Auto News 5

The recipe for success in a time of rising fuel prices is obvious: reduce a vehicle's weight and it will be more economical and faster. Obvious, but not simple to achieve while respecting crashworthiness norms, so Mazda designers and engineers deserve our unstinting admiration. At a time when almost every other car builder in the world has allowed each successive model to become bigger, heavier, and thirstier than the preceding one-the current Honda Accord is 1000 pounds heavier and 22.2 inches longer than the first one in 1981, and the current Volkswagen Rabbit weighs 1200 pounds more than the original 1975 Rabbit-Mazda has chopped about 220 pounds-9 percent-out of the basic Mazda 2 while increasing interior room. That the company improved the style and the aerodynamics in the process provides an excellent lesson. Careful and clever use of high-tensile steel in the body structure and thorough optimization of structural members account for most of the gains, but there's evidence of aircraftlike weight paring all through the car, without it seeming flimsy or excessively cheap.

The recipe for success in a time of rising fuel prices is obvious: reduce a vehicle's weight and it will be more economical and faster. Obvious, but not simple to achieve while respecting crashworthiness norms, so Mazda designers and engineers deserve our unstinting admiration. At a time when almost every other car builder in the world has allowed each successive model to become bigger, heavier, and thirstier than the preceding one-the current Honda Accord is 1000 pounds heavier and 22.2 inches longer than the first one in 1981, and the current Volkswagen Rabbit weighs 1200 pounds more than the original 1975 Rabbit-Mazda has chopped about 220 pounds-9 percent-out of the basic Mazda 2 while increasing interior room. That the company improved the style and the aerodynamics in the process provides an excellent lesson. Careful and clever use of high-tensile steel in the body structure and thorough optimization of structural members account for most of the gains, but there's evidence of aircraftlike weight paring all through the car, without it seeming flimsy or excessively cheap.

Toyota
At the Detroit auto show in January, we'll see the third generation of the now one-million-plus-selling Prius, which will still use a nickel-metal-hydride battery pack. A more expensive version, with a lithium-ion battery pack, arrives a year later, and Toyota already has announced that it will offer solar panels on the car's roof. In 2011, a plug-in model becomes available. Don't look for a big design change for the new Prius, as Toyota is sticking with the peaked roof and hatchback layout, a unique design that broadcasts the driver's green credentials. Another reason to preserve the shape is that the Japanese believe the Prius has Porsche 911-like icon potential.

Speed cameras and traffic-signal cameras aren't new to the United States, but their use is rapidly-and some would say alarmingly becoming more widespread. Happily, Escort now offers a radar detector with GPS capability and a built-in database of known safety-camera locations and speed traps. Approach a known trap or camera site, and the Passport 9500ix sounds a warning. The 9500ix's database can be updated via the Internet (a USB cable is required), which should keep the miniature marvel from becoming obsolete before you open the box. The unit's other nifty feature is its ability to automatically filter and record false alarms from motion detectors or automatic door openers-drive past the same bogus signal a few times, and it's stored for future reference. escortradar.com, $500