The Car Guide's Top 10 Automotive Stories Of 2012
10. NASCAR Moves To Fuel Injection
The most popular racing series in the United States stole a precious arrow from the quiver of haters around the world in 2012 when it moved from using carburetors to fuel injection in all Sprint Cup stock cars. Carburetion has long been one of the go-to mockeries for open wheel fans looking to score elitist points while tearing down the door-to-door oval-heavy NASCAR championship, and now that it's no longer low-hanging fruit expect the next round of lamentations to focus on how hard it is for former F1 or CART drivers to find success in the sport.
09. Mazda Announces Diesel Sedan
Turbodiesel engines are old hat, but having a non-German automaker install one in a mainstream mid-size family sedan and then bring that vehicle to North America is nothing less than astounding. A 2.2-liter turbodiesel four-cylinder engine will be available in the 2014 Mazda Mazda6, a redesigned version of the company's largest four-door passenger car that debuted at the 2012 Paris Motor Show. Mazda waited until the Los Angeles Auto Show to let us know that the turbodiesel model would indeed be available in Canada and the U.S., throwing down the gauntlet for other Japanese car companies to consider importing their own fuel efficient, home-market diesel power plants.
08. Photo Radar, The Modern Scourge
Photo radar gained a further foothold in Quebec over the course of the past year as the government took advantage of the province's endless roadwork to install eight new photo radar cameras at highway construction sites surrounding Montreal and Quebec City. Legislation paving the way for permanent photo radar installations was also passed in 2012. Ostensibly in place to slow drivers down and improve safety - a benefit of that has been touted by a study that claimed a 10 km/h drop in average speed at the original, advertised radar locations - photo radar ignores the fact that the correlation between speed and safety on modern highways is a tenuous one at best. This technology represents one more step towards a surveillance society poised to stealthily tax even the slightest deviation from the norm.
07. Media Obsession With Why Young People Aren't Buying Cars
Almost every media outlet chimed in on 2012's most over-wrought display of hand-wringing: why the current 25-and-under set aren't buying new cars - or even getting their licenses. Much speculation about social media, mobile phones, and other perils of the modern age was trotted out and paid lip service, but most reports avoided discussing the primary reason why fewer teenagers are choosing to drive: it's really, really expensive. Forget buying a car - even taking driving courses and paying licensing fees can set you back over $1,000, not to mention the onerous insurance costs faced by young pilots, and the high price of fuel. Meanwhile, car companies continue to stuff vehicles with infotainment features in an effort to lure Millennials into showrooms, rather than initiating public/private partnerships to reduce the costs of actually owning and using one of their products.
06. 50 Years Of The Trans-Canada Highway
Gordon Lightfoot once reminded us that 'There was a time in this fair land / when the railroad did not run,' in what is undoubtedly the most Canadian song ever written (Canadian Railroad Trilogy). While the steel horses that thundered across the Prairies and through the valleys of the St. Lawrence have been celebrated culturally in a variety of forms, all too rarely do we step back and reflect on the wonder that is the Trans-Canada Highway, an immensely important project that turned 50 this year. Although 1962 marked the opening date for the highway, it didn't completely span the country until nine years later. Having personally driven from sea-to-sea across Canada on the Trans-Canada, I fully recommend experiencing the diversity of landscape, culture, and people that these roads have to offer us.
05. The Tesla Model S
The Tesla Model S electric sedan, introduced in 2012, could very well be the vehicle that propels the zero-emissions automaker from boutique brand to legitimate contender for the dollars of mainstream shoppers. Reasonably priced for a luxury car, and based largely on proprietary technologies - two claims that the Tesla Roadster couldn't make - the Tesla Model S is poised to make significant in-roads with its exceptional performance and real-world range.
04. Distracted Driving
2012 was the year that the dangers of distracted driving were repeatedly hammered home by legislation, public service announcements, and grisly news stories focused on the deaths and injuries resulting from accidents involving those behind the wheel diverting their attention from the road so they could answer a text message. And yet, in the face of the very clear risks involved in fiddling with a mobile device instead of keeping one's eyes on the road, car companies continue to install ever more interactive digital entertainment and communications features in new vehicles.
03. The Viper Is Back
When the Dodge Viper left the sports car scene just a few short years ago, the world lost one of the most distinctive automotive personalities to have ever guzzled down gas. The return of the Viper (now under the SRT banner, and once again sporting its classic curves) at the 2012 North American Auto Show in Detroit reminded us all that as good as the Corvette might be, there's a chasm of personality between the everyman Chevrolet sports car and the visceral danger and attitude embodied by Chrysler's 10-cylinder king snake.
02. Suzuki Abandons American Market
For a long time it looked like a race to the bottom between Mitsubishi and Suzuki as to which company would be able to put itself out of business first in North America. Although Mitsubishi's shrinking product lineup and confused, defeatists statements from key executives appeared to give the brand the early lead, it was ultimately Suzuki that pulled out of the United States ahead of its competitor.
Despite producing excellent vehicles like the mid-size Suzuki Kizashi sedan, almost no one knew that the brand's products even existed due to a lack of national advertising and a shrinking dealership base that made even finding a Suzuki car - not to mention getting it serviced post-purchase - a challenge in itself. Suzuki continues to operate in Canada, but the clock is ticking. A sad epitaph for what is one of the most successful brands in the Japanese market.
01. Hyundai and Kia Overstate Fuel Economy For Most Of Their Respective Lineups
You have to hand it to Hyundai and Kia regarding how the two Korean automakers handled one of the biggest 'oops' moments of 2012. Caught by an EPA audit that revealed substantial differences between advertised fuel efficiency and actual fuel consumption for the majority of their vehicles, the two companies stood tall and implemented a public relations plan that would compensate owners with cash to make up for the difference between real world and sticker fuel economy for the entire duration of their vehicle ownership. This swift move deflected a lot of criticism away from Hyundai and Kia, and potentially kept a lot of current owners in the fold.
