Who’s excited about the new Honda Odyssey? Well I am!! And so is Superior Honda! We just read an article on USA Today and it gets us even more excited! The new Honda Odyssey will have an amazing MPG which could send everyone into a frenzy.
Check this out:
Honda says it recently got the good word from the feds that at least one version of its 2011 Odyssey minivan will be rated a remarkable 28 miles per gallon on the highway, just what Honda had predicted.
That makes the 2011 Odyssey, a major overhaul due in showrooms this fall, three mpg better than the current champ, Kia Sedona, and four mpg better than the four-cylinder version of the 2011 Toyota Sienna, a model Toyota launched to have a lower-price, higher-mpg model. – USA Today
Have you been over to your Cincinnati Honda dealer lately and seen the new cars? I know you want to test drive this new Odyssey, i’ve already shown you how awesome the interior is and all the new features. Well, what do you think? 28 MPG HWY is pretty great for a minivan!
Now this is one new show I am going to have to watch! There’s a new TV show on TLC which is going to highlight all of the bad drivers caught on camera. Wonder if they got me running my car into one of those yellows poles at McDonalds or the time I hit the curb and popped the two tires on the drivers side of my car! I sure hope not! Those were innocent accidents of course!
You know what TV producers love? Cheap, sensational content. That, incidentally, is the Internet’s number one export. Marry the two and you have TLC’s newest special: Out of Control Drivers. We’ll let you guess what the show’s about. If you’re a viral video junkie, you’ve likely seen a lot of these – maybe all of them – already. Still, this is can’t-avert-your-eyes stuff, as demonstrated in the two videos embedded after the jump.
The first promo is just a highlight-reel trailer for the show, designed to whet your overall appetite for vehicular mayhem. The second video is a full segment showing what happens when a sleeping driver takes an unplanned detour through a gas station. Spoiler alert: things get ugly. Fast. – AutoBlog
Check out these promo videos and check your local listings for show times.
Well, did you make these videos? I’m in the clear for now! ha ha.
Ok so we live in Ohio and we know that putting water in our windshield wiper reservoir in the winter can freeze and cause cracks in your reservoir. Right?? Well did you know that it might even possibly make you sick? Ok don’t freak out you’re probably fine! But have you ever heard of Legionnaires’ disease? To be completely honest I hadn’t heard about it either until I stumbled upon a story about it.
Legionnaires’ disease (LEE-juh-nares) is caused by a type of bacteria called Legionella. The bacteria got its name in 1976, when many people who went to a Philadelphia convention of the American Legion suffered from an outbreak of this disease, a type of pneumonia (lung infection). Although this type of bacteria was around before1976, more illness from Legionnaires’ disease is being detected now. This is because we are now looking for this disease whenever a patient has pneumonia.
Each year, between 8,000 and 18,000 people are hospitalized with Legionnaires’ disease in the U.S. However, many infections are not diagnosed or reported, so this number may be higher. More illness is usually found in the summer and early fall, but it can happen any time of year. – CDC.gov
I came across the story I am about to share with you on AutoBlog and thought it was important enough to share. No need to panic. The point is you really should not use tap water to clean off the windshield on your new or used car but actual cleaner.
If you use standard tap water in your windshield washer fluid reservoir instead of a cleaner, you may have effectively turned your vehicle into a biological weapon. Sure, that sounds cool and all, but according to BBC News, the only person you’re going to be hurting is yourself. As it turns out, using plain water can cause the washer fluid system to become a breeding ground for Legionella bacterium – the same nastiness that causes Legionaires’ Disease and pneumonia. Spray your windshield and the bacteria becomes airborne, allowing it to easily enter your lungs and wreak havoc with your immune system.
Researchers discovered the hive of scum and villainy lurking under the hood by attempting to discern why professional drivers were five times more likely to become ill than their amateur counterparts. After a little scientific sleuthing, the lab coats unearthed the bacteria. So do the world a favor and top off your windshield washer fluid reservoir with some sort of purpose-built cleaner. The stuff will kill the infection-causing bacteria and will keep the fluid from freezing in the winter. Not bad for 99 cents a gallon.
Better to be safe than sorry! So what are your thoughts on this?
Have you guys heard this yet? I saw this on the news the other night and then today I found this story that lays it all out. I thought I’d share it with you so that when you are driving around Cincinnati in your new or used car you can be a little more vigilant about your speed. Tickets are a pain in the bum.
Here’s the story from Patrick O’Donnell, The Plain Dealer.
It’s all guessing.
Or, as the man in charge of police training standards for the entire state puts it, “dead reckoning.”
New police officers in Ohio receive no scientific training in estimating speeds of drivers in basic training. There’s no timing of cars over fixed distances, no special methods of determining an actual speed, nothing with stopwatches.
There is just a repetition of watching cars go by and guessing speeds, then seeing how the guesses matches up with what the radar says.
“There is no formula to apply,” said Robert Fiatal, executive director of the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission. “It’s kind of a dead-reckoning kind of thing.”
An Ohio Supreme Court ruling Wednesday made a police officer’s visual estimate of speed enough to make a speeding ticket stick. Though that had been the case in most of the state, the appeals court covering Cuyahoga County had required more than an officer’s guess: radar readings or comparing a vehicle’s speed to the speedometer reading in a police cruiser.
The court ruled that an officer’s estimate can hold up all by itself if an officer is trained by the Ohio Peace Officers Training Academy or a similar academy and has experience gauging speeds.
The number of states that use that standard could not be determined Wednesday. Pennsylvania and Nebraska require more than just a visual speed estimate, though officers in those states have leeway to say a vehicle was traveling at an unsafe speed.
The Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission sets standards that all students in the more than 70 police academies in the state must meet to graduate. Officials from the police academies in Cleveland Heights and at Cuyahoga Community College each said they use the state curriculum.
Cleveland Heights Lt. Larry Shaffer said officers are taught to track – follow behind — vehicles suspected of speeding to determine speed, but the required state training allows a reasonable estimate.
“Before you would be certified you have to be fairly accurate with the naked eye,” he said.
Visually estimating the speed of vehicles is only a small part of a five-hour unit on speed, which also includes lessons on stopping distance, benefits of speed enforcement, types of speed laws, how to track a given vehicle and how to fill out a traffic ticket.
Traffic radar used to be part of basic training for all officers, but each department now trains its own officers in using the radar or laser system it owns.
State standards call for students to use four principles to estimate vehicle speeds: their own knowledge and experience in watching traffic, watching vehicles move past stationary objects, seeing if a vehicle is moving in an unusual way like bouncing or the driver is driving erratically.
But the required curriculum doesn’t tell students how to determine a specific speed using those principles.
Instructors must take students to areas with different kinds of traffic and have them estimate speeds. The instructor would use radar on the vehicle so the student can compare results.
“You just refine that and refine that by looking at the radar,” Fiatal said.
Standards call for students to estimate speeds of 20 vehicles and the instructor to calculate the difference between the estimate and the actual speed. Students pass if the average difference is five miles per hour or less.
Fiatal said that training is “certainly a start” for new officers to learn to estimate speeds. He said when they learn to use radar they will have more chances to measure their impressions against radar readings. As they gain more experience, guesses will be more educated.
What do you guys think? I want to hear your opinions.
Do you have a very sneaky suspicious leak coming from your battery causing a mess? I had one and it was driving me crazy. So, I knew it was time to find the source, clean it up, and fix the problem. Below is a video that should help you when trying to deal with your new or used car’s battery leaking all over the place.
If you have any questions feel free to shoot them on over. I’ll help you.
The Superior Automotive Group just loves Hybrids. Have you seen the Hybrids Honda has to offer? We love going green so much we were just ecstatic when we learned from AutoBlog that Cincinnati came in as the #64 city in the US on the list of 210 cities that love their Hybrids. Which means…Cincinnati is getting close to being one of the greenest cities. Ok so we have 63 places to move by next year but we can do it!
When I shared this article with some friends I had one ask me….”What exactly is a Hybrid?” Well below courtesy of Edmunds.com is the definition of a Hybrid vehicle. Not to be confused with an electric car.
Hybrid Defined:
A vehicle is a hybrid if it utilizes more than one form of onboard energy to achieve propulsion. In practice, that means a hybrid will have a traditional internal combustion engine and a fuel tank, as well as one or more electric motors and a battery pack.
Hybrid cars are sometimes mistakenly confused with electric vehicles. Hybrids are most often gasoline-burning machines that utilize their electric bits to collect and reuse energy that normally goes to waste in standard cars. Theoretically, diesel-electric hybrids would be even more fuel-efficient, but hybrid systems and diesel engines both represent extra cost. Installing both in the same vehicle would be prohibitively expensive.
Hybrid Glossary:
Motor-generator (MG for short): The more accurate term for the electric motor. It provides supplemental acceleration “oomph” when operating as a motor by drawing electricity from the battery. Several hybrids have two, and a few models employ three.
Start-stop: Present on all hybrids, the engine’s traditional starter motor is absent because the MG takes on that function, too. Hybrid control software shuts the engine off while stopped at traffic signals and automatically restarts it again with the MG when the driver releases the brake pedal. Eliminating the fuel waste of an idling gas engine causes overall mpg to climb significantly and tailpipe emissions to drop, especially in town. An idling engine consumes fuel at the rate of zero miles per gallon.
Regenerative braking: An important function of the MG is to generate electricity to recharge the battery as it absorbs a portion of the vehicle’s momentum when slowing or coasting downhill. Normal cars waste all of their excess momentum as heat in the brakes. Regenerative braking is insufficient to stop a car quickly, so conventional hydraulic brakes are still necessary.
Electric drive: Operating the vehicle on electric power alone, possible if the hybrid system has enough electrical capacity. The maximum speed and distance over which electric-only operation is possible varies from essentially zero to a handful of miles, and has everything to do with the weight and aerodynamics of the vehicle, the strength of the MG and more than anything else, the capacity of the battery.
Not all hybrids possess these attributes in equal measure, nor do they operate the same way. It all begins with the layout of the system.
Has this got you thinking more about Hybrids? Maybe you should check out your local Cincinnati Honda Dealer and stop and test drive a Hybrid. Just give it a little test.
Do you already have a Hybrid? What do you love the most about it?
So you are getting your first car? Well this is very exciting! I remember when I got my first car! The excitement of driving, the freedom, no more riding the bus, the popularity, the chance to finally prove I was maturing. Well those are all great feelings but let’s face it I didn’t know the first thing about taking care of my car. Had it not been for my parents I would not have known when I needed new tries, or an oil change.
The first thing you should do is get insurance on your vehicle! Hopefully your parents will help you out with this but should you need assistance you need to shop. Shop a few different insurance companies. I would shop at least 3. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and do your research. So you can get the plan that is right for you and the price that best fits you.
The next thing to remember is that keeping your new or used car properly maintained is key. You should never forget to get your oil changed regularly. You should get your oil changed at least every 3,000 miles. It’ll keep your engine running properly and keep your car out of the shop.
Don’t forget to keep an eye on those tires. Proper tire inflation is key to keeping your car in good shape. It can also help reduce the cost of fuel. Keep an eye out for any wear and tear, under inflation, nails, screws etc. Make sure that you are getting your tires rotated on a regular schedule. Usually every other oil change is a good way of timing it out.
Can you think of anything else that’ll help first time drivers? Have any good stories from your first car?
It has been a difficult year for people across the United States. Even though things seem to be looking better, you may still be trying to get back on your feet. You may not be able to afford to take a nice trip somewhere with your spouse or your kids. A lot of people around the Cincinnati Tri State area are opting for the Staycation this year. There’s nothing wrong with that! There are a lot of fun things that you can do in this city. Maybe you’ve forgotten all the neat things to see and do cause you’ve been to busy to stop and smell the roses. Well it’s vacation time and I was thinking what am I going to do with my family. So I started to do a little research on some of the fun things that I may not have ever done or things I haven’t done in a long time in this lovely city. So….I thought that I would share them with you so you can start thinking about what you want to do with your family this year. I stumbled upon this article written by RandMcNally.com and it really got me thinking about all the neat things there are to do in the Cincinnati area.
Here’s some good advice from RandMcNally.com:
The trick to a successful staycation is to treat it like a real vacation. Research local tourism Web sites. Plan fun activities, don’t work (no email, no dropping by the office, no conference calls, do not check voice mail), and take care of household chores before your staycation begins.
This is the time for you and your family to relax and have fun. Go to a restaurant you’ve never visited, a museum you haven’t been to in years, or have a BBQ or picnic in the park. In addition to saving money, your staycation will help the local economy and you’ll avoid the stresses of packing, lost luggage, and standing in long airport lines.
Here is a list of local hot spots to think about.
For Families: (just a few of my favs, but there’s much much more not listed)
1. The Cincinnati Art Museum, It’s FREE all season long and it’s ranked “Top Artist Museum for Families”.
2. Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal, It’s 5 great museums at one historic location.
3. Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, Votes one of the top 10 best zoos for kids!
4. CoCo Key Water Resort, It’s open all year long and the water stays at 85 degrees!
5. Great American Ball Park, Take the kids to see a Cincinnati Reds Baseball game.
For Adults: (again just a few of my favs)
1. Findlay Market, I think it’s a great place to grab some food for a picnic or take it home to fix for a romantic dinner.
2. U.S. Bank Arena, A great place to catch a concert or a show. Dinner and a show. Bring it back.
3. Casino Hollywood, Not that far of a drive and you can make it a weekend trip if you wanted to.
4. Newport On The Levee, Ok almost anyone can find something they love here. It’s a great place for restaurants, entertainment and shopping.
5. River Escape Cruises, Perfect for you and your spouse and a few friends to take a ride up the Ohio River.
6. Henke Winery, A place to sit, sip and savor. Great stuff!
The point is that all it takes is a little bit of planning and you can have a great time without blowing your budget. Can you think of anything cool that may not be listed? Send them on over to me. If you want more information too you can see Cincinnati.com.
So in the 2000′s we saw such a wide variety of vehicles come and go. The Auto Industry had it’s good days and it’s bad days. We lost manufacturers and we gained some better insight on existing manufacturers. I think what has happened in the late 2000′s to the auto industry can never be forgotten. All the bailouts and all the brands lost. However, such huge advancements have been made in technology, style and the like. Edmunds.com put together a list of what they call the 10 most noteworthy vehicles of the decade and we are very happy to see that two cars we carry made the list. Below are the 2 vehicles we carry at Superior Honda and Superior Hyundai North and South from the list just as I found it on Edmunds.com. To see the full list just visit Edmunds.com. I’m just curious though what are your thoughts? Do you think they missed any? Do you think some they added shouldn’t be there? Let me know what you think.
And here it goes:
Honda Fit The Honda Fit arrived (for the 2007 model year) as gas prices were steadily climbing toward the $4-per-gallon-mark. Unlike its competitors, the Fit didn’t ask you to sacrifice space, practicality or driving pleasure. It delivered on all these counts, and proved that the new frontier of car design is within the cabin. Because of its folding “magic seats,” this tall hatchback swallowed surfboards and bikes with ease, yet still shoe-horned into small parking spaces. With a five-speed manual transmission, the 109-horsepower four-cylinder V-TEC felt punchy; the car’s superb handling was an unexpected bonus. With Honda’s flair for feng shui and near-40 mpg highway fuel economy, the Fit out-distanced all challengers without breaking a sweat. — Phil Reed, Senior Consumer Advice Editor – Edmunds.com
Hyundai Elantra This car marked a huge turning point for Hyundai, signifying the moment when the company that formally made cars that defined “cheap” — and not just in terms of sticker price — started to produce quality vehicles that could challenge the segment leaders. We had the redesigned-for-2001 Elantra in our long-term fleet back then and the Elantra logged 16,000 trouble-free miles under the heavy feet and hands of our staff. The logbook was filled with praise for this well-built, pleasantly driving, and now valid rival to the Civic and Corolla. — John DiPietro, Automotive Editor – Edmunds.com
Do you know what car insurance is? Well you probably do if you are an adult, but if you’re a teenager you may have no clue.Car insurance is not only important it is mandatory in many states. So it’s important that you know what it is and what it entails.
Auto insurance protects you against financial loss if you have an accident. It is a contract between you and the insurance company. You agree to pay the premium and the insurance company agrees to pay your losses as defined in your policy. Auto insurance provides property, liability and medical coverage:
Property coverage pays for damage to or theft of your car.
Liability coverage pays for your legal responsibility to others for bodily injury or property damage.
Medical coverage pays for the cost of treating injuries, rehabilitation and sometimes lost wages and funeral expenses.
An auto insurance policy is comprised of six different kinds of coverage. Most states require you to buy some, but not all, of these coverages. If you’re financing a car, your lender may also have requirements. Most auto policies are for six months to a year. Your insurance company should notify you by mail when it’s time to renew the policy and to pay your premium. – Insurance Information Institute
Always Always Always do your research and find out which insurance company fits you and your needs the best before making a decision. Checking at least 3 different insurance companies to compare and contrast is imperative. You want to save money right? Well doing your research will aid in this. Let us know if you have any questions. We are here to help.
The Superior Automotive Group and Mike Albert Direct have been serving Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky since 1928. We care about you, your cars, your safety, and our community.
If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask and any suggestions are always welcome at [email protected]
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