second hand cars

If you’re thinking about buying a factory hot rod such as the SVT Focus, the Civic Si, or the GTI, chances are good that even as you’re driving it home from the dealership you’ll be thinking about how to make it faster.

Here’s a preview of what prospective owners can expect in the way of recommendations from their favorite heat-’em-up shops. For each of these hatches, we contacted an established tuner and asked what three things he’d do first to enhance the performance of these cars.

For the SVT Focus, we consulted Southern California go-faster specialist Oscar Jackson of Jackson Racing. Jackson’s shop has already turned out a supercharger kit for the Focus, as well as other goodies. Scott Zellner of King Motorsports, a Wisconsin-based Honda and Acura speed shop and exclusive U.S. distributor of Mugen accessories, served as our Civic guru; and Aaron Neumann of Neuspeed offered tips on the GTI. A distributor of performance equipment for Volkswagen and Audi products, Neuspeed is also based in Southern California.

Article source: http://www.caranddriver.com/features/02q1/jackson_racing_svt_focus_neuspeed_gti_and_king_motorsports_civic_si-feature

As car insurance is required by the law, there must be some good reason for it. Practically for drivers, knowing that car insurance extends protection must be enough of an incentive to buy one.

However, with varying individual conditions and situations, needs and priorities are also dependent on resources available to us. So when we talk of those who want to make sure that they are still protected—with the coverage of car insurance—at possibly low costs, what can be done to ensure that they get low cost car insurance? Here are a few things.

If you have been driving well enough so as not to have even a single violation on record, you can be entitled to low costs. However, you need to maintain safety and caution on the road as you drive insured. Companies will be very willing to give you low cost car insurance if you can prove in the long run with your impressive “clean” driving record that you will not in any way cause accidents leading to damages to property and physical injuries.

On the other hand, if you have had driving “incidents” in the past that caused damages and injuries, the company will likely raise the rates it charges for your insurance. Their justification would be the risk they take in keeping you insured. This of course will cost you more.

Good grades, is another way by which companies gauge whether or not their buyers are deserving of low cost car insurance. Good grades are defined and assessed using the insurance providers’ own standards so it is best then for buyers and those with car insurance already to check with their insurance providers what qualifies as a “good grade” and what does not. This way, false expectation arising from the ambiguous interpretation of what companies reward will be avoided by the buyer or insured driver.

Finally, determining what you need your car insurance provider to cover will help cut costs. This would mean deciding whether you want to get just the minimum requirement or default coverage such as liability for damages to property and bodily injuries or going for more inclusive or wide-ranging coverage. Decisions about your coverage will sometimes require you to take much time since you are trying to balance the value of safety and protection (can be answered by more complete insurance packages) while spending at low cost (can mean getting basic coverage only).

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When Chrysler introduced the world to at a hastily assembled press conference back in September, we were surprised. Chrysler claimed that it had chosen not to make a big noise about its alternative powertrain development, distancing its plan from the approach GM is taking with its many (and continued) progress updates on the Chevrolet Volt. Up until that point, it seemed the Pentastar was content to let the world believe that the

—on sale just this summer and already slated to be killed off by January—were its only solutions. The three EVs proved otherwise.

Two of the concepts were extended-range EVs based on a minivan and a Jeep Wrangler—two of Chrysler’s few competitive products—while the third was a fully electric affair created using a 2+2 coupe. The word back in September was that one of the three cars would go into production by 2010, and it was easy for us to believe that we’d never see the Dodge EV on the road again. Not so, apparently, as these spy shots provide the second surprise from the Lotus-based car.

Testing appears to be ongoing, with these grainy photos showing reworked front and rear fascias that likely accept Dodge-specific lights. (In the rush to show the vehicle to the press this fall, Chrysler rolled out what was basically a Lotus with Dodge emblems, including one glued over the badge on the steering wheel.) The most obvious change is on the face where Dodge’s signature cross-hair treatment fronts the lower grille, giving it a striking resemblance to the now-defunct Stratus coupe. We’ve created a rendering of what this vehicle might look like based on the spy photos. The new styling shows that Dodge is serious about its plans to bring this vehicle to market, even while it’s having trouble selling its mainstream wares.

Why the Dodge?

If Chrysler does manage to hang on and make use of whatever federal bailout package is eventually agreed upon, it’s still tough to make the case to develop such a vehicle. With so many of the company’s subpar products in dire need of a rework or redo, green posturing would be one of the few explanations for the Dodge EV.

Way back when, Chrysler said that the three vehicles were being developed simultaneously. That approach would only make sense if all three were destined for production. If that’s the case, Chrysler would choose one to be ready for the promised 2010 on-sale date, with the others following in later years. 2010 seems awfully far away at this point, especially with the fate of the entire company on such shaky ground financially. Indeed, bankruptcy could come as soon as the beginning of the year.

We’re intrigued—and somewhat perplexed—that Chrysler would continue developing what would likely be a low-volume vehicle. With Tesla asking nearly $100k for its

, though, Chrysler may be able to leverage its relatively large size to undercut that price while still adhering to the same basic formula as Tesla in building such a vehicle—Lotus building the shell and Chrysler supplying the powertrain guts. The concept version used a 268-hp electric motor fed by lithium-ion batteries from an unknown supplier, and boasted 480 lb-ft of torque. Chrysler claims a 0–60 time of "under five seconds" for the concept.

It remains to be seen if the American car-buying public is even interested in an electric sports car such as this, and indeed whether Chrysler can survive long enough to produce any of its proposed electric vehicles.

Article source: http://www.caranddriver.com/news/spied/08q4/2011_dodge_electric_vehicle-spied