Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (GK1W)

Mitsubishi, once made cool cars for speedo boys, called it quits when they stopped making the Lancer Evolution and what was once the coolest Japanese carmakers in the world shriveled to making redundant city cars that are too regular for its own good. To make things worse, Mitsubishi revived the name of the once famous sportscar and then slapped it on their newest compact crossover. They christened it as the all-new Eclipse Cross.

2018 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross

2018 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross

This is the all-new Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross, ladies and gentlemen, and I know. It's a disgrace to put the name of the once-famous sportscar to another regular compact crossovers that are idiotic and irrelevant in the hearts and minds of speedo boys everywhere and because crossovers are becoming part of your daily neighborhood or your family from every generation when your sister once owned a Honda CR-V, your granny's friend has a Subaru Forester, your other cousin has a Toyota C-HR, so on so forth, the Eclipse Cross may soon be your kind of crossover that can be part of your family if you got your driver's license on your first attempt.

First and foremost, while this is basically a crossover that slots between the RVR and the Outlander, the Eclipse Cross's design is all about borrowing the elements from BMW and Mercedes-Benz, creating a crossover with a coupe-like silhouette and while it sounds sexy at first, looks can be somewhat puzzling because while it's small in size, the front looks very similar to the Outlander while the back reminds you of a Pontiac Aztek. Yep, you heard that right. It's like an Aztek with the face of an Outlander and it's not half bad by the looks of it.

2018 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross interior

2018 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross interior

On the inside, the Eclipse Cross is somewhere between good and bad and while the spacing is good for a five-seater, the bad side is that you can't use it as a family car because being a five-seater, chances of finding a sweet spot is almost impossible. What's even weird but wonderful about the Eclipse Cross is the dashboard that looks like Mitsubishi nicked some from luxury car makers from the world. See the sat-nav that works with Apple Carplay and Android Auto? It looks like it came from today's BMW iDrive. Then, there's the Remote Touch interface that looks like they stole it unashamedly from Lexus. So, what you have here is a regular crossover that has the bits and bobs from a luxury car. Well done, Mitsubishi.

2018 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross

And now, we get to the dark side of the Eclipse Cross, the performance, and although it can be worth the trip to grandma's house, the driving delight is nowhere as good as, let's just say, the Hyundai Kona and the Kia Stonic. It's got a 1.5L 4B40 MIVEC Turbo engine that produces 150PS of power and 240Nm of torque, which sounds less but it has a sprite to it. However, with the INVECS-III 8-speed Sport Mode CVT, like I said, that gearbox spoiled its driving delight for you but on the long trip, it promised between 14 to 15kmpl of fuel economy based on JC08 Mode standards. Still, it's a tad less than the Kia Stonic, which is basically more fun to drive than the Eclipse Cross but on the upshot, it doesn't have the Eclipse Cross' electronically-controlled 4WD system with Super All Wheel Control that sends most of its torque to the rear wheels like a Ford Focus RS, which is great but when you are stuck at a sheep's pen, you're really stuck so don't bother trying it because being a midsize crossover, the Eclipse Cross won't promise you the dynamics of the late Lancer Evolution. Instead, it's going to be like that old Pajero iO you used to own back then. On the plus side, you can slap that "turboactive" feeling to it.

The Eclipse Cross starts at 2,526,000 Japanese Yen (around $25,300 or 1,270,000 PhP) and it's slightly more expensive than the Toyota C-HR but still, this is the lesser of the two evils if I'm honest. So, how can I sum this car up? Well, the design and the interior is not half bad, the performance is kinda upsetting everyone because of the turbo engine that is short on power and the CVT gearbox that is not good on your driving pleasure, despite the 4WD system that works rather well until you get stuck in the sheep's pen.

Available colors: Red Diamond, Red Metallic, Bronze Metallic, Lightning Blue Mica, Titanium Grey Metallic, Black Mica, Sterling Silver Metallic, and White Pearl.

Photo: Mitsubishi Motors Corporation

Forza Motorsport 7: Blood Runs Deep

If you've been a fan of those Dodge commercials, you may be enamored by the Vin Diesel-ish voiceover while seeing cars like the Charger, the Challenger, and now the Durango, speeding around the roads. I mean hey, blood runs thicker than oil and what better way to celebrate the newest arrival to the "Brotherhood of Muscle" by driving the first-ever Durango SRT from Forza Motorsport 7's Dell Gaming Car Pack?



Before calling the shots, let's take a quick look on the Dodge Durango SRT, shall we? Dodge's third-generation Durango combines the practicality of a sport utility vehicle and the sportiness of what a Dodge can be and due to inconsistent public demand, the SRT version of the Durango was unleashed, giving the soul of a muscle car to this do-all crossover.

Dubbed as the fastest third-row SUV in its class, the Durango SRT is powered by a 392-cubic-inch (6.4L) V8 engine producing 475HP of power and 470lb-ft of torque, while mated to a TorqueFlite eight-speed automatic. As verified by the NHRA, it foes 0-60mph in 4.4 seconds and can go through the quarter mile in 12.9 seconds.

Apart from its V8 power, the Durango SRT rides on a short-and-long-arm independent front suspension with coil springs, specially tuned Bilstein adaptive damping suspension (ADS), upper- and lower-control arms and a stabilizer bar, resulting to sports car-like handling.  At the back comes a specially tuned multi-link suspension, and after that, it comes with a performance-oriented AWD system. It has massively new Brembo high-performance six-piston front and four-piston rear calipers and vented rotors at all four corners, resulting to an estimated 115 feet to come to a full stop from 60 mph.

The end result is that not only the Durango SRT is a track weapon crossover in its own right but also a fun people mover doing all sorts of everyday jobs, more than enough to make the neighborhood envy.





Need a little refresher? When I first saw the Durango SRT, I once said that not only you can handle this behemoth like a boss but you can handle any kind of weather condition like it never happened. Of course, it may not be as fast as the Grand Cherokee Trackhawk I drove a while back but you don't got smacked by some fat teenager girl doing a stage dive at the concert. Instead, it's likeyour granny spending the whole day watching Mad Mad-esque films no one heard of as I shall now explain on trip round Laguna Seca.



It maybe a people mover on steroids but the way the Durango SRT behaves is like I was expecting! Of course, this is the ideal crossover for men who got married by accident but going for the family car that is as fun as what they drove when they were single, like I said, and while you can drive it for everyday activities such as taking the kids to school, going to work, going grocery shopping, so on, so forth, but it's sensational to drive. It maybe heavy but it behaves like a Subie and that's just the cherry of the cake.





So, you got my point about how good the Durango SRT is, right? Let's crank it up a notch by proving just how good the Durango SRT is and because I prefer the unscripted life, let's pick a benchmark car for the Durango SRT to play with and I think I got one...





This is the Ford Focus RS, one of my favorite hyper hot hatchbacks ever emerged from the Old Continent to be driven by American hands. It has the same EcoBoost engine from the regular Mustang and has the coolest four-wheel drive system ever made. So cool, you can hoon it like a maniac. Anyway, let's see how the Focus RS fares with the Laguna Seca track...



The Focus RS did it in 1:55.264 and all I have to do is to see if the Durango SRT is as good as this hot Focus. Let's roll the tape!



How did I fare with the Durango SRT? It did it in 1:56.272 and when you round them up, it's a second slower than the Ford Focus RS. Close but this crossover proves its point!



There you are, ladies and gentlemen. The Dodge Durango SRT is almost as fast as a Ford Focus RS and while it's more expensive to buy than the soon-to-be-defunct hot Focus, this crossover is a do-all on the road and on the track and in the world of Forza, this has got to be one of the most enjoyable crossovers to drive at the moment if you think the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk is too much of an overkill for you. Like the commercial said, welcome to the Brotherhood of Muscle.

THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: North Korea hails "openhearted talk" with South Korean delegates

The delegation of five officials led by Chung Eui-yong met with Kim Jong Un on March 5 and had a dinner banquet together afterwards.

Noting the venue of the meeting/dinner - the headquarters of North Korea's ruling Worker's Party - the Blue House said it marked the first time for any South Korean to be invited to the building. North Korea's state run media reported that its leader held an "openhearted talk" with the South Korean president's envoys reaching a "satisfactory agreement" about holding an inter-Korean summit meeting with South Korean leader Moon Jae-in.

South Korea's Blue House also acknowledged an agreement reached between the two sides adding the outcome of the meeting "were not disappointing."

In a dispatch, the KCNA said Kim Jong Un expressed his desire to "write a new history of national reunification" during the welcome dinner which was also attended by his sister, Kim Yo-jong, and his wife, Ri Sol-ju.

Neither both sides released the details of the talks or commented on how his he responded to the South Korean appeal for Pyongyang to start a dialogue with Washington on ending the North's nuclear weapons program.

Source: Arirang News

Let's Do The News! (March 6, 2018)

- The Malacanang last week expressed willingness to cooperate with human rights investigators after the United Nations presented interest on the country's supposed extrajudicial killings, according to the presidential spokesperson during a press briefing in the Sangguniang Bayan Building in Zamboanga del Norte after news sprouted that the UN seeks to probe the Philippines’ war on drugs.

- Meanwhile, President Rodrigo Duterte named new officials of the Philippine Olympic Committee during a ceremony. Among those who took their oaths were POC President Victorio Vargas and POC Chairman Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino. After being named as the new POC chief, Vargas said that he is eyeing to push for a successful campaign in the Asian Games in August as well as the Philippine’s hosting of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.

- Five workers died while several others were hurt after a bunkhouse in Cebu City collapsed early Tuesday.

- A leakage at the main pipe line of Maynilad Water Services Inc. is affecting over 200,000 clients of the water service provider in Southern Manila and Cavite. According to Jennifer Rufo, assistant vice-president for corporate communication of Maynilad, a blow-off valve of their 1.4m diameter primary line along Coastal Road was damaged, suspected to be due to water pressure, around 6:15 am.

- If US President Donald Trump's proposal to slap 25% tariff on imported tax wasn't enough, he considers retaliating the EU by slapping import taxes against Europe-made cars if they want to further increase their already massive tariffs and barriers on US companies doing businesses there.

- Come tomorrow, US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is pushing the bill that would deregulate 30 of the 40 biggest banks in America and while some Democrats like Elizabeth Warren oppose against this bill, a number of Senate Democrats look ready to go along.

- According to the Emerson University survey, ahead of the special congressional election in Pennsylvania's 18th district, Democrat Conor Lamb is leading against radical Trump Republican Rick Saccone by 3 points, 48 to 45.

- Bentley's first ever plug-in electric hybrid vehicle, the Bentayga Hybrid, was unveiled prior to this week's Geneva Motor Show premiere, featuring a 3.0L V6 turbo petrol engine mated to an electric motor that promises 75g/km of CO2 emissions.

2019 Bentley Bentayga Hybrid

- Volkswagen will showcase the ID Vizzion Concept at this week's Geneva Motor Show, starting a wave of promising electric vehicles by the next decade while showcasing autonomous driving technology.

Volkswagen ID Vizzion Concept

- The Forza Motorsport 7 March Car Pack was unveiled and it's the fifth out of the six car packs to be covered with Car Pass, featuring four legendary racing machines, a Chevrolet Colorado, the all-new Lincoln Continental, and the new Volvo XC90.

- Say hello to the latest idol group joining the upcoming THE IDOLM@STER Shiny Colors game; the Hokago Climax Girls consisting of Rinze Morino, Chiyoko Sonoda, Kaho Komiya, Juri Saijo, and Natsuha Arisugawa.

TTFN!!!

Driving Music Vol. 87

Going home from work but stuck in traffic hell right now? Relax, ladies and gentlemen, because before you start bringing home the stress, soothe yourselves with some velvety smoothness of another batch of ten driving musics brought to you courtesy by me.

1) Fire (Remix) by Barns Courtney - from a Cadillac "The Future is Here" commercial

2) Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars - from a Cadillac XT4 teaser ad

3) Feel It Still by Portugal. The Man - from the Cadillac Super Cruise "Future Cars" commercial

4) It's Alright by Matt and Kim - from the Buick Enclave "More Kids" commercial

5) Ides of March by Vehicle - from the Acura TLX "Designed to Adapt" commercial

6) Young Men Dead by The Black Angels - from the BMW USA X2 "Chase New Dreams" commercial

7) Lucky by Lenka - from the Kia All New K3 commercisl

8) My Favorite Things by Jennie Abrahamson 

9) Should I Stay or Should I Go by The Clash - from the Renault Zoe commercial

10) Brest by Rone - from the Nissan Europe Leaf commercial

Driving Music from Leopaul's Blog is the segment where solves every car enthusiasts' questions about the title of the song of car commercials...with the risk of MATCHED THIRD PARTY CONTENT on their status. It's your jam. Drive to the Music You Love.

Winners of the 90th Academy Awards

The year 2018 marks the 90th outing of the annual Academy Awards where the biggest and the best films from Hollywood and abroad are gathered for "Hollywood's Biggest Night" and this year packs some surprises in store and sadly, no sign of the #TimesUp approach because they suspect, the ones behind it are "standing down" at the Oscars.

Anyway, in case you missed the Oscars, here are the list of this year's winners;

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE - Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour)
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE - Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri)
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE - Frances McDormand (Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri)
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE - Allison Janney (I, Tonya)
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM - Coco
CINEMATOGRAPHY - Blade Runner 2049
COSTUME DESIGN - Phantom Thread
DIRECTING - The Shape of Water
DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE) - Icarus
DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT) - Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405
FILM EDITING - Dunkirk
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM - A Fantastic Woman
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING - Darkest Hour
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE) - The Shape of Water
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG) - Remember Me (from Coco)
BEST PICTURE - The Shape of Water
PRODUCTION DESIGN - The Shape of Water
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED) - Dear Basketball
SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION) - The Silent Child
SOUND EDITING - Dunkirk
SOUND MIXING - Dunkirk
VISUAL EFFECTS - Blade Runner 2049
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY) - Call Be By Your Name
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY) - Get Out

The Shape of Water

The Shape of Water wins big at this year's Oscars, beating the likes of films like Dunkirk and Darkest Hour in terms of scoring some awards wins. So, congratulations to all the winners of this year's Academy Awards.

Nissan Serena C27 e-Power

Two years ago, Nissan introduced the world with the revolutionary hybrid powertrain known as e-Power on the Note minor change and because it works like it should be, they made the Note as one of the best-selling compacts in Japan and looks like they're onto something here. With the Note e-Power's success, their revolutionary hybrid powertrain has expanded to the Serena minivan, making this people mover going the distance for more while your kids behind you are napping with their pillows on their heads.

2018 Nissan Serena e-Power

So, if you need a refresher of how e-Power works, better listen carefully and don't snooze off, okay? e-Power features a full electric-motor drivetrain in which the wheels are completely powered by the electric motor, and its 1.2L HR12DE engine simply charges the batteries. The way how electricity is made is what differs it from an electric vehicle or conventional hybrid and with e-Power, the 1.2L HR12DE engine and the wheels are not connected similar to an electric car as the power is sourced from the petrol engine, allowing it to run without having to charge the battery from an external source. Because the batteries are 1/20th the size of the ones from the Nissan LEAF, its compact sizing made it to fit under the front seats without cramping the interior space.

As a result, the e-Power powertrain delivers 26.2km/L of fuel economy under the soon-to-be-defunct JC08 Mode standards, meaning that this is the most fuel efficient minivan in its class. A recently launched Honda StepWGN Spada Hybrid can only do 25km/L and that's it. That all sounds nice but sadly, the e-Power variant is offered exclusively in front-wheel drive only.

The Serena e-Power can be operated in different driving modes at the switch of a button. In normal mode, the 1.2L petrol engine is only active while in EV mode, it uses some of the energy from the batteries to continue the journey for more, and in S mode, both the engine and the electric motor are all out, making it more responsive and more dynamic. Of course, there's also other stuff in the Drive mode such as Manners Mode for some silent running while driving on the subdivision and then Charge Mode that lets the drivetrain charges the batteries.

Of course, to help differentiate the Serena e-Power to other Serena variants, they have been given some blue accents to the front grille but still, it works just like a normal Serena. You still have some of the goodies such as the the same two-way tailgate that can be opened either the whole door or the rear window, the same ProPILOT semi-autonomous driving tech, and the same Hands Free Auto Slide Door. This is a family mover that while it was not meant for enjoyable driving purposes, it works for family trips like going to grandma's house and then back home without stopping for fuel, I hope.

2018 Nissan Serena e-Power AUTECH

The Serena e-Power starts at 2,968,920 Yen (around $30,000/1,500,000 Php) and by pricing standards, that sits between the StepWGN Spada Hybrid and the hybrid variants of the Toyota Noah/Voxy vans. If the normal Serena e-Power is too bland, consider the AUTECH variant featuring a specially-made front face (including that fancy looking grille), LED fog lamps, side slip protector, special rear bumper, special rims, and suede interior, not to mention the special Shining Blue exterior paint. It costs 3,821,040 Yen (around $39,000/1,950,000 Php). Almost a million yen more than the normal one.

So, there we are. When you wake up in early morning, trying to wake the kids up, pack some stuff, and heading off to granny's house for a weekend drive, consider the new Serena e-Power as your best bet.

Photo: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.