How To Choose The Right Car

August 20th, 2009
rightcarDriving, across the country or merely a state line or two, is the quintessential sport. Our cars transport us to destinations like family reunions, vacations and honeymoons. You won’t find it on the front page of the sports section, but driving, windows down, music blaring and sunshine hot on your face has become a tradition that’s getting more popular every year.Like lemonade stands and drive-in movies replaced by today’s mega-theatres and air-conditioned malls, cruising has evolved to include not only today’s safer convertibles, but other vehicles that lend themselves to the particular tastes of the driver.

“They say getting there is half the fun, and if you’re driving one of this year’s newer vehicles to your vacation destination that really will be the case,” says John Davis, host and executive producer of MotorWeek, a weekly automotive magazine show produced by Maryland Public Television.

Davis says you’ll be seeing a lot of pickups, SUVs and convertibles out there; and unlike in past years when people might rent “fun” cars specifically to drive on vacation, “the latest trend is for people to travel in their own vehicles. It’s a comfort thing as well as being more economical,” says Davis.

So-called cross over vehicles, which combine the features of a car with those of a sedan, minivan or sport utility vehicle, are really gaining in popularity. “They are the widest, most imaginative group of vehicles to enjoy in the history of the industry,” says Davis. Vehicles that fall into this category include the Pontiac Vibe, Subaru Baja, Honda Element, Scion xB, Chrysler Pacifica, Toyota Matrix, and Chevrolet Avalanche. They cover a broad range of prices from under $15,000 to well over $40,000.

Safety Issues

“They are very versatile, there’s no doubt about that,” says Davis. “But like the traditional SUV, they tend to be tall, and taller vehicles by their very nature can roll over easier, so you still need to be extra careful when taking corners.”

Rollovers can also be a worry for another popular summertime car: convertibles. They tend to be slower to respond to driver inputs because they are heavier than your average sedan, but Davis points out, they have come a long way. “Convertibles used to be flimsily made and clumsy to drive, and really rattled over rough roads. Now they are better built, with better suspensions, and are much safer. Along with front airbags, many convertibles can be ordered with side impact airbags, while a few have pop-up roll-over bars that automatically provide extra protection for occupants. Most also offer electronic driving aids like anti-lock brakes and electronic stability systems.

Cruising still has the devotion of the American driver as it has for years, but with some 210 million registered drivers on the road, it does require us to be more conscious. Not just about safety, but other drivers, and local laws as they relate to aggressive driving and cell phone use. So, toss the cell phone in the glove compartment, strap on your seat belt and enjoy your next road trip.

Courtesy of ARA Content

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Car seat check up helps parents, kids

June 27th, 2009

You have your kids strapped in and ready to go on a road trip with the family, but how safe is their car seat?

A workshop held today aimed to answer questions and show parents the correct way to install car seats.

Parents are pulling in, and taking out their children.

“Galveston, Crystal Beach, visiting family. Head home next week,” says Kelly Hall.

But this isn’t Michael and Kelly Hall’s family vacation. They’re getting experts to check, and re-check their kids’ seats.

“We’re going to instruct them, but we’re going to let them do the hands on and actually put the car seat in,” says Trooper Stephanie Davis with the Department of Public Safety.

Workers with law enforcement and state agencies held a free clinic at Academy to help parents better understand the in’s and out’s of their car seats.

It’s not the first time for the Halls to participate in the check-up.

“I did it once when we lived in Virginia, just to be able to check the car seats,” says Kelly.

“I think it’ll pay off in the long run, something we can lear a little more about too,” says Michael Hall.

If a parent arrives with a child and the car seat is broken, old or not the right size, the state will give them a new one.

The questions, and the cars, kept rolling in.

“Don’t know something’s wrong until they actually practice it,” says Trooper Davis.

Once Austin and Tyler are back inside ..

“They slept through the whole thing, I think they enjoyed it,” says Michael.

Kelly finds out she passed the test, and learned something in the process.

“New stuff about the booster seat that we didn’t know before,” says Kelly.

And says she won’t have to keep looking over her shoulder to check on the boys while driving.

Trooper Davis says the workshop also gave law enforcement officers a chance to help parents understand the new booster seat laws going into effect September 1.

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Fast, Furious, Feral

June 23rd, 2009

Petrol-mad motor show shuns the future

The promoters of the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney like to claim that it is now a world-class automotive exhibition but, in 2007, the Sydney Motor Show overpromised and underdelivered.

The world’s car industry is now focussed on developing technology for the late and post fossil fuel era.

 Ford FPV Falcon Cobra

This year’s two mega motor shows – Frankfurt and Tokyo – gave us a clear look at the big picture which, at present, is optimising the efficiency of petrol and diesel engines in tandem with the parallel development of hybrids and fuel cells. Many examples of the types of cars which will house these drivetrains were on display.

If you went to Sydney’s Darling Harbour hoping to get an understanding of tomorrow’s green car technology you would have been sorely disappointed. Instead, Sydney was a ‘fill ’er up and to hell with the consequences’ horsepower-fest.

You could have been forgiven for thinking that the four local manufacturers have never heard of climate change and are sitting on oil reserves that will sustain Australia for the next 1000 years.

Mitsubishi unveiled the latest version of the doof doof brigade’s hero car, the Lancer Evolution X. This rally-bred beastie is, no doubt, a beautiful thing on the track, but drive it as Mitsubishi intended and it will use fuel like a 4WD.

Speaking of which, Toyota gave the new 200-series LandCruiser its world premiere in Sydney – fitting, given that Australia is the single biggest market for the ’Cruiser. Most are sold as work and/or remote-area vehicles because that’s what the ’Cruiser does best. But in the context of everyday driving, and the new generation of SUVs, the big Toyota is a dinosaur.

Toyota is at the forefront of alternative energy technology, but if you wanted to see what it has in store for us you had to go to Tokyo where it had eight cars of the future displayed under the theme ‘Harmonious Drive – A New Tomorrow for People and the Planet’.

Holden couldn’t come up with its traditional showstopper this year – previous efforts have included the wild Efijy concept – so it was back to the future with big, heavy cars powered by big, thirsty engines, including the new VE Commodore wagon, the ute and the HSV hotrod, the Maloo.

Oh, and we shouldn’t forget that paragon of environmental responsibility from another GM subsidiary – the Hummer, which actually made its first Sydney appearance in 2006.

The best Ford Australia could serve up was a throwback to a 1970s Bathurst winner, the FPV Falcon Cobra, complete with a set of body stripes – phwoar! – and a 302kW, 5.4-litre V8 with a prodigious (as in 20-litres/100km in town) thirst.

It also showed an equally feral version of the Territory SUV, the high-performance F6X with a 270kW turbocharged 4.0-litre six-cylinder engine.

All great fun, of course, but a significant vehicle? Hardly. What Ford Australia and the Territory need – and what buyers want – is a torquey, economical diesel.

Lest you think we’re being a bit hard on the locals, the importers were hardly any better in their approach to Sydney. Alfa Romeo, Citroen, Fiat, Jaguar, Mini, Rolls Royce and Proton didn’t even bother to show up.

Holden Maloo The two glamorous performance drawcards – Ferrari’s F430 Scuderia and the Lamborghini Reventon – didn’t arrive.Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Saab and Volkswagen, who usually pull out all the stops to demonstrate their environmental credentials, also went for a quick, easy fix in Sydney.

BMW at least gave us a look at where its controversial styling is heading – albeit in a gas-guzzling format – with the wicked-looking Concept CS sedan and Concept X6 coupe.

Still, while Sydney, in technology terms, was an insight-free zone in 2007, it did fulfil the other major function of motor shows which is to sell cars. If you visited the Show to kick a few tyres and decide on your next new car, you would have found more than 400 models on display.

That’s the beauty of motor shows. They can be equally inspiring for dreamers and petrolheads, or those of us simply wanting to buy a new car. But if Sydney wants to live up to its self-proclaimed world-class status in future, it needs to get serious about showing us what the future holds.

By Bill Mckinnon.

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May 1st, 2009

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