Popular Discussions

Six new models made our Top Picks this year: the Chevrolet Silverado and Traverse, Mazda5, Nissan Altima, Subaru Forester, and Volkswagen GTI. This marks the first time in six years that two domestic models earned spots or that a European car made the list.



Two of last year's picks, the Toyota Highlander and RAV4 SUVs, were passed over this year. At the time of publication, sales of certain versions had been halted. We have suspended our recommendation until a potentially unsafe part that could cause unintended acceleration is fixed.

Our Top Picks are the best all-around models in their categories, based on their performance, reliability, and safety. They are chosen from the more than 280 vehicles we've recently tested and must meet our criteria in three areas:

Road Test

Each must rank at or near the top of its category in our overall test score, which is based on more than 50 tests and evaluations.

Reliability

Each must have an average or better predicted-reliability Rating, based on the problems CR subscribers reported in our latest Annual Auto Survey.

Safety

Top Picks must perform adequately in overall safety if tested by the government or the insurance industry. (For some models, we do not have enough crash-test data to assign an overall safety Rating.) In addition, electronic stability control, a proven lifesaving safety feature, must be readily available. All of our Top Picks provide standard ESC and curtain air bags.

Each model's report card shows its Rating in each area, if available. Prices are the suggested retail amount for our tested cars.

Family Sedan: Nissan Altima

The Altima has been one of our top-rated family sedans for years, and a freshening for 2010 made it better. It now gets improved gas mileage and provides standard ESC in all trim lines. The Altima offers an appealing balance of comfort and performance, while getting some of the best fuel economy in its class: 26 mpg overall for four-cylinder models and 24 mpg with a V6. The cabin is roomy, well finished, and quiet. And the secure handling, comfortable ride, and spirited acceleration make the car enjoyable to drive. The four- cylinder model earned an above-average reliability Rating, while the V6 model is average. Price: $23,970 to $30,335.

Small Sedan: Volkswagen GTI

Freshened for 2010, the GTI is the sporty version of the Volkswagen Golf (formerly called the Rabbit). This impressive package is exhilarating to drive and easy to live with. It delivers the agile handling, spirited acceleration, and responsive steering of a true sports car, along with a decent ride, a well- finished interior, and the cargo-carrying practicality of a hatchback. Good fuel economy of 27 mpg overall is another plus, although premium fuel is required. Price: $27,504.

Small SUV: Subaru Forester

The Forester provides one of the most carlike driving experiences of any SUV. It combines agile handling with the most comfortable ride in its class. Passengers are treated to a spacious cabin, with a roomy rear seat and excellent visibility. The 2.5X provides an impressive 22 mpg overall with an automatic, 24 mpg with a manual. And the turbocharged 2.5XT delivers effortless acceleration and 20 mpg, but it takes premium fuel. The 2.5X has had excellent reliability, while the 2.5XT 's is average. Price: $20,972 to $28,860.

Best Car Overall: Lexus LS 460L

The LS scored an outstanding 99 out of 100 in our road test, making it our highest-rated vehicle. This large cruiser pampers its passengers with a comfortable ride and luxurious driving environment, including a roomy, well-crafted, and exceptionally quiet interior. It offers a plethora of electronic amenities, including an optional self-parking system. Yet, its controls are easy to use. Although the LS isn't exactly fun to drive, its efficient 380-hp V8 and eight-speed automatic transmission deliver smooth, brisk acceleration and a relatively good 21 mpg overall, the same as a Honda Accord V6. All-wheel drive and a hybrid version are available. Price: $76,572.

Family SUV: Chevrolet Traverse

The Traverse stands out as an impressive overall package with a quiet, spacious cabin that can comfortably seat up to eight adults and leave room for cargo. It provides a pleasant ride, communicative steering, and responsive handling. Our Traverse returned 16 mpg overall, which is respectable for its size. Rear visibility isn't great, but clever convex side mirrors and an optional rear-view camera help. The GMC Acadia is a twin of the Traverse, but its reliability is below average. Price: $39,920.

Sports Sedan: Infiniti G37

The G sedan, which joins our list for the fourth straight year, is one of the highest-rated sedans we've tested, with a score of 95 out of 100. It provides an appealing combination of agile handling, blistering acceleration, a refined powertrain, a fairly comfortable ride, and a high-quality, luxurious interior. The G37 is as inviting to drive on a twisty road as it is on the highway. But compromises include a snug cabin and small trunk. Rear-wheel drive is standard; all-wheel drive is optional. Coupe and convertible versions are also available. Price: $37,225.

Family Hauler: Mazda5

The Mazda5 microvan offers a lot of practicality in a compact, affordable package. With three rows of seats and sliding rear side doors, it combines the convenience of a minivan with the maneuverability and stingy fuel economy—24 mpg overall—of a wagon. The interior is airy, with good fit and finish. Plus the Mazda5 is fun to drive, with a nimble feel and a comfortable ride. The addition of standard ESC for 2010 improved its emergency handling. If you need more room, consider the Honda Odyssey minivan. Price: $23,805.

Green Car: Toyota Prius

The Prius received a redesign for 2010. It's still the most fuel-efficient car in our Ratings, getting 44 mpg overall. That distinction helped it earn our pick in this category for the seventh straight year, the longest of any current model. In addition, the Prius is a pleasant car to drive, with a roomy interior, a steady ride, hatchback versatility, and excellent reliability and crash-test results. The 2010 redesign also gave it a more solid feel and a dedicated EV mode that allows it to run longer on electric power at low speeds, an advantage mainly in slow, congested traffic. Price: $23,150-$26,950.

Pickup Truck: Chevrolet Silverado 1500

The Silverado 1500 returns as our top choice after a year off. The crew-cab 4WD model is a well-rounded pickup with a roomy cabin, generous payload capacity, decent ride quality, available full-time 4WD, and, on higher-end models, very good interior fit and finish. The GMC Sierra is a twin of the Silverado. The reliability of last year's pick, the Chevrolet Avalanche, dropped to below average in our latest Annual Auto Survey, keeping it from repeating. Price: $37,235.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – The earthquake in Chile was far stronger than the one that struck Haiti last month — yet the death toll in this Caribbean nation is magnitudes higher.

The reasons are simple.

Chile is wealthier and infinitely better prepared, with strict building codes, robust emergency response and a long history of handling seismic catastrophes. No living Haitian had experienced a quake at home when the Jan. 12 disaster crumbled their poorly constructed buildings.

And Chile was relatively lucky this time.

Saturday's quake was centered offshore an estimated 21 miles (34 kilometers) underground in a relatively unpopulated area while Haiti's tectonic mayhem struck closer to the surface — about 8 miles (13 kilometers) — and right on the edge of Port-au-Prince, factors that increased its destructiveness.



"Earthquakes don't kill — they don't create damage — if there's nothing to damage," said Eric Calais, a Purdue University geophysicist studying the Haiti quake.

The U.S. Geological Survey says eight Haitian cities and towns — including this capital of 3 million — suffered "violent" to "extreme" shaking in last month's 7-magnitude quake, which Haiti's government estimates killed some 220,000 people. Chile's death toll was in the hundreds.

By contrast, no Chilean urban area suffered more than "severe" shaking — the third most serious level — Saturday in its 8.8-magnitude disaster, by USGS measure. The quake was centered 200 miles (325 kms) away from Chile's capital and largest city, Santiago.



In terms of energy released at the epicenter, the Chilean quake was 501 times stronger. But energy dissipates rather quickly as distances grow from epicenters — and the ground beneath Port-au-Prince is less stable by comparison and "shakes like jelly," says University of Miami geologist Tim Dixon.

Survivors of Haiti's quake described abject panic — much of it well-founded as buildings imploded around them. Many Haitians grabbed cement pillars only to watch them crumble in their hands. Haitians were not schooled in how to react — by sheltering under tables and door frames, and away from glass windows.

Chileans, on the other hand, have homes and offices built to ride out quakes, their steel skeletons designed to sway with seismic waves rather than resist them.

"When you look at the architecture in Chile you see buildings that have damage, but not the complete pancaking that you've got in Haiti," said Cameron Sinclair, executive director of Architecture for Humanity, a 10-year-old nonprofit that has helped people in 36 countries rebuild after disasters.

Sinclair said he has architect colleagues in Chile who have built thousands of low-income housing structures to be earthquake resistant.

In Haiti, by contrast, there is no building code.

Patrick Midy, a leading Haitian architect, said he knew of only three earthquake-resistant buildings in the Western Hemisphere's poorest country.

Sinclair's San Francisco-based organization received 400 requests for help the day after the Haiti quake but he said it had yet to receive a single request for help for Chile.

"On a per-capita basis, Chile has more world-renowned seismologists and earthquake engineers than anywhere else," said Brian E. Tucker, president of GeoHazards International, a nonprofit organization based in Palo Alto, California.

Their advice is heeded by the government in Latin America's wealthiest nation, getting built not just into architects' blueprints and building codes but also into government contingency planning.

"The fact that the president (Michelle Bachelet) was out giving minute-to-minute reports a few hours after the quake in the middle of the night gives you an indication of their disaster response," said Sinclair.

Most Haitians didn't know whether their president, Rene Preval, was alive or dead for at least a day after the quake. The National Palace and his residence — like most government buildings — had collapsed.

Haiti's TV, cell phone networks and radio stations were knocked off the air by the seismic jolt.

Col. Hugo Rodriguez, commander of the Chilean aviation unit attached to the U.N. peacekeeping force in Haiti, waited anxiously Saturday with his troops for word from loved ones at home.

He said he knew his family was OK and expressed confidence that Chile would ride out the disaster.

"We are organized and prepared to deal with a crisis, particularly a natural disaster," Rodriguez said. "Chile is a country where there are a lot of natural disasters."

Calais, the geologist, noted that frequent seismic activity is as common to Chile as it is to the rest of the Andean ridge. Chile experienced the strongest earthquake on record in 1960, and Saturday's quake was the nation's third of over magnitude-8.7.

"It's quite likely that every person there has felt a major earthquake in their lifetime," he said, "whereas the last one to hit Port-au-Prince was 250 years ago."

"So who remembers?"

On Port-au-Prince's streets Saturday, many people had not heard of Chile's quake. More than half a million are homeless, most still lack electricity and are preoccupied about trying to get enough to eat.

Fanfan Bozot, a 32-year-old reggae singer having lunch with a friend, could only shake his head at his government's reliance on international relief to distribute food and water.

"Chile has a responsible government," he said, waving his hand in disgust. "Our government is incompetent."

Anyone who suffered through the decade or so while U.S. cellular networks figured out how to upgrade their infrastructure from 2G to 3G -- which they're all finally running now -- is probably pretty darn excited that people are already talking about rolling out 4G, the next generation of networks that, in theory at least, sounds really really fast.



Sorry folks, put away the candles and the birthday hats: The reality is that when 4G actually arrives, it really won't be much faster than 3G is today.

What is 4G, anyway? The name refers to the fourth major generation of cellular technology to be developed, but as with 3G it comprises a variety of standards with acronym-heavy names that you probably have zero interest in. The bottom line is that 4G, like 3G before it, should represent a massive leap in performance over the prior generation of mobile radio technology. If historical trends continued, 4G would be 10 to 20 times faster than what we're working with today, a huge jump that would have a massive impact on how mobile data and entertainment services are consumed.

Well, don't get your hopes up, folks. Analysts are warning consumers that the first 4G networks won't be much faster than 3G -- and question marks remain on upgrades down the line. While no one knows what the true actual average speeds will be when these networks launch, it's clear they won't begin to approach their theoretical maximum speeds, generally quoted in the range of 70 to 100Mbps.



Rather, expect to see speeds well under 10Mbps, and probably closer to 5Mbps... not much better than the 2 to 3.5Mbps you can achieve on a 3G network with good coverage today.

And even though some networks, led by Sprint's WiMax efforts, are already rolling out 4G pilot projects in a variety of cities, we've still got years to go before 4G becomes a reality for most of the country. One network hardware vendor posits that even five years from now, 3G will still be the dominant mobile standard. The bottom line: Don't get suckered by a hot acronym until the technology is actually proven.

4G? More like 3.25G from the sound of it.

NEW YORK – Hummer, the off-road vehicle that once symbolized America's love for hulking SUVs, has hit a dead end after its sale to a Chinese heavy equipment maker collapsed late Wednesday.



Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Co. pulled out of the deal to buy the company from General Motors Co. Tengzhong failed to get clearance from Chinese regulators within the proposed timeframe for the sale, the Chinese manufacturer said Wednesday.

GM said it will continue to honor existing Hummer warranties.

"We are disappointed that the deal with Tengzhong could not be completed," said John Smith, GM vice president of corporate planning and alliances. "GM will now work closely with Hummer employees, dealers and suppliers to wind down the business in an orderly and responsible manner."

GM has been trying to sell the loss-making brand for the last year and signed a deal with Tengzhong in October. However, resistance from Chinese regulators, who have been putting the brakes on investment in the fast-growing Chinese auto industry, created difficulties from the start.

As recently as Tuesday, private investors were trying to set up an offshore entity in a last-minute effort to complete the acquisition ahead of a Feb. 28 deadline. That plan, along with other options, was unsuccessful, according to a person close to the situation. The person declined to be identified in order to speak more freely.

"There's no way forward with that," this person said. "We're out of time."

GM spokesman Nick Richards said the automaker would still hear last-minute bids for the brand.

"In the early phases of the wind-down, we'll entertain offers and determine their viability, but that will have to happen in pretty short order," he said.

Hummer, which traces its origins to the Humvee military vehicle built by AM General LLC in South Bend, Ind., acquired a devoted following among SUV lovers who were drawn to the off-road ready vehicles. But they drew scorn from environmentalists and sales never recovered after gasoline prices spiked above $4 a gallon in the summer of 2008.

Sales peaked at 71,524 in 2006. But in December 2009, only 325 Hummers were sold, down 85 percent from the previous year, according to Autodata Corp.

Sticker prices start at more than $42,500 and run to about $63,000, according to data posted at the Hummer.com Web site. The H3, the most fuel-efficient vehicle in Hummer's lineup, averages about 16 mpg. The vehicles are built at GM's factory in Shreveport, La.

Under the initial agreement to sell Hummer, Tengzhong would have received an 80 percent stake, while Hong Kong investor Suolang Duoji, who indirectly owns a big stake in Tengzhong, would have gotten 20 percent. The investors would also have owned Hummer's nationwide dealer network.

Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed, although a person briefed on the deal at the time said the sale price was around $150 million. GM's bankruptcy filing last summer said that the brand could bring in $500 million or more.

Beijing had been cool to the acquisition. Tengzhong lacks a government permit to manufacture cars, and Beijing has been seeking to streamline and slow investment in the fast-growing auto industry rather than to attract newcomers.

Richards, the GM spokesman, said the collapse of the sale does not change earlier plans to close the Shreveport facility by 2012. The plant also builds the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon and is currently operating on a single 10-hour shift, he said. Hummer production was idled in January.



Hummer is the second brand after Saturn that GM has failed to sell as part of its restructuring. GM sold Swedish brand Saab to Dutch carmaker Spyker Cars NV earlier this year. Pontiac is being discontinued.

GM is focusing its efforts on its four remaining brands: Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac and Buick.

Start-up Bloom Energy says it can deliver a power plant in a box. What is it and how does it work?

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company, which is generating some serious buzz this week, will officially announce on Wednesday what it calls the "Bloom Box." In an interview Sunday on CBS News' "60 Minutes," CEO K.R. Sridhar said the goal is to get businesses, and eventually consumers, off the transmission line grid and deliver power at a much lower cost with zero emissions.



What is the Bloom Box?

It's a fuel cell. (See photo.) While that's nothing new--as Greentech Media editor Michael Kanellos says, fuel cells have been around since the 1800s--it's Bloom Energy's secret sauce that makes it special. Kanellos said that the solid oxide fuel cell patents point to a "yttria stabilized zirconium" and platinum electrodes. This formula is used to make an ink-coated floppy-disk-size ceramic tile. These are then stacked (see photo) into small blocks, and multiple stacks are housed in a unit about the size of a refrigerator.

Inside the Bloom Box

Oxygen is fed into the fuel cell on one side and fuel on the other, according to the "60 Minutes" segment. The two combine in the cell to create a chemical reaction, which produces electricity. No burning or combustion. No power lines from an outside source. More here.



How much does it cost to "save" money?

In the "60 Minutes" interview, Sridhar said the boxes that companies buy cost between $700,000 and $800,000 and the goal is to make them available to the "average person" for less than $3,000. As an example of how the Bloom Box is being used in corporate America today, eBay's five boxes run on landfill waste-based bio-gas and generate more power than the company's 3,000 solar panels, according to eBay CEO John Donahoe, who spoke to "60 Minutes." When averaged out over seven days, the Bloom Box generates five times as much power that eBay can use, Donahoe said.

What kind of fuel does it use?

Fossil fuels like natural gas or renewable fuels such as landfill gas, or bio-gas, and solar.

Who is using Bloom Boxes right now?

Google, Fedex, Wal-Mart, Staples, the San Francisco Airport, and the CIA, to name some of the most high-profile companies and organizations. A total of 20 companies are testing the box in California today. A four-unit box, using natural gas, has been powering a Google data center for 18 months. Here's a yardstick: a 30,000-square-foot office building would use four of these boxes.

And subsidies or tax breaks?

In California, 20 percent of the cost is subsidized by the state and there's a 30 percent federal tax break, according to "60 Minutes."

Who is investing in Bloom Energy?

There is a total investment of about $400 million. Board members and observers include: John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures, and T.J. Rodgers, the CEO of Cypress Semiconductor. Advisers include former Secretary of State Colin Powell and Floyd Kvamme, a partner emeritus at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

How economically feasible can it be?

"If this works, basically you have a natural gas tube going to your house or neighborhood, it goes into the fuel cell, and, pow, it makes electricity," Kanellos said. "Your power bills will go down." Potentially, consumers, in the future, will be buying natural gas but getting more bang for their gas-bill buck. The challenge is that the device itself costs a lot of money, Kanellos added. "It will take a few years to pay it off," he said.