Chevrolet

2017 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel – The Answer For VW TDI Refugees?

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars Chevrolet Diesel reviews and tagged car review car reviews cars chevrolet diesel tdi volkswagen on by (updated 2561 days ago)

With the Volkswagen diesel buyback now in full-force here in the United States, up to half a million drivers will be looking for new cars in the coming months. A significant chunk of that group has declared that they want to keep their cars despite the emissions cheating while others including at least one friend of mine are lining up to buy the leftover unsold 2015 models now that a fix has been approved by the EPA. There is clearly still some demand for affordable diesel cars in America and Chevrolet wants a piece of it with the new 2017 Cruze diesel.

(more…)

Leave The Brake Pedal, Take The Bolt – Driving Chevrolet’s New EV

This entry was posted in Carmakers Chevrolet crossover electric General Motors reviews technology and tagged android apple car review car reviews chevrolet crossover electricvehicles EV review reviews on by (updated 2644 days ago)

It’s been more than eight years since I first drove one of BMW’s MINI E electric prototypes around downtown Los Angeles. One of the first characteristics I noticed about that car was the extremely aggressive regenerative braking that enabled driving virtually without touching the brake pedal. While BMW has persisted with that strategy as the only control mode on the production i3, other automakers have provided similar abilities only when shifting the transmission to Low mode. After driving the new Chevrolet Bolt EV from Tesla’s Silicon Valley backyard into the heart of San Francisco, I think all Bolt drivers should consider driving this way all the time.

(more…)

2016 Chevrolet Cruze Premier – Cadavalier No More

This entry was posted in Carmakers Chevrolet reviews and tagged 2016 chevrolet cruze car review car reviews cars review tweet on by (updated 2810 days ago)
2016 Chevrolet Cruze

2016 Chevrolet Cruze

A decade ago if you looked deeply in General Motors sales results, you find that the company was selling huge numbers of Chevrolet Cobalts and Pontiac Sunfires, but it wasn’t actually making any money on them. That’s because if you traveled and had to rent a car, chances were pretty good that you’d find row upon row of these cars populating the lots at Hertz, Avis, Budget and Enterprise. Then in September 2008, just before the financial collapse and subsequent bankruptcy, GM introduced a small car that consumers might actually want to buy, the Cruze. It would be two more years before the Cruze would hit American streets, but it actually did pretty well and in June 2015, Chevrolet revealed an all-new second-generation Cruze which I just had a chance to drive for a week.

(more…)

2016 Chevrolet Volt – Second Time’s The Charm

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars Chevrolet electric Hybrid reviews and tagged 2016 car review car reviews cars chevrolet extended range electric vehicle extended range EV hybrid phev plug-in hybrid plug-in vehicle reviews on by (updated 2937 days ago)

2016 Chevrolet Volt - 37 of 37

As I sit down to write these words about the 2016 Chevrolet Volt, I just realized that it has been almost exactly 10 years since Jon Lauckner and Bob Lutz sat down and sketched out the basic architecture for what they hoped would be a truly practical plug-in car. In the days and weeks that followed, Lutz and Lauckner gathered up the core of an engineering and design team that would eventually bring the first-generation Volt to production four and a half years later. A decade on from those first discussions, the second-generation Volt is now on sale and it’s vastly superior to the original in every way.

(more…)

2016 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible – Plastic is Still Fantastic

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars Chevrolet reviews and tagged 2016 2016 chevrolet corvette convertible car reviews chevrolet convertible corvette stingray on by (updated 2937 days ago)

2016 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible - 3 of 41

For more than 30 years, ever since the launch of the C4 Corvette, I’ve been hearing Chevrolet talk about America’s longest running sports car being ready to take on the best in the world. Unfortunately, while each subsequent edition was a significant advancement on what came before, Corvette never quite hit the mark. While the 2005-2013 C6 came tantalizingly close to fulfilling that promise, especially from a performance perspective, the interior continued to be a let down. Two years ago, Chevrolet brought us an all-new seventh-generation model and I just got to spend a week with a ragtop variant.

(more…)

2015 Chevrolet Trax LT – A Little Crossover With Room for Friends

This entry was posted in Carmakers Chevrolet crossover General Motors reviews and tagged 2015 chevrolet trax b-segment car review car reviews crossover subcompact crossover trax on by (updated 2937 days ago)

2015 Chevrolet Trax - 5 of 28

Last year Chevrolet decided to join the rapidly burgeoning B-segment (aka subcompact) crossover utility field with an entry called the Trax. The Trax joins GM’s other similarly sized and surprisingly successful crossover the Buick Encore at a more affordable price point to challenge the likes of the Honda HR-V, Jeep Renegade, Fiat 500X and Nissan Juke. In a segment expected to spawn several more entries from the likes of Ford, Hyundai and Toyota in the next couple of years, does the Trax have what it takes?

(more…)

General Motors Launching 2nd-Gen “Bring Your Own Media” Infotainment for 2016

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars Chevrolet General Motors reviews technology and tagged android auto apple carplay bring your own media byom car reviews chevrolet general motors infotainment mylink on by (updated 2937 days ago)

BYOM - 1

As we roll into the 2016 model year, General Motors is finally about ready to put its 2009 bankruptcy behind it as it completes the launch of a full lineup of post-reorganization vehicles. In addition to all-new vehicles designed and developed in this decade, GM is also rationalizing its in-vehicle infotainment options which had become fragmented over the past four years. For Chevrolet, that means there will basically be two levels of infotainment under the MyLink brand.

(more…)

2016 Chevrolet Camaro Performance Shows the Benefit of Going on a Diet 1

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars Chevrolet News and tagged 2016 Chevrolet Camaro camaro ford mustang lightweight mustang performance pony cars sports cars on by (updated 3144 days ago)

cq5dam.web.1280.1280When Chevrolet revealed the redesigned sixth-generation Camaro last spring, it looks like they significantly sandbagged everyone on the weight reductions including the engineers in Dearborn. The original press release indicated that “the total curb weight for Camaro has been reduced by more than 200 pounds,” which I took as an indication that it would end up at roughly the same weight as the 2015 Mustang. In fact, Chevy’s sports car undercuts its arch-rival the Mustang by anywhere from 20 to 200 pounds and offers vastly improved weight-to-power ratios, which is directly reflected in the performance numbers.

(more…)

2016 Chevrolet Volt Officially Rated at 53 Miles Electric Range

This entry was posted in Carmakers cars Chevrolet electric Hybrid and tagged 2016 chevrolet volt fuel economy volt on by (updated 3184 days ago)

cq5dam.web.1280.1280

 

Back in January when Chevrolet first showed off the all-new second-generation Volt, we were told that the electric driving range would be at least 50 miles and the hybrid fuel economy would be about 41 mpg. This morning, they announced the official EPA certified results that would go on the fuel economy label and they beat those estimates. The larger 18.4-kWh battery and more efficient motors are now rated to provide a 53 driving range before the engine fires up. That’s a 40 percent bump from the 37 mile range on the 2015 model (the original 2011 was rated at just 35 miles) Once the battery is depleted (or when its really cold or if you’ve been running on electricity only for more than six weeks) the Volt is rated at 42 mpg combined. Unlike many cars in recent years, GM was always fairly conservative in rating the original Volt and it wasn’t at all unusual for many drivers to meet or exceed the 37 mile driving range on the label. Assuming that GM has done the same this time, most drivers should have little difficulty topping 50 miles but we’ll find out for ourselves in the not too distant future.

(more…)

First Dedicated Autonomous and Connected Vehicle Test Track Opens in Ann Arbor

This entry was posted in Ann Arbor Carmakers cars Chevrolet Ford General Motors Honda Nissan technology the business Toyota and tagged ann arbor autonomous vehicles connected vehicles mcity mobility transformation center mtc umtri university of michigan v2v V2X on by (updated 3201 days ago)

mtc_illust_with_callouts.final

Yet another automotive proving ground opened in Ann Arbor, Mich. today, but the Mobility Transformation Center (MTC) is quite different from existing tracks. There is no shortage of automotive test tracks scattered around southeast Michigan mostly operated by automakers and larger suppliers that do everything from salt baths to high-speed stability to running over pounding potholes. These facilities tend to be highly secured facilities where outsiders are rarely welcome. Ford engineers don’t get to hang out at GM’s Milford Proving Ground and GM people are persona non-grata in Dearborn. At MTC Mcity course, all of these engineers will have a place where they can come together and collaborate along with researchers from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI).

(more…)