Back in the 1980’s, government crash tests were heralded as the key for consumers to pick a safer car. Beginning with frontal collision tests and eventually branching out to side-impact and rollover tests, automakers soon learned how to engineer their cars specifically to garner top five-star ratings from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s assessments. Today it’s difficult to find a model that gets less than four stars in any regard, which tends to make true comparisons of various models’ crashworthiness difficult.
And it’s made only more so by the fact that comparisons of frontal crash tests results are only relevant within specific size and weight classes. This means that a subcompact car that gets a five star ratings isn’t necessarily safer than a full-size model that gets only four stars for occupant protection in a head-on collision. The ratings also don’t take into consideration technology that can help motorists avoid getting into a crash in the first place.
Helping to correct these deficiencies, NHTSA is implementing a revamped five-star rating system beginning this fall with 55 of the most popular 2011 models across all car and truck classes. As before, low-volume luxury and sports cars will fall under the radar of the new ratings systems. In addition to tougher crash tests that will likely result in the agency issuing fewer stars for many models, cars will be rated according to a single overall safety score and will be rated against each other rather than against a standard performance level. It will also provide consumers with information about new advanced crash avoidance technologies, such as lane departure and forward collision warning systems.
While further details are as-yet unavailable, we applaud NHTSA for helping to bring its new car assessment program into the 21st Century. There may be some surprises in the first round of test results, with some former five-star-rated cars now getting as few as two stars, NHTSA says, so stay tuned.
When can a car run too quietly? Ironically when it makes no sound at all.
Electric and hybrid-powered cars, which run silently in urban passage, can be dangerous to blind pedestrians, who must otherwise rely on their hearing to determine the speed and proximity of traffic. The same can also be said for cyclists, runners, senior citizens and small children who may not otherwise be aware that cars are approaching. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, hybrid and electric vehicles are nearly twice as likely to be involved in accidents with pedestrians as vehicles with conventional engines.
Thus, both advocates for the blind and automakers have teamed up to draft proposed legislation, as part of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2010 that would require hybrid and electric vehicles to emit a specified level of sound at lower speeds. "Good policy is a collaborative effort, and this is a good approach for pedestrians and automakers," says Dave McCurdy, president and CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.
While this sound could take the form of a “chirp,” or perhaps some futuristic humming ala George Jetson's flying car, exotic car-builder Lotus recently unveiled a more-creative alternative in a concept electric-powered version of its Evora sports coupe. Here, the driver can choose from four artificial engine “sounds” that play through the audio system’s speakers.
While that may sound futuristic, a recently released product called the Soundracer does essentially the same thing, making even an old beater at least sound like a lusty Lotus, and it does so for only $40. Offered in V8 and V10-engine versions, the device plugs into a 12-volt power point and replicates a sports car engine’s roar through the car’s audio system via a built in FM transmitter. And it does so in perfect sync with the vehicle’s actual accelerations and decelerations (we've tested it and it really works). It also doubles as an audio adapter for MP3 players. (www.soundracer.se)
If to you this all sounds like a high-tech approach to the bygone practice of pinning baseball cards to a bicycle so they flap against the spokes to simulate an engine sound, well, you’re not alone.
“Corvette owners are some of the most passionate – and most involved – enthusiasts in the industry,” said Jim Campbell, U.S. vice president, Chevrolet marketing. “The Corvette Engine Build Experience offers customers an unprecedented opportunity to participate, hands on, in creating the car.”
While you'd typically get a discount for putting in your own labor to partially assemble something you're buying, the Engine Build Experience, as it's officially called, is a $5,800 MSRP option. And on top of that, hotel accommodations and travel arrangements are extra.
Sales are winding down on two long-running retro-styled models that once turned heads like few other cars. Both the Chrysler PT Cruiser and Volkswagen New Beetle will be discontinued this fall.
Introduced in 2000, the PT Cruiser quickly became Chrysler’s top seller. The compact wagon looked like a hot rod, but featured flexible minivan-like seating that could accommodate various cargo configurations. Selling over 1.3 million units with a line that once encompassed turbocharged and convertible versions, the PT Cruiser languished in recent years and will fade away in only a single “Classic” model.
The New Beetle, which updated the memorable “Bug” from the 1960’s and ‘70s, likewise had buyers packing VW showrooms when it debuted in 1998. Including turbocharged and convertible variants (and, briefly, a diesel-powered model), it struck a decidedly emotional chord with its owners. The iconic car celebrates its departure with limited “Final Edition” models that sport unique paint treatments.
In truth, VW had nowhere to go with the New Beetle other than making minor updates. If they changed the look too much it wouldn't be a Bug any more. We'd like to see the company revive its plans to build a modern-day Microbus to keep the nostalgia ball rolling, but those plans were nixed years ago. VW has since taken the path of least resistance by selling an only nominally revised version of Chrysler's minivan, the Routan.
Chrysler, meanwhile had a lot more latitude with the PT Cruiser--the same basic idea of a small, stylish and utilitarian wagon with minivan-like features could have been recast any number of ways. Alas, while the company may have had ideas on the drawing board, a lack of cash was the obvious culprit, and the car's aging mechanicals demanded Chrysler make more than just cosmetic changes.
