Car Reviews

Tuesday, 24 February 2015

Tesla Model S Named Consumer Reports Best Car for Second Straight Year

Tesla Model S Named Consumer Reports Best Car for Second Straight Year
Consumer Reports Top Picks for 2015
Toyota Beats Detroit 3 in Per-Car Profit
Cadillac ATS Recalled Over Sunroof Issue
Nissan Sway Concept Teased
McLaren P1 GTR Duels F1 GTR in Video Debut

Tesla Model S Named Consumer Reports Best Car for Second Straight Year

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The Tesla Model S has once again been named the best overall new car by Consumer Reports.

With an overall score of 99/100, the Model S retains its overall crown for the second straight year, just edging out the BMW M235i which earned a score of 98. "For all of the impressive new vehicles released in 2014, none was able to eclipse the innovation, magnificence, and sheer technological arrogance of the Tesla," says the report. "That's why it's our best overall pick for the second consecutive year."

Consumer Reports lauds Tesla's over-the-air software updates for allowing a 2013 Model S to have access to many of the same features as a brand new model. Despite having some teething problems when the cars were brand new, Consumer Reports subscribers give the Model S an average reliability rating of three out of five.

Owner satisfaction for the Model S also tops the luxury car segment with 98 percent of owners saying that they would definitely buy a Tesla Model S again.

On the negative side, Consumer Reports dings the Model S for having long charge times, some awkward controls and poor visibility.

Discuss this story at our Tesla Forum

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Consumer Reports Top Picks for 2015

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Consumer Reports has released its Top Picks list for 2015 outlining some of the best cars you should buy.

When choosing its Top Picks, Consumer Reports factors in reliability data, safety performance in both government and industry crash tests as well as thousands of miles of road test time. This year's top picks list features the most U.S. automakers since 1998, while Subaru also has a very strong showing.

And returning this year as the outlets best overall new car is the Tesla Model S.

The Top Picks are:

Top Sports Sedan – Buick Regal
Top Large Car – Chevy Impala V6
Top Midsize sedan – Subaru Legacy
Top Compact Car – Subaru Impreza
Top Compact SUV – Subaru Forester
Top Midsized SUV – Toyota Highlander
Top Minivan – Honda Odyssey
Top Luxury Car – Audi A6
Top Green Car – Toyota Prius
Top Overall Car – Tesla Model S

To be named a top pick, a vehicle must rank at or near the top of its segment in CR's road-test scores, it must have average or better predicted reliability based on problems reported by subscribers and it must "perform effectively" in government or insurance crash tests.

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Toyota Beats Detroit 3 in Per-Car Profit

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Even though Detroit's automakers are performing strongly these days, Toyota still puts them to shame when it comes to profits.

Based on each company's 2014 earnings before interest and taxes, Toyota made about $2,276 on every car it sold last year, compared to just $994 at Ford. Per car profits are even lower at Chrysler and GM, coming in at $850 and $654 respectively.

Some of this can be contributed to the weak Japanese Yen, which cheapens the price of Japan's exports and allows Toyota to sell its cars for less in the U.S. Some automakers, including Ford, have called out federal regulators for not helping to crack down on alleged currency manipulation. Investment firm Morgan Stanley says that roughly $2,000 per export vehicle goes back to Japan's largest automakers as a result of the low currency rate.

Japan has denied having any involvement in fixing the currency rate.

Labor costs are also a concern as Ford and GM still pay more than Toyota and Honda to produce cars, despite a recent reduction in labor costs for U.S. automakers. Legacy costs also put a strain on Detroit automakers, who collectively contributed $3 billion last year to employee pensions and healthcare related funds.

[Source: Detroit News]

Discuss this story at our Toyota Forum

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Cadillac ATS Recalled Over Sunroof Issue

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Cadillac is calling back 67,000 ATS vehicles to fix an issue with the sunroof switch.

In the affected cars, which range from the 2013 to 2015 model year, the sunroof can automatically close if the switch is even partially touched. This means that the switches do not meet federal safety standards concerning the amount force needed to operate them.

GM discovered the problem during testing done in January of this year. Dealers will replace the switch trim plate on affected vehicles to fix the problem. No accidents or injuries occurred as a result of this problem.

Discuss this story at our Cadillac ATS Forum

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Nissan Sway Concept Teased

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Nissan is teasing a new concept car before it is revealed at the Geneva Motor Show next week.

The Sway concept is a small hatchback that Nissan says is targeting one of the most important segments in Europe. No other info was revealed about the vehicle.

SEE ALSO: 2015 Geneva Motor Show Preview

The concept will be revealed on March 3 at 11:30 am local time in Geneva and AutoGuide will be on the show floor to bring you live coverage.

Discuss this story at our Nissan Forum

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McLaren P1 GTR Duels F1 GTR in Video Debut

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McLaren has released a video of its all new track-only supercar doing what it does best.

The P1 GTR will make its official debut next week at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show and to keep us sated until then, McLaren has put together a new video showing this modern supercar taking on the classic McLaren F1 GTR on a race track.

Finished in the famous yellow and green livery to pay homage to the classic F1, the new P1 GTR takes things to a new level thanks to the nearly 1,000-hp that comes from a combination of an 800-hp 3.8-liter turbocharged V8 and the car's IPAS (instant power assist) system that makes 200 hp. About 110 pounds has been stripped from the GTR compared to the road going car, while downforce has also been improved to a staggering 1,455-pounds at 150 mph.

SEE ALSO: McLaren P1 GTR Details

To get your hands on a P1 GTR, McLaren requires you to go through a driver evaluation program and simulator training. Once completed, owners's will get their first chance to pilot their cars at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain later this year.

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Sunday, 22 February 2015

Most Watched Videos of the Week: February 15 – 22, 2015

Most Watched Videos of the Week: February 15 – 22, 2015
Top Viral News Stories of the Week: February 15 – 22, 2015
Busch Brothers Both Out of NASCAR Indefinitely
Lego Dethrones Ferrari as World’s Most Powerful Brand

Most Watched Videos of the Week: February 15 – 22, 2015

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This past week, AutoGuide.com introduced an all new video series called The Short List.

It quickly became the most watched video of the week for February 15-22, 2015 while the comparison between the 2015 Acura TLX and 2015 Infiniti Q50 got luxury sedan shoppers curious which is the right vehicle for them. Lastly, those unable to travel to Canada for the 2015 Toronto Auto Show got a nice summary from our top 10 things to see video.

Watch the videos below and subscribe to AutoGuide.com's YouTube channel here.

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Top Viral News Stories of the Week: February 15 – 22, 2015

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There's plenty of buzz surrounding this year's debuts heading to the Geneva Motor Show.

AutoGuide.com's top viral news story for the past week was a teaser for the upcoming Mercedes-AMG GT3, which is set to debut early March in Switzerland. We also had the chance to sit down with Maserati to learn more about its upcoming Alfieri while buzz surrounding the prospect of Apple buying Tesla got many on the Internet talking.

Mercedes-AMG GT3 to Debut at Geneva Motor Show

If you're a well heeled automobile aficionado with a penchant for driving fast at race tracks, drop everything and call your assistant because Geneva is your destination from March 5 to 15.

Maserati Alfieri to be 'a True Sports Car'

"We're all about the f#cking sound," jokes Maserati marketing boss Saad Chehab.

Analyst Thinks Apple Will Buy Tesla

With rumors that Apple is investing into developing its own vehicles, would the tech giant consider buying Tesla for a generous sum?

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Busch Brothers Both Out of NASCAR Indefinitely

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For the first time since 2001, there will not be a Busch taking the green flag at the start of the Daytona 500, NASCAR's premiere and season opening race.

Earlier this week, older brother Kurt Busch, driver of the #41 car in the Sprint Cup Series, was suspended indefinitely by NASCAR for violating two of the racing organization's policies – sections 12.1.a: Actions detrimental to stock car racing and section 12.8: Behavioral Penalty.

The penalties stem from a September 24 incident in which Busch allegedly assaulted his former girlfriend, Patricia Driscoll, in his motor coach during a race weekend at Dover International Speedway. After the Family Court of the State of Delaware made a decision on Monday to issue an Order of Protection from Abuse against him, NASCAR followed suit and suspended Busch indefinitely.

Today, Busch lost a series of appeals and will now have to wait for a series of guidelines to be issued to him from NASCAR that he must follow before reinstatement.

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  Kyle Busch Fractures Leg and Foot
  And the bad news for the Busch family kept coming this weekend. During the 112^th lap of the NASCAR's XFINITY series race tonight, Kyle Busch was caught in a melee that sent his car crashing into the infield wall, suffering a fractured leg and foot. Reports from Busch's team say that he underwent surgery Saturday night successfully and is currently resting.
  Kyle's usually drives the #18 car in NASCAR's premiere Sprint Cup series, but it will be driven by Matt Crafton for Sunday's Daytona 500 race while Kurt's #41 car will be driven by Regan Smith.

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Lego Dethrones Ferrari as World’s Most Powerful Brand

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Ferrari is no longer the most powerful brand in the world.

Claiming the honor of being the world's most powerful brand in 2015 is Lego, stripping Italian exotic automaker from the title that it held two years in a row.

Brand Finance ranks the world's most powerful brands annually by examining factors such as a company's investment in marketing, equity as measured by goodwill of customers and staff and the impact of marketing and goodwill on the company's business performance.

Lego got a nice bump in worldwide brand recognition thanks in part to the success of The Lego Movie, which grossed nearly $500 million worldwide. The company has also had great success with its Lego series of video games, not to mention all its relationships for branding items from other famous franchises such as Star Wars and even Ferrari itself. For the 2015 rankings, Ferrari earned a score of 89.6, putting it in the 10th position out of the world's 12 most powerful brands.

Discuss this story at our luxury lifestyle forum

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Saturday, 21 February 2015

V2V Communication a Breakthrough Technology: MIT

V2V Communication a Breakthrough Technology: MIT
Chrysler Closes Plant to Prepare for Next-Gen Minivan
Italdesign Giugiaro Teasing New Concept

V2V Communication a Breakthrough Technology: MIT

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The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is giving vehicle-to-vehicle communication a thumbs up.

The MIT Technology Review included V2V communication on its list of breakthrough technologies, saying that when cars are able to communicate and share information with one another wirelessly, road safety could improve dramatically. Numerous automakers are working on putting V2V communication technology into the hands of consumers and MIT noted that General Motors is among the "key players" when it comes to the new tech.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that the technology could prevent up to 592,000 crashes annually while saving 1,083 lives per year. V2V communication aims to broadcast data such as location, speed, steering-wheel position, brake status and various sensor readings to other vehicles in the area. With that data, other vehicles can detect problems to prevent crashes.

General Motors has said that its 2017 Cadillac CT6 will feature V2V communication technology with other major automakers developing their own including Audi, BMW, Ford, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Volvo.

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Chrysler Closes Plant to Prepare for Next-Gen Minivan

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Chrysler is shutting down one of its plants to prepare for its next-generation minivan.

The American automaker has revealed that it has stopped production on its current-generation Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan models so that its production plant in Windsor, Ontario can retool and get ready for production on its next-generation minivan. The plant will remain closed for 14 weeks and the company will spend $2 billion to update the facilities.

It is expected that the Dodge Grand Caravan will get the axe and only the Chrysler Town & Country will live on when the plant reopens and the next-generation minivan model debuts. Considering that Chrysler is already shutting down its factory in preparation for the model's production, it's appearing more likely that the minivan will debut at the upcoming New York Auto Show. Regardless of when it is unveiled, the model will be arriving showrooms by the end of the year.

Discuss this story at our Chrysler minivan forum

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Italdesign Giugiaro Teasing New Concept

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Design firm Italdesign Giugiaro is teasing a new concept car that its bringing to the 2015 Geneva Motor Show.

The brand has released a teaser photo, although none of the car is actually revealed. Based on previous concepts from the design firm, expect a minimalist design built on a vehicle from the Volkswagen Group. That's because back in 2010, VW purchased Italdesign Giugiaro.

SEE ALSO: 2015 Geneva Motor Show Preview

Last year, the firm showed off the Clipper, a futuristic looking crossover based on VW's MQB platform. Before that, the Parkour concept impressed at Geneva, showing off what a lifted Lamborghini Gallardo would look like.

Watch AutoGuide for live coverage from the floor in Geneva.

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Friday, 20 February 2015

Rolls-Royce Ghost Mysore Honors Indian Sultan

Rolls-Royce Ghost Mysore Honors Indian Sultan
Cooper Tire WM-SA2 Review
NHTSA Calls for Stricter Recall Laws
Feds Squeeze Takata with $14K Daily Fine
2016 Acura NSX to Offer Customization Program
Chevy Silverado WT Adds Black Out Package

Rolls-Royce Ghost Mysore Honors Indian Sultan

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Rolls-Royce has revealed yet another limited-production special edition model.

Based on the Ghost Extended Wheelbase, the new Mysore Collection will consist of just three units, each one built to celebrate India's Tipu Sultan. A two-tone blue and silver paint finish featuring stylized feathers is found on the special editions,while the interior will use light-colored wood along with white leather and blue carpets.

Thanks to the Tipu Saltan's nickname, the Tiger of Mysore, the car also gets special tiger emblems on the headrests. In Arabic, Mysore refers to wealth and power.

All three of the Mysore collection cars will be sold in Abu Dhabi.

Discuss this story at our luxury lifestyle forum

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Cooper Tire WM-SA2 Review

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Late last year, the United States Department of Commerce imposed a tariff on Chinese manufactured tires that ranges from 15 to 18 percent.

This new tariff is in addition to the already existing 4 percent tariff and more tariffs could be levied in the future. Tires that once cost $60 could now be $73. This is having a huge effect on the tire industry as most manufacturers, big or small, currently have factories in China.

That includes many American manufacturers like Cooper Tire. But rather than be worried, Cooper sees these new tariffs as an opportunity. Beside its plants in China, Cooper has tariff-free manufacturing facilities in Europe, North America and other regions in Asia. This is opening the door for a new wave of affordable tires to inundate the market. Tires like the WM-SA2.

Low Price, Direct from Europe

The WM-SA2 is part of Copper's WeatherMaster line-up of winter tires. Manufactured in the United Kingdom, the SA2 is a studless performance touring winter tire intended for coupes and sportier sedans. With the smallest fitment starting around $62, the WM-SA2 is a value-driven tire that Cooper claims will deliver a lot of performance for the money.

The WM-SA2 is a high performance winter tire, not a dedicated snow tire. It's meant for people who live in cold-climate metro areas with daily, traffic-filled commutes. Place where it does snow quite often and temperatures spend most of the winter below freezing, but the roads are fairly well maintained by an army of snow-removal equipment. Although the WM-SA2 can handle four-inches of snow without issue, it really excels at slush, ice and dry road conditions.

Designed for Messy, Cold Weather

As is the case with the majority of winter tires, the WM-SA2 is equipped with hundreds of grippy sipes, arranged in traction blocks. Sipes are the squiggly lines cut into a tires tread that work like mini-squeegees to wipe snow and slush away from the tire while providing optimal grip on icy surfaces.

The center rib of the WM-SA2 is nearly solid, minus a multitude of thin sipes. This provides a constant contact patch to the road for improved dry weather handling and better steering feel. Of course the tire is full of silica, the magic ingredient that allows the tire to remain flexible at low temperatures without sacrificing overall tread wear.

Ice Drifting…

For Science

To see how well the WM-SA2 performs, we were invited to an unconventional test outside of Montreal, Quebec. Instead of a street drive or snowy parking lot slalom that usually occurs on tire tests, we drove around a large ice covered skidpad. That might sound like a lot of play and no work, but the ability to induce and control a slide on ice reflects how well a tire performs when conditions turn slippery.

The cars we were using are 2014 BMW 320i xDrives. One was equipped with the Cooper Tire WM-SA2 while the other was wearing Continental Contiwintercontact TS 830 winter tires.

Immediately it was apparent that the Cooper had more grip on the ice. Starting a slide took much more effort and higher speeds as the SA2s refused to lose traction. The 320i fitted with the Continental tires would drift around the oval much slower than the Bimmer with WM-SA2 tires. Although this is more fun while doing some reckless stunt driving, it doesn't translate well to real world conditions where a patch of ice can sneak up suddenly and unexpectedly.

The Cooper WM-SA2s were always looking for grip, in the snow-ice mix. They behaved great and had enough grip to prevent drifting when it wasn't wanted compared to the other tires that always wanted to let the car pitch sideways.

Fast Facts:

Available for wheels 15- to 18-inches in diameter
Priced from $61.00 per tire
Available in 20 sizes
Ice and slush performance winter tire

The Verdict:

The WM-SA2 is available in 20 sizes for wheels ranging from 15- to 18-inches in diameter. According to Cooper, 26 percent of drivers in the USA snow-belt use winter tires. If you're one of these buyers and you need a good tire at an affordable price, thanks to the new tariff law, the WM-SA2 may be a perfect fit.

LOVE IT

Affordable price
Great ice performance

LEAVE IT

Snow performance
Limited sizes

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NHTSA Calls for Stricter Recall Laws

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) wants to put a stop to rental car agencies and used car lots allowing the public to drive unsafe vehicles.

NHTSA is once again calling on congress to pass legislation that would make it illegal for rental car agencies and used car dealers to sell or rent recalled vehicles that have not been repaired. Current laws only make it mandatory for new cars to be repaired before sale, allowing rental agencies and used car dealers to sell or rent potentially unsafe cars.

"Every vehicle under an open safety recall should be repaired as soon as possible," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx (pictured above). "Requiring rental car agencies and used car dealers to fix defective vehicles before renting is a common-sense solution that would make our roads safer. Safety advocates and the rental car industry have taken a stand for safety, and we need Congress to do so as well."

Before renting or buying a used car, consumers can check for open recalls using NHTSA's online VIN scanner.

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Feds Squeeze Takata with $14K Daily Fine

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is levying fines against airbag manufacturer Takata over failure to fully cooperate with an investigation.

NHTSA will fine Takata $14,000 per day for every day that the Japanese company refuses to fully cooperate with the agency's demands. In late 2014, NHTSA requested documentation and other material related to its investigation into Takata's defective airbags. Without going into details, NHTSA says that Takata has not been cooperative.

"Safety is a shared responsibility and Takata's failure to fully cooperate with our investigation is unacceptable and will not be tolerated," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. "For each day that Takata fails to fully cooperate with our demands, we will hit them with another fine. But, it's not enough. I am asking Congress to pass the GROW AMERICA Act which would provide the tools and resources needed to change the culture of safety for bad actors like Takata."

Takata has forced the recall of about 24 million vehicles worldwide due to airbag inflators that can deploy with too much force, causing metal fragments to shoot at the passengers. NHTSA is currently investigating whether or not the company actively tried to cover up this safety defect.

A former engineer who worked for Takata has already come forward and said that he warned the company that using ammonium nitrate to inflate its airbags would result in serious failures.

Six deaths in Honda vehicles have all been attributed to this airbag malfunction.

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2016 Acura NSX to Offer Customization Program

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Acura's low-volume hybrid sports car will eschew its brand's typical simple packaging strategy when it arrives later this year.

Acura typically offers a handful of preset trim and equipment packages that limit the level of customization its customers can specify, but that won't be the case with the NSX. Acura senior vice president and general manager Mike Accavitti told Edmunds.com that Acura plans to offer more factory installed options on the NSX than it has with any car ever before.

Accavitti didn't elaborate on the options that will be available, but said customers will be able to choose between carbon fiber materials and aluminum. Acura plans to launch its car configurator web site to allow customers and curious enthusiasts to virtually customize the NSX along with announcing pricing this summer.

The 2016 NSX uses a longitudinally mounted V6 and three electric motors to make a total of "at least" 550 hp distributed between all four wheels via a hybrid all-wheel drive system. Rather than aiming for all-out performance to compete with top-end exotics, Acura says it engineered the new NSX to be an accessible exotic that its customers will want to drive every day.

[Source: Edmunds]

Discuss this story at our luxury lifestyle forum

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Chevy Silverado WT Adds Black Out Package

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Chevrolet is adding a dose of style to its base-model pickup truck.

The Silverado 1500 Work Truck is now available with the $1,595 Black Out package, bringing the total cost for the truck up to $28,895 including destination.

For that price, buyers will get a regular- or double-cab Silverado WT complete with 20" aluminum wheels finished in black, P275/55R20 all-season blackwall tires, deep tinted glass and black Chevy bowties.

Of course, the only paint option available for the truck is black.

Discuss this story at our Chevy Silverado Forum

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Thursday, 19 February 2015

Volvo Using the Cloud for Car-to-Car Communication

Volvo Using the Cloud for Car-to-Car Communication
2016 Fiat 500 Spied During Winter Testing
Analyst Thinks Apple Will Buy Tesla
Self-Driving Volvos On Sale in 2017
Top 10 Worst Vehicles for the Environment
Mercedes G63 AMG 6×6 Sold Out

Volvo Using the Cloud for Car-to-Car Communication

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Volvo is turning to the cloud to make car-to-car communication a reality.

The company is working with the Swedish Transport Administration and the Norwegian Public Roads Administration on a cloud-based project that will enable vehicles to share information about ice and other road conditions. By using a cloud-based network, Volvo will expand from 50 to 1,000 test cars as the project is moving rapidly towards its goal of making the technology available to consumers.

According to Volvo, the testing and validation phase is about to begin and will broaden the test area to include two big Scandinavian cities: Gothenburg and Oslo. As part of developing a cloud-based solution, the company will also incorporate hazard-light and slippery-road alerts as the first safety features in the Volvo cloud. The new technology will also play an integral role of Volvo's safety vision that by 2020 no one should be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo car.

"In the future we will have increased the exchange of vital information between vehicles, as well as between vehicles and infrastructure," said Erik Israelsson. "There is considerable potential in this area, including safer traffic, a more comfortable drive and improved traffic flow."

Discuss this story at our Volvo forum

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2016 Fiat 500 Spied During Winter Testing

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The 2016 Fiat 500 has been caught playing in the snow by AutoGuide.com's spy photographers.

The Italian automaker is giving its compact a facelift for the 2016 model year and as you can tell by the spy photos, the mid-cycle refresh for the 500 won't be drastic in nature. The city car will retain most of its design while receiving new front and rear bumpers while the headlights and taillights will likely receive small changes. The biggest change we can see is that the Fiat 500's fog lights will be slightly larger with a thicker chrome surround.

SEE ALSO: 2014 Fiat 500c Review

While there are no photos of the interior, expect Fiat to make more changes inside than outside since it wants to retain the Fiat 500's classic style. It is likely that the company will incorporate a new infotainment system with a larger screen while light tweaks in the engine bay will slightly improve fuel economy and emissions.

Discuss this story at our Fiat 500 forum

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Analyst Thinks Apple Will Buy Tesla

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With rumors that Apple is investing into developing its own vehicles, would the tech giant consider buying Tesla for a generous sum?

Jason Calacanis, angel investor and entrepreneur, believes Apple will purchase Tesla to the tune of $75 billion within the next 18 months, ahead of the entry-level Model 3 heading to market. It is believed that Tesla's rising market capitalization will result in a merger between Apple and Tesla rather than an acquisition. Currently, the American electric automaker has a market cap of $25.55 billion that seems small compared to Apple's $740 billion.

SEE ALSO: Apple iCar Rumors Resurface

Calacanis believes it only makes sense that Apple is interested in buying Tesla, especially given Tim Cook's passion for renewable energy. Another factor that could play a role in Apple's interest is Tesla CEO Elon Musk's recent announcement that the company is working on a source of energy for the home. There's also the reasoning that one of Apple's main competitors, Google, is working on its own driverless car technology and Apple won't hesitate to compete in the same space as Google in another market.

The big question is if Musk is willing to sell Tesla and if Apple is the right fit. In an interview with Bloomberg, the eccentric CEO did not categorically say he would never sell Tesla, but he did say that any acquisition is "very unlikely." Then again, he's got a "mission to Mars" he wants to fulfill and $75 billion would go a long way in making that happen.

[Source: Tech Times]

Discuss this story at our Tesla forum

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Self-Driving Volvos On Sale in 2017

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Volvo is close to putting driverless cars into the hands of real consumers.

The brand's 'Drive Me' program aims to put 100 XC90 SUVs with driverless technology in the hands of customers in Gothenburg, Sweden during 2017.

Volvo says it has built a "production-viable autonomous driving system," that will be able to handle even the most complex traffic scenarios. Initially, the vehicles will only be able to operate fully autonomously on a select 31-mile piece of motorway chosen by Volvo because it has no oncoming traffic, cyclists or pedestrians.

Unlike other company's driverless car testing, Volvo says that the drivers in its vehicles will not have to stay alert to the road ahead and can focus their time on other activities. This is also the first time that members of the public will have access to fully autonomous vehicles. "Taking the exciting step to a public pilot, with the ambition to enable ordinary people to sit behind the wheel in normal traffic on public roads, has never been done before," said Dr Peter Mertens, Senior Vice President of Research and Development at Volvo.

A combination of laser scanners, senors, sonar and cameras make it possible for the autonomous Volvo to have a 360-degree view around itself. Connection to GPS allows the car to receive up-to-date traffic info while a cloud-based vehicle-to-vehicle positioning system will show the position of lane markers along with posts and other hard objects to the car.

Safety is one of the largest priorities for Volvo when it comes to driverless cars, so many emergency systems have been put in place. For example, a driver prompt will sound if the system needs human intervention, but if the driver doesn't take over in time, the car will bring itself to a stop in a place it deems safe.

"Making this complex system 99 per cent reliable is not good enough. You need to get much closer to 100 per cent before you can let self-driving cars mix with other road users in real-life traffic," says Erik Coelingh,Technical Specialist at Volvo Cars. "Here, we have a similar approach to that of the aircraft industry. Our fail-operational architecture includes backup systems that will ensure that Autopilot will continue to function safely also if an element of the system were to become disabled."

Volvo designed backup systems to make sure that even if one of the autonomous controls cuts out, the car will still be able to drive itself, as the company acknowledges that the driver will likely not be ready to take over in an emergency situation.

"Once the public pilot is up and running, it will provide us with valuable knowledge about implementing self-driving cars in the traffic environment, and help us explore how they can contribute to sustainable mobility," said Coelingh.

Exactly how Volvo will choose the 100 customers is still unknown, although they will have to live or work along the 31-mile route.

Discuss this story at our Volvo Forum

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Top 10 Worst Vehicles for the Environment

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Newton's third law says that for every action, there is a reaction. You might have seen the list of the 10 greenest cars of 2015 on AutoGuide.com earlier this week. While Newton's third law doesn't exactly apply here, you get the idea.

This ranking comes from GreenerCars.org, a site that analyzes the fuel economy, emissions and environmental impact from the manufacturing of vehicles. After combining that information, the site comes up with a "Green Score." This ranking is about the vehicles that are the "meanest" to the environment. Naturally, the ranking is full of big trucks and fast exotics; essentially purpose built vehicles, but that doesn't mean they're exempt from being criticized for their poor environmental record.

[Source: Greenercar.org]

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Mercedes G63 AMG 6×6 Sold Out

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Mercedes is finished building one its most ridiculous projects to date, the G63 AMG 6×6.

With just over 100 sold, the brand is calling it quits to make sure that these behemoths retain their exclusivity. Base pricing for the massive G63 starts at 379,000 Euros or roughly $500,000 USD and power comes from a twin-turbo V8 that makes 536 hp and 561 lb-ft of torque. Complete with six wheels, this G63 also packs five locking differentials.

Although the six-wheel version is going away, Mercedes is planning to show off a more sane four-wheel variant at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show. The new version, known as the G500 4×4², uses portal axles and other off-road goodies from the 6×6, but opts for a naturally aspirated V8 and just two axles.

[Source: GT Spirit]

Discuss this story at our Mercedes Forum

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