The english company Cumbria Safety Cameras has recently conducted a large research which aimed to reveal what car’s drivers violate the speed regime more often. It’s important to mention that in this case information was gathered not by the questioning of drivers. As “What Car?” magazine reports the workers of Cumbria Safety Cameras have simply used the information from the speed control cameras which are installed on many British routes.
Most experts were confident that BMW drivers exceeded the speed mostly but unexpectedly it appears that the owners of german cars are not so reckless as it seems to think they are. By some obscure reason Ford models settled down the first two places: the owners of Mondeo became the “winners” and Focus drivers took the second place. The third step of this dubious podium was occupied by Vauxhall Vectra. Volkswagen Golf and Volkswagen Passat came in fourth and fifth place.
Even if to consider makes in general the first three places would still belong to Ford, Vauxhall and Volkswagen while Peugeot, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Renault followed them.
Forbes magazine has recently published a list of cars with the worst characteristics. The conclusion was based on the factory techninal qualities and independent tests. Four main parameters of cars were considered while making this list: the number of cars recalled by the producer (information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, USA), reliability rating made up by competent agency Consumer Reports, a report about the actual loss of new car’s cost from Automotive Lease Guide and, finally, safety rating based on crash tests carried out by Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Street traffic is a dynamic kaleidoscope where the palette of colors changes every second. Even on a short length of road the eye of a driver catches numerous pictures painted in different colors. It is important to learn that colors influence the safety of traffic greatly.
According to the results of several researches the coloration of a car also affects the estimation of its speed and the distance from it. For instance, it seems that a red car is closer and moves quicker than in reality and blue and green ones vice versa. Visual illusions caused by color also include the distortion of object size perception. For example, dark-colored cars seem to be smaller than light-colored ones. Wrong object form perception is also possible and in some cases it’s hard to notice the vehicle because of its color.
Peugeot 308 being put on market in Germany on September 15 was chosen the best compact family car among its rivals and received the Golden Steering Wheel award. The readers of Autobild, the german magazine, stated the value of all categories’ representatives. Among the judges were also professional drivers, racing drivers and journalists.
A new sports hatchback Focus ST will soon be put on the market by Ford company. As “Auto Express”, the british magazine, reports it will be equipped with the 2,5 litre and 222 hp turbine engine, just the same as in the previous ST generation, but its exterior will differ. The elements of Mondeo design can be noticed in its lamps, and the outline of its air scopes is adopted from Verve concept. Three- and five-door Focus ST will be available for sale in March, 2008.
The Volkswagen company has recently celebrated the output of the 15 millionth copy of Passat model which was produced on the german factory in Emden. The jubilee Passat is a blue-coloured estate car equipped with 105 hp turbodiesel BlueMotion with 1,9 litre volume. On a ceremonial meeting this vehicle was solemnly presented to its new owner – Mrs. Sybille Beckenbauer.
The jury of the competent auto magazine “What Car?” consisted of the most qualified experts of the field has voted Jaguar XJ the best luxury car in 2007. The jury highly appreciated its light aluminium body, high-powered V6 engine with the automatic gearbox and splendid compartment. “Jaguar XJ is an excellent car and unprecedently advantageous purchase. Swift, comfortable, economical – it can be considered a perfect evidence of Jaguar’s workers high skills, they can be proud of themselves”, – stated the jury.
Volkswagen Iroc concept, represented this year at Paris Autosalon, will soon be realized in the serial model Scirocco. Shorlty after the premiere of the conceptual Iroc, Volkswagen chairman Martin Winterkorn sent the project for revision and the terms of the serial model appearance were put off.
The BMW company has recently announced the program of its development till 2020. According to it, several important novelties will be launched within the next few years. Among them is a solid offroader BMW X1, another crossover – a rival of Mercedes R-Class, and also a large luxuriuous coupe with four doors based on the concept-car BMW CS recently represented at Shanghai autoshow.
A large number of elite cars registered as taxi vehicles has appeared recently in London. The British are registering their supercars as taxis to avoid the paying of ecological tax. The price for such registration is just 170 dollars plus 56 dollars for the special license with one year period of validity.
