Vehicle Event Detected

You hear the one about the Hennessey CTS-V that pulled so hard off the line that OnStar thought it was in an accident?

Apparently .99g is enough to get a helpful and concerned OnStar operator to give you a ring. I wonder if the airbags could be tricked in the same manner...

Cadillac Drivers' Log

GM has expanded their foray into the blogosphere with the addition of the Cadillac Drivers' Log, written by two members of the CTS development team. Lead Development Engineer Rob Kotorak and Assistant Chief Engineer Liz Philibosian relate stories from their time testing the CTS in various climates and conditions, most recently the frigid cold of Kinross, MI.
The blog provides a unique, albeit sparse, look into the testing process and if nothing else is a source of some entertaining pictures of CTSs at, and past, their handling limits.

What's In A Name, II

Lincoln recently announced that they are dropping the easy-to-pronounce and heritage-rich "Zephyr" name in favor of "MKZ."
The advantages of Lincoln avoiding alphanumeric names has been previously discussed, but this case is a mistake for additional reasons. Cadillac has shown us that replacing the name of an existing model with a series of letters can work if done properly, but Cadillac made the change to models that were years into their production. The resulting letter combinations were easy for prospective customers to relate to the old names. Lincoln released a bold, new car as the fresh face of Lincoln, and has drastically changed its name just over a year later. This will undoubtedly cause customer confusion which Lincoln may not be able to afford, furthered by the fact that the MKZ moniker brings the names of all three new Lincolns within one letter of each other.
If there is good news regarding the MKZ, it is that for 2007 it gets a new 3.5 liter V6, an AWD option, and other upgrades. Still, none of that will matter much if customers can't keep the names straight.










---UPDATE---
I'm glad someone agrees with me; Like Cassio Cortes of Racer magazine, for example. He brings up the good point that not only are there loads of alphanumeric cars already out there, but MKX, MKZ, and MKS are all very similar to a few competitors. At least enough that Honda is suing Ford because MKX is a little too similar to Acura's MDX for their liking.
This whole Lincoln naming fiasco has earned top What Were You Thinking marks in my book.

What's In A Name?

Lincoln has recently unveiled four new vehicles: the Zephyr, the Mark LT, the MKX, and the MKS. These last two in particular have given rise to some criticism of Lincoln's naming scheme. While some car companies have had great success with alphanumeric naming schemes, BMW and Lexus come to mind, Lincoln has not been one of them. Much has been made recently of the plight of U.S. automakers and their fight against their foreign rivals, and one of the few things U.S. automakers like Lincoln have over their competition is heritage. While the offerings of the 80's are what let the competition take hold in the first place, the offerings before then are legendary, and almost exclusively American.
Lincoln seems to have realized the importance of this heritage by bringing back the Zephyr name: The Zephyr was originally offered in the 1930's and was in fact the car that made Lincoln financially successful. The names Continental and Town Car are classic Lincoln. Before the mediocrity of the 80's, these names had 50 years of history and heritage behind them.
Regardless of Cadillac's apparent success in the switch from names like DeVille and Seville to DTS and STS, Lincoln appears to need all the help it can get and it would seem wise to remind people as much as possible of the days when a Continental was something you wanted to work towards. As much as someone may aspire to someday own a 760Li, S600, or LS430, I think Lincoln would do better to try to add Continental or Town Car back to the list, rather than MKS.