Your new age Cross Over SUV has arrived!
Gone are the days of having to choose between a small family car, a van, a sports car, and an off road capable truck. Why not have a car that does all of these things! (Though may not necessarily excel at any of them)
Here at Kirk Automotive, we’ve developed the perfect balancing act for your family: the CX55
CX55 stands for Crossover, 5 Doors, 5 Pasasngers, and a 5500lb towing capacity.
So is this the next car for you?
Overview
img.photobucket.com/albums/v80/Carskick/Overview_1.png
There she is! Designed to look more expensive that it really is, the Luxurious CX55 could easily pass for a $60,000+ luxury SUV. But it’s not. In fact, it’s about half that price!
Before we go any further, lets walk around the whole car
img.photobucket.com/albums/v80/Carskick/Side_1.png
img.photobucket.com/albums/v80/Carskick/Backj.png
Our designers went out of their way to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. Brushed Silver accents throughout create a classy, dressed up look that Mom will love. Dad will love the aggressive look and strong stance. Both will love that it’s height and door openings have been specifically tuned to make it easy to get kids and cargo in and out with minimal fuss. The large rear hatch with separately opening window make moving large amounts of cargo, even long items, a breeze. Optional roof racks and trailer hitch adapter that goes between the exhausts allow for increased utility for those who need it.
The theme of strong angles and rounded edges are carried throughout the car, inside and out. When you get inside the driver seat, you will feel confident and empowered. The instrument panel will be totally black, until you put in the key. Then it comes alive with white, new age LED backlit instruments, including a speedometer that goes up to 160MPH on the right, and a Tachometer on the left, both of even size. A screen in the middle of the two digital displays lots of important info. A rocker key on the steering wheel allows you to switch between information such as Fuel Economy, Tire Pressure Status, Engine Error Description, Maintenance Reminders, Off Road Info, and much more.
As you look to the center console, you’ll be greeted with a very handy Hard Drive Based Navigation. (Flash Memory was still too expensive in 2007) The 80GB Hard Drive contains 15GB of GPS information, which include free yearly updates at your local dealer. The other 65GB of storage can be used to store your music collection. The system is able to convert your CD’s into MP3s onto the drive for you. Alternatively, USB hookups allow you to plug in flash drives to transfer your own, pre-created MP3 files. This is all played back on an 12 speaker Polk Audio 5.1 Surround Sound System. 7 Front Speakers create phenomenal detail and sound stage (Center Mid-range, dash tweeters, door mid-range, and door woofers), while rear speakers keep the kids in the know (Tweeters and mid-woofers in the rear doors), while a 12" shallow mount subwoofer in the trunk floor fills out the lows. This stereo is an upgrade included in the Touring trim featured here.
While enjoying the great stereo and convenient navigation, you’ll be enveloped by soft and supportive leather seats. Trimmed with two tone black and white, the interior feels like it was designed by a modern artist with a degree in chiropractics. Both front bucket seats have have 10-way electric controls with three savable presets each. The driver’s presets also remembers the side mirror positions. The carpets are padded with space-age acoustical materials that are thin and lightweight, but are incredible sound insulators. All the while, the seats and carpet are pre-treated with a special stain resistant coating. Spilled drinks will bead and wipe right up, so don’t feel bad about eating on the road! To encourage this behavior, all doors have drink holders, as do the front and rear center consoles.
Design
img.photobucket.com/albums/v80/Carskick/Design_1.png
So what comprises the CX55?
At it’s heart is a well mannered high efficiency V8 that displaces almost 5.2 Liters. (Technically it’s closer to 5.1, but 5.2 sounds better!) Designed to be quiet and acoustically pleasant, the high efficiency V8 manages to average over 22MPG in this 2 Ton machine. This is in part to the silky smooth 6 Speed Automatic (No more cool new age transmissions for you guys! 
), which enables the engine to cruise at 70MPH at only 1790RPMs. This compounded with direct injection and a low-end torque tune create great gas mileage while still providing great performance in all driving conditions. Mom will feel super stable with the easy to drive Geared Differential AWD system which distributed all of that torque to the best possible location.
This is all place atop a fully active Double Wishbone suspension system which glides over bumps. You’ll soon learn to forget about looking for bumps in the road, as you just won’t feel them. In fact, even off road, the active suspension system and geared differential AWD system will crawl over anything under 8" tall, even with the stock tires. With 270ft-lb of torque at idle, you’ll hardly need to push the throttle to do so, either. Now this is no truck. The independent suspension does it’s best to cover all of it’s bases, but 5500lb is about all you’ll want to tow before the back end gets a bit too loose. You won’t see any solid axels or leaf springs here. But it sure makes the processes more comfortable for the people inside, and does wonders for road performance.
img.photobucket.com/albums/v80/Carskick/Engine_2.png
Just like the rest of the car, the engine is a jack of all trades. While 308HP @ 5500RPM with a 5500RPM redline does not sound extremely powerful, the low end torque and light weight make this a very snappy driver. The best part is the ease and consistency you get while driving it. The Variable Valve Lift system is aggressively tuned for low end torque, with a cam profile that allows the engine to smoothly idle at only 500RPMs. It also is what allows for the superb fuel efficiency while cruising. Around 2000RPMs, the system kicks over to a more moderate cam profile, which allows the torque to climb a little higher. You’ll see how nice it is to only have a 70ft-lb of torque variance throughout the RPM range, peaking right in the middle of the RPM range.
What’s more amazing is this direct injected 27.6% efficiency engine achieves what it does using only regular unleaded fuel. In fact, run Premium Fuel in her, and she’ll advance the ignition timing to give you 321HP and 354ft-lb of torque. That’s over a 4% increase in power, and you’ll get about a 3.6% increase in fuel economy. But even on regular fuel, all versions of this engine exceed emissions requirements worldwide. That with the 22+ combined MPG makes this one of the greenest SUVs on the market.
Track Performance
img.photobucket.com/albums/v80/Carskick/Performance.png
So you’ll probably never take this car on the track. But hey, it’s nice to know what it can do. 0-60 happens in a more than acceptable 6.9 seconds, while highway passing hardly requires downshifts. While the suspension really wasn’t designed for racing, the 53F/47R weight distribution and powerful vented disk brakes give it respectable track times for what it is. Not to mention the torquey V8, 6-Speed, and AWD help as well.
Conclusion
Wrapping things up, the CX55 is the ultimate crossover. But we lied. We claimed it was a jack of all trades, master of none. There are some things it masters: Driveability, Livability, Practicality, Comfort, Safety, and Value. Speaking of value, how much is this thing? You’ll be pleased to know that we are safely at $34,495, and that’s with our 5% margin to ensure that we’re here to honor the warranty.
img.photobucket.com/albums/v80/Carskick/Price.png
Your perfect family crossover or executive chariot await. Order today!
), which enables the engine to cruise at 70MPH at only 1790RPMs. This compounded with direct injection and a low-end torque tune create great gas mileage while still providing great performance in all driving conditions. Mom will feel super stable with the easy to drive Geared Differential AWD system which distributed all of that torque to the best possible location.
