From the Passenger's Seat

The redesigned-for-2013 RAV4 has just gotten the Top Safety Pick award from the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety. It has ratings of "Good" in the moderate overlap front crash test, the side crash test, and the rear crash test. The new RAV4 also has a roof strong enough to withstand 5 times the vehicle's weight, which is much better compared the previous 2006-2012 RAV4. That car only "had a strength-to-weight ratio of 3.46, which equates to an 'Acceptable' rating," explained K ristin Nevels from IIHS. The threshold for the "Good" rating is 4 times a vehicle's weight IIHS's new Top Safety Pick+ designation, which includes the small overlap crash test, is not earned by the 2013 RAV4. But it's not a big deal because no 2013 compact crossover has earned that designation yet. However, the Honda CR-V, Ford Escape and others also have the Top Safety Pick designation.  

I'm sure you readers remember a dark period when I didn't write anything on this blog. I know, it was a sad time. It used to be that I wrote a blog post every day Monday through Thursday. However, I am just busy and no longer have the will to write some days. I hope you all forgive me for my inconsistent blog posts, and look forward to a better schedule once school is let out in June!  Cheers, Jason

Hey readers! I'm doing a project on minivans for school, and part of it is a survey. So if you would, please take this survey! I greatly appreciate it.  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2CKC29Y

With Volkswagen having such good diesel sales, Chevrolet has decided it wants to get into the diesel action with the Chevrolet Cruze diesel. Today, it announced that the Cruze diesel will receive a 26/46 city/highway fuel economy rating from the EPA.  That fuel economy is courtesy of a 2-liter diesel engine producing 148 horsepower and 258 pounds-feet of torque. An overboost function can increase torque output to 280 pounds-feet for short periods of time. The Cruze diesel's sole transmission is a 6-speed automatic.  Chevrolet is pushing the Jetta TDI as the Cruze diesel's direct competitor. While the Cruze diesel is $700 more expensive than the Jetta TDI at $26695 including an $810 destination fee, it offers more features than the Jetta TDI such as 17-inch aluminum wheels, the MyLink infotainment system, leather seats, and two years of free maintenance. The Cruze is also 0.1 second quicker from zero to 60 miles per hour compared to the Jetta TDI, but the TDI matches the ...

Chevrolet's MyLink and Ford's MyFord Touch both already have this feature, and now Audi is coming in with a gas station app in the infotainment system of A3 hatchbacks.  The feature is called Refueling Stop, and it talks to an online database of gas stations and their prices, and narrows the gas stations down to the ones around the car's current location or destination programmed into the navigation system. The feature can sort the gas stations it found by either price or distance. You can even set the gas station you want to go to as the new destination by just clicking on the selected station. If your car needs a certain type of fuel, like diesel of premium gasoline, the feature will take that into consideration.  Starting in May of this year, Audi A3s that have Audi connect equipped will be able to use Refueling Stop. Eventually, Refueling Stop will spread to the A4, A5, A6, A7, A8, Q7, Q5, and the upcoming Q3. In order to get refueling stop in those cars, you must...

Gas-electric hybrids, electric cars and plug-in hybrids all have regenerative braking that recaptures energy under moderate braking and stores it in the battery pack. In the new Cadillac ELR, which is what GM calls an "extended range electric coupe" and is based on the Chevrolet Volt, you can control the regenerative braking with paddles beside the steering wheel. When the driver removes her or her foot from the accelerator pedal, he or she can pull on either of the paddles to slow down the car. It can be used for situations like slowing down into a corner, or decelerating into slower traffic. It's similar to downshifting in a conventional gasoline automobile. While the Regen on Demand, as it is called, will slow the vehicle, it will not completely stop the vehicle. If you release the paddles while you are not stepping on the accelerator or brake pedal, the car will coast like a normal gasoline car would coast if you were to not step on any pedals.  All of this a...

The most forward speeds a production car with an automatic transmission right now is eight. Now, Ford and GM are collaborating to develop and produce 9- and 10- speed transmissions for both front-wheel-drive cars and rear-wheel-drive cars.  More speeds in a transmission will better ensure efficiency and power by keeping the engine in the optimal RPM range.  The nine-speed transmission will be used in front-wheel-drive cars, and the ten-speed transmission will be used in rear-wheel-drive cars. To ensure each transmission will work well with the brands' cars, the transmissions will be unique software. This isn't the first time Ford and GM have teamed up to make a transmission. Since 2002, Ford and GM have been working on a six-speed automatic for front-wheel-drive cars. And they aren't the first to develop transmission with more than eight speeds either; Chrysler has had a partnership with ZF to make nine-speed transmissions, and the first vehicle to utilize it wi...

For the 2014 model year, the Audi R8 was refreshed. Today - which happens to be the day the car officially goes on sale - pricing is released.  The R8 coupe has a base price of $119150 with a 430-horsepower V-8 and a six-speed manual transmission, which is a $700 increase over the 2013 model. The automatic transmission (a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic) model costs $128250. The spyder (convertible) starts at $132650 for the manual and $141750 for the automatic.  To get the 525-horsepower V-10, you have to pay at least $155450, and that gets you the manual. The automatic V-10 coupe costs $164550. The spyder V-10 costs $168950 and $178050 respectively.  A new trim level is the V-10 Plus trim, which has a 550-horsepower, 398 pounds-feet of torque version of the 5.2-liter V-10 in the regular V-10 model. That represents a bump of 25 horsepower and 7 pounds-feet of torque over the base V-10. A smaller fuel tank, a carbon fiber splitter, carbon fiber side blades, a carbon...

Chrysler just went on a roll with recalls today, releasing 6 in one day.  One is a recall affecting 2007-2008 two-wheel-drive Dodge Nitros and Jeep Libertys. A heat shield could loosen and touch the driveshaft, making it more likely to wear out and/or break. Chrysler is not aware of any injuries or accidents caused by this problem. Another is a recall of 6600 2013 Ram 1500 trucks manufactured between December 17, 2013 to January 22, 2013. The parking brake is faulty. Again, Chrysler is not aware of any injuries and/or accidents involving the faulty parking brakes.  About 7000 2013 Ram 2500 and 3500 trucks are plagued with engine covers that are not as heat-resistant as they should be, and could catch fire. Almost all the trucks are still in dealers. About 119000 model-years 2011 and 2012 Chrysler 300s, Dodges Chargers and Dodge Challengers manufactured between April 11, 2011 and December 11, 2011 have faulty seat mounted side airbag wiring harnesses that...

Before the Shanghai Auto Show later this month, Maserati has put out photos of its new 2014 Ghibli sedan. It is an old name put on a new midsize sedan that looks like a scaled-down version of the new Quattroporte.  Not much information has been revealed yet, but the car will come with rear-wheel and all-wheel drive. Engines include two turbocharged 3-liter V-6s. One of them will be a diesel, a Maserati first. Both powerplants will go through a ZF 8-speed automatic.

So yesterday, the refreshed Panamera was revealed, along with all the details of the upgrades. The big news are the styling updates, more power, a plug-in hybrid model, and a new long-wheebase model. Starting with the engine updates, the base 3.6-liter V-6 engine produces 310 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque, an increase of 10 horsepower. The 400-horsepower, 4.8-liter V-8 for the Panamera S and 4S trims makes way for a new twin-turbocharged V-6 that makes 420 horsepower and 384 pounds-feet of torque. The Panamera GTS looks and handles much like the Turbo, but it uses the S's engine. Meanwhile, the Turbo's twin-turbocharged 4.8-liter V-8 gets a horsepower bump of 20, to a good 520 horsepower and 516 pounds-feet of torque. The Turbo S is discontinued for now. All of the above engines are mated to Porsche's PDK dual-clutch automates manual transmission. Finally, there's the Panamera S E-Hybrid, which is a fairly significant upgrade from the previous S Hybri...