Now, I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all, but I’m not alone in saying that this thing is ghastly – there is backlash all over the Internet, with references drawn to aliens, anacondas, and a whole host of other not-so-attractive creatures. And if you think the included press shots are bad, leaked shots of a version with plastic bumpers seem to make it look even worse.

So, is it a good car at least? Well, no one really knows. As it stands, Chrysler has not revealed much about what’s underneath the car. They do, however, claim a 45-percent improvement in fuel economy over the outgoing Jeep Liberty. Hopefully we’ll find out more when the car debuts at the New York International Auto Show next month.

Source: Chrysler

Another friendly reminder for those of you who enjoy magazines: you have six days left to enter for your chance to win a free magazine subscription of your choice from Zinio! Interested? Click here to find out more.

All photos Copyright © 2013 Igor Magun/The Blog of Cars

As an aspiring automotive journalist, I love myself a good car magazine – I have a Motor Trend subscription, and a few issues of Top Gear Magazine lying around as well. I’m sure I’m not the only one, and I have some good news for all of you – digital newsstand Zinio has given me ten magazine subscriptions to give away to you guys! Read on to find out more about how you can win them.

Disclaimer: Zinio will allow me to keep one of the ten magazine subscriptions. However, if I see enough demand (i.e. more than 20 contest entries), I’ll just give that subscription away as well – see how much I love you guys?

Zinio has quite a few automotive magazines to satisfy your cravings, including Motor Trend, Car and Driver, Automobile, Top Gear Magazine, and Road & Track, just to name a few. Think you’ve already got enough car mags? No worries, Zinio has a vast collection of magazines covering other topics as well. You can have a look at their full collection here (just make sure to choose the appropriate country in the top-right corner). And the best part is, you can take these magazines with you – Zinio has an app for iOS, Android, and even the BlackBerry PlayBook (though I do wish they’d make a BlackBerry 10 app).

Before we get to the free goodies, if you’re interested in spending some money with them, they’ve got a number of promotions going on right now that you should know about. The “Sweet Deals” promo, for instance, offers up to 50-percent off on hundreds of titles, and will last until February 21st. “Best of 2012 – Editor’s Choice” also offers 50-percent off, on what they believe were the best mags of last year, and will also last until February 21st. And if you’re into good timepieces (I certainly love myself a good watch!), they’re offering WatchWorld UK for half-price until February 15th.

Okay, I can already hear you saying, “Oh sod off Igor, I just want to know how to get my free stuff.” Fair enough! I’m going to keep this nice and simple: just comment on this post, and tell me what magazine subscription you’d like to get from Zinio. Make sure to enter your real email when commenting, as I’ll need to contact the winners to confirm their magazine choice and their real name, which I will send to Zinio so you can get your free subscription. The contest will close on March 1st at 12:00 AM EST. I will randomly select the winners and contact them later that day. Good luck!

Visually-speaking, nothing has really changed from the standard Cruze, apart from the “2.0 TD” badge on the rear of the car. But what you should be interested in lies underneath the hood, of course.

The Clean Turbo Diesel is powered by a 2.0L turbo-diesel, developing 148 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque, figures which General Motors claims are “segment-leading”. Coupled with a six-speed automatic transmission, that power propels the diesel Cruze from 0 to 60 in 8.6 seconds – GM is quick to point out that this is faster than the VW Jetta TDI with an automatic.

But let’s face it – most people aren’t going to buy this car for performance. It’s a fuel economy machine, and the Clean Turbo Diesel has got you covered there as well. GM claims it has “best-in-segment range” and achieves 42 mpg on the highway.

If you’re interested, GM is looking to price the car really rather reasonably, with a $25,695 MSRP, including destination and a two-year maintenance plan.

Source: General Motors

Although it’s always best to consider all the options when purchasing a product, let’s face it – we all tend to have preferences for certain brands in their respective industries. So my question for you today is this: Where do your brand loyalties, if any, lie in the automotive industry?

I try to approach the subject of automobiles as objectively as possible, but I have to admit I do have a certain fondness for Audi’s these days. I think they have, by far and away, the best interiors in their class. Everything you could possibly touch has soft-touch materials, and they just look very clean and classy. The RS-models are fantastic too, with excellent exhaust notes and plenty of oomph. Their fast wagons are my favourites of course – I would do unthinkable things for the new RS6 Avant. Well, maybe I’d prefer the RS2 Avant. Now there’s a difficult decision!

Lately, I’ve been pondering diversifying my blogging a bit into the realm of technology. So, being a huge fan of BlackBerry devices, I’m trying my hand at tech blogging with BlackBerry Buff. If you’re at all interested in tech, phones, tablets, BlackBerry’s, or just need to kill some time, have a look!

Well, one RWD advantage comes to mind instantly!

These days, front-wheel-drive has become the drivetrain layout of choice for most manufacturers. Even BMW, famous in the past for criticizing the layout, has given into the temptation with their FWD Concept Active Tourer. But many of us gearheads have pooh-poohed automakers for this, claiming that rear-wheel-drive is far superior. And in some ways, that’s certainly true. Let’s have a look at the facts so we can draw some conclusions.

For those of you who aren’t aware, front-wheel-drive means the engine’s power is sent to the front wheels. So yes, rear-wheel-drive means the engine’s power is sent to the rear wheels. And when you look at this from a simple, scientific point-of-view, a problem is immediately evident with FWD – you’re giving the same set of wheels two simultaneous tasks, steering and propulsion.

As a result, FWD cars have a tendency to understeer. They also tend to torque steer, meaning that the steering will pull to one side under acceleration. The two of these can get extremely annoying under harsh driving. However, the Average Joe will have a much easier time handling understeer than oversteer, which is what RWD cars usually produce when pushed past the limits of adhesion. It’s simply more predictable, and although proper driver training can make RWD safe too, we all know this isn’t a perfect world and some drivers are better off sticking to FWD.

From a performance standpoint then, RWD is your best friend. By sending power to the rear wheels, the front wheels are free to do what they do best, eliminating torque steer, preventing understeer, and improving steering feel. It also allows for greater maximum grip, as the load on the tires is more evenly distributed. Moreover, RWD helps even out weight distribution by putting the differential at the back, as well as usually moving the transmission closer to the rear. During acceleration the weight of the car shifts towards the rear, giving RWD an advantage once again by putting weight over the driving wheels for extra grip.

By now you’re probably thinking “Well I’m an excellent driver, I can handle rear-wheel-drive, why won’t the automakers just give it to me?!” And there’s a very good reason they won’t – money. FWD cars are usually cheaper to make, as all the drivetrain parts can be packaged right into the front of the car. They also tend to have less parts, as there is no need for a transmission tunnel or a long driveshaft. And since the average driver isn’t going to care much about the dynamics of a RWD vehicle, automakers can save a fortune like this.

Does this mean gearheads should avoid FWD altogether though? I don’t think so. You see, all other things even, RWD makes for a better performance car than FWD, yes. But there aren’t any FWD cars in the world where RWD is an optional extra. So this means that, despite the disadvantages of FWD, good engineers have put out some great cars using the layout – the VW GTI comes to mind, for instance. And if you’re only ever going to daily drive the vehicle in question, then chances are you’ll never notice the difference anyways. But if you’re looking for a track vehicle, then rear-wheel-drive is your best bet. So at the end of the day, it all depends on you, the driver – and that’s why it’s great to have some variety in the automotive industry.

Image Credit: Portik Lorant (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Cars and fireworks – perfect combination!

So here it is, 2013. The Mayans were evidently wrong! Throughout 2012, the car industry continued to produce products both great and awful, with the pressure still on to improve fuel economy. 2013 is sure to bring about plenty of interesting changes to reflect the importance of fuel economy. Here’s hoping that they don’t forget to make something exciting while they’re at it – Happy New Year everbody!

PS: With the holiday season wrapping up, I should hopefully be resuming a normal posting schedule soon.

Image Credit: Jason Mrachina (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)