Chrysler has been building Walter P. editions of its cars for some time, bundling popular equipment and slapping a few emblems on the doors. This van is no different. The Signature Series Town & Country comes with a 3.8-liter V-6 (the 4.0-liter is optional). It features a two-tone interior with unique wood, Stow ’n Go seats, a touch-screen radio with 30-gig hard drive, and a second- and third-row entertainment system.
Exterior differentiation includes seven-spoke 17-inch wheels and chrome trim on the beltline, fascia, and roof rack. Pricing starts at $33,365 and the Walter P. Chrysler minivans will be at dealers soon. While this sounds like a desirable option package, we’re not sure slapping an old dead guy’s name on a minivan is a great way to spark interest.
No, instead of outlandish titles, the special-edition 300s get familiar names—familiar to fans of high-powered Audis, that is. (We smell a lawsuit.) Starting in the spring, you’ll be able to purchase a 300 S6 with a 3.5-liter V-6 or a 300 S8 powered by a 5.7-liter Hemi V-8. The engines are all that separate Chrysler’s S6 and S8, as both get a unique exterior with a blacked-out grille, darkened headlight surrounds, minimal use of chrome, and doors shaved of their moldings. Twenty-inch wheels with black accents fill the wheel openings and are attached to a performance-tuned suspension. A performance-tuned steering rack and new brake pads are also included.
The S cars get the amply bolstered seats from the 300C SRT8 as well as an SRT8 steering wheel and shift knob with red stitching. Brushed-aluminum accents are scattered throughout the cabin and there’s a Kicker sound system with subwoofer, Bluetooth, iPod connectivity, and Sirius satellite radio. Remote start, heated power front seats, and adjustable pedals are also included. Stolen name aside, the Hemi-powered 300 S8 sounds pretty nice.
Once Fiat took an interest in Chrysler, many figured it wouldn't be long before Chrysler-branded Fiat products would show up in the U.S. Now, the first one is here. Fiat subsidiary Lancia has rebranded its Delta hatchback as a Chrysler for the 2010 Detroit Auto Show.
We heard a few weeks ago that the rebranding of Lancia vehicles was a possibility, but we were still pleasantly surprised to see a new model on Chrysler's stand next to a handful of badge-only special editions. In all that domestic rebadging, though, no one seems to have come up with a new name for the Delta. For now, it's simply known as the Chrysler Lancia. From the looks of things, it's a Lancia Delta with new-age Chrysler badges and a Chrysler corporate grille, and truth be told, it doesn't look that bad.
The real question is what this car represents. It very well could be a peek into the future Chrysler lineup, one populated with Fiat models. On the other hand, it could also be a look at Fiat's strategy to rebrand some its models worldwide as Chryslers thanks to the American brand's better name recognition in some markets. For its part, Chrysler isn't saying why it's here, but it's a good bet that they're testing the waters in Detroit for Italian rebadges. Thanks to: Motor Trend
After taking heat for years for its subpar compact entries, General Motors is firing back. The new Chevrolet Cruze debuted last month at the Los Angeles auto show; the Spark is on its way; and Chevrolet is completing the trifecta with the Aveo RS show car, a thinly veiled preview of the long-awaited Aveo replacement.
Knowing full well that the replacement needed to greatly improve upon the existing Aveo, Chevrolet has made the new hatchback wider, longer, and more spacious that the one it will replace. For the show car, Chevy has gone all out with special design cues including big front fender flares, extra-large brake cooling ducts with pushed-out fog lights, and big air inlets trimmed in both brushed and polished aluminum.
Other elements are more likely to make it to the production car, including the exposed, aluminum-trimmed headlights and round taillights, elements Chevy says were inspired by motorcycles. Turn signals integrated into the mirrors, and rear door handles tucked into the C-pillars, are also likely to carry over to the production model. The chrome, center-exit exhaust tips, racy roof spoiler, and aluminum-trimmed, tinted tail lights are a bit less likely.
While some of these bits might not be found on the production car, they may be available as accessories. Chevy says it's targeting younger buyers and enthusiasts and hopes to hook them with the kinds of personalization options that have been such a hit for small-car competitors Scion and Kia. For the show car, Chevy even crafted a special silver engine cover with aluminum accents flanked by wheel-colored honeycomb grilles, and blue-rimmed coolant and power steering caps. The company hasn't said yet which, if any, of these show car items will actually be offered as factory or dealer upgrades.
With the XTS Platinum concept car, Cadillac aims to re-imagine "the luxury sedan as a personal headquarters." At an inch longer than the Escalade Platinum Hybrid, and 2.3-in wider and 1.1-in taller than the CTS, the large luxury sedan is a rolling showcase for the brand's Art and Science design language and a probable direction of its future production cars.
Modeled after the Platinum philosophy, the XTS features hand cut-and-sewn interior. Dark materials adorn the steering wheel and overhead compartment, contrasting against the prominent light cream interior color. The dash is a harbinger of the future of in-car electronics for the Cadillac brand. Organic Light-Emitting Diode (O-LED) displays replace the traditional gauges and screens, while the deployable touch-screen navigation system supplants the majority of buttons and switches on the dash. The panels appear black until the car is started; a "dead front" design, as dubbed by the designers, that aims to give the dash a flowing appearance.
The exterior "is the antithesis of the conventional three-box sedan, suggesting the active evolution of Cadillac's design language," according to design director Clay Dean. It features a sweeping profile and angled beltline to suggest forward motion. Vertical lamps sit at all four corners, while the lights up front receive adaptive lighting that adjusts direction depending on the angle of the front wheels.
Under hood is a paring of General Motors' direct-injected 3.6L V-6 and a plug-in hybrid system. The combination makes an estimated 350-hp and 295 lb-ft of torque, and can propel the XTS under electric power alone. When plugged into a power outlet, GM says the battery can recharge in about five hours. The engine routes power to all four 20-in wheels, which are wrapped in Bridgestone rubber. Widely believed to be underpinned by GM's front drive-based Epsilon II platform, the XTS also features magnetic ride control, using shocks that are capable of adjusting damping in indiscernible amounts of time. Thanks to: Motor Trend
You don't change a formula when it works. And the Cadillac CTS-V sedan worked darn well. So with the 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe, which enters production this summer after its debut at the 2010 Detroit show, General Motors isn't straying far from its proven modus operandi. This CTS-V variant merges the bountiful abilities of the performance sedan with the coupe's unabashed design.
So what's different? Beyond losing two doors, the CTS-V Coupe shrinks in length and height by 2 inches compared to the sedan. It shares the sedan's 113.4-in. wheelbase, but its rear track is about an inch wider. Cadillac says the Coupe's sleek shape and slightly lower mass ensures "a similarly high level of performance."
The requisite CTS-V bodywork dons the Coupe's nose and tail. Additions include a larger grille that doubles air intake, says GM, a bulge in the hood that makes room for the supercharger, and a center-mounted exhaust with two outlets poking out the back. The rest of the details come from the standard CTS Coupe, including the touch-pad actuated doors, a dramatically angled windshield (62.3 degrees), a near horizontal rear window, vertical tail lamps with LEDs, a center lamp that acts as a rear spoiler, and the absence of a conventional B-pillar.
In November, we took a spin in the Opel Insignia OPC (which stands, not too imaginatively, for Opel Performance Content), the highest performing model in the extensive and lauded Insignia lineup. We posited that car might point the way toward the revival of a Buick performance subbrand like T-Type. Well, now we know it's likely to be called GS if the Buick Regal GS show car bowing at the 2010 Detroit show is any indication, though it's still not confirmed for production. Most of the content is lifted directly from the OPC, from the aggressive restyled fascias with vertical air inlets in front, dual exhaust outlets and a diffuser in back, as well as unique rocker panels, integrated rear spoiler, and special Olympic White paint. The jet-black interior features Recaro seats with white stitching, a flat-bottom steering wheel, and piano-black trim.
Mechanical upgrades borrowed from Opel include 20-inch forged wheels, vented and drilled Brembo brakes with 14 x 1.2-inch vented and cross-drilled front rotors, four-piston, high-strength aluminum calipers, and high-performance pads. An adjustable suspension lowers the body by 0.4 inch and features HiPerStruts in front that help reduce torque steer and maintain negative camber during cornering for improved grip, improving road feel and reducing undesirable feedback in bumpy corners. The Interactive Drive Control System (also available on Regal CXL 2.0L turbo models) delivers enhanced vehicle stability and greater driving safety, while also adapting the damping and driving characteristics to the driver's preferences. Normal, sport, and GS modes tailor the suspension settings, throttle response, shift pattern, and steering sensitivity through the variable-effort steering system.
The big difference relative to the OPC is replacement of that car's 2.8-liter turbocharged 321-horsepower, 321-pound-foot V-6 with a higher-output version of the 2.0-liter turbo that's expected to produce at least 255 horses and 295 pound-feet. That abundant force is routed through a six-speed manual to a Haldex all-wheel-drive system that includes an electronically controlled limited-slip rear differential. Why ditch the six? According to Craig Bierley, product marketing director for Buick, that engine would likely incur a gas-guzzler penalty, and in any case, the design brief was to build a car that could accelerate to 60 mph in the fives, and the 2.0T was easily able to accomplish that while achieving considerably better fuel economy than the V-6.
Bierley also assured us that the rock-hard damper tuning of the IDCS system's OPC setting (now GS) would be softened just a bit for the U.S. market. Trust us -- this is a good thing in a country that maintains its roadways so much worse than the Germans do. Only the Insignia's normal setting felt tolerable, Sport prompted minor kidney trauma, and when in OPC (the max setting) one fears that conversation might imperil one's tongue. We're also hopeful that Buick will tune the four-cylinder's exhaust to eliminate the annoying drone we recently experienced in the OPC at 2000 rpm. Grip from the Pirelli PZeros was impressive back in November, and we expect much the same from the new 245/35/ZR20 Bridgestones. The steering feedback, braking feel and performance, and general chassis poise felt equal with the German sport-sedan competitive set on the Opel Insignia, and the same should hold true for the Regal GS. It will admittedly take some work to get the driving public to consider a Buick competitive with an A4 Quattro, but the first step is delivering the goods. Thanks to: Motor Trend
