Key Features Maruti Suzuki Swift LXi gives a power delivery of 75bhp at 4,000rpm and a maximum torque of 190Nm at 2,000rpm. With a maximum speed of 160 kmph, a capacity of 43 litres of tank will leave you tension free from the frequent refueling. With the highway mileage of 15.8 kmpl it is bound to be one of the quickest. The engine works as smoothly as possible with 1298 cc displacement and 4 inline cylinders.
Power steering, air conditioner and front and rear suspension add to driving comfort. The Canbus system is the highlight of Maruti Suzuki Swift LXi as it reminds us about fuel requirement on bumpy and crude roads. The ACC (automatic climate condition) gives you relief from the rough and tough weather of the country. It uses advanced safety technologies like dual front airbags; ABS with EBD and a brake assist function.

Design The modernized Maruti Suzuki Swift LXi has added an all new approach to itself. It has added many new features to its interiors and also the exteriors. It is equipped with controls that adjust the headlights as per the requirement of the roads. The AC in a Maruti Suzuki Swift LXi maintains the goodwill gained on this aspect, by other manufactured cars of the same brand. The spacious Maruti Suzuki Swift LXi can easily accommodate 5 people.

Cons The interiors of Maruti Suzuki Swift LXi, though unique, require changes to make people more comfortable. The mileage too is low, so you might decide on similar cars from reasonable price range. Lack of power mirrors and windows is not that big an issue; still people do ask for this feature.

Conclusion Maruti Suzuki Swift LXi is still one of the best bet. You are assured of quality satisfaction and performance with Maruti Suzuki Swift LXi, which many similar cars fail to deliver.

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Till the year 2003, Fiat was incurring loses continuously, but in a major turnaround after that it was posting profits every year. In a surprise move, the Italian car manufacturer made a bid to take over Opel and other GM brands. By adding GM and Chrysler to its profile Fiat comes very near the largest car manufacturer in the world Toyota.

However, the road to glory is filled with a lot of obstruction. Fiat needs to get the approval of German government which is assisting protecting the brand. Opel went into rapid descent after its parent company General Motors went down facing a recession.

But German government wasn’t to protect the workforce at Opel. The government is pressing the Italian car giant to give assurances and guarantees on a range of topics. One of their conditions is that if the company merges there should be no job cuts. Fiat has promised to retain the Opel manufacturing units but has stated that will have to resort to restructuring. The current Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Machionne gave no firm assurances about cutting jobs.

The Italian car manufacturer who now holds more than 10 percent of the European market credits its turn around to Sergio Machionne. Since his take over as the CEO he has become famous for his hire and fire policy. He told the German media persons that staff levels will have to be cut and no one will be able to change that. The plants will have to become more efficient.

At present Opel has strength of 25,000 employees and if Fiat moves it will resort to substantial reductions in the employee strength. Apart from Opel, GM also owns Saab in Sweden, Vauxhall in Britain, Chevrolet, GMC and Buick, Cadillac and Hummer in United States. Fiat has hinted that it wants to take over GM-Europe operations.

Just like GM, Fiat also has the practice to share platforms and technology among its subsidiaries. This could make it the most preferred bidder for the Opel brand. As far as Fiat’s plans goes, it wants to combine three brands- Fiat, GM and Chrysler – which will totally manufacture more than 7 million units of vehicles every year. If Fiat wins its Opel bid it could also bid for GMs Asian operations which currently have the two biggest markets India and China.

Fiat has been in India for almost six decades ago, and recently went into partnership with Tata Motors. It has also tied up with Tata Motors for construction of its new plant in Pune. There are plans to increase its supply capacity. It would render the Indian giant being dictated by the Italian company. Tata Motors has launched the Tata Nano, the world cheapest car may become a smaller partner in the partnership.

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Thanks to the manufacturers of repute, getting the effective floor mats is not a tough task. The markets are overflowed with wide range of custom floor mats. However, when it comes to get desired protection getting any floor mats will not serve your purpose. Getting quality mats that are especially made for your vehicle is very important.

There are certain factors that determine the effectiveness of floor mats. Therefore, you need to consider these aspects before you get floor mats of your choice. So, what are these factors?

The most important factors that determine the overall performance of the floorboards are the fitting and the effectiveness of the material used. In order to prevents hazards from damaging the floorboards must be covered complete. Only the custom fit floor mats can provide desired fitting. Since these are made keeping the specifications of your vehicle in mind, these provide the perfect covering.

The quality of the material used is another quality that the floor mats you get must have. There are several custom fit floor mats available to choose from including Nylon Carpet floor mats, Clear Nibbed floor mats and Carpet-70 Ounce floor mats.

Different floor mats are made for different purposes. For instance if you are keen to have elegant look and feel, get the Clear Nibbed floor mats. The transparent mats are made of vinyl material and offers see-through view below the mats.

On the other hand, if you want strong mats, then Carpet-70 Ounce floor mats are for you. These are very tough and long lasting floor mats. So, get the floor mats according to your needs and get desired look and feel and comfort below your feet.

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Ever since we have been able to afford private motorised transport, people from all walks of life could live in remote locations without being cut-off from mainstream society; whilst those who simply enjoy the freedom and flexibility that a car brings can up-sticks and go wherever they please with minimum hassle.

However, many people argue that in the 21st century there are too many cars on the roads and coupled with all the costs involved in owning and maintaining a car, they are not considered as wonderful a mode of transport as they once were.

Of course, there may be an element of truth in this assertion. There is road tax, insurance, MOT, petrol, parking permits and a whole host of maintenance costs that can end up costing the owner a substantial amount of money each year. And for those who really don’t need access to a car every day, then all these costs and hassles mean that it can be difficult to justify owning one at all.

However, car ownership isn’t a necessity and for those who only ever need occasional access to their own private vehicle, then thankfully there are other options. Whether it’s moving house, a short break in the countryside or a weekend of retail therapy in a suburban shopping mall, there are countless vehicles available for hire to suit every scenario – small and fast or large and spacious.

Indeed, car hire can provide the ideal solution for those needing short-term, temporary access to an automobile. Moreover, those needing access for a number of weeks or even months can usually negotiate special rates to suit their longer-term car rental needs.

Many of the bigger car hire companies offer very convenient services, which enable a driver to collect a car from one city or country and drop it off in another. And this type of service is perfect for those on fly-drive holidays or for those who only need to travel in one direction.

Another key benefit of hiring a car is that it always includes all the relevant taxes and insurance, alleviating many of the time-consuming and tedious administrative tasks that most car owners have to worry about. As such, it’s simply a case of going on online, selecting the appropriate car, the dates required and the key pick-up and drop-off points, and the rest is all taken care of.

So, it would seem that car hire can provide a solution for those who don’t need access to a car every day of the year. It offers freedom and flexibility for people when they need it, and ensures money isn’t needlessly wasted on something that sits unused for the majority of the year.

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Olds Motor Works would produce the world’s first mass produced automobiles to come from an assembly line, the Curved Dash, although Henry Ford was credited (wrongly) with the invention. In the early years, Oldsmobile would hold the lead in bestselling automobiles in the United States.

Cars produced by the company were officially known as Olds Automobiles; however, consumers referred to them as Oldsmobiles and the name stuck. The term was cemented by a popular song, “In My Merry Oldsmobile”. The cars have been known by the name Oldsmobile since 1905.

In 1910, Oldsmobile had developed what is considered one of the country’s first luxury passenger vehicles. The Limited Touring was sold for $4600. At the time, the Limited Touring cost more than a modest, small three-bedroom house. For this price, one got real leather upholstery, running boards and the options of speedometer, clock and a full glass windshield. Oldsmobile sold 725 of these luxury vehicles in the three years it was in production. A limousine version was also offered for those who could afford it. The starting price on the Limousine was $5,800.

Although the Great Depression of the 1930′s hit all car manufacturers hard, Oldsmobile was able to hang on and offered the first ever semi automatic transmission in some of its vehicles. The transmission was operated by engaging a standard clutch, and then the driver could select either a high or low. The low range shifted between first and second gears and the high switch shifted between first, third and fourth gears.

Throughout the thirties and into the forties, Oldsmobile continued to be one of the most popular brands in the General Motors lineup. When the United States entered World War 2, most factories were converted to producing weapons and ammunition for the war effort. Oldsmobile was no different in this aspect and would not produce another passenger vehicle until the war ended in 1945.

The decade of the fifties saw more affluence than the United States had known since the Great Depression. Consumers now had more money to spend and they were spending them on cars. Unfortunately, Oldsmobile had allowed the design of their vehicles to become old and outdated and its competitors began campaigns that were openly aimed at taking pot shots at the outmoded cars. The sixties were not much better and Oldsmobile saw the lead it had always enjoyed slowly erode away.

Oldsmobile seemed to recover its footing in the seventies by continuing to offer one of the most popular engines of the time, Rocket V8 engine as it was called, was faster and more powerful than just about any other car in the mainstream market. This allowed Oldsmobile to take the third position for best selling vehicles in the seventies. They maintained their hold on this position into the early eighties when things began to sour quickly.

The late nineties saw Oldsmobile sales continue to decline and the twenty first century treated the brand no better. Therefore, it was in December of 2000 that General Motors would phase out the century old brand of vehicle. The final Oldsmobile rolled off the assembly and in to the history books on April 29, 2004.

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1.Ensure that the car tyres are inflated to the correct pressure and that the tyres also have the correct tread depth. The cars manufacturers guide should contain details on the cars recommended tread depth and tyre pressure as this varies with different car models.
2.Ensure that the cars engine is tuned regularly and ensure that this is followed up by a routine maintenance check on the car either by you or by an approved garage.
3.Ensure that any junk has been removed from the cars boot. Some professionals believe that for every 250 pound worth of extra weight that the engine has to transport, the car can lose up to 1 mile per gallon.
4.Use cash to pay for your fuel at petrol stations that charge extra to process a credit card payment.
5.Drive economically and intelligently. Making fast starts and sudden stops may use more fuel. Avoid revving the car unnecessarily. Revving may also use more fuel than is necessary.
6.Abide by the speed limits and slow down on the accelerator because the faster you drive, the more fuel the car may burn. For example, if somebody drives at 55 mph rather then 65 mph, they may be able to get an average of 2 extra miles in per gallon. That is what I call an improvement in fuel economy.
7.Warming up the car should only take around 1 minute, even during the cold wintry mornings. If you’re spending more than a minute in warming up the car, you may be using more of that expensive fuel than required.
8.Plan your day and possibly your week. Try and run more errands in one journey by planning your stops and take the most efficient route. This will save you time as well as money.
9.Don’t rest the left foot on the brake as this may cause a drag that requires more fuel and can wear out the breaks sooner than you think.
10.Ensure that the petrol cap is sealed tightly to avoid any petrol evaporation. Even the slightest hole or gap may cause fuel to evaporate from the tank.
11.Fuel up at the cheapest fuelling station in your area to avoid wasting additional pennies.

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Body kits serve the dual purpose of enhancing the looks and improving the aerodynamics. For a street car the primary purpose tends to be the looks. Performance is secondary. Therefore the main consideration while choosing body kits are the looks and style, besides other considerations such as durability and cost.

However for a racing car performance cannot be compromised. And the racing car body kits should serve to improve the aerodynamics. One of the first considerations is that the body kit should be light weight. A heavy body kit will drag down the performance of the car.

For the aerodynamics enhancement it is important to consider body kits that have been tested to improve the aerodynamics. It should have smooth contours that allow the air to bend and pass through easily without creating a large drag force. However it is difficult to judge how aerodynamically efficient a body kit is just by looking at it.

For a high level racing car the design and testing of the car’s contours are a highly refined science and also a highly refined art. Aerodynamics involves some of the most complex engineering and testing requires expensive equipment like wind tunnels. Even a small change in a contour can have a large impact on the aerodynamic performance of the component. Therefore if you are looking for an aerodynamically tested component it is best to buy from a manufacturer that gives details of their aerodynamic testing.

Besides the standard front and rear bumpers there are other body kits components that you should consider. Spoilers for example will help make your car drive more stable in racing conditions.

Racing car body kits need professional installation. It is very important that the individual components are installed correctly and there is no danger of a component installation getting compromised during racing. Racing cars usually also have elaborate graphics. Therefore it would be a good idea to get the installation done at a body shop which would be able to do all the related work as well.

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To tell the story of Mercedes brand cars, you first must know the characters involved with the company. Those characters are Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz. Both men were born only 60 miles apart in southern Germany. Daimler was born March 17, 1834. A decade later, on November 25, Carl Benz was born. Although they grew up with little in common, machines from an early age fascinated both boys. Because their approach to building cars was quite different, it is doubtful, though, that they met or even knew what the other was doing.

In 1886, Carl Benz built a motorized tricycle. His first four-wheeler, the Victoria, was built in 1893. The first production car was the 1894 Benz Velo, which participated in the first recorded car race, the Paris-Rouen race. In 1895, Benz built his first truck.

In 1886, Gottlieb Daimler literally built a horseless carriage. Although we think of the car as being German, its history dates far back into America as well. In 1888 Daimler made a business deal with William Steinway (of piano fame) to produce Daimler’s products in the US. From 1904 until a fire in 1907, Steinway produced Mercedes passenger cars, Daimler’s light trucks, and his engines on Long Island.

Ironically, history says Daimler, generally considered to be the father of modern automobiles, never liked to drive. On March 6, 1990, Daimler died, leaving control of his company to his chief engineer Wilhelm Mayback. By November 22 of that year, Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschat had produced a special car for Emil Jellinek. Jellinek named the car after his ten-year-old daughter Mercedes. This car was lighter and smaller than the standard car of its day and because of this was able to reach a top speed of 55 miles per hour.

Up until 1908, Daimler had overshadowed Benz in racing endeavors. At the 1908 French Grand Prix, Benz took second and third place behind Lautenschlager driving a Mercedes.

At the beginning of the First World War, both factories were converted into production sites for war materials, although both resumed producing cars after the war. Social unrest and a falling economy characterized post-war Germany. Little or no fuel for cars and a 15% luxury tax made automobile production increasingly disastrous.

The German economy continued to worse and a new Benz automobile eventually cost 25 million marks. Although nearly 15 million cars were registered in the world in 1923, over 80% of them were registered in the US and over 1/2 were Fords. The Mercedes was too expensive.

In 1924, from sheer economic necessity, Benz and DMG signed an “Agreement of Mutual Interest.” Although both companies retained their identities, the agreement was valid until the year 2000. The two companies merged with relative ease on June 28, 1926.

A new insignia was needed to represent the merger. The design was a three-pointed star wreathed with laurel. The word “Mercedes” was at the top and the word “Benz” was at the bottom. The merger did the new company well. Production of Mercedes-Benz rose to 7,918 Mercedes-Benz automobiles in 1927. The Mercedes-Benz diesel truck was put into production in 1927, also.

The first two automobiles to sport the Mercedes-Benz name were the Stuttgart and the Mannheim. Then in 1928 the Mercedes SS was introduced by Mercedes-Benz. This graceful body was made possible by a hood line that barely cleared the engine.

Mercedes-Benz launched their biggest and most prestigious car to date in 1930. The 770 Grosser was powered by an 8 cylinder, 7.6 liter engine. A car for the truly wealthy of the world, it was quite an automobile for showing off in a world economy still reeling from the Wall Street Crash of 1929.

The cars of the 1930s produced great racing success for Mercedes-Benz. The silver metal bodywork gave rise to the name Silver Arrows when the W25 racer (of Rudolph Caracciola fame) had the white paint removed to lower its weight.

W125 (200 mph top speed) won seven out of thirteen races in 1937 followed by the successful W154. In 1939 Mercedes-Benz built a small V8 races specifically to win the Tripoli GP. It did win!

The Mercedes-Benz 170V gave Mercedes the capability of surviving and then recovering from WW II.

Today the Mercedes of course is still being built and is still revered as a car of quality.

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Aston Martin is one of the strongest makers in the auto market. They are well notable for creating cars that contain speed, performance, and luxury combined into one perfect bundle. They have made lots of models – but none is more popular to us than the DB9.

This is a supercar that has been produced with many of the good things in mind and no holes blocked. It is no wonder that everyone endeavors to get their hands on one of these beauties. For the 2009 model year Aston Martin out performed themselves and managed to develop a supercar that was much better then the year earlier – if that is feasible.

The 2009 DB9 is offered as a convertible and a 2+2 coupe. The convertible was dubbed the Volante – which is interpreted as ‘flying’ in Italian. This is a perfect name for something that is outfitted with a tremendous measure of power. The wheels practically lift themselves from the street when you start to test its limits. Leastways they feel that way.

Each model are given a 6.0 liter V12 engine that has the ability to push out 470 horsepower and 443 pound feet of torque. Fused with this engine is a six speed manual or a six speed automatic. Both of these transmissions are settled at the rear transaxle to provide better weight dispersion and are made with paddle shifters.

The only way that you can have the right supercar is if you are able to to settle on how to embellish it yourself. Aston Martin lets you to pick out the color combinations that will fit your style. You can find the soft top for the Volante in seven unique colors that include leather.

Every models come standard with xenon headlamps, 19” allow wheels, navigation system, a full leather trim interior, Bluetooth connectivity, iPod interface, satellite radio, and a premium audio system that will out perform itself each time.

The 2009 Aston Martin DB9 is one of the best supercars on the market that has the ability to cover all the bases. It is no wonder that it has a price tag of over $100,000. But with this kind of luxury and power it is worth every penny.

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So if you are planning to buy a new cost-effective car then it is recommended that you use car emissions calculator available online to compare the various models of cars on the basis of car tax. Car tax calculator gives an indication of the car tax charges that you would be likely to pay. In order to calculate car tax you require simple details relevant to fuel type, transmission details like manual, automatic or both, manufacturer, car model and specific Euro standard. Once these details are fed into the car tax calculator it would generate the applicable car tax rates payable for chosen timeframe.

The main idea behind the road car tax is to reduce the use of the vehicles that cause high rate of pollution. Car tax calculator UK is designed to promote the use of fuel efficient greener cars that produces less CO2. Based on the amount of CO2 produced, car tax rates can be judged in a series of payment bands. There are seven car road tax bands starting from A to G. Cars emitting up to 100g/km gas falls in band A whereas those between 101-120km/km in band B, from 121-150g/km in band C and so on. If your car falls in band A or band B then you are excused from increased car tax.

But if your car is not environment friendly and emits a lot of CO2 gas, then it’s definitely going to burst your financial budgets. The use of fuel efficient greener cars is extremely easy on the pocket as well as the environment. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that fossil-fuel vehicles emit 1 ½ billion tons of greenhouse gases into the environment each year and changing to green transportation would reduce this a lot. It is also estimated that eco-friendly car owners are currently saving £165.40 per year on fuel compared to those driving standard cars. So before purchasing any vehicle first calculate car tax and then go for the deal.

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