2009 VOLKSWAGON TIGUAN SEL 4MOTION Test Drive

  

ALL NEW 2009 VOLKSWAGON TIGUAN SEL 4MOTION – ‘THE FIRST COMPACT SUV FROM VW’

Sales of small, compact sport utility and crossover vehicles continues to grow, while sales of full-size and mid-size models continue to fall. With VW’s experience engineering and building the superb mid-size Touareg sport utility, the time seemed right for VW to introduce the all-new 2009 Tiguan compact sport utility vehicle.

The Tiguan has been under development for several years and was not put together hurriedly to grab a piece of the expanding new segment, but the competition will be tough from the likes of the BMW X3, Ford Escape, Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4 and Saturn Vue.

 

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The Not-So-Slow Death of the SUV

  

The Not-So-Slow Death of the SUV

Not too long ago, the vehicle of choice for many Americans was the SUV. However, soaring gas prices have resulted in a tremendous shift in consumer purchasing. The SUV is no longer the king of America’s roads. Families, couples and even single people are now opting for smaller, lighter vehicles that don’t guzzle gas.

Have high gas prices sounded the death knell for the SUV? Take a look at the average car dealership today. While you will still find SUVs for sale, chances are they are outnumbered by crossover vehicles, slimmer sedans, sport coupes and, of course, hybrid vehicles. Even hybrid SUVs haven’t been able to make a dent in the new pattern of consumer spending.

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Hybrid Round Up – A Closer Look At Available Hybrid Vehicles – Video

Want 20% better gas mileage? Want to drive one of the best gas saving cars available at your local dealership? Look no further because the video below showcases all currently available hybrid vehicles that can be purchased today. Whether you love SUV’s, cars or even sports cars, you have a choice in utilizing today’s hybrid technology to ultimately save you money at the gas pump.

Enjoy! – MotorWeek’s Hybrid Round Up:

Little Benz G-Wagon: 2010 Mercedes Benz GLK Getting Recognition

The “little” Benz G-Wagon aka Benz GLK is getting noticed before it comes out.

So Benz decided to take the GL-Class a step farther adding the letter “K”. Some of us may know what that means and some will argue about where the GLK class fits in the Benz line-up. It is almost something in between a GL and a C-Class, mostly the best of both worlds in one successful package. Now facts will tell you that the new GLK class has already had over 10,000 units reserved in Western Europe due to start deliveries in October. US owners will have to look for their new GLK’s in early 2009 sporting a fresh interior design.

 

The smaller GLK will be right there battling it out with the BMW X3 and Acura RDX classed vehicles. Should we expect to see more manufacturers put out small utes like this one? Heck yea, with gas being as expensive as it is, this is the cure-all, for now, for those families looking for a slower gas sipping SUV.

2008 PORSCHE CAYENNE GTS SPORT UTILITY Test Drive

I don’t know why versatile, flexible, four-door vehicles that can carry up to 8-people or a sheet of 8X4ft. plywood ever got the name ‘sport utility’ vehicle. With a high center of gravity, body-on-frame construction and a solid rear axle, these utility vehicles were never built to give a sporty handling experience, no matter the price.

 

Porsche entered the sport utility segment in 2003 with the Cayenne to bring more sport into the segment with their long heritage of building some of the world’s great sports cars. While they did dial-up the power and performance level with the 500hp Cayenne Turbo model, there was still room for improvement in the handling department.

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SUVS: Dismal Deaths or Design Inspiration?

Over a year ago, when it was announced that the U.S. Senate was pushing for a 40% improvement in fuel economy by 2020, pundits in both the green and automotive worlds predicted the death of the SUV. Now, with gas prices hovering near and in many cases over – $4.00/gallon across the country, even GM, which has long been the king of American’s truck and full-sized SUV market, has finally learned what the rest of us already knew: good fuel economy comes in compact packages.

GM’s announcement came a month and a half ago, and included not only the news that they would be embracing compacts, but also that they would be shutting down four truck-production plants, and maybe even giving Hummer the axe. All of this adds up to the very clear message that large SUVs are dead, and smaller, lighter vehicles, with smaller engines and greater gas mileage.

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GM Cuts Production – Plant Closings, No More Hummer, No more SUV’s?

Today GM released the announcement to its employees and to the public that they have plans to majorly cut production including 4 truck plants. The slow in the economy and high gas prices is obviously a major factor in the decision that GM is making in the upcoming months. Surprisingly Rick Wagoner, GM’s CEO, announced possible closing of plants that make many GM SUV’s and trucks with a mention of a possible removal or sale of Hummer which may remove this brand from the market all-together.

This may come as a surprise when you listen to Rick Wagoner mention the closing of plants that produce the Chevy Tahoe/GMC Yukon. We all know that is a big monster in the SUV market but we also know the SUV market is diminishing very fast mainly due to the fact that SUV’s consume A LOT of gas and the economy just cannot support the high price of such vehicles.

CNN.com posted the news this morning and reads:

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2008 HUMMER H3 ALPHA Test Drive

The new, more powerful Hummer H3 Alpha offers the towing capacity that only a V8 can, as the new H3 Alpha broadens Hummer’s range of versatile, do-anything and go-anywhere vehicles. The H3 Alpha is the second member of Hummer’s exclusive Alpha series, representing the pinnacle of performance, both off the road and on it. It comes with a 5.3 liter engine that delivers 300hp and 320lb.ft. of torque, and is mated to a four-speed automatic transmission that enables maximum towing capacity of 6,000lbs., and a faster 8sec. time to 60mph from a standstill than with the standard 242hp inline 5-cylinder engine.

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