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Some of the recent trends we have seen as of late suggest it really makes a lot of sense to consider keeping your Subaru around.

Unless you replace your Subaru with another model that gets significantly better fuel economy you just aren’t getting much for your money right now.

Oil and gas prices are starting to come down but to what levels?

The reality is we will most likely be dealing with prices north of three dollars from now on. The trend for the last decade is up a bunch and down a little setting a “higher” lower price.

Living in Seattle and the surrounding area it’s pretty obvious that mass transit isn’t ever really going to happen. We are going to be stuck with are cars as our primary method of transportation for quite some time.

Taking care of what you own for a few more years while vehicle manufactures come to market with a different breed of vehicle is maybe a great way to go right now.

Putting a little into your Subaru right now and waiting for the 2011 and 2012 models to come out should offer you a lot more choices in regards to hybrids and alternative fuels, and this is part of what we need to do to decrease our oil consumption while forcing the car makers to build these cars.
The only time Vehicle manufactures really offer better cars is when they have trouble selling what they are already making.

In Seattle and the greater Puget Sound region the only way we will use less oil is to increase our cars economy. The only way this will happen is if we continue to demand better choices in regards to fuel efficiency and alternative fuels.

Every time we make the choice to keep our current car longer, the more realistic are the chances of decreasing our dependency on foreign oil becomes.

Any time we can replace a car getting 20 mpg with one that gets 40 we are also doing the environment a lot of good as well.

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A while back, I listed features that every new car should have. Now here’s a list of things that really frost me (and my family) during our trip.

1. Dishonest interstate signs. You know those gas/food/hotel signs that line every interstate in this country? OK, here’s the rule: If a gas station or restaurant wants to be displayed on one of those signs, it has to be no more than a mile in either direction from the exit. No more of that “3.2 miles to the right” baloney. If it can’t be seen from the end of the exit ramp, no dice. I’ve wasted too much gas trying to find these phantom stops.

Motocross teen is on track for crack at title.

Teenage motocross sensation Kade Mosig is hoping home-crowd support can spur him to championship success this weekend.

The Australian Motocross Championship is in Gippsland, at Newry, this Sunday, where Mosig grew up.

The 18-year-old Mosig is third in the Pro Lites class, only 12 points behind series leader Luke George, with 100 points on offer over the final two rounds.

“With two rounds to go it’s definitely possible to win the championship,” Mosig says. “It’s good to have it close to home this weekend. I grew up riding the track. I won a junior title there in 2001.

“I’ve grown up riding against Adam (Monea, second in the title points) and Luke. We’ve been battling since we were eight years old. It’s going to be a battle right to the end.”

Mosig is in this third full season in the national championship and is a member of Honda’s factory team, alongside 12-time national champion Craig Anderson.

Big things are expected of Mosig and a future racing in the high-profile US championship is his goal. Honda is helping by arranging for him to spend the post-season training in the US later this year.

“I’m heading to America to do some testing with the Honda factory team over there. Just to see what it’s like and learn more before I go and race over there,” he says.

But he won’t have long there because he will be back in Australia in October for the new SuperX series. It is the relaunched supercross series being masterminded by Crusty Demons leader Mike Porra and Australia’s world supercross champion Chad Reed.

“Chad’s been my idol growing up in racing. It will be good with this SuperX series to try and get to know him,” Mosig says.

But he won’t be competing against Reed in SuperX. Reed will race in the 450cc Pro Open class, but several US riders are expected to give local riders a hurry up in the 250cc Pro Lites.

- Herald Sun

Australian families can now get one of the world’s safest cars at an affordable price with the Ford FG Falcon scoring the world’s highest safety rating.

The FG petrol sedan range, from the $36,490 XT model up, has earned a 5-star rating in the Australasian New Car Assessment Program.

It is the first Australian-made car to receive the top ranking and should help give the Falcon range a boost after some lower than expected sales results.

“The petrol FG Falcon sedan range has been judged by ANCAP as being the safety leader among locally-manufactured vehicles, cementing Ford’s reputation for safety leadership,” says Ford Australia President Bill Osborne.

“We design our cars to deliver real-world safety benefits. This is a resounding third party endorsement of the extensive safety development program undertaken for the all-new FG Falcon.”

The FG Falcon joins the European-sourced Focus and Mondeo as 5-star ANCAP models in the blue oval’s range. However, the E-Gas range of LPG-fuel Falcons missed out on the top honour because it does not have stability control. It received a 4-star rating. Falcon’s rivals, the Holden VE Commodore and Toyota Aurion, have four-star ANCAP ratings.

To achieve the 5-star rating a vehicle must pass four key criteria above a minimum score. The tests are an offset front test, a side impact test, a pole impact test and the car must have electronic stability control.

Ford crash-tested 426 actual cars and ran more than 5000 computer-simulated tests during the development of the FG. The company used Ford’s facilities in Australia and Detroit, as wellas sister-brand Volvo’s Swedish facility. Head airbags for driver and front-seat passenger are standard across the range. The G6E and G6E Turbo have curtain and thorax airbags as standard and are optional on other models.

Ford Australia senior executive Trevor Worthington says the rating comes at an important time and vindicates the extensive safety work the company has invested in.

“Consumers are more aware of the importance of vehicle safety,” Worthington says. “As the company that first made driver airbags standard and introduced stability control, Beltminder, dual-stage airbags and a reverse camera on Australian-built vehicles, anticipating these growing consumer demands for increased safety was a top priority.”