Nik J Miles

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NHTSA (commonly pronounced Nit-sa) is the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration – and they look into all kinds of issues related our safety on the nation’s roads. This time last year, the buzz was all about Toyota and specifically about unintended acceleration in the 2010 Prius hybrid – the poor publicity from this controversy and related quality issues cost Toyota thousands of sales and likely millions of dollars.

A similar controversy back in the 1980s set Audi back on its heels in that decade – and a reputation for poor quality and unsafe vehicles takes years to overcome.

Well, NHTSA got together with a bunch of scientists and engineers from NASA to look into the Prius problem in particular and the Toyota unintended acceleration problem in general, and the results are both interesting and educational.
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This 1968 VW Transporter will be remade by Leif's Auto Centers

It’s not a sports car. It looks like a box that might contain a sports car. It’s a 1968 Volkswagen Type 2 Transporter – commonly known as a microbus. On its best day, this vehicle was a utility wagon, and its 47 horsepower engine never impressed anyone with its speed and torque.

This particular 1968 Volkswagen Transporter has already had a long and useful life, and it bears the battle scars of 43 years on the road. After nearly half a century of putting along in the slow lane, this ancient “panel delivery” bus was recently purchased by Leif’s Auto Centers as a company project car. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo by Kenneth Johnsen

Green is the dominant color at the 2011 Portland International Auto Show, held at the Oregon Convention Center this weekend. Everywhere you look, automakers are rolling out a new generation of ecologically friendly cars, including the long-awaited Chevy Volt and Nissan LEAF battery-electric vehicles. But amidst all the green, there’s a flash of white – John Wayland’s 1972 Datsun 1200 sedan, nicknamed White Zombie, is a home-built electric drag racing car that holds the world record ¼-mile time for a street legal electric vehicle. The car will be on display at the show all weekend. Read the rest of this entry »

Hyundai is really on a winning streak these days, and they’ve raised the bar in the midsize family sedan market by remodeling their popular Sonata sedan into three different configurations.

In the standard Sonata, you get a 2.4-liter 4-cylinder engine making 198 horsepower and delivering fuel economy of 35 MPG on the highway and 22 MPG in the city. You have your choice of 6-speed manual or 6-speed automatic transmission. That’s pretty good performance, but if you were hoping for the V6 version, Hyundai has a performance alternative – a 2-liter turbocharged Sonata. Read the rest of this entry »

When you were growing up, did you ever know someone who was so well-behaved and generally harmless that the first time they ever toilet-papered someone’s house, they thought they had joined up with Al Capone? I would say that this is an apt comparison for Volvo’s new “naughty” S60, except that Volvo has always produced great performance cars, so it’s a mystery why they get stuck with the Goody Two-Shoes reputation.  Seriously, if you look back at the successful racing and rally history of the Volvo 544, P1800 and 142, and the current sporty lineup with the S40 and C30, Volvo has some great performance cars in its history.

Which brings us to the S60 – this is Volvo’s all-new revision of its mid-size sedan, and they’ve gifted the car with a new turbocharged inline 6-cylinder engine making 300 horsepower and 325 pound-feet of torque. The engine is mated to a smooth 6-speed automatic transmission with all wheel drive. Read the rest of this entry »

General Motors will be offering a new smart phone app that will allow most owners of 2011 Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC vehicles to control many vehicle functions of their vehicles from the phone.  The new app works with the OnStar communications system to activate all of the functions available on a traditional vehicle key fob – remote start, horn and lights and door lock/unlock – securely from their smartphones. This means drivers will no longer have to be within a requisite distance, or even have their keys with them, to control these functions on their vehicles.

“Giving our customers control of their vehicles with smart phone application technology is a key advantage of OnStar’s in-vehicle connectivity,” said Chris Preuss, OnStar president. “This technology empowers drivers to make decisions about their travels well before they enter the vehicle, meaning their full attention can stay where it needs to be – on the road ahead.”

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Toyota has been making compact trucks longer than I have been alive, so by now they are getting good at it.  The Toyota Tacoma remains the dominate force in the compact segment evolving with the market by  adding more room and power to meet market demands with a rugged and reliable edge.

Now in its eighth generation, the compact Toyota pickup dates back to 1964 with the names Stout, Hilux and finally the Tacoma.  Over that period, sales have passed five and one-half million and today the Tacoma commands nearly 40 percent of the compact pickup segment in the U.S.  The Tacoma outsells its nearest competitor by nearly 2 to 1. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s a good year for Subaru, with increased sales and a bigger chunk of the world market the, Japanese company is experiencing a teen growth spurt.  Like many car manufacturers, Subaru’s roots started in Aircraft.  They have come a long way from those 1917 beginnings.
 For 2011, Subaru offers a redesigned and engineers WRX STI.  This year you will see two body styles on the showroom floor.  A four-door and a five-door STI will have new styling, significantly revised suspension tuning and lighter 18-inch wheels for even sharper handling.  Read the rest of this entry »

Chrysler Group is starting the process of granting an estimated 200 Fiat dealerships in 125 markets in 41 states.  The process started in July and top dealers will be picked later this summer.  The first Fiat will be the 500 minicar that has received considerable media interest already.  A convertible version is scheduled for 2011 and an electric model and sportier Abarth version should arrive in 2012.

America’s latest supercar, the Rapier Superlight Coupe, or SL-C for short,  was finally born in Boston on March 31, 2010 after a five-year gestation period.

Billed as the ‘most exclusive hand-built supercar on the planet’, the Rapier, offers a multitude of unique engineering specifications, power-plant offerings, exterior colors, interior schemes and a host of other fully customizable options.

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