Chevrolet

Oct 3 2011

2012 Chevrolet Caprice PPV

2012 Chevrolet Caprice PPV
There’s something inherently satisfying about using a blunt force object for its exact purpose, be it ripping the cover off a baseball with a Louisville Slugger or bonking one of those animatronic pop-up varmints with a rubber mallet at the local arcade. At the opposite end of the spectrum, there’s something equally satisfying about using a precise tool designed for an exact purpose, be it a Montblanc pen or a pickle fork. With the introduction of its 2012 Chevrolet Caprice PPV, General Motors is betting that law enforcement customers are willing to trade-in the former brand of satisfaction for the latter.

For decades now, an overwhelming majority of America’s policemen and women have relied on the four-wheeled equivalent of a blunt object, the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, as a primary tool in combating crime. Stubbornly resistant to change since its introduction during the Carter administration, the Crown Vic proudly rode its pig iron and scrimshaw frame into retirement earlier this month, a victim of growing legislative hurdles and slowing sales. Yet despite – or perhaps because of – its antiquated technology and crude construction, precincts far and wide have been clawing over each other to secure the last few examples.

GM believes it has a better way: 2012 Chevrolet Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle. Company officials say they are so cognizant of the unique needs of law enforcement that they’ve designed and built this special pursuit vehicle specifically for their use. GM has divulged no plans to park a civilian version in your Bowtie showroom and you won’t be seeing them in New York yellow, either. This is a purpose-built piece of kit. Of course, the truth is a bit more complicated than that. The Caprice PPV is actually a lightly modified version of GM’s long-wheelbase Zeta sedans that are marketed in Australia as the Holden Caprice and in the Middle East as… well, a Chevy Caprice. GM recently offered ordinary U.S. consumers a shorter Zeta, in the form of the well liked but short-lived Pontiac G8, but it expired when its brand was shuttered.

Source: AutoBlog

Sep 9 2011

2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to pack 580 hp

2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to pack 580 hp
The supercharged engine is the most powerful mill ever put in the engine bay of a Camaro – besting the rated output of the 1969 Camaro ZL1′s 427-cubic-inch V8 by 150 horses – and it can be mated up with either a six-speed manual gearbox or, importantly for mass appeal, a six-speed automatic fitted with Drive, Sport and Manual modes for increased driver involvement.

You may be wondering how Chevrolet expects all that power to reach the ground in any meaningful fashion that doesn’t involve incinerating a fresh pair of tires. And the answer would be with Performance Traction Management and third-generation Magnetic Ride Control. Magnetic Ride control uses Magneto-Rheological fluid in the shocks and is computer controlled with readings that adjust damping a staggering 1,000 times per second, and has Tour, Sport and Track settings.

Source: Chevrolet

2011 Chevrolet Camaro SS Convertible

Aug 10 2011

2011 Chevrolet Camaro SS Convertible

2011 Chevrolet Camaro SS Convertible
Muscle cars have never coped well with having their tops clipped. Losing the roof rarely does a vehicle any favors in the rigidity department, but the high-horsepower, high-torque coupes of the last four decades took fiendish delight in twisting themselves into pretzels after a few enthusiastic throttle plunges. To make matters worse, frumpy, awkward-looking soft tops were never as attractive as the original tin. When it came time to design the fifth-generation Chevrolet Camaro, the engineers at General Motors specifically aimed to avoid those pitfalls by drafting the chassis to field both coupe and convertible duties.

Part of the appeal of the fifth generation Camaro is the vehicle’s concept-car aesthetics. With a low-slung roof line, high hip and plenty of sharp creases, it should be lounging under auto show lights instead of sulking in the Costco parking lot. The designers at Chevrolet managed to retain most of the coupe’s presence thanks to the fact that both vehicles wear identical sheetmetal from the window sills down. Up above, a long, arching soft top still holds true to the profile of the coupe when in in place. The piece can be had in black or tan cloth as the buyer sees fit, and for the most part, the design is free of any odd bulges from protruding bows.

Source: AutoBlog

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