Honda and Porsche have a certain APEAL

The collated facts make up the Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) study.

Now in its 13th year, the 2008 APEAL findings show a significant decrease in ‘owner delight', with fuel economy accounting for 50% of this drop. On a 1,000-point scale, an average APEAL score is 770, a decline of 2% since last year. Considering fuel prices went up by 27% over the same period, car manufacturers seem to be doing a good job of easing the pain.

They're accomplishing this with toys. Only in the audio, entertainment and navigation category have scores improved. “Manufacturers are working to increase customer delight by introducing entertainment and navigation technology that owners find particularly appealing," says David Sargent, VP of automotive research at JDPA.



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Car cheap insurance

Credit Crunch To Blame For Insurance Fraud And Traffic Jams - Motley Fool UK

Credit Crunch To Blame For Insurance Fraud And Traffic Jams Motley Fool UK, UK - 8 hours ago Is your car still worth anything anyway? If you answered 'No' to both those questions then maybe it's time you considered downgrading your car insurance to ...

California insurance commissioner pushes for green car insurance ... - Bizjournals.com

KNX1070

California insurance commissioner pushes for green car insurance ... Bizjournals.com, NC - Aug 28, 2008 Current regulations require that auto insurance rates are based on estimated annual mileage. The new regs would provide an additional option for actual ... Plan lets car insurance be charged by the mile San Diego Union Tribune Driving less? Pay less for your auto insurance San Jose Mercury News State insurance commissioner backs pay-as-you-drive policies Los Angeles Times GreenBiz - TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk all 146 news articles

Lower Auto Insurance - New York Times

Lower Auto Insurance New York Times, United States - Sep 1, 2008 ... auto insurance pricing would save two-thirds of households money on auto insurance, with an average savings for those households of $270 per car. ... "Pay-as-You-Drive" Insurance Can Provide Major Savings, Expert Says MarketWatch all 10 news articles

Land Rover LR2: For the power-hungry people

The car is focused on the power-hungry car lovers thus comes with a powerful engine and stylish design. Being the replacement of Freelander, the LR2 is called Freelander in other markets. The car is competent enough with high end compact SUVs' like the Acura RDX or BMW X3. The car was first showcased in the Paris auto show in September 2007. The car is built of the Ford C1 platform. Longer wheelbase, increased interior space, upgraded engine, dust, mud, and water resistance, off road features... LR2 has got a good number of features to boast upon. LR2 is powered by the new 3.2-liter inline six-cylinder engine which is upgraded for off-road use to resist dust, mud, and water. The six cylinder engine generates 230 horsepower and 234 pound-feet of torque. The twin-cam 24-valve engine has variable valve timing as well as a multistage intake system.



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What the Newspaper Industry Could Learn from GM About Do or Die

Toyota was talking about a few hundred experimental cars in a controlled setting, not tens of thousands of cars in dealer showrooms, a much less ambitious goal than GM’s. But Toyota is famous for under-promising and over-delivering.

In February, Tesla, the Silicon Valley company, announced plans for an electric sedan with a gasoline-powered generator, like the Volt—but set to arrive a year earlier, in late 2009. In March, BMW said it might produce an electric car for the U.S. market, and in May, Nissan said it would have one in test fleets in 2010. The drumbeat seems likely to continue. Simply by announcing the Volt, GM has attracted a bevy of competitors, bringing the electric car’s mass-market advent from over the horizon to around the corner.

A bold new vision won’t immediately turn the economic tide, but it could turn the tide of defeatism.



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Sporty and clean

A 32kg weight-saving is gained over the Elise S base car through use of natural materials and drastically lighter wheels.

What's cool? Proof that, with enough will, a maker can make a car more environmentally friendly through overall weight reduction and use of low emission materials.

Will it be made? Not as a complete car, but Lotus can sell hybrid composite parts or technology to big players.

- FORD FOCUS RS

What is it? Almost production-ready model of the 300hp Ford Focus RS with 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbo driving the front wheels via a six-speed manual limited slip diff. "RevoKnuckle" front suspension neutralises torque steer. RS is lower and wider than standard Focus and with sporty trims inside and out.

What's cool? World rally car has looks and performance to rival the 4WD Subaru Impreza and Mitsubishi Evo.


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Zero crashes: A preview of the car of the future

A dashboard-mounted display, with green, red and yellow alert lights, measures unsafe moves such as speeding and sharp braking, and sends the data to a database that parents can access. The phone company T-Mobile has tested the device in 250 of its vehicles. It says that it has saved £417,000 in crash damage and 3 per cent in fuel costs in 12 months. To forestall employee fears, a function to identify individual drivers is switched off. That, however, might change.

Hitting the roads Imagine the Big Brother backlash if a mandatory system were proposed.

10. Self-steering

Collision-avoidance systems that intervene when a crash seems inevitable are about to be fitted to vehicles driven in Britain. A system created by Volvo, for example, is active at speeds up to 20mph.



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Audi reveals 2009 model pricing, changes; price hikes across US lineup

The German luxury car-maker has announced pricing and equipment changes for nearly all of its 2009 models for North America. Absent from the list, for now, are the A4 sedan and Avant, the TTS coupe and roadster (pictured above), the Q7 3.0 TDI with 50-state legal clean diesel engine and the Q5. The A4 will arrive in September, with the TTS following in late 2008. The Q5 and Q7 are expected in the first quarter of 2009. Also coming in September is a Quattro-equipped 2.0-liter S tronic A3.

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