Drag Race: Chevrolet Camaro, Vehicle of Choice for the Yas Drag Racing Academy

During a gala dinner we attended courtesy of GM at the F1 Yas Marina circuit in March. It was announced that the Chevrolet Camaro SS would serve as the official training car for the Drag Racing Academy. Six Camaro SS were recruited in which future drag racers will hone their skills in preparation for racing in the regional big leagues.

The next day, we were briefed before getting into the sizzling battle of dragging the 400hp 6.2L V8 Chevy Camaro down the Yas Island quarter mile. We were also given the oportunity to  ride with Rod Fuller in his 1200hp 3-seat dragster that can hit 100 kph in about 1 second.

Test Drive: Chevrolet Camaro Convertible, The Chevy of the Decade Drops its Top

Finally we announce the arrival of and drive the Camaro convertible! I recently had the opportunity to drive the muscle car on the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, driving both engines: the 3.6 L V6 powered with 312hp and the 6.2 L V8 powered with 426hp. Here is the catch from our drive of this beast, keeping in mind that the Camaro has beaten the Mustang in its sales for the first time since 1985.

Test Drive: Chevrolet Cruze, Preserving Chevy’s Immortal Vision

Towards the middle of last year, the world saw an unprecedented rise in oil prices. People that were financially comfortable driving large gas guzzling off roaders were caught out, and saw the urgent need to downsize. Although this crisis affected the whole world it was particularly harmful on US auto sales as large numbers of people prefer big thirsty SUV’s and pick ups. As the market headed towards downsizing-Fast-GM saw that it was severely lacking in that market segment. The Cruze was already on the table as a future product but it was at least 2 years away.

What is currently happening to GM is only a product of years of neglect to smaller fuel efficient cars, and Chevrolet’s primary weapon to fight the recession and come out safe and sound is the all new Cruze, GM’s first truly global model, and a product that unfortunately is a little late, but is miles ahead of mid-sized Chevy’s of the past even though it’s currently being built in Korea, at GM Daewoo, GM’s Korean outfit.

Test Drive: Chevrolet Traverse, A Pretty Respectable Crossover

What we finally have here is the 2009 Chevy Traverse! If you want to use the promotional literature, it’s not a car, not a wagon, not an SUV nor a minivan; yet, to some degree it’s all of the above, as it can tow a good-sized trailer and it's an 8-passenger crossover vehicle. At close look, it's somewhat a minivan with big wheels and no sliding side doors. A crossover vehicle is usually based on the lighter and unified body structure of a car. The Traverse uses GM’s dedicated Lambda platform, which also fortifies the GMC Acadia. Chevy needed the Traverse on the roads expressly, considering they don't have a fit between the Malibu and Trailblazer, The latter to be discontinued within the year.