2010 Volkswagen Beetle

The setting is WWII in Germany, where the holocaust was taking place. Even through a horrible time in world history the Volkswagen Beetle made it through the Nazi's and has survived till today. The Beetle was created during WWII by the german automakers called Volkswagen. WWII did not define the Beetle but it was a past that no one would forget. What did define the Beetle was the 1960's and 1970's a time of love, adventure and whatever people found amusing. People loved the Beetle, also referred to as a Bug, because of its unique styling and simple features. The Beetle was discontinued in 1974 and recreated in 1999.

The design of the exterior of the 2010 Volkswagen Beetle is very elegant. The shape of the Bug has not changed much but the lines of the car have evolved into a much smoother look. The paint scheme has stayed the same offering a variety of rainbow colors to the owner's desire. THe taillights are smooth and flush with the body and the bumper. Volkswagen got rid of the chrome bulky bumpers and redirected their design to be equipped with fiberglass ones. The fenders are hug the wheels and are connected to the bumpers. The wheel design by model but the majority of them are either hubcaps or alloy wheels. The antenna is what makes the Beetle a Bug, its short and is in top of the roof of the car similar to a real bug.

The interior of the Beetle has some features that were carried over form the exterior. The door panels of the beetle is what is unique about the interior. The top of the panels are metal painted to match the exterior of the car, giving it a custom look. The other part of the interior are simple. There is only one instrument cluster but have three different functions. The seats are either cloth or leather and usually match the carpet. The top part of the dash is matches the carpet and the seats. The bottom half of the dash is a light color, either tan or grey. The interior seats four and has a back seat.

The performance of the Beetle has been improved greatly from its past designs. The engine runs more smoothly and is set in the front of the car instead of it being in the trunk like the older styles. The manufactures discovered having the engine in the rear is more prone to car fires and explosions. The performance of the Beetle greatly depends on the model. The Turbo Beetle is geared towards racing. The Beetle is known for its small engines and little power. The engine is only 2.5 liters, where a regular car averages about 4-5 liters. The engine puts out 150 horsepower and 170 foot-pounds of torque.

The Beetle is a sporty car that has went through some major changes. I thing that the Beetle remake was perfect, unfortunately 2010 is the last year of the Beetle. I am really fond of this car but I think its downfall was its main appeal was to women and most men refuse to drive it because it questions their man-hood. I hope that Volkswagen once again recreates a Beetle for the future but the way the economy is no one knows for sure.

NewBeetle.org: Turbo Lemon:

Sure people call it a girl's car.

Sure there are cars that are much faster.

Sure the engine bay is obscenely small to work in.

Sure your friends tease you and call it "Herbie".

But...

What other car makes you smile everytime you see it?

What other car makes others smile from just one glance?

What other car makes WWIII come about on the playground?

What other car is as unique as a Beetle?

We are Beetle drivers. We are Beetle owners. We are the ones who take the image society wants us to portray and draw mustaches on it. We do not conform to the norm. We drive cars that are just as much fun to drive as they are to look at. We bring the sunshine to an otherwise bland day for many people. We understand that modesty is more important than glitz and glamour.

2004 Pontiac GTO

Who would have thought that Americans would steal from Italians? Yes, the name GTO was stolen form an Italian automaker named Ferrari. Ferrari had a car named the Gran Turismo Omlogato. Pontiac thought they were smart and stole it right from underneath their noses. The GTO is one of my "must haves" kinds of car. I plan to own a GTO in the future. This car was resurrected for the newer generations from the movie XXX staring Vin Diesel. The car in the movie was unforgettable, it had rocket launchers, flamethrowers and just about anything a person can imagine. This movie is what made me salivate over owning one.

The Pontiac GTO was born in 1964 to rival the Ford Mustang that was so popular. The GTO was decommissioned in 1974 and reborn in 2004 after many different concepts and renderings. But times have changed and so did the design. The exterior of the 2004 GTO was vastly different and did not resemble any of its older brothers. The new design was sleek and aerodynamic. The GTO remained a two coupe with a long nosed front end. Everything was different. The head lights were very slim and streamline, the bumper hung low giving it an aggressive stance, and the trunk came equipped with a spoiler. The tail lights looked off of a Corolla, it was just out of place. The paint was also different; there were not any special paint codes or packages like the past, just one solid color. I wish they had implemented in a Judge package that Pontiac did in the '70's. Also the rims are nothing special, just plain 5 spoke design. Overall the new GTO seemed like another import Japanese racer, with no American history, so I did not like the design.

The interior of the GTO is very unique. The GTO seats four, in four specially designed racing seats. The seats are leather and match the color of the car. If the GTO is purple, then the seats are purple as well. The color coordination carries over to the door panels as well. Pontiac implemented suede inserts to match the seats on the door panels as well as the dash. But, the color coordination continues because the gauges in the dash also match the exterior. The steering wheel is small, compact and meant for racing. Everything in the interior flows excellent and it flirts with the idea of being over the top.

The GTO engine also fits with the car beautifully. The engine is an LS1, which is straight out of a Chevrolet Corvette. The engine measures 350 cubic inches and is married up with an automatic or manual transmission. The engine puts out an impressive 350-horse power and 365 foot-pounds of torque. The engine performs great and it handles like a true racecar. It’s equipped with anti-lock brakes and four-wheel disc brakes for the ultimate stopping power. The proof that the GTO is a muscle car is in the gas mileage rating. The GTO gets 16 mpg in the city and 21 on the highway. This is a downside of the performance rating because my truck gets better mileage.

The GTO remake was dismissed in 2006, and I have not heard of anything in the works for the future. I particularly did not like the design but the performance outweighed everything else. I drove a new GTO and nearly bought it because of its power and potential. But I guess the enthusiasts agreed that this car should have not been labeled GTO but something different. Pontiac made a wise decision to forget the past and move on.

GTOforums.com : Coreytravis;

just purchased my 06 gto 3 or so weeks ago. I love everything about it! the 04 has a different engine than the 05-06 models so i can not speak for his gas mileage but i can say that i was actually surprised by mine. The car is still new to me so I am constantly beating on it and leaving rubber everywhere i go, all that to say that I am not trying to drive for great gas mileage and i have been getting 18 mpg city!

As far as major problems, i have not had any so far. But i do hear a lot about whining rear ends, and strut damage.

There are more parts for this car that you could ever imagine seeing as it is a corvette engine, but they are all expensive.

Anywho i hope you choose the Goat because i know you will love it! Good luck with your decision!

Corey

Superbird Concept Car

The Plymouth Super bird was considered ugly when it was produced in the early 1970's. People hated the long nose, the high wing, and the elongated. The Super bird was created to race in Nascar events or any event that there was not a limit on what kind of car that was to be used. After a few years of pure domination the Racing league put restrictions on certain cars, and the Super bird was one of them. The restriction was that each car raced must be produced and provided to the public. So Plymouth did just that. It was originally not a hot item until it's rarity became apparent decades later. This car is weird, plain and simple. It goes fast and looks ugly while doing it, but once again its weird and everyone some how like the weird. But in the May 2009 issue of Hot Rod Magazine they featured a concept of the Super Bird.

The concept was described as taking Dodge's Challenger and making some simple modifications and that is it. The picture featured in the magazine was stunning and made me wonder what it was and when does it come out. There is no set date for release or set schemata for the build. The designer's took a Dodge Challenger and added the infamous long nose that made the older version not so attractive. There is not paint scheme because the car is not in production. But I'm sure if Dodge does something like this that they would keep all the classic stripes and badges. There is a wide hood scoop with the respective engine badges parallel to the scoop. The greatest part of the car s the huge signature wing fits amazingly. The wing really does not function much but looks great on the new one. I really hope that Dodge will follow through with the design or at least consider it.

The interior is still in the works because there have been no releases of pictures yet. Dodge's past would make an enthusiast like me think that it will be simple and underdone. Every car that Dodge has remade thus far has had a poorly designed interior. The interior has been simple and plain. Most likely it will have an interior out of a PT Cruiser with a couple poorly designed badges that say Super bird or Daytona.

Now the engine package upgrades the stock Challenger Hemi by adding a Vortech Supercharger. The supercharger boosts he engine from 395 horsepower to 600 horsepower. The engine was designed to emulate a Nascar racecar because that is where the Super Bird's heritage began. I think this is very suitable for a car that was once involved in racing. But this is simply a concept and the final product is most likely to change. Also the design is by a person that is not involved with Dodge but thinks the Super Bird would be a great car to re-release to the public even though its past sales weren't so great.

Plymouth Road Runner SUPERBIRD Concept: http://throttleblips.dailyradar.com

Worldcarfans — Artist Michael Leonhard first tipped us off to his design sketches of the Plymouth Road Runner Concept back in June. He has now kicked his drawings up a notch with these renderings, dubbed the Road Runner Super bird Concept. In Leonhard's mind, he sees his version of the Super bird as a late 60's NASCAR killer. With a HEMI engine (of course), the artist wanted to create an American style sports car that has muscle and reduced drag. "[It has] a sleek nose cone that slips into air like a knife through butter; incorporating a spoiler below the centered grille opening," writes Leonhard. He also integrated an exhaust system into the rocker panel.

Plymouth Super bird 1970

The Plymouth Super Bird was created for the same reason as the Dodge Daytona -- a full on high-speed race machine designed for the NASCAR races, but available to the public.

Plymouth Road Runner Concept (video)

Resurrection of a muscle car legend. Plymouth Road Runner Design Concept for 2011 by designer Michael Leonhard. www.michael-leonhard.com

2010 Dodge Challenger

The Challenger is about to be challenged. The Dodge Challenger is another iconic muscle car that help define an era. As the 70's were all about going fast and looking good doing it. The Challenger was near the top of the most popular muscle cars because of it's good looks and its high output engine. So, when the Dodge company decided to bring back the Challenger they had a lot of expectations to live up to. People in the muscle car community are very particular about car modifications, how the work is done and the potential of a car. But after many different drawings they came up with a final product that is simply amazing.

The design of the 2010 Dodge Challenger is very complete and I think it meets expectations. The exterior of the Challenger is what I would consider an amazing remake. The Challenger is just like the older version from the 70's but it is modernized. Modernizing a car and keeping the heart and soul of such a car is what makes it successful. Everything down to the tail lights are similar to the older version. The grille of the 2010 Challenger is what I think symbolizes an icon. The paint schemes of the 2010 are very similar to the 70's versions. They have a simple but bright paint followed by the basic racing stripes or Challenger badges. It's got 20 inch wheels that are a shiny silver.The only thing that I do not like about the exterior of the exterior is the low laying rear bumper. I think this makes the car look blocky, it does not flow as well as the rest of the car does. But besides the rear bumper I think that the exterior was redone brilliantly.

The interior is not everything that I expected and I'm sure I'm not alone by thinking this either. Similar to the previous blog of the Dodge Charger, the interior of the Challenger is basically the exact same. I think that if a company is going to remake a car than they need to do it right down to the bolts they use. It seems that Dodge focuses only on the exterior of a car instead of the car as a whole. The interior is nice, it has simple gauges and GPS just like any high-end car would have. Dodge do one thing right and that was only improving on the efficiency of the interior, but that is it. As far as I know there were not to many Challenger badges in the interior like it should. The seats are a basic leather, a leather console and that really is it.

The engine of the Challenger is as respectful as the exterior is. The options include a V6 to a V8. The V8 option had different options such as getting the SRT package. The SRT package belts out a huge 375 horsepower and 404 foot-pounds of torque. The SRT package is rated at 18 mpg and 25 mpg on the highway. So Dodge did serve some justice to the classic version of the Challenger. The engine compartment is designed very well and is very clean. Everything under the hood is concealed very well. The transmission options include manual and automatic. The horsepower out-put varies depending on the transmission. The engine and transmission of the 2010 Challenger are a great married pair that Dodge has done well.

Overall my impression of the 2010 Dodge Challenger is that I like it. I think the exterior of the Challenger is done very well. The interior needs a lot of improvement and Dodge needs to reconsider the design because it sucks. The engine helps pick up the slack that the interior creates. The engine and transmission are a good pair. I am glad that Dodge re-made the Challenger but there is plenty of room for improvement.

Challengertalk.com; Marauder_Pilot:

Currently, the R/T I'm looking at, with some options, will be running me in the realm of $40K (Canadian). An SRT-8 with the manual would come out to a hair over $50K for me (And these are internet MSRP prices, not dealer quotes). Obviously, the SRT-8 has some more stock interior options and such, but the big question, for me, is-will the 6.4L SRT-8 be worth $10K for someone DD'ing and casually racing? Or am I better off going for an R/T?

Challengertalk.com; cubsfan74:

I have been driving a 5.7L Magnum for 3 yrs and love it, the current iteration of the 5.7L is even better. I bought a SRT as a DD and have no regrets. I kept the magnum for a reason too, though

Unless I am missing something in your scenario, the 6.4L isnt available yet so that part of the argument is mute. Drive them both and make the decision for your self. The brakes, suspension, interior, and hp differences are worth the extra cash...in my opinion.

Challengertalk.com; Jonw:

It's a matter of personal preference and what your priorities are. I didn't get an SRT when I bought my Charger because it's the car we take on highway trips and I didn't want to spend the extra money on fuel. Plus, I think the Charger Daytona seats are more comfortable than the SRT seats, and we spend a lot of seat time in the car when we're on the road.