Brake-O-Rama Auto Centers have the best mechanics. Our mechanics work on all types of cars and like to see the latest concept cars to stay current with the auto trends. This is an exciting BMW Concept car our Mechanics in Jersey City found on the internet to share with you!

May 10: BMW’s Concept Coupé debuted at the Mille Miglia on this date in 2006

By GE Anderson | Motoramic
On this date — May 10, 2006 — BMW unveiled its Concept Coupé in Brescia, Italy, on the eve of the Mille Miglia Storica. The concept was partially a preview of the new Z4 sports car, and partially a tribute to the classic 328, which Fritz Huschke von Hanstein and Walter Bäumer drove to victory in the 1940 Mille Miglia.

Brake-O-Rama Auto Repairs and Tires likes to share interesting auto news with our customers. The Batman movie will be released this year and we found an interesting article regarding Batman fans love for the Batmobile!

The BatBerry, a home-built Batmobile, built for Canada’s streets!

By Justin Hyde | Motoramic

By day, Tim Neil works as an application manager at Canadian tech firm Research in Motion. By night, weekend and whenever else he’s been able to find the time over the past 16 months, Neil has been building a replica Tim Burton-era Batmobile by hand at his home from scratch, down to the thrusters and proper dashboard layout, which he’s dubbed the BatBerry. The Dark Knight really is rising.

The mechanics at Brake-O-Rama like to share important auto information with our customers that can help them in many ways. Some of our customers want to sell their used cars. We know that Craigslist is a great way to sell things…even cars. Here is a great way to sell your car that Brake-O-Rama wants to share with you!

By Justin Hyde | Motoramic

Put down your iPhones, and step away from the keyboard, Craigslist car sellers of America. You have a new king, one who has claimed the throne of most overwrought ad for his teal-colored General Motors steed, and will rule for many moons to come or until Chuck Norris decides to sell his pickup online. See why below.

The ad comes from one Joe Strachila of Washington state, who enlisted pal Kyle Miller to come up with a graphic suitable for making his $700 1995 Pontiac Grand Am stand out a bit among the wilds of Seattle’s Craigslist. Miller clearly took inspiration from the realm of Craigslist barkers who have gone ferocious and braggadocious over their plebian rides in the past, but his graphics made the ad superlative. Sure, the ad could mention that the Grand Am needs some engine work or that it has 154,000 miles, but firstly, it’s a Craigslist ad for a car with all the caveat any emptor can muster, and secondly, there’s a teal-winged unicorn. If GM had been this ingenious in selling these things in the first place, Pontiac might still be in business.

Oh, and if you want the car, here’s the ad Strachila put up later.

The Brake-O-Rama auto repair specialists wanted to share this excellent “sneak peak” they found about a new Mercedes Concept Coupe!

By Justin Hyde | Motoramic

If automakers are going to keep building four-door sedans with flowing roofs and calling them coupes, they might as well make them as attractive as the Mercedes-Benz Concept Style Coupe, a prototype destined for next week’s Beijing Auto Show.

Unveiled prematurely by leaked photos, the Mercedes-Benz CLC represents a mostly accurate look at what a future small sedan, possibly carrying the CLA badge. Power comes from a 208-hp four-cylinder turbo driving 21-inch wheels up front through a 7-speed automatic transmission. That’s right, it’s a front-wheel-drive that shares underpinnings with the A-Class hatchback. And while the A-Class will make it to American shores, the CLA would look even better on our freeways.

The auto repair specialists in our Brake-O-Rama Orange NJ location have received many questions on how to leave messages on rear windows of their cars… it seems NJ drivers have alot to say and want to express themselves on the roads of NJ! On customer asked us “Do you know of a way to leave a message on your rear window if someone is tailgating you and you want them to get off your back?!” It sounds funny but this is the way drivers feel in today’s auto society!

We at Brake-O-Rama wanted to see how we could help our customers by investigating what technology is ouot there that makes it possible to leave messages on your rear window of your automobile. We found a great article that may help you if you need this technology!

Hacker develops rear window LED to send messages to other drivers!

 

 

By Mike Flacy | Digital Trends

Hacker Gagandeep Singh has developed a do-it-yourself project for designing a grid of LED lights on the rear window of a vehicle without obstructing the view from the rear-view mirror. Singh is interested in providing feedback to drivers that don’t pay attention to the rules of the road. Using his Volkswagon Polo as the guinea pig for the project, Singh created plans for a 40 x 16 LED matrix display with LED lights that allowed two centimeters of space in between each LED in order to still see out the rear window.

He then used a strip of wood to accurately measure out the distance between the LED lights and spent the next two days soldering the lights into the full matrix displayAfter attaching all the wiring at the bottom of the display and making sure the matrix lit up, Singh attached the matrix to the interior of the Polo and connected it up to a AT89C51 micro-controller. This controller allows Singh to design patterns as well as messages and watch them display in the rear window.

For instance, Singh could ask a tailgating driver to back off his bumper while traveling down the highway. While entering messages into the controller is likely too much of a distraction while driving the automobile, the next stage in the project will enable updating the matrix through a Bluetooth connection on a mobile smartphone.   While others can follow Singh’s instructions in his Google slideshow detailing the entire process, it’s unlikely that this matrix would be adapted for the mass market.

Abuses of the technology could easily lead to distracted drivers on the road as well as angry drivers if the matrix was used to display obscenities. In addition, any object that blocks the rear window at all would likely be frowned upon by lawmakers.

With school in New Jersey back in session, our Brake-O-Rama customers have been giving us many interesting tips about teenage drivers. Many parents are concerned with their teens with their new drivers liscence and we decided to find relevent information to help our Brake-O-Rama customers understand the dynamics of what is goint on when the teenagers get behind the wheel! We hope this article we found on the internet helps you understand what your teen is thinking and doing when they are behind the wheel of the car!

Teenage Drivers: A New Study Provides Fresh Insights

By Tanya Mohn | Forbes

The facts are well know: teenagers have the highest crash rate of any age group in the United States, and the most dangerous time is when they drive on their own after being licensed.

But there has been little research conducted as they transition from supervised to unsupervised driving, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, a nonprofit research and educational organization, which released two new studies on Friday in conjunction with National Teen Driver Safety Week (October 16-22) that provide insight into teenage driving behavior and their crashes during this critical period.

Teen drivers are about 50 percent more likely to crash in the first month of unsupervised driving than they are after a full year of experience driving on their own, and they are nearly twice as likely to crash in their first month as they are after two full years of experience, according to Measuring Changes in Teenage Driver Crash Characteristics During the Early Months of Driving.

“We know that young drivers’ crash rates decrease quickly as they gain experience,” Peter Kissinger, president and chief executive of the foundation, said in a statement. What the study tells us, he said, “is that there are a few specific abilities that we could do a better job of helping teens develop before they begin driving independently.”

Researchers analyzed the crashes of new drivers in North Carolina and found three common mistakes: failure to reduce speed, inattention, and failure to yield.  These three behaviors accounted for 57 percent of all the crashes in which teens were at least partially responsible during their first month of licensed driving. Additionally, when researchers looked at specific types of crashes in relation to how long the driver had been licensed, they found that some types of crashes occurred at relatively high rates at first then declined quickly with experience. Crash types that declined more slowly appeared to result not from lack of understanding, but from failure to master certain driving skills.

A second report, Transition to Unsupervised Driving, studied 38 families with teenage drivers in North Carolina by collecting data using in-vehicle cameras. A total of nearly 6,000 video clips were analyzed. The study followed the teens during the first six months of licensed driving without their parents in the car. (An earlier phase of the study collected data from cameras during the period when the teens were learning to drive under their parents’ supervision.)

While the vast majority of driving caught on camera was uneventful and only a small number of deliberate risk-taking behaviors were observed, the study did reflect that the teens’ behavior shifted when their parents were not present. For example, the vast majority of “close calls” involved judgment errors that seemed to indicate inexperience and failure to anticipate changes in the traffic environment.

“This research serves as a great reminder for parents to stay involved in the learning process even after the law allows teens to drive without a parent in the car,” Kissinger added.

The Foundation commissioned the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center to conduct both studies.

Brake-O-Rama Tire & Service Centers in New Jersey has repaired all types and models of cars. Here is a list of cars that will no longer be manufactured. Many of these cars are owned by NJ drivers and our Brake-O-Rama mechanics here in New Jersey will miss not seeing these cars in the future. This is a fine way to say “Rest In Peace”.

By Justin Hyde | Yahoo! Autos

As 2011 runs out, so does the life of these 14 cars and trucks, victims of changing tastes, corporate indifference. While a few never had much of a following, several were popular in their peak, and a couple were movie stars and mainstays of American freeways for decades. But with more than 300 models of new vehicles available to American car buyers, not even the favorite of the fast and furious crowd can just coast. Here’s the roll call:

Buick Lucerne

From its launch in 2006, the Lucerne harkened to the days when droves of buyers sought out that freeway-cushioning ride of a stately General Motors sedan driven by a Buick V-6 with its roots in the 1960s. The Lucerne was a successful bridge from the old Buick to the somewhat less old Buick of today. Still, it retires long after most of its owners.

Ford Crown Victoria

The last of a American archetype, the final Crown Victoria rolled off a Canadian assembly line in August, bound for Saudi Arabia. The favorite vehicle of police departments and taxi cabs for years, the Crown Vic was still selling well, but Ford would have needed to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to update the decades-old Panther platform. With the Crown Vic gone, Ford does not have a V8-powered sedan for sale in the United States for the first time since 1932.

Cadillac DTS/Cadillac STS

The DTS is long due for a departure; its mostly seen as a limo/hearse alternative to the Lincoln Town Car. Both it and the STS will give way to a new top-of-the-line Cadillac XTS, due early next year, with GM expected to produce an even more expensive uber-Caddy soon after to tackle the Audi A8, BMW 750Li and Lexus LS460L rather than hauling high schoolers to the prom.
    
Chevrolet HHR       

Once upon a time Chrysler took a boring small car (the Neon), grafted a body that recalled 1930s-era roadsters on top of it and created the PT Cruiser. Seeing Chrysler’s initial success, GM copied Chrysler’s play step by step — hiring the PT Cruiser’s designer to draw a body meant to evoke the 1930s-era Suburbans and using the chassis of the compact Cobalt sedan. Imitation may be flattery at its most sincere, but GM didn’t copy Chrysler’s sales; the HHR was big and cheap but thirsty, and like the PT never received enough updates to stay current — although the supercharged SS version ranks as one of the best modern sleepers available.

Dodge Dakota & Ford Ranger

With stripped full-size pickups regularly priced below $20,000 after incentives, the market for compact pickups has shrunk rapidly. The Dodge Dakota, which Chrysler once marketed as a “midsize” pickup with an optional V-8, suffered the most; why buy four-fifths of a Ram pickup when the real deal was the same price, or even cheaper slightly used? The Ranger may be the most popular vehicle shutting down this year; it outsold Ford’s Taurus, Mustang and Fiesta in September, and is on track to rack up 60,000 buyers this year. Ford has a brand-new Ranger it’s launching around the world — except in the United States. The ancient U.S. Ranger would need a brace of expensive updates to stay in production, but the hole left by its departure is large enough to convince GM to update its line of compact pickups next year.     

Honda Element

Another quirky experiment that boomed at first and then faded, the Element drew a loyal following with its rubberized interior and fold-away seats, but many buyers were given pause by quality issues and styling that suggested a body by Lego. After moving nearly 70,000 copies in 2003, Honda sold just 16,000 Elements last year despite a freshening.

The historic British automaker has grand plans for 2015, but it doesn’t include the current and aged version of the Elise, the bones underpinning the Tesla Roadster, Hennessey Venom and several other exotic roadsters. Citing a lack of Toyota engines and toughening emissions rules, Lotus says U.S. buyers will have to wait a few years for an all-new Elise with Lotus-bred power.

Mazda RX-8

The last rotary-engined car for sale in America, Mazda has vowed to revive Mr. Wankel’s invention in the near future — despite its growing disadvantage in fuel efficiency and pollution with typical gasoline engines. The free-revving advantages of the RX-8 only lured 664 buyers this year through September, and Mazda only sold 1,134 last year.

Mitsubishi Eclipse, Endeavour

While the Endeavour was a moderately popular SUV at its peak, the death of the Eclipse might deserve a clip in the Oscars’ “In Memoriam” segment. The Eclipse has been a mainstay of street racers across America thanks to its starring roles in “The Fast and the Furious” movies. Almost radical in its day, the Eclipse fell victim to Mitsubishi’s financial woes and shift to more environmentally friendly models. The Illinois plant assembled its last Eclipse in August.

Volvo S40, Volvo V50

Ever since Volvo first arrived on American shores offering Swedish engineering, the company has sold some kind of station wagon, and the name “Volvo” still conjures for many the sight of a cream-colored 240DL with 130,000 miles trundling around Vermont with parking tags from several liberal-arts colleges. Sold by Ford to Chinese auto company Geely, Volvo has a bit of an identity crisis, with some of its leaders vowing to chase the world’s best global automakers rather than hewing to its Nordic stoicism. With the S40 and V50 suffering slow sales, Volvo says it wants to focus on its SUV range, including the XC70, which is just the V70 wagon raised and given all-wheel-drive to qualify as a “truck” under U.S. fuel economy rules. When two roads diverge in a wood, automakers always take the one more traveled.

The Brake-O-Rama Mechanics in Orange New Jersey love to pass Halloween auto stories around the shop. This is a fun one they Found on the Internet. Brake-O-Rama Auto Repair Centers in New Jersy love a good  Lamborghini Story!

By Justin Hyde | Yahoo! Autos – Thu, Nov 3, 2011

Halloween can pose a lot of challenges for America’s brave police departments; ensuring pedestrian safety at dusk, keeping egg-slinging hooligans in check, and as one Maryland police department discovered, helping Batman when his Lamborghini leaves him stranded.

According to the Howard County Police’s Facebook page, a dispatcher responded to this 911 call from Route 29 north of Washington, D.C. on Monday afternoon: “There is a disabled motorist southbound on 29…he’s in the left lane, he’s in like a Lamborghini. He is dressed in a Batman costume and he is hanging out halfway in the roadway.”

Expecting a joker, officers instead found a well-dressed Dark Knight had indeed suffered a flat tire in his Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder while driving to entertain children at a Washington hospital. After getting the $200,000 Gallardo off the highway and arranging for a tow, Batman hung around to pose with the Howard County officer before catching a ride from a buddy to make his appearance. Lots of mysteries remain about the incident, but at least Batman got to his destination. Maybe next Halloween, he could just let Robin drive.

Brake-O-Rama Auto Repair has worked on Corvettes all over New Jersey. We have many satisfied NJ Corvette customers and we love working on Corvettes! Our Brake-O-Rama mechanics in Lodi NJ wanted to share the concept drawings of the next generation of Chevrolet Corvette with our readers!

Is this the next generation of
Chevrolet Corvette?

By Justin Hyde | Yahoo! Autos 

There’s no American sports car that ignites more passions than the Chevrolet Corvette. Here’s Exhibit A: the most detailed renderings yet of the next-generation Vette, caught and released by Jalopnik today, which says they’ve been verified as resembling the top-of-the-line ZR1 not due to hit the streets until 2014.

No vehicle carries the banner of American sports cars quite like the Vette. General Motors has only produced six full redesigns of the Corvette since its introduction in 1953, and every model since 1955 has held true to the long-established template of a two-seat, fiberglass-bodied speedster powered by a Chevrolet V8. In recent years, the Corvette has become a road racing champion, even as sales have faltered due to an aging platform.

While some Vette fans hearken for a return to the split-window Stingray years or a mid-engine layout that would truly punch Ferrari in the schnoz, GM often plays conservative with the Corvette. This design of the so-called C7 update caught in the Jalopnik renderings seems safely in the mold of the current model — until you start examining the details, from the brace of scoops around the car to the rear featuring Camaro-style taillights and quad exhausts that wouldn’t look out of place on a Pagani.

Already the drawings have boiled up a debate about whether the new Vette is borrowing too many cues from too many other sports cars, arguments that won’t be truly settled until GM debuts the actual car at the 2012 Detroit auto show.

Brake-O-Rama auto mechanics follow all the trends in auto safety news. Many New Jersey drivers want to know how the new hybrid safety compare to other automobiles. One of our Brake-O-Rama auto mechanics in Lodi New Jersey found this excellent article online and brought it to our attention!

Crash test: Hybrids safer than other cars

By Jerry Edgerton | CBS MoneyWatch 

Hybrid vehicles protect their occupants better in crashes than their regular gasoline counterparts, according to a report released by an affiliate of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Research by the Highway Loss Data Institute shows that drivers and passengers in a hybrid are 25% less likely to be injured than those in the same model with a standard gasoline engine. And the death rate for drivers in hybrid crashes also was lower.

The hybrid advantage is all about weight, it turns out. “Hybrids on average are 10% heavier than their standard counterparts,” says Matt Moore, HLDI vice president and author of the report. “This extra mass gives them an advantage in crashes.” When cars collide, the heavier vehicle tends to push the lighter one backwards, exerting greater force on the lighter vehicle and its occupants.

To take an example, the Toyota Highlander Hybrid SUV (pictured above) weighs 4,500 pounds — about 330 pounds more than the gasoline Highlander. The hybrid’s battery pack and other components account for the added weight.

In researching the topic, HLDI looked at insurance injury claims from car crashes from 2002 through 2010. It compared only 28 situations where hybrid vehicles had a gasoline twin, such as the Ford Fusion sedan. (That excluded the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight, which are sold only as hybrids.)

The HLDI findings run counter to the long-held belief that getting higher gas mileage means buying a smaller (and possibly less crash-worthy) car. “Saving at the pump no longer means you have to skimp on crash protection,” says Moore.

More danger to pedestrians

The study also found that while hybrids protect their occupants, they can be a greater threat to pedestrians — because when they are operating in electric-only mode, hybrid cars make no sound that pedestrians can hear. Hybrids may be as  much as 20% more likely to be involved in accidents resulting in pedestrian injuries, HLDI found.

Following congressional action, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is working to develop a sound generator that can be installed in hybrids to make them audible for pedestrians.

Concerns about Chevy Volt battery

This mostly good safety news about hybrids comes shortly after concerns over a fire involving the batteries in the Chevrolet Volt, GM’s plug-in electric model. About three weeks after a Volt was crashed as part of safety testing by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Volt battery caught fire in a NHTSA storage lot.

General Motors initially said that  NHTSA  technicians did not follow proper procedure for disabling the battery after a crash but then conceded that it had not developed those protocols until after the NHTSA  test incident. NHTSA  itself issued a statement saying it did not believe that plug-in electric cars were any less safe than conventional gasoline cars.

In any case, the lithium ion batteries used in the Volt and competitor the Nissan Leaf are different from the nickel-metal hydride batteries in most gas-electric hybrids covered in the insurance study of occupant protection

Toyota wants to be “Fun” again! The staff at our Brake-O-Rama Auto Repair & Tire shop in Elizabeth New Jersey love to work on Toyota’s. Henry, our New Jersey “Brake Repair Specialist” found a very interesting article about a great new Toyota concept car! Check it out the article!

Toyota unveils Fun-Vii concept, a rolling smartphone on wheels

By Justin Hyde | Yahoo! Autos 

Every two years, Japanese automakers turn the Tokyo Motor Show into a cavalcade of the bizarre with concept cars that resemble nothing else on earth. Meet the latest addition: the Toyota Fun-Vii, the car that surrenders to distracted drivers by turning itself into a smartphone.

The exterior of the Fun-Vii eschews paint for an electronic display for photos or videos; the unveiling shots show one presenter using the door panel as an iPhone-like touchscreen. Same goes for the interior, which Toyota says would blend traditional car navigation with augmented reality. And the Fun-Vii would connect with other vehicles and the environment to warn of driving dangers or just for fun, because everyone likes to status update on Facebook while driving.

Whether three people shown joyously riding in the Fun-Vii would actually enjoy such a ride will remain a mystery; there’s no chance Toyota will build something like this. But the Fun-Vii does highlight the insecurity of major automakers, who see a generation of young people worldwide staring, touching and spending on their iPhones the way they once did on cars.

One answer might be to build more compelling vehicles, something the staid Toyota will attempt with the upcoming GT 86, which will be sold in the United States as the Scion FR-S. Shown this weekend for the first time in production guise, the rear-wheel-drive coupe built with Subaru‘s help will aim to revive Toyota’s reputation for low-cost sports cars. Powered by a 197-hp four-cylinder engine and weighing just 2,662 lbs., it’s the most anticipated model Toyota has built in years.

Toyota and Subaru engineers wax rhapsodic about the steps they took to make the GT 86 — and its
upcoming mechanical twin, the Subaru BRZ — as nimble as possible, like mounting the engine so low in the chassis that it can’t use Subaru’s all-wheel-drive system.

It’s a risk for Toyota chief Akio Toyoda, a racing enthusiast who wants to breathe fun back into Toyota’s vehicles following years of ever-more conservative designs, but the Fun-Vii and the GT 86 show how hard he’s trying to connect.

Brake-O-Rama believes having your brakes maintained is one of the most important things drivers should take seriously.  Brake-O-Rama has the best prices on Tires and Brake service in New Jersey… A good example of why to have safe driving habits and good brakes is the following article!

Eight Ferraris wrecked in
million-dollar pileup!

By Justin Hyde | Yahoo! Autos 

Authorities in Japan were still reconstructing Monday how eight Ferraris, a Lamborghini and a few Mercedes-Benzes wrecked on an expressway Sunday morning, coating the road in an Italian red metal sauce worth more than $1 million. It’s not a sight for those squeamish about totaled supercars.

Some 14 cars in all were involved in the chain-reaction crash on an expressway named China Road in Yamaguchi prefecture, leaving 10 people with minor injuries. While the injuries were light, several of the vehicles appear totaled.
How did so many Ferraris end up on the road together? The group — which Japanese police officials called “a gathering of narcissists” — were driving to a supercar meet-up in Hiroshima, where about 100 vehicles were expected to show. As one driver who was invited along but passed noted, it was unusual for such a drive to take the expressway — where speeds are closely monitored and traffic can be thicker due to lower tolls on Sundays. Even so, the Ferraris were estimated to have been running between 80 mph and 100 mph when the crash happened.

Police and video reports say the wreck began when a 60-year-old businessman from Fukushima driving a Ferrari F430 attempted to pass a Toyota Prius, but instead hit the guardrail. That set off a chain reaction among the cars driving in a tight formation behind the lead Ferrari, eventually wrapping up seven other Ferraris — namely a 360 Modena, F355 and a white Testarossa — along with a Lamborghini Diablo and a couple of high-end Mercedes.

The Prius sustained some rear bumper damage, but escaped relatively unharmed.

We at Brake-O-Rama like to give our customers in New Jersey useful engine information. This is an excellent article explaining how small engine technology is making performance improve!



Why the world’s best engines are smaller than ever!

By Justin Hyde | Yahoo! Autos

Every year for the past 18, the tech gang at Ward’s Automotive compile their list of the ten best engines in the world. This year’s list sports the smallest lineup ever, with the average engine roughly half as big as it was a decade ago. Here’s why the size of your block may not matter anymore.

First, the official list and the vehicles they’re most often found in:

• 3.0L TFSI Supercharged DOHC V-6 (Audi A6)
• 2.0L N20 Turbocharged DOHC I-4 (BMW Z4/528i)
• 3.0L N55 Turbocharged DOHC I-6 (BMW 335i coupe)
• 3.6L Pentastar DOHC V-6 (Chrysler 300/Jeep Wrangler)
• 2.0L EcoBoost DOHC I-4 (Ford Edge)
• 5.0L DOHC V-8 (Ford Mustang Boss 302)
• 2.0L Turbocharged DOHC I-4 (Buick Regal GS)
• 1.6L DOHC I-4 (Hyundai Accent/Kia Soul)
• 2.0L Skyactiv DOHC I-4 (Mazda3)

Instead of size, automakers have been pushing toward tinier engines to save fuel, while using tech bits like direct injection, super- & turbocharging and other tricks to keep power steady. Yet there’s only one hybrid on the list — a reflection that many hybrids push for fuel economy at the expense of good driving — and no diesels, a slight the oil-burning community will not appreciate.

Also missing: Any engines from Toyota, Honda or  Mercedes, three companies that have suffered their share of misfortune as of late, some of it self-inflicted. And all the vehicles powered by this list are quite popular. Having a top engine won’t redeem a terrible car — but it’s a requirement for building a great vehicle.

• 3.5L DOHC V-6 HEV (Infiniti M35h)

Brake-O-Rama Auto Repairs & Tires help you keep up to date with important information that could affect NJ Drivers. This is an article we just found that is describing how the government may make it more difficult for you to talk and drive!

Safety panel calls on government to ban cellphones from drivers!

By Justin Hyde | Yahoo! Autos

A key safety panel called today for governments to ban all uses of cellphones and Internet devices by drivers in vehicles — a step far beyond what vehicle owners and automakers have been willing to take so far. Would making iPhones illegal behind the wheel make the roads safer? 

While auto safety officials have targeted driver distraction as a major threat for years, most drivers still use phones while driving, a majority don’t think it’s a safety problem and many report texting or answering emails from behind the wheel. And some safety experts question the effort too, nothing that as cellphone use by drivers has exploded, traffic deaths have fallen to their lowest level since 1949.

The announcement by the National Transportation Safety Board follows its probe into a Missouri crash last year where a 19-year-old pickup truck driver texting behind the wheel trigged a crash with two school buses that killed him and a 15-year-old child on the bus, leaving 38 other children and adults injured.

The NTSB’s recommendation calls on every state to ban all use of cellphones or other Internet devices by drivers, whether handheld or via hands-free devices like Bluetooth connections or the in-dash systems like Ford’s MyFordTouch that have become standard equipment in many new vehicles. It also recommended that states step up enforcement of such laws to “high visibility” levels.

The only exception NTSB would allow for dialing and driving would be in emergencies.

“It is past time to face the facts that no one can drive safely when driving is not their focus,” said NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman. “It’s time to curb the carnage on our roads from distraction-related accidents.”

The NTSB doesn’t have the power to create new safety rules on its own, and federal law leaves it up to states to enact any new laws against driver behavior. But NTSB recommendations often lead to tougher safety rules, and the federal government can arm-twist states into putting new laws into place, such as raising the legal drinking age to 21. Commercial vehicle drivers, who fall under federal law, are already banned from texting while driving.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said last week that distractions of all kinds — from cellphones to events outside vehicles — were linked to the deaths of 3,092 people from vehicle crashes in 2010. Overall, deaths in traffic accidents fell to 32,885, the lowest since 1949, and when adjusted for how many miles Americans drive, hit their lowest rate ever recorded.

So far, the U.S. Department of Transportation has fought distraction from handheld devices, with 35 states banning their use by drivers. Last week, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood scolded Americans for a litany of bad driving habits, citing new research showing 18% of drivers texting or emailing while driving, with more than half of drivers under 25 doing so. A different survey of drivers on the road estimated 5% were using hand-held devices despite bans, and three-quarters of drivers say they’re willing to answer calls.

“All of our evidence suggests that the problem may actually be getting worse,” LaHood said.

But authorities have let hands-free systems flourish in the face of pushback from automakers who see car buyers paying more for tech. No state bars all cellphones today, and it’s getting easier than ever to keep one hidden but stay connected. The auto industry’s safety campaigns have been built around the idea that as long as a driver’s hands and eyes were engaged with driving, they could stay safe while still talking.

Built-in systems allowing drivers to link their cellphones to a car’s sound system have become common on inexpensive small cars. And the industry has been pushing deeper connections, with some automakers such as General Motors and Mini, letting drivers hear Facebook and Twitter updates from the road, and a few automakers have offered portable WiFi connections for vehicles.

The other problem facing a total ban: Whether it actually improves safety. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a key researcher into auto safety trends, has found no reduction in crashes yet among states than ban texting and hand-held phones. “Passing a law alone might not be enough to reduce the crash risk from distracted driving — which can involve many other activities than communicating with mobile devices,” said Anne Fleming, a spokeswoman for the IIHS.

There are too many crashes like the Missouri wreck from people texting behind the wheel, and distractions of all kinds pose a danger. But advocates of turning cars into cell-free zones will need stronger arguments than they’ve mustered so far to convince many Americans.

 At all Brake-O-Rama New Jersey locations we like to share the best auto information that is useful for our customers. Our Brake-O-Rama location in Lodi New Jersey finds the best auto information and distributes the news to our Auto repair centers all throughout New Jersey! This way our mechanics and customer service people can spread the news! This is a great article we found that can help you decide what used car you should buy!

By Jerry Edgerton | CBS MoneyWatch –

Even though auto manufacturers have greatly boosted quality and reliability, buying a used car can still be a process fraught with anxiety. In addition to worrying about the honesty of the seller, you also want to be sure to avoid vehicles with poor reliability records.

To help with that, MoneyWatch looked at owner surveys to see which cars look like trouble, focusing on five separate categories. We focused on 2008 models — the year ranked in the latest dependability study from J.D. Power and Associates. Buying a 3-year-old used car also lets you shop after the biggest new-car depreciation already has taken place: Because used car prices have risen so sharply this year, 1- and 2-year-old used models can make worse financial sense than buying new.

To make our list of used-car rejects, a model had to get the minimum two out of five in the J.D. Power “circle ratings” for dependability. It also had to be ranked below average as a used car by Consumer Reports in its annual April car issue and online car rankings.

Here are our recommendations for used cars to avoid — plus some better ideas in the same categories. Volkswagen and Chrysler Group, which also makes Dodge and Jeep, both have two entries on our avoidance list.

Small Car: Volkswagen Beetle

The Beetle’s cute looks and all-around appeal don’t save it from being on the least reliable list. Owners of the 2008 model told Consumer Reports that they had trouble with the climate control system and power equipment, both of which can lead to expensive repairs. The convertible model is selling for $19,350 on dealer’s lots according to the Kelley Blue Book web site.

Midsize Car: Volkswagen Passat

Volkswagen strikes out again. Despite being praised by reviewers when new, the Passat gets the minimum J.D. Power two circles and a below-average rating from Consumer Reports. Readers there report problems with the fuel, electrical and climate systems and the power equipment.

The 2008 Passat is selling at dealers for $18,515, according to kbb.com.

Midsize SUV: GMC Acadia

Though its quality has improved in recent models, the 2008 Acadia is a repeat loser in this category. With the minimum two circles in the J.D. Power survey, it gets a worse than average used car ranking from Consumer Reports. Readers there reported problems with the suspension and audio system. The Acadia SLE model is selling for about $25,000 at dealerships, according to kbb.com.

Large SUV: Ford Expedition

Even if you need large-capacity hauling and can ignore the lame mileage numbers (the Expedition is rated at 12 mpg in city driving, 18 highway), look elsewhere. The big boy of the Ford SUV line (whose model names all start with the letter ‘E’) gets the minimum two circles from J.D. Power and a worse-than-average Consumer Reports rating, where readers report problems with the transmission and the audio system.

The used 2008 Expedition sells for $23,530 in the XLT version, according to kbb.com.

Minivan: Chrysler Town & Country

Chrysler originated the minivan and in most years has sold more than other companies. But sometime around 2008, manufacturing quality began to lag.

This Chrysler van got the minimum two circles from J.D. Power and a much-worse-than-average used-car rating from Consumer Reports. Readers there reported problems with the suspension, brakes, climate system and power equipment. The 2008 Town & Country LX version is selling at about $16,000 from dealerships.

In today’s tough economy Brake-O-Rama wants to help our New Jersey customers save money… one of the ways we can help is by providing you with professional information from experts on car sales. Our mechanics at Brake-O-Rama Auto Repair Centers look for the best information on the web and pass it out to our customers. Here is a very important article on the Best Autos for the money!!

By Jamie Page Deaton | US News 

The 2012 U.S. News Best Cars for the Money Awards help you navigate a confusing automotive market by identifying cars that hit quality and value from all sides. The awards combine the U.S. News Best Cars rankings with the average price paid and five-year total cost of ownership data from TrueCar.com. The award-winning vehicles have the best combination of praise from car reviewers, lower upfront costs and lower long-term ownership costs than their competition. The winners aren’t just good cars or good values. They’re both.

Best Cars

Ford Fiesta

Subcompact and hatchback:

Volkswagen GTI

Upscale small car:

Ford Taurus

Affordable large car:

Mazda MX-5 Miata

Affordable sports car:

Affordable compact SUV with two rows: Chevrolet Equinox
The 2012 Chevrolet Equinox has a long powertrain warranty, handy features like a slide-and-recline rear seat, good fuel economy and cargo space and is an IIHS Top Safety Pick.

Affordable compact SUV with three rows: Toyota RAV4
The 2012 Toyota RAV4 has an optional third row in a compact package, plus an optional V6 engine that reviewers love.

Audi Q5

Luxury compact SUV:
The 2012 Audi Q5 is both practical and luxurious.

Luxury midsize SUV: Lexus RX 350
A quiet ride and interior make the Lexus RX a zen-like partner for commuting and road trips.

Affordable midsize SUV with two rows: Ford Edge
The 2012 Ford Edge has a stylish design and is an IIHS Top Safety Pick. Its available Ecoboost engine merges performance and good fuel economy.

Mazda CX-9

Affordable midsize SUV with three rows:
The 2012 Mazda CX-9 has seating for seven, sporty performance and lots of features, even on the base model.

Affordable large SUV: Chevrolet Suburban
With seating for up to nine and a long powertrain warranty, the 2012 Chevrolet Suburban is the Best Affordable Full-Size SUV for the Money.

Cadillac Escalade

Luxury large SUV:
The 2012 Cadillac Escalade has lots of passenger space, a big towing capacity and a plush interior, which all helped it win the Best Luxury Large SUV for the Money Award.

Minivan: Mazda Mazda5
The 2012 Mazda5 is the fun-to-drive minivan, with seating for six in a tidy package. It’s available with a manual transmission and gets excellent fuel economy.

Hybrid SUV: Lexus RX Hybrid
The 2012 Lexus RX Hybrid  features a sumptuous interior, practical amounts of passenger and cargo space, an excellent reputation for reliability, and good fuel economy.

Off-road SUV: Jeep Wrangler
The 2012 Jeep Wrangler is the iconic American off-roader. It’s available with two or four doors and has unmatched off-road capabilities.

Best Trucks

Toyota Tacoma

Compact pickup truck:
The 2012 Toyota Tacoma is comfortable enough to commute in and gets good fuel economy, yet it’s powerful enough for weekend warriors.

Full size pickup truck: Ram 1500
The 2012 Ram 1500 has the smoothest ride of any truck and it has innovative cargo solutions as well as luxurious available interior packages.Affordable compact SUV with two rows: Chevrolet Equinox
The 2012 Chevrolet Equinox has a long powertrain warranty, handy features like a slide-and-recline rear seat, good fuel economy and cargo space and is an IIHS Top Safety Pick.

Affordable compact SUV with three rows: Toyota RAV4
The 2012 Toyota RAV4 has an optional third row in a compact package, plus an optional V6 engine that reviewers love.

Audi Q5

Luxury compact SUV:

Mazda CX-9

Affordable midsize SUV with three rows:

Cadillac Escalade

Luxury large SUV:

Toyota Tacoma

Compact pickup truck:

Brake-O-Rama Auto Repairs & Tires wants to help our New Jersey customers avoid “bad automobiles”… In this tough economy we at Brake-O-Rama want our customers to get the best car for their hard earned money. Our auto mechanices in Lodi New Jersey found this great article to help you know which cars to AVOID!

5 Used Cars to Avoid (and 5 Better Alternatives)

 By Jerry Edgerton | CBS MoneyWatch – Wed, Jul 20, 2011

To make our list of used-car rejects, a model had to get the minimum two out of five in the J.D. Power “circle ratings” for dependability. It also had to be ranked below average as a used car by Consumer Reports in its annual April car issue and online car rankings.

Here are our recommendations for used cars to avoid — plus some better ideas in the same categories. Volkswagen and Chrysler Group, which also makes Dodge and Jeep, both have two entries on our avoidance list.

Small Car: Volkswagen Beetle

The Beetle’s cute looks and all-around appeal don’t save it from being on the least reliable list. Owners of the 2008 model told Consumer Reports that they had trouble with the climate control system and power equipment, both of which can lead to expensive repairs. The convertible model is selling for $19,350 on dealer’s lots according to the Kelley Blue Book web site.

• Alternative: Hyundai Elantra. Hyundai has had a remarkably strong sales year for new cars this year. But even in 2008, the company was making quality cars backed by its 10-year, 100,000 mile powertrain warranty. The Elantra got the maximum five circles in the J.D. Power reliability ratings and is ranked an above-average used car by Consumer Reports, where survey respondents reported no major problems. This model Elantra is selling for $12,435.

Midsize Car: Volkswagen Passat

Volkswagen strikes out again. Despite being praised by reviewers when new, the Passat gets the minimum J.D. Power two circles and a below-average rating from Consumer Reports. Readers there report problems with the fuel, electrical and climate systems and the power equipment.

The 2008 Passat is selling at dealers for $18,515, according to kbb.com.

• Alternative: Ford Fusion. Ford’s first real contender in years against mid-size leaders Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, the Fusion won the reliability award in this year’s J.D. Power survey. Consumer Reports gives it a top Much Above Average used car rating. Readers there reported no major problems with their 2008 Fusions. Dealers are offering the Fusion for $17,365, according to kbb.com.

Midsize SUV: GMC Acadia

Though its quality has improved in recent models, the 2008 Acadia is a repeat loser in this category. With the minimum two circles in the J.D. Power survey, it gets a worse than average used car ranking from Consumer Reports. Readers there reported problems with the suspension and audio system. The Acadia SLE model is selling for about $25,000 at dealerships, according to kbb.com.

• Alternative: Toyota 4 Runner. This 2008 Toyota stalwart won the J.D. Power reliability award and is rated much better than average as a used car in the Consumer Reports ratings, where readers reported no serious problems. Reviewers praise its capability both on the highway and off-road. The 2008 4Runner SR5 version is selling at about $27,730.

Large SUV: Ford Expedition

Even if you need large-capacity hauling and can ignore the lame mileage numbers (the Expedition is rated at 12 mpg in city driving, 18 highway), look elsewhere. The big boy of the Ford SUV line (whose model names all start with the letter ‘E’) gets the minimum two circles from J.D. Power and a worse-than-average Consumer Reports rating, where readers report problems with the transmission and the audio system.

The used 2008 Expedition sells for $23,530 in the XLT version, according to kbb.com.

• Alternative: Toyota Sequoia. In a category with no clear winner, the Toyota entry again looks like the best bet. It gets four out of five circles in the J.D. Power rating and an above-average rating from Consumer Reports. Reviewers praise its roomy seating and comfortable ride for long highway trips. The 2008 Sequoia SR5 version is selling at $31,265 at dealerships.

Minivan: Chrysler Town & Country

Chrysler originated the minivan and in most years has sold more than other companies. But sometime around 2008, manufacturing quality began to lag.

This Chrysler van got the minimum two circles from J.D. Power and a much-worse-than-average used-car rating from Consumer Reports. Readers there reported problems with the suspension, brakes, climate system and power equipment. The 2008 Town & Country LX version is selling at about $16,000 from dealerships.

• Alternative: Toyota Sienna. As it did last year, the Sienna wins the reliability award for minivans from J.D. Power, and it gets a better-than-average rating from Consumer Reports. Reviewers praise its comfort and seating; it holds up to eight people. The Sienna CE version is selling for an average $20,130, according to kbb.com.Despite Toyota’s recent recall problems and lagging sales this year, its dominance of numerous categories in three-year-old used cars is a reminder of what a strong record of reliability it has achieved. Domestic companies certainly should not count out Toyota as a strong competitor.

Brake-O-Rama has Auto news that also shows you the way the auto industry works with the government. This is an interesting article brought to you from our mechanics in Brake-O-Rama Jersey City location!

By Justin Hyde | Motoramic – Mon, Jan 23, 2012

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled today that law enforcement agencies can’t track a vehicle by planting a GPS device without a warrant. It’s a win for civil liberties, but the court punted on the bigger question of how far police can go to follow the increasingly vivid electronic trail left by driving.

In the case decided today, federal agents planted a GPS tracker to a Jeep Grand Cherokee owned by a suspect in a drug case, following his movements for 28 days and generating enough data to fill 2,000 pages. The suspect, Antoine Jones, was later convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to life in prison.

An appeals court sided with Jones and threw out the conviction, finding the government had violated the Fourth Amendment’s bar of unreasonable search and seizure because it had not asked for a warrant before planting the GPS. The Supreme Court agreed, saying the government violated Jones’ constitutional rights when it physically attached the GPS unit to his Jeep.

But the court’s ruling focused on how the government attached the unit, and struggled with whether the government could have legally followed Jones if it never touched his vehicle, and only used electronics to track him. “It may be that achieving the same result through electronic  means, without an accompanying trespass, is an unconstitutional invasion of privacy,” Justice Anthony Scalia wrote in the majority opinion, “but the present case does not require us to answer that question.”

While GPS tracking units have been used for years, the abundance of technology in and outside of vehicles means investigators have many other options — some of which require court oversight, and others that don’t.

Start with your cell phone. Criminal cases routinely use cellphone signals to prove a suspect’s movements. Talking on a cellphone creates a record of your location down to a few dozen feet in most cities. Even when not in use, cellphone companies can be required under subpoenas to “ping” handsets without an owner’s knowledge to mark their locations. And the GPS chips built-in to most handsets offer yet another, more detailed alternative.

Thanks to apps like Apple’s “Find My Phone,” cellphones can also act as tracers in emergencies — like the case of a woman in Indiana last week, whose iPhone led police to her stolen Dodge Durango within minutes of its theft from a gas station. Even when car thieves make a clean getaway, in many cities they’re snagged by license plate scanners — special cameras connected to databases that can flag stolen or suspect vehicles.

General Motors’ OnStar service has long been used as a stolen-vehicle recovery device; the company faced an uproar last year when it suggested it might let third parties use location data about its subscribers. With many cellphone functions now being built into new models, including Internet access in luxury cars, a growing number of vehicles will be broadcasting a signal whenever they’re turned on.

Four Supreme Court justices suggested in a separate opinion today that the key to future cases will be what people expect when they use their devices; tracking public movements would be OK, but minute-by-minute pinging for weeks or months would be unacceptable. The rest of us will keep driving with our phones, our GPS maps and our emergency roadside assistance units in the gray area between the lines.

 Brake-O-Rama offers excellent information on the auto industry because we want our customers to understand what is going on to help them make auto decisions. Sometimes our mechanics at Brake-O-Rama location in Jersey City send us emails with important current events. This is an excellent article that Made In The USA automobiles will be popular again!

President Obama calls 650-hp Ford Mustang Shelby “sick,” shuns foreign models in auto show trip

By Justin Hyde | Motoramic – 

President Barack Obama took a brief tour of the Washington Auto Show today to jump in a few cars and tout his bailout of Detroit’s automakers. But only one model — the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 — elicited a presidential seal of approval, namely: “This car is sick.”

Obama used the half-hour jaunt to hammer on a new favorite talking point: How he saved Detroit when Republicans would have let it collapse. Potential Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney opposed the 2009 government-run bankruptcies of General Motors and Chrysler, their resurgence has given Obama an easy issue to run on in the Midwest’s auto-heavy swing states — even as the government’s own estimate of its losses due to the bailouts has grown to $23 billion.

“The fact that GM is back to number one I think shows the kind of turnaround that’s possible when it comes to American manufacturing,” Obama said, referencing GM’s reclaimed title as world’s largest automaker. “It’s good to remember the fact that there were some folks who were willing to let this industry die.”

While Obama sat in a range of models from Detroit — including a Chevy Silverado and Corvette ZR1 and the Ford C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid — he lingered in the 650-hp Mustang, telling a Ford executive “This is what I needed in high school.” He also took note of the American Pride Camaro, a tribute car painted with scenes from military history.

But Obama steered clear of any vehicles made by foreign automakers in the United States, even though they had been asked to shift models for his visit. A spokeswoman for Global Automakers, the trade alliance for U.S. arms of foreign makers, said the group was “very disappointed” by the snub, noting that those firms employ 80,000 Americans and built 3 million vehicles in the United States last year.

Photo: Associated Press

We at Brake-O-Rama love The Super Bowl! One of the best things are the AUTOMOBILE advertisements during the Super Bowl. This is a good link to enjoy all the Auto ads that were shown during the Super Bowl… ENJOY!

This year’s Super Bowl commercial haul may represent a new high for automotive marketers, with nearly a dozen different automakers set to run spots in front of an audience of 110 million people. But getting the most for their money means releasing them early; here’s our running list of the ones already online. UPDATED Monday with Chrysler.

It only makes sense for automakers to push their Super Bowl ads online; they’ve already spent millions creating a spot, and every year there’s a chance of winding up with an ad slot in the fourth quarter of a 35-0 blowout. All the ones released so far are gathered below; we’ll update this page over the next week with new entries.

Chrysler: Halftime in America The ad that’s got the most buzz post-Super Bowl is Chrysler’s ad with jazz musician/director/actor/ex-mayor Clint Eastwood, who at one point wasn’t so keen on government saving automakers:

 

 

Chevrolet: 2012 On the one hand, Chevy taking a swing at Ford will provoke endless squabbles between brand acolytes. On the other, people have already taken note that Chevy shares a certain unfortunate financial history with Big Boy and Hostess:

 

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Chevrolet: “Aliens” From the host of ads Chevy will run in this year’s game, this is the one that feels the most pedestrian. The Volt has turned into such a hot-button issue that it will take more than a gentle suggestion of extraterrestrial wonder to get buyers interested again:

 

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Kia: “A Dream Car for Real Life.” Just in case this Wagnerian compilation of metal, ultimate fighting and husbandly wish fulfillment isn’t enough (and what was up with the dude on the horse — maybe there’s some therapy in this couple’s future) Kia’s also provided an alternate video that’s nothing but Adriana Lima in a swimsuit waiving a checkered flag for nearly five hours.

 

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Volkswagen: “The Dog Strikes Back” Better to reference last year’s runaway Super Bowlhit featuring mini-Darth Vader than try to copy it completely. Pondo Baba really should hang with a better crowd.

 

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Chevy: OK Go’s “Needing/Getting” trailer: This one looks like it will stay under wraps until the game, when OK Go turns loose their breed of Rube Goldberg-rock on several hundred feet of pianos, guitars and home-built instruments in a Chevy Sonic.

 

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Lexus: 2013 Lexus GS. Lexus’ new luxury sedan has met with decent reviews except for its new grille, which is shot here in a menacing, “Aliens”-like setting that seems appropriate for something that looks like a Predator. 

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Acura: “Transactions”The Jerry Seinfeld-Jay Leno spot for the yet-to-be built Acura NSX plays as the most successful of the big-budget commercials to date — but it’s only Tuesday: 

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Cadillac: “Green Hell.” Strange to say, but of all the ads we’ve seen, this is the most macho, braggadocious spot to emerge so far — a sign of just how militant Cadillac plans to get when putting the Cadillac ATS against the new BMW 3-Series: 

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Toyota: It’s Reinvented. Like the new Toyota Camry, this ad is straightforward, well-built and executed to a fine point. If you hate Camrys as the essence of everything dull in modern vehicles this won’t change your mind, but it could stick with everyone else. 

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Chevrolet: Sonic Anthem. A collection of eye-catching stunts featuring the Chevy Sonic parachuting, bungee-jumping and the aforementioned OK Go musical destruction derby.
 

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Hyundai: Think Fast. One of three spots Hyundai will fill chip-and-pee runs during the Super Bowl with, this sticks with the standard comedy formula honed by Budweiser and Miller Lite over many years. 

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Hyundai: All For One. Most car spots focus tightly on selling specific cars to pay back the $3.5 million that 30 seconds of Super Bowl time costs. Hyundai will spread its bets with two ads for cars and one for the entire company — this “Rocky” spot that, as corporate flackery goes, makes an impact. 

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Hyundai: Cheetah. It’s a desert race between a Hyundai Veloster Turboand a cheetah. Only the cheetah has other ideas. 

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Volkswagen: Dog Teaser. One part of me wishes VW would have just stopped here, but then I’m not an advertising professional.

 

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Honda: Matthew’s Day Off. The title says it all: This is less a Ferris Bueller revival than a trip with Matthew Broderick down memory lane, with a Honda CR-Vinstead of a Ferrari. Would you clean the CR-V with only a diaper? 

 

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Audi: Vampire Party. Who knew “Twilight”-like vampires preferred Audis, or that they’d not check out the lumens and color temperature from their LED headlamps before buying? 

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Suzuki: Sled. Suzuki‘s Super Bowl ads always serve as a welcome reminder to millions of Americans that Suzuki still builds cars. Also, pets seem to be a theme this year: 

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Chevrolet: Happy Grad. Among the first out of the gate this year, and still one of the better selections. 

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Brake-O-Rama Auto Repair Centers in NJ Offer information on making important auto buying decisions. This is a great article we found that can help you decide on eco-UNfriendly cars!

BRAKE-O-RAMA Show The WORST cars for the environment in 2012

By Marco R. della Cava | Motoramic 

As acronyms go, ACEEE is a bit on the clunky side. But it’s one to remember for those wanting to keep score of automobiles on both the laudable and lamentable side of the eco-car ledger. Each year, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy hammers out a list of twelve of the industry’s most energy-efficient vehicles, and another twelve that, presumably, Al Gore wouldn’t grab a ride in if he were hitchhiking across the Mojave Desert in August.

According to the Washington, D.C.-based non-profit, which rates cars based on both fuel efficiency and emissions cleanliness, the stand-outs in this year’s class include a new teacher’s pet, the Mitsubishi i-MIEV battery electric, which displaced the council’s eight-year champ, the propane-fueled Honda Civic Natural Gas. Nissan‘s new electric Leaf tied for second, followed by a slew of hybrid machines. But we’re not here to hand out laurels; let’s take a closer look at the council’s dozen automotive delinquents:

Bentley Mulsanne, Maybach 57 and Bugatti Veyron

[22 points for the Bentley, 20 for the Maybach and 19 for the Bugatti … out of a possible 100; by comparison, the winning Mitsubishi scored 58 points]

If there’s happy news for this trio of brutish Euro-luxury machines, it’s that one of their own – the VW Group uber-auto, Bugatti Veyron – ceded last year’s spot in the cellar to Chevy‘s cargo van. Rising to the position of third “meanest car for the environment” in ACEEE’s terminology, the Veyron really can’t help itself. With a top speed of 265 mph and more than 1,000 horsepower on tap from its eight-liter V16, it’s actually a modern engineering miracle that the coupe can manage to get 15 miles per gallon on road trips (and 8 mpg around town). And let’s be honest, this car’s damage to the environment is as limited as it gets considering that at anywhere between one and two million dollars per Veyron, depending on its top configuration, these sports coupes can’t be getting all that much road time.

That likely can’t be said for the other two rapscallions in the group, which are designed to ferry four well-heeled souls around with some frequency. Bentley‘s Mulsanne returns to the bad-boy list, repeating its score from last year. This flagship cruiser has a 6.75-liter V-8 helping push its nearly 6,000 lbs of heft through the air; although a sophisticated engine management system can switch off one bank of cylinders to conserve fuel, the Mulsanne still only rings in at a penalizing 18/11 mpg highway/city. Finally, new to this continental Breakfast Club is the Maybach 57 from Mercedes-Benz, which gets 16/10 mpg. This posh 12-cylinder choice of the chauffeur-driven set has at least one thing going for it; it won’t be scolded by the ACEEE for long given that poor sales – fewer than 200 of the $375,000-and-up cars sold last year – are leading to the brand shuttering next year.

Mercedes-Benz G550

[22 points]

The G550 from the folks at the Three-Pointed Star is the offspring of one of the world’s first true SUVs. This military-bred machine was – along with early Toyota Land Cruisers and Land Rovers – moving people into and out of harsh terrain long before suburban moms and dads felt they needed urban assault vehicles to hit Whole Foods. While the rest of Mercedes‘ family-focused line-up continues to make eco-conscious strides (note the growing range of Blutec diesel and hybrid offerings), there’s really no point to making to this model (with its 15/12 mpg highway/city) an eco-warrior. Between its un-aerodynamic boxy shape and wind-resisting vertical windshield, the four-wheel-drive G550 – a simpler way to say Gelandewagen, or “cross-country vehicle” – is only going to win awards handed out by those who prize exclusivity.

Ford Expedition FFV/Lincoln Navigator FFV, Ford F-150 SVT Raptor pick-up, Ford F-250 FFV, Ford F-350 FFV, Ford E-350 Wagon

[23 points for the Expedition/Navigator, 22 for the Raptor, 20 for the F-250, 19 for the F-350 and 17 for the E-350]

This suite of Ford light-to-medium duty SUVs, four-door trucks and pickups fared poorly for a host of similar reasons, including large and thristy engines (this is six-liter territory, folks), power-consuming off-road abilities and, the enemy of any mode of transport, weight that taxes its power. That all added up to a scolding from the ACEEE, which noted that these American-bred behemoths single-handedly nudged a number of last year’s Euro-transgressors off the list, including a Bentley Continental GTC and a Mercedes ML63 AMG. The Expedition/Navigator takes the honors as the least egregious polluter of the list’s twelve violators, with the smallest engine in the group (5.4-liter V8) providing the best gas mileage at 18/13 mpg highway/city. The Raptor is essentially a high-performance, off-road-oriented version of Ford’s F-150 workhorse, and as such offers mileage (16/11 mpg) that is a far cry from the most frugal F-150, a V6 that in 4×2 mode provides a more than respectable 23/17 mpg. The more work-targeted F-250 and F-350 pay a price for weight and power (with both reporting only 16/11 mpg), but the biggest sinner in the Blue Oval bunch is the E-350 Wagon, though you might as well call it the shuttle van that takes you to the airport. With its massive 6.8-liter 10 cylinder engine (smaller only than the vicious Veyron in this group) managing a scant 13/10 mpg, this Ford never stood a chance in the council’s green eyes.

Chevrolet G3500 Express Cargo/GMC G3500 Savana Cargo

[17 points]

The Express Cargo part of this Chevy’s name tells you all you need to know about this class of vehicle, and why it tied with the Ford shuttle van for last place on ACEEE’s list. Both iterations of this slab-sided, windowless vehicle are big sellers with global package shipping companies that troll our streets seemingly at all hours. Stuffed as they are with packages, it’s no wonder that the vans need power, which they get from six-liter, eight-cylinder engines that deliver 14 on the highway, though it’s the 10 mpg in the city that’s the more important figure in this vehicle’s life. Given the fact that such machines spend so much time in urban mode, perhaps an electric cargo van is being dreamed up in some skunk works somewhere. If so, watch for these current truants to one day vault to the top of the ACEEE class.

Brake-O-Rama Auto Repairs Centers help our New Jersey customers with useful information on all things related to autos! One of the things our customers ask us is how to lower their car insurance rates. One of our trusted mechanics at our Jersey City locatiion forwarded this article he found on the internet that may help answer alot of those questions on auto insurance rates!

Find out how your age affects your car insurance rate, and what you can do to lower your premiums.

By Terence Loose

Think all that comes with getting older is more responsibility, wrinkles, and backaches? Here’s something that might ease the pain: as your age goes up, typically, your insurance rates goes down.

Yes, the further away from that rebellious teen period you are, the better your rates will likely be. That’s because insurers see mature drivers as less risky, says Loretta Worters, a vice president with the Insurance Information Institute (III).

Read on for a rundown of how your (or your kid’s) age affects your rate, and what you can do to help lower it. Your rate, that is. You’re pretty much stuck with your age group.

Age 16 to 18

You’ve probably heard of the “terrible twos” of infanthood, when toddlers drive their parents bonkers. Well, just wait till little Johnny or Sarah get their first license and are added to their parents’ insurance policy.

“In fact, if you have a teen on your insurance, you can most likely expect to pay an additional 100 percent, or more,” says Worters.

Why? Because of the amount of driving experience teens have, says Worters. “They have very little experience on the road and take more chances than any other age group. They are involved in more accidents than any other age group other than people over the age of 75,” she says.

What You Can Do to Help Lower Your Rate:*

• Make sure your teen keeps up a “B” average in school to qualify for any good student discounts.
• Buy a car that is less expensive to insure for you and/or your teen, such as a used car or one with safety features that may result in discounts. (Ask for a list from your insurer.)

Want to see if you can lower your car insurance rate? Click to compare quotes from multiple carries.

Age 18 to 22

Ah, that wonderful time when your kids go away to college and you actually have a shot at some peace and quiet. And potentially lower car insurance rates.

“If kids go to college and move more than 100 miles away from home, you may see some savings,” says Worters.

That savings, she says, could be 30 to 50 percent or more. The reason is because the insurer understands that as a student away at school, your son or daughter will only be driving your car on school breaks or holidays.

But, if your child wants to take a car to college with them, then that’s another story. In that case, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) “Consumer Alert: College Insurance Needs,” recommends contacting your insurer about the rates for the city and state your child will be attending college. Then you can decide whether or not to keep your child’s car on the family policy.

What You Can Do to Help Lower Your Rate:*

• Again, make sure your child qualifies for any good student discounts.
• Many college towns require very little driving, so low-mileage discounts could help you save.

Age 25 to 39

Good news for people in this group: these are the years when people typically settle into a career. And that spells more responsibility and less risk, according to Worters. The result is usually a lower car insurance rate, as long as the driver didn’t pile up a bunch of accidents or tickets.

“Insurance rates for good drivers generally drop considerably after age 25,” verifies the Texas Department of Insurance’s website. Of course, if you’re male, says Worters, you’ll pay more than women because statistically, men are involved in more serious accidents. But there are circumstances that can bring men’s rates down, too.

“If you are 25, male, and married you will see your rates decrease. The view is if you are married, you are less likely to take risks than a 25-year-old single male,” says Worters.

Click to compare quotes from multiple companies now.

What You Can Do to Help Lower Your Rate:*

• Do everything you can to keep your driving record free of tickets or accidents. According to the III article, “How Can I Save Money on Auto Insurance?,” good driving discounts – like no accidents in three years or no moving violations in three years – could help you save.
• Maintain good credit. In many states, insurers use your credit score as one factor to determine your rate, according to the same III article, which notes that bad credit could result in higher rates.

Age 40 to 60s

With age comes wisdom. And lower insurance premiums – most likely. Yes, when you turn 40, you’re a little mellower, which generally results in better driving habits and usually, lower insurance rates.

“Age 40 to 50 is when you see your best rates,” says Worters. “People are more mature. They have driving experience under all kinds of conditions and it shows in their driving skills, and consequently their rates.”

In fact, according to NAIC’s list of “Special Auto Insurance Considerations for Empty Nesters,” mature drivers – ages 55 to 70 – may be eligible for discounts.

Want to lower your auto insurance rate? Click to compare quotes now.

What You Can Do to Help Lower Your Rate:*

• Take a driver safety course such as the one offered through AARP, which could qualify you for a discount from some insurers, notes the NAIC list.
• Ask for any special discounts for seniors, which can include low-mileage discounts or an agreement to only drive during daylight hours, according to the NAIC list.

*Discounts information taken from the Insurance Information Institute, unless otherwise noted. Not all discounts available from all insurance carriers.

The 10 cheapest cars to own!

9. Mazda2 Sport (4dr hatch)

8. Honda Insight (4dr hatch)

7. Scion iQ (2dr hatch)

6. Kia Rio LX 4dr

5. Kia Soul (4dr hatch)

4. Toyota Yaris L 2dr hatch

3. Ford Fiesta S (4dr)

2. Hyundai Accent GLS (4dr)

1. Nissan Versa S 4dr

Brake-O-Rama Auto Repairs and Tires helps our customers make good decisions on all auto maintenance as well as car buying decisions. Our auto mechanics at Brake-O-Rama Lodi, NJ bring to you this important information they found on the internet. When you make auto maintenance decisions, Brake-O-Rama auto repairs service centers in New Jersey can help you!

Ten desirable used cars that are impossible to find!

By Jalopnik staff | Jalopnik – Tue, Mar 20, 2012

Some cars are like certain pop songs: they become hugely popular before fading away. While there’s no shortage of classic rock or 1965 Mustangs in America, some once-loved cars have become scarily endangered..These are Jalopnik readers’ picks for the ones that we want but increasingly cannot find.

10. Isuzu Impulse (both generations)

Suggested By: nataku83

Why its absence leaves us longing: Isuzu never had a stranglehold on the US market, but the two generations of Impulses (and the second gen’s Geo Storm twin) were pretty popular in their day. The rear-drive turbocharged first generation is more desirable, but both have become exceedingly scarce.

9. Merkurs

Suggested By: Jonee

Why its absence leaves us longing: Ford’s attempt to peddle its respectable Euro-market cars in the US wasn’t a smashing success, but they did sell a fair number of Scorpios and XR4Tis. They have all but completely gone to parts yards in near-futile support of their dwindling numbers. The Scorpio in particular is approaching total extinction.

8. Renaults

Suggested By: spectra

Why its absence leaves us longing: It’s one thing to have a popular individual model fade into extinction; it’s another to have that happen to whole nameplates. French cars in general are as scarce as bargain-priced grand cru Burgundy in the States, and after a long presence with some interesting cars it’s sad to see how Renaults are essentially all gone.

7. Nissan NX2000

Suggested By: TrampaOnline

Why its absence leaves us longing: B13-platform Nissans are fading out as a whole, but the baby-928 NX2000 has almost completely gone away. Part of Nissan’s early-Nineties renaissance, the NXs were excellent hatches with intriguing styling. As Nissan has sort of drifted, so too have the NX2000s been dispersed like so many snowflakes.

6. Honda CRX in original condition

Suggested By: Burt Reynolds Mustache

Why its absence leaves us longing: Sure, there are still a few CRXs out there if you don’t mind one that’s been slammed and B16′d and stuffed full of A-pillar gauges and AutoZone “lightweight” pedals. Everyone’s favorite Zen econoracer has been subject to more gross abuse and violations than practically any other car, although its Integra sister is in the same dire straits.

5. Dodge Rampage

Suggested By: veritas4156

Why its absence leaves us longing: In some ways the brilliance of this idea was on par with that of the minivan: take the form factor of the El Camino and apply it to the front-drive L-car (Omni/Horizon) chassis. Chrysler sold a fair number of the smallish car-truck hybrids, but they (and far too many other interesting and speedy L derivatives) have become exceedingly rare sights.

4. Acura Legend

Suggested By: 3pedalsgood

Why its absence leaves us longing: An ignoble fate for the car that started the upscale-Japanese movement in the US, the Legend has rapidly become an afterthought for most people as they disappear from the scene. Both generations are desirable: the first cars are some of the nicest-looking midsized sedans and coupes ever, the latter are supremely comfortable, and neither is a common sight anymore.

3. Fiat X1/9

Suggested By: minardi

Why its absence leaves us longing: Two parts to this: First, it’s a Fiat, which means that it’s subject to traditional Fiat accelerated entropy, although the basic structure is profoundly strong and the mechanicals are childishly simple to maintain. Second, it’s the representative for the entire class of affordable mid-engined cars, including the Fiero and MR2, that are proving to be very difficult to find as they start to be appreciated in retrospect.

2. Volkswagen Scirocco (both generations)

Suggested By: Vizzini

Why its absence leaves us longing: The Scirocco used to the the number-one Europhile alternative to Japanese front-drive sports coupes, and they were everywhere. Now they exist in a very strange space that combines seriously low purchase prices with impossible availability, which leads to the deep fear that they’ve all been used up and thrown away. Completely tragic.

1. Mitsubishi Starion/Plymouth-Dodge-Chrysler Conquest

Suggested By: DannyBN

Why its absence leaves us longing: Contemporary testers called the big turbo Mitsubishi coupe the near-equal of the Porsche 944. That perfectly-proportioned chiseled shape used to be a common presence. Now they’re almost completely gone. Why? What happened? How could the auto enthusiast community not cherish and support such an excellent machine? We are reduced every time another one of these gets taken off the road or track.

10 Fastest cars under $50,000

By Althea Chang | Forbes.com
The 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S can churn out nearly 400 horsepower, but it’ll set you back close to $100,000. Want to feel just as much power for half the money? Buy a Ford Shelby GT500.

Thanks to improved engine technologies that produce higher horsepower, and lighter materials that lower a car’s curb weight, the latest generation of relatively affordable, mass-market sports cars can go as fast if not faster than many of the fancier vehicles blazing down the highway, according to auto experts at Edmunds.com.

Quantifying speed can be tricky. Automakers have been steering clear of advertising a car’s top speed for legal reasons, explains Bruce Harrison, a research director at IHS Automotive. So what about zero-to-60 times? That measures acceleration, and the significance of that number is waning, some experts say.

“The numbers are getting so close and so good,” says Edmunds analyst Ivan Drury. “The fact that the Toyota Camry can go from zero to 60 mph in 6.5 seconds is kind of mind-blowing compared to the muscle cars in the ’60s doing the same time,” he says.

So what’s the best way to determine a car’s speed? Horsepower and weight: the lower the ratio of power to curb weight, the faster the car, experts say. Based on that metric, researchers at Edmunds.com helped us determine the fastest cars under $50,000.

One surprise: U.S. automakers sweep the top five spots.

A big part of why horsepower, and therefore speed, has improved so drastically in recent years is that stability control, antilock brakes, and even the more complicated details of fuel injection, variable valve timing and turbocharging or supercharging are now being facilitated by computers, says Harrison of IHS.

“There are so many other factors that go into it, how big are the brakes, how many speed transmission is it, what gear ratio is in the vehicle, what kind of suspension helps it get around a corner. There are so many different variables that go into it,” Harrison says.

For instance, Ford says it uses electric power assisted steering instead of engine-driven hydraulic pumps that use up a lot of power. “These changes also enable better engine performance because more of the power output is directed to the wheels,” says Truett of Ford.

But cars are getting faster across the board, across all brands as well as price ranges.

“I wouldn’t say that advances are impacting low-priced cars more than high-priced vehicles, but I do think that, as economies of scale kick in, it’s easier to put some of the more advanced technologies on the less expensive vehicles,” Harrison says.

#10 2012 Subaru Impreza WRX STI
Horsepower: 305
Power-Curb Weight Ratio: 11.1
Price: $36,095

#9 2012 Infiniti G Coupe
Horsepower: 330
Power-Curb Weight Ratio: 11.0
Price: $37,800

#8 2012 Nissan NISMO 370Z
Horsepower: 350
Power-Curb Weight Ratio: 9.5
Price: $41,290

#7 2012 Hyundai Genesis 5.0L R-Spec
Horsepower: 429
Power-Curb Weight Ratio: 9.4
Price: $46,500

#6 2012 Chrysler 300 SRT8
Horsepower: 470
Power-Curb Weight Ratio: 9.3
Price: $47,470

#5 2012 Chevrolet Camaro 2SS
Horsepower: 426
Power-Curb Weight Ratio: 9.1
Price: $35,530

#4 2012 Dodge Challenger SRT8
Horsepower: 470
Power-Curb Weight Ratio: 8.9
Price: $43,995

#3 2012 Dodge Charger SRT8 Superbee
Horsepower: 470
Power-Curb Weight Ratio: 8.4
Price: $41,495

#2 2012 Ford Mustang Boss
Horsepower: 444
Power-Curb Weight Ratio: 8.2
Price: $41,105

#1 2012 Ford Shelby GT500
Horsepower: 550
Power-Curb Weight Ratio: 6.9
Price: $48,810