3 Best Cars For The Youth

Summer is prime time for teens to get behind the wheel, so Consumer Reports has released its list of best cars for new drivers, who really want to drive the best models on the roads. So here are the top three cars for the teens to go wild over. Check them out.

1. Hyundai Elantra

The 2010 Hyundai Elantra is the most comfortable and spacious cabins in the Affordable Small Car class, the Elantra is well worth a look for those who want a little extra comfort while getting from point A to B. Its warranty is one of the longest in the class and it gets high reliability ratings that make its affordable base price all the more attractive. It handles well, has no problem passing on the highway and offers excellent fuel economy for the class. Additionally, it offers good cargo capacity for a small sedan and has a rear seat that is actually comfortable, a quality that is exceptionally rare among affordable small cars. With a low base price, a low cost of ownership and many virtues, the Elantra earned our Best Compact Car for the Money award for 2010, just as it did for the 2009 model year.

2. Mazda 3

The 2010 redesigned Mazda3′s aggressively sporty performance is notable among affordable small cars, but its once-sleek exterior is now described as goofy-looking by some auto writers. When it came time to redesign the popular Mazda3, most reviewers had the same opinion. In terms of the car’s energetic engine power, solid handling and abundant sportiness, don’t mess too much with a good thing. According to our analysis, Mazda’s engineers listened and delivered a 2010 model that enhances the best-loved attributes of the outgoing 3. The redesigned Mazda3 is already an award winner, having secured a spot on the Car & Driver “10 Best” list for 2010 and earning a “Best Buy” award from Consumers Digest.

3. Honda CR-V

The Honda CR-V provides one of the best combinations of safety, utility and affordability in its class. And with increased fuel economy, more power and a more well-liked exterior for 2010, it gets even better. Look past the conservative exterior styling and you’ll find the best-designed small SUV in this price range when it comes to interior aesthetics and day-to-day practicality. The CR-V is often compared to the Toyota RAV4, another class leader. The CR-V is an award winner. In the past, it received Motor Week’s “Driver’s Choice” for Best Small Utility and IntelliChoice’s “Motorist Choice Award.”

Protect Your Car From Thieves

Is your cars safe from vulnerable car attacks/hacks? “A group of researchers from Rutgers University and the University of South Carolina have just discovered that you can hack into a car’s electronics wirelessly, which means any modern vehicle could be vulnerable to an attack at any time, even while it’s being driven down the road,” reports Autoblog.

To access the car’s computers, the team used the tire pressure monitoring system. Those systems have been required in new cars since 2008, and wirelessly transmit their data to the car’s onboard computer. Once the researchers figured out the tire pressure monitoring system’s signals, they transmitted their information to the car’s computers. Earlier this year, researchers showed that it’s possible to hack a car computer using wired connections; this is the first case of anyone hacking a car’s computer wirelessly.

“The team sent fake warning messages from 40 meters away, and in another experiment, got the test car to flash a warning that a tire had lost all pressure while beaming the signal from another car as both drove 68 mph,” writes Jalopnik.

While the results are unnerving, you should still believe all warnings your car gives you. As ARS Technica points out, “these attacks are more of a nuisance than any real danger; the tire sensors only send a message every 60-90 seconds, giving attackers little opportunity to compromise systems or cause any real damage. Nonetheless, both pieces of research demonstrate that these in-car computers have been designed with ineffective security measures.”

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Is your cars safe from vulnerable car attacks/hacks? “A group of researchers from Rutgers University and the University of South Carolina have just discovered that you can hack into a car’s electronics wirelessly, which means any modern vehicle could be vulnerable to an attack at any time, even while it’s being driven down the road,” reports Autoblog.

To access the car’s computers, the team used the tire pressure monitoring system. Those systems have been required in new cars since 2008, and wirelessly transmit their data to the car’s onboard computer. Once the researchers figured out the tire pressure monitoring system’s signals, they transmitted their information to the car’s computers. Earlier this year, researchers showed that it’s possible to hack a car computer using wired connections; this is the first case of anyone hacking a car’s computer wirelessly.

“The team sent fake warning messages from 40 meters away, and in another experiment, got the test car to flash a warning that a tire had lost all pressure while beaming the signal from another car as both drove 68 mph,” writes Jalopnik.

While the results are unnerving, you should still believe all warnings your car gives you. As ARS Technica points out, “these attacks are more of a nuisance than any real danger; the tire sensors only send a message every 60-90 seconds, giving attackers little opportunity to compromise systems or cause any real damage. Nonetheless, both pieces of research demonstrate that these in-car computers have been designed with ineffective security measures.”

The Fastest Car - SSC Aero

The car season would boost up soon with the SSC Ultimate Aero- “a car without equal”. After seven years of long wait, SSC is finally ready to introduce its Ultimate Aero, which would set a benchmark for supercars today.

The exclusive first photos of the SSC Ultimate Aero II is the second generation of America’s fastest supercar. The purpose of this ultimate car is to look good and reclaim the title of world’s fastest production car from the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport.

Achieving tremendous power via its twin turbo V-8 engine, the SSC Ultimate Aero II produces 1,183 horsepower and 1094 ft.-lbs. of torque making it the world’s most powerful production car.

Combining this proprietary power plant with a lightweight, aerodynamic body and the best handling systems available SSC delivers a vehicle that not only eclipses all other cars but stands officially as the “World’s Fastest Production Car”.

Simply put, there is no other production car that can match the performance of the Ultimate Aero.

Unleashing Honda Odeyssey 2011

Honda refurbished last-year’s top-selling minivan in the U.S., the Odyssey, to compete with Toyota Motor Corp.’s Sienna and lure younger drivers from “crossover” light trucks that have eroded the segment’s sales.

The 2011 Odyssey goes on sale Sept. 30 with a new look and a base price of $27,800, or $1,000 more than the current version.

“This stigma attached to the minivan as being boxy and not as appealing from a styling standpoint, we tried to address that,” Catalin Matei, Honda’s senior designer for the Odyssey, said in an interview in La Jolla, California. “We kept the functionality and increased interior volume. The appearance is lower, wider, more sporty.”

Fuel economy for the V-6 engine Odyssey improved to a combined 21 miles per gallon in city and highway driving for LX and EX grades, from 18 mpg previously, Honda said. Fuel economy for the Odyssey Touring grade, a high-end version that starts at $40,755, improved to a combined 22 mpg from 20 mpg, aided by the use of a 6-speed automatic transmission.

Terrafugia Flying Car

How about driving your car in the skies? Sounding strange but Jens Martin Skibsted and his firm has designed a Terrafugia flying car design, with a folding-wing for easy parking, which can actually make sky-roads for you. Skibsted talked about his futuristic project in an extensive interview over at BoingBoing. Here is what he revealed.

The entire concept started in search of urban mobility. They wanted some planning for the city with style, so the thought stopped at flying cars. The result was Terrafugia’s next-generation Transition Roadable Aircraft, unveiled on Monday. However, a scale model is now under construction and reservations are acknowledged for $10,000 with delivery planned for late next year.

The Federal Aviation Administration have also granted an addition 110 pounds within the Light Sport Aircraft category so that the Transition can incorporate typical safety qualities found in cars. Terrafugia announced that the sale price would be in the $200,000 range.

And the team is working really hard to make things work. I’d imagine that designing a flying car is a unique challenging project. Skibsted revealed that the project had three stakeholders- designers, mechanical engineers, and then the aerodynamics engineers. Usually, you just have designers working with engineers on a certain concept. Besides, KIBISI likes working on concepts for unusual objects and designs, and they are pretty sure that they will make this design fly.