Monthly Archives: November 2015

Toyota Tundra Driver Erik Jones Wins Truck Championship

Posted on 23 November 2015 by Ken Zino

Toyota Tundra driver Erik Jones captured the 2015 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver’s championship during the last NASCAR race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Jones took his first-career title by 15 points over second-place Tundra driver Tyler Reddick by winning three races this season at Iowa, Canada and Texas. Continue reading →

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Kyle Busch Wins First NASCAR Sprint Cup Title for Toyota

Posted on 23 November 2015 by Ken Zino

Busch earned his first-career Sprint Cup Series title by one point over second-place driver Kevin Harvick in his No. 18 Camry by finishing highest among the championship contenders in the final round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship. Continue reading →

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Google Frustrated with California DMV Slow Walk on Autonomous Vehicles

Posted on 21 November 2015 by Ken Zino

Google has 73 self-driving cars out of 98 in testing from ten automakers on the road in California under DMV testing rules. However, they have been involved in 17 accidents that Google claims were not the car’s fault. Continue reading →

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Scion C-HR Crossover Embraces Weird

Posted on 21 November 2015 by Ken Zino

Let us hope the production wrapper looks better. Pricing, when announced, will be interesting as well. Continue reading →

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Porsche Dominates Endurance Racing During 2015

Posted on 21 November 2015 by Ken Zino

Porsche had a strong season with the overall victory at the 24 Hours in Le Mans, the Manufacturers’ World Championship earned at the penultimate round in Shanghai, the drivers’ World Championship in Bahrain. Continue reading →

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Largest US Market for Zero Emission Vehicles is California

Posted on 21 November 2015 by Ken Zino

California is and likely will remain the largest market for zero emission vehicles in the United States because of the state’s increasingly stringent ZEV mandate. Continue reading →

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Unsafe Used Vehicles with Open Recalls. What to Do?

Posted on 20 November 2015 by Ken Zino

However, AutoInformed thinks the bill ignores the equal protection clause of the United States Constitution. Could it be here that we have a group of politicians trying to give the impression of doing something good by singling out one, arguably, unpopular business group – franchised auto dealers – while exempting far more numerous voters? This bill could also be an example of incomplete staff work. Nonetheless, much more work is needed, if we really want to increase the rate of completed recalls. Continue reading →

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Overdue Update of Mazda CX-9 Appears at LAAS

Posted on 19 November 2015 by Ken Zino

This three-row seat CX-9 is long overdue for a major overhaul in an ultra-competitive field, but Mazda’s fragile financial position saw it mildly freshening the Ford Edge-based platform since its 2007 introduction. That’s a long time in car life years as it turns it into a dog. Continue reading →

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It’s Only a Paper Bridge for Range Rover

Posted on 19 November 2015 by Ken Zino

The hand-built paper bridge took three days to construct in the ancient water city of Suzhou, which is famous for its bridges and nicknamed ‘Venice of the East’. The unique crossing was made of high quality paper supplied by specialist British manufacturer James Cropper. Continue reading →

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Cadillac XT5 after Dubai Desert Debut at LAAS

Posted on 19 November 2015 by Ken Zino

It’s said to be built on a unique chassis and structure. XT5 is 278 pounds lighter than the current SRX, 100 pounds lighter than Audi Q5, 650 pounds lighter than Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class – despite being seven inches longer. Time for the European luxury makers to go on diet or is snob appeal also glob appeal? Continue reading →

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More EV Charging Stations for COP21 in Paris

Posted on 19 November 2015 by Ken Zino

France already has about 10,000 quick and standard charging spots. In the Paris region alone, there are more than 4,000 spots, making Paris one of the most “plugged in” cities in Europe. Continue reading →

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GM, US Army to Build Off-Road Hydrogen Fuel Cell Colorado

Posted on 19 November 2015 by Ken Zino

In 2007, GM launched “Project Driveway,” a 119-vehicle fleet of hydrogen fuel cell-equipped Chevrolet Equinoxes that were driven in daily use for more than 3 million miles by more than 5,000 consumers. Like so many advanced GM programs, commercial applications never saw the pavement. Honda and Toyota have fuels cells in use now by civilians. Continue reading →

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Union Protests Hyundai Worker Deaths

Posted on 19 November 2015 by AutoCrat

Trade unionists from Korea were in Geneva, Switzerland to attend the United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights this week telling the world about the workers dying in the yards of the planet’s biggest shipbuilder, Hyundai Heavy Industries Continue reading →

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2017 Hyundai Elantra Debuts at LAAS

Posted on 18 November 2015 by Ken Zino

The 2017 Elantra will arrive at U.S. Hyundai dealers in January. With heavily revised exterior sheet metal, all-new powertrains and claimed improved fuel economy, a better ride and more noise insulation, the super-competitive compact class continues to offer some of the best cars ever made. Caveat here: Hyundai got caught cheating big time on fuel economy ratings by the EPA by falsifying the settings used for testing. (Hyundai, Kia Fined Record Amount for Fuel Economy Cheating or Hyundai Cops Plea on Mileage Fraud Class Action or Hyundai and Kia Caught in EPA Mileage Rating Fraud) Continue reading →

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Truth in Geographical Vehicle Names – Here are Real Ones

Posted on 18 November 2015 by AutoCrat

Finding a Chevy Malibu in Malibu or a Hyundai Tucson in Tucson is actually rare, if such geographical vehicle names reflect popularity in those locales. Continue reading →

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