This is the Morning Shift, our one-stop daily roundup of all the auto news that’s actually important — all in one place at 9:00 AM. Or, you could spend all day waiting for other sites to parcel it out to you one story at a time. Isn’t your time more important? More »
Nissan has figured out how to make flame retardant Leafs? There are local governments all across the United States that are very excited to hear about this.
Hmmm… and the anniversary of the redesign being forced down the throats of everyone who wasn’t already doing beta-testing of the redesign. It was a hell of a transition. It hurt, it was a lot like adolescence, awkward, misunderstood, pent up anger, releases of anger, girls were hard to come by… And everyone had a cru$h on the same girl. But we made it through. Unfortunately Nibbles still hasn’t graduated, he’s got to be on the 6 or 7 year plan.
Gamecat235
Yes, if you read we’re saying they should call it the 5000 because it is totally different.
Matt Hardigree
I was just thinking the same thing.
TrampaOnline
6th: The front impact is unlikely to damage the battery systems. Let’s see what happens when one is t-boned at 45 mph.
GV_Goat
Exactly, I’ve said as much. Most users don’t differentiate between a poorly designed UI and a buggy UI. They just think it sux. And it did.
GV_Goat
“…300 hp would be over the top”.
Exactly the point.
GV_Goat
Agreed. I’ve tried to access this site from my Kindle Fire and it’s unreadable. Everything just layers on top of each other and it looks terrible.
M0L0TOV
“Cinque Mille” means 5000 not 500
the Fiat 500 is totally different
casper_469
Reverse: F1 brawler Adrian Sutil fights with Lewis Hamilton, his only friend.
Aren’t all friends dicks to each other?
Kiwi_Commander
Jesus, Sutil, now is not the time for you to start throwing around names like that. You want to at least look like you’re assuming the best of everyone and hope that some people give you the benefit of the doubt in return.
Jeb_Hoge
1st – Every single styling cue in this car is either from the 500 or the New Panda. I’m not sure about it at the back… Still, as a Punto driver I can tell you it will probably roll quite a bit during enthusiastic cornering. I also don’t think there’s an AWD version.
R4 – #shamefulselfplug
R5 – That explains why Jason Plato went to MG then.
Mikeado
I understand the term “drop” in recording industry parlance, but when I read “Audi drops R8 GT Spyder pricing”, it reads as a price reduction. I shouldn’t be halfway through the blurb before I realize, “oh, he means Audi is releasing the price.”
Come on, Ray. Using “drop” doesn’t make the headline more hip. It just makes it less concise.
smalleyxb122
“Audi Drops R8 GT Spyder Pricing”
Can you please stop using the the word “drops” the way you currently do? It’s obnoxious as shit and totally misleading when you’re talking about cost.
Cheeseslap
You ever tried “Montreal Smoked Meat Poutine?”
OOglebooze
6th gear: Did they properly discharge the batteries unlike the NHTSA’s Volt? Have any Volts been crashed since the fires occurred? How many of those have burst into flames almost immediately (relative to the age of the earth)?
Axel-Ripper
1st Gear: I would honestly rather have a Soul..They look similar, and the Soul feels like it actually has soul, plus it isn’t as ugly as that Fiat. Even a cruiser bruiser or countryman looks better than that thing.
valdaviper1
The “Canadian connection” goes back to the 4th gen days. After 4th gen production ended and the St. Therese plant was bulldozed, there was a rumor (can’t find an article to confirm or deny this) that the Canadian Auto Workers had negotiated an arrangement with GM that would have them build any car named Camaro in Canada. The 5th gen then began production at Oshawa.
TRAMS_AM
1st gear: Can’t we just have the Panda?
3rd Gear: I know people who won’t buy “foreign cars” like the Camry or the Honda Pilot (both built in the US) but will buy a Chrysler Town and Country – built in Canada. Because they buy American, dammit! I can’t wait to tell them about the ZL1. HA!
ThirdPedalGirl
1st: Beneath those headlights that looks exactly like the new Panda, which hasn’t gone on sale yet. Being a fashion statement, the 500 will probably cost significantly more. That being said, 1.3 Multijet II with AWD… make it so.
oyumurtaci
Love the Morning Shift. My day is complete without it.
While I didn’t hate the redesign as much as some others, it did seem to complicate things unnecessarily. I think like most of us, I’ve just gotten used to it over the past year.
frögberg
3rd So fitting that the Canadanianese-built ZL1 is equipped with the LSEh! V8.
philaDLJ
It reminds me a little too much of the HHR being a copy of the PT Cruiser, albiet not 8 years too late.
spuy767
History: The current user interface design is clean, intuitive, and good-looking — superior in many ways to the previous layout, and customizable to be a compromise between the two, for those who just can’t let blog view go. However, I just can’t understand how Gawker Media could simply toss broken code straight into the live system without any apparent end-to-end testing. If there were a test server somewhere that was breaking as often as the real site, I wouldn’t be surprised in the least, but in that mode it wouldn’t impact use of the real site. Throwing broken code into a live environment is disrespectful to the users and ultimately not helpful to the developers who aren’t given the chance to find and fix bugs in a controlled environment.
zerobandwidth
Ohio finally making left lane squatting illegal. Does that mean their drivers won’t come to Michigan and drive 65 in the left lane for 30 miles?
11after9
1) Well Hey there Mini Countryman.
2) <400 Lb/Ft CP.
6) Fuck off disingenuous headline. The Volt didn’t burst into flames when it crashed either. It caught fire ater three weeks of sitting in a junk yard with god knows what happening to it. Let us not forget that the NHSTA declared that there was no increased risk of fire with the Volt, but GM went about strengthening the battery anyway.
spuy767
2nd Unfortunately, it’s an extra-cost option to NOT have an obnoxious billboard put up in your honor warning your fellow citizens to stay out of your way.
philaDLJ
300 hp in a car that size? No way. It isn’t exactly sporty either.
According to the article it’s based on the Punto. The Abarth SS version of that car has 180 hp. 300 hp would be over the top.
duurtlang
The Fiat 500L I would want – AWD, 6 speed manual, 300hp turbo four. Never going to happen.
Xedicon
3rd
I can’t help but read the quotes about the Camaro in a cartoonish Canadian accent:
“This-here is an exciting new chaaapter in the ongooooing reviiiival of the tremeeendously popular Cheveeeey Camaaaro,” Kevin Williams, president and managing director of GM of Canada, said in a press release. “The new 2012 Camaaaaaaro ZeeeeL1 fuuurther demonstrates the fleeeexible caaaaapabilities of the awaaaard-winning Oooooshawa Assembly Plant. Eh?”
Going to Toshi Station to pick up some power converters
Poutine is a pure marvel.
I allow myself one or two per year.
Probably tomorrow….
Kate’s Dirty Sister
1st We never like to see what looks like such a huge expanse of dashboard in such a small car – it’s a dead giveaway function followed form – and in this case, the resulting form looks a bit to much like a Countryman with the 500′s face literally stretched over the front end.
All that aside, this should sell at least as well as the regular 500 if Countryman sales (~30% of total MINI sales) are any indication. Fiat certainly needs the help.
philaDLJ
Yeah, the new redesign is garbage. To quote myself from facebook, we like Jalopnik like we like our cars: simple, lightweight, low maintenance, and fast. The new layout, while kinda interesting from a techie standpoint I guess, is none of these.
jedimario
Whereas I just thank Canada for poutine.
Marimvibe, Queen of Scotch
5th
The new A class looks better than before. Maybe this generation will be the first A-class to become competitive among people younger than 55.
duurtlang
I love the Morning Shift… It really is the best thing to come from the redesign. I look forward to it every morning. That being said, I’m still not crazy about the new Jalopnik and I think we lost quite a few commenters because of it (that and we had a lot of editorial changes too). Either way, I have no plans to leave the community over the layout.
BUT…If you guys are taking notes, 1) Give me a direct link to Opposite Lock so I don’t have to scroll back two the Morning Shift. 2) Bring back the second scroll bar for the side menu as it works easier with a track pad on a laptop. 3) Can you fix the mobile site so that links with video don’t lock out the screen and let me scroll to the article. Currently, I have to stop the loading before its complete to read the article, then reload to watch the video.
Thanks guys and keep up the great work
Bullitt417 Picked Up his Mustang GT
3rd Gear: CORRECTION: Canada’s fastest export since Pam Anderson went to Hollywood.
DannyBN
1st
As for powertrains, the U.S. version will likely come with the 1.4-liter MultiAir engine — hopefully with a bit more “oomph” than the 101 horsepower and 98 pound-feet of torque you get with the 500.
I’ve read an article about this car a week or so ago. It’ll come with frugal 2 cylinder gas engines and 4 cylinder diesel engines in Europe, and with the ‘big’ 4 cylinder 1.4 in the US. If I recall correctly and the article was truthful.
duurtlang
Audi Spyder…211,200…crack pipe
v-12
On the other hand, Mustang fans thank Canada for putting the Challenger on the fat diet of poutine and maple syrup.
Ravey Mayvey Slurpee’s current urge: 1982 Alfa Romeo GTV6 (and still Yvonne Strahovski)