2001 Chevrolet Tracker Soft Top on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Impala SS vs. Marauder: Recalling Detroit’s muscle sedans 

Impala SS vs. Marauder — it was comparo that only really happened in theory. ChevyÂ’s muscle sedan ran from 1994-96, while MercuryÂ’s answer arrived in 2003 and only lasted until 2004. TheyÂ’re linked inextricably, as there were few options for powerful American sedans during that milquetoast period for enthusiasts. The debate was reignited recently among Autoblog editors when a pristine 1996 Chevy Impala SS with just 2,173 miles on the odometer hit the market on Bring a Trailer. Most of the staff favored the Impala for its sinister looks and said that it lived up to its billing as a legit muscle car. Nearly two-thirds of you agree. We ran an unscientific Twitter poll that generated 851 votes, 63.9 percent of which backed the Impala. Muscle sedans, take your pick: — Greg Migliore (@GregMigliore) April 14, 2020 Then and now enthusiasts felt the Impala was a more complete execution with guts. The Marauder, despite coming along later, felt more hacked together, according to prevailing sentiments. Why? On purpose and on paper theyÂ’re similar. The ImpalaÂ’s 5.7-liter LT1 V8 making 260 horsepower and 330 pound-feet of torque was impressive for a two-ton sedan in the mid-Â’90s. The Marauder was actually more powerful — its 4.6-liter V8 was rated at 302 hp and 318 lb-ft. The ImpalaÂ’s engine was also used in the C4 Corvette. The MarauderÂ’s mill was shared with the Mustang Mach 1. You can see why they resonated so deeply with Boomers longing for a bygone era and also captured the attention of coming-of-age Gen Xers. Car and DriverÂ’s staff gave the Marauder a lukewarm review back in ‘03, citing its solid handling and features, yet knocking the sedan for being slow off the line. In a Hemmings article appropriately called “Autopsy” from 2004, the ImpalaÂ’s stronger low-end torque and smooth shifting transmission earned praise, separating it from the more sluggish Mercury. All of this was captured in the carsÂ’ acceleration times, highlighting metrically the differences in their character. The Impala hit 60 miles per hour in 6.5 seconds, while the Marauder was a half-second slower, according to C/D testing. Other sites have them closer together, which reinforces the premise it really was the little things that separated these muscle cars. Both made the most of their genetics, riding on ancient platforms (FordÂ’s Panther and General MotorsÂ’ B-body) that preceded these cars by decades. Both had iconic names.

Porsche wins the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans

The question going into this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans was whether or not the Porsche 919 Hybrid would be able to combine its qualifying pace with race reliability. After battling neck-and-neck with Audi's R18 for most of the race, the answer is a resounding yes. Not only did Porsche drivers climb the first two spots on the podium, they did so without any major mishaps on track. This win is the first overall trophy for Porsche since 1998. Audi previously won the last five races, and 13 of the last 15. Corvette also returned to the winner's circle, with the No. 64 C7.R taking winning the GTE Pro division. The victory is the first class win for Corvette since 2011. KCMG won the LMP2 class in ninth overall. With 45 minutes to go the No. 98 Aston Martin crashed out of first place in GTE Amateur, giving the class win to SMP Racing's Ferrari and second place to the Patrick Dempsey Racing Porsche 911 RSR. For the full list of official results, click here. The GTE Pro class proved to be just as exciting as the P1 class, with a four-way battle for first after four hours into the race. For most of the race, the battle at the top went back and forth between the two German manufacturers. An tire puncture in the No. 7 Audi gave up the lead to Porsche, and moments later a crash forced the No. 8 into the garage. But a three-minute replacement of the front and rear bodywork kept the Audi in contention. As the race wore into the night, Porsche maintained a slightly faster pace than Audi. Nick Tandy took the lead on Lap 253 early Sunday morning, and car No. 19 never gave up the top position. The win is the first for all three drivers of the No. 19 – Nico Hulkenberg, Earl Bamber, and Nick Tandy. A lap behind in second was the No. 17 Porsche. The Audis fought reliability problems late in the race but still finished third with the No. 7 R18. The GTE Pro class proved to be just as exciting as the P1 class, with a four-way battle for first after four hours into the race. As the Aston Martin cars dropped away, the lone Corvette Racing entry took over, followed by a charging AF Corse team Ferrari 458 Italia. The Corvette and Ferrari continued to trade places in the final hours until gearbox trouble forced the No. 51 Ferrari out of contention. It was eventually passed by the other AF Corse car, No. 71. Nissan experienced all the pain of a first-year effort with its front-wheel-drive GT-R LM Nismo.

Here are all the cars GM is axing as part of its restructuring

GM plans to kill off a couple of great and a few meh cars as part of its restructuring. Here's a rundown of all the cars being phased out of production. None of the vehicles GM axed were SUVs or crossovers. Instead, it was an action reminiscent of what Ford recently decided to do by discontinuing U.S. sales every Blue Oval sedan. GM just didn't explicitly say, "We're killing our cars," like Ford did — probably a smart move by GM. Keep scrolling down to see the full list of deceased GM models. Chevrolet Volt This one was the most surprising of all the cars GM decided to can, primarily because cars with plugs are supposed to be our future. However, maybe consumer demand just isn't quite there yet for a plug-in like the Volt. We came up with all sorts of ideas for what was to blame for the untimely demise of the Volt, so go check that out for a full breakdown of the situation. Cadillac CT6 Here's another car we'll be sad to see go. Cadillac's flagship sedan was such a joy to drive, and it served as the conduit to deliver GM's semi-autonomous Super Cruise system, which still hasn't been surpassed by any other company's technology in our books, even Tesla's Autopilot. That being said, GM does plan to produce the CT6 until March, with the last cars coming off the line set to be twin-turbo V8 V-Series models. If it's going to go, this seems like a pretty great way to make an exit. We'll be patiently awaiting the next flagship Cadillac once this one finally fades away. Chevrolet Impala The Impala is actually a pretty good car. It doesn't sell terribly, and we think it's a completely satisfactory car to drive. However, people would rather have a Traverse or Equinox these days, making the Impala one of the vehicles to find itself on this list. Chevrolet is keeping its smaller brother, the Malibu, but a big, full-size sedan just isn't what people are ordering up these days. It's unfortunate to see it go, but we won't be broken up over it. Chevrolet Cruze We wouldn't rank the Cruze at the top of the compact car class, but if you were looking for a small, cheap American car, it was either this or the Focus. The Cruze had the potential to be a true small performance car if Chevy had ever wanted to make it into one. But sadly, we're seeing it bow out before Chevy ever tried to slot a hot engine and suspension in there to make it competitive with other hot hatches. A Cruze SS would have made enthusiasts take notice.