autos week: Thursday, Feb 3, 2005

How Car Insurance Works

If you own your own car, you probably already know a little about car insurance. You may have heard the words deductible or premium. But, do you truly understand the different parts of an auto insurance policy and do you know how to choose the best coverage?

Forty-seven states require that you have at least some kind of car insurance, so it's a good idea to know what the law requires you to have and what additional or optional coverage will help to protect you in the event of an accident.

Before purchasing auto insurance, you must consider a variety of factors including what kind of car you have, your driving record and the amount of money you are willing to pay. Understanding the simple basics of auto insurance will make you confident that the car insurance policy you choose will take care of your needs in the event of an accident.

In this article, we will walk you through the types of coverage that insurance companies offer and discuss possible insurance needs. Additionally we will look at what affects the price of auto insurance, how to bring the costs down and how to understand the components of your policy.

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Wednesday, Feb 2, 2005

How Hybrid Cars Work

Have you pulled your car up to the gas pump lately and been shocked by the high price of gasoline? As the pump clicked past $20 or $30, maybe you thought about trading in that SUV for something that gets better mileage. Or maybe you're worried that your car is contributing to the greenhouse effect. Or maybe you just want to have the coolest car on the block.

The auto industry now has the technology that might answer all of these needs. It's the hybrid car, and a few manufacturers are selling their versions in the United States. You're probably aware of hybrid cars because they've been in the news a lot. In fact, most automobile manufacturers have announced plans to manufacture their own versions -- you can even expect some hybrid SUVs to hit the streets this year.

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Tuesday, Feb 1, 2005

C6 Corvette Z06, Ferrari F430 Spider spied

Well maybe not so much right there— they probably just know people who know people who have the right kind of cameras, designed specially for capturing preproduction cars invisible to your regular tourist-variety lenses. AW’s best snag here is the Z06, which seems to feature a removable hardtop, lightweight wheels, Brembo binders, and, since these spy photo cameras double as portable X-ray machines, a 500-hp 7.0 liter V8. Regarding the the Ferrari F430: zoinks Scooby, it looks exactly like the coupe, but it has a black canvas top and is hardly disguised otherwise— although those red mirrors really threw me for a loop. AutoWeek also stakes a late claim on the new Toyota sports car (codename TXS) we posted about last week, which they think could possibly be the next Supra even though it’s rumored to sticker for over $100K. If that’s true (which I’m pretty sure it isn’t), offering a $100K+ Supra could be the biggest worst-est most horrible-est mistake of Toyota’s life.

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