Everything about Cars!

The results for the winners of the 2010 Automotive Excellence awards have been announced, and there are some surprising winners taking home the prize for next years hottest models. The Best Off Road Ability went to the Ford F-150 Raptor for 2010. Best Fuel Efficiency for 2010 went to the Toyota Prius, which is the leader in miles per gallon.

The car that was voted “most fun to drive” for 2010 went to the Hyundai Genesis Coupe, which is packed with great features for consumers on a budget. It is rear wheel drive, in a beautiful package that is very unlike the other models in it’s category. The Best Workhorse Vehicle for 2010 went to the Ford Transit Connect. Lexus took home the Technical Innovation award, with their Remote Touch System, which works just like a mouse for the computer, allowing you to move an arrow and click on what you need.

The Ford Transit Connect is a welcomed change to working class employment such as plumbers, as it is more fuel efficient and therefore accommodates to the falling economy, in contrast to a full size van that is usually used.

When winter comes back around, most of the country will experience sliding on the roads due to ice, snow or rain. AWD vehicles, All Wheel Drive, are the safest cars in this type weather, as it helps the car grip the road to give you more confidence in your driving. Here are the best all wheel drive cars for 2010.

The Audi Q5 is not a surprise, with Audi producing top notch all wheel drive vehicles for a long time coming. The Q5 has 270 horsepower, 3.2 liter V6 engine, and 243 lb-ft of torque. A great alternative to the Q5 is the 328i xDrive Sports Wagon by BMW. This four door has a great all wheel drive system to protect you from the ice and snow, and features as 3.0 liter V6 engine.

The truck and car hybrid from Chevrolet is called the Equinox, and has a 2.4 liter engine with 182 horsepower. It also has a 6 speed automatic transmission. For more power, look to the Flex by Ford, which has torque of 248, and a 3.5 liter V6 engine to keep you happy and safe on the road.

The musk in your car can come from anything, and doesn’t always have to be whatever your kid spilled in the back seat last week, it can be a growing odor that builds and builds after several weeks. The most important thing is to find the source of the stench and clean it as soon as possible, don’t leave it for the next day. If it works its way into your carpeting, you could pay hundreds having it torn out and replaced because it has gotten under the upholstery and seeped somewhere that cannot be cleaned. Milk in particular can seep down to the floor boards, and only a professional can clean it up. Keep a towel handy just in case there is a spill so you can dry it up as soon as possible.

One story tells about a woman who left a whole chicken in the trunk of her car, and it was left to bake there for a week while she was away. She had to have the carpeting removed to get to where it had leaked. Often the smell is caused by bacteria, from food or other organic items that can be rotting. Some are simply obvious, such as cigarette musk that can work its way into your upholstery and never really smell clean.

With gas prices always at risk of being on the rise once again, and the ever gloomy economy, gas guzzlers are one of the biggest culprits behind wasted money. Here are a few of the biggest gas guzzlers of 2010, and some of them will be no surprise.

The Hummer H3 Alpha is of course apart of this list, getting only 13 mpg in the city and only 16 on the highway. Next would be the Sierra 1500 4WD by GMC, which is a huge pickup truck often used for rigorous work so it is also no surprise there. It has a 6.2 liter engine and gets 12 mpg in the city, and 19 mpg on the highway.

Getting into the SUVs, the Armada 4WD by Nissan only gets 12 mpg in the city, and 18 mpg on the highway. It has a 5.6 liter V8 engine and can drink gas by the gallon. Lexus’s LX 570 is also a big gas guzzler, with the same as the Armada, 12 mpg in the city, and 18 mpg on the highway. The GL 550 by Mercedes Benz doesn’t do much better in the SUV category, getting 12 mpg in the city and 17 mpg highway. The asking price is also considerably high so if you can afford it odds are you aren’t worried about gas prices.

2010 releases several models with horrible mpg and are some of the worst gas guzzlers of the decade. Although in a list of 10 the Hummer and some SUVs from Lexus and Mercedes Benz made it, they were not in the top 5. Number one will definitely surprise you.

5) Nissan had already made the top 10 list, and makes it again in the number five place with the Titan 4WD. It gets only 12 mpg in the city, and 17 mpg on the highway. It is another 5.6 liter V8 gas guzzler released by Nissan in their huge pick up line.

4) Doing just as bad is the QX56 by Infiniti, with the same mpg in the city and highway, 12 and 17 respectively.

3) The next two spots are taken by the famous Land Rover, number three belonging to the LR4 model. It has a 5.0 liter V8 engine and prides is 375 horsepower. It also gets 12 mpg in the city, and 17 mpg on the highway.

2) Again, going to a Land Rover, is the Ranger Rover Sport. It has a 4.2 liter V8 engine, and 510 horsepower, which accounts for its poor mileage in both the city and highway, 12 and 17.

1) This will surprise you. It doesn’t go to a huge pick up, or SUV, or the Hummer, it goes to the Porche Cayenne GTS. At an asking price of $71,000 you will get a fantastic 11 mpg in the city and 17 mpg on the highway.

The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution or simply the ‘Evo’ has long been known as a first class performance car. Having it’s foundations in the world of rallying means that it is in fact a road going version of the same car that you see cornering woodland roads at 100MPH on tv each weekend.

The car itself is a culmination of years of tireless work and research. The new version, the Evo X or 10 manages to keep all of the excitement of the previous versions but has somehow managed to improve even further.

The 2.0 litre turbo charged engine is available in several different levels of tuning. Each will reach 60 MPH in less than 5 seconds and the advanced 4 wheel drive system means that the power is planted firmly where it should be.

There are numerous incarnations of electronic wizardry to help keep you on the road. The traction control system, known as S-AWC is particularly impressive. The main challenge you will have in this vehicle is keeping the points off of your licence.

As it is a 4 door saloon, there is also room for the family. Just don’t go rallying when taking your Grandmother home.