Welcome to Motoring Monday for August 25th, 2014.

2015 Corvette Z06 Priced At $78,995

While the announcement of pricing is rarely for me a news story, I have to admit Chevrolet’s MSRP for the 2015 Corvette Z06 is.

Much much less expensive than I expected, Chevrolet has set pricing for the new all-powerful Corvette Z06 at $78,995 with the convertible model starting at $83,995.

Yes this is still expensive, but a relative bargain for a world class sports-car with 650 horsepower and the kind of chassis specs, handling poise, and outright enjoyment many pay two and three times the price for.

Granted, this is pricing for a base model. You can option the Z06 up with things like the $2,995 Carbon Fiber Ground Effects package and a Z07 Performance Package is available for $7,995.

That $11,000 spend will get you better aerodynamics for the track, adjustable ground effects, and better brakes to go along with its magnetic ride control and adjustable drive modes.

Also offered is a Performance Data Recorder which enables you to record high-definition videos, with telemetry overlays, of your driving experiences on and off the track. For better or worse, I’m sure our YouTube will be full of these very soon.

The new Z06 is the top of the line for Corvette at least until we see a ZR1. And with even Dodge building 707 horsepower sedans now, I think we can expect a faster Corvette sooner rather than later.

Right Hand Drive Mustang Testing

Now that the 2015 Mustang’s major cats are out of the bag, Ford has shared that final testing is being done for the right-hand-drive export version.

Ford’s new 2015 Mustang will be on sale around the world as a true global car. Thus very soon production for over 120 countries begins, including for the first time, a right-hand-drive version.

There are actually some twenty five markets where a right-hand-drive car is needed. The larger of them of course include the United Kingdom, Australia and South Africa.

The importance of adding a right-hand-drive Mustang is key to allowing the pony car to be exported to these countries where they can be licensed and sold as a regular production car.
For decades in like Australia, Mustangs have been converted to right-hand-drive by local companies at great expense, making them a grey market novelty. This move will make America’s pony car more mainstream.

Ford will be proving out various aspects of the right-hand-drive 2015 Mustang before production begins on the global export models early next year.

And for those of you watching closely, yes we’ve been showing you mirrored stock video footage of the 2015 Mustang purely for effect. It’s all them fancy Hollywood tricks.

2014 Fiat Abarth Track Experience

This season, Fiat 500 Abarth owners will have even more opportunities to develop their driving skills during the Abarth Track Experience.

To meet increased demand, three new stops were added to the one-day driving workshops held around the country known as the Abarth Track Experience.

The factory backed program offers exclusive professional driving instruction sessions to Fiat 500 Abarth owners to enhance their driving skills on the street and track.

Drivers get wheel time in an autocross, head-to-head challenge, driving dynamics and performance driving sessions. The day includes riding shotgun as professional drivers push the track-tuned Fiat 500 Abarth to the limit.

The 2014 Abarth Track Experience this fall gets additional stops at Daytona International Speedway, Lime Rock Park, Auto Club Speedway in California.

To get more information log onto www.abarthexperience.com.

Test Drives

This week in our test drives we subjected the 2014 Lexus ES 300h Hybrid to an MPG Road Trip Challenge.

Our regular MPG challenge road trip loop from Scottsdale to Kingman, AZ is about 200 miles of mountainous freeway, two-lane highway and city traffic.

We topped off and sealed up the tank then headed off with our only major rule of staying at or near the speed limit, not deliberatly driving slow to save gas.

Upon arrival, the tank was topped off and the math done. We achieved 42.88 mpg average which is well above the 40 mpg average promised on the window sticker. Not bad.

This week we are testing the 2014 Toyota Sienna Limited mini-van. We’re already finding many of its top line features to be rather interesting if not unique.

The reclining second row seats with ottomans are a pleasant surprise along with the wide screen entertainment system. It’s shaping up to be a road trip machine to be sure.

For these and many other test drives log onto TestDrivenTV or our YouTube Channel.

Reality Check: KIA HAMSTERS Launch Soul EV

Our reality check is often about marketing because its the truth and the lie about all things. And given much of my background is in marketing and PR I just have a fascination for it.

While we poke a lot of holes in automaker PR schemes, this week we share one that knocks it out of the park on all counts.

Launching the new all-electric Soul EV, Kia has a new hamster video with a sound-track from Maroon 5, which aired for the first time last night on the MTV Music Awards.

The extended commercial starts in the lab where hamsters working accidentally zap one of their own, turning it into a voluptous female. Soon they are off to the pet store to make more.

Along with the Maroon 5 “Animals” sound-track, the commercial is set to be another hit for the brand, which has already well mixed the imagery of animated rodents to electronic dance music to a good end.

What makes this silly marketing scheme work is that it’s backed up by a product that’s actually quite good.

The Soul and the new Soul EV offer up design, quality, and value that not only meshes well with its marketing image, but doesn’t let you down once you get behind the wheel.

It’s a simple formula some automakers have yet to get. Build good cars to start with, then you can do anything ya want.

Money Shot

Now it’s time for our Money Shot where we pluck a picture from this week’s press releases and show it to ya.

The Fiat 500 Abarth is front wheel drive, so this track photo of what looks like a power sliding drift is all that much more entertaining. An off-throttle over-steer slide, the photo while deceptive is still a piece of automotive eye candy that gets our attention.

That’s it for Motoring Monday this week, now you can be well armed for car talk this week at work. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel by clicking the link below and we’ll keep you updated on our latest news, drive reviews and Motoring Monday episodes.

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