2009 SEMA Show: World's fastest Honda Civic circa 1976

Way back in 1974, long before there was an Acura NSX, Honda S2000, or even a Civic Si, there was Honda performance pioneer Bob Boileau, otherwise know as “Honda Bob.”
 
Bob campaigned this Honda Civic on race circuits years before anybody started thinking of Hondas as performance cars. Bob and his Civic earned the title of World’s Fastest Civic in 1976, when he was clocked at 146 mph at Alabama’s Talladega Superspeedway. Bob went on to win six Sports Car Club of America GT5 championships between 1985 and 1990.

What makes all those championships even more notable is that Bob earned them back in the days when performance parts for the Civic were virtually unavailable. But he arguably helped set the stage for years of tuners and Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association (SEMA) show exhibitors to come.
 
This year the tiny, unrestored Civic earned a place in the back of the Honda booth at SEMA, duct-taped fenders and all.
 
Hats off, Honda Bob.
 
—Jim Travers

Review: Motorola Droid with free Google Maps Navigation

Navigation options continue to expand, with cell phones and smart phones providing alternatives to traditional portable navigation devices (PNDs). The latest such option is Google Maps Navigation, included in beta form on Android 2.0 devices. While Google Maps has long been available on the iPhone, this latest version offers true Google turn-by-turn directions for the first time on a mobile device. (Read our Android 2.0 navigation preview.)
 
The free Google Maps Navigation launches on the Motorola Droid phone with Verizon service. The Google service will expand to other phones and smart-phone platforms running other operating systems.
 
We tested the Google navigator on the Droid, a slider-style phone with a full QWERTY keyboard. The Droid has a 3.7-inch screen, giving it an advantage over the 3.5-inch iPhone screen. It also has the ability to run multiple applications at once, unlike the Apple phone. Perhaps the greater advantage is that it is on the Verizon network, rather than AT&T, which as been higher rated in our national cell phone surveys. (See our iPhone navigation app reviews.)
 
Verizon has the exclusive on the Motorola Droid, which is priced at $199, after a $100 rebate. Nationwide cell-phone voice plans begin at $40 a month, with e-mail/Web data plan adding at least $30.
 
Like other cell-phone navigators, Google Maps Navigation is server based—meaning it downloads maps and points of interest data as needed, rather than storing a large database on the device. Consequently, a data plan is required to use it. In addition, a cell signal is needed—limiting its usefulness in some remote places. In areas without a 3G network, downloading maps and recalculating routes can be slowed. An upside of this approach is that the data is always current and there is no need for map upgrades.
 
Test findings
As a navigator, Google Maps Navigation has common features, including spoken street names, and provides adequate routing. However, it does not include some features found on mid-priced PNDs and even some iPhone applications, such as reality view and lane assistance.
 
On the other hand, the free, bundled Android application has some of the more enticing features found in the online version of Google Maps. For example, a user can layer additional information on the main map screen, such as real-time traffic patterns, selected POIs, and satellite imagery of the actual landscape. “Street view” provides a photographic street-level representation, with the ability to zoom and pan the area. This could potentially be helpful when identifying a destination. All navigators indicate “you have arrived,” though this can theoretically literally show your destination.
 
These innovative features are novel, but the practical use when driving is limited. The satellite layer makes it more challenging to interpret the map at a glance, and street view can be confusing, as we found it often wasn’t accurate.
 
Following the connected trend among navigation devices, Google Maps Navigation taps users to supply traffic information, to provide user reviews for POIs, and to share their current location with Google Latitude.
 
Basic route guidance is adequate, providing turn-by-turn directions. Address entry is mixed. Some users found the onscreen menus to be less intuitive than those found on a traditional PND, and the touch-screen operation is less intuitive. The slide-out keyboard provides an alternative method to entering data, but its keys are small and closely placed. We found using it to be more difficult than with other competing devices. However, the Droid does have plain-speech voice recognition, allowing for verbal data entries in a more natural way than premium PNDs with voice recognition. We found this worked well.
 
The application sometimes feels more like using Google.com via a handheld, than an integrated solution. For example, a query from the main menu leads to Google.com, which can be confusing. To get results like on traditional PND, a user must be on the map screen (or navigation) then perform a search.  This will drop pins on the map and a user can select a pin to navigate too. The user can view the results in a list, as well, by tapping an icon.
 
When receiving a call, the screen changes and the map is no longer visible. This effectively negates the Android’s multitasking capabilities, whose chief in-car benefit would be to use the phone and navigation simultaneously.
 
Bottom line
The power and potential of Google Maps Navigation has captured the attention of the GPS industry and tech enthusiasts, but this service has a way to go to be compared among the best solutions for GPS navigation. That being said, if you decide to buy a phone with Google Maps Navigation preinstalled, it is adequate and would eliminate the need to pay for GPS and traffic services. But don’t let this software be the leading reason to purchase an Android 2.0 phone.

As we have seen with iPhone applications, software can advance rapidly. Clearly, Google Maps Navigation has promise. Consequently, competitors will likely redouble their development efforts, ensuring consumers have better navigation choices down the road. For now, we favor the better iPhone applications such as Navigon, Tomtom, and MotionX offerings for the combination of software and hardware.

For frequent use, a dedicated portable navigator remains the best choice.

 —Jeff Bartlett and Frank Spinelli

Also read:
Droid vs. iPhone: A 10-round bout
Our first impressions of the Motorola Droid
Garmin Nuvifone G60 navigation review

See our reviews of AT&T Navigator, iGo My Way, Gokivo, Navigon Mobile Navigator, Sygic Mobile Maps, TomTom iPhone application, and X Road G-Map for iPhone.

Images courtesy Motorola and Google.

2009 SEMA Show: Kustomizing the Toyota Prius

Back in the 1960s, long before marketing types had the option of simply ignoring spell check as has become the norm today, George Barris was known as King of the Kustomizers.
 
The King was the guy behind a number of designs recognizable to millions today, including many car-spotters who weren’t yet born when George and his team created them, such as the original Batmobile.
 
George is still in business, and he and his team chose SEMA to show their take on a Toyota Prius. The car was here last year, too, but what makes his Kustom more interesting is that Toyota is showing their own customized Prius this year, and it’s just down the hall. 
 
The Barris Kustom sports a trademark metalflake paint job, in this case a green and gold that could be, well, right out of the ‘60s. Toyota opted for a more subtle look, a pale metalflake blue that might indicate a corporate desire to not get too crazy with the Prius faithful. No harm, no foul.
 
Both opted for custom wheels, but where George went down the eighteen-inch chrome road with hubs painted green, Toyota chose clear plastic discs over their wheels for less drag. Toyota also fitted clear curved panels over the A pillars they say further reduce drag, but no information was offered as to how much drag these accessories reduced. Looking odd is just a bonus.
 
Those A-pillar panels probably wouldn’t have worked for George, because he added scissors front doors to his Prius. No information as to what those doors might do or not do for drag was offered, either.
 
But hey, they’re cool. And green. And metalflake.
 
Could hybrids be the next great frontier for hot rodders?
 
—Jim Travers

How to stop a runaway car: Don’t pump the brakes

Despite a massive recall by Toyota of 3.8 million vehicles to address sudden runaway acceleration, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is still investigating the exact cause of this problem. They are concerned that the accelerator pedal getting stuck by the floor mat – the purpose of the recall - is not the exclusive cause, according to the New York Times.

Whatever the cause of unintended acceleration, the best defense is to know how to safely regain control of the car should it happen to you. In a previous post, we wrote that putting a car in Neutral might save your life. Our latest tests show that pumping the brakes at full throttle can make a bad problem even worse, as demonstrated this video from ABC News. (See the report "Owners of Toyota cars in rebellion over series of accidents caused by sudden acceleration" at ABCNews.com.) 

A NHTSA report released this week points out that some drivers can “react by applying the brake pedal multiple times, depleting the braking system’s (vacuum based) power assist.
 
Testing theory at the track
We decided to find out just how quickly you could lose power brakes with a stuck throttle. Using our test track and several test vehicles, we accelerated to 60 mph and hit the brakes with the accelerator still floored. Once the brakes were applied, the vehicles began fighting us. The transmissions downshifted trying to maintain speed.
 
Instead of holding the brakes, we tried pumping them. This test confirmed that pumping the brakes is a really bad strategy. Power brakes rely on engine vacuum to provide additional brake pressure. At full throttle, the engine doesn’t generate any vacuum. So as soon as we removed and reapplied pressure to the brake pedal, the power assist disappeared and stopping the car became hopeless. “There was no way I could push hard enough on the brakes to slow the car down when the engine was fighting me,” said Sr. Automotive Engineer Jake Fisher.
 
Bottom line
The best strategy to stop a runaway car is to press and hold the brakes and shift into neutral. Modern cars have rev limiters, which will protect the engine from over-revving. Even if your car doesn’t, don’t worry about your engine’s life—worry about your own.

 —Eric Evarts

Related:
Gas-pedal inspection shows most do not pivot
More than floor mats: NHTSA report gives more details on Lexus crash
Putting a car in Neutral might save your life
Putting stuck floor mat survival strategies to the test
Floor mat survey reveals problem with all-weather mats
Toyota and Lexus floor mat recall is official
Toyota advises 3.8 million Lexus and Toyota owners to remove floor mats
Misaligned floor mat may have caused calamity

Gas-pedal inspection shows most do not pivot

Preliminary federal investigation into a highly publicized unintended-acceleration crash involving a Lexus ES 350 crash this past August is pointing toward incorrect floor mats as a significant factor. The cause of the crash is described as “very excessive speed” linked to the accelerator being fully depressed. (Read "More than floor mats: NHTSA report gives more details on Lexus crash.")
 
Toyota issued a recall on 3.8 million cars to have owners remove the floor mats from the vehicles. But the other part of the equation in the investigation is the accelerator pedal itself. An initial investigation of the crashed car found the rubberized plastic all-weather floor mat was fused to the rubberized plastic accelerator pedal in the fire that followed the crash (pdf). That mat wasn’t intended for the ES; rather it was a mat from an RX 400h.
 
The report also noted that the Lexus’s accelerator “is not hinged and has no means for relieving forces caused by interferences.” All gas pedals move up and down to control the engine speed, and most are hinged either at the top or the bottom. Some pedals also tilt relative to the arm they’re mounted on (though this has no effect on the throttle. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) seems to imply that if the pedal had a second hinge, it might have been easier for the driver to get it unstuck from the floor mat.
 
We checked our Auto Test Center parking lot to find how many cars had such a double-hinged pedal. Of 45 cars we checked, we found only the Kia Optima LX four-cylinder had a double-hinged pedal (show right)—our Optima EX V6 did not. In the LX sedan, the pedal was so high off the floor that it seems unlikely that an unsecured floor mat could reach it, as investigators suggest may have been the case in the Lexus crash. All other pedals checked in our lot were rigid, one-piece designs (see above), some hinged at the top, and some at the bottom.
 
We’re not sure whether the double-hinged design would help or not. But it seems an answer not many automakers are pursuing. For its part, Toyota says it is working on solutions that prevent the throttle from sticking, rather than those that would mitigate the effects of a stuck throttle.

 —Eric Evarts

Related:
More than floor mats: NHTSA report gives more details on Lexus crash
Putting a car in Neutral might save your life
Putting stuck floor mat survival strategies to the test
Floor mat survey reveals problem with all-weather mats
Toyota and Lexus floor mat recall is official
Toyota advises 3.8 million Lexus and Toyota owners to remove floor mats
Misaligned floor mat may have caused calamity

Video: Diesel comparison - BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen

For buyers looking for a fuel efficient car, diesels provide an alternative to hybrids. Popular in Europe for years, more diesels are making their way to the U.S. market.

Modern diesels escape many of the liabilities of earlier designs. They are quieter, burn cleaner, and have much improved acceleration. Fuel economy is considerably improved over gasoline-powered versions.

But buying a diesel usually means paying more up front. Finding a diesel pump isn't quite as easy as locating gasoline, and diesel fuel prices recently have fluctuated widely. Except for Volkswagen, diesel vehicle availability is also limited to high-price luxury brands.

In this video, we take a look at four diesels—Mercedes-Benz GL320 Bluetec, BMW 335d, BMW X5, and the Volkswagen Jetta TDI—and their pros and cons.

—Tom Mutchler

Camaro driving tip: Skip the drive thru

Most of us don’t have the foresight or sufficient time to include a trip through the drive-through ATM in our new car test-driving regimen. But after a quick stop at the ATM for coffee money this morning on the way to work, I’m suggesting prospective Chevrolet Camaro buyers might want to give it a try. (Watch our Camaro video review.)
 
For openers, lets talk about windows. The Camaro’s don’t open much. They’re low, like the rest of the car, and don’t provide a lot of room for unfolding an arm. Or reaching the ATM buttons. Or even seeing them.
 
Visibility in general is not a Camaro strong suit, but when you can’t see the ATM you’re sitting next to, it takes a lack of a view to new heights. Or lows. I had to crane my neck just to see where the machine spat out my receipt, let alone reach it. And forget about opening the long, wide door to make things easier. There’s no room for that, either.
 
None of this is likely to be enough to be a deal breaker for anyone considering a new Camaro, nor should it be. Our Camaro SS has plenty of virtues, from it’s strong, smooth, 425-hp V8 to its combination of good handling and decent ride for a musclecar. But if your motoring plans ever include a drive-through ATM or stop for a cheeseburger and bucket-sized beverage, you might want to wait to see if Chevy introduces a convertible model.
 
As for me, I’ll just skip the drive-thru for my coffee. Passing 20 ounces of hot Columbian Supremo through that window is just asking for trouble.
 

—Jim Travers

See our full Chevrolet Camaro review and ratings (available to online subscribers.)

More than floor mats: NHTSA report gives more details on Lexus crash

It may not be just floor mats that lead to sudden unintended acceleration in Toyota and Lexus models, which were factors in killed California Highway Patrolman Mark Saylor and his family this summer.
 
More information has come to light regarding Toyota Motor Company’s 3.8-million vehicle recall for sudden unintended acceleration. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released a report about its inspection of the vehicle that suggests factors beyond the floor mats as potential culprits or complicating factors (NHTSA report pdf).

Highlights include:

According to the NHTSA report, the mats in the Lexus ES 350 that Saylor was driving were made for a Lexus RX 400h SUV, not the ES 350 sedan.

The gas pedal was fused to the mat in the fire that ensued after the crash. The gas pedal used a single hinge on the upper end, and it did not have a center pivot that might have made it easier to get the pedal out from under a floor mat. (To be fair, most accelerator pedals lack a center pivot – of 44 cars we surveyed in our parking lot, only the Kia Optima had a center hinge pivot.)
 
The Lexus that Saylor was driving had a keyless ignition, which uses a start/stop button to start and stop the engine. There is no traditional key to turn if you need to shut the engine off in an emergency. In the case of the ES 350, the button needs to be held for three seconds before it will turn off the engine if the car is in gear. Toyota says it considered this a safety feature to prevent the engine from turning off if the button were pressed accidentally. However, the report points out that Saylor was traveling at an estimated 100 mph—that’s the equivalent of traveling one and a half football field in three seconds.
 
The ES had a data recorder but its information has not yet been reviewed.  

Brian Lyons, Toyota’s manager of safety and quality communications, says the company is looking at features to mitigate problems with stuck accelerators following the accident. “Our focus is on avoidance of the problem, rather than measures to mitigate it” in case the throttle becomes stuck, he says.
 
Bottom line:
As the investigation continues, we expect further insights to emerge from both federal departments and Toyota, especially once the event data recorder has been examined. In the meantime, Consumer Reports will continue to explore related issues, as we have done previously with our blog posts on floor mats and unintended acceleration survival strategies.

For now, our advice remains that moving the gear selector to neutral is the best option.
 
—Eric Evarts

Updated 11/3/09

2009 Annual Auto Reliability Survey: Where Ford really stands

Since we announced the results from our latest auto reliability survey, there has been a lot of buzz—and a wide range of interpretation—in the media and blogosphere about Ford’s strong showing. On one hand, I’ve seen a headline that said Ford is number one. (It’s not.) And I’ve seen writers wondering aloud if we’re shilling for the company—casting it in an overly rosy light. (We’re not.)
 
We are always glad to see an automaker raise the level of quality and reliability in its cars. It’s good for consumers who don’t want the hassle and expense of a lot of problems down the road. But, let’s be clear: while Ford is easily the best of the domestic automakers in terms of reliability, it’s still no Toyota or Honda. (Read our full report on car reliability.)
 
Here’s the picture in nutshell:
Toyota and Honda clearly dominate in reliability. They have five of the top seven brands in our ranking: Scion, Honda, Toyota, Acura, and Lexus. All of their models are average or better. Of the 48 models that get our top predicted-reliability rating, 17 are built by Toyota and seven by Honda. That’s half. If you just look at the top 10 models, seven are built by Toyota and two by Honda. (The other is a Mercedes-Benz.) And of the 16 vehicle categories for which we have predicted-reliability ratings, nine are topped by a Toyota-built vehicle and two by Hondas. Overall, that’s a pretty convincing case.
 
When it comes to Ford, we’ve said that it’s the only Detroit automaker that’s building cars with world-class reliability. What do we mean by “world class”? Ninety percent of the 51 models for which we have data are average or above. It is the only American automaker to earn our top rating, received by eight of its models. And only five models are below average. That’s also impressive.
 
Here are some highlights:
The Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan are among the top models in the family cars class, under only the Toyota Prius. Six versions rate higher than any versions of the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, which have typically done very well in our survey results and are often perceived as the paradigms of reliability.
 
The front-wheel-drive Lincoln MKZ tops the upscale cars category, beating out such high-scoring competitors as the Acura TL and Lexus ES. The front-wheel-drive Ford Edge and V6 Mustang rank near the top of their classes. And most other Ford-built models are in the upper half of their categories.
 
Despite all of this goodness, Ford still has its weaknesses. The mighty Ford F-250 turbodiesel 4WD pickup has the fifth worst score in the survey results. The front-wheel-drive Lincoln MKS is at the bottom of the upscale cars category. And three all-wheel-drive Lincolns (MKS, MKX, and MKZ) were also below average.

So, of the 33 brands that we rank, Mercury came in at number 10.  Ford ranked at 16th (still made the top half), and Lincoln’s problematic models sank it to 20th place. (In contrast, Buick, which is GM’s highest-ranked brand, is 19th and Jeep, Chrysler’s highest, is 30th.)

The bottom line
Ford has made some very reliable vehicles, right in there with other generally reliable Asian automakers Honda, Toyota, and the company has been able to maintain that consistency for several years now. So, yes, we think that’s worth a hearty attaboy. But, no, Ford is not yet at the top of the heap.

For more information, visit our guide to reliability. See how the automakers compare (available to online subscribers).

 —Rik Paul

2010 Cadillac CTS – Flash-to-pass, part 3

Sometimes we wonder why is it so hard for some companies to do something that everybody else does as a matter of course. Nearly two years ago we took GM to task for a flaw on the very nice 2008 Cadillac CTS. That car lacked a flash-to-pass headlight feature. GM promised to correct that, and they have--partially.
 
The omission affected CTS versions with bi-xenon headlights which come on the Premium trim line.
 
We just purchased a new CTS sedan with the direct-injection 3.6-liter V6, Premium package and FE2 suspension.
 
Indeed, GM has not only added the flash-to-pass feature but notes triumphantly that it didn’t even cost them any money. The feature was there all along but it was disabled, GM explains, for bulb-longevity reasons. Frankly, the longevity argument doesn’t cut much ice. Xenon lights already have a much longer life expectation than halogens. But here’s the real caveat: The CTS’s new flash-to–pass is momentary. The high beam duration is merely one second regardless of how long you squeeze the left stalk. If you hold it with the intention of maintaining high beams for several seconds, you still get only one single flash that goes off after the one second, which is unlike almost any other car. You might have to blip the stalk multiple times to get an inattentive driver’s attention.
 
Examining the headlight unit reveals that there is no dedicated bulb for the flash-to-pass feature, which other bi-xenon systems employ. The CTS instead only briefly triggers the regular high beam. That’s a creative (read: cheap) way to get off the hook. We’ll take it for now, but it’s no free pass. Hopefully, it won’t take another two years to get a continuous flash-to-pass.

See the related posts:
The stalk that broke the Cadillac CTS' back
No flash-to-pass for Cadillac CTS, part 2
 
—Gabe Shenhar