#increased handling

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Pickups are more than transportation. They are economic machines – powering America's future.

This country was built out of the bed of a pickup, and it's going to require four-wheel drive and 32-inch Super Swapers to get this nation out of the economic mud-pit we find ourselves parked.

Chrysler Group LLC appears to be doing its patriotic part. What's good for Ram – the truck lost its Dodge moniker four years ago – is good for the country. Seriously, it is.

In past years, the Ram was Chrysler's best-selling vehicle, and its bread and butter. It's beefy profit paid the bills while Chrysler pumped out nameplates like Sebring and Crossfire with little success. Now the Ram is poised to return to that position while Chrysler Group is also offering far better cars and crossovers under new owner Fiat– such as the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Dodge Durango and Chrysler 300.

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Each month, manufacturers typically offer an assortment of promotional deals in the form of cash back (that can help increase your down payment) or low financing rates — some as low as 0% and 0.9% for a defined term. Meanwhile, particular leasing deals typically offer a choice between a low down payment or low monthly payment for a nice short term to keep your out-of-pocket automotive expenses minimal.

If you’re in the market to buy a new car this month, we suggest you shop the current manufacturer lease and finance incentives to see if a particular offer makes sense for you. A wide array of both luxury and mainstream automotive brands are offering exceptional lease and finance deals as well as a few impressive cash-back offers during the month of September as automakers attempt to move 2012 inventory off the lots to make room for 2013 models.

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Automakers are introducing mind-boggling technology that will see cars parking and driving themselves, leaving their "drivers" free to — what else — safely surf the Internet while on the move.

Earlier vehicular innovations "were all mechanical," says Egil Juliussen of iSuppli Corp., a market research firm specializing in automotive technology trends. Now, increasingly, they're digital and "happening in a shorter time frame," he says.

Smart cars could also be the key to winning back younger buyers — the 20- and 30-somethings who are abandoning car ownership, no longer seeing it as a mark of independence and financial success. Their passion for technology, combined with greater driving convenience of autonomous cars, may draw them back.

Here's a peek at what's coming just a few years down the road.

[dixiecap-blog]

Your vehicle is a lot like a good bird dog, saddle horse, or trained hunting falcon: It’s often trying to tell you something important. To protect your bank balance, your vehicle, and perhaps your own body, we offer this vehicle-to-human translation guide.

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Today, the thrust to reduce vehicle mass is going well beyond the use of aluminum to include everything from magnesium and carbon-fibre reinforced plastics to aluminum wiring and lightweight exhaust systems. The new Audi A6, for example, is 80 kilograms lighter than the outgoing model — this in spite of the increased content, new features and improved levels of safety, each of which tends to add weight. The other advantage to lightweight construction is far more fun and just as ecologically sound. The relative performance of any automobile is determined by a number of factors, the key being the vehicle’s power-to-weight ratio. Improving this aspect can be accomplished one of two ways. The first method entails dropping a honking motor into a sled (think Dodge Viper) and using brute force to deliver the desired performance. The preferable option is to reduce the mass of the car. This improves the power-to-weight ratio without having to upsize the engine. To drive the point home, Audi prepared two very different cars for testing.

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Honda's redesigned 2012 Civic comes to market this spring, a long awaited Tune up of the iconic compact line that include sedan and coupe versions, along with two alternative-fuel vehicles: gasoline-electric hybrid and natural-gas-powered sedans. While the natural-gas model will have limited availability and is intended mostly for fleets, the hybrid is a consumer vehicle that anyone can buy. With the remake, the hybrid gets its first lithium-ion battery pack, an upgrade from the nickel-metal-hydride battery that has been used.

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WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Although much of the industry and consumer focus seems to be on smaller, fuel-efficient cars, it’s nice to see some manufacturers haven’t completely abandoned models that still get the heart pumping when the key is turned.

Chrysler Group’s SRT (Street and Racing Technology) products have been stirring the emotions of enthusiasts for nearly a decade and now, despite the market shift to smaller cars with four-cylinder and V6 power plants, this team of specialists continues to feed the needs of that passionate segment of the market by creating full-sized, monster-V8-powered vehicles that deliver the ultimate in performance, handling, braking — and fun.

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Low rolling resistance tires have been used on hybrid vehicles in the past and these tires are now starting to be used in non-hybrid applications. Individually, each of the improvements on a new vehicle may not look that impressive, but when you start adding them all together, you may be looking at 20 to 25 per cent improved fuel economy over your existing older vehicle. For any given size of vehicle, a hybrid will likely give 15 to 25 per cent improvement in fuel economy compared to the same non-hybrid vehicle. Hybrids do cost more, but depending on the model, it can pay for itself in a few years and you have the pleasure of knowing you are helping the environment too.