2011 Dodge Durango and Jeep Grand Cherokee up for North American Truck of the Year

Dodge and Jeep have one vehicle each up for the Truck of the Year Awards, to be announced in January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

About 50 journalists from the United States and Canada have whittled to 28 the list of nominees. Voting takes place in December. Vehicles must be either all new or markedly different from their previous models.

The trucks being considered include the Dodge Durango, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Ford Edge, Ford Explorer, Honda Odyssey, Hyundai Tucson, Infiniti QX56, Kia Sorento, Kia Sportage, Lincoln MKX, Mercedes-Benz R-Class, Porsche Cayenne, Toyota Sienna and Volkswagen Touareg.
















2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee














2011 Dodge Durango

Over all, finalists for North American Car of the Year include: Audi A8, Buick Regal, Chevrolet Cruze, Chevrolet Volt, Ford Fiesta, Hyundai Sonata (including the 2.0T and the hybrid), Infiniti M37/56, Jaguar XJ, Kia Optima, Mazda Mazda2, Nissan Juke, Nissan Leaf, Volkswagen Jetta and Volvo S60.

Now in their 18th year, the awards honor the best vehicles based on innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value.

Ram Laramie Longhorn Edition Rolls Out

Last month we debuted the Dodge Ram Bulldog Edition. This month, Dodge has unveiled another doozy of a vehicle in the Ram Laramie Longhorn Edition.

Following right on the heels of the Ram Outdoorsman model is the Ram Laramie Longhorn edition (available on the 1500, 2500, and 3500), born and bred as the ultimate combination of luxury and capability.


“The Ram Laramie Longhorn edition is going to share a driveway with some fine luxury cars,” said Fred Diaz, President and CEO – Ram Truck Brand, Chrysler Group LLC. “The only difference is the Ram Laramie Longhorn edition is going to be the vehicle with the fulltime job – towing the horse trailer, taking the crew to the game, picking up supplies. It’s ready to go from the dirt to downtown.”

Exterior
Ram Laramie Longhorn edition models are prominently commemorated with distinctive Western-style exterior badges. A chrome metal Laramie Longhorn edition badge with painted accents is mounted to the tailgate while eye-catching model-specific (1500, 2500 or 3500) Laramie Longhorn edition badges adorn the doors.

Laramie Longhorn edition is available in five color choices, including an exclusive Sagebrush with White Gold exterior paint treatment unavailable on other Ram models. Matching White Gold lower-body two-tone, wheel flares, painted front and rear bumpers and Mopar running boards complement a bright chrome grille and painted tow hooks. Other colors include Bright White, Brilliant Black Crystal Pearl, Rugged Brown Pearl or Deep Cherry Red Crystal Pearl. All Laramie Longhorn edition trucks are matched with the special White Gold accent color.

The Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn edition is equipped with 20-inch chrome-clad aluminum wheels, while 2500 and 3500 single-rear-wheel models roll on polished aluminum wheels. Ram 3500 duallies get polished aluminum wheels with Laramie Longhorn edition-badged center caps.

Interior
Ram Laramie Longhorn edition is also distinguished by its unsurpassed interior refinement. Building on the award-winning interiors of the Ram 1500 and Ram 2500 / 3500 Heavy Duty pickup trucks, Laramie Longhorn shatters truck stereotypes.

Interior Themes:
A full leather interior, engraved details and burled walnut woodgrain surfaces lend the Ram Laramie Longhorn edition an unmatched level of sophistication and style.


Laramie Longhorn is available with a choice of dark slate gray and russet or bark brown and light pebble beige interior colors. The interiors feature 100 percent leather seat coverings with laser-etched bolsters (bark brown only). The leather-wrapped steering wheel receives special stitching while door trim front and rear is also wrapped in leather and features special stitching, wood grain and LED door-handle and map-pocket lighting.

Seats:
The Ram Laramie Longhorn edition offers two seating options. The first is a sophisticated dark slate gray with premium russet-hued seat leather. The second is southwestern-influenced light pebble beige with bark brown seat leather. The bark brown interior incorporates laser-etched filigrees, with a hand-worked appearance.

Seat fronts for both themes include a stitched-on leather Laramie Longhorn badge, either branded (russet) or laser-etched (bark brown).


Contrasting leather welts, also called piping, provide seat-edge emphasis. Additional accents are created along either side the welts by tan or dark slate-colored deck-seam stitching.

Ram Laramie Longhorn edition features unique leather front seatbacks distinguished by flap-closure pockets whose details authentically evoke saddlebags. Each pocket is secured with silver steer-logoed, tooled-metal buckle with a magnetic clasp.

Instrument Panel / Dash:
Ram Laramie Longhorn edition owners will be greeted by the highest-quality materials every time they climb behind the wheel.

Laramie Longhorn’s exclusive instrument cluster takes on the appearance of hand-wrought jewelry with six liquid chrome gauge rings set against a painted taupe silver background and a tooled-metal Laramie Longhorn edition badge set inside the left-hand ring.

The two main gauge rings feature a hand-crafted look with a coined inner edge and filigrees engraved on the top surface. Set inside those rings, the lower edges of the gauge cluster dials are detailed with small filigreesthat are softly backlit at night.


The Ram Laramie Longhorn edition’s dash features a center stack trimmed in burled walnut wood graining. The wood grain is stained in one of two complementary shades, matched to either the russet or bark brown interior theme. Chrysler designers borrowed from high-end furniture-grade and gun stock designs in their choice of wood grain.

Painted taupe silver side bezels, resembling polished pewter, are special to the Laramie Longhorn, while chrome vent rings complete the center stack’s details.

On the passenger side, the upper glove box door – there are two – becomes a focal point with the addition of a full-length, filigree-engraved aluminum band and Laramie Longhorn edition badge.

Beneath the instrument panel is soft, new footwell lighting, providing both a functional and aesthetic interior enhancement.


Console:
The Ram Laramie Longhorn’s cavernous double-stacked center console is topped with a soft, double French-stitched full-leather lid featuring either a branded (russet) or laser-etched (bark brown) Laramie Longhorn logo.

The pewter-colored highlights from the center stack flow rearward, continuing along the outer edges of the center console. A chrome ring outlines the console’s center bin and cupholders.

Steering Wheel and Shifters:
Ram Laramie Longhorn’s steering wheel and shifters – console mounted on 1500, column mounted on 2500 and 3500 Heavy Duty models – feature premium leather. Matching X-stitch detailing sets off both the steering wheel and shifter.

The leather console shifter on 1500 models is entirely new, accentuated by taupe silver side panels and a bright chrome base. The leather column shifter on Heavy Duty models is completed by a chrome end cap.

Doors:
Armrest uppers are wrapped in premium leather and accented with the same dual French stitch used on the center console lid and instrument panel. Burled walnut-grained panels trimmed by chrome tracers add to all four doors’ visual appeal.

Ram Laramie Longhorn editions receive remote lighting at the inside door handles and a full-length light that illuminates the truck’s multi-function lower map pockets, front and rear.

Flooring:
Laramie Longhorn’s luxurious carpet is protected by specially designed all-weather rubber mats with polished metal Ram Laramie Longhorn edition Badge and removable carpet inserts. The mats themselves incorporate the filigree designs from the dash and seats, while the snap-in inserts are a high-end, color-flecked Berber-style weave that luxuriously blends the two interior colors.

Along the doorsills new brushed-silver Ram-branded sill plates resist scuffs and add visual appeal.

Other:
Laramie Longhorn comes equipped with all of the standard equipment found on the top-level Ram Laramie and adds a navigational radio, remote start, back-up camera, front ventilated seats and rear heated seats. Power adjustable pedals with memory and front heated seats with 10-way driver’s adjustment – standard on Ram 1500 Laramie models – are also added to Ram Heavy Duty Laramie Longhorn editions.

“Ram Truck owners and dealers tell us they love everything about the new Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500,” added Diaz. “With so many great features, we weren’t surprised to see our most well-equipped model – Ram Laramie – making up 25 percent of our sales. There’s a healthy market for luxury pickup trucks and Ram Laramie Longhorn edition hits the mark.”

Ram Laramie Longhorn will be available in 1500 (half-ton), 2500 HD (3/4 ton) and 3500 HD single and dual rear wheel (1 ton), Crew Cab and Mega Cab; four-wheel drive and two-wheel drive; and short- and long-wheelbase models.

Laramie Longhorn will join the other Ram trim levels, which include: ST, SLT, Outdoorsman, Sport (1500 only) Laramie and Power Wagon (2500 only).

Ram Laramie Longhorn models will go on sale first quarter 2011. Prices will be announced closer to launch.

If you happen to be traveling up to the Texas-OU game at the Texas State Fair, stop by and sneak a quick peek for yourself. Or you can visit it at www.ramtrucks.com.

Chrysler previews future Jeep pickup truck to dealers

Car enthusiasts and even casual shoppers always want to know, "What's next?" Idle curiosity and fuel for automotive passions are legitimate reasons for wanting a peek at the new hardware. Usually, auto shows satisfy this need but with Chrysler having been rather mute about future product during the last auto show season, consumers are left wondering.

As part of the automaker's restructuring, Chrysler has been rather open about its plans for imminent product freshenings, redesigns, and restylings. It just hasn't shown much to the public until this past month with the revised Chrysler Town & Country, all-new Dodge Durango, updated Jeep Wrangler, and tease of the freshened Sebring, recast as the 200. Now, word has it that dealers were shown several notable concepts at a recent meeting including insight into the future Jeep Wrangler pickup.

The concept vehicles were presented last week at the 2010 Chrysler Dealer Show in Orlando, Florida, according to Automotive News. The event was attended by more than 75 percent of Chrysler Group's 2,314 U.S. dealers.

Redesigned for the 2007 model year, the current Jeep Wrangler marked a dramatic size increase over from the preceding model. Its larger dimensions and styling were foretold by the 2005 Jeep Gladiator concept, a striking green pickup truck that made the show circuit. Could a pickup variation join the traditional Wrangler and the Wrangler Unlimited? It sounds plausible.

The Wrangler is currently the best-selling Jeep model based on August figures, and at the moment, it is outsold by only the minivans and Dodge Ram pickup truck within the Chrysler Group portfolio. Building on this success with a new variation would make sense. The idea has historical precedent with the old Cherokee-based Comanche, CJ-8 Jeep Scrambler, and recent JT military-spec variant spun off the Wrangler Unlimited with a five-foot bed.

The Gladiator has four doors like an extended cab pickup, providing limited second-row seating or storage. (The JT is strictly a standard cab design, like the Scrambler.)

What a production pickup needs is a stronger engine. After all, pickup trucks are often called upon for towing duties. The current 3.8-liter V6 is expected to be replaced by the new corporate Pentastar 3.6-liter V6 now migrating through Chrysler products. In the new Grand Cherokee, the 3.6L makes 290 horsepower–enough to give a small pickup some towing might.

Let's hope Chrysler becomes less shy with the upcoming auto show season, as it clearly has many vehicles up its corporate sleeves.

Courtesy of: Consumer Reports

Dodge Journey commercials make funny comparisons

The Dodge Journey vs. an M1 Tank? An armored car? How about a monster truck?

In recent weeks, you may have seen the funny commercials on the Dodge Journey comparing it to other "universal" vehicles.

If you haven't seen them, take a look and enjoy.

For the record, here at Cecil in Burnet, we love the Dodge Journey, but the Monster Truck comes in a close second.

Dodge Journey vs. M1 Tank

Dodge Journey vs. Monster Truck

Dodge Journey vs. Armored Car

The New 2011 Chrysler Town and Country

When we said Chrysler Group LLC’s product onslaught was coming, we weren’t kidding. Here are some new photos of the new 2011 Chrysler Town & Country minivan, which offers consumers a ton of standard safety features, improved driving dynamics, a new powertrain, and innovative technology that keeps Walter P. Chrysler’s legacy of engineering innovations alive and well.

SafetyTec will now come standard on every 2011 Chrysler Town & Country minivan. A package of 40 standard safety and technology features, SafetyTec™, includes Blind-spot Monitoring and Rear Cross Path Detection, which are only available on Chrysler Group minivans.

Improvements are also coming to the wildly popular Stow ‘n Go seating and storage system – including new, more comfortable seats and a one-touch fold down feature for easier access to the third row; a new ‘super’ center console and technology that helps manage the rigors of family life continue to make the Chrysler Town & Country the best choice for families that want a vehicle with style, functionality and value. Chrysler Group is still the only automaker to offer Stow ‘n Go.

Powertrain improvements to the new 2011 Chrysler Town & Country offer more horsepower and torque without sacrificing fuel economy. The new 2011 Chrysler Town & Country is powered by the new Pentastar V-6 engine mated to a six-speed automatic transmission, producing 283 horsepower and 260 lb.-ft. of torque while still achieving an estimated EPA fuel economy rating to 17 miles per gallon (mpg) City and 25 mpg Highway (compared with the previous 3.8-liter and 3.3-liter V-6 engines, which produced 197 hp and 230 lb.-ft. of torque and 175 hp and 205 lb.-ft. of torque respectively). A new fuel economizer mode helps maximize fuel economy and reductions in noise, vibration and harshness.

The new Town & Country is not only going to save you gas, it’s going to save countless backseat sibling squabbles. A dual DVD system that can play different media at the same time, SIRIUS Backseat TV which offers three channels of children’s programming; and FLO TV featuring 20 channels of live programming – voice command functions for radio, iPod/mp3 players, phone and navigation systems.

And in the captain’s chair, the Town & Country also includes a new instrument panel and instrument cluster; new Chrysler Brand steering wheel with integrated controls that allow the driver to operate the radio, cruise control, hands-free phone and other vehicle functions while keeping their hands on the wheel; upgraded cloth and leather seating materials; new “soft touch” door trim and new heating and cooling control system.

Ram Trucks smartphone app now available

For your inner gadget guru, Ram Trucks has unveiled a new (free) Smartphone app engineered to educate you on every aspect of your vehicle – right down to the cup holders. Every convenience that the Internet, your buddy at the dealership, and your friend with the encyclopedic knowledge of trucks can provide is now encompassed in one sleek package.

Vehicle specs, maintenance reminders, warning indicators, customer assistance, official Mopar accessories, and owner communities are all just a touch/click/slide away. It’s all literally just one click away, and can be easily accessed from anywhere: in line at the DMV, the decorative yet uncomfortable bench in that boutique that your wife likes, the sofa in your man cave, etc.

In a nutshell, it gives you the ability to go toe-to-toe with other pickup guys without memorizing everything down to the wiring diagram (even though we’re pretty sure you’ve done that already). To check it out for yourself, head to the iPhone app store, and start downloading!

The 2011 Dodge Durango - Finally Revealed

From its sleek exterior design to its modern, spacious interior, and intelligent, fuel-efficient and powerful powertrain options, the 2011 Dodge Durango is all-new from the inside out. And the changes are more than skin deep. The Durango’s stiffened unibody structure is engineered with the driving enthusiast in mind. The end result is a vehicle that delivers premium driving performance combined with SUV capability and crossover versatility.

The all-new Durango features two engine options: the standard fuel-efficient 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 engine and the available 5.7-liter HEMI engine with fuel-saving, Multi-displacement system (MDS) four-cylinder mode. Both engines feature variable-valve timing (VVT) and are available with all-wheel drive. In addition to great efficiency, the engines provide exceptional V-6 and V-8 towing capability with standard trailer sway control (V-8 - 7,400 lbs. and Best-in-class V-6 – 6,200 lbs.). When equipped with the HEMI® V-8, the all-new Durango can tow more weight than a 24-foot boat and trailer.

The Durango’s all-new interior is a surprise owners always deserved but never expected. Created by the same interior design studio that designed the much-lauded interior in the Ram trucks and the all-new Jeep Grand Cherokee, the Durango’s luxurious interior materials and thoughtful touches will make owners and their crews want to jump in, hunker down and thoroughly enjoy even the longest drive.

Everywhere they touch, Durango passengers will feel materials that are refined and soft to the touch. Not only is it a pleasure to behold, it is extremely functional and gives owners a first-class experience, regardless of the trim level. Durango’s interior is also extremely comfortable for all three rows of passengers, and there’s a surprising amount of interior flexibility. With 22 different seating configurations, there’s plenty of room to store and move plenty of people and their gear.

The all-new 2011 Dodge Durango also offers consumers 45 safety and security features, including standard front seat-mounted side air bags and standard side-curtain air bags that cover passengers in all three rows, as well as all-new standard active head restraints. Electronic Stability Control also is standard. Other available safety and security technologies include Blind-spot Monitoring, Rear Cross Path detection, Forward Collision Warning, Adaptive Cruise Control and Keyless Enter-n’ Go.

The best part is, consumers will get all of the all-new Durango’s capability, functionality and flexibility and still get excellent fuel efficiency. In fact, drivers can go more than 500 miles, that’s the distance from San Diego to San Francisco or from Detroit to New York City, without having to stop for fuel.

Built at the Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit, Mich., the new 2011 Dodge Durango arrives in showrooms in the fourth quarter of 2010.

2011 Dodge Charger Police Pursuit Vehicle

You have the right to remain awed by the new 2011 Charger and should you not already posses a healthy amount of respect for Dodge’s newest road warrior; some will definitely be appointed to you.

Since its original introduction in 2006, the Charger PPV has reigned supreme as the fastest purpose-built pursuit vehicle on the market. Now, it’s even better than before.

Beneath the hood gurgles either the brand new E-85 capable 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 engine with variable-valve timing (VVT) or the 5.7-liter HEMI™ V-8 engine with fuel-saving Multi-displacement System (MDS), depending on which one your chief decided to spring for.

The dedication to more efficient, responsive performance is mirrored inside with the new Police Interface Module, designed with input from the Dodge brand Police Advisory Board to accommodate the unique demands of an officer’s job. To ensure that those who protect us are always protected themselves, the new PPV also comes equipped with standard advanced multistage driver and front-passenger air bags, seat-mounted side-thorax air bags, supplemental side-curtain air bags for front and rear outboard passengers, driver’s knee bag, tire-pressure monitoring and more.

The new model will officially be available for order in September 2010, so BOLO.