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Every American should read this and take it to heart 4

Every American should read this and take it to heart

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10 Things Most Americans Don’t Know About America
Imagine you have a brother and he's an alcoholic. He has his moments, but you keep your distance from him. You don't mind him for the occasional family gathering or holiday. You still love him. But yo…

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It's no secret that I'm a fan of diesel engines

I was saddened to see that BMW made no mention of compression ignition engines when it launched the new 3 Series here last year. 

The previous generation 335d was one of my personal favorites with it's monstrous 425 lb-ft of torque and 23/36 mpg EPA ratings. I averaged a solid 30 mpg without really trying the last time I drove one http://www.luxist.com/2009/09/08/review-2009-bmw-335d-performance-and-fuel-economy/

For the first time BMW is bringing its 2.0-liter four cylinder diesel to the US probably in the 3 Series. It should still achieve excellent performance and even better fuel economy if my time in the 123d a few years ago is anything to go by. http://green.autoblog.com/2008/08/05/in-the-autobloggreen-garage-2008-bmw-123d-3-door-hatchback/ 

That diesel hatchback got 37 mpg while getting to 60 mph in just 6.7 seconds.

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BMW Confirms 2.0-Liter Diesel Four for U.S., 3-series Almost Definitely First RecipientBMW Confirms 2.0-Liter Diesel Four for U.S., 3-series Almost Definitely First Recipient
BMW confirmed this morning that it will bring its 181-hp, 280-lb-ft, 2.0-liter diesel four to the U.S. The Bavarians would not provide any sort of timeline or officially confirm which models will rece…

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Throughout its first decade on the road, Vipers were also tearing up race tracks…

Throughout its first decade on the road, Vipers were also tearing up race tracks around the world.

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Dodge Viper: Born to Race, a retrospective

1989 was a turning point year for the Detroit Auto Show. It was the year that it officially became the North American International Auto Show. It was also the

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After a hiatus of way to many years, the Viper is back in the American Le Mans Series…

After a hiatus of way to many years, the Viper is back in the American Le Mans Series next month with a debut at Mid-Ohio. In the early days of the ALMS, the Viper was the dominant force in the GTS class and it's great to finally see it back.

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SRT Viper GTS-R Races Toward Mid-Ohio Debut | American Le Mans Series
BRASELTON, Ga. (July 13, 2012) – SRT's new Viper GTS-R sports car is coiled to strike at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The highly anticipated new GT entry will make its debut in the American Le Mans Ser…

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It always pays to haggle over price 4

After all the worst that can happen is you don't get a discount. 

One of the biggest concerns about hybrid and electric vehicles has been the cost of the inevitable battery replacement. Modern cars and built to last and the average age of the vehicles on the road today is closing in on 11 years. Every car I've had has remained in my fleet for a minimum of 8 years and my wife's last car was nearly 10 1/2 when it finally got replaced. 

However users of mobile phones and laptops know that most batteries don't last anywhere near that long and they aren't cheap to replace. Scale that up to car sized batteries and the numbers can quickly get scary. When the +TOYOTA Prius first debuted over a decade ago replacement nickel-metal hydride batteries were priced at $8,000 and lithium-ion packs for the +Tesla Motors Roadster can cost upwards of $30,000.

Thankfully for consumers, the EPA considers hybrid batteries to be part of the emission control system (since they impact the emissions of a vehicle by allowing it to run engine off) and thus requires them to be warrantied for 8 years or 100,000 miles. With this in mind companies like Toyota, +Honda, +Ford Motor Company, GM  and others carefully control how the battery is used to ensure that it lasts for most if not all of the life of the vehicle. 

The EPA warranty rules don't apply to pure battery electric vehicles like the +Nissan Leaf and all of Tesla's machines since they produce no emissions. Nissan opted to offer the 8 year warranty for the Leaf to remain competitive with the +Chevrolet Volt Tesla bumped the Model S battery warranty to 8 years from the 3 years on the roadster. 

So far most hybrid batteries have held up very well. Ford Escape Hybrids in New York taxi service quickly racked up over 175,000 miles with no battery problems. One owner of a 2001 Prius recently had to replace an out of warranty battery. The dealer originally quoted over $4,400 but dropped that to $2,900 after the owner got a $2,500 price for a refurbished battery.

While these prices aren't cheap, I'm not looking forward to the screams of agony when BEV owners have to start replacing their much larger batteries later this decade. 

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Replacing A 2001 Toyota Prius Battery Pack: What It Cost
It's one of the most frequent questions asked about hybrids: What happens if I have to replace the high-voltage battery pack? While Toyota warrants its Prius batteries for 8 years/100,000 miles (or 10…

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There are some amazingly good vehicles on this list and almost all of them really… 8

There are some amazingly good vehicles on this list and almost all of them really impressed me when I drove them in the past. In fact several of them are among my favorite vehicles in their segments including the +Ford Motor Company Flex, +Mazda USA 5 and the Miata. I've never driven the current Volvo V70 and I thought the Suzuki Kizashi was a mixed bag of nice styling, good chassis and a decidedly underwhelming powertrain.

Reshared post from +Automobile Magazine

The Best Cars That Nobody Buys: We love them, but nobody buys them. What do you think about our picks?

Read More: http://bit.ly/P0xZU3

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The 1991 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme was just a so-so car when it was new over 20… 3

The 1991 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme was just a so-so car when it was new over 20 years ago. However its front-wheel drive platform and GM 3.1-liter V6 were really nothing to get excited about.

Why anyone would bother expending the effort to try and "replicate" the look of a $270,000+ Bentley on such a lame platform is a mystery I will never understand.

The other thing I don't understand is people that put detail shots of stuff that just doesn't well executed on eBay listings. Some of the execution on this replica is really poor. I guess the bigger mystery at this point is why anyone would bid over $6,000 for this thing.

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It Came from eBay Hell: Oldsmobile Poses as a 1990s Bentley Continental R – Carscoop
The Continental R coupe built from 1991 to 2003 in just a little over 1200 units is one of the last old school Bentleys before the Volkswagen Group took over shop and began churning out a contemporary…

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