| Upset is Morgan's priority
If you believe that Group Three action in tomorrow's opening of the National Motor Racing Championship Series is only about `Sir' Mark Vieira and Andrew King, you'll be well advised to think again. Andrew Morgan, a seasoned graduate of Group Two, is in the hunt and can create trouble for both King and Vieira who have been the top wheel turners in the group for some time. Speaking with Stabroek Sport yesterday, Morgan said that he had pushed aside taking part in Mashramani activities to make sure that his Mazda RX7 is in perfect shape for today's meeting at the South Dakota circuit. "Once we get the gear ratio and fuel injection working then Mark (Vieira) wouldn't have to worry about Andrew King, he will be worrying about us," the speedster said.
Driven to eco awareness
Davis Guggenheim, director of the Oscar-nominated global warming documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" will do the ecologically responsible thing on Oscar night. Ditto, environmentally conscious nominee Leonardo DiCaprio. And while the stretch limousine has yet to be produced in hybrid form, more than a handful of Oscar nominees will sacrifice some of that extra leg room to travel to the award show in green transportation. Hybrids and electric sports cars, Toyota Priuses and Mercedes E320 CDI will be mixing with the traditional mass of stretch limos and sport utility vehicles. "We are maxed out (for Oscar night)," says Dot Findlater, vice president of the company ECOLIMO, adding that the company's "A-list" clients cannot be .
Diesels Come Clean
Swinging his truck door open, the driver obligingly steps onto the cab seat and reaches for the roof. Extending himself upward, he slings a handkerchief over the exhaust stack of his late-model diesel rig. In mere moments, black fumes begrime a section of the white square with soot. "This good?" he asks, handing down the fluttering fabric. Nodding, I thank the man and retrieve the hankie. A short stroll away from his idling truck and its fellow 18-wheelers parked in this New Jersey Turnpike rest area sits their newborn brother, a Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetec sedan. With a turn of the key, its diesel engine springs to life. Moments later, I kneel behind the car and cover its tailpipe with an unsoiled patch of cloth. It remains nearly spotless, even after a full minute. As the so-called handkerchief test shows, the words "clean diesel" are no longer a contradiction in terms.
Camry Hybrid voted Car of the Year
Toyota's Camry Hybrid has been named 2007 Canadian car of the Year, as determined by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). At a press conference at the opening of the Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto last week, it was announced that the Camry Hybrid had bested nine other best new category winners to win the top prize. This is the first time in AJAC's awards history that a hybrid has won an overall Car of the Year title. "We are thrilled that AJAC's members have endorsed the [Camry Hybrid] with this important award and would like to thank the membership for their support," says Tony Wearing, managing director for Toyota Canada. "With the launch of the Camry Hybrid, we have brought hybrid technology into the mainstream." The 2007 Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year award was given to the Acura RDX.
2007 Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetec Midsize Luxury Sedan
Mercedes-Benz makes some very nice cars, but I don't think that's the only reason people buy them. No, people also buy a new Mercedes when they have something to prove. They know they were teased in the seventh grade for wearing the wrong brand of tube socks and having asymmetrical nostrils, so they drive a Benz to prove they don't deserve that Crooked Boogers nickname after all. It's a form of social validation. When Fungus Foot Fred pulls up at his high school reunion in a big, shiny car with a three-pointed star on the hood, it says something -- something loud and assertive, but with a very polite tone of voice. It says, "I'm not who you thought I was." So, if you agree with my theory on Mercedes sales psychology, it's only logical for M-B to produce a car that mirrors its buyers, one that's not at all what we'd expect based on what we saw in the past.
.jpg)
|
