DSkippy

[quote]
Auto sleuth: Hot off the press trends and gossip
Posted 5 hours ago

In case there's an opening

One of the easiest and quickest ways to make your ride stand out from the pack is with a shiny new aluminum grille insert, but where do you begin your and search and what types of features should you be looking for? That's the million-dollar question, but take a close look at the products offered by B-Cool Billets based in Perris, Calif. The company says that it uses more substantial material than its competitors, which, B-Cool says, means a higher-quality appearance. Visit www.b-coolbillets.com to see what grilles are offered (you can also call 951-943-6800) and to read over the installation instructions before you begin, which, from the samples we examined, just require a hole or two to be drilled. B-Cool Billets makes all its own products with its own tooling at its own facilities. There are new applications for the 2009 Dodge Journey (pictured), Jeep Liberty, Nissan Titan and the redesigned Scion xB and xD models.

u Can you have too much lip?

We could quite literally fill this entire newspaper with photos and descriptions of every wheel design available for sale right now on the planet, but the goal here is to present you with leading-edge stuff and not some company's cookie-cutter wheel that you've seen a thousand times before somewhere else. No, aside from the very catchy music on the company's makeshift Web site (a new one is in the works), which is where you'll find a wheel catalog to flip through, Hipnotic Wheels has a treat for drivers looking for the most wheel lip they can find. In fact, the new Masterpiece wheel is all lip, from the front edge right to the back edge. That's right, there's no inner/outer wheel halves, just a one big shiny drum with the spokes that seem to disappear into the rim area. As of this writing, there's no information on sizing although the company tells us that they're hopeful production will ramp up by May, so stay tuned. In the meantime, view the online catalog of other wheels at www.HipnoticWheels.com or call 866-604-8700.

u Stuck with that bumper?

Chevrolet did a great job styling the latest Tahoe sport utility vehicle. It's tough, smooth and stylish all at the same time. However, the same look doesn't suit all drivers, which is one reason USA Wholesale Connection sells a restyled fibreglass bumper cover with provisions for fog lights. Located in Compton, Calif., the company sells new front bumper covers and body for a variety of other vehicles, too. Call 310-631-3108 to get your hands on a full-line catalog. All bumpers and body kits are delivered in a white gel-coat finish and will require preparation for paint to match the rest of the vehicle. USA Wholesale Connection also sells restyling products such as replacement grilles (the Tahoe pictured here has one) sold through the Fenomeno Motorsport brand. Visit usawholesaleconnection.net for more information.

u Plasma: a cut above

If you've ever used a plasma cutter or watched someone else use a plasma cutter, you know it's tough to go back to metal shears and a reciprocating saw for slicing up metal. A plasma cutter makes it look so easy. In fact, the new Powermax30 from Hypertherm Inc., based in Hanover, N.H., can zip through one-quarter-inch thick steel plate at a rate of 84 centimetres per minute and is rated to cut metal up to 3/8-inch (9.5 millimetres) thick. For working on the project vehicle, metal sculpting or even working on the job site, the nine-kilogram Powermax30 is a deal with a street price in the US $1,200-$1,300 range. An optional carry case and shoulder strap show just how portable this unit really is. The 30-amp unit can actually run on household current or 230 volts, which enhances versatility. The big plus of a plasma cutter over a torch, for example, is that plasma cutters don't overheat surrounding metal. That means you can cut thin gauge sheetmetal with minimal

RLSH700

GM really needs to pay close attention to the fact that the only manufacturer that is really having success with hybrids is Toyota. Pony/Muscle car fans consider hybrids to be like a virus and hybrid fans consider Pony/Muscle cars to be virus as well. They don't mix.

tupperware

they dont mix YET... they hybrid folks want to save fuel and decrease emissions, the pony car folks want power at any cost..check out the Tesla or do a google search on biodiesel engines...mega HP and Torque..

we'll get there, technology just has to catch up with our needs and wants...prime example...20 years ago, who wanted a diesel pickup truck? Now (at least before diesel fuel hit $4), the big 3 sold a ton of them...

DSkippy

I'm on board with you tupperware. I'm to a degree agnostic on what makes the car go fast. I will defer the point of heritage, tradition and allure of a v8's throaty exhaust resonance. But, I wouldn't be opposed to having an tire hazing electric.

Electric motors are inherently more efficient.

Of course, I keep going back to hyrdogen on demand. Ride around on water being split into h2 and 02 to burn in an internal combustion engine. Then the greenies will have no say in CID and you see some fun monsters out there.

davecpa

by now you all know how those of us in calif think about hybrids

Hybrid Sports Cars
By Ron Cogan
Email
Date Posted 09-14-2004
Special to Edmunds.com from Green Car Journal

In the not-too-distant future, that blur in the fast lane is as likely to be motivated by a high-tech hybrid power plant as it is an exotic, high-horsepower internal combustion engine. Surprised? You shouldn't be. Gas-electric hybrid vehicles are beginning to emerge in various forms these days, from Honda's mainstream Civic Hybrid and Toyota's acclaimed Prius to Ford's hybrid Escape SUV. Ultimately, hybrid power plants will become just another option at the showroom.

Some of the recent concepts forwarded at major auto shows share the direction that automakers have in mind. One of these directions speaks to the performance buff in us — high-performance hybrid sports cars. One such glimpse into the future, Mitsubishi's gas-electric hybrid Eclipse Concept-E, provides a formidable example.

The Concept-E's front wheels are driven by a parallel hybrid system integrating an electric motor with a 3.8-liter V6, for a combined 270 horsepower. The automaker's innovative E-Boost system channels an additional 200 hp to the rear wheels from a 150 kW electric motor located behind the cabin, powered by lithium-ion batteries secreted along the center of the vehicle. E-Boost is activated by aggressive throttle to provide an immediate boost in acceleration, much like a conventional turbo- or supercharger, transforming the car into a 470-hp, all-wheel-drive terror that raises the hybrid performance bar to new levels.

RLSH700

Diesels are a completely different category. I've a powerful diesel is offered in the Challenger, I will be very tempted by that. Being a marketer, I've studied this stuff and the muscle car audience is more likely to go with a diesel. There was a Wall Street Journal article named something along the lines of "Toyota tries to sell hybrids where tractors are sexy," where they were trying to sell hybrids to people in the midwest and south by having display stands at NASCAR tracks and although they were able to convince some people to buy hybrids, many responded that they would rather have a diesel.

Also the reason why people go with Diesel trucks more today than they did 20 years ago is the fact that the diesel offerings today a significantly more competitive and desirable than the ones made 20 years ago. Back 20 years ago, the output of GM's Diesel a 6.2L engine produced about 143hp & 257ft-lbs of tq (the 2.8L VM Motori I4 diesel offered in the 05 Liberty produced more than this just to show you how far things have come in 20 years) and those engines were difficult to start and weren't the most reliable powertrains. They were so low on torque that they not only didn't compete against the Big Blocks that they even had trouble fighting against the small block V8's torque and the V6 models hp. The current diesels not only get better fuel economy than small block models, but they produce close to 200ft-lbs of tq more than the big block offerings and they have made diesels much quieter, easier to start, smell less, and many other advantages. That is why diesels have caught on.

The tesla is NOT a muscle car, it is a sports car. Sports car fans are not quite as picky as muscle/pony car fans so take that into the equation. If pony car fans are so ready to take a more fuel efficient approach to getting the power, then how come they constantly complain about V6 offerings despite the fact that V6 offerings today are faster than many V8 offerings of the original cars, and why did they resist the SVO Mustang from the 80s that was faster than the 5.0L V8 versions of the Mustang? I'm not saying that there might be a day when these things change, but don't expect it to work currently is what I'm saying.

davecpa, what is the projected fuel economy on that Eclipse out of curosity?