TorqueNews Hot Topics (Page 158)

They can come in any size and shape these days from Mustang GTs to full-size pickups and cars you’d never suspect – like an expensive Nissan GT-R. However, no matter how well disguised, unmarked police cars still provide subtle clues to their true identities.

What the sight of a police car inspires, especially in your rearview mirror, differs from person to person. To some they inspire an air of security – for others the same image inspires paranoia, whether for good reason or the simple fear of an unintended violation of some little known statute.

Just as in the movies, the cars we see on television are often the star or best supporting actor in the show. Here are the top ten picks for best TV cars from Torque News.

On Monday the Chevron refinery in Richmond CA blew up, disrupting gasoline supply on the West Coast, and a spike in gasoline prices, but electric car owners drive on blissfully unaffected by the turmoil.

The challenge is simple, what car, current or past would make for the perfect electric car conversion? The field is wide and many older, lighter cars are being retired.

The vehicles we see in movies and on television can come to define the film or even the vehicle itself. Often, even those who aren't "car nuts" will remember a show because of the car that was in it. Here are the top ten picks for movie cars from the Torque News gang.

Choosing between a new and old car can be difficult and really depends on who, what, when and where. Today I drove 356A Porsche in Nice, France and still wonder if what new cars offer really makes them better.

Electric car’s extended battery pack life and its developing secondary market is something we’ve been waiting for a long time. It seems it is about to begin, according to a Study Done with Flux Power.

Recently Consumer Reports bought a Ford Focus Electric and towed it to their testing grounds, when they could have stopped at charging stations along the way and driven it all the way to their office without towing.

While most of the automobile industry battles between “enough range” and the ideal range for electric cars, there is a clear divide between what people would like and how much they actually need.

Some hard questions to consider, and fact based commentary to get us all thinking about what’s next for automotive propulsion.

If electric cars are expensive so far, the choice is growing, so is the affordability. But if $30,000 is still too much, then how about converting your own oldie into an EV?

Danish developer and manufacturer ECOmove has made a splash with its QBEAK model and its extended 500 mile range. Now the company estimates it can get it on the road this year, before the end of 2012.

The latest numbers are in and according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the most American-made car for 2012 is the Toyota Avalon. Although that grabbed headlines, it was only one model. What about the industry as a whole?

The intelligent use of computers, real-time data and cloud computing might finally take the wind out of the so-called “range anxiety” fear instilled onto unsuspecting buyers.

Some recent celebrity cartastrophes begs the question "What is the most classic of all bad behavior in a car by a celebrity?"

With recent updates in the CAFE standard, and its approval by the courts, could another decade of automotive zombies be returning?

This is the third part of a 3-part series on the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standard and how it affects American automotive, for good or ill. In this segment, we look at the new 2007 standard (updated recently) and how it will affect our market; and why it may not be necessary at all.

This second part of a 3-part series on the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standard and how it affects American automotive, for good or ill, examines whether the regulations themselves are working as advertised. In government, failure is always an option.