Tesla Roadster: Fast, lean and green driving machine

As part of its Go Electric Roadster Tour, Tesla Motors showcased its Roadster in Sacramento for the first time last week about two years after the Palo Alto, California-company debuted the high-end electric sports car. According to Tesla, an estimated 1,300 Roadsters are now in circulation worldwide. They’ve have been driven almost seven million electric miles, saving more than 350,000 gallons of gas and 18,000 barrels of oil. Tesla Roadster facts and figures: * The zero-emission Roadster, hand-built from carbon fiber, accelerates from 0-60 mph in 3.7 seconds. * The Roadster is powered by a liquid-cooled battery pack, made up

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Ten great, cheap 2011 cars, Ford Fiesta to VW Golf

The automotive industry is flush with inexpensive, economical, quality cars. The online business site, CNNMoney.com has compiled an impressive list of 10 cars, the Ford Fiesta to Honda Fit, all with entry level prices of under $18,000. In its assessment of the Chevy Cruze, for example, the website editors write: “General Motors makes a really nice small car. The best thing about the Chevy Cruze is that it looks, feels and drives like a real car. It’s not one of those “be happy-you-even-have-a-car” tin cans on wheels. “The interior is made from better-than-you-paid-for stuff while the ride quality and performance

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Nissan recalling more than 600,000 vehicles with potential steering, battery defects

Nissan is recalling more than 600,000 vehicles, mostly in United States and involving Frontier pick-ups and Xterra SUVs, to fix faulty steering columns and battery cables that could result in cracked steering shafts. A lower steering column joint and shaft will be replaced on approximately 303,000 Frontier edition and 283,000 Xterra editions in 2002-2004 model years. Additionally, the positive battery cable terminal will be replaced on approximately 18,500 Sentra sedans made between May 15, 2010 to July 8, 2010 in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Approximately 515,000 of the vehicles involved are in the U.S. The remaining recalls will occur in Canada and

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Bugatti gets dubious honor: worst gas mileage averages

Bugatti is globally praised as among the world’s most innovative, powerful and expensive cars. But it isn’t often the renowned car gets recognition it would rather not have. In the recently released 2011 model list, the Bugatti Veyron has the lowest gas mileage average among all new vehicles tested by the Environment Protection Agency’s (EPA). The Veyron has average 8 mpg (city) and 15.5 (highway). While the Bugatti had the lowest average, several other cars known for their speed had abysmal averages. The Mercedes-Benz G55 AMG, the Bentley Continental GTC and Continental Flying Spur and the Rolls-Royce Phantom/Phantom Coupe/Drophead Coupe

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Ford has new pitch for 2011 F-150: ‘We’ll bring it to you’

Ford Motor Co. isn’t content with the long-standing, best-selling status of its F-150 pick-up truck. So to increase aware of the 2011 model featuring the new EcoBoost engine, an automaker representative will bring the truck to your house for a test drive. Ford is launching a 60-city tour to promote the F-150. Potential buyers can sign up for a Ford representative to bring the truck to the participant’s house or place of work for a 30-minute drive. The new F-150 model has the EcoBoost V-6 engine, which uses twin turbo charging and direct fuel injection. Ford is touting this EcoBoost

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Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson puts rare Ferrari up for auction

Reggie Jackson, the Hall of Fame baseball player and long-time car collector, is selling one the most unique cars in his collection, a 1973 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spyder. With chassis number 16835, Jackson’s car is among the rarest Ferrari models, and it will be one of the featured sale items at RM Auctions’ annual Automobiles of Arizona, Jan. 20-21, 2011 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Ferrari was also owned daredevil Evel Knievel, who died in 2007. The iconic motorcycle jumper sold the car to radio disc jockey Frankie Crocker after crashing while attempting to jump the fountains of Caesar’s Palace.

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Toyota, Honda claim top 2011 gas mileages, reports EPA

Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. captured six of the U.S. government’s top 10 fuel-economy ratings for 2011 models, according to the Environmental Protection Agency and Energy Department. Toyota’s Prius hybrid remains country’s highest fuel mileage car with 51 mpg (city) and 48 mpg (highway) averages. Ford Motor Co., the only U.S. automaker to rate in the top 10, finished second with the Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln MKZ hybrids. Honda finished in the third position with the Civic and Insight hybrids and in fourth with the CR-Z hybrid, according to the two agencies. Automakers selling models in the

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Consumers Digest awards 35 ‘best buy’ for 2011 models

Thirty-five 2011 vehicles and seven companion models have been selected from more than 250 models and received Best Buy ratings from Consumers Digest magazine. The ratings, published in the December issue (on sale now), span 12 categories: Subcompacts, Compacts, Family Cars, Luxury Cars, Sporty Cars, Full-size Pickups, Small Pickups, Minivans, Compact SUVs, Midsize SUVs, Full-size/Luxury SUVs and Hybrids. The Best Buys — based on behind-the-wheel assessment, safety ratings, ownership costs, warranty, price, comfort, ergonomics, styling and amenities — reflect the publication’s view the vehicles offering exceptional value. “Value, as we see it, is based on purchase price and ownership costs

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Honda CR-Z, 2011: The Weekly Driver Car Review

After various debuts in recent years at car shows around the globe, the 2011 Honda CR-Z (Compact Renaissance Zero) arrived for North American consumers in August as a compact hybrid electric and marketed as a sport hybrid coupe. The CR-Z combines a hybrid gasoline-electric powertrain and is the successor to the second generation Honda CR-X via its design and similar name. The CR-Z is the only gasoline-electric hybrid model offered by any automaker that can be equipped with a manual transmission. The new Honda is offered in three trim levels: base, EX, and EX with navigation and has a base

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Bugatti Type 57C leads top-10 most expensive auctioned car list

The automotive website MIBZ.com has compiled a unique car list. It’s a twist on the ever-evolving industry standard list of most expensive new cars. The offshoot list is the 10 most expensive cars sold at auction. The web site doesn’t elaborate how its list was compiled. Nonetheless, the list is a varied, stunning display of vehicles and some extraordinary prices. In all likelihood, the impetus for the list occurred in June when the price record was set in the sale a 1936 Bugatti Type 57C Atlantic, one of only three made, o an anonymous buyer for an estimated $30 million.

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Top Gear U.S. version set for debut on History Channel

The U.S.-based version of Top Gear, the globally popular U.K.-based comedic automotive program profiled on 60 Minutes and broadcast in more than 100 countries, will debut Nov. 21 on the History Channel. The 10-episode series is being made by BBC Worldwide Productions and, like its original namesake, will showcase an offbeat celebration of automobiles and driving. The show will be hosted by comedian Adam Ferrara, champion rally and drift racer Tanner Foust and racing analyst Rutledge Wood. The U.S. version will also feature “The Stig,” the faceless and non-speaking fourth  member of the hosting crew. The U.S. version of Top

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World Series: GM will debut Chevy Volt, Cruze campaign

The Super Bowl is the most prestigious and most expensive advertising avenue for automakers, but the World Series may be the second most important broadcast exposure opportunity. At least General Motors thinks it will be the best time to promote the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid. The advertising campaign for the Volt, GM’s most touted new vehicle, will begin during the major league baseball’s pinnacle event and will be part of a broad campaign that Chevrolet will run throughout autumn, according to Joel Ewanick, GM’s marketing director. Ewanick said the ad “would remind viewers of Chevrolet’s nearly 100-year heritage and the

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Top Gear hits top speed on 60 Minutes

The segment was called “Top Gear: Zero to 60 Minutes.” It was a clever title for the 60 Minutes piece on one of the world’s most popular television programs. But as it does with other segments, the longstanding Sunday evening news show allows Internet visitors to view of the story on 60 Minutes Overtime. In the Top Gear overtime segment, CBS enticingly introduced the extended version. “Overtime goes over the top with the blokes behind the British car-show sensation ‘Top Gear.’ All the conversations, crashes, and humor that didn’t make the “60 Minutes” broadcast.” The video didn’t disappoint, and it’s

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Chevrolet Volt, 2011: General Motors’ radical new green machine

The new compact Chevrolet Volt hatchback sedan is the world’s first mass-produced electric vehicle with extended range. It’s the most radical  General Motors high-volume car since the 1960s Chevy rear-engine Corvair, which was virtually buried  by the then-new conventional Ford Mustang. The front-wheel-drive Volt is the most mass-produced aerodynamic car Chevrolet has made to get maximum fuel efficiency. One aerodynamic trick is giving the car a phony grille. Air is fed to the engine compartment via an “under-grille” scoop below the bumper. The futuristic aerodynamic 1960s Studebaker Avanti used the same type of air induction. Still, the Volt  drew few

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Rare Porsche models honored for automaker’s 60th anniversary

As part of its 60th anniversary celebration, Porsche Cars North America embarked on a quest to find the oldest Porsche sold in America via The Porsche Classic Search. It encouraged individuals to submit documentation their Porsche was one of the earliest in its category sold in the United States. With awards and bragging rights at stake, the entries are an impressive collection of finalists, including the oldest U.S.-retailed model found, a restored 1952 Strawberry Red 356 Cabriolet. Among the hundreds of submissions from Porsche owners across the country since last August was a rare 1952 356 Cabriolet owned by Dr.

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Toyota announces largest recall in history, 1.6 million cars with brake issues

Recalled plagued Toyota Motor Corp. has announced its latest and largest recall to date, this time 1.66 million Avalon and other vehicles, including Lexus models, for brake cylinder issues. The new recall includes the 2005 and 2006 Avalon sedan, 2004 through 2006 Highlander (the non-Hybrid model) and Lexus RX330 crossovers, and the 2006 Lexus GS300, IS250, and IS350 sedans. Additionally, the latest recall, mostly in Japan and the United States, comes less than two months after a recall in Canada and the United States of 1.3 million Corolla and Matrix cars. In that instance, the vehicle had defective engine control

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