The SUV That is also Truck

        What is better than an SUV.... an SUV that has a truck bed! The Chevrolet Avalanche is an SUV/Truck combo. Chevrolet first designed and produced the Avalanche in 2001. It was the first of its kind, and it would lead to the production of Ford's Explorer Sport Trac. In the first few months, the Avalanche was not the biggest hit, but then sales began to pick up. Chevrolet saw that people really liked the concept of a SUV/Truck, or as I like to call it, the Truck-U-V.
     The Avalanche shows that you can have the power and versatility of a truck without compromising comfort and class. The SUV portion closely resembles the inside of a Tahoe, which is basically what the Avalanche is, but with a truck bed and not a trunk. You can comfortably accommodate five people and six, if you have the middle front seat option. The cargo area, a.k.a the bed, is designed very well. You can lower the second row and extend cargo space, if needed. The entire bed is lined with hard plastic and has a layer of steel underneath. This means you can put anything dirty in it and wash it out very easily. Another design feature that Chevy put in the Avalanche is their first removable rear window.  All it takes to remove the window is to turn two handles and lift it off.
     There are some minor design flaws. The first Avalanche had really tacky plastic side panels that were supposed to keep mud off of the paint and prevent scratches. This particular part was a turn off for a lot people. Another issue that people have is the plastic bars that come off the roof and down to the edge of the bed. These panels tend to fade easily and in turn make the car look bad. Most people do not know that there is an easy fix to this problem. It is called Back to Black which restores the shine to the plastic.
     Sadly, the Chevrolet Avalanche is coming to an end. In 2012, Chevy announced that 2013 will be the Avalanche's last year of production. To commemorate the Truck-U-V's end, they decided  to call it the Black Diamond addition. I have always liked the Avalanche and I believe that Chevy designed a great vehicle that can really give you the best of both worlds.

link:
http://www.chevrolet.com/avalanche-suv-truck.html

2001 Avalanche

2013 Black Diamond Edition

The Old School Camaro

        The 1969 Chevy Camaro z28 is one of my favorite muscle cars. It was and still is, a powerful car and most know it when they see it. Back in 1969 the base price for the Camaro was about $3,000. for an additional $400 you would get improved suspension, better tires, quicker steering, and an SS (Super Sport) paint job. The z28 has a standard V8 302. For muscle cars of the time, that was not the biggest engine size in the world, but it would still go fast. The car has close to 300 horsepower. An interesting feature that the Camaro has is a vent that is positioned in front of the wind shield. This vent shoots open when the throttle is open to a certain percentage. This vent allows air that is coming over the hood to enter into the engine. 

      The interior of the Camaro is very sleek with leather bucket seats, as well as shiny instruments on the dash. It gives the driver a feeling of speed while still maintaining a semi-luxurious feel. The Camaro's handling is another great feature of the car. It is achieved by exceptional power steering that gives the driver a good feel for the road.

Now a restored 1969 Camaro can sell at a price of $30,000 or more. The z28 is a true American muscle car that will be remembered for a long time. I have always liked the Camaro, because it looks fast, sounds fast, and is fast. Old cars, such as this Camaro, reflect the old school engineering and design that has grown into the definition of the American muscle car that we know today. 

links:  http://musclecars.howstuffworks.com/classic-muscle-cars/1969-chevy-camaro-z28.htm
           http://www.vintagemusclecarparts.com/pages/302crossram1.html

Chevy is Polishing the Silver on the 2014 Silverado

     I am switching gears from cars to trucks. The new 2014 Chevrolet Silverado is expected to launch sometime this summer. Chevy is  putting in tons of new features that make the already great truck even greater. One of the improvements that Chevy has made to the truck is the cab re-design. The extended cab doors now open with forward hinges, making it easier to load passengers and gear into the back seat. The aerodynamics were changed to make the gas milage better, which is always good. With the new Silverado you have three engine power options, a 4.3 liter v6, a 5.3 liter v8, or a 6.2 liter v8. If you plan on towing, pulling or hauling the 6.2 liter offers more torque, as well as more horsepower. All of Chevy's new vehicles have the cylinder deactivation system, which turns off cylinders that are not in use. The inside of the truck is very nice. It has a newly designed storage system with built in electric outlets, an mp3 connection and dividable compartments. Chevy has also developed a new sound and navigation system that incorporates Bose sound and touchscreen navigation. With all the improvements of the 2014 Chevy Silverado, it is going to be a great truck.  Chevrolet's website has a great interactive tour and specs guide.

Bonds New/Old Ride in Skyfall

      I recently saw the new Jame Bond movie, Skyfall. In my opinion, this is one of the best. Don't worry, this is not going to be a spoiler about what happens. This is strictly about the car Bond uses. Every big 007 fan knows the iconic cars for these movies come from Aston Martin. In recent Bond movies they used the Aston Martin DBS, but in this action packed movie they brought back the classic DB5. This was the  Aston that Sean Connery used in the second 007 Goldfinger. This was the first car to be filled with all types of gadgets, from smoke bombs to machine guns. I am not going to tell you what causes him to go back to the old school DB5. You will have to go see the movie for that.


side view of DB5

      In its hayday, the DB5 was a very powerful car. It had many features that other sport cars of that time did not have, such as power windows and locks. Its engine was a 6-cylinder, 4.3 litre that gave the car 282 horsepower. Its top speed is around 145 mph, which if you think about it, was fast for 1963. The directors of the Bond movies have always thought of this car as the perfect one to put machine guns, ejector seats and other futuristic gadgets in. The Aston Martin has become an icon of movie history, and I hope that they keep it in 007's future.


Interior of DB5

Engine





Scion's New Addition to the Sports World

       Recently, I was looking in Car and Driver and saw an ad for the new Scion FR-S. My first thought was that this car is one heck of a car! I was shocked by its sporty look. Its sleek curves are much different from Scion's usual boxy style. I think that it was good for Scion to stray away from that look and go for one that is easier on the eyes. After admiring its looks, I needed to know what kind of power the FR-S produces. The engine is a Subaru 2.0 litre, 4-cylinder boxer engine. For those who are not familiar with boxer engines, they are engines that have horizontally mounted cylinders instead of the usual vertical mounted configuration. This design makes the engine smooth and symmetric, which improves handling. The FR-S creates 200 break-horse power, which might not sound like much, but when you consider that it only weighs a little bit over 2,600 pounds, the FR-S will go! The interior of the FR-S is also sporty, with bucket seats and paddle shifters. The paddle shifters are a cool feature when combined with the automatic gearbox. The price for this car starts at a nice $26,055, which is a very good price for a car that looks this good. Feel free to tell me what you think of the FR-S, and if there are other cars that you would like me to explore, please let me know.



Pictures of FR-S

Boxer engine

Back of FR-S

Interior Driver Side

Side View
 

The First Few Miles

           Hello, and welcome to "Hitting the Road". As you maybe can tell, this blog is about cars. I will be talking about cars of the present, cars of the past, and probably some that will come in the future. My plan is to give you my opinion on what cars I think are the coolest. I will also do some price comparisons. My dream is to own some of the cars that I will be talking about. I have loved cars my entire life, and once you have a passion for something, you never let it go. I will never let go of my passion for cars. Something about the noise they make and the power they produce keeps me attached. Be forewarned.  I will not be talking about the Prius' or Prii or whatever they call them. This blog is all about muscle and horsepower. Feel free to leave comments related to cars and information that could help me with future blog posts. Please refrain from leaving comments that are non-constructive. I think that this will be a fun blog and I look forward to talking about cars with the rest of the car loving community.    
I will be using the website Car and Driver