In yet another move to improve overall road safety, Volvo has launched a 3-year research program that is geared towards mapping driver behavior in response to particular traffic scenarios.

Volvo’s research will be collating data on the driver’s view of the road, including viewing to the car’s rear and specific movements of the head and the eye. The research will also log the movement of the car. The research will span 3 years and 1.8 million miles of travel, after which the results will be assessed to come up with a model of driver behavior across different situations. The model will then be used to make cars that are able to help the driver react to such situations.

“In order to move towards a crash-free future, we need to learn more about what kind of mistakes and situations that might lead to accidents,” says Senior Research Engineer and Field Operational Tests (FOT) head at Volvo Cars, John-Fredrik Grönvall.

Chalmers University of Technology is also contributing to the research project, along with SAFER and other companies. This particular research is part of EuroFOT, a project sponsored by the EU.

Source: Motor Authority

Honda emerged as the top automaker to retain new-vehicle buyers, according to the results of the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Customer Retention Study. The study pegged Honda at a 64.7% retention rate, a marginal improvement from 2007.

The study measures the percentage of people who buy a new vehicle from the same automaker as their previously-owned car. Honda’s 2008 rate is about 2 percentage points higher than last year’s. Toyota had the second-best percentage at 63.2%, while Toyota’s luxury vehicle brand Lexus went third at 60.4%.

“Honda’s reputation for creating safe vehicles with high resale value has been instrumental in retaining owners,” says J.D. Power and Associates. In contrast, Jaguar retained a mere 25% of its buyers. The overall retention rate is 48%, which is down from 2007’s 49%. Land Rover posted the highest improvement; the company’s 49% is up by 18% from last year.

This is a clear sign that companies who put a premium on safety and value will get their buyers coming back for new models. If owners get satisfaction out of their cars, chances are they’ll go for the trusted brand the next time they buy a new one.

Source: 4wheelsnews

American automotive paint provider DuPont released its end-of-the-year color popularity results, and white emerged as the clear winner over the closest runners-up silver and black.

White (plus pearl white) took 20% of the cars, while silver and black are knotted at 17%. Again, the reason for this is that these are the three colors that are practically omnipresent in most cars’ basic car choices. These colors provide simple yet attractive or elegant color choices for owners.

DuPont’s color marketing manager for performance coatings Karen Surcina said that, while white, silver, and black remain the most popular, people are increasingly looking for other alternatives. “These colors and effects provide a higher degree of customization and luxury-effect which allow consumers a conservative differentiation from the traditional color palette.”

It should be noted that DuPont’s results is different from the one PPG released sometime in October, where silver was the winner in the car paint color race (20% to white’s 18%). PPG is another global supplier of automotive paints and other chemical products.

Source: Motor Authority

A study made by PPG Industries, a leading transportation coating manufacturer, revealed that silver is still the most popular car color in the world. However, the results released last October 15 showed that white and black are catching up.

This is especially true for North America, where silver reigned with 20 percent of car sales. White scored 18 percent, while black garnered 17 percent. Additionally, for certain car types, white and black are neck-to-neck with silver.

Silver has a more comfortable lead in Europe, where silver scored 35 percent. This is a comparatively-comfortable lead over black, which got 24 percent. Blue and white are even farther behind, getting 12 and 11 percent, respectively. Silver is still an overwhelming favorite, with 37 percent of the pie. White and black (14 and 13 percent, respectively) are distant runner-ups.

One thing to consider is that silver, black, and white are featured in most cars’ core colors. However, experts say that these figures might change dramatically in the near future, with designers putting a lot of focus on new color concepts with a focus on environment-based colors such as blue – the color being hailed as the next major color.

Source: Internet Autoguide

Now I guess this is where Mazda should place their arms akimbo and say “Hah!” to every car maker who’s gone way to sleek and soft with their designs. This latest study will make them so proud of their fierce Nagare design language because people apparently love angry-faced cars.

The study is anchored on the assumption that people see faces on cars. They took twenty each of sexes and asked them to rate cars based on the “traits represented maturity, sex, attitudes, emotions, and personality.” After which, they were asked as to “whether they saw a human face, animal face or no face at all on the cars.” Finally, they were asked whether they liked the car or not.

The study revealed that people like cars with more aggressive faces like the BMW M5 over the softer Toyota Prius. Well, I might have to agree to the results. There’s a reason why many see the Fiat Multipla as one f*ck-ugly car and for me, it’s because the Multipla looks like a car with a mutated face of a human-frog.

Source: MSNBC

I really appreciate these kinds of investigative reports. They just seem to be so Mythbuster-y. Auto Express recently tried out the Volkswagen Polo Bluemotion to check whether their claimed benefits would be worth the extra buck you have to pay for the eco badge.

Here’s what they found out – it can take as much as six years to get back the premium you pay for the eco model from what you save at the gas pump. Seems like it’s pretty much like the trade-your-SUV-in-for-a-hybrid case where it would take you a long time before you break even on an investment.

Auto Express picked a range of eco cars and compared their prices to the standard list price and factored in how long they need to recoup the premium driving 12,000 miles a year. On the average, eco badges add £1,230 to the list price while offering a few more MPGs.

While the higher MPGs strike buyers as a catch, for the Polo Bluemotion, for example, it takes more than six years to recoup the premium damage even if the Bluemotion version adds 20 more miles to the gallon! In their test, only the Hyundai i30 1.6 CRDi i-Blue offers demands no premium at all .

Price / Model / Time taken to difference recoup price difference

• VW Polo 1.4 TDI Bluemotion / £1,085 / Six years, six months
• VW Passat 1.9 TDI Bluemotion / £750 / Six years, two months
• Ford Focus 1.6 TDCi ECOnetic / £250 / Five years, four months
• VW Golf 1.9 TDI Bluemotion / £540 / Four years, six months
• SEAT Ibiza 1.4 TDI Ecomotive / £1,230 / Four years, three months
• Vauxhall Astra 1.7 CDTI ecoFLEX / £295 / Two years, five months
• SEAT Leon 1.9 TDI Ecomotive / £325 / One year, 11 months
• Skoda Fabia 1.4 TDI Greenline / £205 / One year, nine months
• Hyundai i30 1.6 CRDi i-Blue / None / Zero

Source: Auto Express

Sometimes you have to wonder whether psychologists just have a tad too much time on their hands. They just come up with all sorts of studies for the benefit of humankind. Even, if say, the most that they can actually do for most is to amuse us.

Just check out the results of this study they conducted correlating sound from a car’s engine to men and women responses. They took the sounds of a Maserati, a Lamborghini and a Ferrari, and a Volkswagon Polo then collected saliva specimen collected to check testosterone levels. And they found out that the sound does affect bodily responses.

The results found 100 per cent of female participants had a significant increase in testosterone secretion after listening to the Maserati, compared to only half for men.

Men fared better at the sound of a Lamborghini, with 60 per cent showing a testosterone increase.

I wonder how the Ferrari fared. The VW apparently caused a decrease in testosterone levels. Quite unfair for the VW. Even if they didn’t cite the engine displacements on the sports cars, I could only infer that the Polo only sports a 1.6L engine. Imagine what kind of “roar” that makes. That also shows that if you want to get some in-car action, better get the Maserati or better yet, plastic surgery.

Well, my conjecture still stays – the number of decibels the engine dishes out is inversely proportional to the size of a guy’s penis.

Source: The Telegraph

Our sister blog, Money Crashers, ran this post commenting on Smart Money’s take on the 5 Best Cars to Buy for College Students. But who comes up with such kind of “smart” advice anyway?

Come on! Buying a brand new car for your college kid? Sure they based their take on Kelly Blue Book’s list of cars to buy both used and old. But picking brand new cars for their list? Not all parents can afford $40,000 a year and throw in $15,000 (minimum) for a brand new car? This is just the reason why there’s a growing culture of kids expecting cars from their parents.

Gone are the days when getting a broken down Chevy Nova bought for a few hundred bucks complete with the “Sure it’s old, but it’s got character” motivational speech upon handing a kid the keys. No wonder kids are a lot brattier these days.

View Smart Money’s picks with my comments after the cut.

Read the rest of this entry »

For some reason, I’ve always hated Forbes for making me feel so insignificant and poor. Yet you have to hand it to them that they make quite the lists. Here’s one for the automotives section ranking the fastest cars in the world. Nope, it’s not the Veyron toping this one, but the American-made SSC Ultimate Aero rated by the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest production car built.

• SSC Ultimate Aero: 257mph – 0-60 in 2.78 secs
• Bugatti Veyron: 253mph – 0-60 in 2.5 secs
• Koenigsegg CCX: 250mph – 0-60 in 3.2 secs
• Saleen S7 Twin Turbo: 248mph – 0-60 in 3.2 secs
• Bristol Fighter T: 225mph – 0-60 in 3.5 secs
• Pagani Zonda F: 215 mph – 0-60 in 3.5 secs
• Spyker C8 Double 12 S: 215mph – 0-60 in 3.5 secs
• Lamborghini Murciélago LP640: 213mph – 0-60 in 3.3 secs
• McLaren Mercedes SLR: 206mph – 0-60 in 3.8 secs
• Silva GT3: 205mph – 0-60 in 3.7 secs

Needless to say, you need to be rich to afford such power and speed.

Source: Forbes

We love lists. While Forbes is the usual list generator for those concerned with cars and money, Time provides us with their own with The 50 Worst Cars of All Time. Time showcased 50 cars split into five generations (that’s more than a century of motoring for humankind) made in celebration of the 50th anniversary of perhaps the greatest lemon of motoring history – the Edsel.

Some might disagree with some of the picks which amazingly, included landmark vehicles such as the Model T and cult icons such as the DeLorean. But hey, can’t argue with the Edsel, right?

Read the rest of this entry »

If you’ve driven with your windows rolled down, then you probably have had the rather unpleasant experience of having a rouge bug mess with you inside the vehicle. Annoying buggers aren’t they?

Amazingly, in the UK, insects are said to be the cause of 650,000 accidents according to the DVLA. That’s a disturbing number with the resulting damage amounting to a whopping £44 million.

Read the rest of this entry »

Being a Top Gear fan, I always loved it when Clarkson kills vehicles. Sure the ways are too extreme (at least they proved that the Toyota Hilux was one tough mo-fo) but seeing things blow up sure is fun.AutoMotto recently posted this article on The Ways Ford Tortures Its Cars. The word torture caught my attention. (No, I don’t have aggression issues.)

Cars’ test models usually get pretty beat up during testing to make sure that the car’s structural integrity is decent once it hits the showrooms. Just take a look at the ways Ford do their torture tests, this time, on a 2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty.

Read the rest of this entry »

With all the hoopla about increased fuel efficiency and decreased CO2 emissions, it would be great to know which cars offer the best MPGs and the lowest CO2 emissions.

Auto Express revealed their list of the Top 100 Most Fuel-Efficient Cars. The list features cars rated in ten different categories – executive, family, SUVs, MPVs, sports, compact, superminis, city cars, cabriolets, and hatchbacks.

Here’s the list of the top 10 most fuel-efficient family cars.

Read the rest of this entry »

Get posh for less. Who wouldn’t want to drive (or be driven in) a comfy and luxurious set of wheels? But hey, acquiring a car isn’t just necessarily affording the MSRP and paying for it. Owning a vehicle factors in a lot of other things including maintenance costs, gas expenses, operating expenses, depreciation, insurance and taxes.

Money media Forbes released its Ten Least Expensive Luxury Vehicles to Own list. It’s a pretty good list since it factors in all the above-mentioned factors and gives with a five-year ownership expense. Hey, when they say least expensive, it doesn’t mean that we normal people would be able to afford it. Haha.

Read the rest of this entry »

After 12 years, Toyota-brand Lexus suddenly finds itself sharing the honors with another brand (a GM brand at that), Buick. This is according to JD Power’s 2007 Vehicle Dependability Study.

The study, which measures problems experienced by original owners of 3-year-old (2004 model year) vehicles, finds that Buick and Lexus tie for the top rank position with a score of 145 problems per 100 vehicles (PP100). Following in the top five rankings are Cadillac, Mercury and Honda, respectively.

What do manufacturers gain from building dependable vehicles? Well, aside from assuring customer satisfaction, they basically create a positive image that can translate to better sales, not to mention savings on warranty coverages for valid claims for repairs early in the ownership. And who wouldn’t want a car that known not to break down in the simplest of conditions, right?