CITY LIFE - Car Corner [CITYSunTimes August 2009]

CAR CORNER

Listen to Bill Z. and Cathy D. every Saturday from 6-8pm on KKNT 960AM. To read more in-depth reviews, go to twofortheroadusa.com.

The founder of Honda Motor Company believed that “success is 99 percent failure.”

Failure: Part Of The Road To Success

Here’s an inspiring thought: Everyone fails at some point in his or her lifetime. Failure simply happens. But does that have to be something to fear and avoid? Or is it, maybe, one of the secrets to success?
One major car company knows a little something about both success and failure. On Honda’s golden anniversary in the U.S. this year, the company reflected on what has made it successful and how it learns from failure. In a recent online documentary film, the company shared the fact that failure has been a key to the company’s success.
It has been the willingness to allow failure that has enabled the people that make up Honda to stretch themselves and deliver innovation – becoming the first automaker to meet the U.S. Clean Air Act without a catalytic converter (Civic CVCC 1974), becoming the first Japanese automaker to design and build cars in the U.S., producing the first hybrid car for sale in the U.S. (Insight, 1999) and more.
How can failure lead to achieving success? Learn from it and make something positive out of it by addressing what happened and identifying what can be learned from that experience. The willingness to fail is a tough hurdle. If something doesn’t work the first time, but does on the fifth, then were those failures or part of the path to success? As Thomas Alva Edison, the inventor of the light-bulb, once said, “Many of life’s failures are experienced by people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” | dreams.honda.com

CITYSunTimes Web Exclusives August 2009
Read the full SECTION

CITYLIFE

2010 Mustang GT
One of the original pony cars gets even better

By Bill Zervakos and Cathy Droz, tworfortheroadusa.com

There may be some serious discussion about whether Ford’s 1964 Mustang or John DeLorean’s 1964 GTO was the original pony car. But make no mistake, while that question may rage on there’s no doubt that the Mustang has had the best run over the last (almost) 45 years – and the 2010 GT is better than ever.
With a base price of just under $31,000 you get quite a bit for your money. Case in point, the test car, with $1,800 in extras and $850 in destination charges, came to only $33,725, and that is a lot of form and function for the money.
The front end does have a much more belligerent look but the most noticeable change is in the rear fascia and tail-lights. That, along with 19-inch wheels, wide tires and a power bulge on the hood, contributes to a better looking, more aggressive stance and gives the Mustang a chiseled, no-nonsense appearance that epitomizes a muscle car.
The interior is updated, without losing the appeal of the original, with very nice premium trim package stitching, a new smooth one-piece, albeit retro-looking, instrument panel, ice blue ambient lighting, leather trimmed seats and some nice aluminum accents. The seats are firm yet comfortable and convey a sense of oneness with the car. The ergonomics are well laid out and easy to understand and use, and I really like the retro looking gauge package. The Shaker 500 audio system has all the expected technologies and the Sync Voice Activated System is very cool and easy to use. However, I was plenty happy leaving the sound system off and listening to the sweet music coming from the throaty exhaust system that you only hear from good old American V8 power plants, and this has one of the best exhaust notes I’ve heard in a long time – so I know Ford engineers spent hours working on it to get just the right sound in the cabin. It works just fine.
But let’s talk about driving this car. Power comes from the proven 4.6 liter overhead cam V8 that develops 315 horsepower and gets to the rear wheels through a 5-speed manual transmission. There are a lot of cars out there with more horsepower, but I can tell you that very few of them are as much fun to drive as the Mustang GT. There’s plenty of power at your command to get on freeways and pass traffic effortlessly.
This new Mustang is well balanced and makes handling quick and sure with wonderful flat cornering that makes driving it a blast. I don’t get to put these cars through the paces I’d like, but I will say that the little bit of “pushing” I did was really fun and I really enjoyed my week in the 2010 Mustang GT.
This car would definitely be on my wish list to own. It’s a truly cool car and again, just one of the great cars coming out of Detroit. Check it out. I think you’ll like it as much as I do. Click here for more info on the 2010 Mustang GT.

CITYLife Web Exclusive | CITYSunTimes August 2009