It was 7 o’clock on a Sunday morning. I was at the gas pump in Williamston filling the 21-gallon tank on this Kia Sorento. We got home late the night before from a rush trip to Syracuse, NY and I needed gas, a newspaper and one little Crispy Cream to start my day. The fellow with the new Chevy Colorado pickup at the next pump came out with his paper under his arm. I said “good morning” as I would to anyone I encountered that early. He took a few steps, not acknowledging my greeting then turned and calmly replied, “I don’t talk to people who buy Japanese cars, especially old guys like you who should know better.” He was in his truck and gone before I could collect my wits.
“Well, excuuuuse me!” I thought as I pumped my arms like Steve Martin.
I guess there are still some people out there who think like that. He didn’t give me a chance to even correct his geography. This Kia is Korean, not Japanese. And, he didn’t give me a chance to explain that it isn’t even my car - though that would have been a disingenuous response since I would have no problem buying a Japanese or Korean car if one best suited my needs. Perhaps he is one of many folks here in Michigan who have lost their jobs to international competition, so I’ll cut him some slack.
He was fooled by this Kia Sorento EX 4X4 that we have put a lot of miles on this week. It would be easy to mistake it for a Japanese product with its conservative styling and trendy good looks. Sorento is a mid-size crossover on a ladder frame. It has heavy-duty suspension and 4-wheel drive with low range and limited slip differential - a competent platform, indeed - not nearly as heavy as other full-frame sport-utes and more rigid and sturdy than some unibody crossover competitors.
Acceleration is a bit tepid with the 3.5-liter V6 engine - at about 200-hp it could use a bit more grunt. Don’t get me wrong, power is adequate, but we’re getting used to these cars with around 230-hp and better. Fuel mileage – regular, of course – was mostly around 19.5 mpg. EPA says to expect 15 to 20 so we were consistently at the upper range except for one tank, much of which was spent during a huge rain storm on the New York Throughway.
The Michilin tires performed admirably in the torrential rains we encountered on the way to Syracuse. We were in the middle of a blinding storm for more than an hour as the usually fast traffic on that straight stretch of road slowed to barely 35 mph for mile after mile. Those P245/70R16 Michelin Cross-Terrains dissipated the water and gripped the wet pavement so well that we felt like we could lead the pack of traffic at over 40-mph. So we did.
After that quick trip to New York we took the Sorento to the Wilderness Campground, near Mackinac City, about four hours north of us, for a family campout. Someone please help me understand what is so charming about living like refugees in a tent for days at a time sharing a scruffy bathroom with 200 of your closest friends. Fortunately we shared a pop-up camper with my in-laws rather than pitching a tent ourselves, so we were in the lap of luxury . . . sort of.
Sitting side-by-side with my brother-in-law, Jimmy’s, GMC Jimmy we can see that the Sorento is larger and shapelier. The Jimmy might be a tad longer but the Sorento is taller, wider, more capacious and way better looking. We have plenty of room inside and the rear seats fold easily, though we have to take the headrests off to fold them up completely. Cargo capacity is 34.4 cu.ft., and 66.4 cu.ft. with seats down.
Sorento weighs 4,387 lbs., has a respectable 3,500-pound towing capacity and payload of 1,327 pounds. Not many Sorento owners use it for serious towing but they could. It would tow Jimmy’s camper with ease. And, we could use the Sorento off-road, if we like. It has skid plates underneath and a full-size spare as well.
Base price on the sticker for this Sorento EX 4X4 is $26,100. (The LX, 2WD starts at $19,685.) Well equipped in standard form our EX comes with a 5-speed transmission, 16-inch wheels and tires, heavy duty suspension, AC, cruise, power sunroof, power windows, power locks, power and heated mirrors, leather steering wheel, full compliment of air bags (Sorento has earned the NHTSA five-star side impact safety rating), decent skid plates underneath, and plenty of other stuff. Kia and Hyundai tend to provide lots of content for the price.
Optional equipment on our test car is the 4-wheel Antilock brakes at $595 (they ought to be standard, says I), and the Luxury Package for $2,100 which includes leather, heated seats, automatic climate control, automatic headlamps, premium AM/FM 6-disc in-dash CD, chrome accents. Then there is the rear spoiler for $200 and that mighty sturdy-looking tow hitch for $340. With the $670 destination charge it all adds up to $30,005.
Powertrain warranty is 10 years/ 100,000 miles.
One little criticism – the Sorento’s cruise control tends to set itself sometimes. We’ll be running along on cruise and have to disengage as traffic begins to coagulate. Then, a few minutes later, as traffic clears and we’re back up to speed, having forgotten to reset the cruise, it will suddenly be on – all by itself. What’s up with that? I checked the owner’s manual and it said nothing about having anticipatory functions.
The Sorento was very pleasant to live with for nearly two weeks and probably close to 2,000 miles. It is easy to see why the Koreans have been able to make such inroads into the American automobile market. Now, I guess I just have to keep my head down at the gas pumps.

Source:[ theautochannel]

 A FOND FAREWELL?
This weekend Formula One completes the second part of its Asian double-header, with the 22nd Japanese Grand Prix. The race is being held at Suzuka for the 20th time - and it might also be the last for the foreseeable future. In 2007 the Japanese GP is poised to switch to the Fuji Motor Speedway, a significantly redeveloped version of the venue that hosted the event in 1976 and 1977,
Built in 1962, as a test track for Honda, Suzuka has the unique distinctions - in F1 terms, at least - of a figure-of-eight configuration and an adjacent funfair, the latter of which was built to entertain the families of workers at a nearby Honda plant. It staged its first world championship grand prix in 1987, when Japan returned to the schedule after a decade’s absence, and has since been ever-present. It has staged a number of memorable championship showdowns and its challenging high-speed sweeps make it one of the drivers’ favourites.
Michelin did not participate in the first 16 Japanese Grands Prix - the company made its world championship debut in 1977, but its sole partner Renault did not travel to Fuji - and only recorded its maiden Suzuka F1 success in 2005. The circumstances could hardly have been more spectacular: Kimi Räikkönen (McLaren Mercedes) charged through from the back of the field and passed Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault) at the start of the final lap. It proved to be the campaign’s most memorable race and Michelin drivers filled the top six places.
Michelin’s view
Nick Shorrock, Formula One director, Michelin
“Suzuka is one of the most demanding tracks on the calendar. In terms of severity it is quite similar to Silverstone - and that is where we tested to prepare tyres for this weekend’s race. “Suzuka’s figure -of-eight configuration might even things out in terms of wear rates, but it still puts significant mechanical forces through the tyres.
“Following the Silverstone test, our six partners selected a range of compounds and we will have 10 different products available. A small section of the famous Suzuka crossover has been resurfaced since we last raced there, but I don’t expect this to make a great deal of difference. The fact that we are using V8 engines, however, has allowed us to reduce the tyre rigidity by up to one step.
“Weather conditions can be very variable in Japan at this time of year, so we had to think very carefully about the possible extremes of temperature in which the tyres might have to perform. We’ve taken that into account and our excellent performance in China last weekend puts us in a very positive frame of mind for the season’s final two grands prix.”
Team perspective: Willy Rampf, technical director, BMW Sauber
“Suzuka is a very demanding track for tyres because it has so many fast corners. Degradation is traditionally high, so we use a relatively hard compound. On Friday graining is always an issue, but this problem naturally fades away as more rubber is laid on the track. It’s always very difficult to predict the Japanese weather- you can have anything from a monsoon to 40-degree track temperatures. This presents an additional challenge when it comes to finalising our tyre choice. We are very happy with Michelin’s products, though, and we’re confident that we can achieve another strong result.”
Source:- [theautochannel]

Everybody complains about high car prices - used and new - in South Africa. John Oxley has just returned from New Zealand where he discovered cars are cheap. Why can’t it be the same here?
Imagine an MGF sports car with just 35 000 km from new, for less than R80 000. Or a Daihatsu Feroza 4×4 with 50 000 km for less than R8 000. Both in excellent condition, and complete with a two-year warranty.
  That’s the reality of buying a used car in New Zealand, where the flood gates have been opened for second hand vehicles from Japan, and almost everybody has a car which they own - or soon will.
It all comes about because the Japanese Government has a very strict car safety system which increases the cost of ownership over time.
Any car over five or six years old becomes very expensive to test and service so drivers prefer to buy new cars and put the old one up for auction.
 And many of these cars end up in New Zealand, which now has a thriving used car market.
On top of this all cars in New Zealand older than six years must have a safety check every six months; cars younger than that once a year. So you can be fairly confident your purchase is fit to drive.
However, the downside of all this is that new car dealers are finding it harder and harder to move stock. Why buy a new car when for a lot less you can get an excellent used buy?
 Source: [wheels24]

The huge losses being encountered by the “Big Three” US manufacturers, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler, are based on one thing, and one thing only - their insistence on building bigger and bigger 4×4s.

These huge gas-guzzling machines flooded the US market, and their roads, until just about every family had one, and those who didn’t aspired to having one.

And this phenomenon spilled over into the rest of the world, where a massive trend has developed that pretends 4×4s are safer and more desirable.

The reality, though, is that they are anything but safer, being less manoeuvrable, more prone to rolling over, and more difficult to steer and stop, the latter because they weigh so much, and their tyres don’t grip as well because of that.

Most 4×4s never go further than the local mall and their “off-road” activities are restricted to puddle jumping and climbing pavements. As a result motor manufacturers - particularly the Germans - are developing “tarmac 4×4s”, big hulking machines not far removed from the American behemoths in size, but saved from being totally impractical and unsafe by the fitment of myriad electronic devices and by using advanced (and expensive) engineering.

And nobody, it seems, is heeding the warning inherent in the US manufacturers’ woes - that sooner or later there’s going to be backlash, and owners are going to be lumbered with vehicles they can’t afford, and can’t get rid of.

The reason why the US has turned its back on the 4×4 - or SUV, as the Americans prefer to call them - is because of the price of oil.

Big, heavy vehicles use more fuel than small light ones. Powerful vehicles use more fuel than less-powerful ones.

It doesn’t matter if you’re using petrol or diesel - the big vehicles always use more than the small ones.

I think most of us acknowledge that the price of fuel is on an ever-rising spiral. Sometimes it dips, but most of the time it keeps climbing.

At the moment many of the owners of SUVs are protected from the real costs of filling up by the companies they work for, who throw in petrol cards, extra allowances, and so on, as part of the rewards package.

Sooner or later, though, this HAS to come to an end.

The number crunchers will look at what it’s costing and cry foul.

The Government will realise it’s not benefiting the country one iota, and will cry foul.

And SUV owners will look at them and just cry!

Source [wheels24]

GM chairman Rick Wagoner said on Thursday that the
assembly line producing the new 2007 Chevy Suburban and Tahoe will slow down the rest of the year to cope with softening demand for the big SUVs. “We had planned to go all out with overtime this whole year, but we are dialing that back,” said Wagoner.

The CEO isn’t worried about the segment falling too far, he said, because GM has been increasing share in the category with its new models, and it has dialed in flexibility to the plant so GM can shift some of the production to pickup trucks.

Wagoner also said that estimates that it can sell 100,000 Chevy Camaros a year when the new rear-drive muscle car bows in 2009 are correct. He wouldn’t, however, say that a Pontiac muscle car will be built off the same rear-drive platform. But GM insiders say it is in the works because Lutz is transforming Pontiac over time to a rear-drive division, made up entirely of rear-drive cars, with some having all-wheel-drive options.

Hyundai says the new, larger-than-Santa-Fe crossover SUV it plans to sell as a 2007 model will be called the Veracruz. The mid-size vehicle, Hyundai promises, will be larger than a Honda Pilot, roomier inside for cargo than the big Benz GL, and outfitted with a hideaway third-row seat, giving it seven-passenger capability. A 3.8-liter V-6 and six-speed automatic will be standard, along with stability control, while all-wheel drive will be an option.

Lexus plans to present its new LS 600h all-wheel-drive limousine with a hybrid drivetrain during the upcoming international motor show in Paris, France. The Japanese company will actually present two AWD limos simultaneously: the ‘normal’ LS 600h and its LS 600h L sibling with 12 cm longer wheelbase.

Both Lexus LS 600h and the LS 600h L are equipped with the same V8 5.0-liter engine coupled with a hybrid powertrain. The pair jointly produces a maximum power output of 450 DIN horsepower and lets the cars run 100 kilometers on just 9.5 liters of gasoline in a combined cycle (that’s about 30 mpg) keeping CO2 emission level below 220 g/km. The power has been transferred to the wheels via the latest electronically controlled, continuously variable transmission (E-CVT), WorldCarFans.com is reporting.

Prices and technical info will be available later.

During the upcoming motor show in Paris the European branch of Toyota will present a series of its new models, including the production version of the long-awaited Toyota Yaris TS hot hatchback, unveiled in Geneva last February.         

The new Toyota Yaris TS will feature new, more modern-looking external styling as well as an all-new Dual VVT-I 1.8-liter engine. The engine, capable of producing a maximum of 132 DIN hp, will provide the Yaris TS with a top speed of 120 mph (194 km/h), WorldCarFans.com is reporting.

The new Yaris TS is expected to be launched at the beginning of the next year. Price is yet to be announced.                                                                  

Audi has officially confirmed plans to deliver its latest RS 4 super-cabriolets to Australian customers. The RS 4 will be sold in an exclusive edition version limited to only 25 copies. The car will carry a hefty price tag of 187,500 Australian dollars (about $142,425 USD).

Trying to bolster sales of not so popular among Chinese customers Peugeot brand French PSA group decided to put the Citroen C2 badge on its older Peugeot 206 model. Oh, but that is not fair, is that?