No brother and off-road: whether to buy a Jeep Grand Cherokee
Unlike many competitors born on a common platform with pickups and inherited the frame, and even springs, Grand Cherokee from the first generation gained its concept of an SUV with a monocoque and spring suspension. Yes, the suspensions are dependent here, since both the front and the rear are installed along a continuous bridge, but, nevertheless, a more “passenger” approach has a positive effect on comfort. And from the point of view of choosing a machine, the youngest copies of which celebrate the twentieth anniversary, and the oldest have already lived to a quarter of a century, the lack of a frame is in many ways a plus, not a minus. After all, the frame, no matter how cool – the number element, and even if the body is well preserved, the “foundation” without a number or with holes reduces the expediency of buying to almost zero.
However, when choosing, you need to look not at what is not, but at the fact that Jeep has – that is, the body. Continue reading
Five reasons to love and hate the Mazda CX-7
Mazda joined the crossover race later than other Japanese brands. Toyota, Honda and Subaru were already working on the third generation of their crossovers, and Nissan and Mitsubishi were working on the second, when in February 2006 at the Los Angeles auto show the Mazda CX-Crossport concept was shown, which after a little tweaking and minimal changes and went to the series in April of the same year as the Mazda CX-7. Mazda had to offer something new in the already highly competitive market, and this “something” was not the usual motor for the family of universal cars.
Under the hood of the crossover, a four-turbocharged 2.3 MZR L3-VDT was registered, borrowed from the Mazdaspeed Atenza sportscar (aka Mazda 6 MPS) with a K04 turbocharger retuned to lower power and more torque. Power for different markets ranged from 238 hp (in Russia) up to 256 hp (in England). Transmission – or six-speed automatic Aisin Warner AW TF-80SC (aka – AWF21, AF40-6, AM6, AW6A-EL), or six-speed mechanics. All-wheel drive Active Torque Split AWD with Haldex controlled electronic multi-plate clutch was taken from the same Mazda 6 MPS. Continue reading
Trump is in a frenzy: GM turns off the production of cars in the US
On the eve of the Los Angeles Motor Show, General Motors announced a large-scale restructuring of its business, during which eight plants would be closed (five of them in North America) and about 15,000 employees were laid off. Tough measures due to the “hazy future” will allow the corporation to save about $ 6 billion.
What, everything is so bad? Not at all, but the corporation is worried about the two main trends of the global automotive industry: electric cars and UAVs – it seems that without them we cannot survive in the next decade, but it is difficult to predict the demand and costs for developing such equipment, because before GM has experience in mass production of electric vehicles and the more drones were not. As for traditional cars, GM plans to bet on what they take, that is, on pickups and crossovers, and put everything else under the knife. In essence, the position is exactly the same as the Ford company is now occupying, the same vector of development adheres to FCA. Continue reading
Almost sport, almost cheap: is it worth buying a Toyota GT86
At the time of the creation of this car, toyotovtsy understood that the concept of a front-wheel coupe, once tested on Celica, does not guarantee a warm welcome from buyers, but owned shares in Fuji Heavy Industries (in other words, Subaru) and really wanted to get a car that would remind everyone of glorious past times. The decision came by itself: they extended a hand for a handshake to engineers from Subaru, allocated money for development and enthusiasm for fine-tuning. In Subaru, the idea took the heat, and therefore took their work on the Impreza and “dopili” her trolley for the required tasks.
The original Levis straight from America!
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Five reasons to love and hate Hyundai
At the turn of two centuries, when humanity with such a pomp and one year ahead (because in fact the XXI century began in 2001, and not in 2000) celebrated the new millennium, marketers noticed a significant increase in demand for subcompact car models. The ambitious Korean concern Hyundai could not stand aside. As a result, in the fall of 2001, a concept called Hyundai TB was shown at the Tokyo Motor Show, and six months later, in March 2002, the Hyundai Getz serial babe flaunted on the Geneva podium.
Then many experts and journalists drew attention to the absolutely European appearance and design of the interior of the novelty. As a matter of fact, there was nothing surprising in this: the European engineering center of the Korean concern located in Frankfurt was engaged in the development of the design. The main highlight was the layout with a fairly vertical fit, a high roof and a nearly vertical rear door, which allowed to increase the internal volume with very modest external dimensions. Continue reading
