truth about domestics

Ever wonder what goes through the minds of the guys on Top Gear?  They have one of the most entertaining car shows ever produced and yet they continue to outdo themselves.  The video above pits an all-American V8 powered Camaro SS against a German engine of similar displacement in the E63 AMG.  Check out all 9 minutes 51 seconds above, enjoy!

Check out this video of a 2010 Camaro SS with hydraulics.  Can’t say it’s what I would do to my car, but everyone loves something different when it comes to cars, am I right???

Sure, no one from Truth About Domestics was invited to the press preview of the new 2011 Mustang.  We didn’t get to sample the slick new 5.0L V8 or the steal-of-a-deal 3.7L V6.  We have no idea how they drive, handle, ride, take off, impress the ladies, or anything like that.  However, Popular Hot Rodding magazine did get invited and here’s how the car faired.  Ford had set up an eighth-mile drag strip to show off the 2011 Mustang GT 5.0L vs the 2010 Camaro SS.  Both cars were equipped with automatic transmissions.  The results?  The Mustang consistently came out ahead, putting down a 8.62 at 86 mph, while the Camaro lagged behind at 8.82 at 83 mph.  For the full story, head on over to PHR’s website.

(Image source: two-laneblacktopdragstrip.com)

General Motors and its CAW workforce have something to celebrate!  Less than a year after production started, the 100,000th Camaro rolled off the assembly line in Oshawa, Ontario just last week.  The car was an Inferno Orange Camaro SS.  So far in 2009 the Camaro was outselling the segment leader, the Ford Mustang, but that was before a powertrain upgrade.  Now the 2011 Mustang is packing nearly identical horsepower ratings in its V6 and V8 engines.  We’ll just have to stay tuned to see which car ends up on top of the Muscle Car sales heap.  For more, head on over to Camaro5 or Autoblog.

(Image source: Stephen Panoff for Truth About Domestics)

S.O.B!  What does a 16 year old need a brand new Camaro for?  Oh well, better than getting him a Hyundai Genesis Coupe or some other foreign garbage like that.

Both the V6 and V8 versions of the 2011 Mustang offer you way more power than the 2010 powertrains they replace, and they do it for only modest increases in price!  The 3.7L V6 packs over 300 horsepower and gets 30 miles per gallon and will only set you back $750 more than the outgoing model, and it’s still over $500 less than a comparably equipped Camaro.  The legendary five-oh is back in the V8 model and will cost around $1,250 more than the 4.6L 2010 it replaces, still $1,300 cheaper than a 1SS equipped 6.2L Camaro.  The full pricing guide can be found at The Mustang Source.  Or you can head on over to Autoblog to check out the gallery and also the pricing guide in case it gets pulled down.

(Image source: Ford)

It’s a funny world that we live in today.  Companies are using the internet to market their products but that same internet can come back to bite them.  Honda found that out the hard way when they released pictures of their new Accord Crosstour on Facebook and the opinions left were less than favorable.  To make matters worse, Honda started deleting the negative comments and actually had employees leave positive feedback without stating they were a member of Honda’s workforce.

The blogs lit up again when stories came out about 2010 Camaro SS owners having transmission issues and the complaints were quickly blown out of proportion.  So, to help calm any concerns, GM’s own John Fitzpatrick, marketing manager of Chevrolet’s performance cars, went on the blog and left his own comments and GM’s official response to the situation.  He let owners know the issue has been corrected, all cars affected are covered by GM’s 5 year/100,000 mile warranty and they would stand by that decision.  For all of the details, head on over to Autoblog.

(Image source: GM)

The masses have spoken, and horsepower is their answer!  According to Edmunds’ Inside Line, nearly two thirds of all of the 47,000 plus Camaros sold since April have been the SS model packing a 6.2L V8.  The SS models go for at least $8,000 more than the base V6′s so I’m sure General Motors is happy the ratio of V8 to V6 is so high.

(Image source: GM)

You would think that since the Camaro is based off GM’s global rear wheel drive architecture that was developed in Australia by Holden that the Camaro would be sold down under too?  Well, think again.  The Aussies drive on the left side of the road, requiring cars there to be right hand drive so, no Camaros are available.  Well, Performax International has come up with a solution!  For the low, low, LOW price of $128,500, they will convert a U.S. spec Camaro into a right hand driver, suitable for the Australian roads.  Even though this price is insane, they have already received 6 orders.  Proof that American Muscle knows no bounds…

For the full story, head on over to Carscoop.

(Image source: egmcartech.com)

Motor Trenddecided to put together a group of 10 cars they called “Today’s Ultimate Performance Cars” and from them they picked America’s Best Driver’s Car.  When you look at the list, it’s quite an impressive group of cars, ranging from an Audi R8 to a Mazda Miata MX-5.  The interesting thing is that 4 of the cars are from the Domestic manufacturers, the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, Cadillac CTS-V and Chevrolet Camaro.  Not surprising, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai and Kia all failed to post a car in the test, simply because they don’t really produce a single car that would ever be in the same sentence as the word “performance” – well unless the word “horrible” was in front of it.

For the full 18 page test, head on over to Motor Trend.

(Image source: Motor Trend)