ACF!

The things that people love about them is the fact that they save, save, save on gas. Did I mention save on gas? The other thing is that they are affordable. This isn’t some weird yuppy thing that you only see on tv and you yourself will never own because they are so good on gas they in turn are horriblely expensive. Not at all! You can pick up one of these babies for around $13,000 to $18,000 which is a steal. This year I too must make that decision, do I A. buy a smart car or B. Buy a bike? I personally will settle for a bike for one BIG reason I am 6′7 and I don’t think though I’d fit I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the ride as much.  Speaking of “ride” that is the biggest complaint that we are hearing about them too is that the consumers can feel all the bumps on the road. But with gas at $3.45 I’d like to think that there would be a sense on satisfaction in knowing that I’m going across that pavement for much cheaper than almost anyone else on the road that day is.

-ACF

Pros:

1. The 2008 Jetta has more power than the previous year. This years Jetta sports a 170 horsepower engine with a six speed transmission. It also has a Tiptronic transmission which allows you to shift gears but it easier to drive like an automatic by NOT having a clutch.

2. Great gas mileage! We are getting reports that the VW Jetta is getting around 25 city to 33 highway. With gas being at around a national average of 3.40 a gallon that gets a good push in the buying market right there.

3. Safety, safety, and more safety! The 2008 is also well equip with more airbags for you to enjoy hitting rather than the steering wheel or the dash. It has your usual front and side airbags but it also has a side curtain airbag that goes from the front of the car to the back by the C-pillar of the Jetta. For those of you that don’t know what a “C” pillar is it’s the 3rd and usually final pillar of the car back by the rear tire.

Cons:

1. You tend to feel the road more in the Jetta rather than the Passat. Meaning it’s more of a rougher ride due to the springs involved between the two cars. But then granted if your the kinda driver that like to feel the road as you haul down the freeway then maybe it’s your cup of tea. I like to feel a little of both personally I love feeling the car grip on the pavement but then in the same sentence I don’t like to feel everything I hit either. Like that time I hit that cat…SIC Moving on!2. Seeing how most people tend to buy these cars for their gas mileage they tend NOT to open it up when given the chance so they don’t really know what kind of power this VW has.

3. Your rather limited in styling of the VW Jetta and has you limited to the colors and styles that you can get.I highly recommend doing so. I took an area dealerships VW Jetta on the turnpike and saw what it could really do and I loved it really. I urge anyone out there to go test drive one. The Tiptronic transmission is very cool.

This happened to me just yesterday and it about costs me my car. I was going down a highway where it is usually 3 lanes but due to the sudden onset of snow it reduced the traffic down to 1-2 lanes worth. Now as I’m driving down the road and yes I have traction control I’m passing up some people and then some people with 4X4 are passing me up which is all well and good until this one lady passes me up in a Outback and goes about her way. Now Outbacks are all wheel drive so they can hold their own….for the most part.. This lady passes me up and goes cruising down the road and decides shes going to change lanes while going roughly 60 mph. Her car on the other hand decided that NOPE! we won’t be doing that sent her into a spin that NASCAR drivers would be jealous of doing. She did two 360’s and then went into the median and did another one there before pulling back onto the road after the pack of cars we were all in passed her up and did yet again another 360!

I’m not saying that I’ve not been a fool when it comes to driving down the road but when I’m around other cars I certainly don’t think “Hey I’ll risk both my car and the cars around me by driving careless”. Just had to throw that out there. Be Careful!

-ACF

10. Watch your weight… You Don’t need to haul a 300 pound lawnmower or a bunch of junk in the bed or your truck. Take it out! Just by adjusting the weight in your truck it can help it some.

9. Condition the air less…It’s 65 to 70 degrees out or worse yet it’s 80 degrees out. Do you really need the A/C cracked up all the way? NO! Turn it down or just turn it OFF! I’m not saying don’t use it at all but you don’t have to use it all the time.

8. Know where how to go… So you have to go to several places today and you need to do it the right way. But how do you do it? First off don’t go to the first place you think of then so on. Plan it out and hit them up geographically. This will of course save you gas, time money, headaches, and what else? Less nagging from your girlfriend or wife. You get the picture.

7 . Aerodynamic…This is a big one to some people but like the myth busters have proven that not too much is REALLY changing when you drive with the tailgate down or you keep your windows rolled up. But we’ll say that if you have anything in your bed of your truck that stands up and is oddly shaped then this will hurt your gas mileage. And also the size of your truck such as a box truck is have more wind resistance than a regular truck.

6. Car pooling… The easiest way to save gas and money is to?!?!?! Not even drive! Sucker someone else into doing it all for you. And if you guys get popped for speeding they get the ticket and have to pay the fine. Ok I’m kidding you guys granted it’s true to a degree but it really saves on gas when you have one car going up the road rather than several. Less gas, less money, and less traffic.

5. Buy a hybrid…Many of the articles that we have on American Car Freak talk about hybrids and how they work and help you. But by buying one of these rides they grossly help the fight on gas and on your pocket book over time.

4. 87,93,89 You make the call…Use the right kind of gas you might be either using the wrong octane or you might think you should use 93 when 87 will due. Or your using 87 and you SHOULD be using 93 depending on your engine size will determine how you do on your MPG.

3. STOP,GO,STOP,GO!… Constantly speeding up and slowing down your ride will hamper your ability to get from point A. to B. greater than just driving at a normal fast or slow rate. The reason for this? Is because you have to allow more fuel into your fuel injector in a quicker period of time which then messes with the resistance and toque that your engine creates.

2. Routine Maintenance…Always keeping up on your oil changes and your air filters time lines will always keep you on the right track when trying to save on gas and money. This is probably THE most important step in keeping your car running for the long haul.

1. Take notes from the paperboy…I know it might sound nuts but if you live in an urban area it’s a great idea and it’s a cheap way to get around town. And above all else it helps keep you in shape. Outside of keeping your fluids changed in your car this is a terrific way or staying on top of things money wise.

ACF

A company that produces key flops for many of the car companies in the world has a “leak” in its system and has given a Russian man the ablitto steal your electric ride in just under an hour.

You might be thinking “Well, Doesn’t the Toyota Prius already have a anti-theft system?” And the anwser is “YES!” It does have a system a good one at that. But it is still no match for this hacker in Russia. How to stop it? Don’t drive Prius’s in Russia?

ACF

Ford is also making the same claim to their dealerships. Dealerships across the country are hurting and the thought process behind this is that they will move more cars in less dealerships therefore, making the brand stronger as a whole.

Toyota for example has only 1400 dealerships nationwide and moves more cars than Chrysler when it only has one brand on the lot.

Your typical Dodge dealership sells not even 350 cars and trucks in a given year as opposed to a Toyota dealership sells just over a thousand in the given area.

Now, the downside. The big downfall of this will be the fallout or the many dealerships that go belly up when the deadline comes and it’s time to put up or shut-up. Dealers who fail to acquire other brands through either buying them from other dealerships on down the road or buying them off of the company itself will lose the rights to their company and have to close their doors.

Now I’m unsure how I feel about this at this juncture. I’m pleased to hear that the American car companies are not going down without a fight yet I’m sad to hear that some of your favorite places that you like to buy your cars and trucks from might be soon gone and just add to the already lose list of vacant buildings in your town or even state. And what about the car salesmen who will be out of a job? Yeah! your right they are the scum of the earth at times but they are still Americans and they still don’t deserve to be out of a job like the other 5% of the country. We’ll be watching this story close and waiting to see just what the big 3 do to make sure they stay afloat.

-ACF

On Friday it was announced that the entire company would be off for at LEAST two weeks during July. Now to most of you familiar with the auto industry you would think well everyone does that. Both GM and Ford do take time off in July your right! BUT! And this is a big BUT, Most car companies don’t know what sales will be like then so their not about to suggest that they’ll be off already 5 months out from of what the big 3 call the “summer break”. They usually wait till May or June to announce that. And furthermore, I hear that some people are saying that this break will be in addition to the 2 weeks that they usually get.

Another aspect of this story that also catches my eye is that they say that everyone will be off for two weeks. Even Maintenance? The memo that came out to workers said that some minial staffing would be needed forcritical aspects but I hear from the plant near by is that hardly anyone will be working.

I write this story from also personal experience. I used to work for Home Depot both before and after good ole’ Bob took over. The company changed almost over night we went from having enough people to take care of customers concerns and problems to having one employee cover two maybe 3 departments over a period of 4 hours a day. Now this is something that we here at American Car Freak don’t agree with. We understand that at times things need to be cut and sacrifices must be made but Home Depot is the number 2 retailer in the world. What hardships could the orange and white possibly be hurting from? Lets just hope that for the car freaks in all of us that Bob Nardelli stays on a new path Chrysler is a private company now and needs to reinvent itself and with it’s “Own It” mentality it just might do that but time will tell.

The CTS-V is making the boys at the legendary Nururgring Nordschliefe get to know what its like to have the Motor City boys back with a vengeance. Or at least one of them. One of the lessons that they learned from the last CTS-V model was that if they were going to build something with raw power then the boys at GM would have to give this what is being called CADZILLA a body to do the damage.

In this new 2009 model GM has done just that by changing the front suspension cradles and better links. GM has also decided to foot their Cadillac in 19-inch rims and Pilot Sport 2 rubber.  The front tranny even got a face lift with a large diamiter prop shaft (the the amount of torque you’ll be pulling) and asymmertic halfshafts to pull you down the track when you stomp on the gas.

Now what every Cadillac fans and American Car Freak readers really want to know is “What’s it got under the hood?” Lets see…Under the hood we have a 6.2 liter SUPERCHARGED OHV 16 Valve V-8. This V8 is a coucin if you will to the Vette ZR1 which both put out 550 HP at 6200 rpms and the same 550 pounds per foot of toque at 4000 rpms What’s getting you from park to drive? Take your pick, either a 6 speed manual or a 6 speed automatic for you folks that like to text while driving this monster and not really drive it! Wheel base is sitting at around 113 inches giving this caddy a nice wide stance. And it can do 0-60 in ……………………4.5 seconds! Granted the base price of this GM beauty is $61,500 so all you gotta do is either sell your first born or start hocking organs that you don’t need and you’ll be solid. We highly recommend that you pick up on of these gorgeous cars if you can afford the tag.

ACF