The India Tata Group unveiled the world’s lowest priced automobile starting at 100,000 rupees or about $2,500 USD.

Competing against Renault and Suzuki, the Tata Group expects their lower-priced auto to make deep penetration into the Indian market.

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Type R model expected in Derby by early spring.

THE hotly-anticipated Honda Civic Type R will go on sale in March and everything points to it being well worth the wait.

Honda promises that it will be just as exhilarating to drive as the outgoing Type R while being a more refined super hatchback, with improved comfort levels.

Integrated styling and handling tuned for enhanced responsiveness and predictability are among its other strengths.

The model will be powered by the naturally-aspirated, high-revving 2.0-litre i-VTEC engine that powers the current Type R, but the unit has been significantly reworked to improve responsiveness using a new balancer shaft and drive-by-wire throttle control.

Maximum power is now 201PS, reached at 8.000rpm (previously 200PS at 7.400rpm) and Honda reports the car is more responsive generally, while improved aerodynamics ensure it cuts through the air more cleanly. Slightly lower gearing compensates for a small increase in kerb weight.

Acceleration figures are expected to be virtually identical to the 6.6 second 0-62mph time of the outgoing car - and the new car should match its top speed too, powering on to 146mph.

There’s little doubt the model will attract much attention in the street thanks in part to seven-spoke 18-inch alloy wheels and a deep front spoiler incorporating a larger air intake.

A body-coloured tailgate rear spoiler follows the kick-up line from the rear quarter windows in providing added down-force. At the front, a black honeycomb mesh grille replaces the glass panel of other Civics.

While more discreet than on the outgoing car, Type R logos feature throughout.

Firstly, the front brake callipers wear the insignia, and stainless steel inserts on the door sills also carry the badge. Inside, it’s all about the driving experience. Front seats are racing-style buckets with large black alcantara bolsters and red stitching, red fabric seat cushions and backs.

The effective dual-zone, two tier dash, which is common to other Civic models, also features in the latest Type R, but with red illuminated dials set off by gun-metal effect switch panels on either side of the central display. The gearshift knob with aluminium-finish has a black boot with red stitching. Expect to see the new model at Lookers Honda in Derby next March. Prices have yet to be announced.

If you have already planned that summer trip and are driving to your destination, take the time to make sure your vehicle is in top condition.

Giving your car a tune up and a thorough check up before you leave will ensure you get the best possible gas mileage and avoid a vacation ruined by a car breakdown.

“Regularly scheduled maintenance is the least expensive and easiest way to protect your safety and your investment,” according to the mechanics at Bedford Greenwich Automotive. “We specialize in high-end vehicles. We know that the longer you wait to make a repair, the more damage can be caused and the more costly the repairs. Taking the time to keep your vehicle in top condition will save you money in the long run.”

They seem like small things, according to Greenwich Bedford Automotive, but they are the standard items we all know about: changing oil and filters, rotating tires, checking brakes, and simply following the manufacturers recommended service intervals. “Very few people take care of their vehicles the way they should for optimum performance, which affects gas mileage and wear and tear on the vehicle.”

Check the oil every month; keep an eye out for any oil or other fluid leaks; pay attention to engine lights; replace worn tires now; listen for changes in the way your car sounds and feels like different noises, rattles, vibrations or burning smells in the vehicle and have them looked at right away; have spark plugs, air filters, fuel filters, belts, hoses, anti-freeze, brakes and all safety items thoroughly checked.

“Pre-maintenance inspections and repairs are very important with all high-end vehicles because breakdowns really can be prevented.” [PRWEB]

Leadpile says many Luxury Automobile shoppers will buy their cars 100% online in the very near future, and may never even step foot in the dealership.

The Luxury car market, which represents relatively expensive cars and trucks that place more emphasis on comfort, appearance, amenities, and performance, will go through many changes in the future due to the Internet, according to leadpile.com.

Leadpile says the Luxury Automobile buyer will be even more demanding in the future. According to J.D. Power and Associates Power Car Media Report, luxury car buyers, or Epictures prefer to drive fully equipped, comfortable cars that seem stylish or elegant.

This group has the second-highest share of women and the highest share of households with household incomes of $100,000 or more. It is this marketplace that leadpile says will be more demanding of their online buying experience.

Andrew Jacob, CEO of Leadpile, says “The Online luxury Auto Space will become more and more competitive in the future. The luxury buyer of the future will have totally different demands than what dealerships have become accustomed too.”

Jacob says, The luxury buyer in the future will have to be serviced at unprecedented levels. I see a day, very soon, when the luxury auto buyer will not even come into the dealership to buy the car. The dealership will have to come to them.” [PRWEB]

Many of the luxury cars put to auction online come with the most exciting innovations like robust car stereos, digital signal processing and automatic cd changer. Such and many other accessories including cd player, satellite radio, MP3 player and video player with lcd monitor can just blow down the typical notion of car accessories

New Jersey residents can now receive inventory RSS feeds from the Cherry Hill Triplex Group. This automotive group includes automotive makes from Dodge, Jeep, Mitsubishi and Kia.

“By offering RSS feeds we’re giving the Internet car shopper an opportunity to keep an eye on our inventory every day without having to come to our site and actually perform a search for a specific vehicle,” said Dave Damiani, Internet Manager for Cherry Hill Triplex.

“RSS makes it easy for consumers to discover specific new vehicle inventory they may be searching for. For example, should a car shopper be looking for a particular vehicle type in a narrow price range, he or she can come to our site and create a dynamic RSS feed tailored to that criteria.

“From there, using any RSS reader, this person can then subscribe to the feed they created and view all vehicles in inventory that meet their personal requirements – each day the inventory they see in their reader will change as our online inventory changes.” [PRWEB]

Sunny Tan, author of the controversial fuel saving guide for motorists, Gas Mileage Tactics, is re-releasing his latest edition of his book with more additional ways to help drivers save their gas money.

Part fun and part enlightening, just about anyone can flick through a few pages from the book and expect to get serious results with their way of driving, which ultimately cuts down their gas mileage expenses.

According to Sunny Tan, many drivers out there resort to using different sorts of high tech gadgetry and equipments and have their cars modified, just to maximize the use of every drop of liter of their gas intake. However, in the long run, this will not only cause serious damages to their vehicles, but also burn big holes in their wallets.

“The reason car manufacturers like Toyota and Honda spend millions investing in R&D is to develop vehicles that are safe, reliable and roadworthy. What makes you think that some backyard mechanics in your area have that sort of capability in modifying a car while ensuring it is still roadworthy?”

“The fundamental thing about saving up your gas money and reduce the petrol consumption of your car begins all the way from when you start your car, how you maneuver the steering wheel and how you step on the pedals,” says Sunny Tan.

In some other countries like America, the IRS has provided a way for the drivers to claim some kind of deduction out of their mileage claim usage.

“Basically you need to maintain proper records of all you business use of you vehicle. You need to learn how to keep tax records for your vehicle, how to keep and log mileage records and vehicle expenses,” according to Sunny.

When asked about how much potential savings of the tax reduction for gas claims, he quoted an example that based on 2002 gas allowance of 36.5 cents per mile; one can get a rough estimate of $292 - $365 worth of tax reduction in a year.

In the book, Sunny writes about tips and techniques to get best possible gas saving out one’s car. The whole book was divided into several chapters such as good driving attitude, taking care of certain crucial car components and engine, getting the best wheels for the car and even some discussion on few popular gas saving devices.

Drivers who have learnt and practiced some of the techniques have discovered amazing results from their gas mileage savings alone. “I’ve recently tried some of the methods described in Sunny’s Gas Mileage Tactics book and I’m satisfied with the noticeably increased fuel mileage I am getting”, says one of the satisfied readers.

“In such trying times of rising petrol costs which could easily burn holes in many motorists’ pockets, Sunny Tan’s easy-to-read-and-apply e-booklet bearing tips on fuel-saving is like welcomed rain on parched earth during prolonged drought”, as described by a prominent and well-respected author and speaker. [PRWEB]

tagTRAX: ways to save money | gas mileage | mileage expenses | gas money

A car purchase is the second largest expense for most consumers and is regarded as one of the most challenging sales experience’s you will encounter. Time after time, dealers take charge of the transaction and often create an intimidating atmosphere for the purchaser.

Buying a second hand car is almost always a difficult experience and surprises frequently occur. In order for a sale to go smoothly, the majority of buyers rely solely on dealerships expertise. Unfortunately, not every dealer on the market is honest with their customers. For this reason, having a third-party testimonial and knowing a dealer’s reputation is crucial to purchasing a car.

DealershipRatings.com is a unique consumer advocacy organization that offers the public the opportunity to write testimonials about their automobile purchases. Featuring a database with over 40,000 dealerships, DealershipRatings.com helps customers purchase a car by providing awareness, and avoiding hassle.

“You spend days, weeks and even months researching which car is right for you and your hard earned dollars. Why not spend a few extra minutes to find the right dealer for you and your family?” Chris Contessa says.

Chris is the founder of DealershipRatings.com, the first consumer guide of dealerships on the Internet. He has created a community for consumers to share their positive or negative experiences with different dealerships. This is done with unbiased, real world reviews written by visitors and a unique discussion forum in which people interact and can express their opinion in real time.

“DealershipRatings.com wants to be a community for the average consumer to finally level the dealership playing field and make sure that dealers are doing their jobs and helping customers” he added. [PRWEB]

tagTRAX: consumer advocacy organization | consumers | community

Women are buying newer, bigger and more expensive vehicles, according to a survey conducted by Car-Buy-Her, an automotive resource that provides business and consumer education and training.

A small sampling survey of 36 women from across the nation revealed typical responses and showed that age, profession and family status has little to do with the types of cars women are looking for.

Survey results found four-doors as the most popular with women with vans and sport-utility vehicles dominating. When asked about reasons for purchase, interior room was cited as the most popular reason when making their purchase.

Women not wanting to be the “minivan” mom tended to choose the SUV. Besides interior room, women said they choose their purchased based on perceived value. With no way to actually determine the true value of their deal, the survey does suggest that women are doing some kind of research prior to buying.

Purchases were most likely made before the recent oil crisis, so it is not surprising that fuel economy was the least used determining factor when making a purchase.

The women surveyed were not driving around in brand new vehicles — most of the respondent’s owned 2001 or older vehicles, suggesting that while these women were moving up in the car world, they either bought used or have had their cars for a while. The survey reveals today’s car-buying woman to be very practical. [PRWEB]

tagTRAX: survey results | sport utility vehicles | interior room | interior | cars

The redesigned 2006 Honda Accord Hybrid is debuting at dealerships nationwide with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $30,990.

The Accord Hybrid receives an extensive face lift for 2006 as well as a host of new features and enhancements, highlighted by a better emissions rating (now AT-PZEV/Tier-2 bin2, previously ULEV-2/Tier-2 bin5), new exterior and interior styling, a power moonroof and more.

Now in its second year, the Accord Hybrid gains the same improvements as all 2006 Accords and more exclusive features that help to further differentiate it from other Accord models. Additionally, several new standard features have been added including Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) and a temporary-use spare tire.

The Accord Hybrid utilizes Honda’s third-generation of the Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) system in combination with Variable Cylinder Management (VCM) cylinder deactivation technology to deliver high levels of fuel efficiency for a V6 engine - on par with a 4-cylinder mid-size sedan - along with highly responsive and powerful V6 performance. The 3.0-liter V6 engine with IMA is rated at 253 horsepower (SAE net rev. 8/04) and achieves an EPA-estimated fuel economy rating of 25/34 city/highway miles per gallon.

“We’ve listened to our customers and added the features they told us they wanted,” said John Mendel, senior vice president of American Honda. “The Accord Hybrid is unique in that it delivers performance and environmental responsibility without compromising one for the other.”

In keeping with Honda’s industry-leading “Safety for Everyone” initiative, all Accord Hybrids also come equipped with a comprehensive list of advanced safety features including dual-stage, dual-threshold driver and front passenger airbags, driver and front passenger side airbags, first and second row side curtain airbags and anti-lock brakes (ABS). Like all V6-equipped Accords, the Accord Hybrid receives Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) for the 2006 model year. [PRWEB]

Related Stories:

• Honda Environmental Technology Advances in Accord Hybrid

tagTRAX: honda accord hybrid | curtain airbags | honda | v6 engine

On a hill overlooking Music City, a remarkable pair of Tennessee brothers have quietly devised a solution to one of the Motor City’s oldest and more expensive testing problems.

It’s the Car-Gate Ultrasound Arch System, a technology which could save the automotive industry billions of dollars each year. The Car-Gate Arch is the latest innovation from Gayle Technologies’ founder, Jimmy Gayle, who has been providing the automotive and racing industries with technical solutions for more than 20 years.

The development of the Car-Gate Ultrasound Arch was born from the need for automobile manufacturers to find new ways to test their vehicles for wind and water leaks often found in window, trunk and door seals. The problem is that the current test for finding these leaks causes damage to the car and trucks they test.

Currently, billions of dollars in damages are caused each year to automobile inventories by the use of what automakers call a water booth. During the final phases of manufacturing, a water booth is used to spray a car or truck with high-pressure streams of water to find leaks. Unfortunately, by using this process of finding leaks with water, the interior and electronic components of automobiles often get ruined by the water that leaks into them. Illogical as it might sound, it is how the automobile industry has been doing it for years.

The Car-Gate Ultrasound Arch, however, uses ultrasound in place of the damaging water. However the benefits of Gayle’s Ultrasound Arch are much greater than merely finding the leaks. Jimmy Gayle Says, “Beyond the Car-Gate’s ability to accurately finding leaks in cars without causing damage, the most exciting thing it does for manufacturers is collect data as it finds the leaks.”

With a combination of Gayle Technologies ultrasound leak testing technology and the company’s customized diagnostic software, automakers will be able to produce powerful trend analysis reports. These trend analysis reports will give automakers the ability to improve overall quality in their manufacturing processes, body design, and supplier materials.

Chrysler, Ford, Toyota, Mercedes, and Nissan are some of the manufacturers currently testing the Car-Gate Ultrasound Arch System. One industry insider is already using the expression “Gayle Rating,” to describe the exact measurement of a vehicle’s quietness and air tightness as determined by this remarkable new system.

“The water-saving feature is also an added benefit we didn’t really think about in its initial conception,” Jimmy Gayle said. “The Car-Gate will also help the environment, and we are proud to play a big part in that important task.”

The cost savings the Car-Gate Ultrasound Arch System offers the automotive industry is dramatic. An industry study has shown that replacing the interior and electronic parts damaged by water booths can cost as much as $4 million per manufacturing plant each year. This is not good news for the already financially beleaguered automotive industry.

The Car-Gate Ultrasound Arch System is a state-of-the-art solution to an age-old automotive industry problem. As Gayle Technologies’ president, Tommy Gayle said, “It’s the answer to improving overall quality of cars, and better yet, it will improve the bottom line of the automakers that will use it.” [PRWEB]

tagTRAX: ultrasound | arch | trend analysis | save auto industry billions