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The DeLorean, one of the most controversial cars of all time, featured in the Back To The Future trilogies in its much modified state and was created by Formula One design innovator Colin Chapman of Lotus Cars –“ little did he know that the car would become one of the most famous movie cars”, reports Suite101.com.

Imagine getting into trouble before you’re even born! It seems like a pretty difficult task, but Marty McFly managed to do it via the Back To The Future films – and all thanks to the metal marvel of the DeLorean. Vintage cars hold their classic status due to their rare existence, which is why the DeLorean earns its classic title with only around 8,500 DMC-12 cars produced.

Thanks to the films being regularly aired and the likability of the Doc Brown character, “it’s not just middle-aged dads who get a kick from the DeLorean car” reports the Times Online. The hype for the DeLorean was huge back in the 1980′s, but the classic vehicle still had some unflattering reviews, such as being said to be “underpowered”. However, with 130bhp (which seems nothing now), the difference isn’t that significant when compared to the “smog-strangled Corvette of the late seventies” and it’s 165bhp.

The hype generated by the introduction of such a unique vintage motor meant that in 1981 it was going for the kind of money you’d get a Ferrari or Porsche 911 for. It cannot be disputed that the Delorean was a revolutionary car for its time; with the Times Online reporting that “some people even thought it was a kit car” – but it of course was not.

You certainly feel like your back in the past driving one of these cars, with an 85mph speedometer and a three-speed automatic gear-box – taking you back to the 1980′s. The Times Online states that “the whole DeLorean thing is a fascinating chapter in automotive history, and the good news is that it could be around for a while”, with Stephen Wynne  taking on the DeLorean name and rebuilding these vintage cars – making them as good as new.

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Since there are a lot of limousine rental companies out there offering different services and amenities, finding the best limousine rental car and service can be a difficult task, especially if you do not know much about limousine services. If you want to be able to get the most out of a limousine rental service for your prom night, then there are a few things that you must look into.

If you are planning on renting a limousine service for your prom, it is best if you first decide how many people that are going to be riding the limousine. One good feature that limousine rental services offer is that they have a wide array of different types and models of limousine cars available for their customers. If you are planning on bringing your friends along with you in your limousine ride, then you should probably choose a limousine car that can hold a large number of passengers in order to make sure that all of you will be accommodated. It is important to have enough leg room in the limousine to ensure that the dresses and suits that you and your friends, including your friends’ dates, are wearing will remain clean.

Another nice feature that limousine rental services offer is that they can pick you up from your house, or from anywhere else that you prefer. This is the perfect time for you to plan the most efficient route for you to take in order to make sure that you do not spend too much time going back and forth when picking your friend up one at a time. This is also a great way to impress your date. Just imagine how your date would feel if you rolled up in front of their house in a limousine.

One thing that is great about limousine rental services is that they offer their customers a lot of different add-ons to their basic service, which is the car, a driver and beverages. Some of these add-ons can help get the whole prom night started even before you get to the venue. Certain limousine rental services offer dance floors, televisions, fog machines and a full bar in some of their other services. This can definitely make the ride to the prom a whole lot more fun, maybe even more fun than the prom itself. Just be prepared to shell out a considerable amount of money if you want to be able to enjoy these other services.

The limo ride from your house to the prom venue should be just as special and just as enjoyable as the prom itself. You can help make this a reality if you just put in some money on some of these nice features that the limousine rental service company offers.

Vanessa Arellano Doctor
BrowardLimo – Miami Limousine

A new law, the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation (TREAD) Act, was passed in recognition of the manufacturers’ failure to divulge the deadly SUV/tire combination. Although both Ford and Firestone are to blame for the multitude of deaths, the root problems begin and end with Ford Motor Company.

Thousands of people have suffered injury and death due to the Ford Explorer/Firestone tire combination. According to an August 27, 2001 report, the federal government has linked 203 deaths and over 700 injured occupants, in the United States alone, to the poorly designed Ford Explorer and its defective Firestone tires (1).

The Icfai Center for Management Research estimates that the SUV/tire combination is responsible for over 250 deaths and more than 3,000 injuries in the United States (2).

According to the information collected by the National Highway Traffic Association (NHTSA), approximately 85 percent of the deaths caused by the Ford/Firestone defects occurred in the southern-most regions of the United States.

The following are the number of deaths per state caused by the SUV/tire combination according to an April 2001 report by Public Citizen (3).

- California: 28 fatalities

- Nevada: 5 fatalities

- Arizona: 15 fatalities

- Montana: 1 fatality

- Colorado: 1 fatality

- New Mexico: 7 fatalities

- Nebraska: 1 fatality

- Oklahoma: 8 fatalities

- Texas: 35 fatalities

- Arkansas: 3 fatalities

- Mississippi: 3 fatalities

- Michigan: 1 fatality

- Massachusetts: 2 fatalities

- New Jersey: 1 fatality

- Maryland: 4 fatalities

- Pennsylvania: 1 fatality

- Ohio: 1 fatality

- Kentucky: 2 fatalities

- Tennessee: 4 fatalities

- Alabama: 3 fatalities

- Georgia: 1 fatality

- Florida: 28 fatalities

Ford Motor Company approved the design of the Firestone P235/75R15 ATX tire on June 11, 1987 (4). It was specifically designed for use on the Ford Explorer and was used as original equipment when the vehicle was introduced in 1990.

Bridgestone/Firestone began mass-producing the 15-inch ATX tire in 1990. The tire was redesigned in 1995 and 1996 when it was renamed the ATX II and the Wilderness AT (5).

The Ford Explorer was first introduced in March of 1990 as the successor of the Bronco II. The Bronco II was known as being prone to rollover collisions; however Ford Motor Company designed the Explorer with the same frame and similar wheelbase-to-height ratio as the Bronco II.

Ford knew that the Explorer would continue the same rollover problems of the Bronco II; however it was much more cost effective to continue the production of the Explorer with the same rollover prone frame and body style than to make any changes.

The stability problems of the Ford Explorer were known early and were well documented. Ford’s own engineers recommended changes to the Explorer’s design numerous times to counteract the vehicles propensity to rollover. The most important recommendations included: changes to the Explorer’s suspension, increasing its tract width, lowering its center of gravity and using smaller tires. The face of their own engineers, Ford did not make changes the design of the Explorer. Instead, Ford management decided to remove air from the tires, lowering the recommended pounds per square inch (psi) to 26. Firestone recommended a tire pressure of 30 psi, with a maximum 35 psi.

Despite the change in tire pressure, the Ford Explorer continued to be much more prone to rollovers than other vehicles on the road. Leon Robertson, a retired Yale University epidemiologist, conducted a study on vehicle occupant deaths in tire-related accidents using federal data from 1990 to 1997.

According to this study, 91 percent of the Ford Explorer occupants that died in tire-related accidents involved rollovers. However, only 28 percent of tire-related deaths in cars involved rollovers (6).

Ford’s decision to deflate the tires increased the Explorers rolling resistance (a positive consequence), however it also produced a lower fuel economy (a negative consequence). In order to improve the Explorer’s fuel economy without decreasing its rolling resistance, Ford ordered Firestone to decrease the weight of the tires. In 1994, the tires’ weight was reduced by about 10 percent.

According to Public Citizen, the weight decrease was achieved by reducing the gauge of various internal components, modifying the sub tread compound, using a lightweight belt package, and making specific modifications to the sidewall of the tire (7). The newly designed tire was lighter and subsequently less durable, therefore making it more susceptible to tread separations.

Tire-tread separations resulting in rollover collisions proved to be a problem almost immediately after the Ford Explorer was introduced in 1990. According to Public Citizen, at least 5 lawsuits concerning the SUV/tire combination were filed before 1993, and at least 15 lawsuits were filed by the end of 1996.

Consumers and dealers from the United States and foreign countries filed thousands of complaints. By September 19, 2000, there were 2,200 complaints involving 103 deaths and more than 400 injuries.

Many state agencies, such as law enforcement, national park services and wildlife protection agencies, use the Ford Explorer as their company vehicles. By 1996, several state agencies began having major problems with tread separations of Firestone tires on Ford Explorers.

On June 20, 1996, Lowell Whitaker, Arizona Game and Fish Department manager, sent a memo to his regional supervisor describing two tire “blow out” of Firestone tires on Ford Explorers. Whitaker also informs that the Department of Public Safety had endured a series of collisions caused by tread separations of Firestone tires (8).

The problem of tread separation was noticed much earlier in other countries. By 1997, Ford dealers in the Middle East began to report similar tread separation problems on the Explorers. An internal Ford memo from Carlos Mazzorin (Ford’s group vice president, Asia Pacific Operations, South American Operations and global purchasing) dated August 27, 1999 states: “Issue description: While driving the vehicle at high speeds, for prolonged periods of time, the tire tread separated (belt edge separation) from the main carcass of the tire. 19 rollovers attributed to this issue have occurred in Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar combined. Several fatalities have resulted. The issue has also occurred in Venezuela, and fatalities have also resulted in that market.”

By 1999, Ford replaced Firestone tires on 46,912 of its SUVs in Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Thailand, Malaysia and Colombia9. However, Ford and Firestone failed to inform U.S. authorities and consumers of the problems.

Ford Motor Company and Bridgestone/Firestone knew about the instability problems of Ford Explorers and Firestone tire tread separations long before the problems gained public attention.

On February 7, 2000, Houston television station KHOU aired a report that spotlighted the tread separation problems of Firestone tires on Ford Explorers. The CBS affiliate station reported the story of numerous deaths and lawsuits caused by Firestone tread separations and Ford Explorer rollovers. The station’s report prompted several dozen people in Texas to report similar problems to authorities.

Almost immediately following the KHOU report, NHTSA began studying the problem of Firestone tires on Ford Explorers. On March 6, 2000, NHTSA began a preliminary investigation after receiving dozens of inquiries and complaints. By May 2, 2000, the agency launched a formal investigation into 47 million Firestone ATX, ATX II, and Wilderness tires. NHTSA found two major problems with Ford Motor Company and Bridgestone/Firestone in their investigation.

The agency found that there was an unusually high failure rate of Firestone tires on Ford Explorers and that Ford and Firestone withheld pertinent information from the public and from authorities regarding the deadly SUV/tire combination.

Although Ford and Firestone began replacing Firestone tires outside the United States as far back as 1998, the manufacturers did not conduct recalls in the U.S. until August 2000. NHTSA publicly announced its investigation of 46 deaths related to the Ford Explorer/Firestone tire combination on August 7, 2000.

A couple of days later, on August 9, 2000, Bridgestone/Firestone announced a voluntary recall of 6.5 million 15″ ATX, ATX II, and Wilderness AT tires. Almost a year later, in May 2001, Ford announced that it was recalling all 13 million Firestone Wilderness AT tires that remained on its vehicles.

On November 1, 2000, NHTSA enacted the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation (TREAD) Act. The TREAD Act was passed in recognition of Ford and Firestone’s failure to divulge the deadly SUV/tire combination to United States authorities.

The new Act gives NHTSA authority to require motor vehicle and vehicle equipment manufacturers to provide information about possible defects in the United States or in foreign countries. The idea is to ensure that NHTSA receives appropriate data, related to foreign recall actions and internal company information on claims and lawsuits related to defects, in a timely fashion.

Although both Ford and Firestone are to blame, Ford Motor Company is primarily responsible for the multitude of deaths. Ford was behind most of the key decisions that resulted in such a dangerous SUV/tire combination. The Ford Explorer is defectively designed. It has an inexcusably high rollover propensity that Ford Motor Company has known about since the vehicles introduction in 1990. The tread problems of the Firestone tires were primarily due to the tires performance specifications demanded by Ford.

The Ford Explorer is extremely rollover prone due to a high center of gravity and narrow wheelbase. In order to counteract this deadly problem, Ford removed air from the tires to increase the Explorer’s rolling resistance. However, the lower tire pressure resulted in a lower fuel economy. Then, in an attempt to improve fuel economy, Ford ordered that Firestone lower the weight of the tires. However, the removal of weight resulted in a weaker and less durable tire making it more susceptible to tread separations.

The instability of the Ford Explorer and the tire tread separation of Bridgestone/Firestone tires was known within the automobile industry long before any recalls were ever carried out. Hundreds of injuries and deaths have occurred due to the deadly SUV/tire combination.

The design and subsequent re-design of the Firestone tire was Ford’s attempt to use a cost effective cosmetic remedy to fix a serious defectively designed vehicle. Ford chose to address the Explorer’s stability problems by altering the tire specifications instead of actually resolving the root problem – the defective design of the Ford Explorer.

Read more on ThatsRacin.com

When car dealers are interested in attracting visitors to their websites, they have a great variety of means at their disposal. A good ranking made by a search engine will definitely come with an increased number of visitors, but another problem still remains. How do you retain those visitors and turn them into potential customers? Automotive reviews are the answer. Good automotive reviews offer the right information that the visitors require. A first step, which is very important, is that the potential customers will spend quite some time reading the automotive review posted on the website. The purchase of a car is an important step and deciding upon a certain car model may prove to be a complex and painstaking process. Regardless of their financial possibilities, all the potential buyers feel the need to be well informed before they move on to the next step, that of actually paying for the car and driving it home. When researching, customers will find it useful to have access to independent automotive reviews, which will guarantee that their best interest as consumers comes first. The right information offered by independent automotive reviews can turn a visitor into a customer very quickly, and this is what car dealers have to take advantage of.

Automotive news is another means of keeping the potential customers informed. The latest news make the object of interest for all those passionate about cars, or those researching for a car purchase. However, many people consider that the automotive reviews found on automotive blogs are to be trusted more than any other means of information. Consumers trust automotive blogs because they know that most of the information there comes from people just like them who have something to share. Providing the consumer with the possibility of writing his/her own review of a car is important. People wish to make educated choices when it comes to purchasing a car, and automotive blogs offer them the information they need.

An automotive blog is not just a reliable source of information, but is also available at any hour, since the internet has no limitations whatsoever. An automotive blog will provide visitors with all sorts of information, such as tips for buying cars, maintenance, car repair and safety, environmental issues, and so forth. Some other car-related aspects may constitute the reason why people affiliate to an automotive blog. These aspects may refer to esthetics, utility or power.

An automotive blog is all the more reliable when it contains photographs or videos, or gives reference to other car blogs or similar websites, showing that the consumer’s best interest comes first.

For more resources about automotive news and especially about automotive reviews please review this website http://www.car-spin.com

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The introduction of the SDR WR3 model is causing a real storm, with the much acclaimed Subaru based version that has a power to weight ratio that exceeds 500bhp per tonne – producing “true supercar performance at a fraction of the supercar cost”, according to SDRSports.co.uk.

The V-Storm is by no means a one trick pony, but the unique selling point has to be that it has three seats, just like the McLaren F1 supercar. Simon Dickens, the Managing Director of SDR Sportscars, somewhat optimistically has said “this feature offers flexibility for a family” – and of course it offers the owner the chance to feel like current McLaren F1 driver’s Jenson Button or Lewis Hamilton.

The end result of this impressive self-build is to “slam the door in the face of subtlety”, reports the Times’ website, which is exactly what you get from the V-Storm, by “shoehorning a turbo-nutter engine into a car that weighs as much as a shuttlecock” you end up with a “scorching performance car with few concessions to comfort or practicality”.

The self-build market will think this V-Storm is heaven-sent, because it ticks every box. Eye-catching looks? Check.  Spacious enough for passengers? Check, and of course it’s charming allure. Getting slightly more technical, the mid-engine arrangement provides “superb handling and balance to the car and delivers excellent traction during acceleration”, according to UltimateCarPage.com.