Automobile magazine doesn’t promise objectivity when they picked their 2013  All Stars, but they did make it interesting. They picked their favorite of the new models due to what they thought were the “best and most significant” models. They don’t think anyone will really be surprised by their choices, but remember, these All Stars are in their opinion and you may or may not see your favorite new model in their picks.

2013 All Stars

Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

• Price: $56,550/$59,240 (base/as tested)
• Engine: 6.2L supercharged V-8, 580 hp, 556 lb-ft
• Drive: Rear-wheel
• EPA mileage: 14/19 mpg, 12/18 mpg (manual, automatic)

Porsche Boxster

• Price: $50,450/$63,050/$75,615 (Boxster/Boxster S/as tested)
• Engines: 2.7L flat-6, 265 hp, 206 lb-ft; 3.4L flat-6, 315 hp, 266 lb-ft (Boxster; Boxster S)
• Drive: Rear-wheel
• EPA mileage: 20-22/30-32 mpg, 20-21/28-30 mpg (Boxster, Boxster S)

Subaru BRZ / Scion FR-S

• Price: $25,255/$26,265/$28,265 (base FR-S/base BRZ/as tested)
• Engine: 2.0L flat-4, 200 hp, 151 lb-ft
• Drive: Rear-wheel
• EPA mileage: 22/30 mpg, 25/34 mpg (manual, automatic)

Audi A7

• Price: $60,995/$71,970 (base/as tested)
• Engine: 3.0L supercharged V-6, 310 hp, 325 lb-ft
• Drive: 4-wheel
• EPA mileage: 18/28 mpg

RAM 1500

• Price: $24,395/$54,335 (base/as tested)
• Engines: 3.6L V-6, 305 hp, 269 lb-ft; 4.7L V-8, 310 hp, 330 lb-ft; 5.7L V-8, 395 hp, 407 lb-ft
• Drive: Rear- or 4-wheel
• EPA mileage: 16-18/23-25 mpg, 14/19-20 mpg, 13-15/19-21 mpg (3.6L, 4.7L, 5.7L)

Honda Accord

• Price: $22,470/$24,140/$30,860/$31,140 (2.4L sedan/2.4L coupe/3.5L sedan/3.5L coupe)
• Engines: 2.4L I-4, 185-189 hp, 181-182 lb-ft; 3.5L V-6, 278 hp, 252 lb-ft
• Drive: Front-wheel
• EPA mileage: 24-27/34-36 mpg, 18-21/28-34 mpg (2.4L, 3.5L)

Mazda Mazda CX-5

• Price: $21,990/$25,410 (2.0L/2.5L)
• Engines: 2.0L I-4, 155 hp, 150 lb-ft; 2.5L I-4, 184 hp, 185 lb-ft
• Drive: Front- or 4-wheel
• EPA mileage: 24-26/30-35 mpg

Ford Focus

• Price: $16,995/$24,495/$39,995 (base/ST/Electric)
• Powertrains: 2.0L I-4, 160 hp, 146 lb-ft; 2.0L turbocharged I-4, 252 hp, 270 lb-ft;permanent-magnet motor, 143 hp, 184 lb-ft
• Drive: Front-wheel
• EPA mileage: 26-27/36-38 mpg, 23/32 mpg, 110/99 mpg-e (base, ST, Electric)

2013 BMW 328i M Sport

• Price: $41,595/$46,795 (base/as tested)
• Engine: 2.0L turbocharged I-4, 240 hp, 255 lb-ft
• Drive: Rear-wheel
• EPA mileage: 22/34 mpg, 23/33 mpg (manual, automatic)

Volkswagen GTI

• Price: $24,995
• Engine: 2.0L turbocharged I-4, 200 hp, 207 lb-ft
• Drive: Front-wheel
• EPA mileage: 21/31 mpg, 24/33 mpg (manual, automatic)

Source Automobile Mag

Good news for Ford, although some workers may be disappointed to not be able to take advantage of the traditional two week shut down. Ford needs new cars and trucks to keep rolling off the production lines because so many people are now buying new vehicles. The plan is to add an additional 200,000 vehicles per year and cancelling the summer shutdown will help make up about 40,000 of those. This plan also includes doing more work in fewer plants in order to keep manufacturing costs down. This requires some juggling, including flexible labor contracts and almost round the clock operations. Down time for maintenance on the production lines is not going to be looked upon well in order to reach these goals though.

Jim Tetreault, head of Ford North America manufacturing, comments, “That’s more capacity (added) than (I’ve seen) in my 35 years in the business, that is being added in a very short period of time. We have F-Series plants that are going to produce 320,000 annually.”

Last year was the first year that 400,000 vehicles were produced in order to keep up with the 13% growth increase that Ford enjoyed in the American market for the first four months of this year. To continue keeping up Ford will be adding 3,500 workers to stay in compliance with the 2011 UAW contract that promises 12,000 additional workers to be added by 2015. Most of the 3,500 workers will be hired for the Flat Rock plant to help make more Fusions. Some of them will also be hired on at the Kansas City Plant in to make more F-150 trucks and the new Transit commercial Fan.

General Motors and Chrysler have also been ramping up production to keep up with car sales. General Motors doesn’t have summer shutdowns so their lines stay running without having to cancel any time off. Some Chrysler plants will have a one week shutdown except for the Jefferson North Toledo Plant and the Connor Avenue Plant. These plants will need to continue working without a shutdown.

Source Detroit Free Press

If you are wondering about the safety of small SUVs, The 2014 Subaru Forester is the only one out of 13 tested to earn the Top Safety Pick + by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). It seems the IIHS is pretty disappointed with the safety in most of the rest of the vehicles tested. Joe Nolan, IIHS Vice President for Vehicle Research, commented, “With the redesigned Forester, Subaru’s engineers set out to do well in our new test, and they succeeded. This is exactly how we hoped manufacturers would respond to improve protection for people in these kinds of serious frontal crashes.”

Side protection tests seem to be the biggest challenge for small SUVs to pass with flying colors – or to pass at all. They didn’t start testing for this safety until 2003 and this category in particular is struggling to make the necessary design and feature updates in order to meet the stringent criteria for determining driver and passenger safety. Another test, the overlap test just began last year and that is another test that many small SUVs just aren’t able to prove to keep drivers and passengers safe in the event of.

Nine out of the 13 small SUVs tested did manage to earn Top Safety Pick even though they couldn’t quite make it into the Top Safety Pick + earnings. These vehicles include:

• The new BMW X1
• The new Buick Encore
• Ford Escape
• Honda CR-V
• Hyundai Tucson
• Kia Sportage
• Mazda CX-5
• Volkswagen Tiguan
• 2014 Jeep Patriot (When equipped with optional side torso airbags)

The 2013 Toyota RAV4 is still up for debate as it hasn’t gone through the small overlap test. Toyota has requested a delay for this test so it can make some changes. What that means for us is that you might want to wait and get a new RAV4 because you know Toyota put the extra work in it for safety.

Source Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

No one can deny that Tesla has not only set the car industry on a brand new path of innovation and technology, but the way cars are being sold as well. It has been unheard of to contact your local car manufacturer and order your next new car. That’s what dealerships are for – right? Well, according to Tesla, there is nothing wrong with ordering your car straight from them, or just go online and place your order via the internet. This not only cuts out the middle man and, imaginably helps keep costs down, but seems efficient and proactive.

The states aren’t happy about cutting out the middle man though and North Carolina is one state that is doing something about it. They are trying to push through a bill that would ban direct automaker to customer sales, within their own state anyway. Tesla has all ready sold about 80 cars to North Carolina residents and have reservations for 60 more – and they intend to open a showroom. But not, of course, if the state leaders have their way. They would also like to make it illegal to order new cars online although no one can quite figure out how they would manage to keep a watchful eye on that sort of thing.

The North Carolina Automobile Dealers Association (NCADA) which includes is on board with the state Senate Commerce Committee to help make this ban go through. According to Senater Tom Apodaca (R), he is sponsoring the bill to help stop unfair competition between manufacturers and dealers. Diarmuid O’Connell, Tesla’s vice president for corporate and business development, disagrees. He states that the bill is “a protectionist move to lock down the market so we have to go through the middleman – the dealer – to sell our cars.”

North Carolina isn’t the only state that has a problem with how Tesla wants to sell their creations. Texas, Massachusetts, Minnesota and New York also have problems with the dealer free distribution model. Elon Musk has commented that he is considering going to Congress to get factory to customer sales legalized throughout the country.

Those who have been in grieving over the demise of the Pontiac can dry your eyes and put a big smile back on your face. The 2013 Hurst Edition Trans Am is ready to rev your heartstrings in some big ways, and yes, that is a Pontiac logo showing up bright and clear on the front of the hood and rightly so. You just can’t have a Trans Am any other way. The Chevy Camaro, and the classic Trans Am models of yesteryear inspired this new addition to the General Motors sports car line up  and it’s set to join it’s siblings as a new icon in the world of fun driving adventures.

The 2013 Hurst Edition Trans Am isn’t just about the looks either. This baby’s got enough power to keep up with the most serious supersportscars. The scooped hood makes way for a 6.2 liter V8 which is fast all on its own, but if you are a power freak you can add the optional supercharger and get up to 575 horsepower. Those horses are sent to the rear wheels. If that still isn’t enough, there is another supercharged kit that delivers up to 720 horsepower, or a twin turbo kit that will take it up to 1,100 horses – and yes – that is typed out right. 1,100 horsepower.

When you crawl inside the 2013 Hurst Edition Trans Am you will be additionally delighted. While the design doesn’t have quite as much metal as the 70s version, it has high quality retro styling that will either take you back to the good old days, or remind you that good old days are right here and now. Surprisingly, you can get the base model for $29,985. If you want the t-tops it’ll be another $7,500, and $10,550 for the supercharger kit. Still, not bad at all for this caliber sportster.

Check out the commercial and imagine the possibilities:

Source YouTube