When is a 2011 Chevrolet Volt not a plug-in hybrid? When it covers 2,500 miles between fill-ups. That’s how far Maryland resident Jeff Parmet has driven in his 2011 Chevrolet Volt in the past six months. In fact, he’s just visited the gas pump for the first time since buying the car. Until its release last winter, Chevrolet was pretty... When is a 2011 Chevrolet Volt not a plug-in hybrid? When it covers 2,500 miles between fill-ups. That’s how far Maryland resident Jeff Parmet has driven in his 2011 Chevrolet Volt in the past six months. In fact, he’s just visited the gas pump for the first time since buying the car. Until its release last winter, Chevrolet was pretty... When is a 2011 Chevrolet Volt not a plug-in hybrid? When it covers 2,500 miles between fill-ups. That’s how far Maryland resident Jeff Parmet has driven in his 2011 Chevrolet Volt in the past six months. In fact, he’s just visited the gas pump for the first time since buying the car. Until its release last winter, Chevrolet was pretty...
The ReFuel EV Track Day hosted by Speedventures ran its third annual event this past weekend at Laguna Seca, and as you might--or might not--expect, a Nissan Leaf was on hand to turn some laps. The video is unusual for a track-day reel, with nothing but wind noise and tire squeal to be heard. It's not particularly high-speed, but, then, neither is...
While the major automakers whittle away on their electric car developments, a small German firm by the name of e-Wolf has been building and selling a range of electric vehicles including small scooters, full-size commercial vehicles and high-performance track cars, for several years now. e-Wolf’s latest development is the new Alpha 1 SRF, a...
Today is the day many auto manufacturers dread each year. Why? For the past 25 years J.D. Power and Associates has been producing the Initial Quality Survey (IQS) which tracks the number of problems reported by owners after 90 days of ownership. Today it announced results for the 2011 IQS.
Overall the number of quality problems with cars has continued to drop year by year. However, this year the esteemed research company reports that the initial quality of launch models—those that are all-new or have had major redesigns—worsened by 10 percent to an average of 122 problems per 100 (PP100) cars in 2011 from 111 PP100 in 2010. Conversely, carryover models—those that have had no significant redesign in the past year—have better initial quality than ever before.
Once again Lexus owners report the lowest number of problems. Honda was ranked second – its best ever finish, with Acura right behind. There are plenty of headlines in news stories today, which generally talk about how each company ranked. Ford in particular is taking a beating for its “quality decline”; mainly because of problems people are having with the MyFord Touch system.
In many ways the number of problems reported for individual models is more important as even the worst performing nameplates have models that do well. So, here is a list of the top three models in each segment:
Top Three Models per Segment:
Highest Ranked Sub-Compact Car: Honda Fit, Kia Rio, Hyundai Accent
Highest Ranked Compact Car: Honda Civic and Honda Insight (tie), Toyota Prius
Highest Ranked Compact Sporty Car: Mazda MX-5 Miata, Volkswagen Eos, Volkswagen GTI
Highest Ranked Compact Premium Sporty Car*: Mercedes-Benz E-Class Cabriolet/Coupe
Highest Ranked Entry Premium Car: Lexus ES, Acura TSX, Lexus IS
Highest Ranked Midsize Premium Car: Lexus GS, Jaguar XF, Mercedes-Benz E-Class Sedan/Wagon
Highest Ranked Midsize Sporty Car*: Dodge Challenger, Chevrolet Camaro
Highest Ranked Large Premium Car: Lexus LS, Hyundai Equus, Porsche Panamera
Highest Ranked Midsize Car: Honda Accord, Subaru Legacy, Toyota Camry
Highest Ranked Large Car: Ford Taurus, Buick Lucerne, Nissan Maxima
Highest Ranked Compact Crossover/SUV: Honda Element, Honda CR-V, Toyota FJ Cruiser
Highest Ranked Compact MPV*: Chevrolet HHR
Highest Ranked Entry Premium Crossover/SUV: Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class, Acura RDX, Volvo XC60
Highest Ranked Midsize Crossover/SUV: Honda Accord Crosstour, Dodge Durango (tie), Subaru Outback Wagon (tie)
Highest Ranked Large Crossover/SUV: Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon, Chevrolet Suburban
Highest Ranked Midsize Premium Crossover/SUV: Lexus GX, Lexus RX, BMW X6 (tie) Infiniti FX-Series (tie), Volvo XC70 (tie)
Highest Ranked Large Premium Crossover/SUV: Cadillac Escalade, Mercedes-Benz GL-Class, Lincoln Navigator
Highest Ranked Large Pickup: Ford F-150, Toyota Tundra, Chevrolet Avalanche
Highest Ranked Midsize Pickup: Honda Ridgeline, Nissan Frontier, Ram Dakota
Highest Ranked Minivan: Chrysler Town & Country, Honda Odyssey, Dodge Grand Caravan
NOTE: For a segment award to be issued, there must be at least three models with sufficient sample that comprise 80 percent of market sales within an award segment. There were only two premium sporty models with sufficient sample size, thus no premium sporty award has been issued.
*No other model in this segment performs above the segment average.
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Starting 6/25/11 at 10:00am EST — Ending 6/26/11 at 10:00am EST
Last year, Aston Martin campaigned a basically stock Rapide in the 24 hours of Nürburgring…to drive home the point that its luxurious V-12 4-door also had some serious performance chops. The Rapide pushed hard for all 24 hours and finished an impressive 34th overall, out of 197 cars. Who knew a luxury sedan, gutted of its interior and running on slicks, could be so quick, sporty, and reliable?
At the very same time the Aston factory team will be racing at the 2012 Nürburgring 24, we will be putting a stock Rapide to the test, lapping the car at speed for 24 hours on the 2.7-mile course at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Pahrump, Nevada. With a crew of nine drivers as well as support from Aston Martin and Spring Mountain, we’re well prepared to push the envelope in the Rapide, to see for ourselves if this luxurious Brit truly does have the heart of a lion.
Check back with us regularly throughout our 24-hour test for video updates every three hours, charging from broad daylight through sunset and into the dead of night. Plus, talk to us throughout the event on Facebook and Twitter (#Aston24).
Video Update Schedule:
Find everything online at: RoadandTrack.com/Aston24
Enter to win an Aston Martin for 24 Hours >>
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On April 11th I wrote about the parallels between what Saab is going through and the dying days of MG-Rover and with the latest news that Saab is unable to pay its staff for June is yet another blow to a business that has been teetering on the edge of failure for months.
We’ve seen a revolving door of Chinese investors come and go and whilst Saab has been issuing optimistic statements over done deals and sales of equity stakes like confetti at a wedding, they’ve all come to nought and there’s every reason to believe that the Beijing government won’t allow the latest rescue to happen. Dealing with the Chinese is notoriously difficult and needs to be done away from the harsh glare of media scrutiny, something that Saab has singularly failed to do.
The CEO of Europe’s supplier body, CLEPA’s Lars Holmqvist has called for Saab to declare itself bankrupt to allow its employees to get state guarantees of salaries for six months as “…no white knight…arriving.”
While Saab’s largest union, IF Metall predicts that upto 10,000 jobs could go in manufacturing and the supply chain which would be a catastrophe for Sweden.
There might yet be a future for Saab, but it’s unlikely to be in Sweden. Remember what happened to MG-Rover? Once it had collapsed it was picked up for a pittance from the administrators by the Chinese who stripped the factory bare, shipped the lines and technology back home and restarted assembly there all at a fraction of the cost of buying into the business now.
Why not save yourself a small fortune, wait for the company to collapse and then deal with the administrators? It was done to MG-Rover and I can see Saab heading the same way.
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The third Transformers installment opens this week, and to cash in on its gratuitous product placement in the movie, Chevrolet has released a second Bumblebee-aping Camaro Transformers Special Edition coupe. The first special-edition Bumblebee Camaro was birthed when the second Transformers movie debuted, but that car was a simple badge job paired with Rally Yellow paint. This time, the package is much more comprehensive. The latest Transformers edition Camaro gets full Bumblebee livery, including black 20-inch wheels, a high-wing rear spoiler, and stripes that run from the leading edge of the hood over the roof to the rear deck. Of course, the latest edition is only available in Rally Yellow and gets special Autobot Shield logos, too; the badges adorn the front fenders, the wheel center caps, headrests, and center console lid. The interior is lined in black leather with yellow stitching.
All in all, the Bumblebee Camaro looks pretty cool, and we hope the wide-set stripes make their way onto the Camaro option sheet sometime in the future. If the standard Transformers kit isn’t enough, though, two dealer-installed accessories are available: 21-inch black wheels and a black ground-effects kit (both are shown in the rendering below). The 2012 Camaro Transformers package runs $3000 and is available on either 2LT or 2SS Camaro coupes in the U.S., as well as in Canada, South America, Europe, China, Japan, and the Middle East.
The third Transformers installment opens this week, and to cash in on its gratuitous product placement in the movie, Chevrolet has released a second Bumblebee-aping Camaro Transformers Special Edition coupe. The first special-edition Bumblebee Camaro was birthed when the second Transformers movie debuted, but that car was a simple badge job paired with Rally Yellow paint. This time, the package is much more comprehensive. The latest Transformers edition Camaro gets full Bumblebee livery, including black 20-inch wheels, a high-wing rear spoiler, and stripes that run from the leading edge of the hood over the roof to the rear deck. Of course, the latest edition is only available in Rally Yellow and gets special Autobot Shield logos, too; the badges adorn the front fenders, the wheel center caps, headrests, and center console lid. The interior is lined in black leather with yellow stitching.
All in all, the Bumblebee Camaro looks pretty cool, and we hope the wide-set stripes make their way onto the Camaro option sheet sometime in the future. If the standard Transformers kit isn’t enough, though, two dealer-installed accessories are available: 21-inch black wheels and a black ground-effects kit (both are shown in the rendering below). The 2012 Camaro Transformers package runs $3000 and is available on either 2LT or 2SS Camaro coupes in the U.S., as well as in Canada, South America, Europe, China, Japan, and the Middle East.
