Personal Pacifica impressions

I’ve driven every minivan sold today, and none of them check the luxury level boxes like the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica.

The exterior looks far more compact than the existing Town & Country — but it’s actually larger, inside and out. The new body looks much more modern, from front to rear, doing away with the boxy look of the previous models.

2017 Chrysler minivan with sliding door open

The seats are incredibly soft both, in terms of padding and surface material. They have a high end look and feel. I’ve always questioned hour the Town & Country fits into the luxury Chrysler lineup; there is no question how this vehicle fits. Dare I call this the first real luxury minivan?

Theater seats

The third row is roomier. The multi panel sunroof setup looks good and provides a sky view for every row, which will be great for kids on long road trips. The new infotainment system, with seat mounted screens and individual input docks, will be a welcome change for parents with multiple kids with differing taste in programs.

A key difference that I see inside is the new dashboard. Finally, the minivan gets the same gorgeous gauge cluster as the Chrysler 200, along with the newest UConnect setup, which is leaps and bounds better than the system in the current Grand Caravan. There is nothing wrong with the current minivan infotainment setup, but the next gen system is really a step up in every way.

minivan dashboard

The small instrument panel under the touchscreen is very clean and looks far more upscale; it puts the HVAC controls and the shift dial into one small panel.

This is going to be a much better family hauler, but I think that the exterior design and the interior layout will help fight the stigma of the minivan being so tragically unstylish. Thanks to that, I think that this minivan will be more acceptable to those folks who want a proper luxury minivan.

Read more at: http://www.allpar.com/news/index.php/2016/01/personal-pacifica-impressions-30985

Sensible Steps to Help Keep Your Car Longer

More and more people are keeping their vehicles longer as the average age of a car on the road today is more than 11 years. Considering the cost of a new car is about $31,000 on average, deciding to keep your car rather than buying a new one makes financial sense, says the non-profit Car Care Council.

The Car Care Council offers sensible steps to help motorists maintain their vehicles for safety, dependability and value.

Keep it Clean

Washing the carWashing and waxing your vehicle on a regular basis protects it from the natural elements that may harm the finish.

A good cleaning of the inside and outside of the vehicle prevents the buildup of damaging chemicals and dirt, reduces the potential for rust from road salt and ensures proper visibility needed for safe driving.

Steps to a cleaner car.

Rely on Your Senses

When driving, always be alert and rely on your senses.While you may be familiar with noises that your vehicle makes on a daily basis, any noise that is new, different or suspicious may indicate a problem. Listen for sounds such as squealing, thumping, hissing and grinding – these are all signs that the vehicle may be trying to tell you something.

Vehicle Car Smell InfographicUnusual smells such as burnt rubber, hot oil, gasoline, rotten eggs, burning carpet or the sweet smell of syrup can be a sign of serious, and potentially costly, trouble for your vehicle.

When you hear or smell something that doesn’t seem right, do not ignore it. Instead bring your car to a professional service technician to get an informed opinion on the nature of the sound or odor.

Stay on Schedule

The key to a car running at its best is basic maintenance. Keeping up with fluid changes, tire checks, filter changes and other services will help avoid bigger and more expensive repairs. Over time, some car parts and components wear out or become damaged. Being aware of your car will help you address any issues before they become bigger problems.

Custom Vehicle Service Schedule OnlineIn addition to following the maintenance schedule recommended in your owner’s manual, the Car Care Council offers a free custom service schedule to help you be proactive in caring for your car.

“Everyone loves a new car but sometimes the money is just not there to purchase one,” said Rich White, executive director, Car Care Council. “If you treat your car as a valuable investment and commit to regular preventative auto care, not only will you end up saving money, but your car will keep on running for many miles down the road.”

The Car Care Council is the source of information for the “Be Car Care Aware” consumer education campaign promoting the benefits of regular vehicle care, maintenance and repair to consumers. For a free copy of the council’s popular Car Care Guide or for more information, visit www.carcare.org.

Read more at: http://www.carcare.org/2016/01/sensible-steps-help-keep-your-car-longer/

2017 Chrysler Pacifica: The new Chrysler minivan

The debut of the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica marks a lot more than a name change and a new, sixth-generation version of Chrysler’s minivans.

For one, it’s the first minivan on the U.S. market to get a plug-in hybrid version, the Pacifica Hybrid, which will offer 30 miles of pure electric driving on a charge. Secondly, it signals a new direction for these vans—not just in their far more flamboyant styling, but in a package that for the first time won’t be essentially mimicked with a Dodge version.

The Grand Caravan and its sliding side doors on the way out, to be replaced this next year by a model that’s expected to offer comparable three-row seating and space but characteristically brawnier Dodge styling and hinged rear doors.

Last week at the Detroit Auto Show we caught up with Tim Kuniskis, the North American head of passenger-car brands for Dodge, SRT, Chrysler, and Fiat, for some more details. And while he wouldn’t reveal any more information about the Grand Caravan’s replacement, found out a lot more about the how and why the Pacifica took the form it did.

Chrysler minivans winnowed down to one—Pacifica

“It’s going to be ultimately the only minivan in the portfolio, going head-to-head against a long list of mainstream competitors,” said Kuniskis. “So making sure we had all the right package and content, and being able to price this vehicle... you’ll see that we’ll be lined up well against our competitors in the segment.”

The Pacifica is built on what’s called the RU platform. The RU vehicles don’t share any likeness, components, or geometric “hard points” with the RT predecessors, which arrived in 2008; and it’s not related to the “short wide” platform that underpins the Jeep Cherokee, among others.

It was entirely developed by Chrysler’s U.S. engineering team, with scalability and the easy addition of all-wheel drive in mind, and it can apply to cars, vans, or SUVs, down to compact (D) size.

Kiniskis says that the team wanted to overcome the “mental image of a minivan,” and decided on the name change from Town & Country to Pacifica “because as we moved through the development of the vehicle we realized that this is a complete, revolutionary change.”

Not the first time Pacifica has signaled a sea change

Reviving the nameplate might not be a positive to everyone, as the previous Pacifica did suffer from some quality issues—such as transmission woes—but it was noteworthy in design, as one of the first SUVs to undergo a rather revolutionary change, pitting it against the Lexus RX in some respects. Even today, Kuniskis says, they found that the name has “good consideration and awareness.”

The spark for emphasizing design this time around came in part from the strong (and mostly positive) reception of the Chrysler 700C Concept from four years ago, which was an early test of the waters for more radical change. Then, Chrysler then wasn't sure what kind of reception the van might get from the press, and thus revealed it in "stealth mode," quietly unveiling it on the auto-show stand, without a conference or immediate press release.

“We kind of tested the boundaries of how far can you push the design of a minivan [with the 700C],” Kuniskis said. “From that stage, we took several design concepts out to research, and invited several CUV and minivan intenders to come out and see it. At the end of the day, he says, the takeaway message was that they wanted a stylish vehicle but didn’t want to compromise on the space and comfort of a minivan.

“We pushed the design as far as we could,” he added.

A new opportunity with Millennials

Putting more emphasis on design and technology also goes over well with Millennials, who are having kids and looking for family vehicles—and in many cases, entering the vehicle market for the first time, without the preconceptions that Gen X parents had about minivans.

The automaker clearly has some big sales hopes for the Pacifca. Chrysler is targeting as many sales as for the Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country combined—or about 190,000 sales this past year, when they were down somewhat as the result of four months of assembly plant retooling.

On the Chrysler side, the next big step is building the brand, Kuniskis concedes. “You know when you look for well-defined brands in the marketplace, it’s either a product attribute that helps people define the brand, or it’s an emotional, aspirational connection that helps people want to connect with that brand,” he said.

“On Dodge we have product plus bad-boy attitude; we’ve got to do a better job identifying a product attribute and an emotional connection for Chrysler, and that’s our next job.”

Read more at: http://www.thecarconnection.com/news/1102021_2017-chrysler-pacifica-a-paradigm-shift-for-minivans-as-dodge-preps-crossover?fbfanpage

Ram: Four Wheeler’s pickup of the year

Four Wheeler Magazine has named the 2016 Ram 1500 Rebel its 28th Annual Pickup Truck of the Year, beating the Nissan Titan XD PRO-4X, Chevy Colorado Crew Cab Z71, and Toyota Tacoma Double Cab TRD Off-Road.

Seven judges tested the trucks’ comfort and performance in traffic jams, technical trails, and other conditions over five days and 1,000 miles.

Competing pickups had to be new or substantially changed; a two-speed transfer case was required, along with production of at least 1,500 trucks for the US and being on sale by January 15, 2016.

The writeup said, “Everything about the Ram Rebel feels right. From the suspension to the steering to the beautifully matched eight-speed transmission and V-8 engine, the Rebel is one dialed truck. Sure, we would love to see at least one differential locker and could do without the treads on the seats, but it’s hard to find many faults on- or off-road. This is one Rebel with a worthy cause.”

The judges “overwhelmingly” chose the Ram Rebel crew cab both as the Pickup Truck of the Year and as the truck they’d most like to take home.

Read more at: http://www.allpar.com/news/index.php/2016/01/ram-wins-four-wheelers-pickup-of-the-year-31067

First Ride: Indian Scout Sixty

The open road on a Scout Sixty – doesn’t get much better...

I’ve traveled to the Las Vegas many times. Whether it was for business or pleasure, one thing you can always count on is an entertaining experience from the city started by the mob. Living in Southern California, I’ve traveled to Sin City via a few different modes of transportation including two and four wheels as well as commercial airliners – but this one was different.

I hate flying. It’s not the flying part that gets to me, it’s the hassle of dealing with crowds, being crammed onto the plane like a Tokyo train, not to mention the lovely ordeal of being groped by the TSA.

So when Robert Pandya from Indian Motorcycles contacted Cycle News about going to Las Vegas for a new Indian launch and said that we’d be flying there was definitely some mixed emotions involved. That was until he told us that we wouldn’t be dealing with TSA…

Driving out to Long Beach that morning I had the usual butterflies and even left my pocket knife and liquids at home, just by habit. I pulled up to a side building off the main grid of Long Beach Airport and entered through the glass doors with backpack and Biltwell helmet in hand where I found a few editorial friends and Robert standing there with a huge smile on his face. It wasn’t until he walked me out the back doors and onto the runway did I know why he was so excited.

Sitting out back was one of America’s greatest planes, a C-53 built by Douglas Aircraft Company way back in 1943. This particular plane has a long history including being used to drop paratroopers on D-Day and after that was turned into a medical transport plane for injured troops on the front line. Many of these planes used in battle were shot down or heavily damaged but this one survived. After its tour of duty it was transformed into a commercial TWA plane, then cargo transport and so on. It now sits in its current state, a completely restored piece of beautiful machinery that still has that old-time feel.

What’s even cooler is that we would be flying to Vegas in this plane. The flight out was something I’ll always remember, from the smell of aviation fuel from the dual prop engines, to the fact that we were less than 9000ft off the ground and even flying over my house for the family to see! It was definitely one of the most enjoyable plane rides I’ve had.

Once we arrived at the North Las Vegas Airport we were greeted by a long line of 2016 Indian Scout Sixty machines. Now, we’ve put many miles on our 2015 Indian Scout with its liquid cooled 1133cc V-twin engine that boasts an impressive 100hp. It shouldn’t be any surprise that the new breed of Indian Motorcycles is impressive though, because I was in Sturgis a few years back for the Indian Chief/Chieftain launch and those models are extremely good.

Why make another Scout, though? Well, in short, the original Scout made a crap load of power and it might have been a little too much for those green riders of the world to handle. But to say the Scout Sixty is just a dulled down version misses the point completely. With more and more new riders coming into the motorcycle world every day and the custom motorcycle scene bigger than ever, there’s interest in a bike that’s fun to ride but also with a ton of customization possibilities at a reasonable price ¾ so this is where the Scout Sixty comes in.

The flat track scene has seen resurgence lately out in Southern California with the amount of riders at the local Perris Raceway growing by leaps and bounds. One of the classes that’s most popular is the “Hooligan” class, a run-what-you-brung type gig where you’ll find some guys riding to the track on their street legal steeds, ripping a few laps and riding home on the same bike (that’s if they don’t crash and break something). It’s a light-hearted atmosphere where you’ll share a cold beverage and a few tacos with the same guy you were battling with just an hour before.

With the Super Prestigio running their highly anticipated race at the Orleans in Las Vegas is was a perfect time to bring out the “Hooligans” and let them run wild and help shed some light on what’s possible with a few customized street legal American made motorcycles. We all know the name Roland Sands and what the man can do with a motorcycle both behind the bars and with a wrench in hand, and Indian took notice of that, giving him a slew of Sixtys to customize for the Indian sponsored race which we were going to attend while in Vegas. Not only did the RSD Sixtys turn out beautifully but when the dust settled on the Indian Motorcycle Hooligan race it was all around good guy and motorcycle maniac Thor Drake of See See Motorcycles who won the event. Unknowingly to him, the winner was also taking home their very own Sixty! Congrats to Thor and Indian as the bike couldn’t have gone to a better person.

The next morning we headed on a ride to Lake Mead and back aboard the new machines. The fit and finish of the Scout Sixty, like the standard Scout, is clean and well thought out and although the Sixty did lose some of its chrome finishes and put on an extra 4lbs, I’m ok with that. The 2016 Scout Sixty drops a few cc’s down to 999, and instead of the massive 100hp punch it now has a claimed 78hp. It also loses a gear (now featuring a five-speed gearbox). Luckily, it’s just as much fun to ride and if you’ve ever ridden a standard Scout you won’t miss the extra ponies because this steed has just as much get up and go as ever!

The rider cockpit suites my 5’11 build perfect (shorter riders will be happy to hear that there’s an optional lower seat), the non-abs brakes are exceptionally strong; suspension is controlled and the overall feel of the bike is one I have no problem spending and extended amount of time with. One of the biggest selling points on the new Scout Sixty is the MSRP of $8,999 ¾ that is $2,000 less than the standard Scout! If customizing is in your blood there’s definitely a lot that can be done with that extra $2K in the pocket or if you’re a bit of a gambler, Las Vegas will be happy to help you spend it.

After our ride on the Sixty we jumped back on the vintage bird and enjoyed a sunset flight back to Long Beach. While the views were mesmerizing and the Hangar24 was cold, all I could think about was the previous night’s racing, how good the RSD customized units looked and the endless possibilities of this machine. Maybe it’s the bike builder in me that can’t leave much alone or maybe it’s the feeling the Sixty gave me while riding it earlier that day, either way I think Indian is on to something with their new direction for this model making it more accessible to a wider range of riders. I’m looking forward to ripping up the local streets and dirt tracks aboard an Indian Scout Sixty, just like the Hooligans in Sin City.

Words: Jason Abbott

Photography: Indian Motorcycle

Read more at: http://www.cyclenews.com/2016/01/article/first-ride-indian-scout-sixty/