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The Holden Colorado workhorse ute has failed a critical safety test to determine its roof strength.
It received a “marginal” rating in the latest Insurance Institute for Highway Safety roof crush test program in the United States. The Colorado - sold in North America as a Chevrolet - also rated “poor” for side impact protection despite having side curtain airbags as standard. In Australia, the Colorado has neither curtain nor side torso airbags.
The GM pickup was one of five utes that underwent roof strength and side impact testing. Nissan earned the highest rating of ‘good’ for its popular Navara, while the Ford Ranger was ‘acceptable’ for roof crush protection. The Navara is the only pickup in the group to earn the highest rating.
The two other utes were the Toyota Tacoma and Dodge Dakota, which are not sold here. The rating is based on institute research that shows occupants in rollover crashes benefit from stronger roofs.
Vehicles rated good must have roofs that are more than twice as strong as the minimum required under US safety standards. “As a group, small pickups aren’t performing as well as small cars or small off-roaders in all of the institute’s safety tests,” according to the institute’s senior vice president David Zuby.
“None of the ones we tested is a top-notch performer across the board.” In the US rollovers are much more common for off-roaders and pickups than for cars. Almost half of all pickup occupants killed in crashes last year were in utes that rolled over.
This compares with 58 per cent of deaths in off-roaders and 25 per cent in cars. In the roof strength test, a metal plate is pushed against a corner of a roof at a constant speed.
New ute rollover standards are now being phased in for the United States that will require manufacturers to increase the roof strength. Both the Navara and Ranger also achieved a ‘good’ rating for side impact.
In the US the Navara has standard head curtain and side airbags while the Ranger has a combined head and torso side airbag. In Australia neither the Navara or Ranger are available with curtain or side airbags. The Colorado is sourced from General Motor’s Thailand factory.
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As we’ve noted before, there are lots of ways to skin a segment. Here’s one of them. Notice that four of the top five sellers here are also available as sedans, the Honda Fit being the only exception. Interestingly, compact hatches tend to carry a premium over their sedan variants.
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The Mercedes Benz tuner Carlsson has unveiled the RS Design Package for the S Class luxury limousine, giving the full sized sedan a sportier look while allowing it to shine though above and beyond the competition. Offering their customers quite a bit of versatility, the Carlsson RS package is made up of high quality components consisting of lightweight carbon fiber or the more economical polyurethane as an option. The RS Design Package transforms the S Class into a sporty four door worthy of a gentleman, with a well toned body complete with bolder arches and a more aggressive exterior providing Mercedes Benz owners with the highest degree of exclusivity and uniqueness.
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by Sam Abuelsamid (RSS feed) on Feb 8th 2010 at 1:01PM
Hyundai won’t be giving the American automotive media its first crack at driving their new 2011 Sonata until next week. However, new Sonatas have apparently already started rolling off the trucks into Hyundai dealers across the country. Unlike the rest of the media horde (Autoblog included), when the folks at Consumer Reports want to test a new vehicle, they actually go out and buy one.
Such was the case last week when they purchased one of the first examples of Hyundai’s stylish new mid-sizer. CR tested a base GLS model Sonata and felt that while it does handle better than the 2009 equivalent, it still isn’t quite up to the standard of the sportiest examples in the segment including the Ford Fusion and Mazda6. There is, however, a more aggressive SE model which CR hasn’t tried out yet, so this might not be a truly apples-to-apples comparison.
CR’s testers did feel the interior was an improvement over the outgoing model with higher quality materials and a particularly roomy rear seat. We’ll have our own first hand impressions by the end of next week.
[Source: Consumer Reports]
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It’s nice having a Nissan GT-R waiting in your driveway each morning. Even if the only thing on the immediate agenda is your commute to work, you know it’s going to be out of the ordinary. Godzilla wouldn’t have it any other way.
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On Sept. 13, Automotive News will publish a special section, “100 Leading Women in the North American Auto Industry.”
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Making adjustments to their race cars before next weeks race.
By Don Cook
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Cowtown Speedway (Kennedale)
Feb. 6 (Saturday)
Several drivers made adjustments to their race cars at Cowtown Speedway before next weeks big show on the 1/4 mile fast track. The 2nd Annual Cowtown Midget Championships, sponsored by City Vending, National Health Care Advisors and Sunco Race Fuels, is scheduled for Feb. 12-13 and is offering a $60,000 weekend purse. Over 30 Mighty Midgets have pre-registered and will be competing for the $1,000 to win Friday and $3,000 to win Saturday.
Along with the Midgets will be the Annual Modified February Fast 50. The Modifieds will be running 50 laps for the $2,000 feature win Saturday. Every Modified that makes Saturday’s 24 car feature will receive $400. Over 30 Modifieds have pre-registered so far.
Rounding out the program will be three classes of ASCS2 sanctioned 600’s Sprint’s. The Non-Winged 600’s and the Outlawed 600’s will be gunning for the $1,500 feature wins Saturday. The Restricted 600’s will run on the new 1/6 mile “Action Track” and will be going after Saturday’s $1,000 feature win. Over 70 600’s Sprints have pre-registered so far.
The popular “Fan Fest” will be held Saturday between noon and 1:15 pm. Race fans that have a ticket for that days race will be able to go into the pits and meet the drivers, get autographs and take pictures.
For more information on the 2nd Annual Cowtown Midget Championships, go to: www.cowtownspeedway.com
Coy Jorden hit the wall hard in turn 2 but was not injured.
To view some photos of the race cars, click on the slide-show below:
To view a video of Cowtown’s Practice, click on the video below:
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Dorel Juvenile Group is recalling 22,850 Maxi-Cosi Mico infant-safety seats that were made from Feb. 18-June 28, 2008, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It may be difficult to attach or detach the shell from the base if the base has warped or there’s inadequate mating between the car seat’s shell and base mounting bracket.
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