Drew Dowdell

New Contest: Modern K5 Blazer Your mission is to harness that spirit and wrap it in new clothing for 2011 and beyond. The job is to create a new K5 Blazer that can actually blaze the trail. Or, if you prefer, a K15 Jimmy that take you to a wilderness view that extends to the horizon in all directions. You may base your creation on the existing Tahoe/Yukon, or branch out in a new direction. If you do, you could win a men's Chevy Truck watch. Follow the jump for rules and restrictions. Chevrolet K5 Blazer Design Contest This post has been promoted to an article

Updated with prize information.

It's not really even a programming thing. That's just the throttle position sensor or the transmission kickdown cable. Make it shorter, it'll kick down faster.

Oh! And I was also finally able to snap my spy pic of that rumored Mercedes branded Dodge Dakota rebadge that was undergoing cold weather testing near me.

I was just telling BV yesterday that there is a 78-79 G-body Cutlass Cruiser running around near me in "Old coot kept it in the garage and never drove it" condition.

Cooking with Croc

Dec. 17, 2010 (PR Newswire) -- AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Dec. 17, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BorgWarner announced today that it has signed an agreement to acquire the Traction Systems division of Haldex Group, a leading provider of innovative products for the global vehicle industry headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. "This acquisition supports our continuing strategy to be a global technology leader in providing powertrain solutions," said Timothy M. Manganello, Chairman and CEO, BorgWarner. "With the acquisition of Haldex Traction Systems, BorgWarner has added a strong and well-respected brand of all-wheel drive products that will compliment our current portfolio as well as our customer and geographic mix." The move is expected to accelerate BorgWarner's growth in the global all-wheel drive (AWD) market as it continues to shift toward front-wheel drive (FWD) based vehicles. The acquisition will add industry leading FWD/AWD technologies, with a strong European customer base, to BorgWarner's existing portfolio of front and rear-wheel drive based products. This enables BorgWarner to provide global customers a broader range of all-wheel drive solutions to meet their vehicle needs. The purchase price is approximately $205 million (1.425 billion SEK) and represents less than one times estimated 2011 sales. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2011 subject to standard regulatory approvals. Auburn Hills, Michigan-based BorgWarner Inc. (NYSE: BWA) is a product leader in highly engineered components and systems for vehicle powertrain applications worldwide. The company operates manufacturing and technical facilities in 60 locations in 18 countries. Customers include VW/Audi, Ford, Toyota, Renault/Nissan, General Motors, Hyundai/Kia, Daimler, Chrysler, Fiat, BMW, Honda, Deere & Company, PSA, and MAN. The Internet address for BorgWarner is: http://www.borgwarner.com. Statements contained in this news release may contain forward-looking statements as contemplated by the 1995 Private Securities Litigation Reform Act that are based on management's current expectations, estimates and projections. Words such as "outlook", "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond our control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed, projected or implied in or by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include: fluctuations in domestic or foreign vehicle production, the continued use of outside suppliers, fluctuations in demand for vehicles containing our products, changes in general economic conditions, and other risks detailed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Risk Factors, identified in our most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K. We do not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements. SOURCE BorgWarner Inc.

That's fine, but $18k for this car is too much.

you're jumping ahead of me Lamar, but yes. it ABSOLUTELY needs a 6th gear. you'll see why in the full review

I could TOTALLY drive that as long as it had bluetooth, NAV, heated and cooled seats, 27 speaker surround sound, and could run the Nurburi No really, I'd be interested in that Jeep if they built it.

Reg, I think I need to understand you better. When you say "lag" are you referring to the amount of time it take the transmission to shift from one gear to the next or are you referring to the amount of time it takes for the car to decide to shift down after you mash the gas?

I thought part of the idea of Alpha was that it was able to scale up better than Zeta was able to scale down. Thus you could still get most of the Zeta sized cars onto an Alpha platform without sacrificing size. Only the largest of the Zetas (Park Ave) wouldn't be able to make the switch.

Final entries need to be by tomorrow at 3pm eastern.

A slow shifting transmission is not an indicator of a crappy product

And why not?

LOL! Christmas crackers.

The atheist owner of the site posted a picture of his Christmas tree..... how far do you think you're going to get with this joke.

That's from two factors, first, they are reluctant to kick down for fuel economy reasons, second they are "soft" in their kick down for comfort reasons. I know it's not a passenger car, but that F-350 really smacked through the gears. If you put it in Tow/Haul mode it seemed even worse. The GMC was super super smooth and probably what you'd call "lazy" but when you wanted the speed, it would drop two gears for you and charge forward like a freaking locomotive. It really just has to do with the tuning of the transmission.

Bump. I'm reviving this thread so you all can post whore in here again. Why? It's the highest ranking f@#king thread according to google. We get 480 clicks per month on this thread for the keyword "Motivational Posters" To put that into perspective, the next highest search term is "Cheer and Gears" at 210 clicks per month. So have at it monsters....

Newest one I've driven was an '09 Audi A4. I didn't time it, so I don't know, but it felt "rubbery" compared to a double down shift in a 6-speed

A wider spread is an asset for either launch speed, cruising MPG, or a little of both. What Dwight is saying it that if a CVT's final drive matches a 6-speed's final drive, the 6-speed will have a better launch because the first and second gears are lower than what the CVT can manage. If the CVT's lowest ratio matches the lowest ratio on a 6-speed, the 6-speed will have better cruising mpg because the final drive ratio will be lower. And Reg, I find a fault with your assertion that a conventional automatic can't change the ratios as quickly. In some situations it would actually be quicker. The GM 6-speeds (and Toyota 6-speeds if I recall) can jump down two gears when needed, so you'll get a 6->4 shift or a 5->3 shift if you really mash the gas. A CVT has to sliiiiiiide down.

Before you two come to blows over this: Reg, just because the Subaru Legacy CVT runs at a lower RPM than a Subaru Legacy Automatic doesn't mean that an automatic can't run that at that RPM. It just means that Subaru, for whatever reason, choose a different top end ratio for the automatic. I don't remember exactly the RPM the 4-Cylinder Terrain ran at during a 70mph cruise, but it wasn't much over 2,000 rpm.

Saab engineers have all the fun.