Car Insurance
When they’re not insulting homosexuals, Germans, animal lovers, lorry drivers, Romanians, environmentalists, the Middle East, Mexicans or Albanians, Top Gear is capable of making some of the best, big budget car-related television in the world.
You can tell they do because the people who make the rest – the ad-obsessed manufacturers – are happy to plunder some of their ideas and locations.
Hence we find Mitsubishi in Bolivia on the same treacherous stretch of road that Top Gear used to film its South American special. There isn’t quite as much humour, but the scenery is a suitably spectacular (and treacherous) backdrop for the new four-wheel-drive Outlander. Click below to watch.
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Elegant, contemporary and chic are definitely three words that represent Australian songstress Kylie Minogue. However, it’s not how I’d describe the new Lexus CT200h. Yet, its just been announced that Kylie will be supporting the launch of the baby Lexus.
The new relationship will see the iconic performer supporting the introduction of the CT200h through cross-media campaigns and publicity. In addition to appearing in the upcoming TV commercial and print advertisements, Kylie will also get her own personally specified Lexus CT 200h.
Kylie said of the relationship: “I am absolutely delighted to be working with Lexus on the launch of their new full hybrid CT 200h. I’ve been lucky enough to have a preview of the car which is both stylish and elegant and will definitely create a Quiet Revolution”.
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What connects a Car, a lemon and law? Are you puzzled? Don’t go banging your head against the wall if you can’t figure it out, it will all become perfectly clear if this group of terms is confusing to you!
Here is a brief overview about car lemon laws and everything that you need to know about them.
The term lemon obviously conjures up images of a humble-looking tangy yellow-colored citrus fruit so commonly used to spice up food and beverages!
But for those of you who are unaware of the fact that this term ‘lemon’ is also generally used in the automobile industry to describe a cheap and junky car. Actually this term ‘lemon’ is used to describe just about any item/product that is cheaply made, having very poor quality and chock full of serious manufacturing defects! Such defective items usually cannot be repaired within the warranty period and even if repaired several times just do not work correctly.
And you think that car companies or crafty car salesmen have tricked you in buying a defective car (new/used) or a ‘lemon’ car! Don’t panic! There is help! There are laws called ‘lemon laws’ that offer assistance to consumers like you who have been unfortunate enough to have bought defective cars or for that matter any other defective/faulty products.
So now you, with the help of car lemon laws in your state, can force the automobile companies and cunning car salesmen to repair, replace or refund the cost of a faulty and defective motor vehicle.
Car lemon laws vary according to each state. The mode of action taken against shrewd car manufacturers or salesperson(s) with the help of car lemon law will differ according to which state you live in. So you’ve got to check with your state’s car lemon law guidelines and your rights as a consumer to fight for maximum compensation for a defective vehicle.
A car lemon law is applicable in both cases as to whether you buy a new/used car or you take a car on lease.
Generally if your car is not in working condition for 30 or more consecutive days, or has been to the car mechanic for repair more than 4 times within the very first year of purchase or lease then your car is most likely a lemon and is possibly covered by car lemon law of your state.
Most car lemon laws vary from state to state, but generally state that you can return your defective car to the manufacturer for a refund or replacement if defects are unable to be repaired within the warranty period.
You need to consult a specialized lemon law attorney who can advise you on your rights as a consumer and has a thorough knowledge about the lemon law regulations/guidelines in your particular state.
If the car manufacturer is unable to repair the defects of your brand new car after a reasonable number of attempts within the stipulated warranty period then as per car lemon laws in most US states you can very well ask for a refund of your purchase price or replacement with another new car that is in a good condition.
If you are shopping for a 6-series convertible, please accept our congratulations. According to BMW market research, this is your third or fourth car—not ever, mind you, but currently.
To snag such customers, the Bavarians start with style. Although the previous-generation 6 ushered in an almost iconoclastic era of BMW design, the new 6, styled by Nader Faghihzadeh, returns somewhat to the elegance of the first-generation 6 introduced in 1976. From every angle, the new car looks low and wide and oozes a subtle but unmistakable aggressiveness. The front end features a new fog-light style—executed with LEDs—and a hint of the shark nose that had all but disappeared from BMWs. Thankfully, the 650i uses an evolution of the previous car’s fabric roof instead of a heavy folding hardtop.
Inside, the new 6 is far better executed than the old. It is more driver-oriented, befitting a car with sporting aspirations—particularly a BMW. It is easy to find a comfortable seating position, at least up front. The rear seat remains as tight as before, but it is possible to take along two friends for short distances without jeopardizing the friendship.
Twin Turbos Underhood Europe gets a 640i with an inline-six and will soon see a turbo-diesel as well. The only model for the U.S. market is the 650i, powered by BMW’s twin-turbocharged 400-hp, 4.4-liter V-8. With 450 lb-ft of torque, it simply leaves the last-gen 650i—and its naturally aspirated 4.8-liter eight—in the dust. The 2012 car always seems to have extra power in reserve, and it pulls relentlessly to its governor, which is set at a low 130 mph for regular models and 150 mph on those with the optional Sport package.
Some credit for this car’s responsiveness goes to the transmission, the ZF 8HP70 eight-speed automatic. It shifts quickly and efficiently, and its extremely tall top gear helps keep fuel consumption at acceptable levels. But if you hustle it, the 650i still slurps gas. Figure on real-world fuel economy somewhere around 12 to 14 mpg if you’re going to play hard.
More rewarding than talk of efficiency is the great soundtrack of the V-8. We’ve experienced this engine elsewhere, but here, BMW tinkered with the ignition timing to achieve a delicate burble in the exhaust whenever the automatic shifts. And with so many gears to choose from, it shifts a lot.
Wait. Who Wanted
What?
As nicely as the eight-speed box works, we’re glad a six-speed manual is still available—in the U.S., anyway. European customers, it seems, are embracing the idea of modern automatics being sportier than manuals. It remains to be seen whether the manual transmission sells in relevant numbers here. “The Americans clamor for it, but then they don’t buy it,” a BMW engineer complains.
BMW talks at length about weight-reducing technologies, but this car is porkier than the one it replaces. According to BMW, it now tips the scales at a whopping 4500 pounds, up from its predecessor’s 4300. The new 6 loses the old car’s complex aluminum front structure but makes liberal use of plastic and aluminum panels.
The chassis, with a multilink suspension front and rear, does an impressive job of masking the extra pounds. Equipped with the optional active roll stabilization, it provides exceptional roadholding, making it difficult to unsettle the car even on rough pavement. The stability system doesn’t allow for much oversteer even in sport plus mode, which triggers a gratuitous but legally required warning in the instrument panel when selected. You can turn off stability control almost all the way, but it will still kick in if you hit the brakes in a slide, remaining switched off after recovery. As in other BMWs, the other chassis settings are sport, normal, and comfort.
Help Wanted at the Helm Unfortunately, the electric steering is a reason to stay away from the sportier modes. As in the new 5-series, the steering is slightly numb on-center and feels artificially heavy, but the synthetic feel is less noticeable in comfort and normal. You can tinker with the system settings individually, but no combination will charm you.
The steering feel and the V-8’s drinking habits are the only drawbacks of an otherwise wonderful car that looks like a BMW should. The regular 6-series doesn’t have many competitors, although the even burlier M6 will return with a thoroughly reworked version of the same engine that could reach close to 600 hp. The somewhat-lighter
will trail the convertible by six months. Whichever 6-series you choose for that fourth car, just be sure to spec the manual transmission.
Article source: http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/car/11q1/2012_bmw_650i_convertible-first_drive_review
Forget about calling the new Corvette the C6. C6 is something you are afflicted with on a rough sea passage.
Besides, the 2005 Corvette that Chevy unveiled at the
last month, and which goes on sale in targa and convertible forms late this summer, is hardly the beginning of a new generation, as "C6" would imply. Like the ’68 Vette, the 2005 is a profound evolution of the existing car. It’s one long stride on the road of continual improvement.
The Corvette’s technical daddy, Dave Hill, says 70 percent of the parts numbers are new. We frequently go through this with manufacturers. If the suspension control arms look exactly the same but carry a different parts number, are they new?
We’ll compromise and say the 2005 Corvette is the C5 and 11/16ths.
Whatever. As Hill puts it, "The more you look, the more you see."
Which is good, because when they pulled the drape off a bright red 2005 at GM headquarters, we were, let’s say, underwhelmed. Of course we were looking at it in profile where the least amount of difference is immediately noticeable. The basic C5 forms are all represented here: Big butt. Pointy nose. Tapered canopy greenhouse.
But there’s . . . something different here. It looks more purposeful, more potent, and more compact. It’s not entirely a trick of styling. The Corvette has shrunk by five inches in length and by an inch in width, measured at its still-ample hips. All that length was taken out of the overhangs: two inches from the front and, mercifully, three off the chunky rump. A strengthened crash structure up front allowed the nose job. Rerouting the exhaust straight out the back and placing the mufflers in an area formerly taken up by a useless spare-tire well (that never carried a spare) allowed designers to chop the rear. The C6′s wheelbase is 1.2 inches longer than that of the C5. This pushes the wheels to the corners and makes the overall package appear less massive. Those wheels are also larger in diameter by an inch front and rear (18 inches in front; 19 at the rear), which appears to further shrink the body.
But it’s the nose and tail that are the obvious difference here. The size and shape of the C5′s tail was determined more by the wind tunnel than aesthetic considerations, and, well, not everything the wind creates is beautiful. The new tail is still a sharp-edged quasi Kammback, but it tapers a bit more between the trailing edge of the rear wheel and the terminus. Viewed in profile, there’s a sort-of S-curve contour that brings some visual interest to the formerly billboard-bland expanse of bum.
Even at first glance the nose of the new car might seem familiar—but not with any previous Corvette. The clear-lens-covered high-intensity-discharge headlamps and low center grille might remind you of the Ferrari 575M Maranello. If you stare at the snout long enough, you will see many things, as Hill had promised. One of them might be a Dodge Viper. The look might not scream Corvette, but it is handsome. The folks at team Corvette are more than aware of their car’s vaguely cultlike following, and ditching the hidden headlamps (the first Vette since 1962 without them) was the source of no small amount of consternation. The new light housings, though, save "some good little amount of weight," allow for the use of HID lamps, and are not "air brakes," as Hill describes the pop-ups.
Unlike the new , the Corvette doesn’t plagiarize its own past. There’s no split rear window as on the ’63. No "stinger hood" la big-block ’67s.
But head designer Tom Peters did add a hint of the 1963-67 Sting Ray front and rear fenders. The sharp-edged, tall fenders defined those mid-years Vettes. Think of the 2005′s fenders as a version of the C5′s fenders but with a good trouser crease running along the tops and slightly into the door panels. Truth is, we didn’t even notice them for a few minutes. No surface of the new car has gone untouched, but none looks completely rethought, either.
Underneath the plastic body, the look is even more familiar. The structure, which on the C5 was exemplary for its high stiffness at a relatively light weight, remains the same—hydroformed steel side rails, a tall center tunnel, balsa sandwiches for the floors. Likewise, the cast aluminum upper and lower control arms and transverse composite leaf springs are familiar from the C5 and the Cadillac XLR hardtop roadster.
Article source: http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/car/04q1/2005_chevrolet_corvette-first_drive_review