Corvette in the Burlapp garage

So far so good.

But wait.. No iPod plug?!??!?!?!?!

New Honda City

If I am not mistaken, the current City is just a trunk version of the previous Fit.
So I guess this is the more conservative version of the new Fit.

Honda was thinking about selling this for a while, but they decided to give us the Fit instead. Thank God...

But I noticed that the front end on this car isn't that bad. This type of grille design would fit much better on our US Accord.
Instead of the horrible chrome rectangle we have now...

More Insignia pictures

The Interior of the new Opel Insignia looks really nice.
Let's hope GM leaves it alone in the US?Saturn translation...

Does anyone know when this is actually available in Europe?

CTS Wagon?

It looks like the real thing. The Cadillac CTS wagon.

It also looks like it has a major blind spot.
At least on this picture, the design looks almost weird. I guess at least it doesn't look like other wagons...

Click on the title for more....

What is it???

Answer: I don't have any idea.
maybe you do...

Next Megane

The Renault Megane will be all new next year.
To better compete with the new Astra and also the Mazda3.

I think Nissan should find a way to sell this over here. How about this one instead of the dorky looking Stanza?
This could go head to head against the next Saturn Astra.

The problem is cost/price. Again.
A well equipped Astra is $20 000. Which is what many people expect to pay for an Altima...

Compact Infiniti maybe???

G6 revised

The Pontiac G6 will get a new front for 2009.
Not all new, let's say "newer"...

I'm not sure that was really needed. But what is needed is a revised interior. The current one is actually OK, but that car deserves better.
It drives very nice, feels very solid, looks good. But the interior is far inferior to the Malibu or even the Aura.

Let's hope this will be addressed. Although I fear they'll leave it alone.
Just like the interior in the "revised" 2009 Cadillac XLR...

I will be getting a G6 convertible to drive late next week.


Click on the title for more....

Next BMW X3???

Could be.

Right now, the X3 might be the worse looking SUV out there. Suited only for those who must drive a BMW and nothing else.

The next version can only look better than the current model....

Burlapp needs to move up...

In a nutshell, I need to make this site more popular.

I know it is the best car site on the internet. But I need to make it the most popular one as well.
You guys have all been very supportive.
And I think the best people to ask if you had any ideas...

The site is popular as of now. I just need to make sure it gets even more views. Get the word out.

Summer cars! Starting tomorrow.

I will be test driving what I call "summer cars", well, al summer.
That means convertibles.

I will start with an American legend: The Corvette.
I am supposed to get it tomorrow. Hopefully reporting on it avery day.
This is a pricey car, and this site is more about "regular cars". But it is actually much cheaper than its competition.
And I am very interested to see if it is a good every day car.
I will be driving it around town. Just like I am driving the Astra and the other cars I test.

I know it might not be a car many of you are actually thinking of getting. But I was just very curious about it.
If you have any questions, go ahead.

I will be wrapping up my Astra drive over the week end, with more pictures and a video too.

Honda Freed

The Honda Freed, the weird one...
This new 6 seater seems to be based on the new Fit.

Japan only. For now.
Let's hope this never makes it over here....

Inside...

The next Mercedes CLK Coupe.
It seems to follow the blocky trend we see in the GLK and the next E Class.

This seems to unattractive to me. It reminds me of horrible 80's designs...

Next Astra

With the current one.
The next Opel Astra looks much sleeker. More like a 5 door version of the current coupe.
Ready to compete in the US with the next Mazda3.

Hyundai Genesis sedan pricing

$33 000 for the 290hp V6.

Not a bad price, but I though they actually wanted to start at under $30 000. I guess not....
For that price you get the 3.8 Liter V6 (rated at 18/28 mpg), 17 inch wheels, heated leather seats etc...

For $38 000, you get the 4.6 Liter V8 with 375hp (rated at 17/25 mpg).
That also gets you 18 inch wheels, more chrome outside (just to make sure people know you have more money), leather dash, sunroof, memory seats/steering wheel, premium sound system etc...

I wonder if all that good stuff is available on the V6.
With $4 a gallon gas, I really don't thing anyone in their right mind would consider the V8.
290hp is more than enough for anyone driving that kind of car.

We'll see how many people want to spend that kind of money and don't car at all about the car's image.

Next E class

This illustration from Autozeitung seems to match all the spy pics I've seen of the new Mercedes E Class.
And it shows a more attractive car as well really like the headlights on this one.

Let's hope the interior does look better (much better) than what we've seen so far...

Next BMW 6?

Not really.
These look to be just ideas from someone named Giom Mouton.
I have no idea who that is...

But I think these look really nice, and super realistic.

Should the next 6 look like this? What do you think?

No surprises

It was just a matter of time. I think there has always been a 2 door version of the Seat Ibisa.

So here is what the next one will look like...

2011 Astra

I was just thinking yesterday: I really like driving the Astra.
But inside, that dash is just a bit plain, and the console is really too vertical for my taste.

It looks like the next generation might be pretty amazing.
The Opel version will come out next year. Our Saturn will hit the US a year later. And from what I see, they might just fix every little thing I'm not too crazy about the current one.

This should be quite an amazing car...

Click on the title for more.

Subaru Coupe

More rumors and illustration about the joint Toyota/Subaru small coupe coming up next year.

They are talking about a smaller 2.0 Liter Boxer engine with 220hp.
More than enough for a small car.

We would only get the Subaru version. The Toyota might be for Japan only.

A sub-$20 000 coupe with the great Roo engine? That sounds great.

I agree with one of the posters about Subaru offering FWD in the US.
Most people do not need and will never use AWD. Give people a choice of the cheaper and more economical FWD (Like they used to)
They thought they would be special by only offering AWD cars. But what would make them special is a bit more originality in their designs.

Next Ka

Sharing a platform with the Fiat 500, the next Ford Ka will just be too small for the US (unless gas hits $10 a gallon soon).

We'll just have to be happy to get the Fiesta.
And maybe the Fiat 500, who knows...

Not the XF

This is a picture of the next Jaguar XJ interior.
As you can see, the are doing what they've been doing for many years now: the same interior design for all their cars.
This will just look like a bigger XF interior.
Which is OK. I sat in a couple of XFs and the interior is fine. Very "un-german" which it should be.
But I could see a few cheap parts here and there.

We'll see next year when this one comes out...

Day 5. The little things...

GM then and now. 30 years.

Here are a few small annoying things I noticed about the Astra.
All cars have them no matter what the price...

When you only have 30 miles left worth of gas, the info screen goes into this default mode. Blocking any other modes. Like the radio.
So you can't adjust anything until you put so gas in the tank.
Sure it's a strong way to remind you about not running out of gas, but it is also driving you nuts.
I hate it when cars treat me like a 3 year old.


The turn signal is different than any other car . And it's a bit weird. it just doesn't stay down or up when you push it. So you just don't feel it working. Sure you can hear it (And it sounds like an old 70's GM car), and see it on the dash.
But it does feel different and is actually pretty hard to get used to.
I wonder if it's an "Opel thing".

The visibility in the back is pretty scary. But not as bad as the Mini Cooper.
But despite the narrow widows, visibility is OK on the sides.

The headrests move up and down, but not forward like on VWs.
So they're always too far back. Like on most cars...


These are small things that some people might not even noticed.
But I'm picky...

Testing.

The next Buick Lacrosse (Or whatever they'll actually call it) is testing with much less camouflage on it.
GM keeps hinting this car will be great.

It will have a tough job competing with other cars like the Lexus ES.
Buick's image isn't really the best....

New Seat???

Seat might be getting their version of the small VW Up.
And it might be a hybrid as well.

Which means the VW version would also get a hybrid maybe later.
The VW is scheduled for the US. That should be interesting....

Day 4

To answer some questions:
-The headlights are very bright at night.
-No rattles or squeaks whatsoever. The car feels like a tank.
-A slight lag in the gas pedal when starting from a stop.
But that's because the engine doesn't have that much torque under 2000rpm.
I have gotten used to it. Pushing it a little more.
The car is pretty peppy. But not as sporty as the handling/suspension would let you to believe.
It could handle much more I'm sure.

I still enjoy driving it very much.

I know, I know...

You have seen these before.
But they are still the most amazing pictures of the new Camaro.

First, they are the only ones around showing the final headlight designs. All the prototypes caught on the streets still have the temporary set ups.
And they are the only pictures of the production version of the gorgeous convertible.

Very Funny

A commercial for the Euro version of the Aveo.
Making fun of the Citroen C4 commercials...

Below are some of the original Citroen spots:



Enjoy...

A sad little man...

Edward Smith makes Douchebag Jones look like Mother Theresa....

The world is a pretty sad place for some people....

Day 3

The Astra is still looking good. Although no one ever seems to notice it.
The "lack" of power doesn't seem to be a problem to me anymore. I just don't drive that fast.
And the car still has that amazing tank feel.
And the back seats are pretty roomy too.
Especially for a coupe.

For some reason, the clock decided on its own to switch to the European 24h mode.
The radio system is pretty unintuitive, so imagine figuring out the clock...

I'll try again tomorrow....


More later...

Subaru Outback quick drive

I was always curious about the Outback.

It looks really nice and I think the interior is one of the best around.

So here are my thoughts after a short drive.

-The car feels really solid.
-I was pretty amazed how smooth the engine is. The car I drove was a base 2.5 Liter and it felt and sounded almost like a V6
-The transmission is super smooth. Although only a 4 speed. Which would hurt highway mileage.
-Suspension is very comfortable and the car handles very well at the same time.
-A pretty roomy back seat and a big trunk.

I was actually very impressed with the Subaru Outback.
The one I drove retails for $23 600 but carsdirect has it for just under $21 000.
I think this is a great deal for a family car. And much better than any SUV/crossover I've driven so far....