Q My wife, who must be obeyed, has brought home a device to replace her car’s regular emergency-jumper cables (which are still in pristine condition). The device she purchased connects from her car’s cigarette lighter to the cigarette lighter of a good Samaritan’s car. Are these things safe?
Jer
A TOM: Sure, they’re safe, Jer - they’re [...]
DIESEL DOINGS
Here is a look at which automakers will be bringing out diesel vehicles in California in the next few years.
Volkswagen
What: 2009 Jetta sedan and SportWagen.
When: March/April 2008.
What: Touareg SUV.
When: Unclear.
Audi
What: Q7 SUV and the A4 [...]
[Read more...]
With gas prices rising and environmental concerns intensifying, diesel cars - with their cleaner fuel and improved engines - are coming back to California early next year.
The first will be the Volkswagen Jetta, in both sedan and wagon body styles, but many more will follow.
Expect to see diesel-powered cars from Honda, BMW, [...]
[Read more...]Honda’s Element is one of those vehicles you either love or hate at first glance.
The 2007 SC version we tested dispenses with the Element’s trademark gray quarter panels. As a result, it bears more than a passing resemblance to the boxy Scion xB, so much so that [...]
[Read more...]NUTS & BOLTS
What we drove: 2007 Honda Element SC, a two-wheel-drive, four-passenger sport-utility vehicle with a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine and a five-speed manual transmission.
Base price: $22,695
Price as tested (includes options and delivery charge): $23,290
Curb weight: 3,529 pounds
Length: 170.8 inches
EPA figures: 21 mpg (city); 25 mpg (highway)
Nice touch: The storage, including the divided segments along the [...]
[Read more...]Advocates of plug-in hybrids applauded Toyota’s announcement Wednesday that it will begin testing high-mileage vehicles in the United States - including at UC-Berkeley - and Japan.
“We’ve been working for this moment since 2002,” said Felix Kramer, founder of Palo Alto-based CalCars. “This milestone validates PHEVs (plug-in hybrid electric vehicles) as the [...]
[Read more...]DETROIT - Chrysler Group raised the stakes in the warranty game Thursday, offering lifetime repairs for the key components of its cars and trucks.
Chrysler’s lifetime powertrain warranty program replaces an existing three-year, 36,000-mile warranty.
Effective Thursday, Chrysler said that the warranty applies to most of its vehicles and “covers the [...]
[Read more...]WEISSACH, Germany - Porsche AG’s first hybrid vehicle will be ready within three years, the head of the luxury automaker’s new hybrid program announced Thursday, saying it showed progress by a company derided by some environmental groups as a climate destroyer.
Leaders of Germany’s auto industry have rejected criticisms that they lack the [...]
[Read more...]
10: Sinclair C5
Top Speed: 15mph
Range: 20 miles
Weight: 45kg
Cost: £399
Released in 1985 in the UK the C5 could be driven by anybody over the age of 14, even without a driving license. Less than 17,000 C5s were sold and Sinclair Vehicles went into receivership later that year. The C5 was dangerous to use on the road, [...]
I felt funny driving this sport-utility, not ha-ha funny, and not just because it was painted a shade of bright orange I have previously seen only on a few Land Rovers and a special-edition of the VW Beetle. (Caltrans probably has a few cans of this paint, too.)
No, it’s because the [...]
[Read more...]