Before the complete upgrade was achieved, there was definitely a beta stage.  It was not perfect but it jump started the evolution of the station wagon into the “five door sportback.”  Case in point, the Dodge Magnum.  How do you make something as asexual as a station wagon into a rock star? Simple, just add a Hemi.  It wasn’t perfect.  It had a fairly bland design – an appendage on big wheels, really.  However, it had a huge V8 powering the rear wheels.  It did enough things right to make the grocery store trip with the wife and kids fun.  And by fun I mean the Hemi drowning all sounds of the passengers yapping.  Little victories..

Exhibit B – the Subaru WRX introduced in 2007.  AWD? Check.  Turbo? Check.  5 door? Check.  In fact, Subaru is so confident in their 5 door sportback, they offer the top of the line STi ONLY in a 5 door sportback.  I don’t blame them, the regular Subaru WRX 5 door sportback’s sales number simply Chris Brown-ed the sedan.  Oh and guess which car company was among only TWO who gained market share during the recession?

There is also the Mazda 3 and the Infiniti EX.  Both are fine examples of Japanese car makers taking the sportback concept seriously.  Infiniti was particularly sneaky.  The EX is simply a modern station wagon version of the G35 Sedan.  But Infiniti totally sidestepped that relationship.  Instead, they introduced it as a separate model with design akin to the sexy FX (ya, I said it).

There were some failures along the way to SW 2.0.  POP QUIZ – what would you get if Gary Busey had a child with Rosie O’Donnell and that child mated with Kelly from The Office? A BMW X6.  I don’t care if it’s fast, the thing is hideous – German Pontiac Aztek anyone?

After all the trial and error, we have finally reached SW 2.0 with Porsche’s Panamera.  The previous attempts did a great job of making the station wagon fun to drive.  The Magnum, WRX, EX, and even the BMW Aztek transformed the traditional, boring station wagon into a  genuinely fun to drive sportback.  The only thing missing were aesthetics.  Enter Porsche.  Anyone remember the last time Porsche broke tradition and entered a new segment?  The result was the Porsche Cayenne SUV which is currently the best selling Porsche model, 5 years running.  I expect nothing less of the Panamera.  Hopefully this time, the station wagon trend stays.

It is easy to forget how far car navigation has come.  10 years ago, car navigation simply entailed a series of maps uploaded onto a CD or a DVD.  GPS would find the car’s location and triangulate it to the map on the screen.  Voila.  Today, everyone with a smart phone has Google Maps and/or Mapquest.  You could argue these applications aren’t as responsive.  Fair enough, grab a TomTom and Garmin, problem solved, right? Not exactly.

Car makers are smart.  They know the navigation package has the highest mark up.  They have been charging inflated prices upwards of $5000 for the “technology package” for ages.  The selling point is convenience and the pretentious right to say  “I got a BMW with Nav! Top of the Line!” as opposed to “I got a BMW.”

Luxury car makers are successfully distancing themselves from TomSquared and company.  Mercedes Benz now offers a Navigation system with a 6 disc DVD player.  The Lexus navigation system will not only give you active traffic updates but also update you on how your stocks and Lakers are doing.  Audi’s navigation system takes it one step further and adds a TV tuner.  Great, now you can connect to your phone via bluetooth and vote for your favorite American Idol all while zooming up the on ramp.

Like Ophelia, no one out-crazy’s BMW.  On board the BMW navigation system is an 80 gig hard drive.  With the hard drive comes a CD/DVD reader and a USB port so you can not only upload songs, but movies, files, documents and family photographs as well.

How do you make something good better? Just add Google.  Yes, BMW navigation system will integrate with Google.  You can “tell the car” where you will be traveling while enjoying the morning coffee on your desktop.  When you jump in the car, the navigation is already there.  Gmail fan? Great, now all your contacts can be uploaded into the BMW Navigation system – this means the physical address will be marked on the map along with names and numbers.  Scroll to John, click the home/office address, and you have directions.  Simple.  Want to text him instead? BMW now has Google voice recognition built in, say it and it shall be texted.  Voice enabled Google search is there too.  Somewhere KITT is rolling in its grave..

Would I pass over Garmin and pay $5000 for a car navigation system? If that’s what it takes to say, “I got a BMW with Google! Top of the Line!”

My second confession – I hate paying for gas which is why I started considering hybrids, both Toyota and Honda versions. With 45 MPG, I could drive from San Diego to San Francisco on one tank of gas. Then I did the math and turns out, this reasoning doesn’t work. And be honest, did you start “going green” around the time gas hit $4 a gallon? I did. Turns out if I were to buy a Civic over the Insight Hybrid or a Corolla over the Prius, it would take me 5 years to make up the price premium in gas money.

Alas, I wish I didn’t do the math. As much as I like to go green, I’d rather save the $6000, recycle some cans, wear an organic hemp tee shirt on my drive up to San Francisco and perhaps part take in a drum circle. GO GREEN!

DELICIOUS CENTER CONSOLE

I recently had the pleasure to drive a 5 speed Mini Cooper ( not the “S”).  I have never enjoyed driving anything with 120ish horses, especially in a FWD layout, as I did the Mini Cooper.  Naturally, I began to ponder other options which fit the following categories – inexpensive, small, and fun to drive. Again, I say, car makers, please step up!

This niche is begging for an opportunist.  Historically, we have had great sport compact cars.  If you were looking for a fun compact car half a century ago in the US, you would choose between a Ford Mustang or a Chevrolet Camaro. Today, Scion xA or xB.  Or perhaps the Kia Sol or Nissan Versa? Didn’t think so.

And let’s not forget the original, inexpensive, small, and fun to drive car, the Volkwagen Beetle – RWD, rear engine, and inexpensive.  In its spirit, here is list of cars I wish the car makers would bring back! Feel free to add your own…

1991 – 1994 Toyota MR2 Turbo : RWD,  MR engine layout, Turbo, heck, I’ll even settle for the late 1990’s MR2 Spyder.

1991-1998 Nissan 240sx : torquey engine + 2500 curb weight + RWD – stability control = fun compact car.

1994-1999 Toyota Celica GT Four : someone at Toyota said “Let’s take the turbo engine from the MR2, put it in a Celica and give it AWD.” Give that guy a Pulitzer.

2005-2009 Saturn Sky and Pontiac Solstice : just when you thought GM did something right in the car department (sans Corvette), both Saturn and Pontiac get axed. Ouch.

2003-2005 Dodge Neon SRT 4 : No one likes torque steer but everyone loves a Turbocharged commuter under $20k.

All of the above cars provide a guiltless, gas mashing spree turn after turn.  I wish car makers would take notice. Until then, you’ll find me in a Mini Cooper.

Now that the dust is slowly beginning to settle, Ford is clearly the winner. How is that possible? Technologically, Chrysler was the first to the small engine, forced induction strategy which is a ubiquitous trend in the economically challenged car industry today. Just look at any Audi, BMW, and Mercedes model. They are all offering forced induction options and even downsizing the big V8’s to force fed V6’s. Chrysler was there before any of them (at least 8 years ago).

GM has arguably the most exciting of all line ups. The new Camaro is absolutely gorgeous.  It is a bargain for the money for the V6 (300 ponies for under 25k?!) and the V8 is more powerful than Ford’s and Dodge’s comparable Mustang and Charger. GM is definitely, technologically speaking, winning the Pony car battle.  And what about the Corvette? Ford and Chrysler have no models competing with the Corvette. You would have better chance at finding an agreeable universal health care plan than performance at the price point of a Corvette.

Ford on the other hand, is just now adding forced induction into the Taurus SHO and is by far the slowest of all pony car V8’s. In early 2009, when the bankruptcy spree began and economy was centrifuging down the toilet, Ford’s stock was below $1.50. At the time of writing, Ford stock is selling just below $9. But how? Enter Ford Fusion – might as well call it Ford’s personal Jesus because it is the savior Ford needs. Hold the presses, Ford is offering a mid size car with a peppy 4 cylinder and hybrid engine option? As the Guiness guys would say, brilliant!

Well, sort of, considering Toyota executed this years ago and monopolized the mid size market with the Toyota Camry and the hybrid market with the omnipresent Prius. Even Nissan doesn’t have a hybrid but they were smart enough to borrow Toyota’s and toss it inside the Altima’s engine bay. Ford is following Toyota’s blueprint and that right there is the difference maker vs GM and Chrysler.

May the best car win, but please Fiat, keep Maserati away from Chrysler. Don’t want The Chrysler TC by Maserati-induced night terrors coming back..

-Which luxury car maker started off as a motorcycle sidecar manufacturer? Jaguar.

-The Volkswagen Beetle was a design ordered by Adolf Hitler as a “people’s car.” Which engineering firm got the contract? Porsche. In fact, a few years later when Porsche decided to start making consumer cars, guess which car became the basis of the first Porsche? Arguably, that point still stands today.

-Which sports car company started off as a tractor manufacturer? Automobilli Lamborghini.

-Lexus was launched in the US in 1989. When did Toyota launch Lexus at home in Japan? 2005.

-Which car influenced the FWD front engine design ubiquitous on the road today? Mini Cooper.

-What do Lincoln and Cadillac have in common? They were both founded by the same person, Henry Leland. He sold Lincoln to Ford and started Cadillac, which he later sold to GM.

-Which car company’s first model was built entirely on a farm? HINT: it was inspired by Jeep. Land Rover.

-Speaking of Jeep, what do the Jeep Wrangler and Hummer H1 have in common? They were made by the same company, AMC General.

-Which car company claims to have the highest profit margin? Porsche.

-Which car company does consulting for other firms, including Subaru and Harley Davidson? Porsche, again.

All cars were manual steering up to 1950’s. Starting in the early 1950’s, manufacturers such as Saginaw (now part of Delphi) experiemented with external valves, known as a control valve to give assist. This was extremely complicated for the time, but solved a major problem. Car Makers could not make cars much bigger because they were simply too hard to turn. Any assist would change the whole landscape.

So this setup used 4 steering parts. The steering pump uses a pulley to draw power from the engine and then pressurizes the system. The steering box that turned steering wheel movement into direction change of the vehicle. Then the control valve and ram cylinder to pressurize the wheels back and forth.

The upside is that it worked, it is much easier than manual steering. The downside was because of the number of parts and hoses, it was notoriously problematic. These are very common leakers. Starting in about 1957 with the Cadillac Deville, they introduced integral power steering. This moved all of the ram and control valve functions to inside the gearbox. This greatly helped with defectives.

Enough of the bun on top of the criticism sandwich, lets get to the meat. Lexus recently introduced the Lexus LFA, a $350,000 “bargain” per Car and Driver. Go ahead, click it, I’ll wait.

Perplexing? It was to me. The maker of a Scion Xb wants over a quarter million dollars for a car. I don’t get it. Just thinking about the price tag alone, barring any supercar references, BMW has Rolls Royce, Mercedes has Maybach, Audi/VW has Bentley. The vanity of prestige is often used to justify these car brands’ illustrious price tags. The rich histories of Rolls, the ‘Bach, and Bent help justify it as well. Lexus has neither.

It might not be fair to compare a Bentley to a Lexus. So lets compare the market Lexus is going after, the Lamborghini and Ferrari buyers. History and prestige which, I would argue, also help justify supercars’ price tags. The two factors are (again) absent for Lexus. And the LFA is already being dubbed as an exotic? Call me old school but for me, mid (or rear) engine and exotic are synonymous. The LFA’s competition – Gallardo, R8, Porsche 911, Ferrari F430, all have engines where? That’s right, the back.

Nissan still has trouble justifying the $75k price tag for the GTR which, by the way, matches the LFA’s performance numbers to the tee. I don’t know why anyone would pay $350,000 for a Celica (R.I.P) on HGH with a Yamaha built V10. But hey, let’s only make a few hundred of these and people will buy em! Of course they will. People will buy anything. Pontiac Aztec, anyone?

—Lets play a game called LFA or Celica?

The truth is, OEM car parts over time improve in design. OEM number changes commonly occur in car steering racks, ac compressors and fuel pumps. This is especially true if your car is at least 5-10 years old. I found such an issue with a client who thought he had purchased the wrong fuel pump. The one in particular was a Delphi fuel pump. Manufacturers often make adjustments to assure higher efficiency and better overall operation.

I have included pictures of the Original Fuel Pump and the Improved design. In this particular case, the original fuel pump had the fuel strainer on the outside of the physical pump whereas in the new design the fuel pump has the strainer built inside the body of the pump itself. This change, along with the new locking ring, improved RFI noise filtering and reduced amperage. Tons of changes, but the part number stays the same.

OEM number changes occur and it is a natural part of the car parts industry. Instead of immediately questioning the parts store, question the part itself and look for any OEM changes when in doubt.