Subaru XV named ‘SUV of the Year’

The Subaru XV has been named ‘SUV of the Year’ by 4x4 Magazine ahead of rivals from Audi, Kia, Mazda, Nissan and Volkswagen.

Judges were impressed by the compact crossovers fuel economy, enjoyable driving characteristics and ground clearance.

Subaru’s customer service package called Everything Taken Care of (ETCo), apparently helped tip the balance in the Subaru’s favour.

Commenting on the XV’s victory, Nigel Fryatt, Editor, 4x4 Magazine, said: “The SUV class in 4x4 Magazine’s 4x4 of the Year test is one of the most competitive. The Subaru XV was an interesting new arrival in that class, which did much to impress judges.

The Subaru XV range is available in 1.6 petrol manual or CVT, 2.0 petrol manual or CVT and 2.0D manual options.

Prices start from £21,295 OTR.

Related Links:

Subaru website.

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London Taxi taken over by the Chinese

Chinese car manufacturer Geely has bought LTI, makers of the legendary black London cabs, for £11.4 million. This includes  plant, equipment and property, intellectual property rights, trade marks and the "goodwill of the business" as well as Manganese Bronze Holdings (MBH) 48% stake in the joint venture manufacturing company in Shanghai set up by Geely and MBH in 2009 and MBHs stock of unsold vehicles.  MBH is the manufacturer of the cabs.

LTI which is based in Coventry went into administration in October. According to news reports, production of the TX4 cabs will still continue in their Coventry plant. They also have revealed plans to come out with new green cabs in the near future.

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HyperFerrari The new Ferrari in Geneva

Ferrari decided in a rather unusual way to announce a new model. Service via Instagram teaser showing the Ferrari Enzo successor.

Auto appears on the Geneva motor show, but we do not know yet what the name will receive. Earlier rumors said about the F70, but in the meantime, was also provided with the name F150.

Italian stable sets this car as "HyperFerrari". Car is equipped with technologies transplanted straight from Formula 1 Also, you will reap the aerodynamics of high-speed cars.

The vehicle is to be driven by V12 engine with a capacity of 810 horsepower. This unit will work with the KERS system, which will provide about 150 hp. The whole structure has to weigh 1.3 tons.

Beats car Nurburgring in less than 7 minutes. Sprint to hundreds of takes him 3 seconds and a top speed of 370 HP.

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How CARB May Make The i3s Range Extender Less Attractive

The range extender engine for the i3 is seen here to the left of the electric motor

According to the UK price list for the i3 the range extender will automatically come on when the state of charge falls to 18%. Ive been guessing that will happen at about 20% so I was pretty close. It will then attempt to maintain the battery SOC at 18%, while allowing the car to continue to drive along relatively uninhibited. The only time there will be a problem is if your driving is demanding a high level of energy output for a prolonged period of time.

For instance, driving along at 60 mph on a flat surface you may only need 10 or 11 kWs to sustain the charge because thats about all youll be consuming. Thats no problem for the REx because it can provide up to 25kWs of constant supply. However if you need to drive up a steep grade at highway speeds for 10 continuous miles or so you may have a problem because the car will likely draw more than 25kWs under these strenuous conditions. The 18% buffer combined with the REx pumping out its maximum output will allow the drive to continue for quite some time, but after a while of using more energy then it is capable of replacing, it will eventually need to reduce power output. What happens then is unclear but I would imagine the car would slow down to a speed it can maintain power for. Again, this should not happen on flat land, as the energy consumption should be able to be replace by the REx. It will also have plenty of power for most hills and bursts of speed when needed. Im talking about long, extended drives up steep inclines that happen at the end of your journey after youve already depleated the battery and the range extender has come on. Personally I have a situation where this could come into play myself. My in laws live in Vermont and the last 10 to 15 miles to their house is mostly uphill. Id already have the range extender on by the time I get to this final leg of the journey so Im curious if Ill have a problem making it. I could stop along the way and charge for a while if necessary but Id prefer just driving nonstop. After all, thats why Id get the range extender; so I dont have to stop to charge along the way of a trip.

So what can be done to alleviate this? The Chevy Volt has a "Hold Mode" that the driver can initiate at any time. This manually turns on the range extender without waiting for it to automatically turn on when the battery is depleted and holds the battery state of charge at the level it was when you turned it on. Sounds like a great idea, so is BMW going to do the same thing? Yes, and maybe no. If you look at page 8 of the UK price list that I provided the link to above, youll see it says: "Manually activated when the vehicle is below 80%". Brilliant! So if you buy an i3 in the UK, you can turn on the range extender once the state of charge drops below 80%. Therefore if you know youll be driving up a long, steep hill or mountain at the end of your journey, you can turn on the range extender and "hold" the charge so when you arrive at the mountain youll have plenty of charge to complete the journey. Perfect, so US customers will get this feature also, right? Unfortunately, maybe not.

CARBs restrictions may hinder the REx

California is the #1 market for electric vehicles in the US and one of the reasons they sell so well there is zero emission vehicles are allowed carpool lane access regardless of the amount of passengers. This is a highly sought after perk in California and cars that qualify for it usually sell very well. The all electric i3 will definitely qualify, but the under the new more strict rules for PHEVs, an EV with a range extender will only qualify for the valuable HOV access sticker if it operates this way: "engine operation cannot occur until the battery charge has been depleted to the charge-sustaining lower limit". So that means the range extender cannot be manually turned on at 80% and still qualify for HOV access in California.

Its clear to me BMW will make the i3 conform with CARBs rules so it will have HOV access is California, but will they do this to all the US cars, or just for the ones shipped to California? I dont have the answer. I tried to get clarity on this at the i3 Premier but nobody wanted to confirm it one way or the other. Hopefully that means a decision hasnt been made on this yet and there is hope for the rest of us. If so and the powers to be at BMW find their way to read this blog post, please consider offering the same ability to manually turn on the REx for US customers outside of California. The vast majority of customers in the US dont need carpool access, why should they have their range extender neutered so people in California can have it? This is a simple software change. Its available in the UK and probably for the rest of Europe so its not like it will cost BMW anything to develop. Lets hope BMW does the right thing and makes this feature available to US customers outside of California. It really makes the range extender a more useful asset, this shouldnt be a hard decision to make.

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the VW version Mystery Machine from the 2013 LA Auto Show

found on edmunds.com

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The new 2013 Lexus LS 600h F Sport coming soon

The new 2013 Lexus LS 600h will be offered with the F SPORT package in Europe. 

Here are some characteristics of a new car:
 - Both the LS 460 F SPORT & LS 600h F SPORT will be lowered by 10mm compared to the standard model, with Brembo front brakes and paddle shifters.
 - The RWD LS 460 F SPORT will be equipped with a Torsen limited slip differential, an Active Stabilizer System, and the paddle shifters will incorporate automatic throttle blipping on downshifts.

 - The new LS 460 F SPORT will also have an intake sound creator installed, which will feed engine sound into the cabin.

The purpose of the Torsen LSD is to distribute torque between the rear wheels — not exactly an important feature when the new Lexus LS 600h is only available in All Wheel Drive and weighs over 400 lbs. more than the LS 460.

Original at lexusenthusiast.com

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the only pilot to ever eject from a jet which then crash landed on auto and fly it again

found on http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e76_1381965140

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The disappearing railroad car

Where did the end of this interurban car go?  What happened to its siding? its windows?  Whats going on here?  Why, long-term outdoor storage, of course!

The car body seen above was acquired just recently by a northeastern museum which is now working valiantly to try and save it.  And theyve got their work cut out for them.  But this didnt happen overnight; over time any wooden car stored outdoors, as this one was, will naturally deteriorate.  The only real solution is indoor storage.  And indoor storage is something that many of the historic railway cars at IRM are currently lacking.

But fear not, readers - you can help!  IRM is now raising funding for building a storage barn which will house dozens of historic and irreplaceable cars and will preserve them for the future.  But donations are still badly needed to help get the museum the rest of the way towards building the next barn.

Donations towards the Barn 14 Fund or towards any of the department-specific indoor storage space funds - Electric Car, Freight Car, Internal Combustion, Passenger Car or Steam - may be sent to the Illinois Railway Museum, PO Box 427, Union IL 60180.  Or you can quickly and easily help out by clicking here and donating online.  All donations are fully tax-deductible.

Thank you for your help in preserving our history!

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Why the Dacia Sandero could be my sort of car

THIS WEEK I’ve mostly been waiting to find out which of my favourite foods is laced with horsemeat. Given some of the shocking stuff sat in the icy depths of my freezer, it’s almost inevitable.

I can’t be the only person in Britain who isn’t especially bothered, though –surely a bottom-of-the-range spaghetti bolog-neighs wouldn’t taste any better even if it didn’t have horsemeat in it? As long as it’s cheap, tastes vaguely nice and doesn’t instigate a trip to the doctor, I really couldn’t care less. All of which brings me to Dacia.

The company is Renault’s recession-busting riposte to all those credit-crunched UK motorists who want a cheap new car and nothing else – and, given all the non-petrolheads I know who simply want to get to work for as little as possible, that’s quite a few of us cash-strapped Brits. It’s not the first time you’ve able to buy a Dacia in this country – off-road enthusiasts with particularly long memories might just about recall the original Duster 4x4 of the 1980s variety – but the brand’s reintroduction here, having proven a hit on the continent, couldn’t be more perfectly timed. Think of it as Renault’s “Everyday Value” range.

It’s the sort of car my mate Tom, who’s just bought a Kia solely because it’s cheap and generously equipped on the warranty front, would get in an instant. None of this Taste The Difference motoring malarkey I go for – in the same way I’m not going to spend over the odds on a Marco Pierre White burger, he’s not going to stump up a car with GTI on its rump. In fact, a Dacia Sandero GTI would be a bit of an automotive oxymoron.

I’ve yet to drive the Sandero but of all of 2013’s new arrivals it’s one I’m particularly keen to try, partly because a) with no sign of an economic revival any time soon, Britain’s cheapest new car couldn’t be more relevant, and more importantly b) it looks like the kind of car I’d enjoy. Not only is it utterly unpretentious in just about every way, but because it’s small, light and unspoilt by unnecessary gadgets it could be just as much fun as the Citroen C1, the Toyota IQ and the Suzuki Swift Sport. Small cars are fun, so I’m looking forward to the Sandero.

But what particularly brightened my day when checking out Dacia’s website was discovering just what you get for your £5,995. In particular, the section on the Sandero’s spec sheet entitled “Comfort and Convenience”, which reveals exactly what the entry-level model’s buyers will get for their – wait for it – comfort and convenience. They will get winding rear windows. They will get a heated rear windscreen. And that’s it.

Still doesn’t stop me from wanting to test drive it, though.

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The War between Insurance Companies and Body Shops That You Never Knew Was Being Waged

I’ve written other articles about how insurance companies try to fix your car as cheaply as they can without showing the necessary concern for the quality and safety of the repairs. You can find them on this blog, www.EarlStewartOnCars.com, “Collision Insurance and Your Rights” and “Coping with Body Shops and Insurance Companies”.

This new article was written by Alan Nappier (pronounced like rapier), my body shop manager at Earl Stewart Toyota. Alan is not only the best body shop manager I’ve employed in my 47 years as a car dealer, but one of the smartest, most articulate people I know. I’ll probably sound like I’m overdoing it but he also has an incredible sense of humor. I say all this so that when you read what he has to say below, please take it as the gospel. Alan is not a “smoke blower” or an exaggerator. He tells it like it is.

Your body shop is either at war with the insurance companies or they fight on their side. If your body shop is not fighting for you to protect your car from cheap, poor quality, and unsafe repairs you’re in a “heap of trouble”. The chances are that if your body shop is on your insurance company’s “approved repairer list” that its loyalty is not to you but to that insurance company. You should take your car to the body shop that you know and trust will fix your car with your interests paramount in their mind, not one who must “play ball” with your insurance company or lose their membership on the “approved repairer list”. One way to find out whose side your body shop is on is to ask them if they will be asking you to sign two forms. One is called a “Limited Power of Attorney” and the second is called an “Assignment of Proceeds”. Please read on and Alan will explain very clearly why this is so.

By Alan Nappier:

Getting an insurance company to “approve” proper repairs to a collision damaged automobile is the toughest part of the collision repair industry. First of all, in a legal sense, the insurance company really has no right to dictate or blueprint a repair process. Their responsibility to the customer is to pay for property damage, NOT determine HOW the vehicle is to be repaired. The insurance company makes money by taking in premiums and investing these premiums. Any damage claim payouts are EXPENSES and like any company, controlling expenses is a top priority. This creates a conflict of interest when the insurance company is allowed to participate in the repair process. Contrary to popular belief, insurance companies DO NOT look out for YOUR best interests; they look out for their OWN best interest. This scenario leads to an adversarial relationship between insurance companies and HONEST repair facilities. Dishonest or unethical repair facilities view the insurance company as their customer and you as a product. They will repair your vehicle however the insurance company instructs, regardless of quality or the resulting structural integrity of the automobile. They want to keep the insurance company happy so that they may keep getting business referred to them. It’s a great arrangement for everybody EXCEPT the vehicle owner. An ethical body shop will repair your vehicle properly REGARDLESS of the insurance companies’ suggestions otherwise. In the past, we would have to just “absorb” the difference between what the insurance company “allowed” and what it REALLY cost to repair your car.

  Enter now a powerful couple of legal documents called the “Limited Power of Attorney” (POA) and the “Assignment of Proceeds” (AOP). The POA is exactly what it says it is. It gives the repair facility the power to initiate legal action or collection efforts on your behalf. No, we can’t steal your house or take over your bank account, the LIMITED POA is specific to the insurance claim  Remember, in a legal sense, the shop has NO legal connection with, or obligation to, the insurance company. Our contract (signed repair order) and responsibility is with YOU, the vehicle owner. Therefore, YOU are still financially obligated for the monetary difference between what the company allowed and the true cost of the repair. A POA allows me to repair the car properly, deliver the finished product to you and then begin collection efforts on your behalf. Odds are, you’ll never hear about the claim again.

  The AOP is actually a document that “assigns” your contractual arrangement with the insurance company to the repair facility which then gives us legal standing to sue this insurance company directly. This “connection” must be established to allow the shop to sue for “breach of contract”. When an insurance company fails to adequately compensate for property damage, they have breached their contract with YOU. The AOP extends this contractual obligation to the repair facility.

  With all of THAT being said, here’s the REALITY of the situation. We are most likely never going to use these documents. The power of these documents is the knowledge that they exist. Reaching an agreed repair dollar figure is a negotiation and a negotiation is a battle of wills. You don’t want to enter any “battle” without the proper weapons and knowledge. The AOP and POA are the most powerful weapons the repair facility has available to it. When confronted by a mugger with a knife, just showing the dirty no-good your gun is enough to deter further aggression and typically end an ugly situation and you walk away the victor, not with any illicit gains, but, just with what was rightfully yours to begin with. This is the EXACT same thing we use the AOP and POA for. Simply by brandishing these powerful weapons, the muggers (insurance companies in this case), recognize a losing battle and retreat. No insurance company wants to have their dirty little secrets exposed in court. They know they can’t win because the facts and truth are on our side. The end result is, these couple of signatures you gave me makes me David to the insurance companies Goliath.

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Designing the Ralston Tiger Roundup

Im just gonna come out and say it. I loathe Magic cards and sometimes even the people who play them. Im also not into the Dungeons and Dragons role playing lot, either. I loathe their greasy hair, their pitted complexions, their slouched backs and their rotund bellies protruding out from under billowing piratey shirts. I cant stand their pompous way of speaking...Im a level 14 Paladin with a charmed long sword of Karnath with a mastery level of 42 blabbity blabbity blah. Youll never, ever find me playing such a game where you battle opponents using a meticulously cultivated deck of cards. Never! Ever! Unless, of course, you swap out dwarfs and elves with superheroes, make it as a easy to learn app on your phone and call it Marvel War of Heroes. Then Im in with both thumbs pressing the attack button! And God help the next level 43 Spiderman who thinks he can take me down! I am a level 46 Hulk-Buster Iron Man, goddamnit, and no one can mess with me. AND, I have not, one, not two, but all SIX Swords of Proficiency so yall can just get bent! What? Was it something I said? OK, OK, I know I said Id never play such a game but this is Marvel War of Heroes and...I dont know, they make it seem cool somehow. The charmed long sword of Karnath is waaaaay different from the Emerald Sword of Proficiency. One is dorky, the other is chock full of awesome...theyre not even in the same boat! Plus I get gushy in the pants with anticipation over what new card will I get next. Will it be a super rare(Freedoms Friend)Captain America or an ultra rare(Enemy Inside)Hulk? You just never know. OK, whos the nerd now? Anyway, it seems we have a roundup to do. This one is called Designing the Ralston Tiger...all about designing the...uh...Ralston...Tiger. What is this Ralston Tiger we speak of? Its anything you want it to be. Its a concept vehicle you design from the ground up for the fictitious, yet highly affluent Ralston family. They only require the letter "X" somewhere in the design to honor their great, great grandfather Xavier Ralston...the rest is pretty much up to you. How did we do? lets check it on out, shall we?

Tim Inman shows us all how its done with his rendition of the Ralston Tiger...an orange and black mid-engine super car. Like a real tiger, this Ralston is known for its breath-taking agility and speed. This early in the roundup, I just dont have any jokes about Tim paying for strange. Guess were gonna have to settle to enjoy this awesome car for awhile longer.



Lino Martins takes a page from Tims mid-engine super car design book except its more of a black car with dark orange interior. The seats are attached to the suicide doors for easy egress...probably a first and maybe for good reason. Eerie orange light illuminates from within, which sort of looks like its breathing fire. It spawned jokes that I failed to build a tiger but succeeded at building a dragon.



The design required an "X" and Angka Utama finds a unique solution by making the entire frame in the shape of an "X" with this sleek racer. Xavier Ralston IV mans the helm. Or is it the wheel? Or joystick maybe? Or one of them racing steering wheel thingies thats shaped like a bow tie. What are they called?



Doesnt matter what theyre called cuz Jonathan Derksen builds a Ralston Tiger thats part Deora, part super-car and part spacecraft. It has one seat, one V-12 engine...and thats it. Im pretty sure it can make it across the salt flats in just seconds and from the looks of it can fertilize your girlfriends eggs just as fast. What? Oh, cmon, you cant tell me you werent thinking the same thing! Look at it!



Peter Blackert adds some much needed class to this joint with the Ralston Tigre IV luxury hardtop coupe. Its a...get this,...gas turbine hybrid. That means its jet engine will scare the bejesus outta you and everyone on else within 12 city blocks while its accelerating and recharge its reserves while its idling. And the Ralston family coat-of-arms is a nice touch.



The details may be subtle at first, but Lichtblau exhibits some brilliant parts usage with an all-terrain Tiger. With working suspension and  several Xs hidden throughout, this makes a nice addition to the Ralston line. Even the driver has the X blazoned on his helmet and torso.



Raphys version of the Ralston Tiger comes with sensitive poetry by William Blake...something about Tiger, tiger burning bright and there once was a man from Nantucket...or something. The engine cover sports the family name in script and he challenges us to find the "X". I havent found it. Cool car though.



Many of us were inspired by the real tiger in one way or another. But Rolic takes the challenge very literally and has actually used features from a real tiger to inspire his build. This rugged concept pickup features black and orange stripes, whiskers and a cute red nose. Awww how cute. A tigers cute red nose is the reason many people die at zoos. True story, bro.



Speaking of zoos, Bad Furday returns to building with his rendition of the tiger. The X is very clearly depicted in red, while the rest is Ralstons answer to the Mazda Miata...Sporty, lightweight, and relatively inexpensive to own, as both a trackday car, or a daily driver. I learned that just now when I copy/pasted it.



Christophbrill gets a green place mat and a wrinkled blue sheet as his setting for his Tiger. It fits well in the highly competitive CSCUV (Compact Sport Crossover Utility Vehicle) market with the Ralston Tiger Kub. Nice.



Is that it? I think it is. This was thankfully a short write up, which gives me more time to slaughter Dr. Dooms minions. Plus theres a certain Level 48 Black Widow in New Orleans who could use a swift kick to the jimmy-junk. You know who you are, clownbarf77...if thats your real name. You played that Fatal Beauty stunt on me. Sure I was taken in my your boobies and your black jumpsuit...but did you have to rub it in my face by notably diminishing attack and defense of all my male cards? Its like you knew ahead of time my deck had more dudes in it than a YMCA locker room! And youre probably a sweaty fat dude in real life. Ill get you, my precious! But the fat Hobbit, he knows. Eyes always watching. Wait, what? Lord of the Rings references?! Have I joined the myopic sweaty, unwashed nerdy masses and became a gamer? Or will I redeem my cool status as a hot rodder? Youll just have to stick around for next months roundup to find out. Its called Mad Motor Skills and its all about engines, mostly. Should be fun. Until next time, Im off to find Storms Purple Cape of Improbability. Oh, and Ive got a (Legal Eagle) She-Hulk Im willing to trade for a (Logans Spirit) Wolverine. Anyone? Anyone? Hello?

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National Sound Check Day 121212 or the Department Christmas Party

Al writes…

I have to say I guess Im getting slow in my old age because it took me a while to get that national sound check day idea. But 12 1212 turned out to be a very good day  as it was the annual Wednesday crowd Christmas party. We had more than 40 people participating and once again demonstrated one of the nice aspects volunteering at IRM.

Besides the sense of accomplishment that one achieves in helping to restore a piece of equipment you also get the benefit of fellowship with other volunteers.  For us retirees its nice to get out of the house and to work with some real people and not have to sit and watch that wasteland that is daytime television.

Even as the food is available some continue to discuss their projects

Discussions on 1024s  progress

I wont spend a lot of time naming the folks that are in the photographs as Im sure to miss many. Ill just share the photos with you. You easily see how much we enjoy getting together and Im sure youll recognize some of the usual suspects . Thanks to everyone involved in both organizing this party as well as those who contributed food, supplies and cash to the cause.








We here at the Hicks car works want to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Season. And if you have the ability, please remember IRM and the barn 14 fund in your year-end "dodge the taxman"giving.

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