GM Unveils '07 SUVs
The '07 Chevy Tahoe will be available in LS, LT, and LTZ trim levels. An off-road-ready Z71 package will come later in the year.
Here's your first look at the next generation of fullsize SUVs from General Motors. The new Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon are the beginning of a wave of trucks based on GM's new GMT900 platform, which will also provide the foundation for the Avalanche, Cadillac's various Escalade models, the Suburban/Yukon XL, and, eventually, all-new Chevy and GMC fullsize pickups.
The SUV's aerodynamic styling, reportedly among the slipperiest of all fullsize SUVs, is just the start of the changes GM made to its big utes. They now sit on fully boxed frames with hydroformed front and rear sections, have wider front and rear tracks, and feature new coilover front suspensions and five-link rear ends. Wheel packages have grown: Tahoe and Yukon roll on 17s, the upscale Yukon Denali gets 18s, and all three list 20s as optional. A Z71 option, with unique front fascias and 18-inch wheel-and-tire packages, will be available later in the year.
GMC will offer two versions of the new SUV, the Yukon (shown) and upscale Yukon Denali. Long-wheelbase Yukon XL (and Chevy Suburban) come later. | 
Underpinning the new GM SUVs is a fully boxed frame, coilover front suspension, a five-link solid-axle rearend, and a new rack-and-pinion steering system. | 
Here's a cut-away view of GM's new 6.2L small-block V-8, with an aluminum block and variable valve timing. It will be available in 380- and 400hp versions. |
There will be six different V-8 engine choices for the SUVs, including two 5.3s (iron- and aluminum-block versions, both rated at 320 hp), two 6.0s (rated at 350 hp for the iron-block version, 355 for the alloy, which also features variable valve timing), and an aluminum-block 6.2L V-8 that produces 380 or 400 hp depending on the one you choose. Backing the 6.2 is a new 6L80 six-speed automatic transmission with close-ratio gears, two overdrives, and a "tap-up/tap-down" feature that allows the driver to change gears via a button on the column shifter.
The alloy 5.3 and 6.0 engines feature GM's Displacement on Demand technology to reduce fuel consumption. According to GM, preliminary testing of 5.3-equipped models resulted in combined fuel economy ratings of 20.1 mpg for 4WD models.
The Tahoe, Yukon, and Escalade will be available in the first quarter of 2006; extended-wheelbase models-Suburban and Avalanche, Yukon XL, and Cadillac Escalade ESV and EXT-should show up in the second quarter of 2006.
Chicagoan Wins Toyo F-150 Sweepstakes
Arthur A. Martin IV of Chicago was the lucky grand-prize winner of the modified '04 Ford F-150 featured in Toyo Tires' summertime giveaway. Martin's winning entry was chosen from among thousands who entered via mail and the Internet to win the pickup, which was outfitted with a Fabtech Dirt Logic 2.5 coilover suspension, KMC XD-series wheels, and-what else?-35-inch Toyo Open Country M/T tires. Shown in the photo are, from left: Tom Ahern of Cassidy Tire; Arthur Martin; Floyd Gripman, Toyo Tires' director of sales, Eastern Division; and Betsy Currie, Toyo's regional sales manager.
Driverless Touareg Wins in the Desert
You read that right. A fully autonomous-as in self-navigating with no human intervention-VW Touareg crossed 131 miles of the Mojave Desert in southern Nevada in 6 hours, 53 minutes, 8 seconds to win the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) Grand Challenge. Stanley, entered by Stanford University, was one of five robotic vehicles that completed the course. Stanley's win earned the team a $2 million purse.
DARPA's goal with the Grand Challenge is to "accelerate research and development in autonomous ground vehicles to help save American lives on the battlefield," according to the agency. Technologies invented for the Challenge will be developed for military use, to achieve Congress' request to have a fleet of robotic ground vehicles by 2015.
The Stanford team built Stanley from a stock, diesel-powered Volkswagen Touareg R5 modified with full-body skidplates and a reinforced front bumper. It is actuated by a drive-by-wire system, developed by VW's Electronics Research Laboratory, which uses readings taken by GPS, an inertial measurement unit, wheel speed, lasers, a camera, and a radar system.
High-End Thieves Like Cadillacs
When auto theft loss is tracked not by region but by other means, the Cadillac Escalade EXT is the big winner, or loser, depending on how you look at it. According to ForbesAuto.com, the Highway Loss Data Institute studied auto theft claims-not just vehicle losses, but items stolen from vehicles or anything else that would trigger an insurance claim-and found that the average theft claim payment per year for the Caddy SUV was $302, compared to the $15 average for all cars. The EXT's average loss claim payment of $14,939 was also way over the $5,928 average. Why are the Escalade's claims so much higher? Thieves often steal the entire truck and not just parts, say Institute experts. Or when parts are stolen, they're typically the very expensive bling-bling wheels and tires.