2017 Ram 1500 Night First Drive: Night Hauler

Maybe it’s a natural reaction to all the political fear mongering that naturally attends a presidential election year, or maybe it’s just a case of fashion trends coming back around, but it would seem that black is indeed “the new black”—at least in the truck world. Over at Chevy you’ve got your Black Out and Special Ops editions of the 1500 Silverados and the sinister Midnight HD for the heavies, and your Ford dealer offers the F-Series Black Ops for F-150 or F-250 trucks, a completely murdered-out Armageddon on wheels built by Ford upfitter Tuscany, of Elkhart, Indiana.

What about Ram? Well, you can simply order a Ram 1500 Rebel painted black and accomplish essentially the same look, but the Rebel’s not for everyone. So for 2017 Ram is offering a Night Edition, which starts out on the Sport trim and adds a new Black Sport Group package that brings a sport performance hood, a gloss-black grille, blackout headlamps borrowed from the Rebel, black badges, and 20-inch aluminum wheels in—you guessed it—semi-gloss black. It’s available with regular, quad, or crew cab configurations, and it also includes dual-zone climate control and a premium nine-speaker audio. May we recommend the Brilliant Black Crystal pearl-coat paint?

As these packages go, this one is modestly priced, adding just $0,000 to the price of a similarly equipped Ram Sport. Chevy charges $1,750-$1,850 for Black Out and $3,395 for Special Ops on its work trucks, and the killer F-150 Black Ops starts at $79,900 out the door. (Note that starting last year, Ram has offered a similar package, which retailed for $3,025 but came without the sport hood, on its lower-line Express pickups.)

Our Ram 1500 Night crew cab test sample was further upgraded with two items from the Mopar catalogue: a cat-back exhaust system ($1,175) and a cold-air intake package ($792 including the adapter for the performance hood). These devices are said to add noticeable horsepower, but Mopar is cagey about quoting changes to the peak ratings. Mostly they fatten these curves at the lower end, adding perhaps 5-10 hp at various points, and because they reduce air-flow restriction, they’re also alleged to improve fuel economy, though here again, no EPA percentages are offered. What they mostly do is unmuffle some of the glorious music the 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 naturally produces—like opening the bathroom door to better hear Gerald Finley singing in the shower.

The added aural excitement coming from the engine room may inspire one to attack a twisty road like the dynamic handling circuit at Chrysler’s Chelsea proving ground a bit more aggressively than a pickup truck with no Mopar handling enhancements might otherwise warrant. Under such circumstances, we can report that the big bruiser leans precipitously in every turn, its hapless tires screaming in protest, but in point of fact the truck hustles around such a circuit remarkably well. The coil-sprung rear suspension allows engineers a bit more latitude in tuning body roll using traditional anti-roll bars. The leaf springs typical of most other pickups provide inherent (and hence less tunable) roll resistance. And of course, on Chrysler’s tortuous ride assessment surfaces, the articulation and increased freedom of the axle to move still ranks the Ram in a category of its own for comfort and compliance.

Most other upgrades for 2017 Ram trucks include additional standard features, such as a new 5-micron cabin air filter for all; remote start and a security alarm for Sport models; LED bed lighting, keyless go, auto high-beam, and rain-sensing wipers added to Laramie Longhorns; and automatic temperature control for Bighorn models. (Heavy-duty Ram upgrades for 2017, including the Power Wagon and Off-road package, were introduced at the Chicago Auto Show.)

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2017 Dodge Grand Caravan First Drive: Not Dead Yet!

Most of us presumed that the arrival of Chrysler’s shiny, new, high-tech Pacifica minivan would deal a death blow to Dodge’s Grand Caravan. After all, these days most dealers sell both brands, so why bother rebadging a Dodge? Well, it turns out that A) the new Pacifica is a bit too fancy to play at a mid-$20s price point, B) thanks to a flexible manufacturing system and skilled workforce, the old and new minivans can easily be built alongside each other, and C) the old van still makes a reasonably convincing argument for itself with available second- and third-row Stow ’n Go seating and almost the same Pentastar V-6. (Lower compression and the lack of variable intake-valve lift drop the Dodge’s output 4 hp and 2 lb-ft.) So Dodge’s minivan is, in the immortal words of Monty Python, “not dead yet.” It’ll likely get clubbed in the head and tossed on the cart long before the Pacifica is due for a refresh, but for 2017 and maybe a bit beyond, it’s very much alive and is getting some trim series and standard features rejiggering.

In an interesting pricing move, Dodge increased the 2016 Grand Caravan pricing by $1,000 very late in the model year, perhaps to minimize the apparent price rise of the 2017 model. As for the model realignment, an entry-level American Value Package model that’s been offered for the past few years is gone, leaving the SE model as the base offering with more standard equipment but also an opening price that increases by another $1,400 to $25,990. (The AVP started 2016 at $23,590.) A $2,700 SE Plus package adds more of the most popular optional gear (second-row Stow ’n Go seats, Uconnect, aluminum wheels, and power second- and third-row windows—those third-row vent windows are not available on the Pacifica). The SXT is next up, and it includes everything that was standard on the 2016 SXT Plus and adds remote start and a security alarm for $31,390 (up $1,100). The sporty R/T range-topper changes its name to GT to align it with other Dodge offerings and opens at $34,390, which now includes the convenience package content as standard equipment (a former $995 upcharge for heated wheel and seats, auto-dimming mirror, Uconnect streaming audio, sunshades, USB ports, etc.).

Obviously those top two Grand Caravan offerings overlap the bottom of the Pacifica price scale (it starts at $29,590). By opting for the Dodge, buyers will get more package content and a sportier look and feel with the GT. That sportiness is mostly styling, however. Trim that is chrome on other models gets blacked-out, the headlamp surrounds are black, and the grille surround is body color. As far as actual performance and handling capability are concerned, all Pacifica variants get wider tires (235/65R17s on the base model versus the Grand Caravan GT’s 225/65R17s, and the Pacifica offers more aggressive 18s and 20s). Our first Pacifica Limited test car handled rings around our last GT-matching Grand Caravan R/T, stopping from 60 mph 10 feet shorter at 122 feet, providing 0.81g stick on the skidpad to the Dodge’s 0.70 g, and—with the help of its nine-speed automatic and multilink rear suspension—circulating our figure-eight course in 27.3 seconds to the Dodge’s 29.2.

Taking a spin in both the 2017 Grand Caravan GT and a 2017 Pacifica, the biggest first impression you get is that the older van is noisier inside. At least the engine sounds coming in are of high quality and serve to augment the sporty visuals. The body structural integrity feels a generation old, but that’s more of a compliment to the Pacifica than a major ding on the Caravan, which is still pretty stout. And although they can’t match the big numbers the Pacifica’s dubs managed, at least the Dodge’s Pirelli P Zero Neros hang on without audible protest. The ride quality on some of the most scabrous road surfaces suffers by comparison, due largely to the limitations of the Dodge’s rear leaf-sprung suspension. And on some tight, twisting stretches, it’s clear that having nine gear ratios to choose between improves the odds of selecting one that’s optimal for corner exits. On the other hand, some buyers might not be ready to sign on for long-term ownership of a nine-speed automatic, given some of the teething problems that have plagued earlier applications such as the Jeep Cherokee, and for these folks, the comfort of a tried-and-true six-speed could understandably increase the appeal of the Dodge. Just know that such a decision will cost you at the pump, where the Pacifica trumps the Grand Caravan by 1 mpg in the city and 3 mpg on the highway.

Chrysler invented the modern minivan and has long been a center of minivan excellence, and if the Pacifica is the best one on the market, then its predecessor isn’t that far back in the pack. Having said that, if you can afford a Pacifica, buy one. If you can’t, by all means look long and hard at an SE or SXT. But at current pricing, I’d be arguing pretty hard with Eric Idle’s Dead Collector character to bop the SXT and GT on the head and take them to the mass grave now.

2017 Dodge Grand Caravan
BASE PRICE	$25,990-$34,390
VEHICLE LAYOUT	Front-engine, FWD, 7-pass, 4-door van
ENGINE	3.6L/283-hp/260-lb-ft DOHC 24-valve V-6
TRANSMISSION	6-speed automatic
CURB WEIGHT	4,500 lb (mfr)
WHEELBASE	121.2 in
LENGTH X WIDTH X HEIGHT	203.7 x 78.7 x 69.0 in
0-60 MPH	7.9 sec (MT est)
EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON	17/25/20 mpg
ENERGY CONSUMPTION, CITY/HWY	198/135 kW-hrs/100 miles
CO2 EMISSIONS, COMB	0.98 lb/mile
ON SALE IN U.S.	Fall, 2016

 

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Mercedes-AMG GLC43 continues Benz’s crossover onslaught

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Continental Details 48V Mild-Hybrid System

The general consensus among just about everybody tasked with engineering cars to meet the ever tightening Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards is that doing so is going to require some sort of electrification. And those electrification cognoscenti are increasingly bullish on low-voltage, lower cost, mild-hybridization using sophisticated starter/alternator devices. By low voltage, we mean anything under 60 volts, which is the threshold for risking grave bodily harm if a human accidentally contacts a hot circuit. These days that means quadrupling the tried and true 12-volt architecture to 48 volts. Such systems have been on our radar for several years, but Continental has just come up with a new design that greatly increases the potential fuel/CO2 savings.

Developed in conjunction with Schaeffler and deployed on a Ford Focus 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine, the biggest trick is moving the belt that connects the starter/alternator to the driveline to a point between the engine and transaxle, with electronically controlled clutches on either side of the belt drive. This permits several new fuel-sipper operating modes: Open the clutch on the engine side and the motor can launch the vehicle electrically while the engine restarts, or propel it electrically at low speeds in stop-and-go traffic, or permit frequent coasting or sailing, with the e-motor providing the modest thrust needed to maintain a low cruising speed. In this mode, the 48-volt system can recuperate far more energy than similar 12-volt mild-hybrid systems are able to, especially since there’s no engine braking effect robbing the electric system of precious deceleration. Open the other clutch and the e-motor can power the A/C at a standstill with the engine off, because the compressor is driven by the starter/alternator’s belt. This allows the cabin to stay cool for far longer during all of these engine-off periods, the only limitation now being the energy stored in the 0.5-kilowatt-hour, 48-volt lithium-ion battery.

Other upgrades on this so-called “Gasoline Technology Car II” relative to 2014’s “GTC I” include an improved baseline 1.0-liter EcoBoost I-3 (compression ratio increased from 10.0:1 to 12.0:1, Continental’s new semi-radial/semi-axial “RAAX” turbine turbocharger that reduces the rotational inertia of the turbine by 40 percent for improved responsiveness), an electric vacuum pump to power the brakes during engine-off operation, an advanced thermal management unit with electrically driven coolant pumps (so no accessory drive is needed on the front of the engine), and an electric catalyst heater. The latter, an especially fast-acting unit powered by the 48-volt battery, accounts for 3.5-g CO2 savings alone relative to the fuel enrichment that would otherwise be dedicated to catalyst light-off.

What’s the total claimed fuel consumption benefit? Better than 25 percent relative to the base Focus 1.0-liter. Icing on the cake: We’re told the price for all this hardware should not exceed that of the last-generation Malibu mild-hybrid belt-alternator-starter system. Continental isn’t saying when or where we’ll see this technology deployed first, but it spent a week intensively demonstrating its new GTC II prototype to automakers before showing it to the press.

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2017 Mercedes-AMG GLC43 Coupe to Debut at Paris Motor Show

More power, less trunk space. That essentially sums up the 2017 Mercedes-AMG GLC43 Coupe when compared to the GLC300, the top-selling model in the GLC lineup. The 2017 GLC43 Coupe is slated to make its world debut at next month’s 2016 Paris Motor Show and will serve as the high-performance alternative to the 2017 Mercedes-Benz GLC300 Coupe we drove earlier this summer.

At the heart of the AMG GLC43 Coupe is a 3.0-liter, twin-turbo V-6 making 362 hp and 384 lb-ft of torque. It’s the same mill found in the normal-bodied Mercedes-AMG GLC43 crossover. The V-6 is mated to a nine-speed automatic, which sends power to the AMG-tuned all-wheel-drive system that favors sending 69 percent of the engine’s power to the rear wheels. The automaker claims the powertrain is strong enough to launch the coupe-inspired crossover from 0-60 mph in an estimated 4.8 seconds. Meanwhile, top speed is limited to 130 mph.

The GLC43 Coupe will also feature a long list of AMG performance goodies including an AMG DYNAMIC SELECT system with five transmission modes that adjust shifting characteristics, along with two steering modes (Comfort or Sport). The GLC43 Coupe also gets an AMG Sport Suspension with continuously variable damping and three spring rate settings.

Like the GLC300 Coupe, the GLC43 Coupe is easily distinguishable thanks to its steeply raked silhouette that mimics the larger GLE Coupe. Other visual cues setting the GLC43 Coupe apart include its quad exhaust tips, rear spoiler, 20-inch wheels (21 inchers are available), and an interior with red contrast stitching. Mercedes says the GLC43 Coupe should reach U.S. showrooms by next spring.

Source: Mercedes-Benz

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Final First-Gen Porsche Panamera Rolls off the Line

Porsche officially said goodbye to the first-generation Panamera yesterday in Leipzig, Germany. The very last model rolled off the line, making way for the 2017 Panamera that hits U.S. dealerships in January.

The original Panamera, which entered production in 2009, was only partially produced at the Leipzig plant. Porsche made the body shells at a Volkswagen plant in Hanover, and sent the unfinished product over to Leipzig for final assembly. Despite its ungainly large proportions and heavy body, the first-gen Panamera offered crisp driving dynamics. Porsche made a total of 164,503 Panameras between 2009 and August 2016, and more than half of them made their way to the U.S. and China.

Now that production on the first-gen Panamera has wrapped, Porsche is now building the second-gen model entirely at the Leipzig facility. The automaker spent around €500 million expanding the plant for the fourth time to accommodate full production of the Panamera.

The 2017 Porsche Panamera is lighter than before and debuts new engine options. On the surface, it features new headlights, a redesigned grille, slimmer taillights, and a more traditional-looking rear end for a sedan. Inside the cabin, the Panamera debuts new touch-based controls and a redesigned steering wheel. Prices for the 4S model in the U.S. start at $100,950.

Source: Porsche

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