LA Auto Show Info: Mustang V6, Chevy Cruze, etc

[BigAls87Z28]

LA Auto Show info is being released about all the cars debuting there.

First up is the US-Spec Chevy Cruze, the car to replace the Cobalt.

http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/gallery/data/588/medium/cru11.jpg

http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/gallery/data/588/medium/cru12.jpg

"concept" showed up 2 years ago, been available in Europe and Asian for a year, and now this car is Chevy's new compact entry.

Highlights

The 2011 Chevrolet Cruze will be offered in LS, LT and LTZ trims. Standard and available equipment includes:

New family of efficient four-cylinder engines, including a 1.4L turbo and 1.8L
Six-speed automatic and manual transmissions
Ten standard air bags, including frontal, side-impact, roof rail head curtain, rear seat side air bags and new knee air bags
Electronic stability control with rollover sensing
Bluetooth, USB connectivity and navigation system
XM Satellite Radio and OnStar
MacPherson strut front suspension and Watts Z-link rear suspension, with a family of 16-, 17- and 18-inch wheels
Standard StabiliTrak electronic stability control, traction control and anti-lock brakes
Fuel-saving, rack-mounted electric power steering
Unexpected levels of quietness, smoothness and refinement for the segment

1.8 will be the base model, 1.4Turbo will be the uplevel motor.
http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f70/laias-u-s-chevrolet-cruze-revealed-86536/


Next up, 2011 Mustang V6
Packing 305hp out of the new 3.7 Duratec engine, Ford is claiming 30mpg


http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/gallery/data/588/medium/11mus.jpg

DEARBORN, Mich., Nov. 30, 2009 – The 2011 Ford Mustang puts 305 high-performance horses in the hands of V-6 coupe buyers with a new all-aluminum dual-overhead cam (DOHC) engine that delivers a projected 30 mpg on the highway with a six-speed automatic transmission and fun for drivers on nearly every road.

For 2011, Mustang’s new 3.7-liter Duratec 24-valve V-6 uses advanced engineering to deliver its power and economy: Twin Independent Variable Camshaft Timing (Ti-VCT) adjusts the valvetrain in microseconds. Aluminum construction means light weight. It’s an engine designed to crank out torque down low, rev to 7,000 rpm and deliver the mechanical music sports coupe lovers crave everywhere in between.

“Mustang is completely transformed with this new engine,” said Derrick Kuzak, group vice president, Global Product Development. “Everything people love about the car is still there and now under the hood is a V-6 engine that uses premium technology to deliver the power, the feel, the fuel efficiency, even the sound of the best sports coupes in the world.”

Also joining the 21st century is a 6spd manual and 6spd auto. firsts for any Mustang this side of the Snake.
Uses Electric Power Steering to help squeeze out every MPG it can.
Performance package mirrors the RS package for Camaro.
With a 300lbs weight difference, the Mustang has really brought it to Camaro

http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f63/laias-2011-ford-mustang-v6-305-hp-30-mpg-86548/

[Anti_Rice_Guy]

I wonder what made Ford go with a "let's copy GM approach" for it's v6 Mustang instead of the EcoBoost they used to talk about for it.

[SteveR]

Both cars look nice. The only problem I can see with the Mustang is a cam swap will cost you two grand :lol:

[Z28 Heritage]

Cruze ugly as hell:barf: And for the Mustang Damn thats a sexy car!

[BurninrubberGT]

wow ford finally put a real v6 in it...whats next? a v8 that makes actual hp? :rofl:

[xrelapse13]

actually yeah, if you haven't heard they're planning a 5.0l v8 that should output over 400hp

[NastyEllEssWon]

ford keeps blowing chevy away....quality products from the blue oval

[sweetbmxrider]

the cruze looks nice. two tone is kinda painful but the design and options look great.

[69BirdX]

I like the interior on the cruze............and no matter what, now the tarus is the performance car... its faster then a v8 mustang

[qwikz28]

Al- I have a question about the Cruze. Look where the E-brake is. Why does the handle location differ in the pictures and how do they plan on selling this car without cupholders?

[Scrat's_Camaro]

since the cruze is replacing the cobalt, are they gonna come out with a sport model like they did with the cobalt ss? i know the 1.4 turbo is the upgrade engine but im not impressed at all with only 138hp as the top motor.

[BigAls87Z28]

Jake: Pics are probably rehashes of the Euro/Asian model. Cup holders are like the Cobalt, just aft of the shifter, under the arm rest.

As of now, there are no plans for a SS Cruze, but I expect to see it, maybe along with the Cruze coupe in about a year after the sedan.
The Cruze is the car that will save GM. Now that GM can turn a profit on small cars, it will need to use this car to help fund the Volt, which will also be released around the same time. They share the same platform.
IMO, the Cruze does sound like the better buy if you are looking for maximum milage. Volt is perfect for city drivers, or people with light duty commutes. 40MPG is great
Funny part is...by next year, the Cruze will have navigation, but the 27k Malibu wont even have the option....till the new one in 2 years.

[Frosty]

ford keeps blowing chevy away....quality products from the blue oval

How so? Aside from the Fusion I wouldn't touch any other Ford product.

The Focus? REALLY? The Mustang...no thanks...up until the new V6 NEITHER make good power and are so uncomfortable to drive.

[BigAls87Z28]

Eh, I wouldnt even give the Fusion the edge of the Malibu as far as quality.
Features and depth in product, yes. Malibu cannot match the hybrid or sport, but what the Malibu lacks in depth of product, it makes up in beauty and style.

I will say, that witht he Mustang's new engine line up, the Mustang does have the edge as of 2011. Its interior is marginally better. But Camaro is getting an mid-cycle enhancement for callender year 2011, and they will show its new stuff off, including a better interior, more features, and the convertable model.
Probably an enhancement to the 3.6 as well as the new Gen V V8 engines, complete with direct injection to push the needle towards 460hp or more.

I took Nasty's comment to just be a way to draw me into a fight.

Camaro has tons of room to grow. Its chassis is designed to handle over 600hp without enhancements.
Mustang has reached its peak. The GT500 has so much chassis bracing that the car just cannot handle any more. Hell, they made special floor pans for the GT500 to be thicker then the standard GT so that they dont warp under load. Yah....

[BurninrubberGT]

actually yeah, if you haven't heard they're planning a 5.0l v8 that should output over 400hp

last time i checked it was still a rumor and ford said they werent doing it


the cruze's interior looks 100x better than the cobalts

[Anti_Rice_Guy]

Mustang has reached its peak. The GT500 has so much chassis bracing that the car just cannot handle any more. Hell, they made special floor pans for the GT500 to be thicker then the standard GT so that they dont warp under load. Yah....

Did not know this. Happen to have a link?

[Frosty]

Eh, I wouldnt even give the Fusion the edge of the Malibu as far as quality.


I would, both are great cars but my comment about the Fusion wasn't in comparison to the Malibu...it was more along the lines of being the only Ford car I'd buy, and now maybe the SHO but not for that price.

[SteveR]

How so? Aside from the Fusion I wouldn't touch any other Ford product.

The Focus? REALLY? The Mustang...no thanks...up until the new V6 NEITHER make good power and are so uncomfortable to drive.

The Taurus is pretty nice too. It's based off the Volvo S80.

[Frosty]

Is the new one based off the of the old S80 chassis like the Ford Five Hundred was? That's odd.

[BigAls87Z28]

Yes, the current Taurus is based off the same platform as the last Taurus, which was a warmed up 500, which is the last generation S80.
Most if nto all of Ford's cars are based off either a Mazda or a Volvo platform.

As for the GT500's thicker floor pannels, I read it in a GT500 press release last year.

[BigAls87Z28]

http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/gallery/data/588/medium/IMG_3394.JPG

http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/gallery/data/588/medium/IMG_3387.JPG

[sweetbmxrider]

man the cars look great but the interiors are fugly two tone! if gm redesigned their grill and logo/placement, they'd look real high end

[BigAls87Z28]

I kinda like dual port/shield grill. And I looooved the two tone.

[sweetbmxrider]

no i like it, but its like i dono. its different on the bottom so it throws it off for me. one of the better grills in recent years, that two-tone scheme blows!

[Frosty]

man the cars look great but the interiors are fugly two tone! if gm redesigned their grill and logo/placement, they'd look real high end

Yeah the car does look really good. I don't mind the two-tone....just not on the dash.

[qwikz28]

I'm a big fan of the two tone. Had I have two tone in my saturn and my rental Malibu had a black/adobe two tone that we just loved. I'm actually a big fan of the cruze/volt. I would love to get a volt when I graduate but its just not economically feasible. Maybe a Cruze. I love the dark blue cloth two-tone with the black. Definitely fits the style of car. Youthful and fun. Some people don't like it or feel its cheap, but its a b-market car. It's not supposed to have a high end interior. And most of the people who shop for this market car will like it.

[Slow-V6]

How can people call the quality of ford better then Chevy? Thats what I want to know. The mustangs were cheaper then the f-bodies for a reason.. I am not saying GM is great quality but compared to ford they are.




I like the new chevy car. It reminds me of a smaller Malibu. The mustang is just ugly as hell. I hate the new design.

[BigRocsFirebird]

i like that mustang. we also talked about getting a mustang also but the 2010 is not my style. i hate the backend of it but this one looks pretty sexy

[Z28 Heritage]

i like that mustang. we also talked about getting a mustang also but the 2010 is not my style. i hate the backend of it but this one looks pretty sexyYour wanting a Mustang? Why go with a cheap LS1 Camaro. Then you can pown all at least that what the LS1 guys say....


-Wes

[BigRocsFirebird]

Your wanting a Mustang? Why go with a cheap LS1 Camaro. Then you can pown all at least that what the LS1 guys say....


-Wes

lol it's my parents. were getting another vehicle soon. we talked about the camaro/challenger/mustang lolbut who knows what we are going to get

[Z28 Heritage]

lol it's my parents. were getting another vehicle soon. we talked about the camaro/challenger/mustang lolbut who knows what we are going to getI vote challenger! lol


-Wes

[BigRocsFirebird]

yeah it's more the mustang or challenger.

[Z28 Heritage]

yeah it's more the mustang or challenger.Mustangs are nice but nothings like that front on the challengers.


-Wes

[BigRocsFirebird]

Mustangs are nice but nothings like that front on the challengers.


-Wes

they do look very mean. those things are tanks though :lol:

[Z28 Heritage]

they do look very mean. those things are tanks though :lol:All of them are lol. But nothing like the challenger.


-Wes

[BigRocsFirebird]

yeah twin turbo to get that tank to speed lol i would take one

[Z28 Heritage]

yeah twin turbo to get that tank to speed lol i would take one
http://i49.tinypic.com/25zkyn7.jpg:drool::drool::drool:

[BigRocsFirebird]

plum crazy! sublime green ahhh i want i want

[qwikz28]

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/12/fiesta-120-009.jpg
i don't know if the cruze and the fiesta are direct competitors, but that is the interior of the fiesta. I like them both, but prefer the cruze. I'm sure the fiesta will have better driving dynamics though.

[NastyEllEssWon]

new fords interiors remind me of VW interiors...which is NOT a bad thing. chevys still lacking in their overall package.

[sweetbmxrider]

hey your comment earlier about how ford puts out another quality product, could you expand on that? i mean the mustang just got a new motor, meaning the old one was inferior in my eyes....

[Slow-V6]

hey your comment earlier about how ford puts out another quality product, could you expand on that? i mean the mustang just got a new motor, meaning the old one was inferior in my eyes....

Good point. I mean if the car was such top quality then why do they change it every 4 years? I mean the Foxbody started in 79 I believe and it stayed the same till 87 which it did a little face lift that lasted till 93. They completely changed the car in 94 which lasted till 98 then they changed it again in 99-04. 05-09 they completly changed it and now in 2010 they changed it again. In ways its a good thing because its a new car every 4 years or so but in other ways there must be reasons for the changes ( quality,sales,competition).

[BigAls87Z28]

new fords interiors remind me of VW interiors...which is NOT a bad thing. chevys still lacking in their overall package.

What Ford interior reminds you of anything from VW? Not saying that Ford's is bad, but they are two very different worlds in design.

Ill agree that Chevy's are lacking in features.

[NastyEllEssWon]

christ guys do you read???


that fiesta pic...you know the one thats posted like 3 above mine??? yeah that pic...that pic reminds me of a vw interior.


as for fords products not being quality because they revamp them every few years isnt an indicator of poor build...its an indicator of freshness. keeping things new and exciting.


the new chevy cars just seem lacking in everything....exterior design is horrible...the interiors are bland and the whole cars just seem to be lacking any type of character at all. no personality to them. slap a random name rehashed from chevys past on a plastic car and there you have it....garbage.



even the caprice cop car looks like crap compared to what they could have done...aka lumina ss front.


hell that fiesta's interior looks 10 times better than anything chevy has put out....even in the corvette. and thats an entry level car :nod:

[BigAls87Z28]

I wouldnt go that far Mr.Nasty.

Chevy's and GM's in general design is very solid now compared to Ford or Chrysler.
I dont think they look boring at all, or any more boring then what Ford has.
The Caprice is a specilized fleet car, not a retail car, so I could care on its grill design. If they brought it here to America. And the ME Lumina front end looks like cheap ****. Just a generic nose with a gold bow tie? Yeah, original. Chevy has a look now, and its carried in all new Chevy cars, sans Corvette and Camaro.
The Lumina front end is generic looking, and it wouldnt fit on the Caprice anyway as the Caprice is longer and wider then the Commodore, the car the Lumina is based off of.

And interior is bland in Chevy's? Ill give you Camaro and Impala. But Focus and Fusion's interior is just as boring.

[sweetbmxrider]

nasty stop tryin to pick a fight. "freshness" is the lamest excuse ever. the cars suck but they make them suck a little less every few years. maybe one day they will be decent. till then shatup!

[NastyEllEssWon]

im not picking a fight im just saying my views mr.trike. it just seems like every chevy car out there has a competitor that completely blows it away.

[Slow-V6]

as for fords products not being quality because they revamp them every few years isnt an indicator of poor build...its an indicator of freshness. keeping things new and exciting.


the new chevy cars just seem lacking in everything....exterior design is horrible...the interiors are bland and the whole cars just seem to be lacking any type of character at all. no personality to them. slap a random name rehashed from chevys past on a plastic car and there you have it....garbage.






hell that fiesta's interior looks 10 times better than anything chevy has put out....even in the corvette. and thats an entry level car :nod:


I am sorry but I have owned a 98 Mustang GT and a 85 Mustang and they both sucked. They were cheap POS's that were a mistake to ever own. It sucks owning a car that changes every 4 years. I dont care about freshness and whatever else you want to call it. I wasnt planning on buying a Mustang every 4 years I was stuck with the one I had. I didnt feel good about having a Mustang because there was and still is nothing special about owning a mustang. Who really cared back in 2002 that I had a 225 hp V8 Mustang that was 4 years old? Thats why it was my daily driver and My V6 firebird was my car show and track car. I use to count how many mustangs I would see driving in to work in my 98 stang. Alway above 10 or more in a 8 mile drive. Never once did one of them nod or wave at me. Whenever I drive my T/A or Firehawk I get waves from GTO, F-body, Vette and even some Mustang owners who you could tell whish they had a F-body.

The mustang will keep selling because they are cheap cars with some power but the bottom line they are cheap. They are a Me 2 car. If thats your idea of exciting and fresh then thats all you.

So I guess the ZR1 name that was rehashed from chevy's past isnt exciting, a garbage car and is lackingineverything like you stated above.

[Slow-V6]

im not picking a fight im just saying my views mr.trike. it just seems like every chevy car out there has a competitor that completely blows it away.

I hate to tell you this but that is the way it is. Every car has a competitor that blows it away. There is always a faster, nicer, better mpg car out there then the one you are looking at. Thats just the way it is.

[NastyEllEssWon]

i wasnt speaking about anything of ford from early years. i was speaking upon recent years.

[Slow-V6]

i wasnt speaking about anything of ford from early years. i was speaking upon recent years.

Cool well I was speaking of fords from past and present. I gave ford 2 trys to win me over and both times I was very dissapointed. So no thanks. At least I know what chevy lacks in there cars and I can deal with that ass apposed to Ford.

Also hasnt ford been around for like 100yrs? If so then how is 98 a early year ford?

[sweetbmxrider]

excellent rebuttal!!!

has anyone noticed how some of the newer fords have "riced out" interiors? with neons and all that jazz. at least chevy has some class, that appeals to some of us.

[Frosty]

at least chevy has some class, that appeals to some of us.

You and class should NEVER be used in the same sentence.....:rofl:

j/k :moon::mrgreen:

[sweetbmxrider]

what if its i don't go to class? 8-)

[Frosty]

We would need the judges ruling on that one...

[BigAls87Z28]

Alright...this went places.

Here are some other cars.

2011 Hyundai Sonata: Kind of a Solara meets CLS. Sharp interior
http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/gallery/data/588/medium/HyundaiSonataFrontViewInMotion.jpg

http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/gallery/data/588/medium/HyundaiSonataRearViewInMotion.jpg

http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/gallery/data/588/medium/HyundaiSonataInteriorDashDirect.jpg

Next gen Malibu and Fusion have it work cut out for them. Hyundai will only be releasing a 4cyl model.
http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f63/laias-hyundai-sonata-86666/


2011 Toyota Sienna
http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f63/laias-2011-toyota-sienna-86665/

http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/gallery/data/588/medium/001_Sienna_SE.jpg

http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/gallery/data/588/medium/Sienna_LE_005.jpg

First 4cyl minivan since the old Caravans.

2011 Mazda 2 (Ford Fiesta in Mazda Gear)

http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f63/laias-mazda2-86668/

http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/gallery/data/588/medium/Mazda2FrontView.jpg

[sweetbmxrider]

hyundai looks niiiice

[Frosty]

hyundai looks niiiice

They're cranking out some damn nice cars.

[BigAls87Z28]

Yeah, its a sharp car no doubt. But now its a full sized car? And no V6 option? Not even a powerful 4?
I dunno..odd. Interior is really just amazing.

[sweetbmxrider]

people buying that aren't racing at stop lights. they are lookin good and saving gas money.

[BigAls87Z28]

Yeah, but people are gunna want a V6.
People are bitching a fit that there is no V6 in the new Buick Regal from launch, and thats a midsized car.

[sweetbmxrider]

eh i dono, you deff know better. i just see bigger cars with smaller motors sometimes and don't think any different.

[BigAls87Z28]

I agree. I dont mind it, but the American public does. Accord didnt start selling well till it offerd a V6.

[SteveR]

plum crazy! sublime green ahhh i want i want

and Go Mango!

[87GTA]

Eh, I wouldnt even give the Fusion the edge of the Malibu as far as quality.
Features and depth in product, yes. Malibu cannot match the hybrid or sport, but what the Malibu lacks in depth of product, it makes up in beauty and style.

but if GM used the TOYOTA hybrid system like ford did maybe the malibu hybrid would catch up with the fusion!

[BigAls87Z28]

Actually, the Ford Fusion's hybrid system is home grown. Ford no longer uses the Toyota system.
GM's hybrid story is mind boggling to say the least. The two-mode system is very advanced, but they never designed it to be adapted for cars....
They left BAS for FWD cars/suv's. Any and all alternative powertrain money has gone into the "Voltec" power plant.