Road & Travel Magazine's Blog

2012 Ford Fusion Hybrid Road Test Review

by Martha Hindes

Wishing never gets you anywhere, right? You'd really like to drive a hybrid car and breeze past those filling stations that rule the road when you're nearing empty. But you don't want to give up that kick-back reaction when you feel like tromping the accelerator. Or sufficient stretch room for five to relax and play with sophisticated, on-board electronics. And it would be really neat to drive all the way to work without making a sound. Not possible? Maybe you haven't met the 2012 Ford Fusion Hybrid.

The midsize gasoline/electric-powered, front-drive sedan from Ford isn't a newbie, by the way. It's been around since 2009 and now resides as a second generation pro, with tweaks here and tucks there for 2012 to give it more polish and panache. This isn't your mother's reject that's grown long-in-the-tooth after years of looking rather oddly off-beat as it ambles through a planet-tending restriction on fun. It's an honest-to-goodness handsome sedan that should look fitting in any executive parking spot. Full review.

 

 

How to Choose Best Driving School for Your Teen

Driver's Ed Alone is Not Enough to Keep Your Teen Safe

Choosing a driving school for your teen can be a difficult decision. Use the following tips to find a reputable driver’s education course to help prepare your teen to get behind the wheel.

Get recommendations
If your teen’s high school doesn’t offer a driver’s education course, ask if they recommend a local driving school. Also check with friends, family and neighbors to see if they have recommendations for a first-rate driving school. Contact your state’s department of motor vehicles for a list of state-certified local schools.

What to look for
Look for a driver’s education course that encourages parent involvement. Some schools invite parents to attend the first class and provide regular updates on your teen’s progress throughout the course.

Find out if the driving school offers supervised lessons on a variety of road types and driving conditions so your teen can gain behind-the-wheel experience driving in different situations.

Ask about the condition of the cars your teen will be driving: Are they regularly maintained? Are all safety features in working order? Do the tires have good tread left on them?  Full story here.

2012 Toyota Prius v Hybrid Road Test Review

All-New 2012 Model Morphs to Hatchback by Bob Plunkett

It only takes the blink of an eye to observe that Toyota's new fourth-generation design for the 2012 Prius hybrid electric vehicle differs from the previous version -- it's larger in a streamlined package that fashions the hood and windshield into a racked-back plane which resembles a rakish two-door GT coupe while flanks reveal the four-door configuration of a practical sedan as the roofline hikes high toward the tail to accommodate a hatchback-style rear cargo door.

This new design earns an aerodynamic rating of merely 0.29 cD (coefficient of Drag), which makes the 2012 Prius one of the slickest set of wheels on the road.

It's still pegged in the mid-size class of sedans, but the wheelbase grows 3.1 inches longer and the overall tip-to-tail measurement increases by 6.1 inches to 181.7 inches.

The passenger compartment -- long and broad and tall, thanks to the mid-size front-wheel-drive platform with wheelbase drawn to 109.4 inches -- provides ample room for five passengers on comfortable seats with a pair of buckets in front of a bench for three and room at the rear for cargo due to the hatchback roofline.

Name badge of this version acquires the alphabet letter "v" tacked on -- Prius v -- with v denoting versatility with the hatchback design.

Then numerical figures follow the v on the nameplate to describe three trim grades:  Prius v Two, Prius v Three and Prius v Five. (There's no explaining the absence of Prius v One and Prius v Four editions.) Read full review here.

British Columbia, Canada - Hot Spots

Vancouver Island: Cowichan Valley provides a taste of the countryside:
Need incentive to travel? Hand-crafted treats and homegrown flavors are sure to draw you to Vancouver Island’s delectable Saison Market Vineyard, north of Duncan. Thanks to the fine touch of Ingrid Lehwald and Frédéric Desbiens, garden-fresh soups, artisan breads, fruit preserves, savory treats, pastries and baked goods — all fashioned in the market vineyard kitchen — will have you singing their sweet praises each weekend when Saison opens its doors to guests. For flavors steeped in tradition, continue the journey north to the Teafarm. This four-hectare (11-acre) small-scale commercial tea grower — the first in Canada — produces aromatic pours, thanks to a landscape that nurtures a wide variety of herbs and flowers, alongside the tea plant Camellia sinensis. Here, just south of Nanaimo, Victor Vesely and Margit Nellemann produce 23 original hand-blended cups that include the smoky Cowichan Caravan, the revitalizing White Lavender and the earthy Minty Nettle. You can even pull up a pillow in the tasting room to sample the farm’s Chinese Zodiac pours: warm the senses with a steaming mug of lemon balm, rose and chamomile Rabbit Tea (2011’s signature blend), or linger over the calendula flowers and ginger root of the green Dragon Tea, a 2012 brew sure to bring in the new year with a bite. www.saisonmarket.ca; www.teafarm.ca

To read more story ideas from the Vancouver Island region, visit www.hellobc.com/vancouverislandmedia.

Vancouver, Coast & Mountains: Glaciers, Mountains and Airplanes, Oh My!
Sometimes a bird’s eye view offers the very best vantage point. Not to mention a total adrenalin rush. With Squamish’s Glacier Air, you get both, thanks to flightseeing tours that buckle in for high-flying glimpses of glaciers, mountains and forests between Vancouver and Whistler. You could, for example, spend 25 exhilarating minutes high above the Squamish Valley, with unobstructed views of the rainforests, ice falls and glaciers that make up the Tantalus Mountain Range. There’s a 40-minute panoramic tour into Garibaldi Provincial Park — one of BC’s largest — complete with unforgettable glimpses of the mighty Black Tusk and the Mamquam Icefield. To cool the jets, the 50-minute “Olympic” tour of the mountain town of Whistler is a tad bit more sedate, with views of a natural volcanic dam, Cloudburst Mountain, and glimpses of the ski runs on Whistler and Blackcomb mountains that garnered so much gold during the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. No matter your choice, you’re in good hands with the pros at Glacier Air; with over 25 years of in-flight experience, these pilots will surely demonstrate that the sky is the limit. www.glacierair.com. To read more story ideas from the Vancouver, Coast & Mountains region, visit www.hellobc.com/vcmbcmedia.

For more places to go and things to do in British Columbia, click here.

Dad is Becoming Carpool King

National survey finds majority of fathers active in driving kids to and fro

As children across America head back to school, a new survey commissioned by Chevrolet finds that many fathers in America are taking more of an active role in before-and after-school carpooling duties, with utility vehicles the preferred choice of dads over minivans.

An online survey conducted by Harris Interactive® showed that 80 percent of fathers in the United States with children age 17 or younger take an active role in daily family life, with more than 70 percent driving their kids to school, daycare or extracurricular activities.

But in the evolution of carpooling, the study also showed that both drivers and their vehicles have changed. While moms may prefer minivans for their sliding doors, more than half (58 percent) of the dads surveyed prefer to do their business, personal and leisure shuttling in a family hauler that doesn’t question their masculinity. In fact, survey results demonstrated that fathers gave their current family vehicle a 6.4 “cool” rating on a 10-point scale. Full story.

How to Drive More Efficiently

Drive Sensibly
Aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration and braking) wastes gas. It can lower your gas mileage by 33 percent at highway speeds and by 5 percent around town. Sensible driving is also safer for you and others, so you may save more than gas money.

Fuel Economy Benefit:	5–33%
Equivalent Gasoline Savings:	$0.18–$1.20/gallon

Observe the Speed Limit

While each vehicle reaches its optimal fuel economy at a different speed (or range of speeds), gas mileage usually decreases rapidly at speeds above 60 mph.
You can assume that each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0.29 per gallon for gas.
Observing the speed limit is also safer.

Fuel Economy Benefit:	7–23%
Equivalent Gasoline Savings:	$0.26–$0.84/gallon

Remove Excess Weight


Avoid keeping unnecessary items in your vehicle, especially heavy ones. An extra 100 pounds in your vehicle could reduce your MPG by up to 2 percent. The reduction is based on the percentage of extra weight relative to the vehicle's weight and affects smaller vehicles more than larger ones.

Fuel Economy Benefit:	1–2%/100 lbs
Equivalent Gasoline Savings:	$0.04–$0.07/gallon

Full story - click here.

 

2012 Nissan Juke Road Test Review

The curvy crossover handles like a sporty car by Bob Plunkett

Crossing the muddy Mississippi River on the I-40 bridge at Memphis, we're scooting into Tennessee aboard Nissan's curvaceous crossover utility vehicle for the compact class that's big enough to transport five travelers in comfort and house their luggage in the rear cargo bay.

A nameplate labels our ride as the 2012 Nissan Juke, which Nissan describes it as a Sport Cross, one vehicle that crosses a nimble sports car with the body of a SUV.

Stretching more than 13 feet long and decorated with a bulbous face featuring round rally-style headlamps and curvaceous fender blisters capped by frog-eye amber running lights, Nissan's streamlined little wagon has the elevated stance and cargo capacity of a small-scale SUV with four flank doors for passengers and a liftgate at the tail for accessing the rear cargo bay.

However, the boxy parameters of a SUV have been disguised by the fluid sculptural treatment of body panels plus the raked face and a forward-tilting tail which collectively diffuse all rectangular hard corners.

And like a curve-craving sports sedan, Juke rides on the front-wheel-drive chassis of a car.

The steering system adds electric power assistance, which eliminates a load of hydraulic equipment and contributes to the efficiency of Juke's small engine. Full review - click here.

Slippery When Wet - Falling Leaves Present Hazards

Brought to you by Car Care Council

Fall is the picture-perfect time of year when many drivers take to the road to view the autumn colors. The leaves are beautiful to see, but when wet or in piles on the roads, they present driving hazards unique to the season. The Car Care Council reminds drivers to prepare for fall driving conditions by having their vehicles’ tires, brakes and wipers checked before heading out on the road.

“Drivers should be aware that wet leaves on the road surface can make stopping difficult, and piles of leaves can obscure potholes, curbs and street markings,” said Rich White, executive director, Car Care Council. “Add to these hazards the fact that road conditions can change from ideal to miserable in a matter of minutes, and what you have is a potentially dangerous situation.” Full story.

A Guide to America's Most Haunted & Historic Hotels

Playing Host to Ghouls & Ghosts Every Night of the Year

If the little devil in you still prefers “tricks” over treats and goose bumps are your gauge of a good time, members of National Trust Historic Hotels of America can offer a ghastly good time. Spanning over 300 years of history, these hotels have seen their share of unrequited love, untimely deaths and unsolved mysteries—all ingredients that stir supernatural specters.

Make your Halloween a truly haunting experience with a visit to one of these spooktacular sites. Choose to go ghost hunting with a group, participate in a murder mystery weekend or book a stay in a “preoccupied” room.

Floyd the Doorman - Georgia
Big Bend Ghost Tracker, a group of ghost hunters, spent the night at the Best Western Plus Windsor Hotel in Americus, Georgia, and monitored several areas of the hotel where strange sightings have been reported. Fully equipped with flashlights, thermo-meters, cameras, infrared equipment and electro-magnetic monitors the ghost hunters were looking for signs of a haunting. Among the spirits they encountered on the hotel’s third floor was the silhouette of Floyd Lowery, who worked at the Windsor as a doorman and elevator man for 40 years. It is likely that Floyd still wanders the hallways of the Windsor because he so loved the hotel and doesn’t want to leave. [Cover story]

Cigar Smoke & Flowery Perfumes - Michigan
The Holly Hotel been referred to as the most haunted historic building in Michigan, and perhaps the most haunted in America. By all accounts, the Holly Hotel does seem to be one of the few active haunted hotels where the occurrences continue over and over. The haunting and strange happenings have been observed by many people, from employees to guests. Very few of these can be easily discounted. The ghostly residents seem to follow certain “habits,” and even if one is ignorant to the fact that the restaurant is haunted, their experience will often fit into a known set of occurrences. For example, many people have smelled cigar smoke, even though they didn't know that original owner of the Inn smoked cigars. The descriptions of flowery perfume is often strikingly similar as well, and for some reason, the meat cleaver is the favorite toy for a little girls’ spirit who still plays in the kitchen and on the banquet room steps.

Read full article here.

How to Prepare Your Car for Safe Winter Driving

by Courtney Caldwell

What's a buyer to do? To help answer that question, RTM presents its 2012 Green Car Buyer's Guide with various ecologically sensitive, fuel efficient vehicles on the market today without mortgaging one's future in the process. Other reasons to consider a hybrid vehicle purchase are auto insurance rate discounts. Check out these great discounts on hybrid vehicles. You're heading down the highway anxious to get home. Suddenly you hear cling clang, putter sputter. Your car is skipping beats and spitting liquid. Your adrenaline spews. Your only choice is to pull over on the dark freeway. Now what? If you're a man, this is a major inconvenience. If you're a woman, this could be terrifying, perhaps even life-threatening. No matter who you are, you've just become a sitting duck. Whether you work on the problem or wait for help to arrive, your time on the side of the road now makes you susceptible to the dark side of humanity. Can this be avoided? In most cases, yes, which is why GM Goodwrench has declared October Car Care Month, an awareness campaign created to focus attention on the importance of car care and maintenance, especially for those living in states that have drastic seasonal changes. Full Story. Road & Travel Magazine's 2012 Green Car Buyer's Guide, click here.