JSwain

Friday, April 15, 2016

Tips to Making Custom Floor Pans for your Car

Mark recently decided to take on a resto-mod oddball in a Chevy Corvair. This neglected Chevy bastard-child was rescued from a local scrap yard and had seen some questionable repairs and better days. His first step in the rebuild of the car was getting the structure of the car rebuilt and solid before he started customizing the car. The first area of concern was the floor; or lack of it.

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Subaru Updates 2017 Forester's Styling, Safety Features

CARS.COM - The Subaru Forester returns for 2017 with a host of updates that could help address some the previous model's shortcomings. The compact SUV gets tweaked exterior and interior styling, new driver assist technology and improved fuel economy.

Related: Research the Subaru Forester

Exterior styling changes include a revised front bumper cover and a new hexagonal grille, as well as redesigned headlights. The headlights have a sleeker appearance and Subaru's C-shaped motif, which also appears in the LED taillights. Premium-trim models now get a body-colored rear spoiler previously only on upper trim levels.

Trim levels carry over and include 2.5i base, Premium, Limited and Touring, and 2.0XT Premium and Touring.

Touring models are available for 2017 with an exclusive Sepia Bronze Metallic paintjob. Restyled 17- and 18-inch aluminum alloy wheels with a high-contrast black and machined finish are available on 2.5i Premium and Limited models, and 2.0XT models, respectively.

Inside the cabin are a number of upgrades that could improve an interior feel Cars.com reviewer Bill Jackson called "drab" in his review of the 2016 model. Subaru promises a quieter cabin courtesy of beefed-up soundproofing such as thicker door glass, restructured door seals, additional under-floor insulation and an acoustic windshield.

All Forester trims also get an updated steering wheel design with stereo, Bluetooth and cruise control switches. A Forester-first heated steering wheel is now standard on Touring models along with keyless entry and push-button start. Touring versions offer new perforated Saddle Brown leather-trimmed upholstery with contrasting stitching, as well as matching brown leather-covered door panels and center console lid. In addition, a power liftgate is now available on the 2.5i, while memory seats and automatic climate control are standard across multiple trims.

Powertrains carry over, but Subaru says revisions have improved fuel economy slightly. Forester 2.5i models with a continuously variable automatic transmission now are estimated to get 26/32/28 mpg city/highway/combined compared with the outgoing version's 24/32/27 mpg. In addition, Subaru says its Active Torque Vectoring system, now available on 2.0XT Touring models with the EyeSight system, will improve handling and responsiveness. Moreover, the X-Mode traction assist system is now standard on Premium, Limited and Touring models with the CVT.

Driver assist technology upgrades include an updated version of Subaru's EyeSight forward collision avoidance system, which now has color cameras that provide a greater field of vision, as well as lane keeping assist. Limited and Touring models come standard with blind spot detection and rear cross-traffic alert, as do Premium models equipped with EyeSight. Adaptive headlights with automatic high beams are standard on 2.5i Limited and Touring, and 2.0XT Touring models with EyeSight. Limited and Touring models also include reverse automatic braking, which detects large objects and stops the vehicle if the driver fails to react.

The 2017 Forester is set to hit dealerships in early July. A Subaru spokesman said pricing won't be announced until next month; the outgoing model starts at $23,245 and ranges up to $34,645, including an $850 destination charge.

2017 Subaru Forester Refresh Brings Slightly Different Looks, Torque Vectoring for the Turbo

Most changes to update the Subaru Forester crossover for the 2017 model year are par for the mid-cycle–refresh course, including slightly revised front and rear fascias, a few interior upgrades, and some new active-safety equipment. But Subaru being Subaru, the Forester also sees one upgrade that you won't find on a Toyota RAV4 or a Honda CR-V: the addition of brake-based torque vectoring. READ MORE ››

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

2016 BMW M4 GTS: We Drive the 493-hp Water-Injected Wonder

-About three-fifths of your body mass is water, the key to life. Scientists scour the reaches of the universe for its liquid form hoping that where they find water there may be other life. BMW has found some life in water, too, squirting the stuff into the intake plenum of the M4 GTS's S55 twin-turbo inline six-cylinder engine to make more power. READ MORE ››

2016 Chevrolet Volt Video

CARS.COM - Chevrolet redesigned its plug-in Volt for 2016 with more conventional exterior styling, better range and an interior with five seats instead of four. But will the update be enough to get people to look past cheap gas prices? Watch the video for more.

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Are You Afraid of the Dark? Ford's Driverless Cars Aren't

CARS.COM - KITT from the Knight Rider TV show of the '80s was a Pontiac Trans Am, but in the age of autonomous cars the real "night rider" is a Ford Fusion Hybrid. In an announcement today, Ford shed some light on its Fusion autonomous research vehicles' ability to drive in the dark - without the need for headlamps.

The Detroit automaker's light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensor system works with the car's virtual driver software to drive in the black of night, when the traffic fatality rate is triple that of the daytime, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. LIDAR essentially renders headlights, and for that matter sunlight, obsolete, where driving is concerned. It also doesn't rely on cameras detecting the painted lines on the road to function just as well at night as during the day, Ford said.

"It's an important development, in that it shows that even without cameras, which rely on light, Ford's LIDAR - working with the car's virtual driver software - is robust enough to steer flawlessly around winding roads," the automaker said in a statement. "While it's ideal to have all three modes of sensors - radars, cameras and LIDAR - the latter can function independently on roads without stoplights."

The system uses high-resolution 3-D maps that contain info about the road, road markings, geography, topography and landmarks such as signs, buildings and trees. It sends out 2.8 million laser pulses a second to pinpoint itself on a real-time map, and uses additional radar data to round out its sensing capability.

Researchers recently tested the system at Ford's Arizona Proving Ground. Engineers watched through night-vision goggles from both inside and outside the car. The goggles displayed infrared laser beams projected around the vehicle as it drove, precisely showing its every move.

"Inside the car, I could feel it moving, but when I looked out the window, I only saw darkness," Ford researcher Wayne Williams said in a statement. "As I rode in the back seat, I was following the car's progression in real time using computer monitoring. Sure enough, it stayed precisely on track along those winding roads."

Ford said it plans to triple its autonomous vehicle test fleet this year to about 30 cars operating on California, Arizona and Michigan roads.

Ford GT Order Banks Open, 500 Cars Up For Grabs

2017 Ford GT

The official ordering process opens today for the Ford GT. Potential customers will want to get on over to FordGT.com to fill out their applications-you didn't think an open checkbook would be all you'd need, did you?

In announcing the opening of its order banks, Ford also revealed just how limited production of its supercar will be: Only 250 will be available this year and 250 next year. Whether Ford will build more after that is open to interpretation; the company is saying only that this “initial ordering period,” which goes from April 13 to May 12, “will cover the first two years of production-500 vehicles.”

Nor is Ford providing an MSRP for the new GT beyond saying that the starting price will be in the “mid-$400,000s” (plus destination and delivery). Buyers whose applications are approved “will work with the new Ford GT Concierge Service” to complete the transaction, including taking delivery at a dealer-although it's unclear whether and how price negotiations would work.

Would-be buyers whose applications are rejected will have to join the rest of us, and console themselves with a fantasy build. You need not pay anything to play with the configurator, choosing among the eight exterior colors, seven stripe colors, and various interior treatments and wheel designs, all while dreaming of what might have been.