Ten Best Cars for 2009

What are the top ten cars of 2009? Every year, Car and Driver magazine announces its list of great drives, and even though the car industry is in a turmoil right now because of the economy, when selecting the world's most wanted automobiles, some things manage to stay the same.

Such as the BMW 3 Series, Honda Accord and Chevrolet Corvette being on the list again -- at least 15 times for each one in the 27 years the magazine has been issuing its 10Best list. Here they are, in alphabetical order --

• BMW 3-Series/M3
• Cadillac CTS (red car, top right)
• Chevrolet Corvette
• Honda Accord
• Honda Fit
• Infiniti G37
• Jaguar XF (white car, top left)
• Mazda MX-5
• Porsche Boxster/Cayman
• Volkswagen GTI

Despite the current headlines about potential bankruptcy, General Motors is the only American manufacturer to make the 10Best rankings, with two vehicles on the list -- the Cadillac CTS luxury sports sedan and the iconic Chevrolet Corvette, which continues its reign in the sports car category, selected for a 15th time.

First timers include the Infiniti G37 performance sports sedan, which underwent extensive changes to enhance its performance and handling, and the Jaguar XF, hailed by many for its modern styling and beautiful lines that distinguish it in its category. The Honda Fit that made the list this year is a redesigned version of the car that had been selected to the list twice before.

Other great drives which seem to have reserved parking on this list include the Honda Accord, recognized for a record 23rd time, and the BMW 3-Series, making its appearance on the Car and Driver list for a record 18 consecutive years. The Porsche Boxster roadster and its sibling Cayman coupe, and the Mazda MX-5 are on the 10Best list for the tenth year each. Rounding out the winners is the Volkswagen GTI, honored for the fourth time.

A winners are chosen by a panel of 19 Car and Driver editors who rate the cars on performance, driving satisfaction and value. The vehicles must be available in the United States and must cost less than $71,000. The list -- and more information about each model -- appears in the January 2009 issue, on newsstands in December.

Tips for Safe Driving During the Holiday Season

We're all in a hurry at the holidays. But speeding is not the answer, and it most certainly is not safe driving. Speeding-related deaths kill approximately 13,500 Americans each year, according to the Governor's Highway Safety Association. And thousands more drivers, passengers and pedestrians are injured by speeding.
Here are five reasons you should not speed…

Save lives - Slowing down increases the likelihood you and your passengers will survive a crash. Each 1 percent decrease in travel speed reduces injury crashes by about 2%, serious injury crashes by about 3% and fatal crashes by about 4%.

Save money - Speeding reduces fuel efficiency, causing you to buy gas more often. The Department of Energy estimates that, as a rule of thumb, you can assume that each 5 mph above 60 mph you drive is like paying an additional $0.20 per gallon for gas.

Save the environment - According to Ford Motor Company, driving a vehicle at 65 mph consumes about 15% more fuel than driving the same vehicle at 55 mph. More fuel consumed means more CO2 released into the atmosphere.

Save yourself a ticket - Highway safety agencies and law enforcement crack down on speeders, especially during holidays. Obey the sign or pay the fine!

Save your license - A speeding ticket could lead to points on your driving record. Too many points and you could lose your license and your insurance premiums could go up.

Safe drives are great drives.

Toyota is First Green Dealership in Western USA

We already know about the great drives from Toyota -- the best-selling Prius hybrid and the Camry hybrid. Now, Toyota has the first green car dealership in the Western USA, also the first and only LEED-Certified car dealership in Utah.

Mark Miller Toyota in Salt Lake City was designed from the ground up with environmental standards in mind, using construction elements designed to conserve both energy and water, and construction uses lots of local and recycled materials -- including recycled windshield glass pulverized into use as a carpet backing. How's that for ingenuity -- your footsteps are cushioned by smooshed glass.

Some other eco-friendly construction and design elements include --

• A high-performance, high-efficiency heating and cooling system;


• Innovative sun-tracking skylights that make the most of natural daylight and help reduce use of lights inside


• A cool-roof system to lower the overall heat that comes off large buildings


• Landscaping that requires a minimal amount of water


• Low-flow faucets and toilets and waterless urinals to conserve water


• A cistern system to collect and store rainwater and air conditioning
  condensation for irrigation and for washing cars


• High-speed glass service bay doors to reduce heat and cold loss from
  service areas at the same time they provide additional light to the interior


• Recycled materials used in tile, carpeting, wood paneling and cubicles


• A full-service cafe as well as a fuel facility on-site so employees and customers won't
  have to drive to get something to fill their bellies or their tanks.

Another feature of the dealership is a display that shows the building's energy use over the last half hour or so. It's the same kind of energy panel drivers of Toyota hybrid cars know well.

The dealership has applied for and expects to be awarded a Gold LEED certification in the next few weeks. Just so you know -- LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. It is a voluntary program designed to promote and validate environmental leadership in the building industry. It's tough to get LEED certification -- there's an extensive application and review process, and you have to re-certify regularly to keep your eco-friendly status. As far as LEED certification is concerned -- you can honestly say (apologies to Kermit) it's not easy being green!

Pat Lobb Toyota in McKinney, Texas was the first dealership to earn LEED certification in 2006. Besides Mark Miller Toyota, five other Toyota dealerships in the country are built and either have received or are in the process of being reviewed for LEED certification. Three additional dealerships seeking LEED certification are under construction with several more in the design and planning stages.

So thank you, Toyota, for making great green drives and great green car dealerships, too.

Drive Smarter and Save Gas

Yea, yea, I know -- the price of a barrel of oil is dropping, and so is the price of a gallon of gas. But, since the value of your stocks, 401k and IRA also are dropping, this is no time to return to the gas guzzling habits of old. Save gas, save money with these fuel economy tips.

• Watch your speed. Your car creates the most pollution when driving at less than 15mph, and pollution decreases up to 60mph. After that, it increases again.


• Take roof-racks off when you don't need them, since they create wind drag. Ditto driving with the windows open -- also creates drag that reduces fuel efficiency.


• Take the junk out of the trunk -- remove unneccessary items from the car, such as tool boxes, golf clubs and bicycles to reduce weight.


• Remember your RPMs -- Keeping the engine speed between 1,200 and 3,000 rpm will help improve fuel efficiency of whatever you are driving.


• Keep your distance from the car in front. Sharp braking wastes fuel.


• Maintain your car properly. Have the engine tuned, change air filters and keep the tires properly inflated to reduce friction.


• Consolidate your trips --if you are picking up the kics from school, do the shopping on the way, in the same trip.

Some other things to remember --

• When you turn on something electric in the car, it increases fuel consumption. There is only one source of energy in the car, and that's the fuel tank. Don't over-use some electric features, such as the rear-window heater, or even the heated seats that make nice to your lower back pain.


• Keep the inside of your car windows squeaky clean. This stops the windows misting up, so that you don't need to use the rear-window heater or the air conditioning to dehumidify the car.


• If you've got a garage, use it -- that's because if it takes you 10 minutes to warm up your car in cold weather, it's costing you around ten cents a minute.

Chrysler Goes Electric and It's a Gem

Clean and green gets a new meaning with this great drive from Chrysler, through its GEM division.

GEM electric carts are popular transportation on golf courses and sprawling resorts where guests and their luggage need to be shuttled to far-flung villas, and for shuttling employees and supplies on college and corporate campuses. In the the famous Alpine village of Zermatt, Switzerland, where vehicles are not permitted, call a taxi and what you get is an electric cart.

But those don't look like the new Peapod design -- shown here -- that will be produced starting in 2009. GEM is headquartered in Fargo, N.D. It was founded ten years ago.

This is a pure electric vehicle -- just plug it, charge it up, and go. No gas, no emissions, no fuss.

Designs like this used to be called NEV -- for Neighborhood Electric Vehicle, and the neighborhoods included planned communities like retirement communities where people drive them to visit neighbors and get to the supermarket. But Chrysler is re-designing the NEV tag, too. The new name is 'GreenEcoMobility' - how clever for Chrysler to use the GEM acronym for the new generation of an existing concept -- the electric golf cart.

Yes, it is sleek and streamlined. Reminds you of the Smart fortwo, doesn't it. Maybe the success of that energy efficient little gem -- marketed by a division of Chrysler's former corporate mate, Daimler-Benz -- inspired and encouraged the 'divorced' Chrysler.

And just as Smart fortwo is now available in a four-passenger version, there are plans for larger Peapod models as GEM expands its 'no-gas, no-emissions' clean vehicle lineup. Regular GEMs are available in two-, four- and six-passenger models, as well as a utility vehicle. They have a top speed of 25 miler per hour and a range of 30 miles per charge -- more than enough to get you to and from the supermarket and the commuter rail station, although they are not street-legal everywhere because of their limited speed. Stay off the Interstate! And they can be recharged overnight in any standard 110-volt outlet.

Unlike ordinary golf carts, the new GEM Peapod has a trend-setting center console that will offer iPod integration and hands-free iPhone use.

GEM vehicles have been driven a combined 200 million miles and prevented more than 150 tons of pollutants from reaching the air, while saving 10 million gallons of gasoline.

Sweet Peapod!

Ford Ka Stars in Latest James Bond Movie

007 is more famous for driving -- and wrecking -- luxury cars like the Aston-Martin than he is for squeezing his hunky frame into a sub-compact. We'll have to wait for the latest James Bond adventure epic, "Quantum of Solace" to see his relationship with the tiny Ford Ka, a model popular in Europe and Latin America, but not sold in the United States.

Ford's cheeky little Ka makes its screen debut alongside the film's beautiful but feisty leading lady, Olga Kurylenko, who plays Camille, a woman with her own personal mission and who quickly becomes an unlikely ally for Bond.

The movie star Ka is unique with metallic gold paint and an exclusive exterior graphics and interior trim combination. Ford of Europe's Chief Operating Officer, Stephen Odell describes it as the "perfect match for the character of Camille - adventurous, individual and thoroughly modern." A proper gentleman, he does not describe any of Camille's features as sub-compact.

This is not the first Ford to star in a James Bond movie. The Ford Mondeo appeared in the 2006 blockbuster, 'Casino Royale', which introduced blue-eyed Daniel Craig as the latest in a long line of actors portraying Mr. Stirred-Not-Shaken.

'Quantum of Solace' opens in the UK and France on October 31st, then elsewhere November 7th.

Hybrid Technology for Trucks, Too

While we've all been focused on getting better gas mileage out of the cars we drive, or trading in the guzzler in the driveway for a green, fuel efficient hybrid, the automotive industry has been quietly and successfully turning out hybrid trucks.

Take Volvo. Garbage trucks aren't necessarily newsworthy, but Volvos's first hybrid refuse truck most definitely is. The truck division of the Swedish carmaker is taking an important step towards commercial use of hybrid technology for heavy vehicles by launching two hybrid refuse trucks that are being tested in regular daily operations, on refuse collection runs in the cities of Renova and Ragn-Sells.

Hybrid busses have been working the roads in cities around the world, including in my own hometown New York City. But this hybrid garbage truck is a first. "This is the last stage in the evaluation of our hybrid solution ahead of production launch," said Staffan Jufors, president and CEO of the Volvo Truck Corporation, launching the test drive. "Since we presented our first concept vehicle in 2006, we have seen considerably heightened market interest in this technology. What makes our solution unique is that it is sufficiently powerful to drive heavy vehicles, and more cost-effective than all other current alternatives. It is these characteristics that determine whether a hybrid can be commercially viable."

The phenomenal rise in the price of gasoline and diesel fuel in the last 12 months makes seals the deal, Mr. Jufors. That's why you also announced that Volvo will start producing hybrid trucks in 2009.

Volvo's hybrid solution combines a diesel engine with an electric motor, with the electric motor being used for moving off from standstill and for acceleration up to 20 km/h. At higher speeds, the diesel engine is activated. Just so you know -- Mercedes-Benz is studying diesel hybrids for passenger cars. Volvo already has the technology ready for trucks -- but I haven't heard anything about whether they are studying this alternative fuel possibility for passenger cars, too.

The hybrid refuse trucks are expected to use up to 20 percent less fuel and cut carbon dioxide emissions by a similar amount. Also, trucks can run the compactor off an extra battery pack that is charged when the truck is parked overnight. And that, my friends, further reduces emissions -- to a grand total of as much as 30 percent over conventional gas-powered trucks.

Electric power has the added advantage of being entirely exhaust-free and virtually noise-free. That's another important consideration for refuse collection trucks that usually operate early in the morning, waking up the neighbors. Eventually, Volvo plans to make hybrid trucks for long-haul and construction work.

What do you know -- a green garbage truck. What will they think of next!

Buy? Lease? New or Certified Pre-Owned?

The astronomical rise in gas prices over the last year has us all rethinking what we drive – and how often. If you are wondering whether to buy or lease your next automobile, there's lots to consider before you sign on that proverbial dotted line -- including whether your new great drive is one of the new '09 models arriving in dealer showrooms now, an new '08 left-over, or a certified pre-owned.

That's the the opening paragraph of an informative article in the current issue of Pink Magazine. Read it -- I wrote it. September/October issue, on newsstands now.

By the way -- did you know that women influence 85 percent of all vehicle purchases.

Saab 9-X Bio-Hybrid Concept Wins Another Award

The Saab 9-X BioHybrid has been voted “Specialty Concept Car of the Year” by a jury of 25 professional automotive journalists. The award ceremony took place at the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Michigan.

It's the second award for this great future drive, a streamlined, environmentally-friendly design. The 9-X was named “Best Concept” by AutoWeek Magazine at its world debut at the Geneva Auto Show recently.

The annual Concept Car of the Year Awards recognize vehicles most likely to shape the future of the automobile industry. The Saab was voted the best of 40 concept cars and 12 production preview vehicles that debuted during the 2008 auto show season, which includes the Los Angeles Auto Show, the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, and the New York Auto.

The 9-X BioHybrid is a vivid vision of what a future compact car from Saab could look like. It is designed to reflect the priorities of youthful customers who seek progressive looks, responsible performance and high-tech communications, all in a sporty, fun-to-drive package.

And it also has a pretty sensational power plant, too -- an ultra-efficient, 200 hp (147 kW), 1.4-liter BioPower turbo engine backed by GM’s next-generation hybrid system, with projected combined cycle CO2 emissions of just 105 g/km. That's low enough to qualify for one of the coveted SULEV ratings.

It's a sleek design, with ‘turbine’ wheels placed at all four corners. Minimal bodywork overhangs add to its sleek shape and reduce aerodynamic drag, too. The Saab designers know something about aero-dynamic. They design and build airplanes, too.