2015 Cadillac Escalade: First Impressions

2015 Cadillac Escalade⁶

For the past 10 years, I have not paid any mind to the Cadillac Escalade. Why, because for the past 14 years the Cadillac Escalade was just a rebadged GMC Yukon Denali and Chevy Tahoe. Don't believe me? Go on Google Images and look at the interior shots of all three vehicles in the same model year and you will see the similarities. Now of course the materials and colors will be different and there will be subtle layout differences, but look at the overall design. You will see that the steering wheels are identical, the center consoles are the same, and even the dashboards are similar. Pop the hood and you'll even see the same LS V8 mated to the same transmission in all the three vehicles. The main problem about rebadged cars is all of the problems found in the lower tier vehicle will be found in the more expensive vehicles. So in 2011 when the Chevy Yukon was recalled for steering and rear suspension problems, the 2011 GMC Denali and Cadillac Escalade suffered through those same recalls^1,2,3. And when the Chevy Yukon was recalled for brakes, steering, and transmission problems in 2012, the 2012 GMC Denali and Cadillac Escalade had to be recalled too^4,5. What happened to brand separation? Ford had this same problem with Mercury and Lincoln and look where that have gotten them; Mercury is dead and Lincoln had to overhaul their entire company to stay afloat. GM really needs to pay attention and do a better job at establishing brand separation. Even though some Audis use the same chassis as Volkswagen and some Lexus’s are based off Toyota’s platform, you cannot distinguish the lower tiered vehicles from its more expensive counterpart. Although GM rebadges a handful of their vehicles and all of those vehicles are currently North American exclusives, Cadillac cannot afford to mess up with any of their vehicles. They only have 5 main models in their lineup and they cannot assume that the ATS and the CTS (their most popular vehicles) will keep them out of trouble.

Thankfully, Cadillac is beginning to pay more attention to their brand image and is moving in the right direction despite GM’s dwindling stock numbers. The new 2015 Cadillac Escalade is beginning to redefine its image and move away from its Chevy and Yukon brothers. They are all based off the same platform, which is ok, but the Escalade offers a different exterior, interior, powertrain, and features than its younger brothers. That is a huge step in the right direction.  Let’s take a first look at the new Escalade, the SUV that reintroduce Cadillac into the luxury market back in 1999.

Design

Bold, advanced, and luxurious are the 3 words that came to mind when I first saw the new 2015 Cadillac Escalade. If you ask Cadillac what they think of the design, they would say art and science. Art and science is the new design inspiration that Cadillac is starting to use in their recent models. Whether you can see this art and science inspiration in the new Cadillac’s is based on a viewer’s perception but the inspiration is there.

Beautiful LED headlights and accent lights that extend down the bumper⁶

The headlights are the most noticeable design feature that holds the art and science DNA. These headlights are made up of LED lights instead of the traditional bulbs and projector beam units that we are used too. Because LED are lighter, brighter and last 20 times longer than traditional light sources, designers can go crazy when designing light units and consumers don’t have to buy and replace their bulbs anymore. When I look at the Cadillac’s headlights, it’s basically a vertical version of Acura’s Jewel headlights seen in their new vehicles. These LED ice cubes are then neighbored by a long LED accent light that runs all the way down to the bumper. Remember those accent lights; just like how you can recognize an Audi from afar just by its LED accent light, you will recognize current and future Cadillac’s with these long vertical accent lights day or night. The same concept is seen in the taillights, all LED lights (not new) formatted in very long and narrow tail lights (very new). The automotive internet world has shared some negative views and criticism about these tail lights. But I personally don’t believe people hate them because they are ugly, I believe people don’t like them because they different, new, and nothing else is like it one the market. People are natural conservatives; we don’t like change or new things. Just wait till 2015 and popularity increases, people will begin to like this tail light design. Overall exterior designs extremely well when you get the ESV model.

The current controversial tail lights⁶

The interior is just as luxurious and revolutionary as the exterior. I am pleased to see that the interior looks nothing like the GMC Yukon and Chevy Tahoe. It’s a beautiful montage of premium leather, woods, and technology. The very noticeable center stack retains the waterfall or V-like effect that is seen on the grill in the exterior. I pray that the QUE infotaiment system is improved in this Escalade because the current generation in the Cadillac ETS, ATS, and CTS is slow, hard to use while driving, and unresponsive. The QUE system is not all bad, its a good idea and may revolutionize the infotainment industry when it's fixed. But as of now, you will miss simple knobs and buttons to adjust climate control, control volume, and perform other simple actions. The no button theme also continues on the steering wheel, which will be interesting to try out for myself. For those who don’t know what I mean by no button theme; Cadillac’s new center console uses a black touch screen like plate instead of traditional physical buttons. The Que system will also collaborate with the all new 12” reconfigurable gauge cluster to display pages upon pages of driver information⁶.

All new interior including new steering wheel and virtual guage cluster .
That twotone color design is sexy.⁶

Luxury is maintained all the way to the back seats.
Looks better in the Kona brown color option⁶

There are 3 trim levels offered for the Escalade; Standard, Luxury, and Premium. The Luxury trim offers 22" rims, driver awareness packages (only warnings, not active), a head up display, and IntelliBeam headlamps6. One of the driver awareness features is the Rear Cross-Traffic Alert from the ETS. This feature is amazing! Everyone who drives full size SUVs know how nerve wrecking it can be when they back out into traffic in the city or close quarter environments. The IntelliBeam headlamps continuously scans for vehicles ahead and when they sense an oncoming vehicle, the headlight will dim to prevent you from blinding those vehicles. The Premium trim includes everything from the Luxury package but changes all of the driver awareness features from warnings to full automatic, and adds a 9" rear sear entertainment system6.

Cadillac has down a good job integrating the lines from the
power dome with the grill⁶

Powertrain

                The 2015 Cadillac Escalade’s powertrain is also all new and exclusive. The new Escalade will be equipped with a 6.2L V8 engine with direct injection, variable valve timing, and active fuel management producing a whopping 420 hp and 460 lb-ft of torque⁶. That’s a 17 hp and 43 lb-ft bump over the current Escalade’s 6.2L Vortec V8⁷. Does this new engine sound familiar? Does it sounds allot like the 6.2L V8 used in the new Corvette Stingray? Before you get too excited let me inform you that they are not the same engine. Despite occupying the same volume and using the same technology, this V8 is an all new engine available in the new Escalade and GMC Denali. Thanks to the active fuel management technology (disables 4 of the cylinders for maximum fuel economy) in the new V8, we should expect better fuel economy than the current generation (14 MPG city/18 MPG highway) despite producing more power⁷. Interesting fact; despite producing more power in the new engine, Cadillac actually lowered its trailering max from 8300 lbs to 8200 lbs^6,7. I wonder why that is. I know most don’t associate an Escalade as a vehicle to tow a yacht but I have seen it personally so there is a market niche.

Side profile of the new 2015 Cadillac Escalade⁶

                Carried over from the current model and found throughout GM vehicles, the new Escalade will include the Magnetic Ride Control. This suspension system is a GM savior. I knew it was something special when I saw that GM sold its usage to Ferrari. Magnetic Ride Control monitors the road about 1000 times a second and continuously makes adjustments to road conditions to produce the smoothest ride and best handling.

Competition

                The competitors for the Cadillac Escalade are the Land Rover, Infiniti QX56, Lexus GX, Lincoln Navigator, and maybe the Mercedes-Benz GL. Even though current and past Escalades was able to keep up with the large luxury SUV market, it was always towards the bottom of the list. Why? I believe past Escalades was able to sell mainly because of its image and statement it stood for rather than its quality, durability, and luxury. It's like the Hummer, people brought the Hummer because it was a Hummer. Buyers wanted that manly war-toughened vehicle and wanted to be seen in one, not because the Hummer was a good reliable car (it wasn’t) and could trek across the mountains like a military vehicle (not even close to be able to do that). The Escalade has a statement and image associated with it, and previous buyers brought the Escalade because of that image. Cadillac cannot continue to produce average vehicles and run their marketing strategy on this “buy a Cadillac because it’s a Cadillac” statement. They need to step up their game if they intend to dwell in this market place and charge a whopping $65,000 – $85,000 for an Escalade. America does not want an $80,000 version of a Chevy Tahoe, we want a luxury vehicle that offers performance, durability, technology that makes consumers question other companies like Lexus, and Infinity.

The ESV's proportions fits the Escalade's design well⁶

                In the past, I never paid the Cadillac Escalade any mind because it was an example of rebadging at its finest. I was serious when I said that America does not need an $80,000 Chevy Tahoe; that’s what the GMC Yukon Denali is for. America needs a Cadillac, a luxury vehicle that uses its art and science philosophy to produce vehicles that are unique and competitive in today’s market. Cadillac is beginning to branch into the right direction but based on my first look, they are not there yet. Yes Cadillac produced a new vehicle unique from its GM cousins, but I am not convinced they produced a vehicle that is seriously competitive against other luxury SUVs. Don’t get me wrong, people will purchase the new Escalade in large numbers mainly because it’s an Escalade. But Cadillac will struggle to attract enough new customers to move it up the top large luxury SUV list.

Work Cited

1.       MotorTrend. "2011 Cadillac Escalade Recalls." Motor Trend Magazine. MotorTrend.com, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. <http://www.motortrend.com/cars/2011/cadillac/escalade/recalls/>.

2.       MotorTrend. "2011 Chevrolet Tahoe Recalls." Motor Trend Magazine. MotorTrend.com, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. <http://www.motortrend.com/cars/2011/chevrolet/tahoe/recalls/>.

3.       MotorTrend. "2011 GMC Yukon Recalls." Motor Trend Magazine. MotorTrend.com, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. <http://www.motortrend.com/cars/2011/gmc/yukon/recalls/>.

4.       MotorTrend. "Chevrolet Tahoe Recalls." Motor Trend Magazine. MotorTrend.com, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. <http://www.motortrend.com/new_cars/08/chevrolet/tahoe/recalls/>.

5.       MotorTrend. "GMC Yukon Recalls." Motor Trend Magazine. MotorTrend.com, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. <http://www.motortrend.com/new_cars/08/gmc/yukon/recalls/>.

6.       Cadillac. "2015 Escalade Luxury SUV | Cadillac." Cadillac.com. Cadillac.com, n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. <http://www.cadillac.com/future-cars/2015-escalade.html>.

7.       Cadillac. "STANDARD & OPTIONAL EQUIPMENT." Cadillac.com. Cadillac.com, n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. <http://www.cadillac.com/escalade-suv/features-specs/standard-optional-equipment.html>.

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2015 Ford Mustang: First Impressions

Aggressive looking 2015 Ford Mustang1

Finally a New Mustang! Because the 2015 Ford Mustang has just debuted last week and Ford has not released any specifications or details for it yet, I cannot write a full review. But what I can do is give you my first impressions of the 2015 Ford Mustang; it’s allot more than just a remodel.

Design

                I know that the designers of the Ford Mustang were under serious pressure when designing the 2015 model. The Mustang is now going on 50 years old, and over those years it have gathered a fan base that obviously loves the Mustang. To make dramatic changes to the design may bring new fans but may also lose a lot of loyal ones. So to deal with this dilemma, the designers decided to make conservative and progressive changes. Let’s look at the new 2015 Ford Mustang design and divide them into two sections, conservative and progressive, to show you what I mean.

Conservative

The front is more along the lines of an upgrade than a redesigned. It still has that mustang look that exist in the current generation's GT models. The new grill is based on the older GT but a little larger and with sharper lines. The grill is matched with a very aggressive lower vents and a more aggressive front splitter. Now for those who have read other reviews, you may have seen other auto enthusiast in the comment section claim that the new mustang’s grill is a carbon copy of the Aston Martin’s grill. Don’t listening to them; if we were talking about the Ford Fiesta, Fusion, or C-max than it would be a different story but the Mustang’s grill looks nothing like the Aston Martin’s. People are always repeating everything they hear without thinking. Just because a grill has a trapezoid shape, doesn’t make it an Aston Martin copy.

Check out the reintroduction of the fastback roofline2

                Also Ford decided to bring back the fastback roofline that reminds me of the 1968 Mustang Fastback Edition. All of the young fans who joined the Mustang fan club through the fourth (1994-2004) and fifth (2005-2014) generation may believe that the sloping roofline is new but all of the classic mustang fans know better. That’s why I mark the fastback roofline as a conservative redesign. My only problem about the fastback design is that it will sacrifice back seat head room. I guarantee that will be a main complaint when it comes out.

Updated Interior, looks much better than the previous generation1

                The interior also maintains a conservative design. Other than some updated buttons, multimedia screen, and vent; the overall design language is similar to the previous generations. But I really hope the designers took a progressive path in choosing materials and improving build quality.

Progressive

                The headlights and taillights are the most noticeable progressive changes on the new Mustang. The headlights, which remind me of the Fusion’s headlights, really add an aggressive look that fits nicely to the front design. The headlights feature 3 LED strips and projector beam headlights. The turn signal lights were moved out of the headlight unit and placed above the fog lights close to the bottom of the bumper.

Ford Mustang's Taillights1

                I already know that those tail lights will cause a lot of controversy among the Mustang community. I personally do not like them. I can see the 1969 Mustang’s taillight resemblance, but the size, curvature, and thick spoiler and bumper around the taillights makes it look like monkey lips. I know I'm exaggerating but you’ll see what I'm talking about when you get a real ¾ look at it. Will it distract the millions of potential customers that will purchase this generation over the years? No, of course not but I guarantee that there will be mixed feelings about the rear of the car. Oh, the sequential turn signal effect will be staying.           

Powerplant

                The famous 5.0 liter V8 will be offered in the GT model variant and it gets a significant upgrade that improves cooling, breathing, and efficiency. Ford has not released the any numbers for any of their engines but I guarantee that this V8 will produce more power than the 420 hp and 390 lb-ft V8 in the current generation. Also Ford has decided to keep the 3.7 liter V6. All of the performance enthusiasts are probably shaking their heads in disapproval right now but I believe Ford made this decision for marketing reasons. Despite the current V6 Mustang being reflected as a “woman’s mustang”, Ford sold just as many V6 models as the GT and GT500 combined so there is a market place. They already have an engine, so why abandon a popular option. Then there is the biggest surprise of all, Ford will be offering a 2.3 liter Ecoboost 4 cylinder engine in the new mustang. Let me pause to let that sink in. A 4 cylinder engine in a muscle car! I still can't get over the shock but it’s true. If Mustang fans call the V6 Mustang feminine, what will they call the I4 version? A baby Mustang? Ok back to being serious. With the engine being an EcoBoost engine, meaning it’s turbocharged and direct injected, I can expect V6 like torque and really good fuel economy. I can see this engine being a good option for those who want to own a Mustang but do not care about power. Again Ford is making market guided decisions to expand their reach. But on the flip side, I can see this engine being an expensive option to choose despite being a small engine. The EcoBoost powertrain throughout the Ford lineup is still young, so there is still a cost premium. Include the fact that it’s turbocharged, means more expensive maintenance cost. We are just going to have to see how this EcoBoost engine feels and how consumers reacts when the 2015 Mustang hits the showroom next year.

Don't believe me about the 4 cylinder? Here it is2

                These 3 choices of engines are mated to a 6 speed manual or a 6 speed automatic transmissions. The manual transmission is said to be new but other than the ability to handle the increase in power, it’s a manual. The automatic transmission on the other hand comes fitted with paddle shifters mounted on the steering wheel. I wouldn’t even call them paddle shifters; they are more like paddle buttons. And because this transmission is not an automated manual or double clutch transmission, expect delayed upshifts and rebellious downshifts upon your commands. But those paddles are there to provide more control over your automatic.

                The most important news of all is addition of the long awaited independent rear suspension (IRS). Since the beginning of the Mustang’s life, it was fitted with a live rear axle. A live rear axle means that the rear differential and both of the rear wheels are mounted on the same axle. Some advantage of live rear axles is that they are cheaper to build and deliver more torque more efficiently than an IRS. Which is why drag cars are always fitted with live rear axles? A disadvantage of live rear axle is because both rear wheels and the heavy differential are connected together, the car gets upset easily when going over bumps during turns. This live rear axle set up is the reason why the IRS equipped Chevy Camaro has always excelled on the track when compared to the Mustang. Now since the new 2015 Mustang will be equipped with IRS, perhaps we will begin to see Camaro upsetting performance on the track in the GT and GT350 variants.

Ford’s Big Move Forward

                2015 is a big year for the Ford Mustang. Not only does it receive its redesign, independent rear suspension, and a new engine option; the Ford Mustang will now be sold internationally. Yes the Mustang will be coming into showrooms in Europe, China, Australia, and more. Now you always could get a Mustang in other countries beside the US but you had to purchase the Mustang through American’s marketplace and import it into your country, which means regulations to go through, import taxes, high shipping cost, etc. Basically, only the well off and wealthy customers owned Mustangs in other countries beside the US. There is one dilemma that cannot be ignored about this situation. In Europe, ¾ of all the cars on the road are diesel powered vehicles and gas (petrol) is more expensive than diesel (~$10 per gallon). So how will the 2015 Mustang be able to keep up with the high torque fuel efficient diesel powertrains Europeans are used too? The V8 offers a lot of torque like diesels do, but is not fuel efficient enough for consumers to support the high gas prices. The EcoBoost Inline 4 cylinder maybe fuel efficient like a diesel, but will feel gutless to potential buyers. Will the Mustang name and hot rod repetition negate all of those flaws? Furthermore, the introduction into Australia is also a really big deal. Since Ford will be discontinuing the Ford Falcon, which  is their powerful I6 and V8 sedan that they should produce here in the States to compete against the GM SS models and Dodge Charger SRT8. Australians are used to powerful sedans and utes, will a powerful coupe come in and complete and satisfy that niche? I honestly can't see the Mustang's role out in other countries to be so flawless like everyone is anticipating, but we are just going to have to wait and see what happens.

              

2015 Ford Mustang, in showrooms in Fall of 20141

                Well there are my initial first impressions of the new 2015 Ford Mustang. I will be closely keeping an eye on how that EcoBoost turbocharged 4 cylinder feels and influences the American and international market place. Also, I will be keeping an eye on how that independent rear suspension system makes the Mustang a stronger competitor one the Track. Most importantly, the price of the new Mustang will be the most anticipated fact that most will be waiting for. We are just going to have to wait until fall of 2014.

Resources

1.       Ford Motor Company. "2015 Ford Mustang." Ford.com. Ford, 2013. Web. 9 Dec. 2013. <http://www.ford.com/cars/mustang/2015/?searchid=79341629||9728619511&ef_id=UjHFvgAABQjveHEQ:20131210000001:s>.

2.       Fets, Jim. "2015 Ford Mustang First Look." Motor Trend Magazine. MotorTrend.com, 4 Dec. 2013. Web. 09 Dec. 2013. <http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/coupes/1312_2015_ford_mustang_first_look/>.

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How does the Nissan GT-R’s Launch Control Work?

The Nissan GT-R’s launch control is iconic in terms of single handedly sending a car into supercar territory. 2.7 seconds is what it takes to propel this car to 60 mph, everyone knows this but there is a lot of confusion about how the GT-R accelerates so quickly. I am prepared to fully crack the code and tell you exactly how the GT-R can keep up the Bugatti Veyron. To fully explain the launch control, I will be explaining each step as they occur in order from activation to flying past 60 mph.

STEP 1: Spooling the Turbochargers

                After activating the launch control, everyone knows that you must press the brake and the accelerator at the same time. This action is needed to spool the turbos to prevent turbo lag. Don't believe me; try launching the GT-R without launch control. No matter what you do you'll reach 60 in around 3.7 to 3.9 seconds with an extremely long initial turbo lag.

Beautiful Engine, but you have to spool those turbos³

STEP 2: Priming the Bilstein DampTronic System

                The Bilstein system is the GT-R’s advanced suspension system that uses dozens of systems that measures vehicle speed, lateral acceleration, torque, engine rpm, and braking behavior to help provide the right amount of dampening. Impressive huh? So of course Nissan would fit in a special protocol for the launch control. Everyone knows that during a sudden acceleration, with or without launch control, the resulting change in inertia causes the weight to transfer to the rear of the car. The weight transfer causes less down force and less grip for the front wheels resulting in torque steer. The resulting wheel spin of the front wheels will extend launches by a few fractions of a second. To prevent such a phenomenon, Nissan tuned the launch system to keep the GT-R flat at launch.  All of this suspension priming occurs as your spooling the turbos in the previous step.

The next 3 steps occur at the same time

STEP 3: Grippy tires, ATTESA E-TS all wheel drive, and VDC = fast times

The next the 3 features of the GT-R that contributes to that amazing acceleration all work at the same time, so I will be combining them in step 3. At this moment, you have just released the brake to start the run.

The stock GT-R wears a set of Dunlop® SP Sport MAXX GT 600 DSST CTT high-performance run-flat tires. To best describe these tires, I would call them street bike tires for cars. That’s not an insult, the level of grip these tires can achieve is unbelievable, and unbelievable grip is needed for launches.

 

Dunlop SP Sport MAXX GT 600 DSST CTT⁴

The advanced total traction engineering system for all-terrain, or ATTESA, is what primarily receives most of the credit for the GT-R’s rapid launches. But if four wheel drive is the magic ingredient then why don't other all wheel drive sports cars with more power like Audis and the new Porsche 991 turbo accelerate to 60 in less than 3 seconds. Obviously there is more to the story than just all wheel drive, but the ATTESA system does play a part in putting all 463lb-ft of torque to the ground. Notice that I said “putting torque to the ground” instead of horsepower, that’s because engine torque is what the tires are subjected to. With ATTESA 50:50 torque distribution each wheel only has to handle 116 ft-lbs of torque, well within the range of what those large Dunlop summer tires can handle. I call it tire efficiency; maximum torque is at or just above what the tires can handle. Something that the BMW M6 and AMG’s need to learn.

The Nissan GT-R’s traction control or Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC) obviously plays a launches. Because the all-wheel drive system does most of the work by dividing up the torque to manageable levels, the VDC doesn’t have to control a mountain of torque like most super cars with 500+lbs of torque and two wheel drive. Turn off traction control and you will feel a little initial wheel spin so VDC is doing something. But to be able to launch repeatedly and consistently without any hint of wheel spin implies that this dual partnership can achieve big things.

STEP 4: Short gearing goes a long way   

                After those Dunlops hooked up to the pavement, the Nissan GT-R will launch you as if you shot out of a cannon. Before you thinking this step is about the super fast gear shift times, let me inform you that this step is actually about the gear ratios. This is the Nissan GT-R’s biggest secret when it comes to its launch control. The Nissan GT-R has extremely short gears. For those who don't know much about gear ratios let me explain a little bit. When you look at car spec sheets that have gear ratios, you will see numbers associated with each gear. For example, the 2014 Corvette Stingray’s 1^st gear ratio is 2.97:1 which means for every 2.97 revolutions of the engine the transmission’s output drive-shaft performs 1 revolution1. The GT-R’s 1^st gear ratio is 4.56:1; you can see the significant jump in ratios between the two cars2. The higher the ratio numbers the shorter the gear, which means that the engine is able to rev through the gear easier leading to faster accelerations. To put it in simple terms, short gears highlight the engine’s torque and long gears highlight the engine’s horsepower. Sports car companies tend to avoid short gears because even though you’ll accelerate faster, you will achieve a lower top speed. This is why 600hp rally cars with extremely fast acceleration times don’t have high tops speeds to match. Nissan obviously choice to focus on 0-60 mph accelerations so much that they devoted the first 3 gears to be short to achieve the quickest accelerations. Then to try to maintain the high top speed of 198 mph, the GT-R returns to normal size gear ratios. Although they manage to touch 198 mph, it’s also the cause of one the GT-R complaints from hard core performance enthusiasts. For years reviewers have been complaining about how the GT-R flies like a bat out of hell from 0-100 mph, but from 100+ the GT-R becomes gutless. This is because those reviewers are experiencing the transition from short gear ratios to longer gears. Despite the complaints, I believe Nissan have made a good decision.

STEP 5: Now we talk about shift times

2012 Nissan GT-R⁵

                For all of you purest out there who claim that traditional manuals are the way to go and should be available in all sports cars. Let me inform you that the GT-R would not be where it is today if it was equipped with a stick shift. All of the hard work contributed by the systems and hardware explained in the previous four steps would be negated with a traditional manual. Even highly experience racing drivers would not be able to pull fast enough shifts even to maintain a 3 second acceleration time. The driver also has to modulate the clutch to get off the line, another time stripping opportunity. Also, a GT-R with a stick shift manual would mean that every GT-R owner wouldn’t be able to achieve its optimum acceleration time (whatever that would be). Let’s just face the facts; double clutch is the way to go. Not only does it allow every owner to achieve the quickest acceleration runs repeatedly, the 0.15 sec shift times of the double clutch is the final icing on the cake to achieve the mind numbing 2.7 seconds acceleration run.

                Now you are flying past 60 mph, and most likely hitting 80 mph before you realize it. Yes the acceleration is that fast thanks to the above 5 steps. The biggest contributors to the GT-R launch are the all wheel drive system, the short gearing, and the fact that the engine doesn’t produce over 500 ft-lbs of torque (very important for the tire management).  Even though they are the biggest contributors, the entire GT-R package is needed together to create this monster.  The GT-R was not build to have a design presence or to be full of emotion; it was built solely on technology and physics in mind to achieve the fastest 0-60 mph times and to eat up track times. Now you are awed and knowledgeable, which is better than just being awed. 

Resources

1.       Road and Track. "2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stngray Performance Report." Road and Track. RoadandTrack.com, Sept. 2013. Web. 8 Dec. 2013. <http://www.roadandtrack.com/cm/roadandtrack/data/vettecomp.pdf>.

2.       Nissan. "2014 Nissan GT-R Specs." Nissan USA. Nissan, 2013. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. <http://www.nissanusa.com/sportscars/gt-r/versions-specs>.

3.       MotorTrend. "2012 Nissan GT-R Photo Gallery." MotorTrend.com. MotorTrend.com, 29 June 2011. Web. 8 Dec. 2013. <http://www.motortrend.com/photo_gallery/coupes/1105_2012_nissan_gt_r_photo_gallery/photo_06.html>.

4.       Tire Rack. "Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT 600 DSST CTT." Tire Rack. Tire Rack, n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2013. <http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Dunlop&tireModel=SP+Sport+Maxx+GT+600+DSST+CTT>.

5.       Hqwide. "Cars Nissan Gtr Wallpaper." HQ Widescreen Wallpapers. Hqwide, n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. <http://hqwide.com/cars-nissan-gtr-wallpaper-40101/>.

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2014 Nissan GT-R Review

The Nissan GT-R is probably the most well known and most talked about sports car in the automotive world over the last decade. In all of its reviews, reporters reflect the GT-R as some type of super car god that has no flaws. The truth is that there are a lot of flaws, and I am prepared to expose them all. Currently the 2013 GT-R comes in 3 versions excluding the Midnight Opal Special edition, the standard Premium edition ($99,590), the attractive Black edition ($109,330), and the raw Track edition ($115,710)⁵.  The Black edition comes with a dry carbon-fiber rear spoiler as oppose to colored, an attractive set of 20” black Rays® wheels, and a black and red Recaro® front seats. The Track Edition comes with everything the Black edition has plus additional brake cooling, a track-tuned suspension, and makes your interior blue and grey while robbing you of your back seats⁷. I will be talking about the premium edition since it the version that most buyers will be purchasing.

Design

Design? The Nissan GT-R does not truly have a design. The overall dimension and look is designed to be entirely functional. Every curve, vent, duct, lines, and angle are there increase downforce, improve aerodynamics, and reduce drag; not to when a beauty contest. Not much else to say about it. The Nissan GT-R is a lot larger in person than you may expect. Despite being coupe, the big brawny stature makes it as large as most midsize sedans being 15.3 feet long and 6.2 feet wide. The large space also carries itself inside. The cabin is pretty roomy for a sports car, offering good visibility outside and plenty of elbow room. The GT-R is classified as a 2+2 coupe but those backseats are useless unless you chop your legs off or pile girls on top of one another, either way it’s cramped.

Despite the GT-R’s bland exterior, the interior thankfully have some styling to it starting with the leather everywhere. The seats, door trim, and dashboard is all lined with smooth leather littered with suede inserts and carbon fiber trim. The cabin’s interior is average; it’s not super luxurious like the Audi R8’s or tech savvy like the Porsche’s. Here’s the main problem, interior only comes in black. Why would Nissan only offer one standard interior color? Where’s the variety, imagination, and customizing possibilities. It’s probably to push buyers into purchasing the $4,000 premium interior package that offers a very attractive red/amber and black interior on the Premium version of the GT-R the standard ⁷. In terms of parts of the interior that the driver interacts with, the dashboard is clean and well laid out. There is a large firm leather wrapped steering, perfectly sized paddle shifters mounted on the steering column (like it’s suppose to be), and center stack with perfectly placed buttons. The interior is just simple. And for the first time, simple is better. I know everyone knows about that famous 7 inch LCD touch screen build in collaboration by Sony and other companies no one cares about. Everyone knows about the 8 or so default screens and 4 customizable screens that display 18 different parameters of information. It’s honestly really cool for the first couple months, you will not stop looking at it and changing displays but eventually it’ll get old and you will forget about it. That screen also comes with Nissan’s hard drive navigation system and a backup camera⁵. The navigation system does the job well but unless your concern about data usage, I would just you my phone. Good news is that the screen and all of its features, except Sirius’ NavTraffic and NavWeather, are standard. Good job Nissan.

Powertrain

The 2014 Nissan GT-R still comes with that brutal 3.8 liter twin turbo V6 engine that produces 545hp and 463lb-ft of torque. Every engine is hand-assembled by a single technician (like AMG) in a temperature controlled clean room (not like AMG). Thanks to its independent intake system for each cylinder bank, the GT-R’s engine feels lively as it revs to 7,000 rpm without much turbo lag⁶. The 463lb-ft of twisting forces is sent through a 6-speed sequential dual clutch automated manual transmission and laid down to the grown via its ATTESA E-TS® all wheel drive. In case you don’t know, ATTESA E-TS® stands for Advanced Total Traction Engineering System for All-Terrain and its been with the Nissan family since 1989⁶. With the legendary launch control, the GT-R can blast from 0 to 60mph in a hypercar level 2.7 seconds. After all, it’s that launch control that gave the Nissan GT-R its world famous reputation. I will be explaining how the Nissan GT-R performs its launch control in mind blending speeds sometime next week so stay tune for that post. The world class Bilstein® DampTronic® suspension system is another one of the GT-R’s trump cards that continuously adjusts the shock absorber damping based on vehicle speed, lateral acceleration, torque, engine rpm, and braking behavior to provide the best suspension damping for the situation. Honestly, I believe that this DampTronic® system is one of the most advance suspension systems currently on the market. It’s mainly because of this suspension system that the GT-R is so superior on the track and drivable on the road.

Associated with the trio of toggle switches on the dash, the GT-R has few personalities that you can choose from at any time. The first toggle closest to the driver influences the transmission to choose between Snow, normal, and R-Mode. Snow mode, which Nissan themselves call it Save, is for gentle torque delivery for long distance and bad weather driving. R-Mode of course offers the fastest shifts times (0.15 sec) by preselecting and priming the next gear before you click the paddle shifter⁶. The GT-R’s intelligent brain is even able to prep and prime a lower gear by monitoring whether you are braking, so downshifts are just as immediate and fast as upshifts. The middle toggle controls the suspension between automatic, comfort, and R-mode. The last toggle furthest from the driver controls the traction control or Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC). My advice to you is “Unless you are activating Launch control, DO NOT TOUCH THAT TOGGLE BECAUSE YOU MAY VOID YOUR WARRANTY”!! I will also be discussing about this warranty problem in my next post, you don't want to miss it.

Driving a GT-R is full of emotion, both good and bad. The good emotions come from the torque, the speed, and more torque. Flooring the GT-R on a straight will never get old, ever. No matter how many times you do it or what mood you're in, downshifting a few times and pressing the accelerator will always make you laugh and smile. Launch control is just brutal, ripping your face off and exceeding the speed limit before you even realize what happened. Other than the GT-R’s launch, you will probably never accelerate that fast ever again. Just don’t do it repeatedly, launch control puts a lot of stress on the vehicle and something is bound to fail if you do it back to back. The last of the good emotions comes from the price. For just over a $100,000, you will not get that much performance for that price anytime soon. The launch control’s 0-60mph acceleration, the unmatched ability to hold the road, the confidence it gives the drivers, and lap times that are in league with supercars makes the GT-R a steal. It’s just hard not to resist the GT-R.

The bad emotions mainly exist in the city. The GT-R’s suspension is pretty stiff even in comfort mode. I personally don’t think it’s too bad, but I can easily see consumers complain about it. Rough city roads can beat you up and give you a headache, but only in the city. Driving on the highway or country road feels like driving any other sports car. The Audi R8, who directly competes with this car, does have a much better ride than the GT-R. On the flip side a better ride on the road equals body roll on the track so you can’t blame Nissan. Also the 6-speed double clutch transmission is extremely clunky at slow speeds. Now all DCTs are jerky at slow speeds; some are better than others but that’s just part of owning a double clutch manual. The GT-R’s double clutch transmission is one of the worse, nothing that should deter people from buying one but it’s really annoying in traffic. The last disappointment comes from those quad exhaust pipes. Those pipes look stunning and super aggressive; I can fit my entire fist in just one of those tips. But after hearing what comes out from those pipes from the outside and within the cabin, I realize that those pipes produce an ugly noise. They just produce a moan-like roar that gets louder as RPM rises. The old GT-Rs, I mean the ones from the late 80’s and early 90’s makes an auditory orgasmic sound. I miss that sound and I wish the current GT-R sounded a little bit better.

Options:

                This section is going to be really short because sadly Nissan only offers 3 package options. The first is the Premium Interior package ($3,000) that I mentioned before⁷. It offers a red, amber, and black interior that, depending on your exterior color, will be an attractive addition to your GT-R. The next package is the $3,000 Super Silver Special Metallic Paint option⁷. Wonder how many suckers they convinced to choose that option. The last option is one that everyone should pay attention too. The standard GT-R comes with a set of Dunlop® SP Sport MAXX GT 600 CTT high-performance run-flat tires filled with nitrogen (what a mouth full)⁶. Those tires are awesome in terms of providing maximum grip to both perform face numbing launches and support insane lateral Gs around corners. Unfortunately, the world is not one big Formula 1 race track with constant sunny skies. When the heavens open up and the roads become slippery, those Dunlop® sport MAXXs are unbelievably scary to be driving on. You are probably wondering; “but the GT-R has all wheel drive.” But I would respond to you by saying; “Yes but even in snow mode, you are only as good as your tires.” You can have the world’s greatest stability control and 4 wheel drive system in your vehicle, they can’t help you once your car has gained momentum and your tires can not offer the grip to turn or stop. Nissan knows this, that’s why their 3^rd option, the Cold Weather package, is offered for FREE⁷!!! This package offers Dunlop® SP Sport 7010 all-season run-flat tires and 50/50 coolant⁷. If you plan on driving this on a regular basis or you live in the deciduous climate zone, this package is a must buy. Because these are all-season tires, your 0-60 mph times maybe be about 2 hundreds of a second slower. I would definitely sacrifice 2 hundreds of a second for an improvement in overall drivability, who is going to notice that I accelerate a blink of an eye slower. If you are really determined to maintain that 2.7 second acceleration, than just buy those sport MAXXs al la carte from your local dealer. Those are Nissan’s 3 packages for the GT-R; one is completely pointless, one is a total up sale tool, and one is extremely important. Also keep an eye out for the Midnight Opal Special edition, or what I like to call “the Need for Speed Underground edition”. It has the purple and brown dynamic reflective pain that changes as your angle changes. They are only making 100 of these editions, 50 is for the USA and 50 for the rest of the world.  Furthermore, especially keep an eye out for the ultimate GT-R coming out in 2015 called the GT-R Nismo.

Since their debut in 2008 the Nissan GT-R has been a hot topic in car magazine, blogs, and YouTube comments. Most of those comments and reviews have been extremely bias, shining a god-like light upon the GT-R as it eats supercars alive. Here is the most popular GT-R comment: “The Nissan GT-R is a budget supercar.” After experiencing the GT-R, I say it’s more along the lines as a really good sports car than a budget supercar. Supercars have a charisma and a presence to them that no other cars have. People who don’t even know anything about cars knows what a Ferrari or a Lamborghini is and is excited to see one. The world will stop to take a picture of a supercar. The Nissan GT-R does not have that level of presence or charisma; it does not form crowds, or makes random people’s day, or start conversations like a supercar does. But whatever you call it, the GT-R is a monster of a vehicle. The Nissan GT-R has 4 key features that places it in the legendary list of sports cars; the launch control’s 0-60mph acceleration, the unmatched ability to hold the road, the confidence it gives drivers, and lap times that are in league with supercars. All of the other features are mediocre if not surpassed by its competitors, but all that gets negated after a quick launch or brisk drive on a canyon road. I wouldn’t say the Nissan GT-R is the best car in the world, but it is definitely up there on the list.

Resources

1.       Nissan GTR Wallpaper 2013 Wallpaper." Radiope.com RSS. Radiope.com, n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. <http://www.radiope.com/nissan-gtr-wallpaper-2013.html>.

2.       Nissan. "2014 Nissan GT-R Colors & Photos." Nissan USA. Nissan USA, n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. <http://www.nissanusa.com/sportscars/gt-r/colors-photos#_exterior>.

3.       Geiger, Jennifer. "2015 Nissan GT-R NISMO Photo Gallery." - KickingTires. Cars.com, 19 Nov. 2013. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. <http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2013/11/2015-nissan-gt-r-nismo-photo-gallery.html>.

4.       Hqwide. "Cars Nissan Gtr Wallpaper." HQ Widescreen Wallpapers. Hqwide, n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. <http://hqwide.com/cars-nissan-gtr-wallpaper-40101/>.

5.       Nissan. "2014 Nissan GT-R Specs." Nissan USA. Nissan, 2013. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. <http://www.nissanusa.com/sportscars/gt-r/versions-specs>.

6.       Nissan. "Performance Feature." Nissan USA. Nissan USA, 2013. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. <http://www.nissanusa.com/sportscars/gt-r/features>.

7.       Nissan. "Nissan GT-R Build." Build Your Nissan GT-R. Nissan USA, 2013. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. <http://www.nissanusa.com/buildyournissan/modelLine/build/2014/GTR>.

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2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA250: Setting the new entry level luxury sedan standard

2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA250⁶

If you have never seen the Mercedes Benz’s Super Bowl commercial with William Defoe playing as the devil for the new 2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA250, you need to go to YouTube and watch it. That commercial blew me and probably half of the viewing audience away thanks to that unbelievable MSRP of $29,900. $29,900 for a Mercedes-Benz! Sounds too good to be true, right? It turns out that there is a little more to this vehicle than just a price.

Design

The new 2014 CLA250 is Mercedes-Benz’s new compact luxury sedan that is listed under the C250 within the Benz’s lineup hierarchy. With a price starting price of $29,900 plus destination, it is also the cheapest Mercedes in the United State’s market place. Think of it as a baby CLS because that is basically where the overall design language comes from. That sloping roof line, broad grill, even the tail lights of the CLA easily resembles its big brother. Now I don’t really comment on vehicle design very much because beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I will comment on some styling cues that are interesting to me. First, the car looks sportier than it really is. Mercedes have done a good job in producing an aggressive but classy design without going over the top. Add on the Sports package ($2,200) and you’ll receive a more aggressive front splitter and real diffuser, a tire and brake upgrade, and some cooling vents. Another interesting stylish touch is the illuminated 3 pointed star on the grill. It’s a $480 option that will look cool at dawn and dusk. It’s hard to forget about the beautiful diamond block grill. This grill has that mesmerizing levitation effect that is functional by improving airflow and looks good at the same time.

The new Diamond Block grill on the new CLA9

 The interior of the 2014 CLA250 has that tradition two tone Mercedes-Benz look with the million buttons underneath the vents. I wonder if people still use that number pad today. The CLA comes standard with a smooth vinyl interior littered with planes of plastic. Yes, I said plastic. Now all cars, no matter how expensive, have plastic in their interiors somewhere. But the CLA’s interior will possess the most amount of plastic than any other Mercedes. I guess in order to support that low MSRP, they have to substitute some plastics bits in there somewhere. The sporty theme is carried into the interior with standard sport seats and a flat bottom steering wheel. Flat bottom steering wheels are one of those stupid design gimmicks that caught on to imply sportiness. Honestly, a flat bottom steering wheel fitted into a cargo van doesn’t make it faster, but it’s there to make you feel good. The most eye catching feature of this interior is the new 5.4 inch LCD multimedia screen. I will talk about the screen’s features later, but let me complain about the design now. It’s bad, really bad. It looks like the designers design the whole interior before realizing that they forgot to include the LCD screen. So they fashioned a plastic stand protruding from the dash and stuck the screen right on top. The screen looks removable, even though it is not. Which is concerning because things that unintentionally look removable makes you question quality. And even though it comes standard, it looks like a hundred dollar removable navigation box.

Notice the CLS themed sloping roof line of the CLA.
This CLA250 is equipped with the sports package11

Lastly, the CLA250 is a lot smaller in person than it looks in pictures. Its overall dimensions (15ft 2.3 in long, 5ft 10in wide, and 4ft 8.6in high²) places it 3 inches shorter than the Audi A4⁴, BMW 320i⁵, and Acura TSX³. And the lack of those 3 inches shows in rear seat space. It’s really cramped in the back. An average adult’s kneecap will brush against the front seats and the sloping roof line sacrifices head room. Short drives in the back will pass in most cases, but it’s a back seat fitted for children and teens.

Powertrain

                Besides the CLA250’s attractive looks, the powertrain is a feature that should never be ignored. The CLA250 comes standard with 2.0 liter direct injected turbocharged four cylinder that produces 208 horsepower and a brutal 258 foot pounds of torque through the front wheels. Now that not as impressive as Ford’s 2.0 EcoBoost but that much power pack into a compact sedan is nothing to sniff at. Mercedes utilizes a rapid multispark ignition system, high pressure direct injection, and a twin scroll turbocharger to produces those impressive numbers. With 258ft-lbs of torque and a 0-60 time of 4.4 seconds, you might mistake this car for having a large V6. And because that boosted power is available from 1,250-4000 rpm, the CLA will feel effortless in all driving scenarios. The two liter turbo is mated to a 7 speed double clutch automatic (DCT) with manual mode. You have to love DCT’s quick and seamless gear changes and various driving modes (eco, sport, and manual). Speaking of eco mode, this car is “capable of achieving” 26 city/38 highway miles per gallon! In terms of power output to fuel economy, that is extremely impressive. Probably class leading in terms of holding the “most powerful fuel efficient engine in its class” title, if there is such a thing. But I did say “capable of achieving” because Americans love torque too much to hold such numbers in real life.

                Now for those who have experience driving front wheel drive vehicles with more than 250 foot pounds of torque are probably concern about torque steer. I say no worries for you doubters because thanks to Mercedes’ advanced stability control, traction control system, and the numbing effects of electric power steering, torque steer is practically eliminated. For now, the 4matic all wheel drive option is not available for the CLA250 but there are rumors stating that it is coming soon. Beware Audi!

The CLA model line also has AMG variant that also carries a 2.0 liter turbocharged 4 cylinder that unleashes a monstrous 355 horsepower and 332 foot pounds of torque. But I will save the AMG’s specs for another article.

Options

                Most reviewers, except for CNET of Cars, seldom dive into the realm of options, but I believe options available to vehicles are just as important as available engine selections. Here are some options that I believe you should look at and others that you should ignore. Remember that oddly place LCD screen? That 5.4 inch box comes standard with HD Radio and Hands-free Bluetooth connectivity. If you are a simplist in terms of interior options, that box is all you need. The Bluetooth connectivity allows you to link up your phone to dial and receive hands-free calls and stream music. Those who need a little more features from that box can upgrade to the multimedia package for $2,370. This package includes a larger 7 inch display, a backup camera, 80GB hard-drive navigation, Sirius XM® traffic and weather, in-dash 6 disc DVD/CD player and SD card reader, and a 10 GB music register. The 10GB music register is just an in-car hard drive to store your music. The problem about this register is that the only way to download music to it is by ripping song from CDs and audio DVDs, which no one does anymore. Hard drive based navigation are not as impressive as they used to be since the maps tend to become outdated within a year or two. Although the multimedia package can be an eye catching upgrade for most buyers, there is a catch. In order for you to qualify to upgrade to the multimedia package, you have to first purchase the $2,300 premium package. I absolutely hate package bundling. This means obtaining the multimedia package actually cost an eye watering $4,670! So unless you need a backup camera, which you shouldn’t with this small of a car, I would totally ignore this option. Iphone owners should look at the Drive Kit Plus for the iPhone® Accessory ($599). This feature integrates your iPhone and its apps such as navigation and media apps, including Facebook®, Twitter®, and Pandora® to your Mercedes. An expensive feature, but worth it compared to the multimedia package. For those who do not own an iPhone®, I can refer you to the stupid and pointless Mercedes-Benz Apps for $14 per month. Oh and those Mercedes apps package requires you to purchase the premium/multimedia package combo.

Premium interior with lots of safety features and a dorky LCD screen.
Leather interior, wood trim, and a panoramic sunroof available to
fully customize your interior1

I cannot talk about a Mercedes vehicle without diving into its world class safety features. Here are some safety features that are standard. Collision prevention assist; the radar feature that warns you of potential objects to collide into. Adaptive Braking technology; where the car will prime the brakes for instant response whenever you rapidly release the gas pedal. Attention assist; the “you need more coffee” warning when the car sees that your sleepy. Rain-sensing windshield wipers; for those who are too lazy to move their fingers and manually activate their windshield wipers. Steer control; Mercedes claims it’s a sporty feature that can detect if slight steering corrections is necessary and perform them for you to enhance handling. In other words, Steer control is like traction control for your steering wheel. Mercedes, please leave that feature out of the AMG lineup! Please! If you want additional safety features, be prepared to pay $2,000 for the driver assistance package. This package includes Adaptive cruise control (which I love), Blind spot monitory, lane keep assist, and active collision prevention (different from the standard feature by braking for you in emergencies). And for those who can’t drive, active parking assist is available for $970. Parking assist understandably belongs in SUVs and trucks, not compact sedans.

 Absolute base price for the CLA250 is $30,825. Add on the premium and multimedia package ($4,670) and driver assistance package ($2,500), packages I believe most people will get, the price will become a hefty $37,995. This is a lot of money compared to the vehicles Mercedes are aiming at as their competitors, but not overpriced. Personally, I would order those bright Bi-Xenon headlamps ($850), the driver assistance package, and the iPhone drive kit accessory ($599) to bring the price to a respectable $34,774. Now there are other options such as the leather interior package and a panoramic sunroof but those are typical luxury options that you should choose based on your own taste.

Competitors

In terms of competitors, Mercedes-Benz and other reviewer will tell you that the 2014 CLA250’s competitors are the Lexus CT200h, Acura ILX, and BMW 1-series coupe. That’s honestly a low blow to make such comparisons. Of course the CLA comes on top compared to Lexus’ version of the Toyota Prius, a Honda Civic with a suit on, and a roadster hatchback looking thing.  Now I understand that this segment is a huge market but Mercedes should not be setting their sights toward smaller, simpler, and less powerful vehicles. I believe the true competitors are the 2014 Audi A3 sedan (not the hatchback version that we are all used too), 2013 Buick Regal (forgot about that car didn’t you), Cadillac ATS, BMW 320i, Acura TSX, and the Mercedes C250. Now I chose those vehicles because I believe they will be in consumers’ cross shopping list for an entry level luxury sedan

                Yes, I did label the Mercedes C250 as one of CLA’s competitors. This is not the first time we have seen one of these inner rivalries in the automotive world. Audi went though one over the past few years when many of the potential A6 buyers migrated over to the larger and more attractive A7. I believe the same situation will occur between the CLA and the C250. Think about it, the CLA is more attractive, slightly larger, faster, more fuel efficient, and cheaper with similar options than the C250. The CLA will not take over the C class’s market place because the C class offers more powerful powertrain options that are not available in the CLA, but the C250 may be rendered useless. If you’re really set on purchasing the Mercedes C250, I would wait until 2015 when they unveil the redesigned C class.

Final thoughts

Base 2014 Mercedes CLA2506

When I first saw that Mercedes SuperBowl commercial for the CLA, I assumed that the really low MSRP, attractive styling, and the desire to own a Mercedes-Benz would cause the world to purchase the new 2014 CLA250 in hoards. But after hours of research and learning about the car, I don’t think that will be the case. The CLA’s small size, dorky LCD screen, and backstabbing options list takes this car out of the “absolute must buy list.” Don’t get me wrong, that powertrain and attractive styling does makes the CLA a compelling vehicle in the entry level luxury compact sedan market. We are just going to have to see how the market copes with the CLA250, and whether the low price is reflected in overall reliability. Another interesting fact, Mercedes-Benz categorizes the CLA model as a coupe and a sedan under the vehicle tabs in their homepage. This makes Mercedes look like they maybe going through a little identity crisis with the CLA. Fill free to leave a comment below if you have any questions on the new 2014 CLA250.

Resources

1.       Autoevolution.com. "2014 Mercedes CLA #26/28." 2014 Mercedes CLA. Autoevolution.com, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. <http://www.autoevolution.com/news-g-image/mercedes-benz-cla-to-start-at-pricing-and-engines-announced-photo-gallery/100131.html>.

2.       Edmunds.com. "2014 Acura TSX." Edmunds.com. Edmunds, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. <http://www.edmunds.com/acura/tsx/2014/features-specs.html?style=200490522>.

3.       Edmunds.com. "2014 Audi A4." Edmunds.com. Edmunds, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. <http://www.edmunds.com/audi/a4/2014/features-specs.html?style=200477387>.

4.       Edmunds.com. "2014 BMW 3-series." Edmunds.com. Edmunds, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. <http://www.edmunds.com/bmw/3-series/2014/features-specs.html?style=200489817>.

5.       Edmunds.com. "2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA." Edmunds.com. Edmunds.com, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. <http://www.edmunds.com/mercedes-benz/cla-class/2014/features-specs.html?style=101410564>.

6.       Findthebest.com. "2014 Mercedes-Benz C250 vs 2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA250."Cars.findthebest.com. Findthebest.com, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. <http://cars.findthebest.com/compare/4769-4782/2014-Mercedes-Benz-C250-Sport-vs-2014-Mercedes-Benz-CLA250-Coupe>.

7.       Mercedes-Benz USA. "CLA-Class." Mercedes-Benz USA. Mercedes-Benz, 2013. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. <http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/vehicles/class/class-CLA/bodystyle-CPE>.

8.       Paswall.com. "Mercedes Cla 14083 Hd Full Size." Paswall.com. Paswall.com, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. <http://paswall.com/mercedes-cla-14083-hd.html/mercedes-cla-14083-hd>.

9.       Seriouswheels.com. "2013 Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class - CLA 250 Edition 1 Studio 1 - 1920x1440 - Wallpaper." 2013 Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class - CLA 250 Edition 1 Studio 1 - 1920x1440 - Wallpaper. Seriouswheel.com, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. <http://www.seriouswheels.com/2013/klm/2013-Mercedes-Benz-CLA-Class-CLA-250-Edition-1-Studio-1-1920x1440.htm>.

10.   Tingwall, Eric. "2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA250 / CLA250 4MATIC." Car and Driver. Car and Driver, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. <http://www.caranddriver.com/news/2014-mercedes-benz-cla250-cla250-4matic-first-drive-review>.

11.   Wallsave.com. "Mercedes CLA Car." Wallsave.com. Wallsave.com, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. <http://www.wallsave.com/wallpapers/1366x768/mercedes-cla/347857/mercedes-cla-car-347857.jpg>.

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