Feature content across the range included heated leather seating, a sunroof, navigation, xenon lights, rain-sensing wipers, a backup camera, Bluetooth, an intelligent key system and automatic climate control. Auto-leveling air suspension, a sunroof, and a power memory steering wheel were on board, too.

Common Issues

Before setting off for a road test, shoppers are advised to spend some time checking for proper operation of everything in the cabin that runs on electricity — including the stereo, navigation system, power accessories, communications system and all digital display screens. If the vehicle is fitted with parking radar, be sure it works, too. Ditto the air conditioner and climate control system.

Various owner web forums identify fairly common problems with the air conditioner, brake system electronics, climate control blower motor, and suspension. In particular, note that any unwelcomed popping or clunking noises from beneath the vehicle as it travels over bumps typically indicates a suspension issue.

What owners like

Most E-Class owners bought their cars for the reputation, prestige, luxury, space, styling and overall comfort. All season performance and brand loyalty were other key considerations.

What owners dislike

Common functional complaints include a choppier or rougher-than-expected ride on some models, as well as “cheap” factory equipment tires.

Engines

Depending on the year, the E-Class powertrain lineup included a 3.5 litre, 268-horsepower base V6 engine, and a jacked-up 5.5 litre V8 that approached 400 ponies. A three-litre, 228-horsepower base engine was available, as was a Bluetec diesel mill. Look for AT on all models, and available 4Matic All-wheel drive.

The verdict

Buying a used E-Class without a check-over at a Mercedes dealer is not advised. A model sold as part of a certified used car program from a Mercedes-Benz dealership is ideal for long-term confidence. Opt for any extended comprehensive warranty that may be available, too.

Aerodynamic designs may be obvious on sports cars, but they’re also used on pickup trucks, where engineers face the complicated task of adding wind-cheating tricks without sacrificing work-oriented practicality.

“Air flows over a vehicle, around the side and under it, and you’re trying to make it flow smoothly,” says Jeff Luke, executive chief engineer for global trucks at General Motors. “If the air is turbulent, it results in more drag and it’s less efficient aerodynamically.”

A truck may have an upright grille and stance, but “that doesn’t mean it’s a brick,” Luke says. The bumper and its lower air deflector, and the hood and windshield designs channel air around the truck. Headlights and fog lights are sealed so they deflect the air, instead of trapping it.

Air has to enter the grille to cool the engine, but the engine compartment is designed so the air flows out again, instead of pushing against the firewall.

Under the truck, engineers add body pans, which keep the air flowing so it doesn’t create turbulence against the undercarriage components. If it swirls, it creates aerodynamic drag. This prevents the truck from easily moving forward and requires more fuel to overcome.

Air also has to move smoothly along the sides, where the door handles and window seals play a role. Windshield wipers and mirrors also have to be designed to reduce air swirling around them, which can create annoying wind noise at higher speeds. Even the wheels are designed with flush faces, instead of deep designs that can trap air.

At the rear, a lip on the tailgate helps direct airflow properly. Some people believe that driving with the tailgate down helps improve fuel economy but that’s false, Luke says. Instead, the upright tailgate creates a pressure difference behind the cab. Air flows over this “air cushion,” instead of swirling in the box and creating drag.

“It’s all ‘free’ fuel economy,” Luke says. “The more you focus on every count of aerodynamic drag, the lower you can make it, and so the more fuel you can save.”

Things to note

• Light. Body pans help reduce wind resistance under the vehicle but must be made of lightweight materials, since extra weight reduces fuel economy.

• Cover up. Adding a tonneau cover to a pickup truck can improve fuel economy by as much as a half-mile per gallon.

• Choose wisely. If you’re towing a trailer, one with an angled front end will use less fuel than one with a flat face that pushes against the wind.

• Find a balance. A car that’s too aerodynamic may not have enough headroom or visibility.

We need to change but for some things we won’t — there is this constant struggle: must change versus must not change. Probably a good thing.

Another drive-in goes down

A 58-year-old drive-in theatre in Sharon, Ont., will not make it to its 59th year. Here is an excerpt from the North York Drive In’s goodbye message posted on Facebook:    “It is with much regret we say goodbye to summer evenings at North York. Technology and conversion to digital projection has made us obsolete and threatens many other independent theatres.”

Studios are phasing out the celluloid (or film) format. Theatres with film projector technology are going to have to go digital or go dark. While the family-owned North York Drive In decided against the considerable investment to digital, other drive-ins have made the move and are still alive and well.

Limos disguised as ambulances

The traffic in all the world’s major cities keeps getting worse. Apparently the traffic is so bad in Moscow that VIPs are renting special limos to get around — those disguised as medical emergency vehicles. With sirens blazing they are able to get around the gridlock no problem. The ruse was uncovered when one ambulance was pulled over by police for traffic indiscretions and found to be transporting very healthy people in very comfy seating arrangements.

Driving Boom goes silent

A study just released by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group revealed that the post-war Driving Boom is kaput. We always thought “miles travelled per capita” would keep rising forever. But after peaking in 2004 it levelled off and now appears to be levelled off for good. Americans drive no more miles in total today than they did in 2004 and no more per person than they did in 1996.

Of course this is due to two demographics duking it out: baby boomers and their voluminous driving habits moving out of the picture, and the millenniums and their stingy driving habits moving more into the picture. Other contributing factors are urbanization, gas prices and less need for commuting in this digital age. The study’s authors suggest U.S. legislators might want to rethink plans based on the premise that Americans will keep driving until they drop.

Cool keeps coming

Aston Martin celebrated its 100th anniversary by creating the CC100 Speedster Concept. The “speedster” genre (no top or windshield whatsoever, a race-ready convertible so to speak) was selected to channel the vibe of Aston Martin’s most famous racer — the 1959 DBR1. But the old-school vibe is mated to a state-of-the-art carbon fibre body and interior. Like the Aston Martin supercar, the One 77, the CC100’s carbon fibre pieces are crafted (by Canadians!) in the big oven at Multimatic, an auto engineering and parts builder based in Markham, Ontario. That’s about 30km from the obsolete drive in theatre in Sharon.

Trim designations see the CX as the base model, the CXS as a mid-range model and the CXL or Ultra models topping the lineup. Seating for up to seven passengers was included. Look for leather seating, touch-screen navigation, a DVD entertainment console and satellite radio.

Common Issues

Get your potential used Rendezvous to a GM dealer for a pre-purchase inspection. Have a mechanic check for signs of common and well-documented issues with this model — including a potential intake manifold gasket problem caused by corrosive factory coolant. Check for signs of oil in the coolant, or vice versa, as evidence of head-gasket problems on the 3.4 litre engine, too.  A wheel bearing and speed sensor in the rear of the vehicle is a known issue, possibly evidenced by a grinding or groaning sound from the rear of the vehicle while driving. If the model you’re considering has AWD, have the mechanic check out the control valve, which commonly fails. This is a relatively inexpensive repair. Be sure the fuel gauge works as expected, have the fuel tank and fuel lines inspected for signs of leakage, and be triple sure the air conditioner works properly as well.

What owners like

Drivers tend to like the overall value for money, plenty of room and flexibility, decent fuel economy and all-season confidence with the AWD on board. A commanding driving position is also highly rated.

What owners dislike

Some owners wish for a more precise handling feel, a “richer” selection of materials for the cabin and a quieter ride.

Engines

All early units got a simple 3.4 litre V6 driving the front wheels via a four-speed automatic.

The verdict

Common problems with the Rendezvous should be easy to identify and diagnose for a GM-trained mechanic. A front-drive model without the 3.4 litre engine is likely your safest bet.

But, seriously, down the road a bit, algae might be better known as a transportation bio-fuel, especially if Canada’s National Research Council (NRC) has its way.

NRC recently teamed up with a few savvy industry partners to build a demonstration-scale “algan refinery” near Bonnyville, Alta., in the heart of oil-sands country.

People have long known about the bio-fuel potential of algae — it grows super fast, and it is comprised of a lot of natural oil (about 30 per cent by mass).

But this project is notable on two fronts: the way it is integrated into other industries and the size of its cultivation pot — 100,000 litres.

Give us your unwanted carbon

The project is officially known as the Algan Carbon Conversion Project. The pilot plant will be attached to another plant, part of the operations of Canadian Natural, an independent crude oil and natural gas producer. The plant has an impressive final emission stack. Like all plants, algae love carbon dioxide — it’s what they breathe. So they love that emission stack. Previous efforts to commercialize bio-fuel from algae were evaluated on the bio-fuel alone, says Aleks Patrzykat.

“The idea here is to have an algan plant that will capture carbon dioxide from industrial emissions.”

Big pots equal big volume

The algae will be grown in one of the biggest pots ever devoted to algae production. Patrzykat says the 100,000-litre cultivation vessel should be the same large size employed by future algae bio-fuel production plants. They would just have lots of them, instead of just the one. Such a vessel full of algae would net out about 10 per cent bio-fuel, or 10,000 litres. The rest of the biomass might be messy but still good, says Patrzykat, noting that depending on local circumstances, it could be used for cattle feed or fertilizer. For the record, Patrzykat is not sure how cattle feel about the taste of algae. Since it would be used more as a protein supplement for cattle feed, my guess is that the algae flavour would be subtle, like a herb. The more important point, says Patrzykat, is that the bio-mass be something that can be used by the local economy, so you don’t spend a lot of energy moving it around. It’s bulky stuff. Same for the carbon dioxide going into the system; CO2 is expensive to store and transport.

Making a Dent

Usually when a new alternative fuel technology and/or fuel source comes along it’s great news, but news always tempered with the reality that we use more than three trillion litres of petroleum products each and every day! Canada uses about 81 million litres a day. Excuse me for stating the obvious, but that’s a lot of petroleum. How do you replace those kinds of trillions and millions of litres? Maybe you start with bio-fuel made from algae feedstock. “Say in 50 years, we have a plant in each location, where it would be viable,” says Patrzykat. “That would be enough plants to take care of 20 per cent of Canadian industrial emissions… It would also give you 6.2 billion litres of fuel. If it were jet fuel, that would be enough to fly WestJet and Air Canada for a year.”

“Ontario license plates are manufactured at the Lindsay Correctional Facility,” says Ciaran Ganley, spokesman for the Ministry of Government Services. “Most vehicle license plates appear in pairs, but other motor vehicles have a single license plate, including motorcycle, off-road, moped and trailer.”

Making a plate is a five-step process, starting with the production of blanks, which are plates that don’t yet have their numbers. A laminate sheet is made that includes “Ontario” at the top and a slogan at the bottom, usually “Yours to Discover.”

The laminate is glued onto a coil of aluminum, and a press stamps out individual plates and cuts mounting holes into them. Some 800 are made each hour.

The blanks go to an embossing press, where workers set in the dies to stamp the letters and numbers. Regular plates go quickly, since only one or two numbers must be changed in sequence. Personalized plates slow everything down, since the die has to be completely reset. If a pair of plates is needed, the machine stamps two blanks at once.

To colour the letters and numbers, the plate is fed into a machine that uses heat to apply a foil coating to the raised portion. Finally, the plates are put in plastic bags and visually inspected for quality. Any defective plates are destroyed, while the rest are boxed for distribution.

Ontario plates are colour-coded.

Car, motorcycle and trailer plates use blue letters on a white background. Commercial vehicle, bus and farm plates use black on white; diplomat plates are white on red; dealer plates are red on white; and green plates are for electric vehicles.

“For personalized plates, any combination of letters or numbers may be ordered, provided the combination is available and meets the established criteria,” Ganley says. Off-limits are plates deemed obscene, derogatory, abusive, sexual, religious (except for religious titles), violent, discriminatory, or that describe drugs, alcohol, or criminal activity.

Things to note

• Until 1973, Ontario motorists got new license plates annually, stamped with the year. Renewal stickers were introduced for 1974.
• Most series plates (non-personalized) do not use G, I, O, Q or U, which could cause readability issues for law enforcement purposes.
• Ontario plates can be ordered with the French version of the province’s “Yours to Discover” slogan, “Tant à découvir.”

Depending on the year and model in question, this posh off-roader could be kitted up via numerous trim levels and option packages to suit a variety of tastes and budgets.

Common Issues

The Range Rover is full of electronics that can experience issues, so approach looking for signs of trouble. Be sure all electrically-operated accessories function as expected, and check for any warning lights or messages in the instrument cluster or driver computer. Have the air suspension checked out by a Land Rover mechanic after you toggle it through its various settings to confirm it operates without any warning lights illuminating. This is an expensive-to-repair system that will eventually wear out and fail.

Be sure to toggle the 4×4 system between its various modes too, checking for signs of trouble along the way. Check the owner’s manual for proper shifting procedures, noting any unusual sounds or failure to shift into the selected mode.

What owners like

Luxury, go-anywhere capability, exclusivity and a great deal of “presence” are noted by owners. Smooth performance and an ultra-posh cabin are also noted. All said, owners seem to have enjoyed a driving experience rich with luxury and capability.

What owners dislike

Complaints were minimal, though most owners wish for better fuel mileage.

Engines

Look for a V8 engine on all models, built by BMW during that automaker’s ownership of the Land Rover brand until 2006. When Land Rover was purchased by Jaguar, a Jaguar V8 was fitted instead. Both engines displaced 4.4 litres, and the Jaguar mill could be had with a supercharger.

The verdict

The main attraction to a used Range Rover is luxury, performance and pedigree. If you’re after a cheap-to-run sport ute, this isn’t the model for you. Opting against a supercharged model will reduce your fuel bill slightly.

Usually I’m not full of suggestions. Usually I could only suggest gift ideas to stay away from, based on the reactions they created on Mother’s Days gone by. For example, as Mother’s Day gifts, I would definitely stay away from groceries, laundry detergent, and personal coupons redeemable for household chores you’re already expected to complete. Actually the coupons are mostly all right, as long as you don’t make them, as I did one year, with really tight expiry dates.

But Canadian Tire recently tuned me into a great way to honour the mother in your family on her special day — clean her car inside and out. They also suggested families could add some relevant accessories, to give her something approaching a “Mother’s Day Car Makeover.”

Of course the fine folks at Canadian Tire want to sell car cleaning products and accessories, but they’re definitely on to the spirit of Mother’s Day. Mothers just love it when their families — and especially the kids — turn the tables, and work in love for the mothers, as the mothers work in love for their families every other day of the year. Excuse me, I seem to be tearing up a bit here… must get a tissue. Oh damn, I just wish I had more tears, so I could clean Mother’s car completely with tears!

If tears aren’t handy, go with a power washer.

That’s how the team at Canadian Tire started cleaning our family car, driven mostly by the mother in our family, my wife Diane. As part of a press function, Canadian Tire offered to clean the Fit to show off the company’s do-it-yourself cleaning and car organizational products, and to promote the concept of the Mother’s Day Car Makeover.

And clean it they did. It looked — and smelled— incredible. I was particularly impressed with Autoglym’s Aqua Wax, which proved to be a quick an easy way to give your ride a protective and shiny wax job. You spray it on while the car is still wet after washing. They you just spread it around with a micro-fibre cloth, and dry and shine it with another, and you’re done.

Our teenage kids, Amelia and Jared, were invited to help clean, to make Mom feel more special, but they were not available. We didn’t give them enough notice. They couldn’t clear their schedules. But they promised to have their people call our people and set up a meeting to discuss other Mother’s Day proposals.

So this column could have been how Amelia and Jared cleaned their mom’s car for Mother’s Day. Now it’s to shame them into doing something else. In keeping with the auto theme, Jared, how about replacing the Honda’s timing chain? I believe its due for one. It’s also due for an air conditioning service. Amelia, I know a container of refrigerant and socket set with your name on them.

Failing that, maybe a coupon for cleaning the Fit the next time its needs it

(with no expiry date on the coupon.)

New offerings from Porsche, Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, and even Honda, haven’t invented a new class so much as joined a long list of automakers that have sought on and off since the early 1940s to distinguish themselves with a roofline style known as the “fastback”.

This design ideal will be familiar to anyone with even a passing interest in automobiles; think back to the 1970s and the iconic Ford Mustang and Torino, the first Dodge Charger, Jaguar E-Type and Datsun 240Z, in which rooflines plunged dramatically in an extended sweep from the roof to the rear end, leaving no trace of a trunk compartment hanging ungainly behind the rear wheels.

Other more modern, iconic examples include the Porsche 356 and 911, Toyota Celica and the Aston Martin DB5, made wildly famous by the passenger-ejecting, oil-slick-spreading, tire-shredding sports car featured in the classic James Bond movie Goldfinger.

Many might tend to think of fastbacks as rakish two-door coupes, though numerous four-door sedans have received the treatment over the years, including the Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon and Buick Century of the early 1980s that some say clumsily brought the design back into fashion at that time.

According to the Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile, the design concept actually stems from the early 1930s when automobile designs that were ahead of their time included “teardrop streamlining at the rear” and which would, 25 years later, come to be called fastback.

American fastbacks produced by the then Big Three automakers — Chrysler, Ford and General Motors — were known early on as “torpedo backs.” Depending on to whom you speak, the terms fastback and hatchback are either complimentary or mutually exclusive; there seems to be little grey area on the topic.

The Road & Track Illustrated Automotive Dictionary defines fastback as, “a closed body style, usually a coupe but sometimes a sedan, with a roof sloped gradually in a unbroken line from the windshield to the rear edge of the car.

“A fastback naturally lends itself to a hatchback configuration and many have it, but not all hatchbacks are fastbacks and vice versa.” In fact, the 1963 Corvette coupe has neither a truck or hatchback.

From outrageously designed finned fastbacks by Czechoslovakian manufacturer Tatra through the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s, to one of, arguably, the most beautiful cars on the road today, the four-door Mercedes-Benz CLS, the fastback treatment has graced some of the more memorable automotive designs to ever roll down a highway.

Suggestive of speed and excitement, fastbacks offer an advantage in designing cars with slippery aerodynamic qualities that cut the air cleaner than other, more boxy designs.
Superior aerodynamics can help reduce fuel consumption and rolling resistance.

Audi design chief Stefan Sielaff characterizes the A7 Sportback as having “an almost monolithic clarity and a vast reduction in the number of lines” in the vehicle’s overall look.

Translation: it’s a clean design. “The roof, shoulder and sill lines appear to have been drawn with a single stroke.”

A variety of four-door vehicles ranging from sports cars to tall wagons are getting the fastback treatment, with Germany-based manufacturers taking the lead.

BMW’s X6 and 5 Series Gran Turismo offer two different takes on the design, while Porsche’s polarizing Panamera — designed to fit former chief executive Wendelin Wiedeking’s six-foot, two-inch-tall frame, with lots of room still in the back seats – offers a rounder, more dramatic version of the sweptback shape.

The Panamera is shaped “the way it needs to be,” Porsche chief designer Michael Mauer told the New York Times.

“As with all Porsche design, it begins with the function. As a four seater (and Porsche’s first-ever four-door sedan), the car has to have a different side view,” he said.
Jaguar’s newest fastback flagship sedan, the XJ, offers even more rear seat headroom — 98 centimetres compared to 97 in the Porsche — despite appearing smaller with an even more steeply raked back end.

Honda’s much smaller Crosstour blends “sporty, low-profile contours” with the functionality of a station wagon, and offers very nearly as much rear seat headroom (95 centimetres) as the much larger Porsche and Jaguar.

Whether you’re in the market for a ride that’s visually exciting at the high end of the scale, or something more widely affordable, the fastback could be an idea whose time has come, once again.

“Engines heat up as they operate, and metal expands, so if you didn’t have oil, the heat would cause the metal parts to contact,” says Sean Martell, category business manager for oil and oil change at Canadian Tire. “Oil protects engine parts from wear, it helps take heat away from the engine so it can operate at a consistent temperature, and it captures dirt and debris that gets into the engine.”

Oil contains additives and antioxidants to help protect your engine, but these eventually break down. Changing the oil at regular intervals helps to prevent premature engine wear.

Whenever the engine is running, oil is circulated through it by an internal oil pump. It passes through the oil filter, a canister that’s screwed onto the engine, which traps larger dirt particles suspended in the oil. The filter is disposable and should be replaced with every oil change.
Having the right amount of oil in the engine is important, too. Too much can be just as bad as too little, since the oil will foam and won’t provide proper protection.

It’s best to follow the oil change schedule recommended by the manufacturer for your vehicle. “If you go a little past your interval, the oil doesn’t stop working, but it does lose its capacity,” Martell says. “In the owner’s manual, there’s usually a standard schedule and then one for ‘severe duty’ (which is more frequent).

“It’s not that severe, and over 80 per cent of Canadians drive in what is considered severe duty, including a range of temperatures, a lot of stop-and-go traffic and short trips, and a mix of dirt and paved roads. All of these put more stress on the engine. There’s no harm to your car by changing the oil more frequently, but if you follow the directions, your engine will last for a longer time.”

Things to note

Rating system. Engine oil is rated by its viscosity, which is how thin or thick it gets with heat or cold, and there are blends rated for winter or summer temperatures.

Synthetic. This oil is formulated for better flow and engine protection. It also usually has longer change intervals, and in some cases can improve fuel economy.

Thorough check up. During an oil change, the technician should also check your vehicle’s belts, hoses, tires, fluid levels, and brake pads to be sure they’re in good condition.