SUVs That Save Money at the Pump

For years SUVs were notorious for their poor fuel economy, but their practicality keeps sales up. Families love SUVs because they offer comparable space to a minivan in much sportier packaging. With raising gas prices, drivers had to take bank loans to fill up these gas guzzlers, but manufacturers have made great strides in improving their fuel economy. While a hybrid model of an SUV may add a few more miles to the gallon, their much higher costs, sometimes make them unaffordable for many people. Here is our list for the top 6 non-hybrid SUVs:

1. Nissan Juke (27 city/32 hwy/29 combined)


2. Mitsubishi Outlander Sport (25 city/31 hwy/27 combined)


3. Hyundai Tuscon (23 city/31 hwy/26 combined)


4. Chevrolet Equinox (22 city/32 hwy/26 combined) tie


GMC Terrain (22 city/32 hwy/26 combined) tie


5. Jeep Patriot (23 city/29 hwy/25 combined)


For those that can afford hybrid models the Ford Escape Hybrid and Mercury Mariner Hybrid tied for the top spot over all with 34 city, 31 highway, and 32 combined MPGs.

Cars That Were Built to Last

Dependability has always been a big factor in a lot of car purchases. The most dependable cars generally have the highest three and five-year resale values. They are also the best investment you can make in a car.

JD Power & Associates has come out with their list of the most dependable cars. All of these are 2008 models which are going to be available in abundance with a common three year lease ending this year. After questioning over 43,000 people these cars have had the least amount of issues in the last three years.

Category          Best In Category          Other Top Picks
Subcompact          Honda Fit                Toyota Yaris
                                             Hyundai Accent

Compact             Toyota Prius             Hyundai Elantra
                                             Toyota Matrix

Compact Sport       Mazda MX-5 Miata         Scion tC
        
Midsize Sport       Ford Mustang

Midsize             Ford Fusion              Buick Lucerne
                                             Mitsubishi Galant

Full-Size           Buick Lucerne            Ford Taurus
                                             Chevrolet Impala

Compact Luxury      Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class
Sport

Entry Luxury        Lincoln MKZ              Lexus ES 350
                                             Acura TL (tie)
                                             Acura TSX (tie)

Midsize Luxury      Acura RL                 Mercedes-Benz E-Class
                                             Lexus GS

Full-Size Luxury    Cadillac DTS             Mercedes-Benz S-Class

For anyone keeping track of the makes as a whole Acura, Ford, and Mercedes-Benz all have three models that are a top pick. Surprisingly, Honda, a manufacturer known for durability and reliability, only has one car on that list, and it isn’t either of its flagship models, Civic or Accord.

Keeping a car long past the pay off of your loan is a great investment and buying any one of JD Power & Associates most dependable car picks will allow you to do just that.

Most Dependable Cars By Class

Dependability has always been a big factor in a lot of car purchases. The most dependable cars generally have the highest three and five-year resale values. They are also the best investment you can make in a car.

JD Power & Associates has come out with their list of the most dependable cars. All of these are 2008 models which are going to be available in abundance with a common three year lease ending this year. After questioning over 43,000 people these cars have had the least amount of issues in the last three years.

Category          Best In Category          Other Top Picks
Subcompact          Honda Fit                Toyota Yaris
                                             Hyundai Accent

Compact             Toyota Prius             Hyundai Elantra
                                             Toyota Matrix

Compact Sport       Mazda MX-5 Miata         Scion tC
        
Midsize Sport       Ford Mustang

Midsize             Ford Fusion              Buick Lucerne
                                             Mitsubishi Galant

Full-Size           Buick Lucerne            Ford Taurus
                                             Chevrolet Impala

Compact Luxury      Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class
Sport

Entry Luxury        Lincoln MKZ              Lexus ES 350
                                             Acura TL (tie)
                                             Acura TSX (tie)

Midsize Luxury      Acura RL                 Mercedes-Benz E-Class
                                             Lexus GS

Full-Size Luxury    Cadillac DTS             Mercedes-Benz S-Class

For anyone keeping track of the makes as a whole Acura, Ford, and Mercedes-Benz all have three models that are a top pick. Surprisingly, Honda, a manufacturer known for durability and reliability, only has one car on that list, and it isn’t either of its flagship models, Civic or Accord.

Keeping a car long past the pay off of your loan is a great investment and buying any one of JD Power & Associates most dependable car picks will allow you to do just that.

Lamborghini Bests Itself Once Again

When you produce arguably one of the best super cars in the world it can be pretty hard to top. But that’s exactly why it took Lamborghini nearly a decade to roll out its newest model since the Murcielago. Appropriately named after a bull from the 1990’s, the Lamborghini Aventador LP700 comes with higher everything, including price tag.

Anchoring the Aventador is an earthshattering 6.5 liter, V-12 engine that easily pushes out 690 horses, a full 60 more than its predecessor. But it isn’t all about power and speed anymore with Lamborghini. Anyone who’s spent enough time behind the wheel of a Lambo knows they can be a little scary in the curves of everyday driving with all that power and torque. Lamborghini lowered the Aventador almost 3 inches and lighted it up quite a bit all around, making this bull much easier to tame.

Can Dandelions Be a Good Thing? Ford Thinks So

Dandelions have always been a kryptonite to our lawns and gardens. But Ford and The Ohio State University are teaming up to shed some new light on the future uses for those pesky weeds.

Dandelions, like many plants, have different species. The Ohio State University’s Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) have begun to grow the Russian dandelion species, Taraxacum kok-saghyz (TKS). The TKS dandelion species has a milky-white substance that oozes from its roots that can be used to produce rubber.


Dandelions have always been aThe root substance could be used as a modifier to improve the strength of the plastic. The plastic would then be used for floor mats, interior trim and cup holders in the Ford vehicles. Ford researchers still need to assess the initial strength and quality of the material to see how it interacts with different plastics and how durable it is in the car before being utilized.

Additionally, Ford is also researching the ability to produce natural rubber from the guayule shrub, commonly found in the Southwestern United States. Synthetic rubber is not a sustainable resource so Ford is looking at ways to through the dandelions and guayule shrub to be able to have a natural alternative that is renewable for rubber.

Ford is consistently working on creating fuel-efficient vehicles that reduces the carbon footprint left behind by Ford vehicles. Ford’s “Reduce, reuse and recycle” commitment to a greener vehicle has paid off with numerous advancements including wheat straw-filled plastic, soy foam seat cushions, and recycled yarns on seat covers to name a few.

Car2go Car Rental Program Taking Off For Daimler & smart Cars

Daimler has added Hamburg, Amsterdam and Vancouver, Canada in the past month as new operating locations for its car2go car rental program. The additions of both offices have doubled the operating programs for Daimler. The system uses a fleet of environmentally-friendly smart fortwo and smart fortwo electric vehicles for users to utilize on a per-minute car rental basis.

Three years ago, Daimler rolled out the car2go program in Ulm, Germany. The program was such a hit with the smart cars that they expanded the operations to the USA a year ago in Austin, Texas. Vancouver will now inherit a fleet of 225 smart fortwo models to provide fuel-efficient driving for users (33 city/41 hwy mpg). The Amsterdam location will have 300 new smart fortwo electric versions of the smart car. The electric model is 100% electric and allows drivers to travel anywhere from 63-98 miles on a full charge.

Car2go allows users to use smart cars throughout the city on demand or reserved a day in advance. Users pay a one-time registration fee to become a car2go member. Price for use of the smart car will depend on how long and far users drive. The longer the user drives, the lower the price. The standard price includes fuel, parking, insurance, maintenance and mileage.

The program was designed with certain elements to improve current car rental programs. Car2go prices are based on per minute rather than the popular per hour rate. Users have more flexibility with a per-minute price model so they can utilize the car as they see fit. In addition, renters can drive the smart car one way and not return it to the original location they picked it up at. Finally, users also get the benefit of parking in public spots, car2go spots or even city permit spots, offering parking ease for users.

Overall, the system offers an easy, inexpensive way to have quick access to a car. Owning cars is an afterthought in the locations that car2go is found at so users are thrilled to have the program there.

Nissan Is New York City’s Choice for “Taxi of Tomorrow”

Starting in 2013, the Nissan NV 200 will become the exclusive new taxi for New York City. Following the discontinuation of the Ford Crown Victoria, Nissan squared off against two other finalists: a truck from Turkish maker Karsan and a taxi version of Ford’s Transit Connect. In the end, the NV 200 was picked by the Taxi and Limousine Commission and awarded the 10-year, $1 billion contract to provide New York with thousands of taxis.

The Nissan NV 200 taxi will have many exciting features that will provide passengers with the safest, most comfortable, and most convenient cab that they have ever encountered. These features include:

• A transparent roof panel that will provide a unique view of the city’s skyscrapers.
• Overhead reading lights and floor lighting
• A mobile charging station with a 12V outlet and two USB plugs
• Standard traction control and Vehicle Dynamic Control
• A “low annoyance horn” with exterior lights that indicate when the vehicle is honking.
• Independent control of the rear AC and a special air filter to improve cabin air quality

Nissan Americas Chairman Carlos Tavares states, “The NV 200 taxi will give Nissan the opportunity to showcase our dedication to vehicle quality and urban mobility to more than 600,000 passengers every day.”

With the combination of very unique and fuel efficient features, the Nissan NV 200 will provide its citizens and visitors of New York City with a new and exciting view of one of the greatest cities in world.

Nissan Versa Saves Big

So many times the only things we consider in our new car purchase are: price, interest rate, and fuel consumption. But what about all of the other hidden costs that go into owning car? Getting a great deal on that brand new Hyundai Sonata might sound like a great idea now but then you have to insurance, maintenance costs, repairs, and for the really money savvy the cost of depreciation.

Yahoo! Recently put together a list of the top ten cheapest cars to own. Their 5-year ownership cost includes 5 years of fuel and 5 years of insurance at national averages. They did not, however, add in the cost of repairs and maintenance to the total but these figures are available in the original article for each model.


Model: Nissan Versa 1.6 Base 4Dr
MSRP: $10,922.00
5-Year Total Ownership Cost: $26,233.00

Model: Hyundai Accent GL 2Dr Hatch
MSRP: $9,677.00
5-Year Total Ownership Cost: $26,715.00

Model: Chevy Aveo5 LS 4Dr Hatch
MSRP: $11,038.00
5-Year Total Ownership Cost: $26,958.00

Rounding out the top 10 are the Ford Fiesta S 4Dr ($28,402.00 5-Year Total), Mazda2 Sport 4dr Hatch ($28,593.00), Toyota Yaris 4dr ($28,616.00), Kia Rio 4Dr ($29,157.00), Kia Soul 4Dr Hatch ($29,275.00)Honda Insight 4dr Hatch ($29,953.00), and the Ford Focus S 4Dr ($30,290.00).

All of these make great commuter and entry-level vehicles. Except for the Versa, Accent, and Aveo, the other 7 come standard with most of the latest safety features including side curtain airbags, ABS and stability.

Overall each of these 10 models keep repair cost over the 5 year period to around $1,500 (or about $300/year) and standard maintenance costs between $1500 and $2000.

Keeping in mind that costs will vary based on your location, these vehicles offer everything you could ask for in an entry level vehicle, while keeping more money in your pocket.

Test Drive the 2011 Audi RS 3 From Your Couch?

Just in time for the debut of Audi’s newest model is the release of the iPhone app Asphalt Audi RS 3. This new app will allow iPhone users to take the newest Audi model for a test drive. In the players can choose between two tracks (Bahamas or Japan) and beat their competitors to the finish line with skilled driving maneuvers or the discovery of hidden short cuts.



While playing the game users can climb their way to the top of worldwide online list-the player with the fastest time after three rounds on the Bahama track will win an Audi A3 Sportback 2.0 TSFI Quattro. This vehicle will be equipped with the S line sports and exterior package, quattro drive, leather trim, xenon plus headlights and a BOSE sound system. This is the perfect car for those looking for a little excitement during their drives.