Especially since the Legacy/Outback started ballooning and the Forester got a dealer-demanded homogenization, the Impreza has been my personal favorite Subaru (my significant other owns an ’08 wagon). It may not win any fuel economy contests in its size class, but the weight of its AWD system and grunty 2.5 liter engine make it a solid baby grand tourer compared to its front-drive competitors. But with gas prices now climbing steadily towards “freak-out” levels and competitors lounging on the 40MPG beach, a consistent 26 MPG no longer cuts the mustard. And so the new Impreza will lose its 2.5 liter engine in favor of a 2.0 unit which, along with some weight loss and a CVT will power the new Impreza to a 27/36 MPG EPA rating (25/33 with the manual transmission). Far be it from us to complain about less weight and more fuel economy, but it feels like the Impreza may be giving up some of its niche appeal in search of mainstream acceptance… not that there’s anything wrong with that.

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Hyundai has received a lot of attention recently for improvements in its product lineup, but as TTAC has proved, it’s actually the brand’s non-product innovations  that can be most closely tied to its recent success. Hyundai’s biggest sales growth in the US market has come on the heels of its 100k mile warranty and its Assurance buy-back program, rather than the introduction of any new car. And so, although Hyundai has revealed its new Accent (which we already showed you), the big Hyundai news coming out of New York is the brand’s latest Assurance feat: a trade-in value guarantee. The program rolls out in May, and Hyundai USA CEO John Krafcik tells the DetN that

Depreciation is a big unknown. It’s like giving one of the big benefits of leasing, but you’re still owning the car. We’re already one of the highest brands in loyalty, and we think this will help.

It certainly can’t hurt.

Edmunds’ Jeremy Anwyl asks:

The chart [above] shows the rate of fatalities per 100 million miles driven. We have assembled the data, going back almost 100 years. Look at the chart closely. Can you see a drop in fatalities that corresponds with when seatbelts were first introduced? Or when legislation mandating their use was passed? Or what about when air bags become prevalent? What about a jump in fatalities that ties to the current “epidemic” in texting while driving?

I can’t. The data does show that fatalities dropped markedly during the Great Depression and WW II. Aside from that, the rate has been declining  steadily for years. Decades, even. This is good news, but makes it hard to credit seatbelts, technology or the other factors that reflexively are given credit. I am not suggesting that we should all stop wearing seatbelts. I am suggesting that when thinking about transportation safety, there is more going on than we typically consider.

Philip writes:

Sajeev,

I have been driving a 2002 Chrysler T&C mini-van that is on its 3rd transmission. Based on the mileage, number 4 is right around the corner. I am feeling the Panther Love and I looking into a Lincoln Town Car.

A little background info. We live in The Woodlands Tx and I am the main taxi driver for a tall family of six. Neither my wife nor my teenage children do not what their dad driving an old man’s car. I, on the other hand, could care less.

The Panther I found on Ebaymotors/Autotrader is a 2003 Town Car with 42000 miles for 13800. The car is in Richmond Tx. Could you point me in the right direction on who I could have look at this car and what would be a fair asking price?

P.S.: Wife wants me to get a smaller sedan. She will be getting herself a mini-van for the family.

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Ford fans, rejoice! The Blue Oval Brand has been promising to do more to differentiate its “all go, no SHO” 365 HP Taurus SHO since the fall of 2009 (shortly after it debuted). After all, why drop nearly $40 large on a Ford if nobody realizes that it’s the high-po Ecoboosted version? Sure enough, Ford has updated the regular Taurus for the 2013 model-year, and its gone and visually differentiated the SHO while it was at it. But though the SHO now looks different from the standard car, can you actually tell which is which? (Hint: it’s the Kia-looking one) It’s one thing to simply differentiate the SHO… but does a mesh grille and some black trim justify the SHO’s high price or represent its potent power? Q-ships are cool, but they don’t have a great sales record.

An ongoing federal lawsuit against the speed trap town of Ridgeland, South Carolina uncovered internal emails last month that shed light on the motivation behind the state’s only photo enforcement program. Since July 2010, Ridgeland has allowed the private firm iTraffic to operate a mobile speed camera van on Interstate 95, despite a state law outlawing the practice and a pair of attorney general opinions warning that the photo ticketing was not legal (view opinions).

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Here in North America, Toyota’s marketing wizards figured out that a vehicle name that sounds like “Master Race” would be something of a liability, so they put in a bunch of grueling all-nighters and produced… the Toyota Van Wagon. Not so fast, said Volkswagen, claiming that the name sounded too much like “Vanagon,” and Toyota lopped off the “Wagon” to create a van name so boring that we still can’t quite believe it ever existed: Toyota Van. (Read More…)

Across 110th Street,
Pimps trying to catch a woman that’s weak…
Across 110th Street,
Pushers won’t let the junkie go free…

Every racer worth his HANS Device lives for the first corner after the green flag. It’s in that corner that the most complex problems will present themselves to the driver, and it’s in that corner that he will have the least amount of time to make the right decision. Only one car can come out of each corner first, and if you are that car, it doesn’t matter how you get there. There’s no substitute for it. It gets in your blood the way Africa was once said to get into the blood of adventurous European men, and it swims in your veins the way heroin quickens the junkie’s pulse when the needle punctures the skin.

If you’re an off-season racing junkie looking for a first-corner fix, however, there are few that hit finer or harder than renting a brand-new Crown Vic and putting it sideways on Columbus Circle in the process of beating two taxis and a Town Car to that next seventy-eight-inch wide hole in traffic. Call it Spec Panther Street Racing, call it the most terrifying way to do seventy miles per hour in a modern vehicle, or call it a ridiculous waste of resources, but I call it top-notch fun. It’s so much fun that I made a little road course out of Manhattan and drove it for a couple of hours today, taking a little time out to visit New York’s rest home for aging Panthers, across 110th Street.

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Speaking at the New York Auto Show today, GM CEO Dan Akerson defended his inconsistent approach to sales incentives, telling the AP [via The Washington Examiner]

I feel pretty good about that. I think we’re in pretty good shape. I don’t want to be a predictable competitor. I don’t want the other guy to know exactly what I’m doing.

For some context,

GM surprised the industry — and Wall Street — when it raised discounts by $400 per vehicle in January and February. Most automakers didn’t raise them because demand for new vehicles has been rising in line with supply…

GM pulled back on its incentives in March, spending $600 to $800 per vehicle less on the deals. But it was too late for some investors, who shied away from the company’s stock because higher rebates lower car companies’ profits.

But does Akerson’s upside, the element of surprise, outweigh the downsides of his hot-cold incentive strategy?

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With GM’s share price slipping below $30, the cries are going up again around the internet about the government’s stake in the bailed-out automaker. Thus far the Treasury has remained mum on its exit strategy, only indicating that it would emphasize speed rather than maximum return as it charted the course for its sell-off. But now, Reuters reports that “a big chunk” of the government’s 33% remaining stake in GM could be sold “in the summer or fall.” With the government’s shares “locked up” until May 22, that could mean the government is bailing as quickly as possible at a time when GM’s stock is hitting post-bankruptcy lows, and its CEO offers little in the way of explanations beyond blaming the Japanese tsunami and rising fuel prices. The Wall Street Journal figures taxpayers would lose $11b on its “investment” in GM equity if the government sold at today’s prices (the stock must hit $53 for break-even), but reports that political motivations outweigh fiscal considerations. The White House does not want “Government Motors” to be an issue in the next election.

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Gareth writes:

Thanks to reading all the ‘Hammer Time’ series! I cruise local online estate auctions from time to time and a 1996 Accord LX has popped up, auto trans, and under 90km. From the photos it looks clean, based on the other contents of the auction it has been gently used by old people, and I will be going to inspect it Monday per the Steve Lang guidelines. The car is sold with emissions test and a safety certificate which on their face indicate a lack of glaring issues.

I’m in the midst of finishing law school, writing bar ads, and moving to a Big Law job – which starts in August and where I won’t need a car. Through May and June I need to do a decent amount of driving, 12-20 rental car days worth, and if I had a car I’d do a few more.

As such I’m exploring bidding on this car, using it for 2 or 3 months, then selling it with the hope of rental costs washing with the ownership costs and selling it as revenue neutral or for a small profit. As the car is ultra clean and low km I believe there could be some profit left in it. Currently the high bid is $1600, $1650 to top.

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As I just noted in my comments on the 2012 Nissan Tiida pictures, the US-market Versa is moving up a class in order to make  room for the Nissan Micra, which takes over as Nissan’s subcompact responsibilities by early 2012 at the latest. To celebrate the nameplate’s new importance as a global model, Nissan created this Compact Sport Concept aimed not at the US, but “young customers in emerging countries.” The highlights: it’s a tarted up Micra, rocking the Juke’s lovable 1.6 liter direct-injected, turbocharged engine, making 188 HP, albeit with a CVT transmission. Which is (almost) exactly what I was thinking of when I argued that the marketing-hijacked Juke could have been a “Versa GTI.”

Without the marketers, it’s tempting to believe that Nissan’s engineers would have widened the Versa platform, added the fantastic turbocharged engine, and then decided to simply put a steroidal Versa body on top, creating the king of all B-segment hot hatches.

In the even smaller Micra body, that zesty turbocharged mill must be downright epic. Too bad the Micra will almost certainly never get the engine it has here, having been shown with a super-efficient 1.2 liter three-banger, and touted as a “super green” model for the US. On the other hand, there is reason to believe the new Versa could get this engine. We might just have to make do with that… unless Hyundai’s Veloster starts selling well.

Like most auto industry executives, the 2012 Nissan Tiida (Versa) had a choice to make this week: Shanghai or New York? China or Chinatown? Central Park or YuYuan Garden? Reuben or Xiaolongbao? Decisions, decisions. Speaking of which, we’re not even positive at this point that this Chinese-market Tiida (just revealed at the Shanghai show) is the same car as the US-market Versa that’s set to debut in Detroit. Either way, expect the Versa to be offered as a Compact (C-Segment) model, as its smaller brother, the Micra, is set to arrive in the US within the next 12 months or so to take over subcompact duty…

The Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC 5.0 isn’t a dream car, because it’s obscurity and touring car blueprint is a relative buzzkill. But this Bauhaus-worthy super coupe is a homologated racer much like it’s 300 SL forefather. I’ll skip the basics to focus on unit #1576: a grey market import from a USAF officer stationed in Germany. The current owner, Leif Skare, let me drive this meticulously kept, nearly stock (period correct 15” wheels and AMG front spoiler aside) SLC 5.0 before it heads back to Europe. Perhaps the SLC 5.0 is a dream car, when viewed in the right light. In the right place.

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