My Musings on Classic and Collector Cars

New Ford Fleet owners can opt for an innovative midsize box, mounted in front of your new Ford F250 bed that can easily be locked for tools and other costly cargo. Used Ford F150 hold their value like none other. Three unique instrument cluster designs give every series an individual appearance. If you’re searching for Ford dealers in New York or more specifically Ford dealers in Warwick NY, Leo Kaytes Ford is your one stop shop for all drivers looking for Ford dealers Middletown residents have trusted for years.

All models showcase a fashionable two-tone instrument panel. Vehicles prepared with a 40/20/40-split-front-bench seat makes it much more comfortable for the guy in the middle. F-150 comes with three different engine choices: a 4.2-liter V-6 engine, a 4.6-liter Triton™ V-8 and the upscale 5.4-liter, three-valve Triton V-8(VCT). The 5.4-liter Triton V-8 engine delivers 320 hp. and 390 ft.lbs of tourqe. A flex-fuel edition makes use of E85 biofuel.

Selectable upgrades that are avaiable include: SIRIUS satellite radio; supplementary audio input jack; navigation system; overhead rail storage system; traction assist; power-fold heated side mirrors; mechanical or automatic shift-on-the-fly 4×4; skid plates; non-posi axle; 35.7-gallon fuel tank; fog lights; two-tone paint; numerous different upgrade packages; power-adjustable pedals; remote-sliding back glass; reverse sensing system; six-disc CD changer; audiophile audio system; HD payload package; trailer tow package; prep package for a snow plow.

XL includes: front and rear chrome bumpers; interval wipers; 17 inch alloy rim; AM/FM stereo system; black rubber floor mats; interior map lights and manual driver lumbar support comes with vinyl 40/20/40-split front seat. Many of the New Ford F-150 provides enormous comfort and driving ability found in no other vehicle in their class. Ranging from you normal run of the mill XL model, which is the most universal work truck of Americans today, even Fords XLT Lariat, which is the king of the road, arraying from the Harley Davidson series to the King Ranch. A tailgate step is also offered that helps getting up to the back easier and safer, even for old hoots like me. The very heavy tailgate also comes with springs that help closing the tailgate alot easier.

Clever marketing package based on HSV GTS took advantage of Holden’s production run of yellow taxi bodies for in your face presentation. As bigger and better new models arrive, the GTS-R’s hoped-for collector status is on hold indefinitely for now Investors who mothballed new examples now face stiff competition from today’s cheaper, faster and more refined HSV and FPV muscle for outstanding used car buying. Its 215 kW of stroked Holden V8 gives a welcome wall of torque from low speeds without the deep breathing top end of the latest models.HRT carbon-fibre fillets at front, rear & sides discoloured badly on exposure to sun. Plain grille is more like VR than VS GTS, and dates it more than it should.Racing-style but non-adjustable HRT rear spoiler on square tube mount is crude — or duck’s guts — depending on how you look at it.Stroker 215 kW V8 pulls hard from tickover but can throw its drive belt under extreme conditions and suffer from bore-distortion. Power steering not to be trusted under track conditions. Old style back main rope seal will weep a little but make sure it’s not a full blown leak.Unrefined early Borg Warner T56 6-speed had unique HSV linkages for crisp mechanical feel but close gate can make some changes a lucky dip. Internal clatter and other noises are standard.Combination mechanical-hydraulic clutch linkage locates master and slave cylinders out of sight on bell-housing and may have placed regular fluid changes and leakage checks in the too-hard basket.Expensive Hydratrak diff and independent rear end gave the GTS-R better grip than most although missing Opel control links generates sharp rear breakaway at the limit and lack of adjustment. Check all structural members around rear suspension.Yellow trim inserts, extra black and carbon fibre cabin highlights may lift GTS-R further from fleet car origins but cabin finish is the main disappointment as Holden quality has come a long way since then.Trick yellow-badged wheel inserts, dark finish and GTS-R identification mask one of HSV’s least appealing wheel designs. Search Second Hand cars For sale

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The Golf’s suspension is simply too soft for taxing Australian conditions. Its rear suspension tops out (or reaches full extension) over even moderately undulating roads, and that’s when the driver is alone. Feed in three additional adults and watch the under-damped Golf lose its cool - bouncing around, bottoming out needlessly, and prompting the question: “Are there any dampers at all back there?”

On smooth roads, the VW Golf lopes along quietly with plush assurance and impressive refinement. In most situations it rides extremely well - arguably as impressive as the Focus - but ask it to briskly traverse a 100km/h back road with a moderate load and you find yourself cringing as the damping resistance dissolves. It doesn’t like hard cornering much, either, but here the Golf is no worse than theToyota Corolla. It understeers doggedly and has lots of body movement. You just need to keep your aspirations low. Roadholding is pretty good, though, and its light steering offers reasonable feel, despite leisurely off-centre response.

And the Golf’s brakes are bloody good - easier to modulate during initial travel than the Focus’s stoppers, with more progressive assistance. They’re ultimately stronger, too.

Surprisingly, considering VW’s enviable powertrain expertise, this Golf 2.0 S still uses the ancient 1984cc eight-valve four, which traces its ancestry back to the dawn of time (1972, actually). It’s torquey but characterless, feels a bit flat (although noticeably stronger than the Golf 2.0 tested in June ‘02, and the lethargic Focus), and does it tough winding out to the pointless 6500rpm redline. It’s best to surf the mid-range via the vague-but-agreeable gearshift to avoid both high-rev thrash and the accompanying thirst for (premium) unleaded fuel.

So the Golf isn’t a driver’s car, nor would it be our first choice for along trip.. What it does best is city living - even right on the beach, thanks to its fully galvanised body and 12-year anti-corrosion warranty. Fastidious attention to detail lurks everywhere - from the super-strong doors and the intelligent, notched door stays, to the glossy paint in the bits you can’t see, the retractable cords in the luggage cover, and the damped grab handles. It has been said before but, even after five years, the Golf’s cabin remains the benchmark for materials quality, fit, and presentation. It is very dark and sombre in this S model, though, and feels cheerless compared to lighter, posher Golf offerings. But then one glance inside the depressing Focus puts the VW in perspective.

Owing to its stunted 2511mm wheelbase - roughly 100mm less than the others - the Golf has the least cabin length, but it’s still a nice place to be. The front seats could do with more lateral support, but are well shaped and, like the steering column, feature an enormous range of adjustment in all directions. The 60/40 double-split rear bench boasts three height/tilt adjustable headrests, and three lap-sash belts, as well as decent door grips, good under-thigh support, reasonable headroom, and adequate leg and knee room. Plus, the Golf has a sizeable, beautifully trimmed boot.

Equipment isn’t bad in this 2.0 S: twin airbags, ABS, air-con, central locking, a cranking eight-speaker CD player, and heated electric mirrors But rivals offer more gear for substantially less money and, while few can match the Golf’s class, the VW isn’t a standard-setter when it comes to pure function. Search Buy Used Volkswagen Cars in Offaly for the car of your choice. …………………………………………………………………………….. Find Used Volkswagen Cars For Sale Roscommon

Nissan’s new electric car, the Leaf, will be sold in Ireland as a complete unit including the battery, which means there will be no hidden separate monthly battery leasing charges.There is an array of other Government incentives, both fiscal and non-fiscal, currently under review that may further defray the costs and increase the benefits of owning and charging a Nissan Leaf in Ireland – these combined with the ESB’s commitment to install home charging points free of charge to the first 2,000 electric vehicle customers makes the Leaf a really tempting option for the first people to reserve a car.

Maintenance costs on the Leaf will also be lower as there are fewer moving parts. And average annual running costs for Leaf are expected to be about €5 per week. Nissan says Leaf customers can expect to save 80 per cent on running costs compared to traditional vehicles.

Innovative smart phone connectivity will allow an owner to control many elements of the Leaf’s functions remotely – including tell the car when to re-charge, to heat or cool the inside of the auto before starting a trip and many more remarkable features.

The satellite navigation on the Leaf can interface directly to a global data center via the telematics system giving owners instant updates on charging points, driving patterns, etc.

Power comes from the 80kw AC motor which develops 280Nm of torque, enough for a maximum speed of more than 140km/h. Thanks to the near instant response from its eighty kw electric motor, Nissan Leaf offers startling performance from a standstill. Furthermore, this performance is delivered in near silence with no vibrations.

The electric motor is “fuelled” by a laminated lithium-ion battery with a power output of more than 90 kw. The 48 module battery is mounted under the seats and floor of Nissan Leaf, thus ensuring a low centre of gravity for near roll free cornering with excellent ride comfort. The battery is manufactured by the Automotive Energy Supply Corporation, Nissan’s joint venture with electronics maker NEC.

A full charge delivers a potential range of 160km which research indicates will satisfy the daily driving demands of most customers. Global research indicates that the average daily mileage for 80 per cent of the world’s population is below 100km .. see some Nissans here , Buy Used Nissan cars For Sale Carlow To get a better deal

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Rivaling all of its supposed foreign foes the RX-8’s rotary motor stays flawless even at high rpms. The engine is a 232-hp, RENESIS 2-rotor, rotary engine with six-speed manual transmission and has a three-stage variable induction system. Mazda’s design team went to the drawing board to come up with a rare sports car with power and is fun to drive. We would have to agree that they have succeeded.

If your looking for a Mazda RX-8 or any Ford in Dover look no further than Willis Ford. There are many Dover area Ford dealers but none with this amount of selection. This Dover Ford Lincoln dealer has inventory on almost any car.

The Motorsports-Inspired R3 selection includes premium 19-inch genuine aluminum rims, performance-tuned suspension with Bilstein® vibration absorbers and Recaro® front sport leather-trimmed interior. Some of the available features include, Bose® audio system, Bluetooth® hands-free phone capability, heated front seats, Mazda advanced key-less entry, and key-less start system. With its pop-up LCD screen it’s sure to be the envy of all your friends.

For safety and security the RX-8 has enhanced driver air bags, passenger-weight and driver’s seat-position sensors, 3-point seat belts for all 4 seating positions, anti-lock brake system with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution, and a Traction Control System. For added protection when carrying young people the RX-8 comes standard with side-impact door beams, key-less remote panic button, advanced anti-theft alarm system, wheel locks, and the Mazda Tire-Pressure Monitoring System.

The exterior amenities flat-out deliver, period. Options include, self-leveling Xenon High-Intensity-Discharge headlights, auto-off headlights, body-color bumpers, alloy hood and rear doors, glare-reducing windshield, rain-sensing windshield wipers, in-glass antenna, dual heated, power outside mirrors, freestyle door system, rear lip spoiler, rear wing spoiler,

The wheel and tire selections for the RX-8 are engineered for maneuvering the road and staying flush in turns. The choices are either 18-inch alloy rims, or 19-inch BBS forged aluminum wheels both well equipped with rim locks, and 225/45R18 summer performance tires, or 225/40R19 summer performance tires W-speed rated.

Add in the throw back suicide-doors that allow family access to the back seat and you have a rare sports car that permits you to bring along 3 friends. The RX-8 is great for a new college student wanting a quick way around town or a young family that has to have room for a child but isn’t ready for a minivan.

What will the future be like? The future of the vehicle has been a much loved topic of Cartoons and TV shows for years. What did you imagine cars would be like in the year 2010? The self-driven taxi from Total Recall? Hovering land speeders like in Star Wars? The sky was the limit, literally, for what cars would look like. Technology has taken a completely different direction. Cars already do what we need them to do. Hovering would be cool, but wouldn’t really serve any other purpose. The police are busy trying to slow drivers down because our cars already go more than fast enough. In fact, in many places there’s so much traffic that cars can’t use the speed they already have. Aesthetics are still important, but rather than buying the flashiest possible car, people are choosing streamlined, attractive cars. After market upgrades are made to blend in with the original - boring - look of the car. Auto makers tout the vehicles’ reliability and safety records, which has improved exponentially in recent years. Is there anything we need that our current cars don’t offer? Fuel efficiency - even more practicality. The price of gasoline has soared in recent years, and it’s expensive just to drive around town. Cars that run on less gasoline, or none at all, are the hot sellers. Automakers have a lot of choices for reaching this goal, from hydrogen to biofuel to propane. All of these technologies have challenges, especially in keeping their costs down enough that they will be economically comparable to gasoline powered cars. In the last few years, one technology has taken the lead and reached the car dealership: electricity. Hybrids were the first to hit the market and fully electric vehicles aren’t far behind. The Toyota Prius was the first to be offered at a price that large numbers of consumers could afford. The other automakers followed closely on their heels. The Ford Escape, Infiniti M35, Honda Civic and Nissan Altima are just a few of the offerings. Hybrids don’t have to be small anymore, either, as evidenced by GMC’s Sierra and Cadillac’s Escalade. The government has helped by offering incentives to those involved in manufacturing or buying cars that use less gasoline and are less damaging to the environment. You can go buy one of these cars today at your local Dallas Ford Dealership or Car Dealers Des Moines with no problem. The fully electric car is the next development we’ll see. You’ve seen them for quite a while, in experimental cars owned by the local power company or as spec cars at car shows. The Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf are finally hitting showrooms. There are still some hurdles to overcome, like limited range and price and longevity of batteries, but this is clearly the direction that new cars are headed. Good old fashioned fuel efficiency is getting overlooked to some degree. A car can run on gasoline, but use a lot less of it. This is a technology that’s been slowly but steadily improving for many years. There are gasoline powered cars getting 34-35 MPG - the Honda Civic and Ford Focus to name a few. This was unimaginable back in the 80’s when gas was only $1.35 a gallon and we loved our V8s. So while we’re unlikely to see cars like the DeLorean from Back to the Future or Kitt from the Knight Rider, cars will continue to evolve to meet our ever-changing needs. America’s love affair with the automobile is far from over.

Dubbed the RX330, the wagon is a second generation version of a mid-sized Lexus RX300 soft-roader . The Lexus, however, boasts a full-time 4WD system with clever computer-controlled center differential plus all the equipment — safety, convenience and otherwise .Features such as rain-sensing wipers, auto-dimming heated mirrors, xenon headlamps, power front seats wide alloys with premium Michelin rubber, airbags  ABS with brake assist, stability control and electric moonroof are all standard equipment. Lashings of leather, multi-adjustable front and rear seating and plenty of timber accents mark the RX330’s territory as surely as its badgework.Under bonnet power for the two versions is provided by a 3.3-litre V6. Equipped with VVT-i variable valve timing, the all-alloy engine gives 172kW at 5600rpm & close to 330Nm of torque at a relatively high 3600rpm. It’ll live with standard 91RON unleaded, but seems a little peppier on the high octane stuff.It’s a smart set-up, from the fly by wire throttle all the way through, and combines traction control, Vehicle Swerve Control and Brake Assist to provide what the maker claims is a high level of dynamic safety on both sealed and unsealed roads.Clearly the RX offers a significant step up in the level of accommodation offered in this class and price range. Having spent some time in the entry-level version of BMW’s X5, it’s the standard equipment of the Lexus that impresses The RX330 is no slouch in this department but does not have the class-leading manners of the X5The front seats are top notch, offering great support and all-day comfort. The perfect driving position is achieved with little button twiddling and thanks to the memory settings, once set, a single button push away. We did not take advantage of the adjustable rear seats or sliding console. The latter seems more gimmick than gain.A key attractor for many drivers of this type of vehicle, vision forward from the RX is commanding. Search Buy Used Lexus Cars for the car you desire.

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Mitsubishi Motors says buyers in this market are after, in order of priority, style and appearance, comfort, safety, price, size, economy and interior space and flexibility. It even goes so far as to suggest that 63 per cent of buyers never have any intention of going anywhere harsher than the gravel shoulder on the highway.

From the exterior, there is no doubt that its design is bold and distinctive, but whether it appeals is a subjective call. We are still not sure about the big bull-nose with its large Mitsubishi logoThe other thing that is very noticeable about the body is that despite sitting in the compact class - up against the likes of the Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, Nissan X-Trail and Subaru Forester - it seems quite big. Mitsubishi claims it is the longest, widest and has the longest wheelbase in the segment.

. For storage, there are lots of small cubbies, reasonable door bins and the rear seat back splits and folds 60/40 to expand the luggage area. The boot space is probably the only annoyance - with a full-size spare sitting in the wheel well, the floor is quite high.

Although it feels underpowered, it’s a fairly refined and quiet engine - if you’re not in a hurry to get anywhere, the engine works well with the four-speed tiptronic-style standard automatic transmission. This latter - mounted at the bottom of the dash to enable easy use of the “Sports Mode” - is one of Mitsubishi’s best, and is very smooth.

With a tip of the shift lever forward it changes up gears and back for down, and unlike some other makers’ systems, can be locked in a gear without an automatic override if the motors revs get too high. This is needed for trips off-road, something that, despite its “soft-road” viscous coupling full-time all-wheel drive system, the Outlander copes with quite well.Try to find one here Buy used Ford Cars in Kerry to suit your needs.

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It has been said that not enough people are doing all they can to fight against the energy crisis. Hybrid cars can help, but maybe not enough people are driving them. Here are a few issues relating to the energy crisis and how hybrid cars can help.

The U.S. isn’t doing enough, really

The United States consumes the most fossil fuels in the world. However, most people believe that all of our energy problems can be solved if we would only look further into the oil deposits in Alaska or if we made use of the recent oil find in the Gulf of Mexico. Hybrid cars make it so that we might not have to use other sources of energy to keep the economy going. Hybrid cars don’t make Americans use an excessive amount of fossil fuel. Instead, hybrid cars cause Americans to use less oil.

Energy consumers just swallow increasing gas prices

People used to care that gas prices are much higher than they were years ago. Now, people just accept the high prices. In the meantime, cars are getting bigger and larger. Car makers are making trucks and SUVs. These cars take in more gas, but you won’t believe how many people just won’t give up their dear old SUV. Hybrid cars end up costing people less to own than conventional cars do. So there’s no need to worry about just settling for being swindled by the oil economy.

Soon there could be a termination of the “cheap oil period”

Soon, we could all be in over our heads because not only will we have an energy crisis, but a peak oil crisis as well. During the peak oil crisis, there will be oil shortages and gas shortages. Major countries will be competing against one another for whatever oil is left. So everyone may have some problems, and countries may battle over who gets oil and who doesn’t. The peak oil crisis can be put off if more people just purchase hybrid cars. Hybrid cars don’t make it so that people always have to search for oil. And there are improvements being made to hybrid cars everyday.

The plug-in hybrid car for instance, might one day, not need oil at all at all

So in the event that we have an energy crisis, Americans should really use the time to bond and create a unified fight against conflict over oil in U.S. Hybrids cars are the way to beat the energy crisis, and if the the countries still start to fight each other over oil, at least America will know they tried to stop things by investing in hybrid cars.

So it’s decided. The United States’ mass use of the hybrid car may make it so that Americans need less oil. But Americans still have yet to gain from the large amount of money being made from hybrid cars. The majority of popular hybrid cars come from Japan. So Americans need to bring that money back into the country as well as do something about the current energy crisis.

Lastly, you need to check out the New Technology that save my petrol bill forever. After installing it, which I must say was very easy, I almost double my fuel economy.

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