FOCUSING IN ON A WRANGLER

2011 JEEP WRANGLER, SAHARA EDITION

For the last week, I have been driving a Jeep Wrangler.

It’s a fun little vehicle to scoot around in and would no doubt provide even more fun if I could have had the opportunity to do the kind of things it is designed for, like taking it out on a trail, over rocks, or up a mountain. There are trails around here in South Florida, but few mountains, except for those made by piling up trash.

I also have been reluctant to take an off-road vehicle into Everglades trails I am not familiar with. The way I figure it, a vehicle like the Wrangler may handle ruts and rocks with ease, but it also can sink.

So I was left to drive the Wrangler for everyday tasks, like hauling groceries or running errands, etc.

And how did it compare doing that to the Ford Focus I had the week before?

Not bad. Not ideal for an every-day driver, but not bad.

The Focus is a lot more economical (it’s four-cylinder engine is rated at 25 mpg city, 34 highway compared to the Wrangler’s numbers of 15/19), and no doubt it’s more comfortable for the passenger. The Focus also is a four-door, which makes it a helluva lot easier to get in and out of the back (Wrangler also comes in a four-door version but the Sahara model I had is a two-door) and it’s lower than the Wrangler, which needs the extra ground clearance to handle off-road excursions.

But as far as maneuverability and handling on streets and parking lots, the Wrangler does so with only a bit more noticeably rougher ride than the Focus provides. (Yes, I know it borders on the ridiculous to compare a Wrangler with a Focus, and that’s not my intent. I’m just looking at the way they handle the chores of daily living and driving.) 

The Wrangler has some nice touches, too, in the way of creature comforts and has far from the spartan interior you might expect from off-road, trail-rated vehicles. A/C is standard, and it has all the hookups for such things as MP3 players and other audio gear. Satellite radio is available and standard on upper trim levels.

WRANGLER, REAR VIEW

The leather-wrapped steering wheel features finger-tip controls for audio, cruise control, and other functions to attain information such as the distance-to-empty for your fuel, mileage, etc.

There are not quite as many bells and whistles as the Focus offers with its Ford Sync system, but Ford has gotten out in front of its competitors in the way of innovative technology, especially for a vehicle in the Focus’ price range. The Focus starts at under $17,000 for the base model; the top-of-the-line Titanium model, which is full of gadgetry, starts about $3,000 higher.

The Wrangler comes with a much bigger power train, a 3.8-liter, V6, than the four-banger in the Focus, which, of course, accounts for that difference in fuel mileage. It’s also a factor in the Wrangler’s pricing. The Sahara starts at just over $27,000. The top-of-the-line Rubicon starts at just under $33,000.

That V6 pumps out 237 lb-ft of torque, which you need to get its 4,269 pounds over the hills and through the woods securely. The 2.0-liter in the Focus puts out only 136 lb-ft of torque,

but that is enough to handle its 2,600 pounds on city streets and highways.

Both the Wrangler and the Focus are available with either manual and automatic transmissions (well, not quite; the top-of-the-line SEL Focus comes only with a four-speed automatic). Though I love manuals, I always thought an automatic would be better if you’re off-roading, but someone with trail experience once told me that isn’t necessarily the case.

Cutting to the quick here, yes, the Wrangler is a specialized vehicle that takes the description “unconventional” to the extreme, but it’s not so limited that it can’t handle the less-exotic tasks we demand of our cars. If you intend to stay on pavement, though, shop sedans like the Focus.

2011 FORD FOCUS TITANIUM TRIM

A NEW ROCK STAR EMERGING FOR AUTO INDUSTRY

I don’t have a lot of experience as far as meeting CEO’s of large companies, so it could be they are all impressive figures who are friendly, outgoing, and down-to-earth while still having a certain air of class and confidence about them.

But I kind of doubt it.

Odds alone would be against it.

But I must say that Ralph Gilles, the CEO and President of Dodge, meets all those expectations and more.

RALPH GILLES

Gilles -- whose name is pronounced with a “soft G” as in Georgia and rhymes with shields, but without the “d” on the end -- was in town for our media association luncheon last week.

That would be the Southern Automotive Media Association, a group of journalists, PR folks, manufacturers’ reps, and others in the auto industry based in Miami but with membership extending all over the place, even Ohio. (It’s south of Canada, OK?)

He not only was the centerpiece of the program, introducing more than 40 members and guests in attendance to the Dodge lineup of vehicles for 2011, he also took time to sit with a few of us for an extended question-and-answer session.

During his formal presentation, he delivered his insights on the vehicles with such ease and clarity it was like he was talking directly to each one present. His answers to our questions at the Q&A session earlier were insightful, thoughtful, and directly to the point.

It was a very impressive performance.

Afterward, I made the comment to a fellow member that Gilles was a real up-and-comer in the automotive industry, thinking of his age (40). The member corrected me.

“Considering his position, I’d say he already has arrived,” my friend said.

True enough.

I think you are going to be hearing more in the future from Gilles, the man behind the design of the groundbreaking Chrysler 300 sedan. He would seem to be well on his way to achieving the “rock star” status Bob Lutz reaching among his stops at Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors before his retirement.

That’s assuming the general news media is interested in getting straight information about the auto industry and not just going for the outrageous “sound bite” that they often got from Lutz, who once called global warming a crock of something other than chicken soup.

That may be asking a lot of what passes for investigative meda these days, but it will be their loss if they don’t seek out Gilles when doing stories about the automotive industry.

You can see coverage of both his presentation and his discussion with us at our website, www.samaonline.org.

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

My apologies in advance, but the Mr. Grammar Person inside me is going on a rant today. He just can’t take it any more.

It would make him feel sooooo good if people, many of whom should know better, would quit misusing the word “I.” Not just using it, as in the old days when columnists would go to awkward phrasing to avoid using the vertical pronoun, but misusing it, such as in phrases like “between you and I” or “it’s up to you and I.”

AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!

It just grates on my copy editing background to hear that from just about anybody, but especially from a radio or television commentator. Sometimes, not often though, I even have seen it in print. I also have heard it said in newsrooms where I have worked.

Hey, people!

The correct phrases are “between you and me” and “it’s up to you and me.” The words “you and me” are both the object of the prepositions “between” and “to” and require objective case. It’s really not that complicated.

On the other hand, it’s also a pet peeve of Mr. Grammar Person for so-called well-educated folks to misuse the objective case for who, using “whom”  instead as in phrasing like this: The game will be won by whomever wants it most.

Nope. Not whomever.

Whomever is not the object of the preposition “to.” The object of the preposition here is the entire phrase, “whomever wants it most.” Therefore, instead of whomever being a object here, it actually is the subject of the phrase and “whoever wants it most” is correct.

The funny thing is, I suspect many people, including one local sports columnist in South Florida, think they are being so proper and correct when they use “whom.” I used to work for a city editor who used it incorrectly all the time.

Now, I realize this is probably not a big thing with most people. If you say “between you and I” or “to whomever wants it most”, you may be incorrect grammatically, but nobody is going to misunderstand you.

I’ll accept that.

But I hold people in the media to higher standards. They should know better and be using proper language.

Mr. Grammar Person now gets off his soap box.

Or whatever.

THEY SAY CABRIOLET, I SAY CONVERTIBLE

If you’re looking for something fun to ride around in, chances are a convertible or two is going to show up on your shopping list.

So check out my review of the Audi A5 Cabriolet that appears on our media association website, www.samaonline.org.

You will find a lot of other interesting stuff there, too. The site is an outlet for many of members of the Southern Automotive Media Association and features video clips in addition to many other features, like travel stories. Some are in Spanish.

Especially if you're interested in cars, check it out.

LET’S TALK ABOUT RACING -- OR NOT!

I used to bemoan the lack of conversation about auto racing on the sports talk shows I listen to when I am driving about town.

Even when there was a big event in town, like say the Ford Championship Weekend that crows champions in all three of NASCAR's major series at Homestead-Miami Speedway, you would hardly hear anything about it through all the talk about the woes of the Dolphins and Hurricanes.

But then on the rare occasion someone on one of these radio Dolphins’ fests would bring up the sport, I would cringe at what they had to say.

Back in 2005, when Danica Patrick became the first woman driver to lead the Indianapolis 500 but had to slow to conserve fuel and ended up fourth, one guy came on the air the next day and wondered if Danica had choked.

The next year, a couple of on-air guys went back and forth with the issue of whether Homestead-Miami Speedway should have cancelled its afternoon Indy car race when driver Paul Dana was killed during morning practice.

No, drivers don’t “choke” when they slow to conserve fuel, and, cold as it may seem, races at the top levels don’t get canceled when a driver is killed in a crash.

Now we have another example of how members of the general sports media just don’t get it when it comes to auto racing, though in this incident someone who should have known better stepped in it as well.

On the “Pardon the Interruption” ESPN television show he hosts with Washington Post colleague Michael Wilbon, Tony Kornheiser speculated this week that NASCAR may have rigged it for its most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., to win the pole for Sunday’s Daytona 500.

This is the 10th anniversary of his father’s death at Daytona International Speedway, you see, and having Junior lead the field down to the green flag would be an appropriate way to mark the occasion. At least, that’s the way the thinking goes.

Kornheiser’s source for this claim -- as far as I know, Kornheiser wasn’t anywhere near Daytona on pole day last Sunday, won’t be there this Sunday when the race is run, and may never have come anywhere near a race track or garage area in his life -- was Washington Post reporter Liz Clarke.

Clarke has covered NASCAR since the 1990s when she was working for the Charlotte Observer in the heart of NASCAR country. Presumably she can tell the difference between a lug nut and a wing nut. She’s the one who should have known better.

Clarke told Kornheiser (on his radio show in D.C., not “PTL”) that “a lot were just laughing when they heard Junior won the pole because of the rich NASCAR tradition of ginning up story lines and outcomes.”

At Kornheiser’s prompting, she came up with a figure of “better than 60 percent” for the claim being true, which she later said she regretted. (Where in hell do people come up with things like a  “60 percent chance” in the first place? I mean, when the weather weenie tells me there is a “30 percent chance of rain,” do I need an umbrella or not?)
Kornheiser noted Dale Junior’s recent struggles, which is one thing he did get right, as lending credence to the claim Junior needed favorable treatment to have success.

But I would say the odds for Dale Jr. to win a pole would be more favorable at Daytona than any other speedway on the NASCAR circuit. Some drivers just have a knack for success there. How else can you explain Michael Waltrip’s two Daytona 500 wins and his back-of-the-pack finishes everywhere else?

Unlike the statements outlined in my earlier examples, those of both Kornheiser and Clarke go beyond mere unfamiliarity with the sport (especially on Clarke’s part), however, and fall into the category of irresponsible “journalism” by just about any ethical standard you set. Back in the day we used to joke that one wire service’s motto was “Get it first, then get it right.” Apparently, with Kornheiser, that seems to be one of his pillars of journalism.

From what I have seen, the media for the most part have taken Kornheiser and Clarke to task for their unsubstantiated (to way the least) speculation.

Here’s what my good friend David Green, who knows more about NASCAR and auto racing than anybody I know, wrote about it:

“It doesn’t even have anything to do with whether a qualifying run was rigged. The problem is the unfounded, published speculation about it.

“Anybody who cannot see the irresponsibility of such ‘stab in the dark’ journalism is alarmingly clueless about ethics. It matters not at all whether the accusation is valid; until Kornheiser or Clarke can prove it, their words are nothing more than gossip.

“That’s what separates (or, at least, is supposed to separate) the masses from the mass communicators. Civilians gossip; reporters work to prove, or at least support with some solid foundational basis – something more substantial than anecdotal observations. Then, and only then, do they report.

“The problem is not whether NASCAR fixed Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s qualifying run; the problem is that unsubstantiated reports are suggesting that it did, with no evidence to support the accusation.”

By the way, in case you missed, Dale Jr. wrecked in practice the other day and has to switch to his backup car for the race. Because of that, under NASCAR rules he will have to start at the pack of the back.

I wonder what the chances are Kornheiser thinks NASCAR rigged that wreck. Sixty percent maybe? Where is my umbrella?

THEY WANT ME! THEY REALLY WANT ME!

From time to time, we pretty much all get strange emails, no matter how efficient our spam filter is.

Somebody out there wants to make sure we have a good credit score, or wants to help us lose weight, or help us make money by working at home, or fix us up with somebody, or ... you get the idea.

I myself don't am not concerned with any of those things because I am happily married, don't want to work at home, am already losing weight (slowly, granted, but watching my diet and walking is working), and I'm not concerned about my credit score.

The reason I am not worried about my credit score is because soon I will have all the money I need. There is an unclaimed pile of money in Nigeria and somebody is going to pay me millions of dollars if I help them get it out of Nigeria.

I may not even have to wait for that. I may already be a winner in the Publisher Clearinghouse Sweepstakes!

You probably have something even better.

But something popped up in my mailbox today that really did catch me by surprise.

Addressing me by my email address, not my name, a “Stephanie Murphy” said she it was her pleasure to inform me that I qualified for “a 2010/2011 membership to the National Association of Professional Women, the largest network of professional women in the United States!”

Membership, Stephanie goes on to write, “is a privilege shared by thousands of professional women throughout America each year.”

Well, isn’t that impressive!

Sign me up now! Not!

I don’t know why but I decided to go a google and bing search on this. (Well, yes, I do know why; I must confess I was looking for something to blog about, and this provided a handy topic).

It didn’t take long, about three entries down on google’s first page, for a string of messages to show up claiming that this appeal was a scam, though the string did include someone denying it is a fraud and saying it was a great organization.

Then someone else wrote there was something fishy about that person’s claim.

So I don’t know.

I do know that a news item popped up on Bing that Ivanka Trump was going going to be the keynote speaker at the group’s April meeting in New York. The meeting is billed as the “first annual” networking conference for the group.

So I guess it’s legitimate, but in addition to the incorrect usage of “first annual” (it’s not annual until you have a second), the organization doesn’t have much of a screening process for prospective members.

I won’t be joining.

Oh, and you can keep your wise-ass comments to yourself!

TALK ABOUT BIG TRUCKS

For the last week, I have been driving a Dodge Ram 2500 pickup truck around town. It is quite an experience, I’ll say that.

I am not going to give it a full review here, mostly because I could not really test this truck for what it is designed for.

This is a big pickup truck, really big, huge, in fact. This is not a truck you would want for routine trips to Home Depot or Lowe’s to gather materials for weekend chores.

No, this a real working man’s truck designed to haul and tow big things. The only challenge I could give it was to bring a couple of chairs, two tables, and a filing cabinet down from my wife’s family home in Coral Gables to mine in West Kendall.

It handled the “task” with no problem.

Shoot, it may have even towed the whole house down if I could have found a way to get it on a trailer. Towing capacity is over 13,000 pounds. That’ll float your boat.

This particular model was the Laramie Crew Cab, which had a refined interior that seats five comfortably. It’s a bit of a chore to get in and out of it, but handles on the A pillars make the climb and descent easier.

Plenty of storage room in the console as well, and knobs for controls are big and should be easy to handle with gloves on. I say “should be” because gloves are not exactly required down here in South Florida. I’ve got a pair somewhere in a drawer, but I’m not sure where.

It had a 6.7-liter Cummins turbodiesel I6 engine that pumps out 350 horsepower and, more important, 650 pound-feet of torque, via a six-speed automatic transmission. A little switch in the steering column gearshift lever lets you select a gear if you desire, but no, it’s not like paddle shifting a Porsche.

The computer said I was averaging about 15 mpg for the 100-plus miles I put on it. I usually put more miles on my test cars, but with the Ram 2500, I pretty much eliminated casual trips to the drug store with his cramped parking lot.

Yes, you must be a serious working man if it takes a Ram 2500 to fill your needs. And to think, Dodge even makes a 3500 series as well.

This bit of advice if you see one of those coming your way: Move over.