Author: autoevolution

According to an Australian survey, one in three parents are confused about child restraint laws. The survey, which was conducted by the familycar.com.au website, came in response to the large number of questions about this topic featured online.

Parents are clearly concerned about the safety of their children while driving them to school, day care and after school activities and are desperate for some clarity in this area, said founder of the website, Melissa Pye.

This is not necessarily a… (read more)

At a time when the automotive industry is hit by one of the largest recalls ever, automakers are trying to develop new and safer technologies that would be able to prevent all kind of problems that might occur while driving. And taking into account the very advanced hardware and software components a car is equipped with nowadays, such a task could prove to be a bit harder than initially expected.

It happened to Toyota and, although the solution was as obvious as it could get, integrating it … (read more)

Do you wonder how Toyota’s doing after the recent trust issues regarding the brand? Despite the recent image problems Toyota had to face since its massive recalls, the Japanese car manufacturer still managed to pull some impressive sales figures. In February, Toyota claimed two of the top three selling passenger cars in the U.S. and dominated the hybrid market. Toyota’s February sales managed to top other European and Asian car manufacturers.

Toyota/Lexus/Scion February sales rankings:

Li… (read more)

The Chinese commercial vehicles market expanded by 21.5 percent in February, as compared to the same month of 2009, managing to reach 268,600 units. However, the sales can be translated into a 22.87 decrease, as compared to the January 2010 figures, as Xinhua News reports, citing the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

The February slowdown was caused by the fact that customers paused the acquisitions during the Lunar New Year Holiday week, that fell on February this year – as oppo… (read more)

Vornsteiner has chosen the BMW 7 Series F01 and F02 (the normal and the long wheelbase verions of the luxury saloon) as its latest targets, as the tuner has released a modification pack for the cars, comprising of an aerodynamics package and bespoke rims.

The tuning program bears the VR7 name. At the front of the car, we find a add-on front spoiler, that has both an aerodynamic role (it increases the front end downforce) and an esthetic one. The rear of the VR7 features an air difuser that &q… (read more)

To say that Ferrari had a miserable start of a season in 2009 would be an understatement. The Scuderia scored its first points in the championship at the end of Round 4, in Bahrain, which is where the 2010 season gets off later this week. However, as compared to last year, all the people at Maranello are expecting a complete turnaround of last season’s form, aiming to power the Prancing Horse to the top of the classification from the get go.

As Fernando Alonso wasn’t with Ferrari last year wh… (read more)

American manufacturer Ford recently released a statement, praising its 2011 Ford F-Series Super Duty as delivering best-in-class torque, horsepower, towing and payload capability, all this while keeping a low fuel consumption and offering extended maintenance intervals

Strangely, though this is pretty much what we heard from GM referring to its 2011 Chevrolet Silverado pickups, we thought of giving Ford a chance to support their claims.

"The 2011 Super Duty is not only the most powerf… (read more)

Forget London, Surrey is the new capital of the UK… when it comes to potholes, as a recent survey shows that the county has the most damaged roads in Great Britain. To be more specific, 1998 potholes stand in the way of Surrey’s 450,000 drivers.

The study, conducted by Kia Motors, places Hampshire on the second place, with 892 potholes. The road hazard podium is completed by Kent, which threatens motorists with 857 potholes.

Statistics released by the carmaker’s dealer network has indic… (read more)

Toyota officials denied today a report by the Wall Street Journal, which stated that the last generation Prius will be recalled to fix an existing accelerator problem.

According to Toyota, media reports, citing a Wall Street Journal article, have incorrectly reported that Toyota plans to announce a new recall for the 2004-2009 Prius to address the potential risk for floor mat entrapment of accelerator pedals."
 
"There is no new recall being planned for the Prius to address this … (read more)

Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen admitted his disappointment over his result in Rally Mexico, when he finished the event more than one minute and 45 seconds behind his title rival and reigning world champion Sebastien Loeb.

The overall classification in the last weekend’s rally was not much the result of driving mistakes or difficult road conditions – as these were the same for all the contenders – but of his Focus WRC’s poor setup through the duration of the entire 3 days of action. Both him and his t… (read more)

The second annual edition of the Legends of Riverside II event will see three 500cc racing pioneers have their names inscribed on the Harry Morrow Trophy. Tom Meehan, Ralph Ormsbee, and George Keck will all be rewarded on March 26-28 at the Inland Empire’s Riverside International Automotive Museum.

The three will join John Streets, Bob Wenz, Bob Schilling, Bruce Kessler, Peter Becker, Ken Nichols, and Tom "Rigger" Cecil as Morrow awardees.

The Morrow award consists of a Cooper F… (read more)

With Toyotas currently seen as unsafe vehicles lately – with the recalls and all – this following news should be great for the Japanese car manufacturer: the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has just announced that the all-new Toyota 4Runner mid-size sport utility vehicle (SUV) has earned its highest ranking of good in their frontal offset high-speed crash ratings.

According to IIHS, its frontal crashworthiness evaluations are based on results of 40 mph frontal offset crash tests… (read more)

Earlier this week, we reported that Geely assured everyone that the Volvo acquisition is going according to plan, although an official agreement had not been signed yet. Now, the Chinese company announced that it has secured a $2.1 billion financing for the acquisition of the Swedish brand, as Reuters reports, citing a Swedish business daily.

According to Dagens Industri’s sources, the money have been provided by Chinese banks and regional government agencies. The paper’s sources said that th… (read more)

BBC pundit Eddie Jordan – formerly a team owner inside the Formula One Championship – said that Michael Schumacher must be out of his mind to return to the sport that turned him into a 7-time world champion. Speaking his mind about Schumacher’s chances of making a difference in the 2010 championship, Jordan believes the German made a terrible mistake returning in F1.

If I was his father I would have said to him, ‘Son, why? Why?!’ Seven times a world champion – he must be out of his mind! In l… (read more)

Toyota seems to be unable to catch a break. According to Reuters, the Japanese car manufacturer will extend its Tundra pick-up recall to cover the entire US. The recall only affects 2000 to 2003 model years.

In November 2009, Toyota Motor Corp announced that it will recall 110,000 Tundra trucks from the 2000-2003 model years due to excessive rust on the vehicle’s frame. Things looked quite serious, as government officials asked Tundra owners to remove their spare tire from the frame due to wo… (read more)

Chevrolet’s new pickups reportedly deliver the segment’s best diesel torque and horsepower, the carmaker proudly announced today. According to Chevrolet, the new, optional 6.6L Duramax turbo-diesel V-8 engine available on the 2011 Silverado 2500HD and 3500HD models, develops 397 hp (296 kW) at 3,000 rpm and 765 lb.-ft. of torque (1,037 Nm) at 1,600 rpm.

This is an improvement of 32 hp (24 kW) and 105 lb.-ft. of torque (142 Nm) over last year’s engine.The engine is also more fuel-efficient, w… (read more)

Mitsubishi recently presented the 2010 Outlander RX limited series, a special range that was also introduced to the Aussie market last year and was based on the pre-facelift version of the car. Just like last year, the new RX comes with a number of aesthetic improvements, plus with several feature upgrades. Production will be limited to 500 units, themotorreport.com.au noted in a report.

Specifically, the RX special series is based on the LS version of the 2010 range, so it comes with all fea… (read more)

Following some recent statements issued by Mark Webber ahead of the upcoming Formula One season, one could assume that there is a bit of tension between the two Red Bull Racing drivers – the Aussie and Sebastian Vettel. The 33-year old racer yesterday spoke openly about the younger talents that make it into F1, revealing that he doesn’t quite consider them real men.

You don’t look at these guys and think ‘they are real men’. They are talented, no question, but there is less in common, said We… (read more)

As you might remember, a while ago General Motors, Toyota’s old partner from NUMMI, decided to kick the Japanese while they were down and offer incentives to all Toyota and Lexus owners in the United States. According to GM spokesman Tom Henderson, this strategy came as a response to the thousands of calls they got from Toyota owners asking for help, but we severely doubt it.

Apparently Toyota dealers decided to answer back. As the US government owns 60% stake in GM, Toyota dealers have made … (read more)

Renault has entered the crossover market much later than other companies and is determined to recover the lost ground – the company has updated the Koleos range and will be selling the new versions starting from April.

The Koleos will be offered with two equipment levels: Carminat and Exception. Both feature minor styling changes and have received upgraded equipment compared to previous versions.

The Carminat equipment level is based on the Expression one, that it replaces, and brings new … (read more)