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Silverado HD, Touareg V10 TDI face off in diesel tug-of-war

A couple weeks ago, we watched a Chevrolet Silverado get dominated by a Dodge Ram Heavy Duty in a fullsize pickup tug-of-war, but in that truck's defense, Chevy's Vortec gas engine was no match for the torquey Cummins turbo diesel. For our next round of vehicular tug-of-war, a Duramax-powered Silverado HD takes on Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI.
Now, on paper, putting the Duramax V8's 365 horsepower and 660 pound-feet of torque up against the V10's 310 hp and 553 lb-ft looks like an easy win for the Bowtie, but unfortunately, this battle has a similar result as the Dodge versus Chevy video, with the Silverado smoking its tires trying to move forward as it gets pulled backwards. Put another way: YouTube 2, Chevy Silverado 0.
It just goes to show, though, that big tires, bolt-on fender flares and goofy smoke stacks don't improve your towing abilities. Besides, what did the Silverado driver expect when the Touareg V10 TDI has towed a Boeing 747 in the past?

Kurt Busch to shake and bake (again) in Ricky Bobby car at Talladega

Kurt Busch will channel Ricky Bobby for another NASCAR race, this time driving a Wonder-sponsored Chevrolet SS, in this weekend's Camping World RV Sales 500 at the Talladega Motor Speedway. Unlike past tie-ins, though, there's actually an element of sponsorship here (the "Me" car was done when Busch was running on a team without sponsorship).
It was arranged by Flower Foods, the new owner of the Wonder brand. Wonder was part of the bankrupt Hostess company, which temporarily exited the US market 2012, and set off the Great Twinkie Shortage.
Busch has made something of a habit of channeling characters from famous racing movies, most recently running Tom Cruise's City Chevrolet livery from Days of Thunder in a Nationwide Series race earlier this year. Busch kicked off his movie-inspired antics, though, at Talladega in 2012, when he raced El Diablo's ("It's like... Spanish for like a fighting chicken") "Me" car complete with a cougar on the hood. He even went so far as to channel the lovable idiot that is Ricky Bobby during the race, dropping a few catchphrases about macchiatos and slingshots.

C7 Corvette makes inaugural ad appearance in Chevy's first spot with new slogan

Chevrolet's "Runs Deep" tagline has finally been run into the ground, replaced with the Bowtie brand's "Find New Roads" slogan that's part of parent General Motors' plan to unify its everyday brand's marketing efforts worldwide. The new Chevrolet campaign was ushered in on prime time last night during the Grammy Awards on CBS, and the first spot, a 90-second full-line ad, also marks the first appearance of the 2014 Corvette Stingray in a commercial.
Being a full-line ad, the commercial is composed of vignettes centered on different vehicles in the brand's lineup. The all-new 2014 Impala also makes its first commercial appearance in dapper fashion, and time is spent on a skateboarding Sonic and a bouquet of brightly colored Spark hatchbacks driven by fashionable women. The ad starts and ends with Chevy's green halo car, the Volt, along with a young girl with her robotic dog (yes, really).
Chevrolet's "Runs Deep" campaign got off to a rocky start in the fall of 2010, but it did last for a couple of years with some tweaks. This new one, "Find New Roads" seems more intent on drawing new customers into the fold than the outgoing tagline, which seemed to play more toward the brand faithful. It admittedly reminds us more than a little the short-lived "Find Your Own Road" Saab motto (which, we note, was conceived while the Swedish brand was under GM's control), but no matter, we still think it's got more long-term potential than "Runs Deep."