different aspects of its driver’s personality. By making it look great with a new grill or grill guards from Auto GrillCraft it makes the owner feel better and raises the value of the vehicle.

Dennis Dater of Exotic Motor Sports has recently opened an eCommerce web site called Auto Grill Craft Grilles to help owners of various vehicle brands and models the opportunity to improve the looks of their car, trucks and SUVs.

This site offers the complete line of Grillcraft products. You can choose from three different styles of Grillcraft grills, the MX, SW and BG grilles.

The MX style grille is made from steel mesh in an exclusive pattern. It is then zinc plated and finally covered with a three stage baked on powder coating. Easy to install, long lasting and great looking.

For a “Billet Grill”, take a look at the BG style. The “Billet” looks consists of a series of bars, sometimes horizontal and sometimes vertical placed in the grille area of the vehicle. This is made from 6061 T6 Aluminum. These grilles have a high-luster polished front face with a black baked on powder coating finished back ground.

The SW style grille is made from T304 Stainless Steel woven mesh using Grillcraft’s exclusive micro frame design. Then Electrol Polished to a high luster. They are guaranteed never to rust, and represent the top of the line. This is one of the finest grilles produced anywhere.

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For the car owners who don’t want to see the slightest scratches and want to get rid of them in a hurry, the Quixx Paint Scratch Remover should be the instant solution to their problems.

This scratch remover is your ticket to instant and long-lasting solutions for your car that will also leave a reflective high gloss finish. It will not leave any stains and is free from solvents and environmental friendly. You can even use it with your standard buffer or polishing machines.

Price: $14.95

(Source) Amazon

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Corvette car owners looking for Cray custom wheels can now utilize the on line configurator to test fit wheels on their Corvettes.

“The configurator we built enables a true visual representation of Cray wheels on Corvette motor cars,” says Terence Scheckter, President of Cray Corvette Wheels, “The Cray Wheels configurator has been designed exclusively for Corvette’s.”

How does the Corvette wheels configurator work? The user selects the Corvette vehicle type (Corvette C5 and Corvette C6 are vehicle options on the Cray Wheels configurator), the vehicle color, the Cray wheel style and finish. The result gives the user an excellent visual representation of Cray custom wheels on Corvette motor cars.

Cray Wheels offers the Scorpion and Manta Wheels, available in staggered sizes ranging from 17 inch to 20 inch. The wheels are available in hyper silver, gloss black and chrome finishes. The wheels have been designed to complement the performance and racing aesthetic of Corvette’s. “As beautiful as the Corvette may be, a set of Cray custom wheels can make all the difference to the look of your Corvette,” says Scheckter.

Why Cray Corvette Wheels? Cray Wheels are designed exclusively for Corvettes. Corvette Wheels have large diameters and very wide widths and are notoriously difficult for fitting aftermarket wheels. Cray Wheels was born out of the need to change this. Cray Wheels embody more than 20 years of design experience and have been engineered to fit Corvette’s perfectly.

To ensure a smooth ride, all Cray Corvette wheels are created to be hub centric and are made to the tightest tolerances. Also, Cray wheels are engineered to accept the original Corvette center cap and are designed to take the original Corvette air sensor. “When it comes to custom wheels for Corvette, Cray has the perfect fit,” says Terence Scheckter, president of Cray Wheels, “all wheels are hand assembled and built to Cray’s exacting specifications”

The Cray Corvette wheel configurator has had a great response from customers. It provides a great visual platform on which to test fit Crays custom aftermarket wheels on Corvette’s.

Prices of Cray wheels vary from $300 – $650 and are available now.

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