Archive for category: General

San Fransisco, California, is now at the forefront of a new scheme of car rental geared towards Uber drivers. In partnership with Maven, the car sharing the branch of General Motors (ironically a huge sponsor of Uber’s main competitors, Lyft), Uber is offering the opportunity to rent either a Chevrolet Cruze, Chevrolet Malibu, or Chevrolet Trax, for $179 a week, including insurance. Although this fee doesn’t include other fees or tax it is still being considered as great value for money for drivers.

The new program will be called ‘Uber Vehicle Solutions’, and is set to add another string to Maven’s car sharing bow. General Motor’s extensive fleet will give many people opportunities to work and utilize a vehicle for personal use.

This flexible new system can all be controlled through an app on the driver’s smartphone, which will allow the driver to choose their car, their choice of pick up location, and length of rental period. There are not even any limitations on the mileage that can be racked up in that time.

This system is set to be a fantastic alternative to car ownership as drivers are able to use the cars for personal use, as well as make money through Uber fares. It’s also a good way for drivers to rent a car with the intention of keeping their Uber miles off their personal vehicle and maintain value.

The move towards ‘social driving’ has been looked into before by the likes of General Motors, with their Express Drive program, which allows car owners to rent their vehicle to Lyft drivers on short term loan. The rates from Uber Vehicle Solutions seem to be in line with other short-term car rental schemes and show a steady move towards this being the norm.

The scheme will be piloted for 90 days and will keep its operations solely in the San Fransisco area for the time being, but it’ll certainly be interesting to see how this takes off. Maven’s recent expansion into the Los Angeles area of California shows they’re not planning on slowing down anytime soon. Is car renting the future of car ownership?

They can save you money on fuel, are better for the environment, and with an increasing number of models becoming available, are now trendier than ever. But is it all plain sailing for hybrid cars – after all, if they’re so good, wouldn’t everyone be driving a hybrid car? In this blog we take a look at the positive sides of purchasing a ‘car for the future’, and look at why you might sell a hybrid car if you aren’t happy with it.

Positives

Incentive to drive efficiently

When you accelerate gradually in a hybrid car, this often uses only the electric engine. For drivers that usually love putting the pedal to the metal, this can encourage them to drive slower and more efficiently.

Suited to the city

For urban residents, a hybrid car can present the perfect solution. Whenever you stop, you are theoretically charging by electricity generation, which gives you power to use at low speeds in typically congested areas.

It’s oh so quiet

If you like the feeling of slipping down the road almost unnoticed, hybrid cars are discernibly slower than cars which are running a gasoline engine.

Nice and warm

Models such as the Toyota Prius are able to keep the car warm on those cold winter mornings by storing coolant in a Thermos-type container. This means you won’t be putting your cold engine under unnecessary pressure when starting it.

Negatives

Increase in fuel prices = rise in hybrid prices

As the cost of filling up surges, hybrid cars become more of an attractive option for drivers looking to buy a car, and when something becomes popular, naturally prices begin to rise.

Lack of larger vehicles

There is a distinct lack of hybrid options in the SUV market, and for those of us with a family, that value the option of a third row of seats, this can be a decisive factor. Toyota’s Highlander Hybrid SUV is one of the alternatives, however, although it has been pulled up for the comparatively low mileage it offers compared to smaller hybrids.

Weak battery

It has been reported that an ‘aftermarket’ battery that can be purchased for a hybrid car actually lasts a lot longer than the one which comes with the vehicle. Mistakes such as leaving an interior light on could leave you completely drained.

Mazda’s MX-5 creations are generally a highlight, unapologetic Miata junkies that we are. This year’s cars are just as exciting as the past years’,  Both SEMA MX-5s were designed and built in-house at Mazda’s Irvine design studio.

This year’s Speedster is way lighter than it was before. Mazda carved 100 pounds out of it, to make it a staggering 350 pounds less than a production soft top model. It’s also been repainted in a color called “White Ether”, which  looks like the “Blue Ether” paint job on last year’s highly reflective Speedster minus the blue tint. Mazda will probably never sell a roofless Miata or anything this lightweight, but maybe it should.

RF Kuro concept, the first RF-based SEMA show car. It doesn’t seem terribly extreme!  It’s wearing a matte charcoal paint, which explains the “Kuro” moniker – kuro means “charcoal” in Japanese. A set of 17-inch RAYS forged wheels and MX-5 Cup suspension, and that’s about it.

Of course, both concepts will be fully revealed at the show next month in Las Vegas. Stay tuned for a dose of concept Miata hotness.

The city of Dubai is home to 26,000 people who have a net worth of more than a million dollars. As a result, there is something of an arms race between the city’s many wealthy residents concerning who can turn up in the most extravagant luxury car.

Famously, Dubai’s streets are bristling with high performance supercars and lavishly upholstered luxury sedans. However, for the ultra rich, it isn’t enough just to buy a fancy car. The next step is to customise some of the world’s most exclusive cars in order to create something that is uniquely opulent.

Here are some of Dubai’s most astoundingly expensive cars:

1) Platinum, gold and gem encrusted Lamborghini Aventador

The Lamborghini Aventador sells for a not insubstantial $310,000. However, this version is worth an astonishing $4.7 million, due to the fact that it is constructed from platinum, gold and gem stones. Even more astonishing, given the price tag, is that this is not a car that you can drive to the shops. It’s actually a model that has gone down in history as the most expensive remote controlled car ever.

2) Aston Martin One-77 Police Car

Given the extraordinary preponderance of supercars in Dubai, the police force require something that is a bit quicker than a standard hatchback. To this end, one of only 77 of Aston Martin’s One-77 hypercar will find its way into the hands of the Dubai police. This car, which is the fastest Aston Martin ever, retails for an eye watering $1.4 million.

3) The Super bus

This 49 feet long, custom-built vehicle can carry 23 passengers at a speed of up to 255 km/h. It was built for a Dubai sheikh and looks like a stretch Lamborghini. The car is worth an extraordinary $10 million, which makes it the second most expensive car in the world.

4) Diamond encrusted Mercedes Benz SL600

Where gold plated cars are ten a penny, it was inevitable that someone in Dubai would take things a stage further. This Mercedes Benz SL600 has been coated in 300,000 diamonds to make it one of the world’s most in-your-face expressions of wealth.