by: Timothy Rudon

Defensive driving teaches safe driving techniques to drivers. At defensive driving classes students learn to overcome mistakes in driving techniques, learn to improve their driving skills; learn to make informed decisions and to anticipate situations while driving.

Defensive driving classes have been set up in every state by the government and police departments to make the world a safer place to live in. The need for speed can kill, it is important to teach driver discipline and safety rules. Defensive driving aims to reduce the risk of driving. Drivers must instinctively anticipate dangerous situations and avoid risks while driving vehicles in normal as well as adverse conditions. Defensive driving courses cover aspects like: emergency care, principles of safety, control of fear and emotions, on the spot decision making, quick reactions, fear, and so on. (more…)

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by: Elizabeth Allen

On the highway, motorcycles are “small fry”. They’re easy for autos and trucks to miss or disregard. Over the last decade, there has been an increase in serious and sometimes fatal accidental injuries to motorcyclists. Consequently, responsible motorcyclists always stay alert to nearby vehicles and their surroundings. But that’s not enough if you want to take a safe ride.

In many important ways, operating a motorcycle is not like driving an automobile. So you have to change your way of thinking and your way of driving when you ride your motorcycle. For example, to turn a motorcycle left or right, it’s not just a matter of turning a steering wheel. You must lean left or right depending on which way you want to go. Your motorcycle has two brakes, and you must learn to use them both and in coordination with each other. Unlike most automobiles which are equipped with automatic transmission, you will need to shift gears on a motorcycle. For this reason, going up or downhill can be particularly tricky. And these are just a few of the differences you need to learn. (more…)

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BY CSABA CSERE

Traction that finally matches the power and balanced handling.

As engine outputs have risen over the past 25 years, front-drive cars have migrated towards four-wheel-drive to give their over-burdened front tires a break. Even Saab has finally capitulated with this 9-3 Turbo X.

A Haldex 4.0 center coupling shifts as much as 90 percent of the engine’s 280-hp output to the rear wheels via electronically controlled wet clutches. Its little digital brain anticipates when power is needed in back even before the tires slip. An electronically controlled clutch pack in the rear diff prevents side-to-side slip, while the traction control takes care of the front wheels. (more…)

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BY ERIK JOHNSON, PHOTOGRAPHY BY JORDAN BROWN AND THE MANUFACTURER

The difference between paper and pavement is staggering.

Sixty mph in 4.8 seconds. A quarter-mile time of 13.6 seconds at 102 mph. Braking from 70 mph to a stop in 162 feet. On paper, it looks like this test subject is a mildly interesting performance car with an above-average ability to go and a somewhat ordinary ability to stop.

On pavement? Oh, on pavement the whole script flips. It isn’t until you whirl the wheel of the car to which those numbers are attached that you realize what an incredible machine you’re piloting. It amazes like a Dwyane Wade drive to the hole; nothing should be able to move the way it does. It is, in short, breathtaking. (more…)

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BY JORDAN BROWN

Named after a boulevard in California, the latest PT is unveiled on an avenue in Michigan.

True to tradition, Chrysler unveiled its newest special-edition PT Cruiser, the Sunset Boulevard Edition, on the eve of Detroit’s famous Woodward Dream Cruise.

The automaker chose the same Detroit venue it has used for years to release models in its PT Dream Cruiser Series”and not the famed road in California, some 2300 miles away”to launch yet another limited-run variant. (more…)

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BY ALISA PRIDDLE

Front-drive Malibu was to be followed by rear-drive Impala, but those plans still are in limbo.

Dealers should start receiving the new 2008 Malibu, available in four trim levels including a hybrid version, in November.

The Malibu is the last General Motors vehicle to come from the outgoing Epsilon platform that is being replaced by the new Global Midsize Vehicle Architecture. Cars from the next-generation architecture start rolling out next year with a new European-market Opel Vectra, with a steady stream to follow. (more…)

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BY MARK GILLIES

Wrong Name, Right Car: As Usual, Europe gets a quality car that won’t be seen on these shores.

As car names go, Cee’d is about as off the mark as they get, giving Merkur a run for its ill-advised money. Kia says it was named for good reason. Since the car was designed and is built in Europe, Kia took the initials for the European Economic Community”CEE in some countries”and added ED for European Design. Okay, maybe that’s not such a good reason, but Ceeed would make even less sense, hence the extraction of an e and the addition of an apostrophe. (more…)

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BY RAY HUTTON

In the realm of the incomprehensible.

Readers of our November 2005 cover story on the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 were treated to the visceral experience of driving the world’s fastest production car to an astounding 253 mph, with our mostly fearless editor-in-chief at the wheel, goose bumps and all. (more…)

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BY STEVE SILER

The most-powerful, best-handling Saab car ever?

We recently reported that Saab has given a midcycle nip-and-tuck to its bread-and-butter 9-3 lineup for 2008. The update includes a relatively thorough”if not extreme”exterior styling makeover, as well as the availability of all-wheel drive on the 9-3 Aero XWD, the latter being music to the ears of anyone who has ever tried to wrestle a front-wheel-drive turbo Saab into obedience under full throttle. (more…)

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There are few cars on the road that not only define a brand, but also set the tone of what the brand aspires to become. The first generation G35 Coupe was that vehicle for Infiniti. With its low-slung and aggressive stance, powerful V-6 engine and a fun to drive nature, not previously associated with the Infiniti nameplate, the 2003 G35 Coupe was the car that launched a thousand imitators and set the benchmark for all future Infiniti products. (more…)

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