Dodge Durango - 3rd Generation

Back in 1998, the Dodge Durango is actually a sporty utility vehicle spin-off of the small Dakota pick-up truck. Then, it followed with a full model change in 2003 as a 2004 model, along with its Dakota cousin. When the Durango's birthplace, the Newark plant in Delaware, was shut down, most of them know that the Durango is dead, or so we thought. In the summer of 2010, the Dodge Durango is reincarnated and no longer the SUV version of the Dakota, which is scheduled to be euthanized this year, and now as a full-size crossover SUV ready to tackle on the GMC Acadia, Chevrolet Traverse, Buick Enclave, and now, the fifth-generation Ford Explorer as well!

2011 Dodge Durango

2011 Dodge Durango

Now evolved into a full-size crossover SUV, the third-generation Dodge Durango still carries the same Durango goodness now in its new form. On the design study, the new Durango has a hulking front face that impresses the crowd thanks to the newly revised Dodge signature grille. The rear view of the new Durango is somewhat like a Toyota Fortuner to me but I really like it. The new third-generation Durango is like the American Fortuner as we know it.

On the inside, the new instrumental panel on the new Durango really made a point and the leather seats are exquisite, making the driver and the passengers pleasurable to relax inside the new Durango. On the Citadel variant, you can see the words Citadel spelled it out on the front seats, plus it was covered in Premium Nappa leather seats. The egoist inside is somewhat an egoist quality for the Citadel variant on the new Durango.

The new Durango has an increased wheelbase of 3045mm (3030mm in the previous generation), decreased length of 5075mm (5100mm in the previous generation), width of 1925mm (1930mm in the previous generation) and the height of 1801mm (1890 in the previous generation). The downsizing makes it somewhat a point blank because the frame was based on the latest Jeep Grand Cherokee, but the increased wheelbase makes it a point. Anyway, the shorter height comes with big surprises if you know what I mean.

The new Durango has two available engines; one is the all-new 290-horsepower 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 and the high-performance 360-horsepower 5.7-liter HEMI V8 engine. Both of these are equipped with the 5-speed automatic W5A580 transmission. My pick would be the 5.7 V8 engine because its the most flagship of the Durango variants but I could just go for the new Pentastar 3.6L V6 engine because this is a new engine for the new car.

On the safer side, the new Durango has a wide range of safety features such as the Rain Brake Support, Ready Alert Braking, Antilock 4-Wheel Disc Heavy Duty Brakes, Hill Start Assist, Air Bags, Electronic Vehicle Info Center w/ Reconfig Display, HID Headlamps, Blind Spot and Rear Cross Path Detection, Adaptive Speed Control / Forward Collision Warning, Enhanced Accident Response System, and Forward Collision Warning. These features make the new Durango a safer crossover to rely on.

The new Durango has four different variants to choose from; the standard Durango Express, the advanced Durango Crew, the stylish Durango Crew Lux, and the flagship Durango Citadel.Depending on the variant, the available color variantions are;

1) Inferno Red Crystal Pearl

2) Bright Silver Metallic

3) White Gold

4) Natural Green Pearl

5) Brilliant Black Crystal Pearl

6) Blackberry Pearl

7) Dark Charcoal Pearl

8) Mineral Grey

9) Stone White

My thoughts about the Durango:
The Durango is now reborn in a form of a full-size crossover SUV and its major major opponents are the GMC Acadia/Acadia Denali, Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, or even the new Ford Explorer. Honestly, I think the new Ford Explorer is much better than the new Durango because of the advanced features that the Durango cannot have and the pricing is somewhat a winner for the Explorer because $28,190 (2,920,000 pesos as expected) is better than the new Durango's starter pricing of $29,195 (3,010,000 pesos as expected). Anyway, can the new Durango be the winner to the new line-up of Chrysler vehicles? I hope so, but the main targets could be average American families, executives, VIPs, especially the Mafia.

Photo: Chrysler Group, LLC

"Have a break, have a Ngit Ngat"

What just happened on the January 7, 2011 episode of Bubble Gang?

- In Cheche Bureche, did Cheche cleaned up the bedroom? Cheche knows that Dad said if whoever cleaned up the most deserves an ice cream. Bureche's mad because what just happened to her stuff and she wants Cheche to put it back but Dad's home. Word of advice Bureche; be competitive. But wait, Bureche doesn't know what "competitive" means and AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!

- Bubble Gang spoofs the commercial of Nestle Kit Kat and gagged it as "Bestle Ngit Ngat".

- Jacky Woo, as James Wang, is back!

- The smoking gags

- Moymoy Palaboy and Roadfill in "Evanescence's Bring Me to Life"

- What to do with the blown fingers after New Year's Eve? (of course, these are the fingers haplessly blown by fireworks, but they have a lot of uses on these)

- Watch out for the Ghost Taker! The hostage taker on ghosts!

- Usapang Lasing with the boys

- A woman falls in love with the Pizza Delivery boy, then its everybody else!

- A dying man is not dying yet, except eating pancit

The Best of Lokomoko U Gags

On the January 7 episode of Lokomoko U:

- The most hilarious fan favorite of Lokomoko U, Pinoy Brainless, with JC De Vera and Rainier Castillo is here and geez, the stupidity made us laugh 100 times!

- The best gags of Lokomoko U since last year

- The Lola Basyang of Lokomoko U, named Lola Moko, is here again for the second time in "Ang Mga Alamat ni Lola Moko, and Lola Moko tells us the "Alamat ng Peklat".

- Mouse-ster and friends in Lokomoko U's Keso City introduced a newest mousy friend, Maria Cla-rat, a mouse from the poor province. In this Keso City, the mice ham out on everything college.

- Previously on Bahaw: Ikalawang Hain; the tensions between the characters led Blue (Empoy) singing the blues. Anyway, the house went out of power and who's going to light this out-of-power house? Doc, for sure.

How to make an animal figure with paper?

Ahem, on the January 7 episode of Banana Split there is another Art Throb portion with John Prats as Kuya Art.

In that episode, Kuya Art, the Art Throb, teaches us how to make an animal figure with the use of paper and scissors.

First off, Kuya Art teaches us to fold a paper in a horizontal manner, then cut the middle part with the scissor. After that, .... ugh that was quick to summarize what Kuya Art did.

The result: An animal on the left with the name of the animal on the right, like for example; Pusa (cat), but it can turn it into Aso (dog). Once it's Aso, it can't be undone!

BTW, there's another Melason sketch on Banana Split as Cheche and Monmon. Jason, as Monmon does a harana on Cheche, that's Melai. Later, Cheche spilled water on Monmon because Monmon was with another girl, but Monmon told it was his mother that took him to the mall. What did she do? FAST REWIND and problems solved, THE END!

Why, HARI? Why?

2012 Hyundai Grandeur

What a shocker! According to Top Gear Philippines, Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc., the number one Hyundai distributor in the Philippines, behind the best Hyundai models all Filipinos love such as the Starex, Santa Fe, Tucson, and others, resigned from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers in the Philippines or CAMPI.

Why would they do that?! They're the number one Korean car brand in the Philippines thanks to the offering of the Philippine-favorite CRDi engine, why resigning as the member of CAMPI?

We, Filipinos, love Hyundai because of the Starex, Santa Fe, Tucson iX, YF Sonata, recently launched Accent RB, and coming to the Philippines this year is the new, fifth-generation, Elantra (Avante) MD. What do we do now if our favorite Korean car brand left CAMPI for good?

(Photo above is the Hyundai Grandeur HG, coming to South Korea next week. It is uncertain that HARI may bring the new Grandeur as the Azera but I think they'll not bring it due to poor sales)

Oh well, Got to watch some Koreana episodes. I wonder what's going on with Kris Bernal, as Jenna?

Tongue Tarang Tongue for 01-06-11

In case you missed the Tongue Tarang Tongue in the January 6 episode on ABS-CBN's Banana Split, here goes;

Pinoy: Mapekla ang ibaba ng hita
Spanish: Benti-cinco

Pinoy: Rebulto ni Cesar
Japanese: Mashite

Pinoy: Dalawang beses bumati sa matanda
Spanish: Segunda mano

Pinoy: Nanginginig ang katawan
Japanese: Nangingisai

Pinoy: Mukhang kahon
Spanish: Cuatro canto

Pinoy: Umalis ka na asawa ko
Japanese: Gohan

Pinoy: Nawawalang mga lobo
Spanish: Los lobos

Pinoy: Masyadong matipuno
Japanese: Shumatsu

After this, and some Jail jokes, our new guy, Kuya Jhobert, teaches some guy on how to play golf in "Isports Lang", well almost... XD

Fifth generation Chevrolet Camaro Convertible

2011 Chevrolet Camaro Convertible

When the Chevrolet Camaro returned in the North American market for 2009 as a 2010 model, we believed that Bumblebee is more iconic than Eleanor thanks to Camaro sales higher than the Ford Mustang. Thanks to the Camaro's sales reached to the higher point, General Motors is now ready to give Bumblebee a haircut and call it the Camaro Convertible. The new Chevrolet Camaro Convertible is Bumblebee's new hot haircut, which means this is the soft-top version of the hit American muscle car.

Upon its launch, customers are ready to place orders on the new Camaro Convertible, with initial delivery starts at Spring 2011, the same season that Bumblebee's new haircut will hit showrooms soon. Despite Bumblebee's new soft-top haircut, Bumblebee can still experience the same goodness from its coupe counterpart.

The new Camaro Convertible is offered with two engine types; a 3.6L 312-hp V6 engine and the legendary 6.2L 426-hp V8 engine. Most variants are offered with a Six-Speed Manual Transmission but an optional Six-Speed Automatic Transmission with TAPshift controls is available for those who are not hungry over manual transmissions but whatever, most Bumblebee fans would go over the six-speed manual variant for sure.

Other main features include Four-Piston Brembo Brakes, StabiliTrak Electronic Stability Control System with Traction Control, Tire Pressure Monitor, and OnStar for reliable service offered throughout North America and it's free for six months. If you got bored over the normal Camaro look, don't worry, an RS Appearance Package made optional for those looking for style.

My thoughts about the Camaro Convertible:
With Bumblebee's new soft-top haircut, the new Chevrolet Camaro Convertible has the same Camaro goodness now in a soft-top convertible. This car is now available for pre-orders and to be delivered in the 1st or 2nd quarter of 2011. I just hope that The Covenant Car Company, Inc. (the official Chevrolet distributor from the Philippines) will bring the Camaro Convertible soon and if it does, what would Ryan Agoncillo think? If our favorite celebrity (since Ryan Agoncillo's the brand ambassador of Chevrolet in the Philippines) gets behind the wheel of the new Camaro Convertible, I am sure his hair will blown from the open air goodness of the Camaro Convertible.

Photo: General Motors

The Morning/Picanto's full model change

Kia Picanto/Morning '12

Ahead for Geneva debut this March, this must be how the full model change of the Kia Picanto (Morning) looks like.

In the tradition of the Peter Schreyer design language, the new Picanto or Morning now made even more aggressive. This looks like the Euro-only Kia Venga and it looks much better than the 2011 Toyota Vitz/Yaris!

Kia Venga 

Toyota Vitz RS '11

Expect more details about the Picanto/Morning's full model change soon!

Scoop:

http://www.topgear.com.ph/news/kia-releases-first-official-photos-of-next-gen-picanto

Nissan Fuga Y51 will be the Malaysian government officials' choice, replacing the Proton Perdana

2010 Nissan Fuga

Check out the article by Paul Tan:

http://paultan.org/2011/01/03/proton-perdana-replacement-is-the-nissan-fuga-only-for-top-level-government-use-no-private-sales-planned/

According to that article, the Nissan Fuga Y51 (launched in 4th quarter, 2009, following with the Fuga Hybrid since 4th quarter, 2010) will be in Malaysia, only for use with the Malaysian politicians. It would replace the aging Proton Perdana (based on the Mitsubishi Eterna) and it will be equipped with the VQ25HR (2.5L V6) engine.

The Nissan Fuga, when it arrives in Malaysia soon, will be used only for Malaysian politicians. No word on private ownership yet, but I just pray to the Philippine automotive Gods that either NMPI or Universal Motors Corporation will bring the Nissan Fuga Y51 as the Infiniti M37, but in my product of fantasy, this will be used by Philippine politicians.

What Banana Split went wrong since 2010?

On the January 4, 2011 episode of Banana Split, there was a portion titled "Nobody's Perfect", the portion where the outtakes of Banana Split occurred in 2010 (about last year). Some bloopers include from NNNN, Brod Bro Bru, the jokes, Sosyal Pasosyal Wasosyal, Melai Mo Magwork, and other outtakes occurred last year.

In case someone forgot about The Amazing Microwave Pandesal Rangers, Banana Split takes them back to the beginning with the recap of this Banana Split mini-series and it goes all the way this week. It recaps how Noli (Jayson Gainza), Ted (Jason Francisco), Julius (Badji Mortiz), and Kuring (Nina Jose) (these four were named after famous ABS-CBN News anchors), the four ordinary siblings became Pandesal Rangers.

Team Stressed vs. Team Relaxed once again on Show It, where the category is "segments of Banana Split from the past and present".

CTS-V Coupe Commercial...

2011 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe

Just before the Holy Grail of American Football, Super Bowl, hits this February 2011 (and yes, the Super Bowl has lots of unique commercials), Cadillac debuted a Super Bowl commercial for the new Cadillac CTS-V Coupe starring Laurence Fishburne.

An amazing approach that the CTS-V Coupe has an inspiration of an archer drawing his bone.

Pretty good to debut this good commercial before Super Bowl XLV!

The Cadillac CTS-V Coupe is a work of art and most enthusiasts love the way the CTS-V Coupe behaves from real-life to video games (thanks to Forza Motorsport 3).

CTS-V Coupe in Forza Motorsport 3

Guess that the luxury brand of General Motors is evolved from ordinary to EXTRAORDINARY

BOO! Cadillac ends production of the turbocharged SRX!

Cadillac SRX '10

Sad news! It seems that the turbocharged V6 engine variant for the Cadillac SRX crossover will be gone for good, leaving only the 3.0-litre V6 engine available for the 2012 model!

Scoop: http://www.autoblog.com/2011/01/03/report-cadillac-srx-turbo-axed-after-one-year/

This is somewhat a bad news since the turbocharged version of the 2nd generation Cadillac SRX crossover suffered from bad sales (the 3.0-litrre V6 variant sales were good).

This is surely leave a tear for Caddy fans...

X-(