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Ford Fiesta 2011 car review

Small mass-produced cars long have taken a back seat to larger vehicles in America. But now Ford hopes its 2011 Fiesta will convince Americans they need not sacrifice with a small, premium car. In short, Ford hopes the stylish, upscale front-drive Fiesta will “redefine small-car customer expectations” and thus be a “game-changing product for North America.” With unusually stiff upcoming federal fuel economy and emissions regulations, automakers fervently hope far more Americans will embrace small cars. Ford rivals also will be introducing upscale small models. A lengthy test drive of the Fiesta over twisty, challenging mountain roads outside San Francisco

Hyundai, VW share top 2011 safety institute honors

Hyundai and Volkswagen combined to earn 18 of 66 Top Safety Picks by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the independent nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to reducing the incidents on American highways. Hyundai and Volkswagen each had nine winning models, the most of any manufacturer. The IIHS introduced more difficult standards for 2010, adding roof strength to its criteria by testing protection in rollover crashes. “In just a year, automakers have more than doubled the number of vehicles that meet the criteria for Top Safety Pick,” said Adrian Lund, the Institute president. “That gives consumers shopping for a safer

Ford Shelby GT500 Mustang 2011 Car Review

Legendary champion racer/performance car builder Carroll Shelby first built affordable “Shelby GT350 Mustang” models, based on the then-new production Mustang, in 1965. The car was so fast, it even beat Corvettes on tracks. And now a good GT350 is a prized collector’s item that costs at least several hundred thousand dollars. Shelby is still with us as of this writing, feisty as ever at nearly 90, and must be very proud of the muscular-looking 2011 Ford Shelby GT500 Mustang. It’s the latest in a series of Ford Shelby GT500 models built in the last few years, and is by far

Nissan Rogue 2011 car review

Now in its fourth model year as a compact sport utility vehicle, the Nissan Rogue is the smaller sibling of the Murano crossover. It comes standard with front-wheel drive (all-wheel drive is an option) and a four-cylinder, 170-horsepower engine. For 2011, the Rogue has refreshed styling, several new colors and features for the first time Bluetooth and a USB port. It’s available in three trims, S, SL and Krom — the sport model. The new styling includes a new front fascia with fog-light cut-outs, a redesigned chrome grille, the addition of chrome trim on the lower door edges, a revised

Honda Accord 2011 Car Review

The Honda Accord, now 35 years old, is in its eighth generation and with much of its tenure as arguably the most reliable, unwavering sedan in automotive history. In likely the most competitive car segment, the Accord continues its stellar reputation in 2011 with five sedan trims available and three coupe siblings in the mix. The Weekly Driver Test Drive Although much of the Honda Accord has remained the same since the current edition was introduced in 2008, my weekly test drive was the SE model Special Edition. For the vehicle’s standard price, the Special Edition package ($1500 value) is

Toyota accepts huge penality, raising investigation record fine total to nearly $49 million

Toyota Motor Corp. has agreed to pay the government an additional $32.4 million, increasing the carmaker’s record fines to nearly $49 million as settlement into safety investigation into more than 11 million of its cars. The Transportation Department announced the latest civil penalties in the two major issues — stuck accelerator pedals that could get trapped in floor mats, and steering relay rods that could break and lead to drivers losing control. Toyota has already paid a $16.4 million fine in a relate case, bringing the total penalties levied on the company to $48.8 million. Toyota has recalled more than

Chevrolet Cruze 2011 car review

American automakers mostly concentrated on building large cars and trucks because that’s where the money was, and that was what most of their customers wanted. But the federal government is mandating that car companies build more fuel-stingy (and thus less-polluting) vehicles. And a growing number of Americans are accepting such models, partly because they’ve had a few bad gas price scares in recent years and because above-average domestic small models finally are being built. Thus we have General Motors’ new compact Chevrolet Cruze sedan, which has been sold for more than a year in Europe. It will be marketed throughout

Move aside, Hummer; Liebherr makes world's biggest truck

Before its recent demise, the Hummer took its share of criticism as a gas-guzzling, over-the-top vehicle driven by owners often chided as likely candidates for various testosterone issues. But the Hummer had nothing on the Liebherr T 282B. The German-built monster earth-hauling machine is the world’s largest truck and among the largest machines ever built. Designed in 2004, the top level model is driven by a 10 1/2-ton, 90-liter diesel engine that produces 3,650 horsepower. The Liebherr boasts several other wowing statistics. It weighs 203 tons empty and has a maximum capacity of 592 tons. It’s 47.5-feet long, 24.2 feet

Smart ForTwo, Porsche Cayman among 2010 sales losers

The automotive industry followed a disastrous year in 2009 with an encouraging sales year in 2010. About 11.5 million cars and light trucks will be sold in the United States this year, an improvement from 10.4 million in 2009. Automotive industry experts forecast sales of 12.8 million in 20111 and 17.1 million by 2015. But while several manufacturers’ brands — Buick, Cadillac, Infiniti, Ford, Hyundai and Jeep — had banner years in 2010, several manufacturers had dismal sales years. Mostly notably, Mazda and Suzuki had the worst sales years in 2010, combining for half of the top-10 poorest-selling cars

Nissan Cube, Honda Crosstour get 2010 all-ugly honors

One car owner’s dream car is another auto enthusiast’s nightmare. In 2010, more than one model grabbed its share of attention and catapulted its way to the year’s all-ugly list — the Nissan Cube to two Honda models. Correspondingly, while the Nissan Cube and Honda Accord Crosstour have received all-ugly honors, they’ve also received auto industry innovation design awards. In its 2010 end-of-the-year compilation, Forbes.com chose eight cars for their less-than-attractive appearances. The website also features a clever image of a Nissan Cube mostly covered by a brown paper bag. In its introduction to the article, the Forbes’ writer said:

Bugatti remains world's fastest production car for 2011

Forbes loves car lists, the most expensive to most economical and worst gas guzzlers to safest machines on the road There are exceptions, but Bugatti makes most lists, including fastest production car for 2011. The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport is the fastest production car in the world for 2011 just as it was for 2010 or at least at its quickest top speed for the last six months. Here’s Forbes description of the Veyron’s speed. “It’s worth repeating. The Bugatti Veyron Super Sport is the fastest production car in the world — faster than an underwater torpedo or a

Overstock.com announces overhaul of car site

Overstock.com, the Salt Lake City-based online retailer, has launched a new design for its cars section, featuring a more intuitive layout and improved search options for its 2.5 million new and used vehicles. Customers on Overstock.com Cars can search by make and model, year, location and price. They can also use the “Go Green” section of the site that displays a nationwide list of all hybrid, bio diesel, electric, natural gas, ethanol, and plug-in cars advertised on the site. Stormy Simon, Overstock.com SVP of Marketing and Customer Care said: To view the new look of the Overstock.com Cars website visit:

Honda sees the light, announces 1.35 million Fit recall

Honda Motor Co. is recalling more than 1.35 million Fit subcompacts because of wiring issues that could lead to failure in the vehicles’ low-beam headlights. The recall includes 143,083 Fit vehicles in the United States from 2007 and 2008 model years, 734,392 Fits in Japan and about 380,000 similar Honda Jazz models in Europe, according to a Honda spokeswoman. Honda detailed in a news release that a connector on a wiring harness could corrode and fail, which would extinguish the low beams. However, the high beams would still work. No accidents or injuries relating to the problem have been reported.

Mazda2 2011 car review

Publisher’s note: With this review, the Weekly Driver.com has added the What The Wife Says category to my reviews. According to recent statistics, 52 percent of the new cars purchased in the United States are made by women and more than 80 percent of new car purchases are influenced by women. My wife comments about many of the cars I test drive. She’s eight inches shorter and a lot of pounds lighter than I am. Of course, women are different than men in other ways, too. Cheers, James Raia ** Available in global markets as the Demio, the 2011 Mazda2

Chevrolet nears 100, Camaro to Volt, Cruze to Impala

Founded by Louis Chevrolet, a Swiss-born race car driver, and William Durant, the founder of General Motors, Chevrolet Motor Car Co. was incorporated in November 1911 and acquired by GM in 1917. Also known as Chevy, Chevrolet is GM’s highest-selling vehicle brand. Many iconic and unique cars, some short-lived, others offered in Europe, Asia or in South America but not in North America, have been part of the Chevrolet brand. Consider, for example, the new Agile (General Motors, Brazil) or the Yeoman station wagon (manufactured in 1958 only). Chevrolet was considered an entry level division, but it changed in the

Volkswagen recalls 380,000 Jetta, Golf, Rabbit, Beetle models with fuel leak potential

Volkswagen has announced the recall of nearly 380,000 vehicles, including Jetta, Jetta SportWagen, Golf and Rabbit models from the 2007 to 2009 because potential fuel leaks which could lead to a fire. A total of 266,936 of the above-mentioned models are affected as well as an 110,350 hardtop and convertible New Beetles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) official bulletin read: “The Jetta, Jetta SportWagen, Golf and Rabbit vehicles may have a small plastic tab located on the windshield washer fluid reservoir that may chafe against an underhood fuel supply line. “The New Beetle and the New Beetle Convertible