Car Throttle

To be totally honest, I'm more interested in Hybrid fuel economy than football.  Maybe there was something weird in the water where I grew up, or maybe I just agree with Ernest Hemmingway: "There are three real sports: mountain climbing, bull fighting, and car racing.  Everything else is just games." Regardless, I hard it find to fake enthusiasm for the Super Bowl.  This year some overpaid athletes in spandex played against some other overpaid athletes in Spandex for the title of something.  Yay.  But I don't need to fake my enthusiasm for the advertisements.  Manufacturers spend vast sums of money to get ads in the superbowl; it's the highest-viewed event every year in the US, but at $3.5M USD per 30-second spot, they try especially hard

The automotive world is filled with rivalries.  STI owners think EVO drivers are mentally handicapped, Mustang owners laugh at Camaros, Prius drivers have those "pissing on Insight" stickers, and Holden owners like to pull Ford drivers out of their cars at stoplights and beat them to death with pipe wrenches.  Another to add to the list: Cobalt SS and Neon SRT-4 owners.  On the surface, both cars are pretty similar: high performance versions of domestic economy cars, with drastically more power and braking abilities and not a lot of interior luxuries.  I love both; I love the Cobalt SS Turbo more. One way to settle the whole argument is to quit the bullshitting and bench racing, assemble some teams, slap them on a dyno (or

Next year, the Corvette will be eligible for AARP membership.  America's sports car will be turning 60 years old, and the boys at Chevy have a surprise planned for the anniversary: the 427 Convertible.  Thankfully it's more than just a stripes and stickers package, (I'm looking at you, 40th Anniversary Corvette!) what with the LS7 under the hood. The 427 Convertible will be the first time that the Z06's LS7 (7.0L) V8 will be available in a drop-top Corvette.  Previously, the top dog convertible was the Grand Sport, which featured the LS3 6.2L V8 with goodies like dry-sump lubrication and launch control.  With 427ci of displacement, there's now a healthy 505bhp and 470lb-ft torque, making it the most powerful convertible 'Vette they've made yet.  A

They say 40 is the new 30. While that is the saying about age, it also is becoming true about gas mileage. Increasingly, cars are increasing their fuel economy scores with each passing generation. To compete, especially, in the subcompact segment, you need an impressive number. General Motors' entrant is the Sonic, and mileage estimates from the Environmental Protection Agency as well as crash test information have been released. Looking at the numbers, the Sonic has the goods to be a competitive entry. Moving down the size ladder doesn't mean mediocre vehicles anymore. The new Sonic scores 40 mpg highway, and 29 mpg city, powered by a 138-horsepower turbocharged 1.4-liter four-cylinder. We expect an Eco model will increase the Sonic's fuel economy ratings even further.

Times are tough.  Credit used to flow like water, getting a job after securing a bachelor's degree in English was a sure thing, and the world was a lot easier place to live in.  Not so any more: those who once figured "Hell, I have a job and a pulse, I can get a new car" are now realizing that no, they can't.  They don't have a credit score of 700 and a 10,000 down payment sitting around.  What's a car enthusiast to do? If you're handy with wrenches and know a fuel injector from an EGR valve, you don't have to plunk down 40 grand for a car that will both plaster a smile on your face 95% of the time and not leave you

"Oh, a Cobalt?  I think I rented one of those once.  What's the big deal?" Well, before you click on another article, let me put some numbers in front of your face:  355 horsepower and 426lb-ft torque on a stock turbocharger.  Those aren't "oh, it might be makin' this" crank output estimates - that's how much this white Cobalt SS sedan puts down at the wheels on a dyno. In the world of sport compacts, the Chevrolet Cobalt SS is an under appreciated vehicle.  Most people take one look at the pedestrian exterior - no huge hood scoops, stripes, giant blingy wheels - and immediately think "rental car."  And it's true there are a lot of Cobalt rental cars out there.  They make good rentals; they're cheap, reliable,

For real.  I love drag racing. I know it's simplistic, primal, and perhaps a bit stupid.  "Real racers turn, too!"  Yeah, I know.  Still, it's one of those sports that's not hard to get into.  You don't have to have a long attention span.  If you don't like the car on the tree, it's gonna be done racing in a few seconds.  And something else is coming up behind it.  Hell, it's a sport that not only condones but encourages burnouts, which is the automotive equivalent of a testosterone storm. So there's not really "news" to report from a local drag strip.  But it's loud, smells great, tons of fun to watch or participate in, and talk about.  Plus, I just picked up a new camera

A sales race that CarThrottle has consistently covered is the one between the Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang. The Mustang, with its universal appeal and wide model range, has historically outsold its cross-town rival the Camaro. When the Camaro first launched, it was speculated that it would surpass Mustang sales, at least in the first year. That didn't work out though due to its late start. Last year, was the first full year of sales between the two. Despite Ford fielding the improved 2011 Mustang, the Camaro managed to outsell the Mustang by 7,655 units. This year, the Chevrolet Camaro gets a convertible variant as well as a high-performance ZL1 model to stir interest. Camaro Convertible sales haven't managed to kick in yet in a

There's good news and bad news. The bad news first: there is no Camaro Z/28.  We've been referring to the upcoming super Camaro as the Z/28 pretty much as long as we've been hearing about it, which makes sense in a historical context considering the first Z/28's were competition homologation models to allow the Camaro to race in the Trans-Am race series.  With a high-compression 302ci V8 that would wind out to 7,000+rpm and with dual 4bbl carbs would spit out about 400 horsepower, it was the easiest way to go from the showroom floor to the racetrack back then. It turns out that Chevy was going to reference an even rarer Camaro with the latest (and arguably greatest) edition of the Camaro so far: the

There is a lot of money spent in advertising - in fact, reports peg marketing spending at $612 billion a year, and researchers estimate the average American is exposed to some 3000 advertisements every day. The Super Bowl XLV, coming up Sunday, is the most expensive day of the year for advertising. With the chance to make a big splash before what is likely to be over 106 million Americans, auto manufacturers are working to bring out their best. Chevrolet is making up for its recent lack of Super Bowl participation big time this year. Eight - yes eight - different spots will be run. Two ads run pre-game, five during the game and one during the post-game show. They focus on some of Chevy's