It's the week ending November 20, and we've browsed our favorite automotive blogs all week long to gather the highlights from each.
It was a bad week for a handful of luxury car owners, with no thanks to powerful forces of nature that took a couple of pricey cars off the streets. Most notably, a Texas driver dumped his Veyron into a salt marsh while trying to avoid a kamikaze pelican. Autoblog has video of the bobbing Bugatti alongside a few pix of the million-dollar car in its natural, DRY, state. And don't miss pix of this Porsche Cayman left buried in the sand after an especially powerful tropical storm. And let's not overlook this three-way pileup at Wrecked Exotics involving an Audi R8, BMW 6 Series, and a Range Rover. Bummer, doods.
Electric and plug-in vehicles utilize both a large battery pack and electric motor for their power. The capacity values of these devices are written using kW (kilowatt) and kWh (kilowatt hours), but don't think that a 90 kW motor is anything like a 90 kWh battery pack. That little h makes a big difference. Exactly what is the difference? Well, that's what this week's Greenlings investigates!
As a resident of Los Angeles for more than 40 years, I have spent much of my life driving around our famed cloverleaf freeway exchanges, but when it comes to the most awesome veins for our four-wheeled adventures, Los Angeles has nothing on the world's most amazing freeway constructions. Jalopnik has a gallery of ten of most mind-blowing efforts.
3M Car Care wants NASCAR fans to see a race in a whole new light - and see better on the highway, too! 3M Car Care and Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, have joined forces to give one lucky fan an opportunity to win a trip to see a night race under the lights. Find out how to enter at AskPatty.com.
Let's face it: MINIs have a lot of curb appeal, and their commercials always seem to have a bit of a sporty attitude. Have you seen the new advertisement for Mini's extended motoring protection? Check it out at The Car Connection. and let us know if you think this one stands up to the other Cooper commercials. Mini brags that its Motor Protection plan is offered in L and XL, which may seem a bit conspicuous for such a tiny little car.
BMW and Mercedes announced pricing this week for their first gas-electric hybrids arriving in showrooms this month, and Hybrid Cars has specs and photos on both the Mercedes-Benz ML 450 Hybrid and BMW ActiveHybrid X6. You know what they say: "If you have to ask...."
Teenagers: You talk at them, and they don't listen. Consumer Reports shares another study showing that a quarter of American teens have texted while driving! That's incredibly dangerous behavior for a group that statistically, already carries significant risks when behind the wheel.
Yeah yeah, it's possible you've been under a rock this week, and
haven't yet heard that Motor Trend has awarded its 2010 Car of the Year
Award
to the Ford Fusion. Available in both traditional gasoline and hybrid
powertrains, Editor Art St. Antoine says the Ford Fusion represents
"a sensational lineup of quality powertrains (for which Ford deserves
huge applause), smartly tuned chassis, functional and attractive
cabins, and outstanding value." Don't miss the 20-minute video that
explains their testing protocol and highlights on each contender.
And with that video to keep you occupied for the rest of your coffee break,
we thank you for joining us for this week's autoMedia.com CARnival!
Have you got something of interest you want us to include in a future
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your interesting entry to our weekly blog CAR-nival. Check back next
week for another installment--until then, have a great weekend!
Brandy Schaffels, autoMedia.com contributing editor