Later this week Hyundai will be previewing its new Elantra model ahead of its LA Auto Show reveal, but the clever folks in Hyundai’s PR department have let slip little bit of the car’s sheetmetal before the unveiling. There’s little new here as we’ve already seen the Elantra not once, not twice, not three times,...
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We can almost hear the strains of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” emanating from the stereo as Volkswagen has announced that their Golf Cabrio, beloved by young women everywhere, will return to production sometime in 2011. While the Golf has always had the dubious honor of being a truly feminine car, the current...
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The next generation Hyundai Elantra will record astounding fuel economy numbers, registered 42 mpg in the city and 58 mpg on the highway, according to testing data recorded by Transport Canada. Timothy Cain of sales and fuel economy blog Good Car Bad Car unearthed the data and posted it to his Twitter feed. We’re not entirely sure...
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Our second installment of the Best In Show series profiles the cars that made SEMA what it is – sport compacts. Yes, some of these cars push the boundaries of taste, but others are fairly creative and actually enhance the looks of the stock car. The dominant cars this year seemed to be the Mitsubishi...
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The star is Subaru‘s SEMA stand is undoubtedly the same Subaru STi used by Travis Pastrana for his record setting hillclimb up Mt. Washington. Subaru figured it would be a good idea to display the car in their SEMA booth, and we’d have to agree. You can check out the gallery below for more Red...
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Chevrolet debuted three new compact cars, as part of its new Z-Spec factory upgrades lineup, with the new Cruze and Volt, as well as the upcoming Spark subcompact rounding out the lineup. While the concepts modifications are cosmetic in nature, the upgrades really elevate the conservative lines of the Cruze, with an orange paint job,...
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The Chevrolet Volt missed out on SULEV (Super Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle) status by a minute margin, emitting 1.3 grams of CO2 per mile. The cutoff is 1 gram of CO2 per mile to qualify for the status. By these standards, the Volt emits more CO2 than a VW Golf TDI, Honda Accord 4-Cylinder sedan...
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Honda has made some improvements to the stop-start system on their Insight hybrid car, allowing drivers to keep the engine off for up to 3 times as long as previous years. Insights before 2011 could keep the engine stopped for up to 30 seconds, but new improvements for this coming model year allow for the...
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Chevrolet will debut their first television commercial for their Volt electric car during Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday. The ad will tout the Volt’s ability to go farther than other electric vehicles by using its gasoline-engine range extender. The range issue is a major concern for many potential EV customers, and Chevrolet...
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Mazda‘s CEO is hoping to double American sales to 400,000 units within the next 5 years, thanks to new fuel-saving technology known as SkyActiv, as well as a push upmarket. The new SkyActiv gasoline and diesel engines, as well as weight saving technology, will help Mazda position their cars at a more premium price point....
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Vauxhall has turned to Lotus for help with their chassis engineering on their upcoming Astra VXR hot hatch. The input from Lotus will supplement the work done by GM division Opel, which is testing the car on German roads. Lotus has a long tradition of helping third-party manufacturers with their handling and chassis development. Prototypes...
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Chevrolet‘s next Aveo will see more bodystyles beyond the traditional hatchback, with a crossover and a sedan among them. A sedan model will be essential for the U.S. market, where hatchbacks are slowly gaining acceptance, but have been a traditionally tough sell. The Aveo sedan will likely debut at the Detroit Auto Show in January,...
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Nissan‘s Oppama plant, located south of Tokyo, began producing the Leaf electric vehicle, with exports commencing in November. Nissan is also building plants in the United States and Europe to help with production, but initial vehicles will be built in Japan. Nissan’s Smyrna, Tenn. plant will have the capacity for 150,000 units, while the Sunderland, England...
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Dodge‘s largely unloved Caliber compact hatchback will get the ax in 2012, with Chrysler replacing the car with a model based on Alfa Romeo’s much lauded Giulietta hatchback. Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne confirmed that the mid-size Alfa hatch would underpin the new Dodge model while commenting on Fiat’s 3rd quarter earnings. The Giulietta will likely...
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Green Car Journal has announced its candidates for its Green Car Of The Year award, with the five car field being composed of some pretty serious competition, Naturally, the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf are the leading contenders, with the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid, Hyundai Sonata Hybrid rounding out the field, and the Ford Fiesta being...
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Audi is launching a revised version of their 3.0 TDI in the German market that sees a slight reduction in power in exchange for improved efficiency. New new Q7 TDI will pump out 204 horsepower and 332 lb-ft through an 8-speed transmission and return 33 mpg, comparable with some four-cylinder sedans. 0-60 will take 9.1...
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The folks over at Left Lane News have spied an undisguised Hyundai Accent after it was caught at a well-known hot weather testing location by the spies at Brenda Priddy & Co. The Accent gets some differentiating styling cues from the Korean market Accent (known as the Verna over there) and, with the American car...
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The first Fiat-based Dodge model is set to debut in late 2011 and is believed to be the replacement for current Caliber. Like the Caliber it will be a compact model and will be based on Fiat’s new Compact Wide architecture, which first debuted on the all new Alfa Romeo Giulietta. Power will come from...
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Nissan has released information about a new plug-in sedan set to debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show, a vehicle known as the Ellure. No details or photos have been released, but a nice bit of marketing fluff states that “Nissan’s dramatic new-value sedan exploration, the Nissan Ellure, is designed to bring a higher level...
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Mazda proudly announced that their upcoming Japanese market Mazda2, set to bow in the second half of 2011, will get an astonishing 70 mpg without any hybrid technology, making it the most fuel efficient gasoline car on the road. Using an all new family of chassis, engines and gearboxes, Mazda’s SKYACTIV system is designed to...
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Chrysler is recalling 26,397 vehicles over fault power steering hoses that could leak and cause a fire. Vehicles affected include the 2010 Chrysler 300, Chrysler Sebring, Dodge Avenger, Dodge Journey and Dodge Challenger. NHTSA released a statement regarding the recall stating “Some of these vehicles may experience a separation at the crimped end of the...
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Mazda‘s upcoming SkyActiv-G engines will get a 14:1 compression ratio, the highest in the world for a gasoline engine, according to a report in Autoweek. Most cars run compression ratios of 8.5:1, with high performance engines using ratios closer to 11:1. The SkyActiv-G motor takes that figure to a new level, and we’d really like...
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Several spy photos of what appears to be the upcoming 2012 Kia Rio reveal that the Korean automaker’s subcompact sedan is posed to borrow heavily from the design of the all new Optima. A sister car to the Hyundai Accent, power is expected to come from the same engine choices: either a 1.4-liter 4-cylinder or...
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Ford is staying true to its promise to become a fuel economy leader, announcing that the 2012 Focus will come with a segment-leading 40-mpg highway. Better yet, the new Focus won’t be a performance slouch either with the 2.0-liter 4-cylinder making 160-hp and 146 ft-lbs of torque. This level of performance and fuel economy is...
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