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Look at me, all alone, spending quality time behind the wheel of the 2014 Chevrolet Cruze 2LT RS. I'm not going to spoil the fun by sharing the trip with someone else. It's just me and the car, and truthfully, I like it a lot.

I ran into this guy at the gas station who glanced at the Cruze and said to me: “Wow, nice car!” Nice? How about Red Hot? That's the name of the body colour, by the way. If you want to keep a low profile on the road, pick a different hue. Otherwise, expect to turn heads everywhere you go. Heck, you'll have no trouble finding the Cruze, even after dusk, if you forget where you parked.


Driving the 2014 Chevrolet Cruze 2LT RS
I really liked the driving position, the perfectly sized steering wheel, the very comfortable and heated seats (it's still a bit chilly in the morning), and good visibility offered by the 2014 Chevrolet Cruze 2LT RS.

In typical compact-car fashion, rear-seat legroom is limited, so you won't make a round trip from Montreal to Quebec City with your friends just to eat a delicious poutine. On the other hand, the massive trunk of the 2014 Chevrolet Cruze 2LT RS will beg you to go shopping at the local Costco, even leaving some room for dessert.

Is the engine powerful enough? That always depends on your right foot. In the case of the 2014 Chevrolet Cruze 2LT RS, the small 1.4L turbocharged Ecotec easily met my occasional need for speed. I was more than content to just sit back, relax and, well, cruise.

Inside and Out of the 2014 Chevrolet Cruze 2LT RS
The dashboard combines various plastics and textures, one of which proves pretty nice to look at, although it will attract dust like paparazzi on Kim Kardashian. As for the MyLink system and 7” colour touchscreen; the controls are simple to access and very functional.

My only complaint would be the rear-view camera (which I never really use, anyway, since I prefer to look over my shoulder when backing up): Watching the image on the screen, I had the impression of looking into a peephole... covered in Vaseline. Every car has its flaws, after all.

Comparing the 2014 Chevrolet Cruze 2LT RS
We pitted the Cruze against the likes of the Hyundai Elantra, Volkswagen Jetta, and Mazda3 in our most recent compact car comparison. Check it out to see how the bowtie fared.

I loved my brief affair with the sharp-looking, good-tempered 2014 Chevrolet Cruze 2LT RS. I'd be more than willing to go on extra dates with this surprising American, which also happens to be a moderate drinker and a playful partner when need be.

National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), which purchased Saab in 2012, has released a statement to inform that production of the Saab 9-3 is now suspended because one of its shareholders, Qingbo Investment Co. Ltd., has not fulfilled its contractual obligation to finance the operations. NEVS also had to reduce its workforce.

The company's main owner, National Modern Energy Holdings Ltd., has become its sole investor and recently committed large sums of money in China, most notably for a new battery factory and a technology development centre.

NEVS insists that its assets are significantly higher than its debt, and is confident that it will find a way to secure long-term financing.

Source : autoguide.com

The all-new 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT will be the most powerful Challenger ever thanks to an optional supercharged 6.2L HEMI Hellcat V8 engine producing more than 600 horsepower. The standard 6.4L HEMI V8 generates 485 horsepower.

Both engines are mated to a segment-first 8-speed TorqueFlite automatic transmission.

The 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT also features exclusive alloy wheels, the largest front-brake package ever installed on an SRT vehicle, as well as an all-new driver-centric cockpit with world-class materials and cutting-edge technology.

Production of the 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT will begin in the third quarter of this year at the Brampton assembly plant in Ontario. Pricing has yet to be announced.

Photo: Dodge

From press release

Scotia Speedworld's Weekly Racing Series will kick off their 27th season this Sunday at 2 pm. All six Weekly Racing Series divisions will see action on the oval this Sunday.

Adult tickets are $12;Youth tickets (8-15 years) are just $2 and children 7 and under are admitted for free all season at Scotia Speedworld.

Tickets will be available at the gate on race day (cash only). Grandstand gates open at noon with qualifying for all six Weekly Racing Series divisions slated to get underway at 2 pm.

Five of the six divisions will see their champions return to defend their crowns earned one season ago.

The Weekly Racing Series will take the following weekend off as Scotia Speedworld hosts Maple Leaf Monster Jam on May 31 and June 1.

The Weekly Racing Series will return to its usual 7 pm time slot on Friday nights starting on June 6 and will run every Friday night following for the remainder of the season. If you're planning on attending Monster Jam be sure to hang onto your ticket stub and you can catch the Weekly Racing Series on Friday, June 6 for just $5! (grandstands only)

Scotia Speedworld is a 3/10-mile asphalt oval racing facility. SSW is the only track in Nova Scotia to host a weekly racing series, which runs May through September and features six different classes of racecars. SSW also hosts special events, including Monster Jam and the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour.

Scotia Speedworld is located at Exit 6 on Highway 102, across from the Halifax Stanfield International Airport. For more information please click on www.ScotiaSpeedworld.ca or call our Event Hotline at (902) 873-2277 or our office at (902) 481-2514.

A document released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and posted on the Wall Street Journal's website reveals that GM employees must refrain from using certain words in their communications and reports.

The automaker wants “engineering results, facts, and judgements.” Employees need to avoid “speculations, opinions, vague non-descriptive words, or words with emotional connotations.”

GM's black list includes such expressions as “dangerous,” “flawed,” “critical,” “problem,” “decapitating,” “disemboweling,” “suicidal”, “potentially disfiguring,” and “widow-maker.”

Employees are told to use more appropriate terms like “above/below/exceeds expectations” instead of “good/bad” or “does not perform to design” instead of “defective.”

Source : blogs.wsj.com

From GMM

Daniil Kvyat says he is taking a "step in the dark" this weekend at Monaco.

While others in the Principality are soaking up the glamour of the 'jewel' in F1's crown, the Russian 20-year-old is thinking about his very first laps of the challenging layout.

Not only that, Sergio Perez said on Wednesday that, with the lower-grip 2014 cars and the high-torque turbo engines, Monaco will be even tougher than usual this year.

"We will see drivers make many mistakes," said the Mexican. "It will definitely be more exciting than in recent years."

'Exciting' may not be the right word for Kvyat, who began his F1 career with Toro Rosso this year as a teenager.

And he stepped into F1 straight from GP3, a lower-tier formula that did not race at Monaco in 2013.

"Monaco for me will be an absolutely new experience," said Kvyat.

"Not only have I never raced here, I have never even been on a visit. In fact, I have never raced on any street circuit.

"It will really be a step into the unknown for me," he said, explaining that he has spent only half a day driving the layout on the simulator.

Aerial view of Monaco. (Photo: WR2i)

Brembo, the storied Italian brake supplier to Ferrari, Porsche and Formula One race cars, is developing a major presence in the North American market.

Pricing for Ford's refreshed 2015 Lincoln Navigator SUV, set to hit the market this fall, will start at $62,475, including destination and delivery fees, the company said Wednesday.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra told lawmakers that GM plans to release its long-awaited ignition switch recall investigation simultaneously with its plan for compensating victims of the flawed part, The Associated Press reported today.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra met with congressional leaders today to discuss GM's ignition switch recall.

If most vehicles are going to share technology and offer the same functionality, then styling will be the differentiator, General Motors global design chief Ed Welburn says.

Assembly of Saab 9-3 cars has come to a halt at the National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) plant in Trollhättan due to a shortage of funds.

Costs related to handling vehicle recalls could soon be shifted to consumers if the pace and volume of vehicle recalls following General Motors' ignition switch crisis become the norm, Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said today.

The 2014 Mille Miglia was held on the roads from Brescia, Italy to Rome over the weekend, but one pair of drivers probably wish they skipped this year after a catastrophicand#8212;for the carsand#8212;crash that took out this

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GM and Delphi asked the Texas Supreme Court to merge four driver-injury suits tied to faulty ignition switches into one state case.

The star car from the U.K.'s "The Persuaders!" TV series, a 1970 Aston Martin driven

General Motors dealers are heading into one of their busiest weekends of the year unable to deliver some of their most popular vehicles: large crossovers.

Leaders of the White House task force that orchestrated the government bailout of General Motors and Chrysler in 2009 said today that they knew nothing about GM's defective ignition switch at the time from talking to the top executives involved in...

General Motors is overhauling its legal department as the automaker tries to break down bottlenecks that delayed the recall of millions of cars for a defect linked to 13 deaths, people familiar with the matter have told Blomberg News.