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The 2007 New England International Auto Show


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Yesterday, a group of CarGurus personnel attended the press preview for the 2007 New England International Auto Show. For those of you who haven’t gone to a press preview, that means an event where the cars perhaps outnumber the people. And since this was the first time it was held in the new Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, it almost reminded me of a sci-fi movie.

In this one, earth is inhabited by machines, and humans are few and far between. The machines all roll on perfectly clean, mostly large tires, have flawlessly waxed bodies, and are of a higher intelligence level than the zombie-like humans who are left – otherwise, why would the humans go around wide-eyed, paying the greatest of respects to these machines, photographing them from every conceivable angle, and listening to other humans spout mostly nonsensical words of adulation (aka marketing talk) about the machines, while the machines just sit and stare blankly until a journalist pays her/his respects with a flash and gets acknowledged with a headlight or taillight wink?

You, the general automotive enthusiast public, however, will have a very different experience. Pouring through those glass doors at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, attendees will outnumber the machines. You will vie for chances to touch, sit in, and play with the controls of the machines. You will let your excitement flash when you see, in the “flesh,” the fabulous new Nissan GT-R supercar – yes, it came to Boston direct from Tokyo (and it’s a right-hand drive version)! This car is probably one of the fastest machines in the great hall, but it can be driven by anyone, anyplace, anytime. As Nissan likes to boast, try that with your Z06 in a Boston snowstorm. After all, the GT-R has all-wheel drive.

Nissan GT-R on display at the 2007 New England International Auto SHow

And, yes, the 2008 Corvette Z06 is also there, along with its movie-star buddy, the new Camaro – in the same great yellow zinger makeup it wore in the movie “Transformers.” And Ford Mustang and Dodge Challenger fans will also be excited, as the latest editions of your heroes are also waiting for you.

A 2009 Camaro

Moving around in that cavernous hall (you may want to wear hiking shoes and bring water) you might or might not recognize the Japanese “muscle car” that can show its taillights to most American nostalgia burners either at the drag strip or through the twisties – and this one isn’t the GT-R, which is much further up the Mt. Olympus of performance. This car is a four-door sedan, built by a Japanese manufacturer of luxury sedans that can go head-to-head with the best Teutonic sports sedans. V8-powered, with an eight-speed “automatic” transmission that can outshift a Ferrari (those are also in attendance), and more beautiful than any metal sculpture has the right to be, this Japanese “muscle car” costs a hell of a lot less and gets a hell of a lot better gas mileage than Italy’s finest.

Lexus IS-F

It’s the Lexus IS F! Why not drive in full comfort as you blow off almost everything outside the sub-4-second 0-to-60 level of supercars? The IS F has 416 horsepower and a race-tuned suspension with Lexus comfort and quality – amazing.

Subaru is also there with its new WRX STi, along with a full-fledged Subie rally car. Its “dark” rival, the EVO X, unfortunately, didn’t show. But BMW has the new V8 M3 on site – a natural rival to the brand-new Lexus IS F. Figuring out which to buy will be a hard choice for those who can afford one.

2008 BMW M3 Coupe

Those with less need for speed and more cargo to carry can check the great MINI Cooper Clubman – those rear mini-barn doors are neat. And they are neighbors in the great hall to the beautiful – almost Italian in its fluid lines – Audi S5 and the incredible Audi R8.

2008 Audi R8

Are you a Saab fan? Check out the limited-edition 2008 Saab Turbo X. You won’t have to sit through the droning corporate adulation we journalists did just to see it. (Or the even worse corporate-speak presented at the journalists’ luncheon – what we writers must do to eat!)

So be happy – you’ll be among fellow enthusiasts, and that’s what really makes a car show, not acres of open space with more cars than people. Those machines need us!

– Albert A. Dalia

U.S. Government Sponsors Automated Automotive Race


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As a young adult straddling the line between Generations X and Y, it feels strange to read how scholars and authors from years past envisioned the effect of technology on our society in the first decade of the millennium. Personally, I’m still waiting for the transforming robots, floating cities, and an inexpensive cure for just about every serious disease known to man. However, while technology may not move as quickly as some of us would like, a unique auto race sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense reminds us that self-driving vehicles may replace their human-driven counterparts sooner than we think.

Since 2004, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has sponsored a driverless road race called the Urban Challenge. Teams from around the world compete to design an “autonomous ground vehicle” that can successfully navigate a simulated urban environment under specific rules without the help of a driver or a remote control. These cars depend on sensors and other built-in mechanisms to maneuver.

This year’s Urban Challenge took place in Victorville, CA on November 3 and featured 11 finalists who had to conquer 60 miles of potholes, downed power lines, rocks, and other obstacles in under 6 hours while following California traffic rules. A team from Carnegie Mellon University finished first and claimed the top prize of $2 million. Their entry averaged 14 mph during their championship run, finishing nearly 20 minutes ahead of the second place team from Stanford. An entry from Virginia Tech finished third.

In the big picture, the Urban Challenge shows that autonomous ground vehicles can save lives in times of war by taking soldiers off the battlefield. This technology could also pay huge dividends when it comes to rescue missions and damage control in the event of natural disasters. Regardless, money talks and the more DARPA offers for events like the Urban Challenge, the more likely we’ll see advanced versions of these groundbreaking new vehicles going into the line of fire in the near future.

– posted by Taeho Lim

Now You Can Drive In Peace

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So it’s midnight, you’re on the road, and you have no idea where you are. You look for a map, but frantic searches in the glove compartment and trunk yield nothing. You ask Scotty from the Starship Enterprise to beam you over some directions, but he’s apparently in sick bay. So what do you do? Pull into the local gas station and print out directions from Google.

Starting next month, gas pumps made by North Carolina-based manufacturer Gilbarco Veeder-Root will have a small computer screen where you can Google your directions via touchscreen, then print them out. Initially, you’ll find 3,500 of these machines across the nation , but expect this idea to expand if you and your fellow drivers like the idea enough. While the maps come ad-free, retailers will offer coupons through the service.

Personally, I like the idea. I’ve taken a number of road trips where I got lost in my destination city and had to ask for directions from gas attendants who didn’t speak English. And when it comes to people more stubborn than me, gas-pump Googling should present a welcome last resort that relieves stress on-demand.

– posted by Taeho Lim

How Often Should I Change My Oil?


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Oil change

So it’s about that time when you notice that the mileage on your odometer has just exceeded the figure written on the sticker from your last oil change. Which makes you wonder: should you change your oil as often as the sticker says, or can you wait a little longer?

Like many people, I get a little skeptical when someone who has a vested business interest in working on my car tells me I should come by as often as possible. Many shops will tell you to come in every 3,000 miles. That number may seem like a lot, but what if you reside outside the urban sprawl? Maybe you commute 10-15 miles to work and take a road trip every month. That means you could end up driving nearly 1,000 miles per month. So if you go by the recommended 3,000 miles/change, you’ll need to change your oil every 3 months. At $30 a pop, you pay $120 per year based on potentially biased advice.

Read literature on the subject and you’ll find that you can hold out beyond 3,000 miles per change. For example, Consumer Reports says that you can typically go around 7,500 miles between changes without negatively impacting your engine. Many cars also have an oil monitoring system to tell you when to change your oil.

Regardless of the numbers, conventional wisdom says you should change your oil based on the kind of car you have. Fivecentnickel.com recommends dispensing with the “one-size-fits-all” mentality and simply reading your owner’s manual to learn about your car’s unique needs.

In any event, you can save money by going above and beyond your local lube shop’s recommendations. Knowledge is power, so stay well-read and proactive.

– posted by Taeho Lim

Green, Green, Greenbacks


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The J.D. Power and Associates forecast released today tells us something that isn’t much of a surprise: the hybrid-vehicle market in the US is hot and getting hotter. We talk a lot about hybrids and other green approaches to driving here at the CarGurus blog, but a couple of other press releases that arrived in my in-box around the same time as the Power projections made me realize that this stuff is getting to be big business.

AutoTrader Publishing, it seems, is launching a spinoff called AutoTrader Green–which, according to the press release, is going to be devoted to “fuel-efficient vehicles….including Alternative-Fuel Automobiles (AFAs) such as hybrids.” AutoTrader, as you may or may not remember, publishes classified and dealer advertising in magazine form; their line of publications, including TruckTrader, CorvetteTrader, and SuperRVTrader, is produced and distributed locally across the US. It’s a solid cash-spinner for Atlanta’s Cox Enterprises, too.

This is a watershed moment, I think. You can’t get much more mainstream than AutoTrader, after all. If a savvy company like Cox thinks that there are enough people bringing a green emphasis to their car-shopping that they can support an entire title…well, something big must be happening.

Something less groundbreaking, but still very interesting, is this week’s launch of Earthcars.com, a green car “one-stop shopping portal.” This seems like less of a departure, because a lot of the interest in hybrids, electrics, and other green cars has been driven by (and expressed on) the Internet. Sites like Greenercars.org and AutoblogGreen.com are all green, all the time; most of the other Internet car sites (us included) devote a lot of attention to the green sector, and environmental websites like Treehugger.com cover new developments in automotive technology.

But the thing that made me sure that the market momentum was squarely in the green zone was the announcement that Toyota was introducing a new, bargain-priced Prius. They still haven’t broken the $20,000 barrier yet (so close, though!) but the writing seems to be on the wall: with more competition in the hybrid market, prices are bound to drop further. Then it’ll be a whole new playing field for the green car segment.

So, who knows? Maybe there’s a Toyota Hybrid X in my future…well, I can dream, can’t I?

Toyota Hybrid X