ETHANOL'S STORY by NUMBERS

Politicians and many businessmen are pushing renewable fuels like they've never pushed before. Typical gasoline-powered internal combustion engines can be converted to run on ethanol, more appropriately labeled as E85. The concept is novel - grow the fuel for the engines in your cars; and grow it again. 

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Issues have arisen, however. Greenhouse gases are far from nonexistent. Power is plentiful, but economy falters. Then there's the question of availability: corn grows all over America, but the fuel made from corn hasn't yet stretched to every gas station in America. Here are the Numbers that'll help you understand the story of ethanol.

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13,100,000,000 - bushels of corn grown on 85,000,000 acres of American soil last year

22 - percentage of that corn used to make ethanol

7,000,000,000 - total gallons of ethanol produced for consumption in 2007

10 - total percentage of corn that ended up as surplus

15,000,000,000 - total gallons of ethanol expected to be produced in 2015

5.50 - cost, in USD, of a bushel of corn; twice the 2005 price

11 - extra cost, in U.S. cents, of a gallon of milk produced by corn-fed cows as a result of the higher corn cost

150 - approximate bushels of corn per acre grown by American farmers

30 - approximate bushels of corn per acre grown by farmers in developing parts of the globe

15 - percentage growth in the cost of regular gasoline in the current market were it not for ethanol output, as estimated by Merril Lynch's chief commodity analyst

TOYOTA RECALLS NEW HIGHLANDERS

Third rows in recent Toyota Highlanders suffer from a seatbelt malady that could prevent secure affixing of child seats. 90,000 Highlanders in the USA will be recalled; no Highlander on dealer lots will be sold until the problem has been fixed.

Vehicles affected were built as long ago as May of last year and as recently as March. The Highlander was featured in a four-part 3 To Beat here at GoodCarBadCar and is widely regarded as a prime crossover candidate for any midsize SUV/CUV buyer.

NISSAN GT-R AT THE 'RING

As if attempting to prove the notion that the twin-turbo V6 in their GT-R supercoupe generates more than the stated horsepower, and to further the cause of all-wheel drive, and to add to the cred of their ride & handling engineers.... (breathe), Nissan gat themselves a 7:29 time at the famed Nurburgring. Read about the iconic location here.

Can I get a witness? Nissan's GT-R time puts it ahead of its most obvious competitor, the Porsche 911. Aye, 7:29 is faster than a 911 GT3, 911 Turbo, or 911 GT2. In fact, the GT-R's time of seven minutes and twenty nine seconds is three seconds up on Porsche's Carrera GT. 

Watch SuperCar Movies clip of the Pagani Zonda at the 'Ring

While the bulk of those cars are priced over $100,000 (and some over $200K or $300K), the GT-R battles on the cost-meter with the Ford Shelby GT500KR. Yeah, a Mustang. Chevrolet's chief engineer on the Corvette ZR1 had suggested quite some time ago that his car would outlap any production car on any track, but the ZR1's approximate time in the high 7:30s necessitates some retracting.  

Watch Opel's little Corsa OPC cruise the 'Ring

... or find the Top 5 Nurburgring YouTube clips here

Bring up 'Ring times with manufacturers and you'll hear lots of talk about what constitutes a good day in Nuburg. Weather, track temperature, production ready or off-the-factory-line... all sorts of stuff. Discuss the same matter with tuners and you'll be presented with multiple vehicles that can make a 911 GT2 look silly; as the discussion turns to the constitution of a production car. 

For now, recognize this: the Nissan GT-R is stupid fast.

WHERE DID THE SALES GO?

April was a bad month. We've covered that already. It's settled. But did every car suffer? Some companies made hay in April, even as General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford suffered. 

Jaguar recently introduced its new XF, a handsome and sporty midsize luxury competitor. Mainly because of that car's success, Jaguar sales jumped 15.7% in America. That's a tidy 300+ car increase in a month where almost every car company declined.

Nissan sold about 6,000 more cars this April than the Japanese company did last year. Daily sales rates adjust the percentages for the number of days available for selling. You can read about that in the earlier post. Nissan rose just 0.1% in April/08 vs April/07 contrasting.

Subaru saw a gain of 12% and Mini sold about 1,400 extra vehicles, comparing month-over-month results. Kia generated a 6.7% climb. But what about the losers? What happened?

To state the obvious, fewer people are buying trucks. At General Motors, cars and crossovers joined up to produce 9% greater sales than the same period of last year at a company that saw truck and SUV sales decline 27%. Truck numbers fell 19% at Ford; SUVs were even worse - 36% down.

The Dodge Caliber, Jeep Compass, and Jeep Patriot trio helped stem the outgoing tide at Chrysler. The trio's combined 16% climb was vastly outdone by truck and SUV sales at Chrysler which dropped 27%.

Blame doesn't sit on truck shoulders alone. Preliminary figures show sales at Japan Luxury Central (Infiniti, Lexus, and Acura) dropped. 

Drop, fall, decline, suffer. Words of the month.

U.S. AUTO SALES CONTINUE SLUMP

Posts regarding automobile sales in the United States of America, circa March 2008, can be read here... or here... or here.... or here. Why did March's American vehicle sales deserve so much attention? Basically because March sucked for automakers in the USA. Yep, it sucked. Stunk. Slumped. Rolled over and played dead. Felt bad. Was bad. 

Is bad. Indeed, April wasn't forecasted to bring auto selling sunshine. The Numbers present few surprises; at least for those who've come to regard the mortgage crisis as calamitous. Take this post as a brief overview, more detail will follow. Thus, allow a general and wide-sweeping statement like, for instance: every American brand and American conglomerate suffered negative growth compared with April of 2007. In fact, you don't need to allow a general statement like that - it's just the truth. 

Percentage drops and jumps for April 2008 reflect the increase in available selling days, 2 greater than last year. Toyota manifests this most prominently, with about 10,000 more cars sold but a 2.7% drop compared with April/07. Toyota works with big numerals, and having two extra selling days means their sales numbers needed to climb substantially higher than 10,000 vehicles.

General Motors was about 50,000 automobiles down, a 22.7% freefall. Ford's group of brands combined to sell 28,000 fewer vehicles than last April. Toyota, Lexus, and Scion climbed about 7,000 sales but suffered a 4.5% decline in the light of their daily sales rates. Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge, still 20% owned by Daimler (Mercedes-Benz), plummeted from 193,104 sales last April to 147,751 this April. Ouch.

It's ugly out there, buster. Nissan's head honcho, the man on top of a dominant European named Renault, believes things won't improve substantially in America until late 2009 or 2010. More detail regarding April will flow out of GoodCarBadCar very soon, but feel free to await (with appropriate levels of dread and angst) the release of May's numbers in early June.

FORD'S EXPENSIVE MUSTANG

Suggested pricing for collectables are just that - suggestions. The Antiques Roadshow experts aren't saying you will receive $10,000 for your grandmother's vase; they simply suggest that $10,000 would be an appropriate price. Then again, they aren't saying you won't receive $14,000, either.

In the case of the Ford Motor Company and the biggest and baddest variation of its most famed current car, the Mustang, the manufacturer's suggested retail price is, again, a suggestion. Some consumers will use it as a guide price. Other potential buyers will consider it more suggestive. 

Ford won't build many more than 1,700 GT500KRs over the next two model years. The supercharged 5.4L V8 funnels 540 horsepower and nearly that much torque through a 6-speed manual to the rear wheels. Although the $80,000 final price may disgust you, dealers could well tack on thousands and thousands more depending on demand. With just 1,000 Ford Shelby GT500KRs hitting the road in 2008, demand could be high.

To be honest, $80,000 is rounding up. The GT500KR is a $79,995 car once destination and the dreaded gas-guzzler tax are levied. It would take an even more substantial downturn in the already worsening U.S. economy for the 1,000 cars to maintain a presence on dealer lots.... but, the $80K sticker makes the GT500KR a perfect candidate for a $$$ or 3 To Beat feature.

CHEVROLET EXPRESS CUBE VAN - DRIVEN

Wondering where The Good Car Guy disappeared to? Posts have been few and far between the last few days, for which GoodCarBadCar formally apologizes. However, when a new dwelling is calling; even the important GCBC Nation is placed on the back burner.

In all honesty, two vehicles were used in the producing of this move. You can learn more about the excursions of The Good Car Guy and the Ford Excursion up in here, but yesterday's unique drive was spent in a Chevrolet Express Cube Van.

Yep, that's right - GoodCarBadCar isn't just about Corvettes and Imprezas, Enclaves and Tahoe Hybrids. Unable to hire movers, we contacted friends (who contacted friends) and our move was completed in a matter of a few short hours. Thanks to The Good Car Mom who supplied the grub, all seven movers were energized. 

16-ft cube vans with 6.0L gasoline-fed V8s haul. It was a long time ago that The Good Car Dad taught me to adore dual-rear wheels, though that may've had more to do with F-350's towing 32-ft RVs. Anyway, our stuff fit easily with room to spare, while the V10 Excursion handled the loose ends admirably. Better yet, we haven't found a broken plate; bowl; or picture frame. Unless, that is, I've spoken to soon. Unpacking is ongoing. 

Surprisingly, the accuracy and directness of the Chevy's steering put the (admittedly older) Excursion to shame. Floatiness is an unbecoming but necessary part of large haulers; and on that count, the Excursion displays a stick-to-the-road fortitude that the Express can't dream of possessing. Do remember, this is all relative. Comparisons to an FX35 or even the previously linked-to Tahoe Hybrid would be sickening. Disturbing. Revolutionary... but useless.

Having participated in the piloting of an older Ford cube many years ago (alone, within 24 hours of receiving my license. Yikes!), this was still the first time I'd driven a vehicle with a reverse beep. Highly disconcerting on the narrow downtown HFX streets at the culmination of our move, that is. Just what am I driving here? If it's large enough to mandate a reverse beep, I doubt my qualifications. 

Ah, but then I recalled the teaching I received at the hands of an ex-cop at General Motors' Milford Proving Grounds. Apart from high-speed maneuvers and skid control lessons, we also learned reversing techniques to simplify the process of backing up in large automobiles. Put. Into. Practice.

Result. Back of the net. Nothing but net. 

In other words, nothing was bumped. No bumpers were harmed. Pedestrians remained as safe as they were before The Good Car Guy hit the roads in a cube van. That's not saying much in this neck of the woods, but it says something.

Visibility is the greatest issue facing any newbie cube van driver. Side mirrors are all y'ave got, son. Make do. Previous experience taught me to maintain awareness as to the width of the cube behind me, since the cockpit is substantially narrower. 

It is understood that the Chevrolet wouldn't have suffered any acceleration deficiencies until the organ, washer, and couch became members of our household, and thus; factors in this move. Nonetheless, the difference from empty to full wasn't felt in terms of forward motion but in turning. It's not as though the Express would have rolled, but the weight being thrust onto the front wheels around medium-speed sweepers requiring adjustment. 

At 7:45 last evening, adjustment had taken place. A couple dozen kilometres and almost an hour's driving under my belt, and one final parking spot in which to place the Chevrolet before the keys went in the drop box. From the Excursion,The Good Car Girl directed me to a wide open pull-through in the middle of Budget's parking lot. 

With a contemplative glance.... a wave of the finger.... a check of my mirrors, I threw the gear lever into reverse.

Beep. Beep. Beep. 

Curb.

Doh.

My trajectory was terrific, but for the first time, 16-ft of Chevrolet Express had me fooled. The 4-speed automatic was again shifted into drive and a move forward of four inches finished it off. My most recent cube van experience will be remembered for one thing, mainly: not only did the stuff fit in the truck; it also fit in our new smaller home.