Friday, February 26, 2016

The New Jeep Wrangler

The new Jeep Wrangler is coming out in around 2017. Here are 5 things that they should keep on the Wrangler and 5 things that they ought to get rid of.

We will start out with 5 things that they should keep.

1. The Design

File:'13 Jeep Wrangler Pickup (Street Festival '13).JPG
Jeep Wrangler
One reason people buy a Wrangler is so they could have the iconic jeep feeling. What's the point of buying a Wrangler when it doesn't look like a Jeep. The car is boxy and should remain that way. The grill needs the have the traditional 7 bars. The taillights must remain square while the headlights and blinkers stay at its traditional round shape. Keeping the iconic Jeep design is the key to success with this car. You should be able to spot it and say, "yeah, that's a Jeep."

2. The Removable Doors and Roof

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Jeep Wrangler

Another cool thing about owning a Jeep Wrangler is being able to remove the doors and roof. Removing the doors when off roading provides some better visibility as you can peak your head through where the door would have been and check out where your tires are. Removing the roof just gives it that airy feel. Once you pop all the doors and the roof off, then you have a very airy car. The other reason why they should keep this feature is because it is a tradition in the Wrangler family.

3. Wheel Articulation

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Jeep Wrangler Unlimited
Wheel articulation is on Japlonik's on things that make off road cars unstoppable. Wheel articulation helps keep the tires of a Jeep Wrangler on the ground. Having good wheel articulation gives you the two things that you want in off roading. It maximizes traction and helps maintain the stability of the vehicle.

4. The Short Overhangs

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Jeep Wrangler

Another key recipe to having a good off roading car is having short overhangs. The shorter the overhangs are, the better. Short overhangs allow better approach angle and better departure angle in off roading. Having a good approach and departure angle allows for the car to be able to climb steeper hills.

5. Ground Clearance

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Jeep Wrangler Black Ops
Ground clearance is another essential in off roading. and Jeeps are all about off roading. Ground clearance helps the car on harsh terrain. It makes sure that the under body doesn't scrape with the rocks. Without ground clearance, the under body could be caught on the boulders. The under body would be heavily damaged.

Now it is time for the things that Jeep needs to get rid of on this car.

1. Bad Safety Ratings

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Jeep Wrangler

The Jeep Wrangler isn't what you would call a safe car. In fact, it is quite the opposite. For the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, it scored good on the IIHS moderate and small overlap crash test. It scored marginal in the head restraints and side test. As for the regular Jeep Wrangler,  it scored good on the moderate overlap crash test, poor on the side test, and marginal on the small overlap and head restraints test.  Compared to the Toyota Camry, it scored good on every test crushing the Wangler and the Wrangler Unlimited.

2. Cheap/Dated Interior

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Jeep Cherokee Interior
The Jeep Wrangler has a cheap interior. Hard plastics are everywhere you look. It doesn't look very nice either. Instead, it looks dated compared to the rest of the FCA cars. For the Wrangler coming out in 2017, the interior should be durable but nice. The dashboard should be able to survive being beaten up but shouldn't look or feel as cheap as it does right now.

3. The Engine

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Jeep Wrangler Engine

The Jeep Wrangler has a 3.6 liter engine that makes 285 horsepower. That's not bad. However, what is bad is that it gets 17 city and 21 highway for its MPG. Gas mileage is important for off roading because you don't want to be stranded while climbing a trail. For the Wrangler, there needs to be a more powerful and fuel efficient engine. The best way to accomplish that is by making the engine smaller and adding a turbo charger.

4. Poor Reliability

File:Jeep Wrangler Unlimited.jpg
Jeep Wrangler Unlimited
The Jeep Wrangler may be a good car to drive off road, but it sure isn't very dependable. It was rated below average in the Consumer Reports New Car Preview 2015.  However, that does not surprise me. The Jeep brand was second to last in the Consumer Reports 2015 Annual Auto Reliability Survey. Last place in that survey was Jeep's parent, Fiat.

5. Poor Driving Dynamics

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Jeep Wrangler Unlimited

Jeep made this car to be amazing off road but on the road. Consumer Reports complained about the lousy and slow steering. The tall ride height causes issues too. It makes the car tip an awful lot in the corners, That suspension also doesn't help its case. Consumer reports complained it to be too busy. The 2017 Jeep Wrangler should have better steering, less unstable cornering, and less jiggly suspension. However, these changes will compromise the off roading so there should be a way to adjust the suspension and ride height easily.

The Jeep Wrangler should keep its design, removable doors and roof, and the things that make this car invincible in off roading. However, it needs to lose its bad safety ratings, cheap interior, fuel chugging engine, poor reliability, and poor driving dynamics.

Thank you so much for reading. Scroll down for more articles like this. If you have a question, send me an email at edster.chen@yahoo.com.




Friday, February 12, 2016

Mitsubishi Ought to Leave the United States

Mitsubishi should leave the United States. Their sales are poor and so are their cars. In this article, I will be talking about why Mitsubishi should leave the United States.

For starters, their sales are awful. Even the December 2015 sales of a Toyota Sienna could beat the total number of December sales for all Mitsubishi vehicles in the United States. Mitsubishi sold a grand total of 7887 vehicles in the United States in December, 2015. Let's analyse Mitsubishi's problems.

File:'13 Mitsubishi i-MiEV (MIAS '13).jpg
Mitsubishi i-Miev
For starters, they have an awful electric car. The Mitsubishi i-Miev is ugly and slow. It is behind the competition too. The electric motor only makes 66 horsepower, and this car only has 62 miles of range. A Nissan Leaf has 107 horsepower and 107 miles of range. The only good thing about this car is that it is cheap. This car starts at around 23,000 dollars which is cheap for an electric car. Mitsubishi only sold 9 of these disgusting cars in December 2015. They should get rid of this car and put a new and better electric car in its place.

The second issue is that they have no car to compete in the midsize. sedan class. That is an issue since some of the best selling cars in the United States such as the Toyota Camry and Nissan Altima are in the midsize sedan class. This class is where people with families look towards when buying a car. 

'08 Mitsu Lancer.JPG
Mitsubishi Lancer
The third issue is that they have no competitive car to compete in the compact sedan class. They have the Mitsubishi Lancer, a car far behind the competition. For starters, this car is very dated. This generation has been around since 2007. This car is really starting to show its age, especially with its lack of technology 

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Toyota Corolla
Another issue is that why buy a Lancer when you could have a better Corolla for around the same price. Both cars start at around 17,000 dollars. Starting off with this list of how the Corolla is better than the Lancer, the Toyota Corolla is known for its legendary reliability, unlike the Mitsubishi Lancer. In fact, the Toyota is on the Consumer Reports best cars to make 200,000 miles. Another lose for the Lancer is that the Toyota Corolla is more advanced in terms of technology, such as having Toyota Entune which let's you stream Pandora and purchase movie tickets. The only area in which the Mitsubishi Lancer wins is in performance with more power in the engine options and available AWD, something not found on a Toyota Corolla.

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Mitsubishi Outlander Sport
The final issue is the dated Mitsubishi Outlander Sport. It has been around since 2010. It could use a nice facelift. It has been around since 2010. Mitsubishi only sold 3356 Outlander Sports in the December of 2015. However, it is still their best selling car. If it is their best selling car, then make it seem like their best selling car with refined technology.

If they can get competitive compact sedan, a proper electric car, update the Outlander Sport, and get a midsize sedan as competitive as the Honda Accord to compete in the family sedan class, then they could start selling some more cars. After all, those 4 issues listed above were the big problems resulting into little sales for Mitsubishi in the United States.

Thank you so much for reading. If you have any questions, then send me an e-mail at edster.chen@yahoo.com.