2010 Paris Lotus Concept

Lotus is, and has been, one of our favorite manufacturers for a long time. Keeping focused on lightweight and driver feel, the company has been successful in building a few dedicated cars. This year, Lotus had announced that they would be producing more cars and planning to cut into more market share. Some like it and some don’t. Some think that Lotus should stay a small company making cars that weigh in less than 2000 lbs. Others, like us, don’t care as long as they make them look great and perform better than anything out there!

So what did Lotus show us in Paris? Not just one or two new cars, but a total of five! Five new cars from Lotus in one year is an amazing feat. The design and direction used in all these cars doesn’t ring back to traditional Lotus, but they look fantastic! They are all using modern and updated powertrains from Toyota and the best the auto world has to offer in 2011.

Check out each model below:

2010 Paris Lotus Esprit Concept

2010 Paris Lotus Elite Concept

2010 Paris Lotus Elan Concept

2010 Paris Lotus Eterne Concept

2010 Paris Lotus Elise Concept

Renault Dezir Concept

As an auto enthusiast, we are always eager to see the great looking cars coming out of Europe. Most of these concept cars will never make it to production and out of the ones that do, we might not ever see them in the states. It’s always great too look at the design direction coming out of Europe, though, and concepts from Renault are ones we love to see.

The Dezir is the French company’s all electric concept that is as sharp as it is sexy. The doors on a concept car can never open like normal doors and that’s no different with the Dezir. The reverse-hinged, butterfly doors on this concept are wild and wacky and don’t really look to serve any purpose. The low, wide body makes this car look like a sports car dream. So what powers it? Well, Renault says that the EV powertrain in this car is completely developed and makes the a whopping 150 hp and 166 lbs-ft of torque. So a sports car, it’s not.

Hyundai i20 Sport Edition by Brabus

Brabus is a tuning company most know for turning Mercedes Benz luxury cars into crazy rocket ships. They have also tuned cars for other companies like Smart. This week, Hyundai showed off a Brabus tuned i20 Sport Edition. A new front skirt, wheels, and breaks are the only thing we can tell that has been touched, but knowing Brabus, it’s not the only thing changed on this i20. No official details have been released on the full tuning of the car yet. On the inside, you get the orange treatment with Recaro seats, new leather surfaces, and a seven-inch touch screen.

This is just another Hot Hatch to throw into the mix, and I like it!

2010 Suzuki SportBack

Back in 2007, Suzuki was ready to make some changes in the American market. They were tired of being known for having Daewoo rebadged cars that were low-budget and low-income driven. At the same time, a little car being sold in Japan and across Europe had been winning praises and prizes. Suzuki was ready to develop a new car to compete in the World Rally Championship and to compete in the U.S. market. They developed the SX4 (Sports Crossover 4-Wheel Drive) beginning from the ground up using their gained knowledge from the Swift and other cars developed in Japan. This was truly a move in the right direction for Suzuki. The SX4 became the most affordable AWD vehicle sold in America, and is a great little car. Many people who bought these cars began to modify them along the lines of Suzuki’s WRC car, including us. In 2008, we helped build and design a Suzuki SX4 for a local dealer as a show car. We worked with a company named Road Race Motorsports (www.roadracemotorsports.com) for a lot of aftermarket parts for our SX4. Road Race is one of the only companies that make aftermarket parts for Suzuki and they have built many show cars and concept cars for Suzuki. This SX4 underwent many changes including a body kit, wheels, suspension, turbo, exhaust, and more! All in all, with the money we put into the car we ended up with a $30,000 machine. The SX4 was a good platform to start from as the chassis is set up for rally racing and the AWD system was top notch, but after spending the money we would much rather have had a Subaru STI or Mitsubishi Evo for the performance we saw. Don’t get me wrong, the car was fun, but not as great as these cars, yet owners loved the car we built and were ready to invest into making their Suzuki like ours. So many owners, in fact, that Suzuki decided to step up and build a more sporty SX4 themselves.

Chacon Suzuki SX4 Turbo

So came the SX4 SportBack. What was changed? Well much of the same; lower suspension, body kit, bigger wheels, and a more powerful engine. The SportBack has a 2.0 liter engine, like the regular SX4, but now with 150 horsepower and 140 lb-ft of torque. The 6-speed transmission allows the car to achieve a higher EPA rating pushing the highway miles to 30 mpg and 22 mpg for the city. You now also get a 6-speed manual transmission. The interior is the same basic setup as the normal SX4, very usable and very roomy. You get GPS as standard, yet the screen is mounted far back on the top of the dash and is almost imposible to access. You also get Suzuki’s 100,000 mile fully transferable warranty. Suzuki really has one of the best warranties out there.

So what was lost? Well lets start with the power-train. You get more power out of the 2.0 liter engine, but you lose the iAWD system. Suzuki did this to save weight and reduce horsepower loss associated with AWD systems. What it actually does is reduce confidence when driving. The front end feels much more lively and has become incredibly easy to lose grip at the front wheels. It also puts this car into a whole new category, but we’ll get back to that in a bit. Another big thing lost when shopping for a SportBack is the cheap price. Our test vehicle tipped the scales at $18,383 which isn’t too much, but it seems to defeat the purpose of the SX4. I always liked the SX4 for being an inexpensive, fun to drive, AWD, hatchback for everyone. Now you have a car that rivals the base Kizashi in sticker price and is no better to drive than the original.

This brings me back to my point of what category this car now falls in and the competition it faces. The Suzuki SX4 has had it pretty easy in its segment, but this SportBack goes from AWD rally competitor to a FWD autocross fighter. The problem is though, cars like the Fiesta and Mazda 2. With other companies getting into the small hatchback – fun to drive – segment at a better price, then I’m not sure if the SX4 SportBack will be able to compete. The SX4 is still a good car and the SportBack is a better looking and still a fun to drive version of that car, but at that price point I’d be looking at a base Kizashi if I just had to have a Suzuki product, or I’d wait for the Mazda 2 or Ford Fiesta.

2010 Toyota Venza

Sometimes you just don’t have a good day. Something happens in the morning that puts you behind schedule, or someone makes a comment that bugs you all day. Sometimes your bad day can turn into a bad week and sometimes your bad week can turn into a bad month. You never really know what the future brings. All you do know is that you want all these bad things to just stop so your life can start over again. This is how Toyota must be feeling. Toyota is just not having a good year so far. As far as I can tell here, they have had to issue at least 4 recalls in the past few months and have had to terminate selling certain vehicles all together. When they are in the news, it’s most certainly bad news and now when you think of the brand you no longer think superior quality. We are keeping all of this out of consideration while testing our new Toyota vehicles in the garage this month. To us, Toyota is still synonymous with “beige excellence” and this 2010 Toyota Venza is no different.

The Toyota Venza is a crossover SUV, or maybe its more of a station wagon, or maybe its like a mini-vanish soccer mom thing – I’m not really sure and I don’t think the Venza knows what it wants to be either. What I do know, however, is that this is a comfortable long distance cruiser that eats up the highway miles. Our Venza was equipped with the 3.5 liter V6 with a 6 speed automatic transmission and all wheel drive. Horsepower comes in at 268 and 246 lb-ft of torque, and with a curb weight of just over 4,000 lbs the Venza actually felt quick when you wanted it to be. This doesn’t mean that it was good around the corners. Fling it into a corner with any speed, and despite the AWD system, you get understeer and loads of tire squeal. Who really wants to drive this thing “enthusiastically” anyway? Leave the auto transmission out of manual mode, lean back in your comfortable leather seats, set your climate to your desired setting, and cruise.

Little things that the Venza did right and unique included the integrated cord hider and phone/iPod holder built into the center console. The interior was efficiently laid out with accents of nice materials worked into it. It also came with all the convenience and comforts you’d want, including a backup camera, memory seating, storage for everything, push button start, easy folding rear seats, and a mirror with compass and homelink. The Venza also had ample leg room no matter where you sat, and was comfortable on any road surface you come across. On the other hand, some things did go wrong. Mainly with the power lift gate. It worked sporadically, so we spent most of our time putting it up and down manually. The button to open the life gate on the exterior handle was another issue, it’s not centered in the handle. When you reach down to push the button, all you feel is the light that illuminates your license plate. Just to the right of that is the button you’re actually trying to find, and you have to almost break your back to get low enough to see it, and that’s just confusing.

Our test Venza also had the optional panoramic glass roof with front power tilt and slide moon-roof. Also included was the voice activated DVD touchscreen infotainment system. These are always great if you don’t mind ponying up the extra $3,600. That’s just the start of it, though. The premium package with the leather covered everything – what wasn’t covered in leather was done up in satin mahogany wood-grain trim – comes in at a whopping $4,345. In total, our test car weighed in at $38,984 and although it was luxurious, comfortable, and great on the road, I’m not sure I’d pay that kind of money for a car-wagon-thingy with an identity crisis.

2010 Toyota Prius

This week on txGarage we are testing the all new 2010 Toyota Prius. In all honesty, I’ll have to say none of us were too thrilled about driving the Prius for the week, Hybrid cars just are not our style. Let’s start out with our preconceived notions about the Prius itself. Although I have never driven the 1st gen or 2nd gen Prius, I’ve always heard the same; they are slow, they are heavy and handle horribly, and they cost too much to make up the benefit of the gas savings. Not to mention that it’s not much of a looker. So, why buy a Prius then? Easy, either you are a rich person needing an image car or you are an eco-freak that image means more than actual impact on the environment. The thing is though, that the Prius is now in it’s 3rd generation and has sold 1.6 million units world wide. Most of the critics and industry gurus predicted that the Prius would be a flop, boy were they wrong. So there must be a bigger appeal to this car than just the eco population out there, we’re here to figure out what that might be.

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The 3rd gen Prius is a complete rework of the old modle. The body has been reworked making it even more aerodynamic and having only a 0.25 coefficient of drag. You can be doing 50 to 80 mph and never feel wind resistance, it gives the impression that you are going slower than it feels. The looks are a little better with the 3rd gen too, although I still wouldn’t call it a pretty car. The shape does serve it’s purpose though. The next major thing changed with this Prius is the power-train itself. Obviously the Prius is still a hybrid car with gas and electric motors powering the wheels, but now that gas engine is a 1.8 liter not the old 1.5 liter. This give the engine 24 more horsepower over the previous generation as well as more lowdown torque. This low torque allows the car to feel more peppy and still retain high fuel economy. As a matter of fact the Prius is rated as the most fuel efficient cas sold in america. So it does that right. Next the interior has been reworked and made a little more high quality than its predecessor. You also have slew of available and standard features including touch screen navigation and infotainment system, 4 driving modes (we’ll get into later), hands free command inputs, lane keep assist (LKA), adaptive cruse control, solar pannel roof, and a energy monitoring system. All this technology packed into this car really gives it the edge up on the competition. The interior as a whole isn’t that bad, it’s comfortable and the touch points have been done right but it’s still cheaply made. This is very apparent in high winds or hard terrain. The plastics all sway and move making those annoying creeks and rattles that you just are not used to when spending over 30k on a car.

I want to say that the dive in this car was really impressive. Not because it was great, but because it wasn’t horrible. The package we got with this 2010 Prius included the 17″ wheels, this is important because I was told by a friend that when you get a Prius with 17″ wheels you also get some special equipment like quicker steering rack, firmer dampers and less efficiency oriented tires that you don’t get in the standard Prius. I’m told it makes a world of difference, so don’t bother buying one without this package. Whatever they have done here, though, has done the trick as it feels very poised and precise in the corners – you still don’t really get the power to pull you out of the corners but at least it’s not heavy and wobbly. You get 4 different driving options with this new Prius including EV mode, Eco mode, Power mode, and normal mode. Obviously the EV mode is an all electric mode that allows you to cruze up to 25 mph on battery power only. The Eco mode is all about fuel economy. If you enjoy living I wouldn’t use this mode much. What it does is take away throttle input and does everything possible to not allow you to use too much power. I’m not exaggerating when I say it’s dangerous, with a deadened response you don’t have the power to get out of other peoples way. Ether that or someone is bound to shoot you for taking 15 minutes to go from a stop at a red light up to the speed limit. Power mode is the mode to keep the car in, although it almost negates the reasoning for buying the Prius in the first place. The car, with the upgraded steering and suspension, feels like a peppy Japanese or European hatch. Normal mode falls in between the power and Eco modes and is the mode you are in automatically when you start the car. Throughout the week driving both highway and city streets using the A/C – we are in Texas – we averaged 51 mpg, and that’s with the car almost never being in Eco mode.

All in all, I can’t say that this is a bad car. It debunked pretty much all of our preconceived notions we had about the Prius when this week began. There are some things we really liked about this car including the keyless entry system which has touch points on the door handle that locks and unlocks the doors, we liked all the gadgetry packed inside the car – although there was no USB hookup which seemed strange to us, and we liked the way the car drove and handled overall. So the question lingers, as with every review, would we spend our money on this car? No. This optioned out Prius, that wasn’t even top spec, weighed in at $32k. I understand that the technology is still new and limited and I understand that the technology in the car is good, but I can’t justify spending that kind of money on this car. If it was my money, I’d be getting something more along the lines of a Fiesta, Mazda 2, or a Golf that will get you an average in the 30′s and cost you almost half as much. This way you get a better looking, better driving, cheaper car that still gets good gas mileage. If you are still looking for that “image car” though, at least you know that driving this hybrid won’t drive you absolutely crazy.

2010 Mustang GT vs 2010 Camaro SS

Some wars have been waging since the dawn of society with race vs. race, religion vs. religion, king vs. king. Other battles that are more short-lived but still remembered to this day like the Battle of the Alamo or the Battle of Waterloo. We just stumbled into such a battle that’s been waging on the streets for almost 50 years now. There has always been that epic battle between the Camaro and the Mustang spanning back to the late 60′s and revived today. This week at txGarage we were able to get a hold of a 2010 Camaro 2SS and a 2010 Mustang GT Premium, what else is there to do but race!

The Camaro:

The Camaro was brought back for the 2010 model year after being killed off in 2002. When redesigning the Camaro GM was going for the “retro” look to compete with the styling of the Mustang introduced in 2005. You just can’t beat the looks and styling of the new Camaro, it’s really one of the best looking “retro” interpretations out today. The car is low and wide, with great proportions and menacing looks. The interior is all modern with some retro looking gauges. Sliding into our test Camaro, your bathed in black and inferno orange, ambient lighting, accent stitching, and a plethora of buttons and knobs. The best part of the Camaro’s interior is the steering wheel, it is fat and has good hand placement and also has easy to uses and access controls. The biggest gripe I have with the interior is the huge plastic panel on the doors that swoop around the dash. In my opinion, for a $36,000 car they could have easily wrapped that in leather and it would have made ten-times the difference. We were also equipped with the Boston Acoustic premium nine-speaker audio system loaded with all the acronyms of the audio industry. – AM/FM, CD, AUX Input, USB port, Sirius XM Radio – The leather sport bucket seats were comfortable, 6-way power adjustable, and could heat your rear if the horsepower doesn’t already have you sweating.

The 2010 Camaro SS is armed with the LS3 6.2 liter V8 engine with SFI (Sequential Fuel Injection) and bolted to a 6-speed manual transmission. This combination gives you an instigating 426 horsepower and 420 lbs-ft of torque with a reasonable 16 MPG city and 24 MPG highway. You won’t have time to worry about your fuel economy though when you’re going from a standstill to 60 mph in only 4.6 seconds and cursing down the highway, the difference between 60 mph and 80 mph is a twitch of your big toe. To stop this 3,849 pound Camaro they equipped it with Brembo performance brakes with discs at all four wheels. The Camaro also comes with performance suspension, but to us it never really felt sporty just rough. To put the power down our test car was furnished with 20″X 8″ front wheels and 20″X 9″ rear wheels wrapped in Pirelli P-Zero tires.

After digesting it all I’d have to say that the Camaro SS is far above what the Camaros of the past have been, and we are forever enamored by the looks of the exterior and interior of this 2010 Camaro. It did take me a day to get used to the Camaro’s clutch, I would like it to be heavier and release lower, and the shifter could have felt more mechanical but that’s a personal preference of mine. In the end the biggest problem with the new Camaro remains to be the Mustang.

The Mustang:

In 2010 the Mustang received two major changes that were desperately needed; most importantly of the two was the interior. The materials used and the looks of the inside of the Mustang has been a neglected afterthought for decades, so when we heard that the interior quality was going to be the main focus of the 2010 Mustang we forgave Ford for leaving the 4.6 liter engine that’s just as old. Our test car was a Grabber Blue GT Premium and the updated interior featured black leather trimmed sport seats with exposed blue stitching and a blue racing stripe down the center of the seat. The materials used in this car are on par with most Ford vehicles of today but are miles above the older Mustangs. Leather wrapped steering wheel, aluminum gear shifter, along with soft touch materials ensure that your touch points in the car are all pleasurable to the hands. This car also featured the Shaker 500 audio system and SYNC voice activated system with the usual SYNC goodies.

The second thing refreshed in the 2010 Mustang is the exterior. Although the dimensions of the car are mostly unchanged the looks are dramatically different, to Mustang enthusiast. It really looks like they stretched the skin of the Mustang over its muscle to expose the power and give it a more athletic stance. I love the rear end, which seems to be the hated segment from most Mustang enthusiast I’ve talked to, with the sequential tail lamps. I also love the new “Power Dome” hood; I think it looks much more muscular than the “fake” ram air hoods. The engine is the tired old 4.6 liter 3V OHC V8 tuned to the max with 315 horsepower and 325 lbs-ft of torque. Although it’s the same old engine, the 4.6 is a great, bullet proof engine that has served Ford well for years, and you still get good power for the 3,550 pounds the Mustang weighs in at. You also still get the five-speed -manual in our case- transmission with great mechanical shifting and an easy good feeling clutch peddle. Of course it has already been announce that the 2011 Mustangs will hallmark a new 5.0 engine with all the newest power and fuel saving technology. Look for that to push over 400 horsepower.

We can’t wait for the 2011 to be penned into our calendar to test but all in all the 2010 Mustang has impressed. It has the great looks a muscle car should have, it has the wheel smoking power a muscle car should have, and now it has a great comfortable interior the Mustang has always needed.

Back to the Battle:

Although they are both modern day muscle cars aimed at the same target audience, the Mustang vs. Camaro comes down to personality and preference. The looks of the Camaro are amazing and will turn more heads right now than most cars on the road, but the Mustang is not repulsive to the eyes by any measure. The Camaro is a fast beast that can burn rubber with the best of them, but the Mustang with 100 less horsepower has less weight and can match the Camaro in any situation. The interior of both cars are modern and comfortable. So which to choose? We liked the Mustang over the Camaro for the driving experience it offered. The shifter and clutch, steering and suspension, and engine and exhaust note won us over in the Mustang. It should still go without saying, though, that the Camaro is a great car and if we didn’t have the Mustang sitting in the driveway we would have been just as happy thrashing it around Texas.

Stats: 2010 Camaro 2SS

• 6.2L LS3 V8 SFI
• 6-Speed Manual Transmission
• As Tested Price $36,765
• 16 City / 24 Hwy MPG
• 426 HP @ 5900 RPM420 lbs-ft torque @4600 RPM
• Curb Weight 3,849 lbs.

Stats: 2010 Mustang GT Premium

• 4.6L 3V OHC V8 Engine
• 5-Speed Manual Transmission
• As Tested Price $33,830
• 16 City / 24 Hwy MPG315 HP @ 6000 RPM
• 325 lbs-ft torque @ 4250 RPM
• Curb Weight 3,550 lbs

Day 7 2010 Shelby GT500

Day 7 with the 2010 Shelby GT500 was by far the most fun we had all week. We worked hard and tried to get lots of video and pictures of the car to show to you guys. As we talk about in the video, after tearing up the streets of Texas for a week in the GT500 we were never faced with an obstacle that the car couldn’t handle. Ford, SVT, and Shelby have made a great car with this one and we cant wait to check out the 2011 GT500 with the all aluminum block!

Till then, check out our video!

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Check out Days 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 - 5 and check out our review!

2010 Shelby GT500

When you think about the history of Carroll Shelby, his racing, and his cars, there is no doubt that performance Mustangs pop into mind. As a matter of fact, Shelby Mustangs have been ever improving for the past 45 years making Shelby one of the most signed names on a car in the world. Carroll graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas, Texas making him a Texas boy who’s heart never went to far from home. The Terlingua Mustang was named after the town where Shelby decided to open a ranch with Dallas friend David Witt.

No wonder the Shelby Mustangs fit in so well here in Texas, no matter if your driving down a long highway to the middle of nowhere or a back windy country road, this car does it all. In the 2010 GT500, this was apparent to us at txGarage as we never wanted to get out of the car. And although this thirsty beast needed to stop for fuel more often than we would have liked, it just gave us another reason to burn rubber out of a parking lot.. There really isn’t a lot that I could find wrong with this GT500. Yes the fuel economy wasn’t that great; yes the interior was still a little cheap for spending $51,000 – although it has improved greatly – and yes the ride was a little harsh and the clutch was heavy; however, all this stuff would be whisked out of your head as you smash down on the throttle sending the back wheels into a panic looking for grip and finally being far down the road from where you were a few seconds ago. The GT500 isn’t, by far, the most powerful car money can buy and it doesn’t put that power down as well as other cars out there, but for the shear and raw emotion and theater of it all, you simply cannot beat this thing. Never have we been so scared – entertained – in a production car. The shear madness of it is worth every penny! The looks are just about the most menacing you can find but when you climb into the cockpit, its actually quite comfortable and nice. The SYNC system is a great addition to all Fords and we still got great use out of it in this car, although it took us 3 days to even bother with touching it. The practicality, yes practicality, of this car can’t be beat as well. If I really had to pick one car to compare it to, it would be an Aston Martin for the British. Aston Martins are not the fastest cars you can buy for the money, but the pure emotion and beauty they portray are unbeatable. I think of the GT500 as the American Aston Martin: it’s beautiful and emotional. That is what makes the car so great, and on that thought its quite a bargain too.

The 2010 GT500 was built starting with the formula from the 2008 GT500KR. In 2011, the GT500 will be getting an all aluminum block right out of the Ford GT super car. The GT500 now has a steel block. Even if the power doesn’t go up, in which case there is no need, the car will be much lighter and hopefully add to the driving experience. Other potential down sides to the current GT500 are the all new 2011 GT with the reintroduction of the 5.0. This new GT will finally feature all the latest engine technology while also increasing horsepower and fuel economy. They already have a wonderful interior, and with a little shopping trip to Ford Racing, the 2011 Mustang GT could easily be made to run with the big boys of the Mustang brand. For the name -Shelby- and the looks of the GT500 though, it’s still a hard choice to pass up.

Mega Gallery: 2010 Shelby GT500

Mustang VS Camaro

Today we picked up the 2010 Mustang GT and the 2010 Camaro SS! We can’t wait to get them out together and get some good pictures and video! Look for that soon, also look for the upcoming video on the 2010 Shelby GT500.

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