2009 Volkswagen CC Sport

Sport sedan with coupe styling

By Nina Russin

2009 Volkswagen CC

The Volkswagen CC is a car that turns heads: a sedan disguised as a coupe. A sporty interior provides seating for four. A small pass-through between the rear seats makes it possible to load skis, snowboards, or other long cargo inside.

Despite its luxurious appearance, the CC is an ALV best value: the Sport grade tested starts at $27,100. Standard equipment includes steering wheel audio controls, Bluetooth interface, power heated front seats, automatic climate control, and remote keyless entry.

The best part of the CC lies under the hood: a turbocharged inline four-cylinder engine, rated at 200 horsepower. Direct injection gives the engine exceptional throttle response. Zero-to-sixty acceleration with a six-speed automatic transmission is 7.4 seconds.

Buyers who want more power and four-season capability can upgrade to a 280-horsepower V6 engine with available all-wheel drive. Read the rest of this entry »

2009 Toyota Corolla XRS

Sport-tuned compact sedan

By Nina Russin

2009 Toyota Corolla XRS

No car in Toyota’s line-up exemplifies its core values better than the Corolla. After forty years, the Corolla has become a fixture on American highways: the iconic compact sedan.

While Toyota has maintained its customer base through value-focused marketing, it has also widened the Corolla’s footprint by adding the Matrix five-door model, and XRS sport grade. The XRS, available on both the sedan and hatchback, appeals to driving enthusiasts with a more powerful engine, special trim and sport-tuned suspension.

Last year, Toyota introduced the tenth-generation Corolla, with a new 1.8-liter and reconfigured 2.4-liter engine. The XRS comes standard with the larger engine and choice of five-speed manual or five-speed automatic transmission.

Seventeen-inch alloy wheels are an upgrade from 15 and 16-inch rims on other grades. The XRS also comes with standard four-wheel disc brakes, giving it better all-weather stopping power than the rear drums on the S, LE and XLE models. Read the rest of this entry »

2009 Scion xB

Evolved box

By Nina Russin

2009 Scion xB

Since I began writing about cars twenty years ago, I’ve seen more automakers use Toyotas in their brand B comparisons than any other marque. The Toyota guys love it, since aspiration is the greatest form of flattery.

The Scion xB crossover vehicle is a perfect example. As Kia, Nissan and other manufacturers introduce box-shaped crossovers, they inevitably compare those cars to the xB. Scion’s parent company is Toyota.

Scion’s ace-in-the-hole is experience. Having learned some important lessons from the original model, the second-generation xB is a better fit for its intended audience.

The first xB was a revised version of a Japan market car; the current model was designed specifically for American buyers. It’s larger and more substantial than the model it replaces, with a more powerful engine, and larger wheels that perform better on the highway. Read the rest of this entry »

Does This Surfboard Have Airbags?

Volvo PR guru pursues his surfing passion on both coasts

Blind Dog Surf Boards

My buddy Dan Johnston and I have two things in common: our love of Volvos, and our pigheaded determination not to grow old gracefully. Recently Johnston, a long-time member of the Volvo public relations group, moved from company headquarters in New Jersey to North Carolina. Back at the beach, he can pursue his life-long loves: building boards and surfing.

“I started surfing in California around 1962, grew up in Torrance and Hermosa Beach,” said Johnston. “Life was easy back then. We loaded up our old Ford, would drive to San Diego on Friday night, surf at Cardif or head up to Santa Barbara to surf Hammond’s Reef if SD was flat. No internet in those days, surf hunting was a crap shoot.”

Johnston lived in Hawaii for short time, during his enlistment in the US Navy.

“Surfed Sunset Beach with some mainland friends, must have been 10′ out there,” he recalled. “No leashes and nasty swims. “I learned my limit that day.”

Recently, Johnston and fellow surfing buddy, Tom Allen, started Blind Dog Surf Boards, producing custom hollow wooden surfboards. All of the wood comes from managed sustainable forests in the area or pieces they have harvested. Each hollow wooden board takes about 90 hours to craft.

To learn more about Blind Dog’s custom surfboards, visit Dan’s blog site.

Volvo Exec Awarded Top NHTSA Honor

Jan Ivarrson receives the US Government Special Award of Appreciation for pioneering safety technology

Jan Ivarsson

Jan Ivarsson, Volvo’s senior manager of safety strategy and requirements, has received the US government’s special award of appreciation for his work in safety technology. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration picks the award winner.

Ivarsson’s career at Volvo spans two decades: he has been senior manager of safety and strategy requirements since 1988. Beginning with the introduction of Volvo’s side impact protection system in 1991, he has been the project leader for many important active and passive safety features.

Most recently, Ivarsson oversaw the development of Volvo’s City Safety system, featured on the 2010 XC60 crossover vehicle. The purpose of City Safety is to prevent or mitigate low-speed collisions due to driver distraction.

Volvo City Safety System

The system is active at speeds up to 19 miles-per-hour. If the vehicle in front brakes suddenly and sensors in the XC60 determine a collision is likely, it pre-charges the brakes. If the driver fails to respond, the car applies the brakes automatically. If the relative speed between the two vehicles is less than nine miles-per-hour, City Safety may help the driver avoid the collision entirely.

Ivarsson sees his honor as reinforcement of Volvo’s leadership position in the field of automotive safety.

“Just a few years ago, we felt that the competition was beginning to catch up with us in the sphere of safety,” he said. “However, over the past few years we have demonstrated the sheer extent of the expertise in our company. Our new passive and active safety systems which are now being rolled out to customers are of absolute first class.”

2009 Toyota Tacoma Double Cab 4X4

Toyota’s mid-sized pickup gets enhanced safety features

By Nina Russin

2009 Toyota Tacoma Double Cab

When I was going to auto mechanic’s school in the mid-1980s, about half my classmates owned compact Toyota pickup trucks. The compact pickup wasn’t as large as the mid-sized Tacoma that replaced it, nor was it as fancy.

But it was durable to a fault. We used to joke that the only way to make the pickup’s 22R engine stop running was to take it out in the field and shoot it: starving the block for oil didn’t work.

Succeeding generations of Tacoma have maintained the legendary durability of its predecessors, adding significant safety enhancements, and a variety of cab configurations. There are eighteen available versions of the current model, including two engines, three transmissions and available four-wheel drive.

The test car is the double cab, with a 236-horsepower V6 engine and six-speed manual transmission. Having a four-wheel drive truck seemed like the perfect excuse to drive through Arizona’s north country. Not only do Sedona’s red rocks offer multiple off-road trails, the drive to the mountains would test the Tacoma’s fuel economy, with a 4000-foot elevation gain. Read the rest of this entry »

2010 Chevrolet Equinox 2LT

Second-generation crossover jumps into the compact segment

By Nina Russin

2010 Chevrolet Equinox

As General Motors works to reinvent itself as a leaner, meaner company, the all-new Equinox could be a poster-child for its rebirth.While Chevrolet’s second-generation crossover vehicle is slightly smaller than the car it replaces, it has more standard content and enhanced safety features.

At a recent media event, General Motors  executive vice-president and CFO, Ray Young, commented: “For General Motors, Chevrolet is the biggest asset we have. Both Fritz (Henderson) and I believe that if we can’t make Chevy successful, GM won’t be successful.”

When GM emerges from bankruptcy protection in August: it will do so with four core brands: Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC. In addition to being GM’s best-selling brand, Chevrolet’s value focus epitomizes the company’s new direction. 

Product planners expect the new Equinox to be one of Chevrolet’s volume leaders. The economic down-tick and rising fuel prices have been good  news for the compact sport-utility segment, which now accounts for  ten percent of all new car sales.

The Equinox’s versatile interior offers buyers coming out of larger trucks the functionality they need. Exceptional highway fuel economy minimizes the impact of rising gas prices on its cost of ownership

The five-passenger Equinox comes with either a four or six-cylinder engine and six-speed automatic transmission, and front or all-wheel drive. Average highway fuel economy for the front-wheel drive, four-cylinder car is 32 miles-per-gallon. Read the rest of this entry »

2010 Kia Forte EX

All-new compact sedan is a value-packed offering

By Nina Russin

2010 Kia Forte

Compact sedans are Kia’s bread-and-butter. The all-new Forte, which replaces the Spectra, is the automaker’s volume leader: Kia expects to sell about 70,000 units per year. More than any other model, the new sedan reflects Kia’s dramatic evolution since arriving in the US sixteen years ago.

Kia’s first US model was the Sephia: the predecessor to the Spectra. At the time, Kia’s ace-in-the hole was value pricing. Buyers who normally couldn’t afford a new car could buy a Sephia.

The Sephia’s fit and finish couldn’t compete against comparable Toyota and Honda models; nor was it a particularly safe car. But since Sephia buyers couldn’t afford Toyota or Honda’s price of admission, they were happy to get behind the wheel of a new Kia.

Kia has maintained its value pricing strategy: the Forte has an exceptionally high level of content for a $14,000 sedan. But unlike its predecessors, it’s also a very solid, safe automobile. The Forte offers equivalent power and performance to competitors such as the Corolla, Civic and Mazda3, and is expected to receive a five-star federal crash test rating. Standard safety features include antilock brakes , six standard airbags, electronic stability and traction control. Read the rest of this entry »

Active Park Assist Automates Parallel Parking

New Ford technology debuts on 2010 models

Active Park Assist on 2010 Ford Escape

When I was a teenager, the parallel parking section of the driving exam was fodder for sleepless nights. What if I failed to keep the car within six inches of the curb, or even worse, whacked the car in front when jimmying into place?

Since the ’69 Buick Skylark I learned to drive on had huge blind spots at all four corners, parallel parking taught me the meaning of ‘leap of faith.’ Had Ford’s active park assist technology been available back then, I could have cruised through school days without falling asleep in my afternoon chemistry class.

Active park assist uses ultrasonic sensors and electric power steering to position the vehicle for parallel parking and angle it into an appropriate parking spot. The technology debuts in 2010 on the Ford Escape and Escape Hybrid, Flex, Mercury Mariner and Mariner Hybrid, Lincoln MKS sedan and MKT crossover.

The driver activates the system by pressing a button on the center console. Sensors measure and identify a parking place long enough for the vehicle. An icon shows the driver that the system has found an appropriate space:  an audible signal prompts the driver to stop and shift into reverse.
 
The rest is automatic: active park assist steers the car into the parking spot, hands free. Visual and audible sensors tell the driver about the proximity of other vehicles. At any time, the driver can stop the process by grabbing onto the steering wheel.

Electric power steering  has a pull-drift compensation feature, that offsets drifting due to crosswinds or uneven road surfaces. Active parking assist works in tandem with Ford’s blind spot detection system with cross traffic alert.

By 2012, Ford plants to fit 90 percent of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury products with electric power steering. The system saves fuel over hydraulic assist  since the car battery, rather than the engine, provides power for the electric motor.

2009 Nissan Rogue SL AWD

Versatile active lifestyle vehicle for budget-conscious buyers

By Nina Russin

Nissan Rogue

Being an athlete is a balancing act. While the rest of the world sleeps, athletes train. When sedentary folks diet, athletes eat. And while the rest of the world giggles over Conan’s late-night antics, athletes sleep, so they can get up at 0-dark-hundred and train some more.

In addition to complicating one’s lifestyle, being an athlete places additional demands on the budget. In these days of tightening purse strings, finding a way to pay for the shoes, the bike, the coach, and the gym membership with enough left over to keep the lights on can be the biggest balancing act of all.

With the price of gasoline on the rise, fuel economy is a critical factor in a vehicle’s cost of ownership. The affordably priced Nissan Rogue combines a spacious, versatile interior with a fuel-efficient engine. While it’s no hot rod, the Rogue has enough power to meet the needs of most car owners. Available all-wheel drive enhances traction in rain, snow and on unimproved roads. Read the rest of this entry »