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January 9th News Topics

happy Wednesday

Ford Fusion Energi awarded

Nicolas Zart    January 9, 2013 - 9:38AM

"Most Connected Car of 2013" by Connected World.

I'm gonna sound like a Ford cheerleader again...

Tesla begins HK test drives and showroom action

John Goreham    January 9, 2013 - 9:57AM

Offering test drives and some unique showroom experiences. I will link back to prior T stories.
NOTE - I will delete the below post in 15 min. David H taking that one.

2013 US Nissan Leaf details

David Herron    January 9, 2013 - 10:12AM

2013 US Nissan Leaf details announced, and production started

Posting this because John is gonna delete the other reservation

You know, that commercial bothers me...

Patrick Rall    January 9, 2013 - 12:07PM

In reply to by John Goreham

That commercial talks about how the shuttle weighs like 200,000 pounds or whatever but the Tundra very clearly doesnt have a 200,000lb towing capacity so where is the trick? A friend of mine suggested that the wheels on which the space shuttle is riding provide assist and the tow vehicle only needs to provide some slight pulling force and then the casters provide forward motion of their own...which means that my lawn mower could pull the shuttle.

Not entirely true

Aaron Turpen    January 9, 2013 - 1:12PM

In reply to by Patrick Rall

The wheels on the shuttle's rig were self-powered, but they had to remove them to cross the bridge, which was the whole point of the commercial. The real trick is that with all those wheels, the tongue weight was almost zero and the tow was done at very low speeds, so any respectable pickup could probably have done it. I put the video on my YouTube account and there's been lively discussion about it there. lol

I wonder how many claims Toyota will get

Patrick Rall    January 9, 2013 - 1:28PM

In reply to by Aaron Turpen

where Tundra owners will try to tow way too much weight because of that commercial. After all, Toyota did blame the unintended acceleration issues on the lack of intelligence of the drivers in question. Even though most Tundra owners have probably never towed anything, I would be shocked if some misguided redneck buys a Tundra then tries to pull his 20,000lb trailer because it weighs less than the space shuttle..lol

lol

Aaron Turpen    January 9, 2013 - 1:31PM

In reply to by Patrick Rall

I'll wait for it to happen somewhere around here. I see people pulling all kinds of weird things with their trucks out here. Saw an old Ford Ranger (when they were full sized, 1970s) pulling a loaded 6-horse trailer not too long ago. Wondered if he's modified the drive train at all for that, since even a modern F150 can't pull that.

I know a guy who pulled an enclosed car trailer..

Patrick Rall    January 9, 2013 - 2:29PM

In reply to by Aaron Turpen

with a 1998 cavalier. he only had to go a few blocks so he rigged up the hitch to pull the trailer at low speeds. It destroyed the transmission and ended up stretching the little tiny hitch assembly but the car pulled that trailer. Im surprised that GM didnt make a commercial...they must not have heard about it.

Lincoln

When I was a teenager, we used to pull a full cord of wood in a trailer behind my dad's Lincoln Town Car. Not sure what year it was, mid-80s anyway. That car, though, was both a monster in terms of its capabilities (power, handling, etc) and a total POS. We theorized that it was built on a Tuesday after a long weekend and just before a general strike had been called. All of its problems were the little annoying things that aren't supposed to happen with luxury cars (door handles breaking, knobs falling off, plastic engine cover pieces shattering and littering the highway..)

Scion taking NAIAS for a wild ride

Don Bain    January 9, 2013 - 1:38PM

Car culture immersion, it is!

A possible first look at the Dart SRT4

Patrick Rall    January 9, 2013 - 2:00PM

from an image that surfaced online...

China moves international trade conference from Beijing to NAIAS

Don Bain    January 9, 2013 - 5:56PM

the first-ever Chinese Global Automotive Forum in Detroit.

Freddie Mercury's Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow going to auction

Aaron Turpen    January 10, 2013 - 2:18AM

When some of us think of The Queen, we don't think of old ladies and crown jewels. We think of Freddie Mercury and iconic rock anthems like Bohemian Rhapsody. Now Mercury's Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow is going on the auction block in the UK.

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