It’s officially winter and it’s also the holiday season – is your car ready for all those road trips?

Before heading out to visit family and friends long distance, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recommends that you check your vehicle before heading out and to drive with extra caution this season. Here is a list to go over before you hit the roads and make merry with loved ones.

Routine Car Service:

• To ensure your car is running in tip-top condition, drop by your mechanic for a tune-up and routine maintenance.

Car Battery:

• Your car’s battery doesn’t like the cold. Battery power tends to drop when it gets colder, so be sure your battery is ready for the chilly months ahead.

• While you’re at the garage, check your battery for sufficient voltage, have the charging system and belts inspected and tighten the battery cable connections.

• If you drive an electric car with a gasoline backup system, make sure you’ve got a supply in the vehicle, in case you run out.

Cooling System:

• Make sure your coolant can stand up to cold winter temperatures and make sure you have enough at all times.

• Check the cooling system for leaks.

• Your coolant system should be flushed every couple of years. If it’s been awhile, now’s the time to do it.

Windshield Wipers and Defrosters:

• Fill up on high-quality, no-freeze fluid and keep an extra bottle in the car – you’ll go through plenty of it in the winter.

• Replace worn blades with heavy-duty winter wipers.

• Check that front and rear window defrosters are working properly.

Tires:

• Because tire pressure drops when it gets colder, check tire pressure frequently and make sure each tire is filled to the vehicle manufacturer’s suggested PSI of air pressure.

• Take a close look at your tire treads and replace ones that have uneven wear or insufficient tread.

10. Porsche 918 Spyder: $845,000

The list of the Top 10 most expensive new cars is even more shocking that you might expect. Released by Forbes, you can forget the Ferrari 458 or the $300,000 Lamborghini Aventador because even at the low end of the scale these models start at right around the one million mark.

In 10th place, at $845,000 is Porsche’s upcoming flagship, the 918 Spyder. When it does arrive later this year, it will come powered by a high-revving V8 engine making more than 500 hp, mated to a plug-in hybrid system that adds over 218 hp. Porsche claims a 0-60 mph time of 3.1 seconds, with an incredible 78 mpg rating.

Often times we only hear the bad side of the story: cars getting stolen, thieves running off with your precious property, etc. But sometimes it’s nice to hear that there’s a happy ending to some of thefts thanks to Lojack.

Lojack helps retrieve countless vehicles a year, but some of the incidents are more peculiar than others. In Atlanta, a thief successfully disabled the OnStar GPS system on a stolen Cadillac Escalade, but that didn’t affect Lojack. The company, with the assistance of the local police, were able to recover the stolen vehicle.

Another interesting one was a thief that had stolen a Lexus at gunpoint from a salesman, which Lojack had no troubles finding. Or even better yet, one man was smart enough to have Lojack on his Honda Civic, but wasn’t smart enough to say no to taking a check when he sold it. Thankfully, Lojack was able to get the car back once the check bounced.

Lojack in 2011 even helped recover 30 cars that were stolen from a Southern California used car dealership. Even though only one of the vehicles was equipped with Lojack, they were able to recover all 30. Similarly, a Honda Accord Crosstour was found through Lojack, revealing a ring of stolen cars that were on their way in shipping containers to other countries.

In closing, this year was a good year for those that have Lojack. The company was vital in closing chop shops, breaking up an international car theft ring, tracking down a murder suspect in a stolen car, and even deterred the kidnapping of a four year old girl.

[Source: Motor Authority]

Chrysler Group’s Mopar division has announced the grand opening of two new distribution centers overseas, one in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates another in Shanghai, China. Both new facilities help expand Mopar’s parts distribution networks and continues Mopar’s international growth.

The new parts center in China is a 16,000-square meters facility in Yangshan Port Shanghai. It is estimated to distribute more than 35,000 components to more than 130 dealers in China and more than 20 third-party distributors/joint-ventures throughout the Pacific region. It will also be a referral point for Mopar warehouses in South Korea, Japan and Australia.

The facility in Dubai measures in at 18,000-square meters and is located in the Jebel Ali Free Trade Zone. The warehouse will be distributing more than 30,000 parts to the Middle East and Africa.

GALLERY: Mopar Parts Distribution Centers In Dubai And Shanghai

Over in Europe, Hyundai is aiming at some of the more formidable hatchbacks in the market including Volkswagen‘s Golf with their newly redesigned i30 hatchback. But now rumor has it that Hyundai may be considering a competitor to VW’s popular GTI – which means more horsepower and more fun.

Allan Rushforth, vice president of Hyundai Europe, mentioned that the company is currently evaluating a GTI competitor even though nothing is set in stone as of right now. The three-door hatchback i30 is currently scheduled to debut in Europe at the end of 2012 and will on sale in 2013.

If the more inspired variant of the i30 does come to fruition however, it will be produced at Hyundai’s European Technical Center out in Russelsheim, Germany and will not only get sportier styling, but beefier brakes, tuned suspension and interior upgrades. That is, to go along with its more powerful engine.

The big news for North America here is that as the i30 is essentially the same car as the Elantra Touring, this news is generating rumors of a 200-hp version of that car for our shores. But considering a 200 hp Hyundai Veloster is on its way, don’t bet on it.

[Source: AutoCar]

Mathew Foster, a resident of Portland Oregon, found himself roaring across the salt flats in a MINI Coupe being fed sushi by a stewardess while paratroopers flew by overhead. Was this some kind of bizarre dream or hallucinogenic episode? In fact this was a reality for the Portland man after winning a contest held by MINI offering the best test drive ever. Period.

During October of this year- or as MINI calls it “Motor-tober”- the quirky British automaker held a contest which offered to make any unusual test drive requests a reality for consumers. The catch was that contest entries had to be a grand total of six words long.  The company vowed to choose the most entertaining, energetic, and attention worthy test drive submitted.

Out of over 14,000 entries submitted they narrowed it down to one: Stewardess, Salt Flats, Sushi, Paratroopers, Falconer. This interesting combo of words came together to produce Mathew’s unique experience on the salt flats.

Mathew’s entire test drive experience was filmed and will debut on MINI USA’s Facebook page, Youtube channel and also in 2,707 theatres across the U.S.

Read AutoGuide’s 2012 MINI Coupe Review here

Though Youngman’s attempts to save Saab proved futile, it appears that the Chinese automaker isn’t giving up on Saab-related assets. Youngman announced that they’ve acquired the rights to Saab’s Phoenix vehicle architecture and also announced that they have intentions of setting up a firm in Sweden to develop a new car based on the Phoenix platform.

The Phoenix vehicle architecture was originally designed by Saab and was going to be used for the next-generation 9-3. It is believed that the platform is not based on any previous General Motors-based designs.

Now the more interesting fight may begin, with Saab entering bankruptcy. Will Youngman try to pull some sort of ploy where they’ll successfully acquire Saab’s name, branding and factory?

[Source: Left Lane News]

A new year is around the corner, and with every new year comes change. Numerous new models will be added to dealerships across the country, while for 2012 many other models will disappear.

From the Mazda RX-8 to the Honda Element, there are quite a few vehicles we’re going to miss and hope that successors come our way. Other models that caught our interest that will be disappearing from production include the Volvo V50, Cadillac DTS, BMW X6 ActiveHybrid and Ford‘s good ‘ol Ranger.

And at the list of not-so-interesting, but worth mentioning are the Mitsubishi Endeavor, Mazda Tribute, Chevrolet HHR and Ford’Crown Victoria. Oh yeah, and as we mentioned before, Tesla’s Roadster will be gone too.

Thankfully we have a ton of new models to look forward to in 2012, including the new Lexus GS 350 – read our review here.

[Source: Autoblog]

Love it or hate it the Fast & Furious franchise is a moneymaking machine that gets fans and boy racers out the theatres in droves.

“With the success of this last one and the inclusion of so many characters and the broadening of scope, when we were sitting down to figure out what would fit into the real estate of number six, we didn’t have enough space,” Diesel said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

If you enjoy these movies, there’s good news in the works: the seventh installment is being developed alongside the sixth according to star Vin Diesel. It might seem cocksure, or even foolish but for NBC Universal the Fast & Furious movies are like a free ATM. Fast Five dumped a whopping $626 million into their coffers at the box office alone.

According to Diesel, screen writer Chris Morgan is writing the films simultaneously in anticipation of Justin Lin directing both and having all major cast members available for filming. There’s a chance that the movies may be shot simultaneously, taking cues from Peter Jackson’s strategy with the Lord of the Rings movies to concentrate production assets.

The same strategy was discussed during pre-production for Fast Five, though nothing came of it, so maybe this is just more of the same. The sixth release is currently expected to hit theaters in May, 2013. Despite the deepening plot lines and growing host of characters, expect more of the same old high-octane action and roaring car chases the films are known for.

[Source: InsideLine]

To best showcase the C63 AMG Black Series Coupe Mercedes-Benz has produced two videos with contrasting drivers and vehicles, both filmed on track at Laguna Seca Raceway in Northern California.

Known for its infamous corkscrew, Laguna Seca Raceway can easily be recognized by automotive enthusiasts worldwide. What’s entertaining to watch in the two videos however is how tame the driver in the white C63 Black Series takes it on the vehicle (at least in the beginning of the video) while the driver in the Fire Opal (red) C63 gets it sideways and shows off what it can really do.

So there you have it – whichever way you may want to take the 6.3L V8, 510-hp and 457 lb-ft of torque Coupe out for a spin, you can. Mercedes did it out on the track, showing off the versatility of their C63 AMG Black Series Coupe.

Watch the two videos below:

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