James Raia

Articles by James Raia

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2013 Tesla Model S claims Car of the Year honors

The Tesla Model S sport sedan, overcoming the financial troubles of its owner, long delays, pricing increases and bad press, has been named as the 2013 Automobile of the Year by Automobile magazine. “It’s the performance that won us over,” said the magazine’s editor-in-chief Jean Jennings when announcing the award. “The crazy speed builds silently and then pulls back the edges of your face. It had all of us endangering our licenses.”The magazine’s road-test editor Christopher Nelson was equally impressed. “Driving the Model S is decidedly not like piloting a Nissan Leaf or an electric Smart,” he said. One of Automobile’s contributors, Ezra Dyer arranged a race with a 560-horsepower, $89,900 BMW M5 sports sedan, seeing which vehicle could first

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2013 Toyota Avalon Hybrid: Redesign adds further appeal to surprising sedan

By Bruce Aldrich, Contributing Edtior The 2013 Toyota Avalon will debut in December, and the fourth generation sedan has a new mission statement — excitement. The car has a entirely new look, an upgraded interior and better handling. Expect to see design cues from the Avalon in future Toyotas. The real news is the hybrid Avalon. The hybrid drivetrain is the same used in the hybrid Camry. This Synergy Drive system uses a 2.5-liter gas motor, combined with an electric motor to provide 200 horsepower. I prefer the hybrid Avalon over gas models. The hybrid does everything the gas model does, but with less drama. The constant velocity transmission (infinite gears, unlike just six in the gas car) provides perfectly

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Hurricane Sandy aftermath: beware of water-damaged cars for sale

Natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy take wide-ranging tolls on industry — the demolishing of small corner grocery stores to halting of the stock market. And the cancellation of international sporting events like the New York City Marathon to fraud in the auto industry. According to a report on the New York Times website, the damage from Hurricane Sandy not only destroyed many vehicles and affected the daily operation of car dealerships and auxiliary automotive businesses, it prompted a need for consumer awareness. Consumer advocates are warming car buyers they need to beware of vehicles that have suffered from water damage. It’s not uncommon for sellers to dry out their cars and then try to sell them without divulge the vehicles’ histories.

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Toyota Avalon, 2013: New design invigorates old school sedan

By Bruce Aldrich/Contributing Editor Our grandfather’s car has been reborn. For 2013, the fourth generation Toyota Avalon has been redesigned to attract people with color left in their hair. The car looks and drives better because the manufacturer’s President Akio Toyoda wants it that way. Toyoda’s goal is to put excitement into Toyota automobiles. The Avalon is the first car in the Toyota line to benefit from the new edict, and expect to see design cues from the Avalon in future Toyotas. The first thing I noticed about the Avalon is new styling. It doesn’t look like any other Toyota. The old, rounded jellybean look is gone. The new car has pronounced wheel arches, a dramatic sloping roofline and a

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Hyundai, Kia busted by EPA for faulty mpg averages in 900,000 cars

Hyundai and Kia have inflated gas mileage averages in many vehicles in their respective lineups as much as six miles per gallon, according to an investigation conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The two Korean automakers will be forced to lower their mileage estimates for many models dating to 2010 models and and face millions in federal fines and the probably of collective anger among car owners. The most erroneous mpg average in the investigation in with Kia Soul. It’s advertised with an average 35 mpg in highway driving. In the EPA audit, the Soul averaged 29 mpg in highway driving. The Soul is currently one of Kia’s best-selling cars with an 18.1 percent sales increase this year. The

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Jay Leno continues green car passion, test drives Tesla Model S

Jay Leno likes all kinds of cars and motorcycles. He likes performance and practicality, history and craftsmanship. And Leno also adapted early to the hybrid and electric car industry. He has an ancient steam engine machine, a 1909 Baker Electric and one of the first of the first generation of Honda Insights. It’s of little surprise, therefore, that Leno has taken a keen interest in Tesla. Leno describes Tesla as an electric car that doesn’t look like an electric car. The original Tesla Roadster, Leno, says debuted “loosely based on a Lotus.” The Tesla Model S, the comedian notes, takes the Tesla into another area. It not only still performs and looks like a sports car, it has impressive numbers,

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Bugatti Veyron Super Sport takes Jay Leno for a ride

Jay Leno has favorite cars for favorite occasions, but nothing in the comedian’s famous garage full of cars got as much attention than the recent arrival of two new Bugatti Veyrons. The combined price of the two models is more than $5 million. Leno begins his discussion of the two cars, saying: “Like a lot of people, we’re huge Bugatti enthusiasts.” But looking a two Veyrons is one thing and driving a new Veyron Super Sport is another thing. After discussing the merits — carbon construction to massive horsepower — with John Hill, Bugatti’s North and South American marketing director, Leno takes the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport on a test drive. It’s all in the video below. While statistics can

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Staticap debuts custom alloy wheel center cap

StatiCap has introduced a center cap for alloy wheels that enables drivers to display their vehicle logo or graphic of choice on the vehicle’s wheel center cap, upright and static, whether the vehicle is parked or racing down a highway. StatiCap operates on simple principles of physics and mechanics that keep the wheel center cap in a fixed position, regardless of the speed the wheels are rotating. This simplicity makes StatiCap far more effective than other technologies, such as non-rotating rims. Announced the SEMA Show 2012 in Las Vegas, StatiCap can be installed in seconds. Customers will receive a specially designed tool enclosed with the set of four StatiCaps. A vehicle’s current center cap can easily be removed and replaced

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Toyota, citing responsibility to dealers, employees, donates $1 million to Hurricane Sandy relief

Toyota has faced its own tumultuous concerns in recent years, but automaker said it has particular responsibility to its dealerships and employees affected by Hurricane Sandy and thus has donated $1 million to the American Red Cross and other nonprofit organizations to support relief efforts. Toyota will also match employee contributions to the American Red Cross and other non-profits doing relief and recovery work in affected communities. Beginning Nov. 1, Toyota Financial Services (TFS) and Lexus Financial Services (LFS) will launch a “Customer Outreach” calling campaign to lease and retail customers who are delinquent, or become delinquent, due to circumstances related to the storm and who reside in the 13 states directly impacted by the hurricane (CT, DC, DE, MA,

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Scion shines again, Ford plummets sharply again in Consumer Reports' survey

Toyota Motor Corp.’s Scion, Toyota and Lexus remain in the top three positions, while Ford continued its abrupt plunge for the second straight year in Consumer Reports’ survey of auto reliability. On the list of 28 brands, Scion remained first, followed by Toyota and Lexus; Ford fell to 27th position in 2012 after dropping from 10th to 20th in 2011. The top-seven brands on the list are Japanese. “Ford‘s bumpy road can be seen in the numbers,” Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports’ new director of automotive testing, said. “Sixty percent of Ford-branded models and half of Lincolns were below average in predicted reliability, and none placed above average.”In June, the Ford brand placed 27th in the annual Initial Quality Study by

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Mitt Romney auto industry television campaign ripped by New York Times

Andrew Rosenthal, who has covered presidential elections for 25 years and is the current editorial page editor of The New York Times, is not pleased how Gov. Mitt Romney is discussing the auto industry. Rosenthal writes the blog Taking Note for the newspaper and he’s upset with a new television advertisement he believes is inaccurate. He writes in part: “It’s odd for Mr. Romney to complain that Mr. Obama ‘took’ the automakers into bankruptcy, since he advocated a managed bankruptcy for those companies four years ago. It’s also odd for Mr. Romney to claim that he’ll fight for every American job, since he got rich, in part, by investing in companies that specialized in relocating jobs done by American workers

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Ford, Mazda, Dodge, Toyota named Green Car of the Year finalists

The Dodge Dart Aero, Ford C-Max and Fusion, Mazda CX-5 and Toyota Prius C are finalists for the Green Car of the Year, the yearly honor selected by editors and guest judges of the Green Car Journal and announced at the L.A. Auto Show. The finalists list runs the gamut of fuel-efficient powertrains — hybrids and plug-ins to high-mileage gas burners. The two Fords, for example, make the list in part because they come in both hybrids and plug-in hybrid flavors. Past Green Car of the Year winners include the Honda Civic Natural Gas (2012), Chevrolet Volt (2011), Audi A3 TDI (2010), Volkswagen Jetta TDI (2009) and Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid (2008).The 2013 winner will be announced Nov. 29 at the

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Lexus GS 350, 2013: Plush new sedan ready to challenge German luxury leaders BMW, Audi

Like its siblings throughout the Lexus line-up, the GS 350 has been redesigned for 2013. The fourth generation of the upscale midsize sedan is slightly wider and taller than previous editions and it’s also touted with improved steering, more power and increase fuel efficiency. The length and wheelbase remain the same as older models and the GS 350 still features a 3.5-liter V6. But its new exterior design has resulted in 25 percent more trunk capacity, and with all of its improvements Lexus is hoping to provide more competition for the dominating German brands. The Weekly Driver Test Drive Driving the GS 350 is everything that defines a luxury sedan, and as part of Toyota‘s upscale lineup, it did little

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Volvo S60 T6, 2013: Sporty all-wheel drive T6 offers sedan at its best

The five-cylinder 250-horsepower 2013 Volvo T5 sedan I tested was very good. But I soon found the hotter S60 T6 AWD R-Design sedan almost felt like a different car. In fact, the S60 T6 AWD R-Design model is arguably the best high-performance Volvo ever. Both the Volvo T5 and T6 models have slick, virtually identical styling. But the S60 T6 AWD R-Design has a more potent six-cylinder engine. It also has a sport chassis, larger brakes and standard all-wheel drive, besides sportier interior and exterior features. A turbocharged 3-liter 300-horsepower six-cylinder is available for the 2013 S60, which has a standard turbocharged 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine. But the hot rod R-Design does it one better by having a 3-liter turbocharged and

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Maserati issues recall for tire pressure system woes

Even revered luxury cars like Maserati sometimes have problems. The Italian manufacturer is recalling Quattroporte sedans and Granturismo, Granturismo convertible, and Granturismo MC sports cars because of faulty tire pressure monitoring systems. The recall includes 485 cars from the 2012 model year of the exclusive manufacturer whose vehicles have sticker prices starting at about $120,000.In a document filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Maserati said the possible malfunction is the result of a software error and could keep the system from warning the driver when a tire’s pressure is dangerously low. Maserati dealers will replace the TPMS tire pressure system control unit free of charge. The recall is expected to begin in November, and owners may contact Maserati

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Amphibious car afloat again on land and sea after nearly 50-year hiatus

It’s been nearly 50 years since the amphibious car had its niche heyday. But the Quadski, a one-person all-terrain vehicle that doubles as a personal water craft, will debut in the United States in November with a price of about $40,000. New Zealand businessman Alan Gibbs, the 73-year-old founder of Gibbs Sports Amphibians, said he hopes the Quadski will be the entree toward full-size amphibious cars to the masses. Powered by a BMW motorcycle engine that turns the wheels and drives its waterjet propulsion, the Quadski is capable of 45 mph on land and water. It takes five seconds to convert from a water-to-land vehicle or vice versa.The Quadski goes on sale next month in Florida and by the end

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