Goodbye...

 This blog will no longer be active, unfortunately I don't have time to keep blogging at the current rate that I am doing now. Although there is great news, I just opened a new blog that will only concentrate on cars... Also, all the posts submitted into Weekly View  about cars will be translated into the new blog. The access to the new blog is below:

 Link to the new blog: http://cartrendnews.blogspot.com/

Cadillac is back, and it's packing a huge punch!



Current Cadillac logo, expect to see more of them thanks to the new XTS



Remember those cars that Cadillac was famous for, the 1959 Eldorado, the 1963 Seville, the 1976 Coupe Deville. All of them were huge, they were basically boats on wheels, especially the 1976 Coupe Deville. This is what made Cadillac, full-size luxury vehicles. Sadly, after the oil crisis of 1973 and the post 1976 crap cars; Cadillac lost it's shine. They became known for as an old people car, a lost jewel. And it got worst when in 1981 Cadillac released their famous compact car; the Cimarron. Although it was famous, it wasn't really great, actually it was horrifying, what GM did was suicidal. Basically they took the Chevrolet Cavalier, changed the plastic, put some Caddy badges, added a little bit of chrome and voila! its a Cadillac! The Cimarron was killing Cadillac due to poor quality and low reliability. When that happened Cadillac was thought of as the dump of luxury cars, a laughing stock. Although I might be little bit over dramatic; that's what was running behind everyone's mind back in the mid-80's. The death of Cadillac continued as their cars lost quality, it mostly had to do with stalled engines and poorly made transmissions. As the 80's passed, so did the 90's, by the year 2000 GM was seriously thinking of ditching the Caddies. Fortunately enough they kept the brand and stated that Cadillac will start making cars using the "Art and Science" ideology. By the way you may wonder why am I talking about the lousy times that Cadillac. Well it's simple, the brand's history highly reflects the cars that they make today, including the all-new XTS. You see the "Art and Science" ideology is what gave birth to the Cadillac CTS series, a car that basically put the brand back on the map. Sales of the CTSs were very impressive, and it's not the numbers that prove it, but also the quality of the car. And with success, Cadillac decided to give the same treatment to it's full-size and compact car lineup. Thus they released the XTS, to replace the low selling DTS and STS.

 

Jaw-dropping design and superior performance will make this vehicle successful. She looks like a million bucks!



What to expect from the new XTS? Well I can promise a unique beautiful car, that highly resembles the path that they took with the CTS. I can promise top notch quality, as much as her German competitors; if not, even better quality. That the interior will wrap around you like a million dollar blanket, that the car will out perform the Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. I am not writing that because I want to believe that, I'm writing that because that's what Cadillac promised us. Just by the looks of it, the first thing a car lover wants to do is stare, staring for hours looking at every angle at every curve. Her crown is her grill, that is topped off with a huge Cadillac emblem. Her headlights are heavily influenced by her older smaller sister, the Cadillac CTS. Running across to the back, and you go back in time without sacrificing the looks of a 21st century vehicle. in other words it resembles to the taillights that Cadillac put on their cars between 1965 to 1977. Although now they have LED lighting, hence the 21st century twist. The wheel base allows the wheels to flare out a bit, giving it the impression that its grabbing the road for dear life. Under the hood will be a 3.6L V6 making 300 horsepower and 264 pound-feet of torque. It's also going to be front wheel drive, which is better for us Canadians, since we have winter. Unfortunatly Americans are not too fond about that, wait until they find out that it's going to be made in Canada! There will be also a couple of bells and whistles from the V-series that will give the XTS an amazing suspension. May I mention that Ferrari looked up to Cadillac to refine their own suspension, so yeah, it's going to be one heck of a refined ride. In the end there is no doubt that the XTS will sell, with high quality and performance it's for sure people will like or even love this car. If this is not true than the world is becoming a mad place! So Cadillac, when can we get the XTS-V?

Law 101, damaging Quebec since 1977

Foreword: If you are a pure separatist, or pure federalist then it's recommended for you to not read this article. This is a subject that is still very active in the politics of Quebec. I did not write this to attack a certain group. Instead I wrote this to give you a suggestion to what we can do to improve this province, what can we do to protect the very unique culture we hold here, a province that grew up as a bilingual. Enjoy...
If you live, visited or even read about Quebec you'll for sure encounter the presence of the law 101. Nearly 40 years ago this law was passed in the Quebec, and behind it was the "Parti Quebecois". This law was created to protect the French language in a "sea of English provinces and states". And ever since its creation in 1977, there has been political, public and personal tension between the English population of Quebec and the French Canadians. This is still a heated topic in our province today. Many have been affected by this law, if not all have been affected. It's been implemented into our thoughts. I'll be telling you why this law is actually damaging our province today and why it should be scrapped for a better, fairer law that will not protect only the French language, but the identity of Quebec as a whole!

Okay before I start rambling I'll explain you the Law 101 and its reason for existence. This law was approved on August 26, 1977 by Hugues Lapointe. Basically what the law demands was that services must be given in French, that the government must be running in French and that all signs must contain French to promote any business or products. It also forces immigrants to send their children to French schools. Businesses with 50 or more employees must be speaking French within the workplace. The list can continue, for quite a while. Now to many it seems fair because you do want to protect the French language in a province that has been heavily influenced by the English language for the past 2 centuries. Also the French Canadians do count for 3% of North America's population. Although French must be protected Law 101 is not a solution, actually after 40 years of dominance in the lives of Quebecers it is rather hurting the French language in Quebec.

Why does it hurt more than it protects? Well, it’s simple; it's causing a lot tension within diverse communities across Quebec, especially in the City of Montreal. This language law is the driving force behind the whole separation issue in Quebec, which is a whole different topic within itself. Although the Law 101 does not seem harmful to Allophones and Anglophones (Allophones are people whose first language was neither French nor English, Anglophones are people whose first language was English) it actually does. Let me remind you that a good 25% of Quebecers are not French Canadians. So how does it harm the English population? Well it’s simple; now with this law English services are almost illegal because now services are required to be given in French. And even if they are still allowed to do so, it's rare because they do hire monolingual French people to serve in restaurants, shops and any other establishments that offer services to the population. Today I find myself frustrated because the lady at McDonald's cannot serve me in English because she does not make the effort to even learn English! It's a shame to know that they hire monolingual French people. Many do claim that you’re in Quebec, get used to it! But that's not true, because we are still part of Canada, which by law; its official languages are English and French. The Canadian Constitution also claims that we allowed to get served in English and in French, and if possible, in any other language that will serve you best. What this law is doing is revoking us from that.

Immigrants are forced to send their kids to French school, even if they are from Britain, United States, Australia and so forth. This is actually a violation of the Canadian Constitution, even the Bill of rights from the United Nations. The law does protect the French, but not the English. We should all have the right to choose what language our children want to speak, what language they can be instructed with. The only time a child may go to an English school is when if one of the child's parent went to an English school for the majority of their education. Immigrants can also send their children to an English private school for a year, making their child valid for a public English school. Shamefully that "loophole" was almost covered when the Quebec parliament approved the law 104 (an extension to Law 101 which made it impossible for an immigrant to send children to an English private school). Luckily for the immigrants that law was revoked by the Canadian Constitution, claiming it violated the child's rights.

Signs are also in French, including the stop signs, now it says Arrete instead. By the way did you know in France the stop signs say STOP? Weird to know that in the French motherland they put stop while back here in Quebec they translated the sign to French. The law states that all commercial signs must be written in French only. Thankfully in the late 80's the Canadian government claimed that that was against the language rights of a person, so now English can be present on signs, but they must be written by half the size of the French letters. Also, the 'S is a huge no-no. So when the Law came into effect, businesses like Schwartz's, which became Schwartz, the Eaton's Center became the Eaton Center... and so on. Again seems fair to most, but what about the other 25% of the population? I keep repeating that because, yes 25% is a minority, but it's a big one and they cannot be ignored. So what if businesses decide to place an English sign or even a perfectly bilingual sign instead? Surely no one can actually stop them right? Wrong! Have you ever heard of the language police? Yes, you heard me, the language police. All they do from morning to evenings is go around town and give big fat tickets to business owners who have violated a ridiculous law. In some cases some shops have been shut down because of that. All of this is controlled by the Office Quebecois de la Langue Francaise (or it's also known as OQLF) who's main goal is to crack down on these English "criminals". Come to think of it, in my opinion they are actually harassing the business owners like as if they were doing some extortion... Something considered illegal everywhere.

Anyhow it's got so bad that during the first weeks of November 2011, many French protesters have been protesting in front of Future shop, H&M and Second Cup on St. Catherine claiming that it's a "threat to the French language of Quebec". Correct me if I'm wrong but that does not actually threaten the French language, not even a little bit, it's a name for crying out loud. It's like saying that it's illegal to name your son Edward because it's not French. Honestly it's none of their business, and even though large companies did change their name to suit the French Canadians, that was their choice to do so. I mean if their wanted to, Staples could of easily said no to renaming themselves Bureau en Gros in Quebec. Now that I've mentioned that don't you see the tension between the French and the English in Quebec? It's a language war that has been with us for more than half a century. And although Law 101 did not cause it, it definitely poured fuel into the flame.

Because of this tension our education in Quebec is behind the rest of Canada. Our health care is behind comparing to the rest of the country. Our economy has basically collapse since 1977, and there are scars in Montreal to prove it. Our culture is being torn apart from both sides. Ever since this law was into effect our corrupted government has been debating over this, ignoring the actual problems that damage the province as a whole, like the roads! They are horrendous here! I mean look at the Turcot! It's a mess, instead of using money to keep this law up they should invest more into the new Turcot Interchange. What we must do is put aside this law, and make one that will protect the French language, while protecting the shrinking English language in Quebec. Much like the Law 63, which actually does that. Unfortunately people will not put their difference aside, and that is choking Quebec. This is slowing us down! We need to move on with our lives by ending this law right now! I'm not saying this because I only dislike the law; no in fact I'm saying this because I want the best for this province! I don't want the province of "Je me souviens!" I want the "La Belle Province" back!

MW3 vs BF3 my point of view.

 So during the past month two of the world's shooters came out. The ever grown title Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and the less popular Battlefield 3. Both games are first person shooting games, both are set in the near future, both have multiplayer and both have their annoying fanboys clashing against each other. Yes, ever since the games came out MW3 fans have put down BF3 while BF3 did the same towards MW3. Each side claims that they are the best. I'll be honest, I like both games very much, in fact I love both games. Although I played every Call of Duty since the series began in 2003, this year I decided to not buy Modern Warfare 3 for person taste. With all opinions on the side I'll tell you which is the best.

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This is a shot from the Modern Warfare 3 campaign... nice looking gun! Get those tangos down!

 -Modern Warfare 3: In the single campaign the story begins where it left off in MW2 and now you'll be going around the world across cities like New York, Paris, London and Berlin. Throughout the story you'll for sure endure intense moments that will give you the WOW factor. I really cannot explain much more on the single player campaign because I haven't played it yet. But because MW3 is just revamped from MW2 I can ensure you that it will be great if not amazing. Multiplayer is again the same formula from CoD 4, of course now it will have more bling. By bling I mean customizations. It's a fast paced game that will  take place in 16 maps, with different modes like Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Sabotage and etc. A new mode, called Killed Comfirmed is also new with the game. Basically it's Team Deathmatch but with a twist. The list goes on and on about the features in Multiplayer...

New York skyline! Good place to fight a war :) Hopefully the game doesn't predict the future...

 Tech wise, the game is using the same engine that they made 2 years ago for MW2. So it is showing a little bit of age but it's aging quite well for the moment. The fact that they use the same engine from 2 years ago means that the graphic improved little ever since MW2 came out. The game also runs at 60 frames per second, that gives the game its smooth edge while playing. The audio is also good, but it's static, meaning that if the player shoots his gun indoors, the shots will sound the same if he was outdoors. All around the game has a good engine that will deliver great performance.

In the end Call of Duty is an amazing game, but veterans will notice that it's the same game over and over every single year. This doesn't hurt the sales but it does leave an impression after a while. And in Multiplayer, camping does tend to piss the average player... but that's part of the game. But with the extra bling, great engine performance, impressive campaign and competitive multiplayer, it's no doubt a great buy.

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Stunning effects from Battlefield... it would make an adult say WOW!!!!

-Battlefield 3: Single campaign is a deja vu, it will be fun but all around you feel like you've already done this. Yes the story is good but many have said that the story has been influenced by other games. So Battlefield is running short on the campaign! But multiplayer is a different story. In multiplayer you have huge maps.... some require ten minutes to run across, and I'm serious. The multiplayer also has tanks, jets, Humvee/Jeeps, boats and Helicopters. All of which is free to use whenever available. When including the vehicles, travel time will be cut tremendously. Customization is also presented in this game, you can choose a camoflage for the soldier, you can put attachments on guns and vehicles, you can have custom dog tags and finally you can choose one of the four classes available in the game. There is also 4 different game modes, like Conquest, Rush and etc. Mind you that this game is heavily dependent on teamwork and patience, it's a slow paced game. Call of Duty vets will not like that, unless they are willing to change their gaming habits. Although it's a slow paced multiplayer experience expect many intense moments that will make you gaming rather very amusing.

A shot from Battlefield, look at the stunning  details! 

 Tech wise, the game has an engine called Frostbite 2.0, which is a massive upgrade from the previous Battlefield. It also has destruction 3.0, which allows players to destroy the environments around them, making the game pace constantly. The game does run at 30 frames per second, but this is a slow paced game. So in the end it really doesn't matter. The graphics are just impeccable, best graphics so far in a first person shooter. That's not an opinion, it's a fact. If you compare MW3 graphics to BF3 graphics you will clearly see the attention to detail in Battlefield. Audio is also a step further than Call of Duty because the Frostbite 2.0 allows sounds to differ considering the environment in which it stands around. You can actually clearly hear if the sounds comes from the left of the right! Overall the game does have an edge over other games with it's Frostbite 2.0 engine. This engine is also a big selling point for the majority of it's customers.

In the end Battlefield makes a huge mark in the first person shooter market. It's on the same level as MW3 thanks to it's newly built engine and competitive multiplayer. Although multiplayer is slow paced, Battlefield players need to to work together to win. Thus more thinking involved when playing this game.

So who's the big winner? NO ONE! You can see both games are in the same genre, but both are very different when it comes to playing. Call of Duty is fast paced, leaving the player rank up and having to mostly think of himself. In Battlefield the game is slow paced, and the player is almost forced to cooperate with his teammates or else failure is certain. It all comes down to how YOU play... you like rushing all the time.... Call of Duty is there, you like playing in teams while planning your moves ahead, Battlefield is there.

Dear Chevy, where is the new Impala?

   So since 2006 the Impala hasn't changed much... well for 2012 the Impala got a little face lift which includes a new grille, bumper and the chrome stripe in the back is now body color. Chevy also implanted new engines with more fuel economy but yet still adding the horsepower. But don't be happy about this, again the generation has been with us for 6 years almost. Because of the amount of years that the current gen. has been around, sales on the model dropped and stayed low since the 2008 GM bankruptcy fiasco... The reason why Chevrolet is not killing the Impala is because A, it's heavily sold as a fleet vehicle, and B, the Impala names has been with them since 1958. I'll admit the car is okay, because it's roomy, large, and very functional. The design was decent in 2006 but now it's becoming rather ancient and boring. 

   Luckily for people who want to buy a full-size sedan the next generation is in development according the Chevrolet. The new one will be intended to be sold to actual private buyers and not for fleets. To prevent that Chevrolet has introduced the Caprice (a Pontiac G8 with a Chevy badge and with a front wheel drive) available only to fleets like police, fire departments, car rentals and maybe even taxis. Chevrolet also hinted that it will have a better fuel economy and again more power. They also want to compete in its class against vehicles such as the Ford Taurus and the many more full-size sedans. The design if the car is still unknown. My guess is that they will make a design influenced by the Camaro and/or The Cruze. It's great, and then again it's not. Why? Well because the earliest the next gen. Impala will come out is in 2014. That means this car will last another 2 years, time can be painful because if they don't revive the dead cat soon enough it's going to stay dead. Is that going to happen...? Only time will tell.

So Chevrolet is Having Some Ideas...

Remember the Cruze? It came out during the fall of 2010 as a 2011 model. It was a great seller and it gave Chevrolet a high spot in today's compact vehicle segment. In fact, it sells more than the Toyota Carolla. The car sold more than 20 000 in America during the month of June, an impressive feat for a company that became bankrupt in 2008.

The car comes with a 1.4 L turbocharged engine that produces 138hp. This makes the car have the same amount of power as the others in the competition, while using less fuel thanks to its turbo. Unfortunately the car is only available as a sedan. Although the 5-door is coming out this fall, there is no word that they are releasing an important segment for the next year, the Chevrolet Cruze Coupe. Yes, there is no Cruze coupe; this is not good for the company because its previous compact car, the Chevrolet Cobalt, was sold mostly as a 2 door.

With that said we clearly understand that Chevrolet is missing out with a 2 door Cruze. This can increase sells by at least 40%, if not double the amount of sales that the Cruze has this year alone. This though, fortunately enough, is a major concern for the developers of the Cruze. And some car magazines are saying that they may have been working on the 2-door version for a while. If this is true Chevrolet has some great ideas.

If the 2-door version comes out by 2013, it's for sure they will release a Cruze SS. The second they release an SS model, it's for sure that the Cruze will be a future classic car.

Chevrolet's master piece of 1960, can they make another one?

 Since the glory days of 1957, the full-size salon lineup has been going well, but as much as they did with the 55, 56 and 57 Bel Air models. When the 58 came out, a new brand came up, Impala; unfortunately the design of the 1958 Chevy went a little too far said the buyers of the time. In my honest opinion, the 58 Bel Air/Impala was basically the deformed little brother of the 57 Bel Air. With 4 head light in the front, 6 taillights, the chrome/stainless steel was poor placed and it looked and probably was way too big. 

 As the end of 1958 arrives a nice surprise came through the Chevrolet dealerships, the new 1959 Chevrolet Impala. This car was a marvelous thing, the body was lower, the chassis was lower and the mechanical components were. It was a car to define the rest of the automobile history. Why? Let's compare a 2002 Chevrolet Cavalier with a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air, the Cavalier is much lower that the Bel Air.  The cars of our days are defined by the 1959 Chevrolets because of its low chassis and body. Today most if not all of our cars (excluding Crossovers, SUVs, Minivans, Vans  and etc.) have a low body; this is created for less wind resistance.

 Unfortunately the style of the car was once again on the edge, it was either you love it, of hate it. I personally like it, but I would never drive it simply because I don't see myself in one. The design itself was heavily influence by the space-age fiasco of the late 50's. In other words, the design was basically compared to the rockets flying into space. With the grill on top of the headlights, cat eyes for taillights and interesting fins, the car looked weird, but for some in a beautiful way. Also mind you again that these, with some other GM models, were the first vehicles that were mass-produced with a lower position.

 Then 1960 came, once again they gave the model a face-lift, this time in a more civilized manner. The headlight were from the 1959's model, but without the grill on top of them, chrome/stainless steel ran across the side, a nice ornament from the mid to back sections of the body. The fins were more calm looking, but still very present. The taillights went back to the 6 alignment format, except that year they were wrapped by a nicely sculpted chrome piece. The top part of the body, meaning the roof, cabin and etc. were not changed from the 59 model. With all of that, the 1960 Impala was a great success, sales went up and Chevrolet was happy. This was not to my surprise because just look at it; it’s an amazing sculpture, with the right curves, details and ornaments. Finally, after trial and error for two straight years buyers got what they wanted. Unfortunately when the 1961 model came, it stirred the buyers once more to buy a Chevy, and the decade goes well. As the 1970’s hit, the Bel Air name was dropped but the Impala continued to walk, and when the name died it was only to be revived for the 21^st century. Today the Impala is rather an afterthought for Chevrolet, let’s hope that the next generation will be as good as the 1960 model, or better yet, the 55, 56, 57 models!