Auto Trends

One of the worst things that could happen between your close relationship with your favorite vehicle is to walk out one day and find that your little buddy is not quite where you left him or her. After wandering around the neighborhood for an hour or so, you will finally come to the realization that unless you have been forgetting to make your car payment over the past six months, your vehicle has probably been stolen… something that none of us ever wants to experience.

We already covered the topic of vehicle theft prevention towards the beginning of this summer, but we realize that we missed a few items of importance:

• Never place an insurance card or registration in your vehicle- Not only does this make it easy for the thief to turn a quick profit from your vehicle, or possibly even squirm their way out of being caught by the authorities, it can set you up for identity theft. In the olden days we were always taught to keep our insurance and registration in the car at all times, but today we are told to keep it with us, either in a wallet or purse.
• Park in such a way to make your vehicle difficult to steal- For those instances when the thief is not planning to hotwire your vehicle, they sometimes just hook it up to a tow truck and haul it away. One of the best ways to discourage this is to set your vehicle up so that it us not an easy target.
  • This can be done by locking your wheels towards the curb, when you are parking on the street. This makes it quite difficult to pull your vehicle, as it will lock itself against the curb.
  • In a parking lot, it is best to back a rear-wheel-drive car into a parking space, or park front first if you have a front-wheel-drive vehicle. This locks the wheel facing away from the tow truck, so if they lift the end facing out away from the parking spot and try to move the vehicle, the wheels will just lock up and drag.
  • The same thing goes for applying your parking brake when you are leaving your vehicle unattended. This will drag the wheels and make trying to tow your vehicle away difficult. These ideas are all kind of like not putting deodorant on when you go to a singles bar… they will make your vehicle a little bit less desireable…
• Use an Ignition or fuel immobilizer system- These are great for vehicles that are among the top 10 most stolen. These either immobilize your vehicle through the ignition or fuel. It basically adds the obstacle of needing to flip a hidden switch before the vehicle can be made functional. If you are afraid that the thief will eventually find your switch, which if they are given enough time, they probably will, they have a different version that actually allows the thief to start the vehicle and drive it a little ways before a fuse is blown and the vehicle stops. By this time, the thief will most likely ditch the vehicle, rather than spend the time looking for the switch and a fuse.
• Use as Lojack device- These are theft recovery transmitting devices that help the authorities track down a stolen vehicle by giving them a way locate your vehicle no matter where it may be headed or hiding. The effectiveness of such devices will be limited to how well you can hide the transmitter to give the police enough time to locate your vehicle before the thief discovers the device and ditches it elsewhere.

Don’t wait around for tragedy to strike before you implement one of these ideas to your own car. 1 in 190 vehicles are stolen and it happens every single day, in every city, town, parking lot, street corner, or business. A little bit of precaution can go a long way when it comes to keeping your vehicle where it should be… in your possession!

How much smaller? We are talking a 1.4 liter engine folks. That is touching upon Smart ForTwo lawnmower engine folks, which means that great fuel economy will undoubtedly be one of its main features (28 percent more fuel efficiency than the old MK5 generation). But we are actually not hear to talk only about the efficiency of this new engine, but also its technological performance.

But can a 1.4 liter engine really be called a performance engine?

The new Golf, will be quite economical, which is all part of Volkswagens plan to overturn Toyota and take their spot as one of the leading manufacturers in the country. Now wouldn’t it have been better if they had pursued this plan without telling every journalist and trade magazine in the world, then Toyota wouldn’t have seen them coming?

All New 1.4 liter “Twin Charged” Engine

But anyhow, part of this “non-secret” plot is going to wrap around this new 1.4 liter power plant, which has both a supercharger and turbocharger, giving the little engine some big power. If you are at all familiar with Volkswagen’s beautifully executed 1.8 liter, then you will understand just how much confidence that we have in the new Volkswagen Golf.

Volkswagens 1.8 liter turbo was capable of anywhere from 150horsepower on up to 300-plus horsepower with a big after market turbo in place of the OEM unit. It was as bullet-proof as the Muncie M-22 “Rock Crusher” manual transmission, and has been used in everything under the sun including the New Beetle and Audi TT.

It has been a boyhood (and girlhood) dream for many of us to have a vehicle that is both supercharged and turbocharged… the problem has always been balancing out the two power adders to keep the engine from harm. Volkswagen has done it and in its design almost completely rid itself of any turbo lag that their previous turbo models were guilty of.

It accomplishes this by allowing the supercharger to build its boost by 1,800 rpm, thus giving it plenty of off the line grunt. Then by the time the turbo kicks in at 3,500 rpm, the turbo’s full potential is released and the little 1.4 liter has been pulling like a jet engine all along without the driver even aware of all the technological communication that is going on in the process.

Another bonus of the 1.4 liter, is the pistons are so darn small, the golf is practically free from the usual vibration and buzzing that comes from small displacement four-cylinders. They have also added the option of a seven speed, that will take advantage of the gearing to ensure the Golf gets up and moving at a good pace and then can level off in cruise and gain some rather impressive mpg.

Even more impressive for the enthusiast will be the actual horsepower numbers, which are well within the 180 horsepower range in stock form. This means that with a little after market performance help, you could see numbers well into the 200’s.

So to answer the previous question, can a 1.4 liter engine really be called a performance engine? The answer is yes, absolutely, without hesitation it can!

Performance

The 0-60 with the Golf will run you about 8 seconds flat, which is not too spectacular… but its 137 mph top speed certainly is. This is not 137 mph with the engine revved to the point of explosion while going downhill either. We’re talking a rather smooth, comfortable and rattle-free 137 mph.

Handling Characteristics

The rest of the Golf chassis is just as smooth as the engine. It has great handling and that world-class tight rack and pinion steering that Germany has become famous for. Power steering assist will keep you on the straight and narrow during aggressive cornering using its electric ESP perception, which monitors the vehicle at all time during sudden crosswinds or emergency maneuvers.

Interior

The engineering of the build is also top notch, with tight well fit body panels which keep the ride smooth and quiet, even over uneven roadways. The seats are comfortable and stylish, as is the slightly updated instrument panel.

All-in-all the new Golf looks like a technological marvel that will have its owners grinning from ear to ear by its spirited performance and noteworthy fuel economy. Now we just have to wait for it to be boated over from Germany in the next year or so…

If you are any kind of a fan of the Ford Mustang, chances are you have heard that the season premier of Knight Rider (2008) is airing tonight on NBC. Several months ago the pilot of the new series aired and must have been successful enough to give it a go on Wednesdays evenings.

Not to snub Justin Bruening, but we are sure he already knows that the true star of the show will undoubtedly be Val Kilmer (the voice), err, we should rather say “KITT”, the multi-transforming Ford Shelby Mustang.

What Will the New KITT be able to do in the New Series?

While the Shelby Mustang alone would almost be cool enough to lead the show (as in the Dukes of Hazzard), but in a world of talking GPS units and high-tech drivers licenses, they couldn’t leave things too simple. The new KITT has far more abilities than the old 1983 Trans Am, change the paint color gag. The new and improved (unless you don’t like Mustangs, then it’s the new and degraded) KITT now has shapeshifting abilities.

Shapeshifting-

The new KITT now has several transportation modes.

• Regular stealth Mustang mode- Like an all black Ford Shelby Mustang GT-500 could ever be considered inconspicuous anywhere it goes.
• Attack mode- which adds a more aggressive body kit to the Stang to make it look more ferocious and powerful.
• 4X4 truck mode- For those times when that aggressive body kit would drag all over the mountainside, the Mustang can shift itself into a truck.

Windshield Touchscreen Technology-

A simple LED touchscreen in the dash would never do with a super high tech Shelby Mustang. Instead the new KITT has a windshield 3-D screen that allows information to be passed through the driver while they can also keep their eyes on the road. This technology is currently in the making, so we may see similar designs someday in the future.

Artificial Intelligence-

While some of us could use a little bit of this feature ourselves, the new Shelby is equipped to learn and grow as an individual. This has said to be the main mystery of the first season. KITT has been given this great gift for a reason and it will take the whole first season (to Episode 13), to figure out why. Will this be enough reason to keep us glued to our seat for the remainder of 12 episodes after tonight?

Maybe not… but watching the grace of the Shelby Mustang just might!