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As oxymorons go, “aerodynamic pickup truck” ranks right up there with” military intelligence” and “jumbo shrimp.” But General Motors thinks it can prove that it accomplished the task on this one.

We’ll believe when we see it — in better gas mileage numbers for the shapely new trucks.

But it is interesting to hear how GM went about making aero improvements to the new 2014 GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado full-size pickup trucks. GM says it went over inch of the trucks an effort to find places to make air slip more easily over the truck’s steel body.

“We can’t stop air,” says Diane Bloch, an aerodymanics performance engineer. “We can only guide it through the path of least resistance.”

Here are the highlights:

–Air dam. A new air dam beneath the front bumper directs air away from the trucks rhough underbody, which creates extra drag.

–Tailgate. The top of the pickups’ tailgate and a center stop light are positioned in a way to keep air flowing freely.

–”The gap.” There’s a gap between the cab and the truck bed that becomes a place where air can become trapped. To keep it from happening, a seal was added.

The drive to create a more aerodynamic truck also led to the solution of a mystery. The issue was whether a tailgate raised or lowered is better for aerodynamics. Tests showed that truck is more aerodynamic with the bed gate up.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

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Dodge hopes people will want to buy a dressed-up Dart.

It’s adding a “Special Edition” package to its Dodge Dart, which adds features inside and dresses up the look outside in hopes of luring buyers with a lower price than if they ordered the options individually.

The new 2013 Dodge Dart SXT Special Edition package consists of (take a deep breath here) a unique black crosshair grille, dark tinted projector headlamps, projector fog lamps, LED racetrack taillamps, integrated dual exhaust, Uconnect voice command with Bluetooth, leather-wrapped steering wheel, cruise control, steering-wheel mounted audio controls, front-passenger seat in-seat storage, remote start (with automatic transmission), USB port, rearview auto-dimming mirror with microphone, overhead console with sunglass holder, 12-volt auxiliary power outlet, trip computer, vehicle information center, tire pressure monitoring display, active grille shutters and underbody aerodynamic treatment.

Whew!

“These new Dodge Dart Special Edition packages show how we’re listening to our customers,” says Tim Kuniskis, CEO of the Dodge brand, in a statement. “Since we launched the all-new Dart last June, we’ve been able to see how customers are ordering their Darts, and as a result, we have simplified our offerings to meet their requests – allowing us to offer them an even better value in the process.”

Price? $18,590, plus $895 in destination charges. That’s including the $595 for the Special Edition package.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

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Five small crossovers flunk the new small overlap crash test, but not the 2014 Subaru Forester.

The Forester was the only one of 13 small crossover SUVs to earn an overall rating of good in the test, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says. The 2013 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport got an acceptable rating.

Rated marginal were the Nissan Rogue, Mazda CX-5, Honda CR-V, Jeep Wrangler and Volkswagen Tiguan.

Five small crossovers were rated poor included the Ford Escape, Jeep Patriot, Buick Encore, Kia Sportage and Hyundai Tucson.

The small overlap test is meant to replicate what happens when a vehicle runs into a pole or other narrow thin object at the left or right edge.

IIHS testers say Subaru set out to pass the test.

“,,,And they succeeded,” says Joe Nolan, the Institute’s vice president for vehicle research. “This is exactly how we hoped manufacturers would respond to improve protection for people in these kinds of serious frontal crashes.”

At the other end of the spuctrum, IIHS had this to say about one of them:

“The Jeep Patriot was among the worst for

restraints and kinematics. The dummy’s head slid off the frontal airbag as the steering wheel moved 8 inches up and

nearly 6 inches to the right. The side curtain airbag didn’t deploy, and the safety belt allowed the dummy’s head and

torso to move too far forward.”

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

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Infiniti needs more luxury in its luxury cars, so it’s going to make a new top-of-the-line sedan, the brand’s chief has decided.

The new nameplate would be placed above its current best model, the Q70 that used to be called the M Clas, President Johan de Nysschen told Automotive News at the ceremony for start of production for a new model, the Q50, in Japan.

Infiniti wants to cover 90% of the global luxury market by the end of decade, up from 60% now. That will require new models, de Nysschen told the News.

With the new model and others like it will come more sales. He wants to more than triple sales to 600,000 by 2020, up from 170,000 a year now.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

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Americans are driving less, the young aren’t as anxious to get their driver’s licenses, trips on public transit or by bicycle are growing — so it’s time for policy to adapt.

That’s the basic message of a new study being released Tuesday by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. The study says that Americans enjoyed six decades of growing demand for cars and driving, but that those figures are now in retreat.

“The time has come for America to hit the reset button on transportation policy—replacing the policy infrastructure of the driving boom years with a more efficient, flexible and nimble system that is better able to meet the transportation needs of the 21st century,” the study states. “The driving boom is over.”

The change is being driven by millennials, who like to live in cities and would prefer to live without the need for cars, either hoofing it to where they need to go or using public transportation.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

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Say what you will about Honda, it’s probably the quickest automaker in the land when it comes to fixing its mistakes. And lately, it’s had a few lulus .

Now it needs to pull off another hat trick, but we’re not sure it can work this time..

First it was the all-important Civic. After Consumer Reports and others criticized the last big model change, Honda rushed out a redo that not only silenced critics, but left them raving in delight.

Now comes another big, but different problem. The Acura ILX luxury sports compact never really got off the ground. It was viewed as an undistinguished deluxe version of the Civic, hardly a luxury car. Worse, the more powerful version only came with a manual transmission, not an automatic.

Today, Tuesday, the new 2014 ILX goes on sale sedan goes on sale with some nice new touches. ILX will now have 17-inch alloy wheels, new leather seats and leatherette door liners, an eight-way power driver’s seat, heated front seats and a fancier and a multi-angle rear-view mirror.

The sedan has been quieted further by an active noise cancelation system.

But the engine issue remains. ILX will come with either a 2-liter, 150-horsepower four-cylinder engine with a five-speed automatic transmission, or the larger 2.4 liter 201-horsepower engine with the manual transmission. No automatic.

The smaller engine gets 28 miles per gallon in combined city and highway driving. The larger one averages 25 mpg. A new hybrid version is on the way. Prices start at $26,900, an increase of about $1,000.

Will the changes be enough to put ILX in the same league as BMW 3-Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class or Lexus IS? They’ll help, but it really needs an automatic transmission for that larger engine before a lot of buyers take it seriously.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

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Are new systems on police cars that automatically scan license plates to look for criminals or stolen cars an invasion of privacy?

Privacy advocates think so — and they’re going to court to try to find out more.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have filed a suit against the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department asking that they disclose the information they have accumlated from the practice, the Los Angeles Times reports.

ACLU attorney Peter Bibring tells the Times that his group has no objection to scanning for stolen cars. Rather, they believe that law enforcement should quickly erase any information gathered on cars and drivers when they aren’t connected with a suspected crime. It’s the only way to keep police from creating electronic databanks on innocent citizens.

The sheriff’s department has 77 vehicles equipped with plate readers. There are also 47 cameras in fixed locations. Both departments say they hadn’t released the information required by the two privacy groups because it constitutes investigative material.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

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LOS ANGELES — Skinny ties. Nehru jackets. Fondue parties. The Smothers Brothers. Vietnam. Playboy playmates. Jaguar.

If you want to channel the 1960s, there’s no better way than to focus on the surviving icons of the era. So it should come as no great surprise that Jaguar, the great British auto brand, has embraced Playboy. They’ve become bosum buddies. Literally.

At a swanky party at the Playboy Mansion on Thursday, Hugh Hefner handed over the keys to new swanky new F-Type sports car to Playmate of the Year for 2013, Raquel Pomplun.

The relationship goes far deeper that centerfold girls. The July issue of the magazine that will be mailed to subscribers will feature two covers. The first is cover showing Pomplun modeling in front of the crimson Jaguar wearing a conservative — well, at least by Playboy standards — black dress. The second, which will appear on newsstands, reveals her naked backside.

Both brands see their linkup as a natural. Jaguar officials say the overwhelmingly male readership of Playboy, which the magazine touts as both affluent and relatively young, are the attraction for a marketing relationship as it seeks to sell the new $69,000 F-Type. Plus, the magazine is trying to go upscale and landing a luxury brand like Jaguar represents another feather in its corset.

“At a time we’re undergoing a significant amount of change, Playboy is as well,” says Robert Filipovic, general manager of Jaguar product planning as he steered one of the drop-dead gorgeous convertibles through Beverly Hills on the way to the Playmate of the Year ceremony.

The F-Type is just the latest of several emotive models from Jaguar, which is blossoming under its new owners, Tata Motors of India. At the same time, Playboy is on the cusp of a new era. With Hefner having reached old age, his son Cooper is starting to play a larger role.

Cooper Hefner, two weeks from his college graduation and dressed in a tailored suit with skinny tie that bespoke of the cocktail-cool image the brand is trying to portray, says it is a linkup of two companies “that are both classics” and that “have such a lineage.”

There sure was no mistaking the Jag-Playboy connection at the Playmate of the Year party. Jaguar arrayed several cars around the fountain in front of the chateau style mansion for the event, which attracted centerfold women from years — and decades — past. Most prominent, of course, was the red car being presented to Pomplun, who posed in front of the license plate reading PMOY 13 — Playmate of the Year.

Playboy officials couldn’t have been more pleased. Both the magazine and Jaguar appeal to the “modern American playboy” and “we can make heads turns and jaws drop.”

That’s exactly what Jaguar officials say they want.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

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With Mother’s Day fast approaching, forget the candy and flowers. Give mom the spanking new car of her dreams.

That’s the approach that some celebrities have taken. Who better to reward for your success than the one who diapered you and taught you the value of hard work?

So a website, Web2Carz.com , has taken a look at some examples of cars that celebrities have handed to their moms. Needless to say, they’re a lot nicer than the cars most of us know our moms to be driving.

Some of them:

–NBA star Michael Kidd-Gilchrist: The Charlotte Bobcats player bought his mother a car before he even signed a contract with the NBA. He used his endorsement money to buy his mom a Mercedes.

Actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson: Occasional pro wrestler and movie actor Johnson, gave his mother a white Cadillac Escalade for Christmas last year. He also send a tweet about it: “At 14 I saw my mom crying about our only car being repossessed. This felt good. #MerryXmasMom.” This was one gift well-deserved!

Singer Kanye West: West showed he won’t turn his back on mom. He bought her a $200,000 Bentley.

The legend, Elvis Presley: He gave mom a pink Cadillac. What could be more appropriate for the king of rock n’ roll?

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

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A day after Tesla Motors reported its first quarterly profit ever, the electric car maker is receiving another huge boost: Consumer Reports magazine says the Tesla Model S is the best car it has tested since 2007, achieving its highest score.

The magazine says the electric sedan achieved a score of 99 out of 100, outperforming every other model this year in every category –from performance to interior quality. It is the first time a plug-in electric has achieved such a high score.

The findings will be presented in the magazine’s July issue.

While Tesla has already received some top endorsements, including Motor Trend Car of the Year, the Consumer Reports raves are particularly important. With a famous streak for independence, which includes buying its cars at dealerships rather than borrowing them from automakers, Consumer Reports’ reviews are among the most closely watched.

“The Tesla Model S is packed with technological innovation,” said Jake Fisher, director of Automotive Testing for Consumer Reports, in a statement. “It accelerates, handles and brakes like a sports car, it has the ride and quietness of a luxury car and is far more energy efficient than the best hybrid cars.”

Tesla was the first car to get a 99 score since the Lexus LS 460L tested in 2007. Like the V-8-powered Lexus, the electric Model S is an expensive car that few buyers can afford. Consumer Reports says the price of its model was $89,650.

What Consumer Reports loved:

–Acceleration. The Model S leaps from 0 to 60 miles per hour in a 5.6 seconds, on par with top sports cars. Yet it is the quietest car that the magazine has tested since the Lexus.

–Handling. Consumer Reports’ engineers compared its “pinpoint handling” to a Porsche.

–Interior. The “beautifully-crafted interior calls to mind an Audi.”

–Practicality. The test car’s ability to go 200 miles on a single charge gave it a level of practicality not seen in other electric cars, which are typically limited to 75 or 80 miles a charge.

–Thrift. The test car achieved the equivalent of 84 miles a gallon of gas. At $9 in electricity for a full charge, it is like buying gas at $1.20 a gallon.

There were some things that the magazine didn’t like, like long charging times and its sleek styling that can make it hard to see out the rear window. It will not be recommended because it’s a new model and there isn’t sufficient reliability data about it yet.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.