Taxi Service in Ernakulam

BMW X3 M40i Service Adventure: An Update on a Few Issues A couple of updates back, we reported our  2018 BMW X3  M40i was suffering from a leaky sunroof, a creaking suspension, and a busted cargo net. I brought it in to get all of that sorted and to take care of routine service and learned that not all  BMW  dealerships are created equal. This was my third time going to this particular dealership, and every time I get a non-BMW loaner from its Enterprise rental partner. If I owned the X3 and bought into the BMW experience, I would not be happy.

2020 Ford Explorer Hybrid Has Up to 500-Mile Range Ford  has officially announced the EPA fuel economy ratings for the 2020 Explorer Hybrid, and it's quite impressive. In rear-drive guise, the  2020 Ford Explorer Hybrid  is rated at 27/29 mpg city/highway. With its 18.0-gallon fuel tank, the Explorer is estimated to do 500 miles on a single tank, which Ford says will get you from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and back in one tank. As always, the EPA notes your mileage will vary.  Adding all-wheel drive, however, drops fuel economy down to 23/26 mpg and overall range to 450 miles. The 18.0-gallon fuel tank remains on all-wheel-drive-equipped  2020 Ford Explorer Hybrids , which helps minimize the hit from the lower fuel economy ratings. In comparison, the outgoing  2019 Toyota Highlander  Hybrid with the old 3.5-liter V-6 is rated at 29/27 mpg for all models except the base LE, which checks in at 30/28 mpg. That version has an EPA-estimated range of 499 miles. We don&#

The refreshed  2020 Subaru Impreza  has been revealed in its home market of Japan, but you'll need a magnifying glass to see the changes. A revised lower front fascia is the most obvious change because there's now one large opening instead of three smaller ones. Two chrome strips surround the front foglights and the grille is narrower than its predecessor.  Subaru  appears to have also added two new wheel designs as part of the JDM Impreza's refresh. No changes appear to have been made to the  2020 Subaru Impreza's interior , which features the Starlink infotainment system with a 6.5- or 8.0-inch touchscreen. For the Japanese market, the  2020 Subaru Impreza  comes standard with the EyeSight driver assistance suite, which bundles together automatic emergency braking, forward collision warning, pedestrian detection, lane keeping assist, and adaptive cruise control. Subaru couldn't comment on whether we'll get the same changes, but expect the U.S.-s

James Bond’s 1965 Aston Martin DB5 Sells for More Than $6.3 Million RM Sotheby's did well by adding a third night to its 2019 Monterey auction roster, featuring Aston Martins exclusively. The star of the evening, a  1965 DB5  that was one of three existing screen cars from the popular 007 franchise movie,  Goldfinger , sold for a huge $6,385,000 to plenty of applause from the auction room. Applause came first when the ex-Bond DB5 rolled onto the block in the Portola Plaza Hotel event space after a short teaser video played, showing the car screeching around twisting roads with appropriately Bond-esque music and cinematography. Bidding started quick and steady, with six bidders vying for the car both in the room and on the telephone, though once bids crested $4.5 million, then $5 million, the remaining bids were given more thoughtfully. In all, it took nearly five minutes before the car was hammered sold to a bidder in the room. As what may be the most famous

FCA Gauging Public Reaction for Ram 1500 Big Horn Low Down Concept Lifting a vehicle has become second nature for the  Mopar  team at FCA. But one of the automaker's newest rolling test beds takes things in a different direction. The 2018  Ram 1500  Big Horn  Low Down concept  actually lowers the full-size pickup by two inches. Mopar created the concept for the 2018 SEMA show, and FCA has been gauging reaction for about a year. A decision will be made later this year or into next year on whether to add the prototype lowering kit to the Mopar catalogue. So far, reaction has been positive. Cheryl Woodworth, brand accessories manager, said one woman, cruising Woodward Avenue in a 1500, spotted the Low Down and excitedly called her husband to say she saw it and wants one. Woodworth does not know where the lowering kit might fall on FCA's priority list, but for now, the concept will keep rolling and gathering reaction. With more than a million people tak

Woodward Dream Cruise 2019: GM Designers Show Off Their Cars A highlight of the week leading up to Saturday's  Woodward Dream Cruise  2019 is the exclusive car show at General Motors' Warren tech center. Exclusive because it is for GM's design team only. Not surprisingly, the majority are GM brands, but  MotorTrend  loves heading to the tech center to see what employees have brought to work to show their colleagues before forming a parade, complete with police escort, to a park along Woodward. Here, the public can admire the cars as part of a larger Dream Cruise show. We expected a lot of Corvettes and were not disappointed. There were not one but two 1963 Sting Rays (in the days when it was two words like the race car that inspired it). The Sting Rays have the gorgeous hood and spine that runs down the roof to the split rear window. Only the '63, the first year of C2, has the split window. It took Jim Hall almost seven years to find the right

2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500: 4 Pearls of Performance Wisdom Computer Helped Optimize GT500 Lap Times And Design "The performance team always has less time to do its job, because it can't start until a design is almost fully engineered," Widmann said. Computers helped his team hit the GT500's launch date. He uses a program that fairly accurately predicts lap times at Virginia International Raceway as the team programs in a vehicle's hard points and tunes for factors such as differential torque bias, tire characteristics, aerodynamics, etc. Early computer twiddling resulted in the team assigning Michelin a fresh set of tire-performance targets (the front tires are especially critical at VIR) and Torsen a new torque bias requirement. And determining the aero requirements far enough in advance of launch gave the design team time enough to integrate the various elements so that nothing looks aftermarket or tacked on. "We are finding that its looks

1939 Porsche Type 64 Fails to Sell After Bidding Mix-Up The 1939  Porsche  Type 64 was one of Dr. Ferdinand Porsche's early experimental vehicles, and yesterday, it was one of the star auction cars during  2019 Monterey Car Week . Projected to sell in the neighborhood of $20 million by auction house RM Sotheby's, the one-off prototype was the victim of mistaken bids during the third and final evening of the sale, ultimately failing to sell at a high bid of $17 million. The Porsche Type 64 entered the auction room at Portola Hotel and Spa in Monterey, California, in mid-evening following a video presentation of the car amidst much anticipation. The auctioneer, Dutch born Maarten ten Holder, seemed to open bidding at $30 million dollars and that's when things got strange. Quickly, $30 million appeared as the current bid on the large information screens at the sale and it began climbing from there. Bids came in rapidly, the screen showing $40 million, then $50 million in

Classic Corvettes Abound at the 2019 Woodward Dream Cruise It's the year of Corvette.  With the unveiling of the long-awaited mid-enigne 2020 Stingray , 'Vette fever is peaking. So it's no surprise that the 2019 Woodward Dream Cruise is packed with the first seven generations of the sports car. Every day last week leading up to the actual cruise on Saturday, the lanes of Woodward have been an homage to classic Corvettes; with the debut of the Corvette C8, everything with an engine in front of the driver will soon be considered legacy. Since the mid-engine car does not go on sale until early next year, anyone hoping to see production models on the road cruising was disappointed. But the  Chevy  area along Woodward had a preproduction model on display on Saturday. Lines formed early for a look, and they never let up. The eighth-generation car has the updated pushrod 6.2-liter small-block V-8 engine known as LT2, which makes 490 horsepower and 465

Classic Trucks of the 2019 Woodward Dream Cruise Cars are the stars of the 2019 Woodward Dream Cruise, which uses the famed boulevard north of Detroit to celebrate classic cars, muscle cars, powerful cars, quirky cars, modified cars, and generally much-beloved cars. But trucks and vans help make the world go around. Over the course of a week of watching vehicles cruise up and down Woodward Avenue, check out our gallery to see the classic trucks we find ourselves drawn to. Naturally we love the cars that pose as pickup trucks—those automotive mullets (business in the front, party in the back). There was a lovely red '57  Ford  Ranchero, a gorgeous seafoam green and white '59 Ford Ranchero, a baby-blue '60  Chevy  El Camino, and Torino-based Rancheros from the late '60s and early '70s. Some of the "real trucks" have gorgeous lines and paint schemes, like the Chevy 3100 in navy and dusty yellow. Conversely, some of the best patina is

Tesla-Fighting Porsche Taycan Goes the Distance in Endurance Test We've already received an  in-depth, passenger-seat preview  of the all-electric  Porsche  Taycan—and its performance earns the red-and-gold crest on its hood. But what about its daily usability? Battery range and charge times are barriers against electric vehicle adoption; "refueling" an electric car still just isn't as convenient. However, Porsche has been working to develop quick-recharge technology apace with its upcoming sports sedan EV, which was demonstrated in a 24-hour endurance test at Italy's famed Nardo high-speed test track. In a full day, the Taycan prototype covered a distance of 2,128.1 miles, with cruising speeds kept between 121 and 133 mph. Stops were only made for necessary recharging and driver changes. Porsche didn't elucidate on the number of stops needed or its charging strategy for the test, but suffice to say the car was kept off the cable and on the t