Teh Car Blogz

One of the most common themes of the American automotive marketplace is that, compared to most the rest of the world, we really get the shaft when it comes to automobile selection. This is because carmakers tend to make cars designed for the “stereotypical American mindset,” that is to say, cars for fat people who don’t like corners or clutches. It’s quite painful to see the rest of the world get sweet small cars, awesome rear-wheel-drive sedans, and many other things while we’re (for the most part) stuck with the stale leftovers. Here’s a few cars I think should be brought in - and a few cars that I think should just go ahead and pack their things.

Import it: Ford Mondeo/ Ford Falcon

Talk about getting the shaft, this one is a real two-edged sword. America’s staple mid-size Ford sedan has been the Taurus forever (well, since 1986 at least.) A boring, shoddily built front-wheel drive midsize sedan that’s long been the darling of Hertz Rent-A-Car. While the Taurus isn’t a total piece of crap, compared to what Ford offers the rest of the world, it’s HARDLY fair.

Europe’s mainstream midsizer is called the Mondeo, now in it’s fourth generation. We received the first-generation Mondeo here in the states under the name Contour or Mystique (Mercury). The Mondeo is a useful bit smaller and less porky than the Taurus, has a well-built and quite attractive interior, and is available in the top-of-the-line model with a 2.5L turbocharged Volvo 5-cylinder making a healthy 220 horsepower, paired with a six-speed manual. It’s a tight-handling, refined and very European sedan, equivalent (at least) to a modern Passat in terms of refinement. Not exactly something you can say about the modern Taurus.

Of course, Australia has it even better. The Falcon has been in production forever over there, getting continually refined and redesigned over the past few decades. It’s a sharply-styled full-size four door sedan with four-wheel independent suspension, rear wheel drive, an attractive interior, and a mouth-watering array of available engines, from the base 4.0L 24v I6 to the top-of-the-line 32v 5.4L “Boss” V8 with 400+ horsepower. In Australia, Ford’s equivalent of SVT is call FPV (Ford Performance Vehicles, naturally.) My pick of the litter is the FPV F6 Typhoon, which has an absolute BEAST of a straight-six: the 4.0L “Barra” six has a Garrett GT35(!) turbocharger, a front mount intercooler, a four-valve head and variable valve timing. For the updated 2008 model, this straight-six powerhouse makes 310kW, or an incredible 415 horsepower as well as 416 lb-ft of torque.  That’s the kind of thrust that makes people want a car.  And it seems right now, Ford sort of needs people to like their cars a bit more.  The answer is logical.

Deport it: Ford Taurus

Yeah, Europe can have it. Stick a diesel in it and they’ll buy it; it seems more to their tastes. Or maybe just kill it - no one will notice it’s gone. Although there is hope: spy shots of the 2010 Taurus show a much more muscular, aggressive shape, and if the rumors of an optional “EcoBoost” (Ford’s term, not mine) 3.5L V6 is true, we might have a 340 horsepower, all-wheel-drive Turbo V6 Taurus on our hands. SHO, anyone? Still, that’s then and this is now. Kill the Taurus, bring us the Falcon for large car buyers and the Mondeo for people cross-shoping the 3-series and TSX. Come on.

Import It: Citroen C6

French cars, for the longest time, were known for three things: being extremely comfortable, breaking all the time, and being interesting. Well, during the early-to-mid ninties this sort of all went down the drain. Build quality went up, suspension setups stiffened, and most started looking like your generic Anycar Europe Edition. Thankfully, Citroen finally found the plot.

They introduced their flagship model, the C6, in 2006. It’s a full-sized sedan (about the size of an S80, E-Class or 5-series BMW). The structure is nothing unusual - unit construction, transverse engines and front wheel drive - but here, finally, is a classic French luxury car, only done right. Sure, there isn’t the weird stuff quite like there used to be - single spoke steering wheels, rolling dials for a speedometer - but in it’s place there is gorgeous, elegant styling and a luxury-loaded interior. Check that sucker out:

And of course, in addition to the unique styling, the C6 has Citroen’s famous hydropneumatic suspension, which is the most comfortable way of keeping the greasy parts pointed downward. This car floats over bumps - not like a Cadillac with worn-out suspension, but with grace. My choice: the torquey-but-quiet 3.0L V6 turbodiesel and a 6-speed automatic for wafting. The drive to work would never be more comfortable or interesting!

Deport it: Chrysler 300

The 300 is like a bad joke that’s just gone on way too long. The styling was captivating when it came out in 2005, but much like the PT Cruiser, has sort of turned into a tired cliché by now. It is a car where function really follows a bit behind form; that neat gun-slit windshield means it’s impossible to see a stoplight if you’ve pulled too far forward. That, and you feel like you’re piloting a casket. The two base V6’s are both anemic and thirsty, and who wants a Hemi-powered Chrysler-built pseudoluxury car when gas is $4.00+ dollars a gallon? So ship this off to Europe where it’s in vogue to flaunt your money by buying weird American cars, stick a diesel in it and an SRT-8 body kit on it, and they’ll love it.

Import it: European (C1) Ford Focus

I’m not the first American to adopt this pet cause, and I’m quite sure I won’t be the last. To put a long story short, the current US-market Focus is basically Ford’s way of saying that Americans are stupid to the very core and as a result will buy just about anything. While Europe has had a shiny, brand-new Focus since 2006 based on the C1 chassis shared with the Mazda3 and Volvo S40/V50/C70/C30, Ford in the US decided it would be better to just facelift the first-generation Focus - which came out in 1998! - rather than completely retool the plant in Mexico that builds the US Focii.

So the Euro Focus is well built, attractively styled, and has a solidity the MkI Focus never did. It’s available with a huge range of gas and diesel engines, including the high-performance ST version (shown) with a 220 horsepower turbocharged Volvo 5-cylinder engine. Oh, and Recaro seats, tight suspension, big brakes, etc etc. It’s awesome.

Deport It: US-Market Focus

On the other hand, Ford hired an autistic trash-truck driver to restyle the US Focus: awful Gillette grille, “I wish I was a Range Rover” plastic side vents that have become vomit-inducingly trendy these days, and proportions that make less sense than Polish poetry.  Then there’s the build quality that the Soviets would have been ashamed of, and the same anemic 2.0L wheezing out… a little. Oh, but it’s got SYNC, Ford’s electronic doohickey that lets your phone talk to your stereo talk to your laptop. Who cares? Raise your hand if you’d rather have a good car, than an outdated, poorly built econo-penalty box with a fancy stereo. Oh, that’s everyone.

Import it: Artega GT

Ok, I’m biased because it has a VW engine. But the appeal of this car is hard to deny: it’s a hand-built sports car with a mid-engined design, a lightweight aluminum body, and a powerful motor courtesy of VW. The engine is the 3.6L direct-injected VR6, in the same tune as it sees duty in the Passat R36 model. The engine’s 296 horsepower are directed through a 6-speed DSG (Dual Clutch Automated Manual) to the rear wheels - limited slip differential, of course. If the body’s lines have a familiar feeling to them, don’t worry because it isn’t the 1990’s again. The stylist is none other than Henrik Fisker, who is largely responsible for how hot new Aston Martins and Jaguars look these days. That nearly 300-horsepower engine in a car that weighs 1,100kg (2,425lbs) makes for quite rapid acceleration: 0-60 is done in the four-second range, and the GT tops out at a respectable 168 mph. Thanks to advanced suspension design and it’s light weight, the Artega is also quite the corner-carver it looks to be. And in the lighter GT, the Artega gets nearly 30mpg on the highway, up from the 26 of the heftier Passat it’s engine comes from. It’s gorgeous, well-engineered, original and unique, quite rapid and probably inexpensive to maintain in comparison to some other cars it competes with at this price range. I want one.

Deport it: Dodge Challenger

Meanwhile, Dodge is pretending it’s 1973 all over again, and launching a retro-styled Musclercar with a lineup of fuel-sucking engines, just as America is about to call out the Ninja Attack Squad Elite to figure out what the f*)*&’s going on with those fuel prices. What they have done is neither good, nor unique, nor wise. They copied the old design of the early Challenger, sharpened up the edges and put modern wheels and mirrors on it, and called it new. The 425 horsepower SRT-8 version goes for well over 40 grand, and plus the inevitable ridiculous dealer markup that Domestic dealerships live off of… and gets dismal gas mileage. But since it has a curb weight of over 2 tons, it’s really not that quick compared to, say… a Mitsu Evo X. Or a 135i. Or a Subaru STI. And of course, the similarly priced Shelby GT500 Mustang variant #1438 blows the SRT-8 out of the water, straight out of of the box with the double whammy of 500 horsepower, and a supercharger. While the Charger is certainly pretty, it’s not NEARLY as pretty as the similarly-overpriced new Camaro, but at least the SS version of the Camaro will have a 500+ horsepower Supercharger LS-A motor, all 6.2 giant liters of it. If Dodge didn’t make the Charger, Chrysler would…

Well, they’d still be screwed. So in an odd way, here’s to Dodge. If this is the last interesting car you guys ever put out, it’s a fine one to end on, based on abilities alone. And it’s pretty.

and finally…

Import it: Alfa Romeo Mi.To

This is my main heart-breaker right now. This is Alfa Romeo’s new entry-level model, called the Mi.To. While the name is odd, it’s actually a combination of Milan- where it’s designed, and Turin, where it’s built. Stripped down to basics, the Mi.To is Alfa Romeo’s version of Fiat’s Grande Punto, which is basically big brother Fiat’s Golf-Sized subcompact for Europe. Engines at launch will be a line of gas and diesel, with a gas range of 1.4L four-cylinders from a naturally-aspirated 78 horsepower base model, to a turbocharged Abarth-spec 155 horsepower model. Diesels are both turbocharged, a 1.3L with 90bhp or a 1.6L with 120 horsepower - actually pretty good outputs for diesels. Later on, a GTA model will launch with a 1.8L turbocharged motor with somewhere near 230 horsepower.

The appeal in the MiTo lies in it’s simplicity and brilliant design. Stylistically, it’s a home-run. The proportions and perfect for a small car, with all four wheels pushed all the way out to the corners, with right-sized wheels and fat patches of rubber. The window line flows beautifully, the perfectly-formed round rear tail lights (no doubt a nod to the 8C Competitzione) setting off the clean rear. It’s a bit odd from the front, but in a good way.

The MiTo is lightweight, front wheel drive but well-balanced, gorgeous, and has some lively little turbocharged engines. And it’s got a sophisticated suspension setup, beefy disc brakes, and sticky tires. Even with the meager 155 horsepower on tap from the top-line engine, I bet the Mi.To still can tear your favorite local back-road a new one. (See last article for a good how-to guide!) This is what we need: a very attractive, inexpensive, good-handling compact car… with a nice interior! Why isn’t this here, now? I’d sell an unecessary organ for one. That interior is how a BMW Z4’s would look, if BMW had some soul. I love it.

Deport it: GMC

Honestly, what purpose does GMC serve but to increase productions costs and inter-brand competition.  It’s pointless.  There is not a single model in GMC’s lineup that is unique to them.  It’s been clear for a while that people think of GM trucks as Chevrolet’s, not GMC’s.  Quit wasting development money on slightly different front fascia plsatic for GMC’s just so they can steal some sales from Chevy!  It doesn’t seem that complicated.

Alas, because of how much our whole situation here in America with the weak economy and shrinking dollar, most imported cars become more expensive every year with the currency exchange rate fluctuations.  Also, our draconian automotive regulations prevent many of the smaller niche manufacturers (like Artega) from importing because they can’t afford to re-engineer their car to meet Federal standards here.  This means that this list could go on for days, but for now I’ll just leave you with these to ponder.

Till next time!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 at 2:11 am and is filed under Car Theory. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.