Alaskan Highway

When you think of Alaska, you tend to think of stillness, serenity and untouched landscapes – and you’d be right. That’s why the Alaskan Highway which goes from British Columbia, through the Yukon and intro Alaska will inspire you, leave you breathless and, best of all, let you have a proper drive – just watch out for those Grizzly’s and black ice.

New Zealand’s South Island

Image credit: Rob Young

If you’re a petrol head and a wildlife lover – they do exist – you should consider visiting New Zealand’s South Island. This beautiful part of the world features waterfalls, great roads, rainforests and rare birds – what more do you want? According to reports, the best route to take is Christchurch to Kaikoura, to Nelson to Punakaiki and finally on to Westport’s coal-mining community.

Scotland’s Western Highlands

Image credit: mrpbps

We don’t have much to brag about in Britain – high tax, high cost of living, high blood pressure. But what we do have is Scotland, and praise the lord that it exists. After all, the Scottish Western Highlands have some of the best driving locations and roads the in UK. We would recommend taking a 250 mile trip from the capital to the Isle of Skye. It’s sure to provide you with tons of scenery, wildlife and, above all, fun.

Ascari Race Resort

If you want the ultimate petrol head road trip then we would recommend getting in your car and driving from wherever you live to the Ascari Race Resort in Malaga, Spain. The first benefit of this road trip is a massive adventure that will see you drive through a few European countries, but the most important benefit is the huge race track that the resort owns – just make sure you have a healthy bank balance, because it isn’t cheap.

Atlantic Road, Norway

Any road that is name Atlantic must have some form of legendary status about it, and the Atlantic road in Norway confirms this. An 8km scenic route that runs through hills, mountains, lakes and rivers will leave you with little time to drive due to the amazing views. Just remember, it is Norway, so it’ll probably be a bit chilly.

U.S. Route 66

Image credit: mwichary

If you love cars, then one of your dreams is probably to drive across America’s Route 66, naked, in a Corvette – or is that just our dream? The route takes you from Los Angeles to Chicago and its allure is a combination of perfect roads, incredible heat, freezing temperatures and little or no traffic. It’s a must for any car lover.

Davos to Stelvio via Bormio

If you’re into visiting Europe then you should go into Switzerland and take on the Davos to Stelvio via Bormio road. Jaw-dropping landscape coupled with road building that the Roman’s would have been proud of, the Davos to Stelvio really is petrol head heaven. It’s a twisting, deserted road that seems to continue for miles, and it will guarantee to put any car to test. Brakes, handling and grip are all put under extreme conditions when driving on this amazing road.

Stelvio Pass

Image credit: dodgechallenger1

Few roads look like a Formula One track, but that is exactly what the Stelvio Pass provides and it’s for public use. If a road trip is what you want to do and you love to drive, then the Stelvio Pass is asphalt perfection. It’s road building at its very best, and if you fancy it, we suggest something powerful – rent a super car for the day; come-on, you know it’s worth it.

Cat & Fiddle Run

This one might not last for days but it is one of the best runs in the UK. The Cat & Fiddle run has been immortalised by deaths, motorcyclists and petrol heads for years and, best of all, it is easily available for any in Britain. Situated between Manchester and Macclesfield, the Cat & Fiddle run is a twisting delight that goes through the peak district.

Col De Turini

If you want hairpins, if you want the south of France and if you want a road that the World Rally Championship visits then the Col De Turini is the road for you. Praised as one of the best driving routes in the world you will have to concentrate at all times to tackle this French monster.

• Despite ongoing quality woes and associated problems, Toyota is reaping the results of customer loyalty as current owners trade-in their old Toyotas for new ones. According to Edmunds, 49 percent of Toyota buyers are trading in an older Toyota, up from 42 percent in 2009.

• Say good-bye to the Chrysler PT Cruiser, the retro-styled panel truck that has reached the end of its 11-year run. Left Lane News reports that the final vehicles are being assembled in Mexico today, the very last of 1.3 million units built. R.I.P.

• General Motors is keeping the Chevy Volt in the news, having recently announced that it will be offering the car in additional states and Washington, D.C. Michigan, New York and New Jersey are among the recent states added to the list reports Auto Trends.

• The 2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe is heading to Cadillac showrooms ahead of schedule. Autoblog got a hold of a CTS-V version of the coupe and reports its “first drive” experiences. That car features a supercharged V-8 engine, pounding out an amazing 556 horses. Yes, a six-speed manual transmission is standard.

• Do you love monster trucks? Well, very few of them are of the Toyota Tundra variety, but one version of this big truck is making plenty of noise and crushing some cars in the process. Tundra Headquarters reports that Thrasher, a 1,400 horsepower alcohol-powered truck with a V-8 engine is being sponsored by a Connecticut Toyota dealer.  Toyota of Wallingford has benefited from the publicity the truck gives with lots of visitors to its website hitting its monster truck pages.

• Electric cars are a good thing, right? Not so fast! Writing for The New York Times, Jim Motavalli wonders what impact plugging in these cars will have on the electric grid, especially when New York City experiences huge demands on its power when temperatures hit record levels as they did earlier this week.  Kelley Blue Book’s Jack Nerad believes it may be an issue, even if cars are charged overnight when demand is below peak levels.

• France’s Peugeot Citroen group and China’s Changan Automotive have formed a joint partnership to build, you guessed it, cars in China. The BBC reports that the 50-50 joint venture will produce upwards of 200,000 vehicles initially in Shenzhen, southern China, beginning in the second half of 2012. Peugeot already has one business relationship with Dongfeng Motor Group while Changan is currently working with four other automakers.

Stay cool and enjoy your weekend!

Good Stuff

Because I will be getting back with this client in mere moments, today’s article is a shout out to others who are working diligently to disseminate the news.  Among my notable finds of late are the following:

Hyundai just released the 2011 Sonata to the market and already it is receiving important recognition. The Insurance Institute For Highway Safety (IIHS) says that the all new Sonata is a top safety pick achieving “good performance in front, side, rollover, and rear tests and standard electronic stability control.” I believe that this will be just the first of many accolades for the Sonata.

Shortly after the Super Bowl Melanie Batenchuk and Chris Baccus teamed up to analyze each of the automotive commercials broadcast during the course of the big game. In “Super Bowl Automotive Ads: She Said, He Said Analysis with Chris Baccus,” the two analysts looked at each ad from a gender perspective and included clips from YouTube in case you missed the first airing. Well done analysis and fun to read at that.

Social media has changed the way companies present themselves to the public with 140 character missives enough to cause people grief if not handled correctly. That has been my contention regarding Toyota who backed away when Twitter was over run by criticism of their vehicles. It turns out that I wasn’t the only one to notice as Matthew DeBord noted the same in his Slate article, “Did Twitter Topple Toyota?“  Yes, I believe that it did.

Someone once asked me if I liked the Fisker Karma. Liked? How about love it? Okay, I’m not much into actually loving cars, but I absolutely admire fine craftsmanship. Still, the Fisker Karma is a beaut and as Ride Lust indicated any excuse to post a photo is a good one. I am also interested in learning more about the Karma’s “aluminum space frame” set to be shown to the world at next month’s Geneva Auto Show.

On Schedule

I should be able to catch a break next week and return to some semblance of a normal writing schedule. Then again, I have two magazine deadlines pending which means that February may need to be tossed to the side as far as keeping a blogging schedule.

General Motors is bullish on selling certified used cars and has launched an interactive website to help consumers learn about the ups and downs of the used car market.

I come across more auto industry news than what I can possibly cover on this blog, ceding the daily multi-post car blogging to the likes of Autoblog, Left Lane News, Jalopnik, and others. In addition, I prefer to avoid stories that everyone else is talking about simply because you can read that information on those sites. Besides, I’m getting tired discussing the misfortunes of GM, Ford, and Chrysler and think that you are too.

There are times when I know that I will cover a particular topic, but choose to wait until I get more information.  A press release can be helpful, but I like to follow that news up by contacting the source myself.  Usually, that means waiting until things die down a bit to allow my contacts to get a breather and the chance to respond to my questions.

The following are some of the topics that weren’t covered by me but are fodder for future articles. Good stuff happening across the industry, things you may want to know about:

• Lots of people are looking to trade in their rides for something much more fuel efficient, but not everyone is looking to buy new. General Motors, which has been beefing up their certified used vehicle business, decided to inject some fun in the used car buying process by launching a website dedicated to inform and entertain visitors. UsedCarAmbush is the name of the site, an information portal designed to educate consumers without an overly commercial appeal.

• Volkswagen has been smarting ever since recently released EPA figures for its 2009 diesel engines revealed that these powerplants aren’t achieving quite the fuel economy numbers as had been hoped. However, there is a silver lining for prospective Sportwagen and Jetta TDI buyers: a $1300 federal tax credit is available as part of the IRS’ Advanced Lean Burn Technology Motor Vehicle income tax credit. Nice!

• Microsoft may not know how to build a web browser, is a poor challenger to Google when it comes to search, and hasn’t figured out a way to adequately monetize the internet, but that hasn’t stopped the Redmond, WA giant from making an impact in the automotive industry. The company’s SYNC technology has provided a needy boost for Ford and, now that the exclusive relationship with the Blue Oval is about to end,  Microsoft is making this technology available to other manufacturers. Could Microsoft dominate the automotive spectrum much as they have with the PC industry?

• How would you like to drive a car that gets 80 mpg, emits very low emissions, and has a top speed of 90 mph? Well, if Axon Automotive ever brings their eco-friendly car to the market, then you just may have that chance. Then again, with the company being based in the UK, people on this side of the pond will probably have a longer wait. Axon’s proposed car sports a carbon fiber body and utilizes other lightweight and environmentally friendly materials to develop a car that squeezes out the fuel like no other one can.

• Toyota is getting bruised in the US market, not by the Big 3, but by its decision to build the big Tundra and its bloated Sequoia SUV. Tough as things are in the US, the world’s leading automaker is planning to build a new factory in Brazil that should go online in 2011. The Sorocabo factory will have the capacity to build 150,000 units annually.

I’ll keeping tabs on all of these reports, some of which are destined to become full fledged articles in their own right.

This past week was a particularly active one in the automotive world as several manufacturers announced how they would be responding to higher gas prices, new models were released, and consumers gasped as regular gas jumped the $4 per gallon threshold.

In case you missed some of the stories featured on The Auto Writer and elsewhere, we offer to you some of the key and less known stories of the past week:

• Chrysler has been working diligently to pare excess dealer inventory by closing down or consolidating dealerships. Over the past year, Chrysler shut down or consolidated 196 Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep dealerships, reducing the number of U.S. outlets to 3488.

• GM was battered recently by a strike involving a key supplier, American Axle. The company makes transmissions for several GM models including its popular Chevrolet Malibu. With the prolonged labor shutdown, GM lost production ability and at least $1.8 billion with it. GM is now considering purchasing American Axle, a company who already relies on GM for 76% of its business.

• Interest in big hybrids including two made by General Motors isn’t what it is cracked up to be. GM’s Yukon Hybrid gets just 20 miles to the gallon, but it is a bit thriftier than its all-gas sibling. Unfortunately, demand for the Yukon and the Chevrolet Tahoe are tepid at best. Are automakers betting on the wrong vehicles?

• Pressure to save on fill ups is hitting home with many consumers opting to purchase fuel efficient compacts as they ditch their SUVs. Not everyone can afford a new car, so finding a good used car that won’t let them down has become a strong option. Used car prices are on the rise too, especially for the thriftiest models.

• Volkswagen is still about a month away from making an announcement, but people in Tennessee are anticipating that their state will be the home for VW’s future US automotive plant. VW was one of the first foreign manufacturers to build cars in the US, but they abandoned their Pennsylvania plant in the 1980s due to lackluster sales. Volkswagen’s newest initiative will likely succeed given the demand for fuel efficient cars, a strong suit of the German automaker.

• No surprise here, but auto tourism is big business in Michigan. This year Ford is marking the 100th anniversary of the Model T and General Motors is also celebrating its centennial. In addition, Autopalooza runs from July 31st through August 31st, an attraction featuring five key events.

That’s it for now…get yourself outside, drop the top, and roll your way to the beach!

Matt Keegan, The Auto Writer, extends his thanks to the families of the men and women who gave their lives while serving in America’s military. I appreciate their sacrifices which have helped spread freedom and liberty around the world.

• Ford has gotten plenty of mileage from its American Idol sponsorship this year, by introducing its redesigned Ford Focus coupe on the air earlier this month. The company also awarded finalists David Archuleta and David Cook one Ford Escape Hybrid each and is enjoying the gushing praise that Cook has been giving his not yet arrived prize. Ford also used “Idol” to introduce its new “Drive One” campaign.

• Fisker has been getting a lot of press lately, not just for its legal battle with Tesla, but for its debut of the prototype of its $80K electric sports car. Quite frankly, the car is beautiful. Whether the car will truly be introduced later this year and capacity of 15k models annually reached is subject to debate, but the car is a step in the right direction.

• Autoblog is reporting that one aftermarket parts supplier can help convert your Saturn SKY into a Tesla fighter, but for about half of the price of the Tesla Roadster. AMP Motorworks is planning to convert 300 SKYs and promises to deliver a car that can go 90 MPH, 150 miles on one charge, and produce zero emissions.

• Chrysler, which reached an agreement with Nissan recently to produce vehicles for each other, is exploring possible relationships with other vehicle manufacturers to help advance its fleet. Chrysler may drop some of its larger models in face of the current gas price surge and hook up with other companies who could help fill important gaps its model line up.

• Finally, congratulations are in order for Scott Dixon and Kasey Kahne who respectively won yesterday’s Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600, two of the biggest motorsport races of the year.

Pictured: Henrik Fisker with his Fisker Karma all-electric sportscar.

It is Friday so I’m going to kick back and share the link love with you and point out other articles of interest online today. A real potpourri of news and information for your review:

• General Motors is seeing SUV sales tank (as is Toyota, Ford, Chrysler….) but one bright shining light is the Chevy Tahoe which gets better gas mileage than a Toyota Camry (and a V6 Chevy Malibu for that matter). The Detroit News has a good write up about this 8-passenger beast.

• Get a VW Routan and your kid will get money for college. Love these incentives to move unpopular models! Seriously, does VW think that this will be enough incentive for me to buy one? Not a chance! Left Lane News shares their thoughts too.

• I was just going to share with the world pictures of the Volvo V70 wagon were now available, but Autoblog beat me to it. Honestly, I only gave it some thought and decided that if you really wanted to find out more about this new-fangled wagon you’d forgive me if I didn’t share those photographs with you.

• Sniff sniff! It looks like the El Camino name won’t be given to Pontiac’s sport truck when it returns next year. Jalopnik was pushing the EC name when they learned that GM was allowing people to vote on it (I picked the name too) but GM says that the EC name is a no-no for Pontiac. Well, darn.

• Speaking about Pontiac, Peter M. DiLorenzo posts his usual diatribe about General Motors and concludes that the G8 isn’t going to be around long enough to enjoy its limelight. Neither will Pontiac if his rant is correct.

I’ll be back next week with some fresh stuff. I’ve been staying away from as much negative news as possible — everyone knows that gas prices are sky high, but there isn’t much that you can do about that. In the meantime, enjoy your weekend and catch an Indy, Formula 1, or NASCAR race if you can.

I’ve been coming across some very good websites lately, some of which were sent to me for review while others I found as I surfed the internet.

To this day I am a muscle car enthusiast although I don’t own one. The Dodge Challenger is awesome and the upcoming Chevy Camaro is a real head turner. But, only one vehicle has managed to stay around all these years and that car is the Ford Mustang. My Mustang Site is just the place for the ‘Stang enthusiast — wallpapers, gallery, videos, polls, a forum, and tons more stuff is featured. Check out the Events section for local Mustang gatherings and shows.

I belong to at least two dozen social communities, I blog all over the place, and I like to connect with other webbies. Gears Garage touts itself as being a social community for automotive enthusiasts, just the place you may want to network with your fellow Nissan, Dodge, BMW and Tata (just kidding) enthusiasts. There seems to be something for everyone on this site.

Although not everyone who is in the market for a new car would consider leasing, I had a very good personal experience with this option. Of course, my mileage was way below the limits GM set for our Saturn L Series, but it was good to be able to get a car with nothing down. Car Leasing Secrets is a site that claims to be able to help you find a special deal on your next ride and provides a service to help you do just that. If anyone has used their program, why not share those details with everyone here?

If you’re interested in following the trends leading to the production of energy efficient and environmentally friendly vehicles, then the Top Green Cars site could be what you want. The site uses the tag line “The Future of Sports Cars” so you know that most of the vehicles featured will still have some muscle too them, unlike the Prius which I think is actually a toaster on wheels.

That’s it for this latest review of automotive sites ’round the internet. I’ve already started to gather a new list and will feature those sites within the next few weeks. Subscribe to a feed and you’ll get notification about all of the updates to this blog.

To that end, I’ve resurrected the mini-reviews I’ve done through this blog in the past and am offering to you three sites that could be of interest to you:

Fans of Swedish automaker Volvo might be interested in Volvospeed, a site dedicated with helping Volvo drivers with the performance side of driving. Yes, you can tune your C70 to keep pace with the best of what Germany has to throw at you thanks to the advice you can receive through this site’s forum.

In addition to the message board community, Volvospeed offers detailed product reviews; cosmetic & performance modification tips; members’ photo gallery; reference pages; an auction site; and so much more. I like finding an enthusiast’s site that is comprehensive; the guys at Volvospeed have put a lot into making this site a popular destination.

Another enthusiast site worth exploring is BMWDrives which is, of course, dedicated to the BMW phenomenon. Learn about every single BMW model produced and delve into the history of this famous automaker.

You can also find BMW news, photographs, bizarre art pictures, even a units converter to help metric-challenged folks like me convert kilometers to miles per hour. I like the detailed history pages — it doesn’t look like as if anything has been left out.

As recently as last year, I was the contributing writer for at least one car part site and have gotten fairly familiar with the industry. One of the advantages of buying online is that in many cases you are dealing with someone who has low overhead or is a drop shipper for various manufacturers. When I’ve compared the prices to what is sold online with what I’ve found at my local auto parts store, I usually save a good chunk of money and get free or reduced cost shipping to boot.

The Discount Part Center is one of those retailers offering a wide variety of automotive products at prices below retail. Brakes, suspension components, tires, and wheels are some of what they offer and for vehicles foreign and domestic. Check them out to see if they have what you need at a price you like. BTW, make sure you take a look at the spy photos on a related site too.

That’s a wrap for today — I’ll be featuring three or four new sites the next time I do a survey Across the Auto ‘Net.

There are many sites I stumble across or visit while bookmarking besides the ones that give me a story idea. Among them are the following blogs, particular articles you may find interesting:

Toyota Camer Monitors Sleepy Drivers @ Slash Gear

Profile: The Man in Charge of the Chevy Volt – Frank Weber @ GM-Volt

UK Traffic Cameras Detect How Much Blood is in Your Car @ DailyTech

The Saab Naming and Model Nomenclature @ Saab History

Toyota to Rebadge Prius as a Lexus @ Winding Road

2009 Ford E-Series Gets Upgraded @ The Torque Report

The Million Mile Pickup Truck @ Frugal Dad

Kia unveils a bit of its Scion-killer @ Petrol Head

Review: 2008 Dodge Caliber SE @ A Fool and His Words Are Soon Parted

Lexus Hybrid Wagon on its Way? @ Hybrid Cars

Solar Powered Car From University of Michigan @ lifegoogles

coBRANDiT at the North American International Auto Show @ Kino-Eye.com

5 Things You Didn’t Know About Hyundai @ Checkered Blog

Crazy Ray’s: an Eden for car parts @ The Towerlight

Buick may add new entry-level sedan @ Motor Authority

Top 12 Greenest and Meanest Cars in the USA @ Treehugger

More Pics of Prototype S Surface @ JPCN

Sunday Review – The Ford Sync @ WonderDawg

General Motors continues its Family-Friendly Commitment @ Alpha Mom

Hummer H3 Still A Safe Bet @ Hummer Guy

I must confess that at least eight of the links are for people I met while attending this year’s NAIAS in Detroit. I’m impressed by the work so many are doing, most of whom are maintaining their sites on the side.

Good reading to you!