Driving through winter poses risks that can be overcome with a few simple tips:
A businessman walked into a New York City bank and asked for the loan officer. He said he was going to Europe on business for two weeks and needed to borrow $5,000. The loan officer said the bank would need some security for such a loan.
The business man then handed over the keys to a Maseratti that was parked on the street in front of the bank. Everything checked out and the loan officer accepted the car as collateral for the loan. An employee then drove the Rolls into the bank’s underground garage and parked it there.
Two weeks later the businessman returned, repaid the $5,000 and the interest which came to $15.41.
The loan officer said, “We do appreciate your business and this transaction has worked out very nicely, but we are a bit puzzled. While you were away we checked and found that you are a billionaire. What puzzles us is why you would bother to borrow $5,000?”
The business man replied: “Where else in New York City can I park my car for two weeks for fifteen bucks?”
Winter is the time when normal rules of car behavior cease to apply in many places where the mercury drops below zero. Snow, sleet, and ice not only make driving hazardous, they also make special demands of your vehicle.
The coolant is easily the most critical component that needs to be taken care of in the freezing months. If the coolant is not cared for, it may freeze and render the engine useless. You can check the freezing point of your coolant with a Ball-Type tester. Ideally, the coolant should be changed every 30,000 miles or two years.
Keep the car body panels free from damage by washing your car so that salt and other chemicals used to melt the ice on the roads do not stay adhered to the car body. Waxing the car body prevents snow from damaging the paint.
Traction is important during winter months so check the tread depth and the tire pressure which tends to drop during the winter months. If your all-season tires are worn out you may want to replace them with steel wheels that have dedicated snow tires on them.
Your windshield washer solvent can withstand cold up to ten degrees below, if temperatures fall below that in your area, consider an alternative wiper solution. Also, your winter wiper blades should have some protection on the pivots so that they don’t freeze over and can flex easily to scrape the ice and snow off the windshield. Your battery should be fully charged to give you the power necessary for revving up a cold engine. Ensure that the battery terminals stay clean by coating them with white lithium grease.
Consider placing a radiator cover if you are using a diesel engine that does not release as much heat as a gas engine. The cover will help to control the flow of warm air from the radiator. An electric engine heater guarantees an engine start even in cold conditions. Heaters help maintain the viscosity of the engine oil. They can fit into the upper radiator hose or in the space used for the dipstick.
It is imperative that the exhaust should not leak; do not run the air conditioning in the car for long periods if the exhaust is not inspected. There is a real danger of carbon monoxide seeping into the seating area and causing fatalities.
The bank of america has always supported its customers who claim bankruptcy. However the compass bank does delay their credit card processing. In a similar fashion, the deutsche bank also has some qualms in sanctioning the home loans of such people.
Although cars are still fulfilling the basic function for which they were invented; they have undergone some change in terms of the features and accessories they come equipped with. The advancements in these features have rendered the average car owner almost helpless when it comes to dealing with issues. Anti-lock brakes, computer controlled entertainment systems, and exhausts designed to keep up with stringent emission norms are just some of the cutting edge features that 21st century software-laden cars are equipped with.
Auto makers now provide us with on-board diagnostic (OBD) systems that track the functioning of the applications fitted on to the vehicle. These OBD systems alert us if a problem is serious enough to require repair, if not they generate an error code every time a problem occurs. For example, if the air conditioning does not cool to the desired level, the OBD issues an error code that is deposited in the memory of the vehicle’s computer.
Currently, cars in America are fitted with diagnostic systems compliant with OBD II. From 2008 onwards, a new standard CAN will be implemented. If you intend to purchase automotive code readers or scanners, check of they are compliant with CAN.
A bad credit loan is not something your citicard would appreciate, specially if you are claiming reimbursements on your medical insurance. The visa card is a bit lenient in its personal loan policies though. In any case, avoid looking at a rental property unless you can afford with cash balance.
What does an electric fuel pump do, well, apart from stopping when an accident occurs it delivers the right volume of fuel to the fuel injection system at the right pressure.
Any experienced mechanic will tell you that the most common cause of no-start that he has encountered is the in-tank electric fuel pumps not working properly.
The most common reason for the electric fuel tank tanking is neglecting scheduled maintenance and cleaning the fuel filter. A choked filter impedes the flow of fuel from the pump, thereby damaging it. A filter should ideally be replaced every 24 months or 24,000 miles. Fuel filters do not cost more than $100-$110. A fuel pump replacement can be almost 7-8 times more expensive.
A filled tank helps to keep the fuel pump cool. You should try and keep the tank more than 1/4th full at all times and anytime you happen to run the pump with an empty tank, be prepared to shop for a new pump. A full tank also prevents the pump from sucking in sediments from the bottom, if the strainer at the pump inlet gets clogged, it will reduce the flow of fuel into the pump, which can lead to overheating of the pump and subsequent failure.
Keep your eyes and ears open for tell-tale signs that all is not well with your fuel pump. The pump may emit an uncharecteristic whine, the car may stall or the engine may not start at all. Head for the nearest service station without delay if you do not want to aggaravate the problem.
Every sport has its greats, its Hall of Famers, its legends that devotees speak about with whispered awe. The true lifeblood of any sport, however, runs through its rivalries, when the drive to become the best becomes more personal and when one figures absolute dominance in the sphere is always in doubt due to a hated rival.
Though NASCAR rules have recently become stricter with regard to revenge-based tactics and such, history is laden with examples of head-to-head battles in individual races and the title chase. And some would argue that the NASCAR rivalry hasn’t gone away in the 21st century, it’s just taken on different forms.
For your consideration, five great rivalries in NASCAR history.
Richard Petty vs. David Pearson
What is generally considered the greatest rivalry in NASCAR history was a month-to-month year-to-year dogfight between perhaps the two greatest drivers of their era culminated with what is generally considered the greatest finish in a NASCAR race. Video here.
Ultimately, Pearson and Petty finished 1-2 in either combination 63 times from 1963-1977; Pearson garnered a slight edge at 33 wins to 30 over a guy who would pile up an “unbeatable” 200 wins. The careers of these two all-time greats would come to a head in 1976, and propelled the sport into national consciousness the way only a good rivalry can. (Think Larry Bird’s Celtics vs. Magic Johnson’s Lakers in the 80s.)
“Silver Fox” Pearson was driving the maroon-and-white Wood Brothers no. 21 Mercury; Puraltor sponsored the car, a machine heavily influenced by the Canepa Design’s Bill France who wanted to fulfill his desire to “inject international sports car endurance competition with a taste of ‘good old boy’-style stock car racing.” Petty having been won back to Plymouth in 1970, thanks to the Plymouth Superbird, which appears in Pixar’s movie “Cars,” Petty was now driving a Dodge. Petty Enterprises’ 1976 version of number 43 was a Charger built in 1974 that Petty has called his all-time favorite.
And now to THAT race…
On the final lap of the Daytona 500, Pearson finally manages to pass Petty on the inside coming around turn 4, but the obstacle of another, slower car driven by Joe Frasson presents itself. Both Pearson and Petty went high on the track to get by Frasson, and Petty manages to retake the lead by passing Pearson on the inside before making what he later freely admitted was a mistake: Petty seeks to pass Pearson to the right in order to put #21 squarely behind him. Petty’s right rear bumper makes contact with Pearson’s left front bumper. Both fishtail into the final lap, hitting the barrier wall at different points, and smashing their vehicles in different ways. Petty spins to a stop on the infield grass, unable to start his car. Pearson is nudged just enough by the reappearing Frasson who, in attempting evasive maneuvers, spins Pearson’s car just enough so that it faces the finish line. Because Pearson had “had the presence of mind to engage the clutch … his engine is still running.”
Pearson crosses the finish line for the win at about 20 MPH, Petty is pushed across by his pit crew for second place, Jackie Stewart goes nuts, watch video and NASCAR gains instant notoriety by dint of the greatest one-two combination the sport has ever had.
Cale Yarborough vs. the Allison brothers
Sure, Pearson and Petty went mano e mano on the track dozens of times, but their fierce rivalry never actually came to blows as in the infamous Daytona 500 in 1979, an incident that Yarborough called in a television interview (video) “one of the biggest things that ever happened to the sport.”
The Allison brothers Bobby and Donnie gained quite a reputation as the bad boys of the sport in the 1970s, heading up a group known in the sport as the “Alabama gang.” Those Allison Boys resembled their namesakes of the Old West as they caused animosity from all the 70s greats, but “No grudge was more flammable” than that between them and Yarborough.
Off-track, Bobby Allison’s blood got to boiling after the 1973 National 500. In that race, Allison finished third behind Yarborough and Richard Petty, and subsequently disputed the legality of Yarborough’s and Petty’s engines. NASCAR ruled against Allison, and Bobby never forgot the slight, though he did receive “satisfactory restitution.”
Though neither Allison boy nor Yarborough was listed as winner in the 1979 Daytona 500, this was a race that brought the three drivers national notoriety and a place in the sport’s history. Earlier in the year, Bobby had nipped Yarborough at the finish line of the IROC 6 event to finish third to set the table for Daytona.
After an early lap had all three cars leaving the track, Yarborough and Donnie Allison fought their way back into first and second places. On turn 3 of the final lap, however, Yarborough’s #11 tried for a tight squeeze between Allison and the inner grass. Yarborough was bumped onto the grass, came back onto the track, and the two cars began knocking on each other’s doors until they appeared to lock together, causing a collision with the wall that knocked both out and gave the win to Petty.
What happened next got all the attention. Already eliminated from contention, Bobby Allison pulled off the track. Yarborough, already chewing out Donnie, saw Bobby and hit him with his helmet. The road-rage induced fistfight was on, creating a truly hateful rivalry mostly missing from the sport today, but remembered fondly by many as a defining moment in NASCAR, as a reason “Why We Love NASCAR” and as simply “great entertainment.”
Jeff Gordon vs. two generations of Earnhardts
Modern NASCAR fans often lament the lack of a good old-fashioned blood-and-guts rivalry in their favorite sport these days, with league officials doing their best to crackdown on plays at revenge and, well, fistfighting, in an era were live broadcasts of races are commonplace.
Ironically, there has been something of a rivalry – albeit of a more abstract nature – going on in the sport for more than ten years. Jeff Gordon, today’s undisputed greatest NASCAR driver, took his first Winston Cup title in 1995, defeating back-to-back reigning champion Dale “The Intimidator” Earnhardt. Then 24, the win signified the overnight sensation’s entrance onto the scene and overthrow of long-time no. 1. The season of 1995 was called the “embodiment of Old School NASCAR vs. New School NASCAR,” a war between North and South, a fight between Beauty and the Beast.
Earnhardt Sr. would never add another to his seven titles before his death on the track in 2001; Gordon in his #24 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS won three between 1995 and 1998, adding a fourth in the year of Earnhardt Sr.’s passing. Meanwhile, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had been working his way to the top under his father’s guidance, actually splitting the driving in a single car for some races in 2000-2001, and taking the Busch Series Cup in 1998 and 1999.
Today, both Earnhardt Jr. and Gordon own cars on the circuit as well, creating some sort of head-to-head opportunity in the majority of NASCAR races today. Fan bases for the two have “create[d] a grandstand Mason-Dixon line that exists to this very day.” And, though it may be folly to call Gordon-Earnhardt Jr. a full-fledged rivalry, as we’ve yet to see a full-on championship battle between the two, these guys will surely go down as rivals for title of The Greatest in the post-Earnhardt Sr. era.
In the 2007 season, Gordon needs two Nextel Cup victories to best Earnhardt Sr.’s 76 (he’s nine shy of Darrell Waltrip’s all-time best 84). While in the ultra-civilized 21st century NASCAR world, Earnhardt Jr. will probably offer congratulations, it’s hard to belief competitiveness would allow The Intimidator’s son to merely roll over and let Gordon win.
Darrell Waltrip vs. Bobby Allison
Though the period of the 1970s and 80s was loaded with names like Petty and Pearson, Yarborough and Earnhardt, making for true golden age of the sport, the Nextel Cup competition from 1981 to 1983 were all about Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison.
Interestingly, it was a true golden era for Buick as well. Both Waltrip and Allison drove Buick Regals, producing a three-year mini-dynasty for Buick, sandwiched between six years of dominance by Chevrolet’s Monte Carlos. Buick has no other Nextel Cup championships to its credit.
Waltrip took the flag in 1981 and 1982, with Allison finishing second both times. Allison turned the tables on Waltrip in 1983, and Waltrip took home silver that year. It was a true battle between those NASCAR enthusiasts loved to hate. Waltrip’s domination in the early ‘80s often got him booed by Petty-adoring fans and others. Unless, of course, you asked Waltrip, who claimed they were merely cheering for his sponsor, Mountain Dew.
The year 1983 was a peak year for Allison in terms of popularity as well, marking the third year he’d been voted Most Popular Driver by NASCAR fans, an award he’d surely never threaten for again, thanks to the bad-boy rep of the Alabama gang.
Allison’s career was cut short due to a brain injury suffered in a 1988 crash, thereby depriving fans of another points battle like those of the early decade. Currently, Waltrip and Allison are tied for third on the list of number of NASCAR wins at 84: a good way for history to remember a pair that shaped 80s NASCAR.
Ford vs. Chevrolet
In sports, we must always remember that, while the individuals come and go, franchises live on. And the most memorable of sports rivalries are those larger than a history of an athlete’s career (or even a lifetime): Lakers vs. Celtics, Yankees vs. Red Sox, Brazilian football vs. the world. In NASCAR, that rivalry is Ford vs. Chevy.
The two participants have been involved in NASCAR racing since the very beginning, though the early to mid-1950s were dominated by the likes of the Hudson Hornet and the Oldsmobile 88. (Incidentally, some sources state that 1949’s “Rocket 88” by Bill Haley and Comets is the very first rock ‘n’ roll song.)
It was the switch of 1956 champion Buck Baker from the Chrysler 300-B to a Chevrolet in that key year of 1957 – NASCAR’s version of the Babe Ruth trade. Thus began a rivalry between the companies that would see one of the two take 31 of the next 49 Nextel Cups, including 15 of 17 since 1990 and five of the last six.
The list of winning drivers for the Detroit motor companies naturally reads like a “Who’s Who” of racing history, with Chevrolet definitely the Yankees of this rivalry. Ford started putting drivers in Tauruses beginning in 2003 and now the similar Fusion, a formula that has made this race for superiority too close to call in this decade.
NASCAR champion drivers for Chevy through the years include Baker, Rex White, David Pearson, Benny Parsons, Cale Yarborough, Dale Earnhardt Sr., Darrell Waltrip, Jeff Gordon, Terry Labonte, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, and even Richard Petty, who came ‘round to Chevrolet in 1979.
Ford champions include Bill Elliott, Alan Kulwicki, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, and Dale Jarrett. The only champion to drive for both sides was Jarrett’s father Ned, who took 1961’s title with a Chevrolet Impala then switched to a Ford Galaxie in 1964,only to finish second to a first-time winner named Richard Petty, and took it all in 1965 for his last championship.
Today, the biggest teams in American motor sports are said to be Roush Racing and Hendrick Motorsports; Roush is Ford, Hendrick is Chevy, and the rivalry among fans is more bitter than ever. As a NASCAR enthusiast, you can love Ford drivers or you can love Chevy drivers, but you can’t love both. According to one story on the competition, “when Mark Martin falls off the pace, even he anxiously pulls for one of his Ford stablemates to beat ‘that other car.’” (Ironically, since publication of the article, Martin has switched to Chevrolet for the 2007 season.)
Ah, the drive to win at all costs against a nameless force: Now isn’t that what the greatest of rivalries – and sports itself – is all about?
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The key factor that decides the type of auto loan you should be opting for is the duration of the loan. The advent of the internet has made it very easy to look up information on the kind of auto loan best suited to your needs.
A long term loan is usually for a period of 36, 48, or 60 months. The advantage of such a loan is the smaller monthly payments but on the flip side you end up paying more over the period of the loan because of the higher APR. If you are currently making use of a long term auto loan, you could consider auto refinancing to save money on your auto loans.
A short term loan can be of up to 36 months. Higher monthly payments but low payment overall is the sterling feature of a short term loan. The APR is lower than what you would face in a long term loan.
Now it has become possible for people to access auto loans even after filing for bankruptcy. When applying for a post-bankruptcy car loan, ensure that your credit score reflects your latest credit situation so that your lender can offer you a loan that best represents your present situation.
You can get a car loan even if you have bad credit, payday loans have been around for a long time and are a great source of quick money for an emergency car repair, be it the brakes, horn, or a vehicle overhaul. These loans are hassle-free, do not require a credit check and are ideal for any unforeseen auto expenses for up to $600.
Larger auto expenses, like buying a new or used car, for a person with bad credit are also possible with bad credit auto loans. These are the same as other loans except that you may require a co-signer and your rate of interest will be higher. Interest rates are lower if you purchase a used car from a dealer.
A Student Car Loan lets you acquire your dream set of wheels at half the normal interest rate. You have to be a student to avail this loan and if you pay off the loan successfully, it helps to establish credit as well. Once out of college, you will require good credit credentials for various financial transactions.
You can also obtain an auto loan by offering your house as collateral through a home equity auto loan. You can avail some tax advantages as well with this type of auto loan.
An interesting type of loan is the car title loan where you use your car as collateral to achieve some short-term financial objectives. Try not to get into it, instead give payday loans a thought.
You may want to consider leasing as an option, the advantage with leasing is that the lease buy-out requires lower monthly payments as compared to loans but you need to furnish good credit.
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Sold for $2 million, the first Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe has become the most expensive new car ever to debut in America. It was purchased by real estate developer Raymond Lutgert at the Naples Winter Wine Festival. The car debuted at the Detroit Motor Show last month. As with all Rolls-Royce classics, this one too is handmade and features a body of lightweight aluminum. All coupes to be made in 2007 have been sold out already; before you get swayed by the pic and reach out for your check books, it’s only fair for us to let you know that these beauties carry a starting price of $407,000.The convertible features a cloth roof instead of the modern practice of using metal. The car looks like a throwback to a bygone age when such big and lovely animals graced the roads. The Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe is the world’s longest and most expensive convertible fit for those who can afford and indulge in long romantic drives in beautiful weather.
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Suddenly, they’re everywhere, as ubiquitous as the news of global warming itself: Hybrid models. These new vehicles, issued mostly from Japan with the U.S. closely and Europe a bit further behind, are those defined as having “two engines, combining the power and longevity of a piston engine with the zero emission efficiency of an electric motor.”
In the five years from 2000 to 2005, hybrid auto sales increased from a mere 9,500 to a whopping 212,000. In 2006, that number increased to almost 350,000 with over 144,000 sold in the United States alone. And with recent stringent legislation on auto emissions passed by the California state government (and used as guide by eight northeastern states as well), hybrids will only become more popular.
And, thanks to federally-mandated tax breaks and increased competition, less expensive.
For those of you interested in this soon-to-be essential responsible technology, here are eleven models to look out for in 2007 – ten actual and one virtual.
1. “A Prius on steroids”: Toyota’s FT-HS Hybrid Sports Concept
Toyota has earned an early reputation as the international “hybrid leader,” and why not? Toyota was one of the very first to jump into the hybrid market and the Prius was called “just about the most economical car you can buy” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/cars/story/0,15383,1357788,00.html) based on selection by the Environmental Transport Association, a UK-based organization devoted to awareness-raising on the impact of the automobile, back in 2004.
That same year, the UK government environmental institution the Energy Saving Trust dubbed the Prius 1.5 best-in-class family hatchback and, perhaps most importantly on the sales side, the vehicle took home the prestigious Motor Trend magazine “Car of the Year” award for 2004, the first hybrid ever to win the prize.
And this year, Toyota introduced the “Prius on steroids” at the 100th Detroit Auto Show in January. Sort of. The FT-HS Hybrid Sports Concept wasn’t actually on display, but attendees checked out a computer-generated image of what the inevitably to-be-called “futuristic” vehicle will look like.
The rear-wheel drive Hybrid Sports Concept will boast a 400 horsepower engine, figures to go 0-60 mph in “about 4 seconds” and will cost around $35,000. A 3.5-liter V6 engine would deliver most of the thrust, and most experts suspect it will be an upgrade in design and performance of the 292-horsepower DOHC 3.5-liter V6 in the Lexus GS 450H.
2. Honda Civic for sportsters and geeks
If you’re involved in the quest for a hybrid car, you’ll undoubtedly stumble across the Honda Civic hybrid. Perhaps the most popular electrical hybrid ever, the Civic recently received the highest ranking in the latest U.S. Department of Energy study on all hybrid vehicles available in America in terms of waste. The Civic scored a 9 out of 10, the only car in any class to receive such a mark.
However, there has been bad news lately, and it’s big news. Just this week, Honda Motor Co. announced plans to recall 45,355 Civic sedans worldwide, mostly in Japan and America. Vehicles sold between September 2005 and September 2006 are affected; the company stated it would repair the defect in the electrical system and return the vehicles to their owners.
Meanwhile, Honda is advancing their wildly popular technology by hoping to appeal to sports-car lovers and doodad-lovers alike. Starting in March, we’ll surely be hearing more about Honda’s Small Hybrid Sports Concept, a sports car to be developed in Germany and be introduced at the 2007 Geneva Motor Show.
Of course, on a gut consumer level, how about, say, iPod adaptors that will be offered on all Honda hybrids soon?
3. Scion XB, Scion XD, Scion tC: Dude, where’s my virtual car?
Back in Toyota land, much hype centers on the Scion XB Wagon. In one of the highest-tech forms of advertising ever, the intensely clever Toyota marketing folks launched a model called the “Scion XD” in the virtual online world known as Second Life.
With the XD launch / virtual advertising campaign (geez, the line between reality and virtuality is blurring, eh?), Toyota officials even held a press conference in Tokyo and also in Second Life. Today, Second Lifers can play with the XD online.
By the way, Toyota released an actual minivan in the Scion line – the Scion XB last week at the Chicago Auto Show.
Getting universal praise for the more curvaceous design expected of 21st century vehicles, the Scion XB is a decent choice for those doing the majority of their driving on the highway, as its gas mileage tends to increase here.
The coupe known as the Scion tC was also showed off at the Chicago Auto Show. The power on this one has stayed at 161 horsepower and includes that wonderful iPod technology.
4. Saturn gets on the Green Line
Saturn is trying to stay near the top of the hybrid game, having carved out a place in niches from roadsters to mid-size sedans. The Vue is the small-sized SUV from Saturn and early sneak peeks have observers gushily buzzing about the “major makeover” for the 2008 model. The Vue is now available in its “Red Line” edition powered by a 3.6-liter V6 General Motors gasoline engine to deliver 250 horsepower. Prices range from $18,000 to $27,000.
Available later this year will be the “Green Line” version, which is set to offer even more in fuel savings thanks to the electric motor, will be out in the third quarter.
In sedans, Saturn’s Aura hybrid is equipped with an electric motor and the 4-cylinder engine found in the Vue SUV. The engine provides 164 horsepower. This hybrid will be released next spring with sticker price around $23,000.
5. Highlander taking the high road
Already among the second-most popular crossover SUVs, the Toyota Highlander SUV is set to become more so with the introduction of bigger and hybrid versions.
The 2008 Highlander hybrid is set for an August release and will use the 3.3 liter V6 engine currently in use in the standard 2007 models. The hybrid version carries an interesting feature in its “EV Only” mode, which runs on just the fully charged battery up to 25 miles per hour for short distances.
The standard Highlander will be getting a 3.5-liter V-6 engine, rated 270 horsepower and 249 pounds-feet of torque, increases of 55 hp and 27 lbs.-ft. over the small engine. The hybrid Highlander was originally forecast to have a fuel economy rating of 31 miles per gallon in town, 27 mpg on the highway.
The current Highlander starts at about $25,000, while the hybrid carries price tags from $33,000.
6. Hybrid luxury from (who else?) Lexus
Also in the hybrid SUV game is Lexus with its luxury-level SUVs, the RX400H and the GS450H. The GS450H carries a “high performance designation” with its 3.5 liter V6 and hybrid system, a combined rating of 339 horsepower and goes 0 to 60 mph in 5.2 seconds.
The 2007 Lexus RX400H is an evolution of the original, which debuted in 2006 as “the premium model” in the RX line. In that model, the rear wheels were solely electrically-powered, while the front pair were powered by a combination of electricity and gas. The RX400H starts at about $42,500.
7. Two advantages of Nissan Altima
The two reasons to check out a 2007 Nissan Altima hybrid unveiled at the Orange County Motor Show last October are the two most important reasons to be checking out hybrids in general: cleanliness and price.
Like most of its Japanese compatriots, the Altima routinely receives high marks from environmentally-conscious groups, most recently getting kudos in the 10th annual Green Book, an annual publication from the non-profit American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. The high standards on the 2007 Altima, in fact, are having the company release the car in the eight U.S. states with the most stringent emissions laws: California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.
But the hybrid automobile is all about environmental consciousness, it may be argued, and other cars have comparable low-emission rates. Here Nissan hopes to appeal with low prices.
In what some are calling a “price war,” Nissan is putting stickers on its hybrid – its first bid in the U.S. hybrid market – as low as $24,400, some $100 less that for the Altima 3.5 SE. More importantly, that price beats the Toyota Camry Hybrid by over $2,000 and the Honda Accord Hybrid by over $8,000. Add a high tax credit of $2,350 offered by the government (surpassed only by the Honda Civic hybrid), and the Altima seems like quite the bargain.
The Altima Hybrid uses a 2.5-liter, 158-hp four-cylinder engine and an electric motor; fuel economy is estimated at 42 mpg in the city and 36 mpg on the highway and thus a standard-sized tank gets 700 miles without a refueling.
The biggest of ‘em all
Finally, for cars you probably won’t be seeing in your neighbor’s driveway soon, but indicative of the state of automotive hybrid technology: Check out the big boys outfitted with the big Volvo Integrated Starter Alternator Motor (or I-SAM).
With a design assist from the U.S. Air Force, Volvo Group subsidiary Mack Granite in January demonstrated a construction truck built with the I-Sam at the Swedish embassy in Washington, DC. Earlier, Volvo had produced a hybrid engine for an Air Force refueler truck.
The I-SAM introduced in January represents the heaviest I-Sam hybrid using a diesel engine of 365 horsepower and a 120-kilowatt electric motor. A major difference between this one and the one in your Prius? Thanks to a little assist from military technology, this engine uses ultracapacitors in lieu of a battery. Most importantly, the I-Sam is claimed to provide fuel savings of up to 50 percent in the construction truck engine.
