Ford Focus, Volvo C30 Are Top Safety Picks

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has been expanding its crash tests to more and more segments. The very influential tests were recently applied to compact coupes, including the Honda Civic, Scion tC, Volco C30, Ford Focus and Chevy Cobalt. The group as a whole performed well considering the severity of the tests. None rated lower than Acceptable in front or side tests, while the Ford Focus and Volvo C30 scored top marks of Good in front, side and rear tests, earning the Top Safety Pick nod.

While the sedan version of the Civic is a Top Safety Pick, the coupe version earned an Acceptable side crash rating. This illustrates the point that safety ratings for one version of a model can’t be applied to others.

The Scion tC faired the worst, earning Acceptable front and side marks and only a Marginal in rear crash tests. You can see the full chart below, including previously tested sedan versions of the Civic, Focus and Cobalt.

GM Kills High-Performance Trims for 2010

Throughout the day, we’ve been seeing reports surface online of GM killing high-performance trim levels of a few models across its brands. We contacted the company and can now confirm that a number of these stories are indeed true.

The least surprising cancellation is the Pontiac G6 GXP, which will not see a 2010 model year. It sported a slightly more powerful V-6 engine than the G6 GT and a six-speed automatic.

GM's Ugly Yet Simple iPod Solution

While many car companies are quickly adopting USB inputs for iPods and other MP3 players, GM has resisted the change on most of its more affordable models. Yes, you could get a dealer-installed adapter cable, but nothing built-in. Recently, we had a bright yellow Chevy Cobalt XFE in our fleet, and I took it out to run an errand. When Ask.Cars.com editor Joe Bruzek told me it had a USB interface and he liked it, I was skeptical. But I took my 120GB iPod Classic with me and couldn’t believe what I discovered.

The $100 option is ugly.

Cars.com Podcasts Are Here

After 10 years of penning car reviews, the editors at Cars.com have finally decided to broadcast their unvarnished thoughts through the magic of podcasting. We know we’re not the first automotive publication to record a podcast, but we wanted to do something slightly different than the rest.

Each week, editors Joe Wiesenfelder, David Thomas, Kelsey Mays and Mike Hanley will hold an informal roundtable on cars we’ve recently tested. Ever wondered what all of us think of the cars that get reviewed? This is the podcast for you.

This week, we take on a number of compact cars, like the 2009 Honda Civic and outgoing Mazda3, as well as all-new midsize sedans the Mazda6 and Acura TL, all in under 20 minutes. That should eat up some of your commute and/or workday.

You can download the podcast via iTunes or listen on your browser, here. Non-iTunes folks can subscribe to the RSS feed here.

If you have any suggestions for us, please leave them in the comments or email to editor@cars.com.

Cars.com Reviews the 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt SS

Cars.com reviewer Joe Wiesenfelder had his doubts about the 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt SS before he even climbed inside the car. Citing GM's penchant for amping up performance on otherwise poorly executed cars in a grand distraction effort, he nonetheless finds that the automaker has made some key improvements to the Cobalt SS. Read his full review to find out where Chevy's compact has made the biggest strides.

2009 Chevrolet Cobalt SS Review

Cars.com Mileage Challenge 3.1

Gas prices are dropping — precious good news in otherwise dismal economic times — but automakers clearly think we’re still in for a long-haul increase. To wit: The MPG war remains afoot, and the higher the gas mileage numbers you can put up, the better. General Motors markets XFE trims, for Extra Fuel Economy, of certain cars and trucks that have been tweaked to get better mileage. Ford has the makings of a similar lineup in its SFE, or Superior Fuel Economy, badging. Even Hyundai and Kia tout drivetrain revisions that yield incremental upticks in several of their ’09 models.

The ratings are sometimes impressive, especially among commuter cars, so for this fall’s mileage challenge we put four of them to the test. GM’s Chevy Cobalt and Pontiac G5 twins now get an estimated 25/37 mpg city/highway in high-efficiency XFE trim, which only comes with a manual transmission. The redesigned Toyota Corolla gets a close 27/35 mpg city/highway rating with an automatic; that’s a slight increase over the prior-gen automatic. A number of other contenders post impressive highway figures, too.

Balk all you want about how your kid brother’s ’87 Tercel got 35 mpg going uphill, but we’ll remind you that today’s commuters can reach 60 mph in less than 10 seconds – with side curtain airbags and habitable backseats to boot.

GM Rolls Out Red Tag Sale, Chevy Deals

GM’s Red Tag Sale has become a bit of a holiday tradition, usually starting in December. However, the abysmal economy has forced the company to roll out the sale a month early this year. Dealers are instructed to clearly place the price consumers will pay after incentives and other fees have been calculated and deducted on a big, red tag on each vehicle. (The tag’s price excludes factory-to-dealer incentives, as well as other stackable incentives like recent grad cash back, auto show bonus cash, and tax, title and registration fees.)

First up in our list of such incentives is Chevrolet. A variety of incentives (or, to be technical, the Red Tag Sale price) are available on 2008 and 2009 models. A full list is available on GM’s Red Tag Sale page. Even new models like the Chevy Traverse crossover are severely discounted. A selection of available Red Tag pricing deals are listed below, though they may vary depending on what region of the country you’re in: 

Chevrolet's Employee Discounts Revealed

Yesterday, we hoped to figure out just how much GM’s Employee Pricing Sale could save customers, and short of invading dealerships or interrogating GM employees (“Hey, how much is your discount? Answer us!”), we’ve found the answers — on GM’s site.

Chevrolet unsurprisingly has concentrated most of its employee savings on its trucks and SUVs. At the employee-discounted price plus incentives, the Silverado is available for $19,948, which is $8,000 below MSRP. The Avalanche (almost $9,000 less than MSRP) and Suburban (more than $9,000 less than MSRP) are also available with hefty bargains.

If you’re a sports car enthusiast, you’re not left out. The Corvette is included in the sale, and we found more than $6,000 in Cash back on the standard ‘Vette. We’re devoting an entirely separate post to the ridiculous price of a 2008 Corvette Z06.

A substantial list of Chevy’s employee-priced vehicles is below, with expected cost after discounts and incentives. Check Chevrolet’s site for a full list of deals or GM’s site for differing trim levels, other models and to double-check which deals apply in your area.

GM's Car-Based Future

GM is slashing production of pickups and SUVs, but its showrooms will be far from empty.

The company has approved plans to add more cars and crossovers over the next 18 to 24 months to lure customers back into the GM fold.

GM chairman Rick Wagoner told employees during a special closed-circuit televised meeting Tuesday that, while truck output is being cut by 300,000 units by the end of 2009 in response to high gas prices and reduced consumer interest, several new cars and crossovers are being added to make up for the losses.

He said 18 of the next 19 product introductions at GM will be cars or crossovers.

Video: 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt SS and 2008 HHR SS

For 2008, Chevrolet rolled out two high-performance SS versions of its small SUV-like HHR and its Cobalt compact car. Both have similar powertrain and suspension upgrades that make them SS models, and we recently got a chance to take both on the track at Road America in Wisconsin. We also put them side by side in this video to note the differences between these new turbocharged, high-performance compacts.