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Poor headlights cause 40 cars to miss IIHS Top Safety Pick rating

Over the past few months, we've noticed a number of cars and SUVs that have come incredibly close to earning one of the IIHS's highest accolades, the Top Safety Pick rating. They have great crash test scores and solid automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning systems. What trips them up is headlights. That got us wondering, how many vehicles are there that are coming up short because they don't have headlights that meet the organization's criteria for an "Acceptable" or "Good" rating. This is a revision made after 2017, a year in which headlights weren't factored in for this specific award. This is also why why some vehicles, such as the Ford F-150, might have had the award last year, but have lost it for this year. We reached out to someone at IIHS to find out. He responded with the following car models. Depending on how you count, a whopping 40 models crash well enough to receive the rating, but don't get it because their headlights are either "Poor" or "Marginal." We say depending on how you count because the IIHS actual counts truck body styles differently, and the Infiniti Q70 is a special case. Apparently the version of the Q70 that has good headlights doesn't have adequate forward collision prevention technology. And the one that has good forward collision tech doesn't have good enough headlights. We've provided the entire list of vehicles below in alphabetical order. Interestingly, it seems the Volkswagen Group is having the most difficulty providing good headlights with its otherwise safe cars. It had the most models on the list at 9 split between Audi and Volkswagen. GM is next in line with 7 models. It is worth noting again that though these vehicles have subpar headlights and don't quite earn Top Safety Pick awards, that doesn't mean they're unsafe. They all score well enough in crash testing and forward collision prevention that they would get the coveted award if the lights were better.

Zombie cars: Discontinued vehicles that aren't dead yet

Car models come and go, but as revealed by monthly sales data, once a car is discontinued, it doesn't just disappear instantly. And in the case of some models, vanishing into obscurity can be a slow, tedious process. That's the case with the 12 cars we have here. All of them have been discontinued, but car companies keep racking up "new" sales with them. There are actually more discontinued cars that are still registering new sales than what we decided to include here. We kept this list to the oldest or otherwise most interesting vehicles still being sold as new, including a supercar. We'll run the list in alphabetical order, starting with *drumroll* ... BMW 6 Series: 55 total sales BMW quietly removed the 6 Series from the U.S. market during the 2019 model year. It had been available in three configurations, a hardtop coupe, a convertible and a sleek four-door coupe-like shape.   BMW i8: 18 total sales We've always had a soft spot for the BMW i8, despite the fact that it never quite fit into a particular category. It was sporty, but nowhere near as fast as similarly-priced competitors. It looked very high-tech and boasted a unique carbon fiber chassis design and a plug-in hybrid powertrain, but wasn't really designed for maximum efficiency or maximum performance. Still, the in-betweener was very cool to look at and drive, and 18 buyers took one home over the course of 2021.   Chevy Impala: 750 total sales The Impala represented classic American tastes at a time when American tastes were shifting away from soft-riding sedans with big interior room and trunk space and into higher-riding crossovers. A total of 750 sales were inked last year.   Chrysler 200: 15 total sales The Chrysler 200 was actually a pretty nice sedan, with good looks and decent driving dynamics let down by a lack of roominess, particularly in the back seat. Of course, as we said regarding the Chevy Impala, the number of Americans in the market for sedans is rapidly winding down, and other automakers are following Chrysler's footsteps in canceling their slow-selling four-doors. Even if Chrysler never really found its footing in the ultra-competitive midsize sedan segment, apparently dealerships have a few leftover 2017 200s floating around. And for some reason, 15 buyers decided to sign the dotted line to take one of these aging sedans home last year.

2022 Infiniti QX55 Road Test | Yes, crossover coupes can be weekend warriors

SAUGATUCK, Mich. -- We almost didn’t take it. The 2022 Infiniti QX55 wasnÂ’t our first choice for a long weekend getaway to the frozen shores of Lake Michigan. No slight against this stylish crossover -- itÂ’s just not all that big. Especially for two adults, a preschooler, a golden retriever and all of the things needed for a winter vacation. The night before we left, in the drive-through line at CulverÂ’s, we decided: “Hey this thing is really nice. LetÂ’s hope everything fits.” More important decisions have been made with less thought, so the next morning I began packing the QX55. With 26.9 cubic feet, thereÂ’s actually more cargo space than coupe-styled crossovers like the 2022 Audi Q5 Sportback, Mercedes GLC Coupe and BMW X4. Still, the graceful rooflines limit storage capacity for all of these. In my mind, theyÂ’re more commuter crossovers. If you need real space, you would opt for the more upright QX50 and its 31.4 cubic feet of cargo room.  But what the hell is a cubic foot, really? Trunks and cargo areas are often as much about shape as they are about raw volume, and the QX55 turned out to be surprisingly roomy. I wedged a large Samsonite carry-on (19 inches long, 13.5 inches wide), a massive duffle bag, a box of food and stuff, a case of beer, a sled and a few other things, plus two heavy winter parkas laid over the top. For the return trip, we wedged even more stuff in there, including a trash bag filled with laundry and beer from the local brewing scene. On the way there, I could see out the back. On the way home, not so much. For more adventures in loading up the QX55, check out this luggage test. ThatÂ’s the tradeoff and something youÂ’ll want to consider if youÂ’re buying something like the QX55. You need to really like the styling, and this segment includes lookers like the X4, which are more compelling visually than their boxier brethren. The QX55 shares InfinitiÂ’s variable compression turbo, which makes 268 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque, so thereÂ’s no compelling powertrain reason to seek out the coupe version. Even though the 55 is more rigid than the 50, youÂ’d really need to be an engineer to notice the difference. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.   The steering is light and the suspension is tuned for comfort. If youÂ’re looking for a driver, consider any of the German competitors first, though the VC turbo is an interesting engine that has some heart.