Nissan: 370z Touring Sports Package on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2013 Nissan Pathfinder: July-September 2013

This Nissan is the most in-demand long-term vehicle we've ever had.
They may not readily fall into the sweet spot of driving enthusiasts, but our year-long test of this Nissan is proving to be an object lesson in why crossovers are so popular - especially large ones like our three-row Pathfinder. In fact, it's been so busy that it's hardly been at a standstill long enough to pen an update, which is why this one is late. Simply put, this Nissan is the most in-demand long-term vehicle we've ever had, racking up more miles and more long-distance trips than any LT vehicle in the Autoblog stable.

Nissan NV200 puts on a Bowtie as new Chevy City Express

Your eyes do not deceive you - that is, in fact, a Nissan NV200 work van with Chevrolet badging. General Motors and Nissan today announced a partnership where the Japanese automaker will build Bowtie-badged vans for Chevy dealers to sell throughout the United States and Canada. The new van, called the City Express, is expected to go on sale in the fall of 2014.
"Our fleet customers have asked us for an entry in the commercial small van segment, so this addition to the Chevrolet portfolio will strengthen our position with fleets and our commercial customers," Ed Peper, US vice president of GM fleet and commercial sales, said in a press release.
No details have been released regarding specific changes for the new City Express, though from the images released today, it's clear that the vehicle's front fascia has been reworked, and some super-sexy new wheel covers have been added. If we're honest, the NV200 wasn't all that pretty to begin with, and this, well, isn't any better. Not that looks are of primary concern in the commercial truck business, of course.

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.