AD #1525 – CTS-V Joins 200 MPH Club, Shelby Daytona Coupe Goes Electric, Recalls Shatter Record
December 22nd, 2014 at 11:57am
Runtime: 7:38
- U.S. Traffic Deaths Continue To Fall
- Recalls Shatter Record
- Hyundai Debuts New Infotainment System
- CTS-V Joins 200 MPH Club
- Hyundai Steals BMW M Chief Engineer
- Shelby’s Daytona Coupe Goes Electric
- Ram ProMaster City Impressions
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On today’s show…more and more cars are joining the 200 mph club, Hyundai beats everyone to the punch with Android Auto and Apple Car Play, and what it’s like to drive the newest compact van in the American market. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.
This is Autoline Daily for December 22nd, 2014.
U.S. TRAFFIC DEATHS CONTINUE TO FALL
Traffic deaths in the U.S. have dropped by a quarter since 2004 and the trend continued in 2013. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says road deaths fell by 3% last year to just over 32,700. Surprisingly the number of accidents was actually up but the number of people injured or killed fell, which means that cars are truly becoming safer.
RECALLS SHATTER RECORD
But while traffic deaths are on the decline, the number of recalls in the U.S. skyrocketed. So far this year automakers have recalled 60.5 million vehicles which shatters the record of 30.8 million set in 2004. GM’s ignition switch and Takata’s air bag fiascos were the main reasons why so many cars were recalled this year.
HYUNDAI DEBUTS NEW INFOTAINMENT SYSTEM
Hyundai is going to be one of the first automakers to offer both Android’s Auto and Apple’s Car Play. They’ll be available in the Sonata next summer, and then will roll out across its line. These infotainment systems are very simple and clean looking, using big, fat, colorful icons. Most interestingly, these systems can be retrofitted to older cars with a USB upgrade, as long as you have AVN 4.0 or higher. That refers to the Audio Visual Navigation system. In fact, this is just a running software change and Hyundai will not be charging more money for it.
Still to come, more and more cars are joining the 200 mile an hour club, someone just made an electric version of the iconic Shelby Daytona, and what it’s like driving the new ProMaster City.
CTS-V JOINS 200 MPH CLUB
With cars like the Corvette Z06 and the Charger Hellcat the 200 Mile-Per-Hour Club is handing out more memberships than ever before. In fact, now it’s going to have to issue another. Cadillac is showing off its 640 horsepower 2016 CTS-V that’s capable of hitting 200 MPH. It’s powered by a slightly de-tuned version of the supercharged 6.2L V8 that’s in the Z06 and is mated to an 8-speed automatic. 0 to 60 is hit in under 4-seconds. For all the other details on this performance sedan, well at least besides fuel economy and price, just click the headline in today’s transcript.
HYUNDAI STEALS BMW M CHIEF ENGINEER
And speaking of performance, Hyundai just hired the former chief engineer of BMW’s M performance division, 57-year old Albert Biermann. He will be in charge of testing and developing performance cars for the automaker at its research center in Seoul, South Korea. Hyundai-Kia hopes this will help pave the way for them to compete with European premium carmakers.
SHELBY’S DAYTONA COUPE GOES ELECTRIC
We saw Detroit Electric take a Lotus and turn it into an all-electric sportscar and now a company by the name of Renovo is doing something similar. But it’s not using a Lotus, it took Carroll Shelby’s iconic Daytona Coupe and turned it into a 500 horsepower, 1,000 foot-pound of torque all-electric machine that can hit 60 in 3.4-seconds. Renovo calls its version the Coupe, which will be shown at the upcoming CES show in Las Vegas and move toward production in 2015.
Coming up next, what’s it like driving the newest small van to hit the American market?
RAM PROMASTER CITY IMPRESSIONS
The van market in the United States is undergoing its greatest transformation in over half a century. Ford gets the credit for coming out with the first small commercial van in the U.S. market, when it began importing the Transit Connect. Nissan followed with the NV 200, which Chevrolet rebadges and sells as the City Express. And now Ram is jumping into the segment with a rebadged Fiat Doblo, which it calls the ProMaster City.
This front-wheel-drive compact van is powered by a 2.4 liter Tigershark four, and a 9-speed automatic. It’s rated at 21 mpg in the city and 29 on the highway. Interestingly, the engine is made in Michigan and the transmission in Indiana and they’re shipped to Turkey, which is where the van is assembled.
It’s a nice driving van, surprisingly peppy when accelerating from a dead stop. Ram claims it will run from 0-30 miles an hour in only three seconds. And while it has a somewhat high steering effort, it feels very precise, with a very good return coming out of corners, unlike the Transit Connect. Ram says the turning radius is comparable to a Honda Civic.
With 131 cubic feet of room in the rear it’s capable of carrying 1,800 pounds. To make deliveries easier, the rear doors open 180 degrees and are split 60-40. The towing capability is rated at 2,000 pounds. I spent some time driving around with a 1,500 pound trailer and found it to be surprisingly quick. Better still it felt steady under braking and tracked straight over uneven pavement.
Ram made a number of modifications for the North American market. In addition to the bigger engine and transmission already noted, the suspension was beefed up and of course, they added cupholders. I felt it need more development time, there is a shudder at idle that causes in-cabin pressure you can actually feel on your ears. Ram says it’s aware of the issue and is working on it.
The base price of the cargo version is just over $24,000, while the 5-passenger version starts at just over $25,000. It’s going on sale right now. Ram would not say what it’s sales target is, but just to give you an idea of the segment, Ford will sell 40,000 Transit Connects in the American market this year, while Nissan will sell 13,000 NV 200s.
And that wraps up today’s report. Thanks for watching and please tune in tomorrow.
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Comments (24)
December 22nd, 2014 at 12:29 pm
John,
Does the 13,000 Nissan NV2000 vans expected to sell annual include the NYC Taxi sales?
December 22nd, 2014 at 12:29 pm
What’s this? Video not found or access denied. What is going on?…Jim
December 22nd, 2014 at 12:35 pm
John,
On Friday, the WSJ ran an article regarding the improved safety of vehicles. What they added was some commentary on Electronic Stability Control. Most buyers don’t even know what it is or more importantly why they should want to pay for it. WSJ quotes 1100 lives per year saved by ESC. They say ESC is right behind seat belts in terms of provable lives saved. Not a lot of mention for other devices such as ALB, airbags, stronger roofs etc. I wonder what a thrifting would do for some of those features? Are airbags etc. really worth what we pay for them? Can it be proven?
December 22nd, 2014 at 12:43 pm
Just tried to watch the Autoline Daily show again and it worked fine. What napped the first time I have no idea…..Jim
December 22nd, 2014 at 12:46 pm
test
I’m getting DNS look up fail message
December 22nd, 2014 at 12:48 pm
That small Ram Promaster City would be even better with a nice diesel.
December 22nd, 2014 at 12:52 pm
Re new CTS-V- I thought the new fuel regs were going to be the end of cars like this? I guess the sky isn’t falling after all.
Mike- I suspect frontal airbags aren’t worth a whole lot, as long as you where your seat belt, but side impact are worth every cent.
December 22nd, 2014 at 1:30 pm
I drove the last generation Cadillac CTS-V at the GM Fleet Preview a couple years ago. It was the most exciting Cadillac ever driven. This one looks to be even more refined and a great addition to Cadillac’s vehicle line up. Keep it up Cadillac!
John, what has Cadillac got to do to show Americans that it’s vehicles are equal to or better than the foreign competitors?
December 22nd, 2014 at 1:53 pm
When is the Buick Envision coming to North America?
I have been looking at the Encore and Trax and found them to be too small (especially the powerplant) for my taste.
December 22nd, 2014 at 1:58 pm
I hate the new Cadillac Logo. I much more prefer the emblem with the circular wreath surrounding it. What is everyone else’s opinion?
December 22nd, 2014 at 2:06 pm
It’s pretty amazing that it took this long to get rid of the current Jurassic-era cargo vans. I guess if you’re a manufacturer and you paid off the tooling in 1983, the old skool vans are a pretty good source of profit!
December 22nd, 2014 at 2:32 pm
RAM
Interesting about the motors for the Promaster van being made in the US. I’ve also read that the motors for Maseratis are being made here. Same company.
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Daytona Coupe
Is that car the one made in South Africa?
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Lex
I guess the Cadillac logo will look more consistent with the design language of the cars when it loses the curved wreath. Kinda liked the wreath.
December 22nd, 2014 at 2:42 pm
John,
Vehicle torque is measured in pound-feet, not foot-pounds as you often use.Check out this explaination:
http://www.macsmotorcitygarage.com/2013/10/24/foot-pounds-and-pound-feet-whats-the-difference/
December 22nd, 2014 at 3:48 pm
@1. The 13,000 Nissan NVs are what the total for 2014 will turn out to be. I’m sure Nissan will want to sell more next year, especially in NYC.
December 22nd, 2014 at 7:43 pm
I haven’t been able to watch the video for a couple of weeks now using Firefox. Anyone else having issues with this? I prefer to watch it with a browser and the transcript open over watching it on YouTube.
December 22nd, 2014 at 10:10 pm
@ # 15: I gave up on firefox some months ago.They lost their mojo and it’s now a lousy browser.I use google chrome and it seems to work very good.
December 22nd, 2014 at 10:30 pm
I usually just read the transcript, but when I watch the video, I use a browser, Samsung with the phone, and safari with the Mac.
December 23rd, 2014 at 8:20 am
I’m not at all surprised that the number of crashes is increasing, given the texting, and the distracting “infotainment” systems built into the cars. Luckily, today’s cars are safer in crashes than older cars.
December 23rd, 2014 at 9:14 am
Even I would say that the trade offs for safety have been worth it: Unlike the absent results for the high center mounted brake lights. But I still don’t like the homogenization, uglification, and weightification of the auto fleet.
December 23rd, 2014 at 9:51 am
Politics aside, he should be called President Obama.
December 23rd, 2014 at 11:45 am
Do I believe that the CTS-V can tick 200 mph? No way. Not with that body shape and just 640 HP. You’d need closer to 1000 HP to reach that goal.Seems that Cadillac is blowing something out their tailpipes.
December 23rd, 2014 at 5:20 pm
#21
Think you need to brush up on your physics…
Cars that have 200mph top speed, and are less aerodynamic than the CTS…
2009 Bentley Continental – 608 hp
2012 Shelby Mustang GT500 – 662 hp
1998 Aston Martin Vantage – 600 hp
December 24th, 2014 at 9:07 am
#22. Two of you picks were tested and did not come close to breaking the 200 mph barrier.
December 24th, 2014 at 11:10 am
John & Autoline Crew Please enjoy your Christmas & New Year Holiday time off! It is well deserved.
I just read that these are the 10 discontinued models for 2015:
1. Chevy SS
2. Dodge Grand Caravan
3. Acura TL
4. Cadillac CTS-V Wagon
5. Toyota FJ Cruiser
6. Nissan Murano Cross Cabriolet
7. Jaguar XK
8. Nissan Cube
9. Honda Fit EV
10. Dodge Durango
The only problem s I have with this list are the Chevy SS and the Dodge Grand Caravan.
The Chevy SS nameplate should have replaced the ill conceived Chevy Malibu IMHO. The SS is a much better looking vehicle especially the front and rear clips. Now if Chevy would exchange the SS front and rear clips (styling cues) with those on the Malibu I would be in favor of the switch.
The Dodge Grand Caravan is a iconic nameplate and should not be replaced by the Chrysler Town & Country. Town and Country should be the highest trim package on the Caravan.