Automotive News, Car Reviews, and Podcast
Another auto manufacturer seemingly joins the green automotive world each week. This time, it’s Chrysler and its new Envi division. Chrysler has announced it’s planning to launch all-electric vehicles within five years.
Read moreToyota is responding to changes in consumer demand and improving the production efficiency and stability of its North American operations by adjusting production mix at three plants. The changes include the addition of the Prius hybrid sedan to its North American lineup.
Read moreLooking to distance itself from the unpopular Freestyle, Ford decided to make a clean break, opting for a new name, new look and significant improvements. Although a practical seven-passenger vehicle, the car-based Freestyle never attracted much attention from car shoppers. It slid anonymously out of the Ford lineup after three years, replaced by the 2008 Taurus X, another crossover wagon.
Read moreToyota hasn’t provided details, but global media outlets, including the Japanese daily newspaper, The Nikkei, report the manufacturer’s highly successful Prius hybrid will include solar-powered air conditioning in its 2010 models. The solar panels on the roof of the new Prius model will provide two to five kilowatts of electricity, according to the newspaper.
Read moreFor the fifth consecutive in succession, Ford’s F-150 has claimed the top spot on the Cars.com American-Made Index. The index is a semiannual ranking of vehicles deemed most American based on American production, percentage of domestic parts and American sales volume. Domestic-parts content is based on data that appears alongside the window sticker of new cars as a result of the American Automobile Labeling Act, enacted in 1994. The AALA mandates that virtually every new car display the percentage, by cost, of its parts that originated in the U.S. and Canada. Only those vehicles with a domestic-parts content rating of
Read moreThe 2008 hybrid Civic is equipped with a 110-horsepower, 1.3-liter engine with two relatively new features largely known by acronyms, IMA (Integrated Motor Assist) and CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission). A five-speed manual transmission was previously available, but now the hybrid is only offered with an automatic transmission.
Read moreThere’s nothing wrong with a good, healthy dose of competition. And in the automotive industry, there’s no better example than in the midsize sedan category. The top three players — Honda, Toyota and Nissan — all have loyal followers, and each manufacturer works nearly continuously to outdo its competitors.
Read moreChrysler has just announced a new highspeed wireless system call Uconnect. It will allow drivers to access the internet at stoplights while other passengers simultaneously utilize other high-speed internet features. This may sound like innovation and it may catapult the car world into “hot spot” nirvana. But to me it sounds like the automotive apocalypse. Do drivers need any more distractions? A Chrysler spokesman commented “We see great potential for this.” Potential for what? More absent-minded drivers? More head-on collisions? Increased road rage? The dealer-installed system, officially called UConnect Web, will be an add-on to Chrysler’s UConnect information and entertainment
Read moreAs part of the Sporting News Network, a guy using the logo “Tennessee & Random Crap,” has compiled a clever list of his 10-top cars in a very specific category. It’s not sexiest car list, more powerful list, most expensive list, most “green” list or any list that warrants passionate attention. Instead, the list is all about a lack of passion, so to speak.
Read moreFriends who know and fawn over cars love the 2008 Audi A8, W12 quattro. Friends who own cars but view them simply as necessary transportation love the car. Even automobile cynics, for whom cars are among society’s biggest concerns, love it. And there are many reasons for the adulation. As a luxury car, the Audi A8 W12 has a 6.0-liter, 12-cylinder, 450-horsepower engine that operates with a six-speed automatic transmission and Audi’s quattro permanent all-wheel drive system. It features 20-inch alloy wheels and adaptive cruise control and a host of electronic features and high-tech equipment — 16-way power front seats
Read moreMagic happens when you drive a Land Rover. I can’t say if it’s good or bad magic, but it definitely happens. The first thing I looked at when I got in the 2008 Land Rover 3 HSE car was the odometer. There was an indicator that told me, among other things, how many miles I had left on the full tank. I drove the car about six-tenths of a mile to meet friends for breakfast and the odometer dropped six miles. “What a gas hog,” I thought. “The treehuggers would have a field day if they knew for sure how
Read moreThe French and Japanese may again join forces — in the automotive industry. Mitsubishi Motors of Japan and PSA Peugeot Citroen of France may enter the electric vehicle market in a collaborative technology effort to become viable in the “green” automotive segment The several-month project, announced in Tokyo, will involve joint development of components to transform electricity into driving force for small urban electric cars. Mitsubishi and PSA Peugeot Citroen already have various joint programs, including the recent announcement of the joint construction of a new factory in Russia. The French group is the largest global manufacturer of electric vehicles
Read moreThe Pontiac, G8 is the first full-size, rear-wheel drive sedan from Pontiac since the 1986 Bonneville. The G8 replaces the Bonneville, which ended production with its 2005 model and the Grand Prix, which will cease its tenure with the 2008 model.
Read moreHonda’s 2009 Accord will provide a strong challenge to the traditional premium manufacturers with new sporty styling and greater refinement. All engines in the Accord lineup will be Euro 5 emissions compliant, and the model will feature a sector-leading package of safety systems.
Read moreBy Jeff Weidel Taking another step from its uninspired, stodgy past, Volvo decided to pursue the makeover route for the 2008 XC70. Typically, there’s nothing wrong with redesigns, they’re sometimes long overdue. Not that the XC70 falls into that category, but it emergeed in 2008 as a more appealing vehicle.
Read moreIt’s unlikely Ferdinand Verbiest was known as an environmentalist nor did he likely have a quest to be “green.” But as a Jesuit priest of Belgian ancestry living and working in China, Verbiest was a visionary. Four centuries ago, Verbiest was a renowned astronomer and he spent more than a decade developing a four-wheeled vehicle that could be powered by steam or horse. It was the first hybrid.
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