Chevy is ready for summer with its 2011 Camaro convertible, which hit dealerships this spring. The Camaro convertible features a power soft-top that lowers in 20 seconds. In the second row, the Camaro has just two seats with aggressive seat bolsters. For the Car Seat Check, we use a Graco SnugRide 30 rear-facing infant-safety seat, a Britax Roundabout convertible child-safety seat and Graco high-back TurboBooster seat. The front seats are adjusted to a comfortable position for a 6-foot driver and a 5-foot-8 passenger. The three child seats are installed in the second row. The booster seat sits behind the driver’s seat, and the infant seat and convertible seats are installed behind the passenger seat. We also install the infant seat in the second row’s middle seat with the booster and convertible in the outboard seats to see if three car seats will fit. If there’s a third row, we install the booster seat and a forward-facing convertible. Here’s how the 2011 Chevy Camaro convertible did in MotherProof.com’s Car Seat Check: Latch system: The Camaro convertible has two sets of lower Latch anchors that are found in slits in the leather seats. The anchors are easy to find, but a challenge to use because the seats are narrow, pushing the anchors really close together. Like many convertibles, the Camaro convertible doesn’t have any tether anchors. Booster seat: The bolstered rear seats made it tough to fit our high-back booster seat in the second row. The side bolsters made the seating area so narrow that the booster sat in front of the seat belt buckle. Once we wedged the booster seat into the seat, it sat askew and the buckle sat so close to the booster base that it was difficult to buckle up. We had to jam the seat belt into the buckle. This would be nearly impossible for a child to do. Convertible seat: The Camaro convertible doesn’t have any rear head restraints, which allowed our forward-facing convertible to fit well in the backseat. However, legroom is practically nonexistent. The rear-facing convertible didn’t fit in the Camaro convertible. Even with the front passenger seat moved all the way forward, there wasn’t enough room. Infant-safety seat: There also wasn’t enough room for this rear-facing car seat. How many car seats fit in the second row? Two, but only if they’re forward-facing. Editor’s note: For three car seats—infant-safety seat, convertible and booster seats—to fit in a car, our criterion is that a child sitting in the booster seat must be able to reach the seat belt buckle. Parents should also remember that they can use the Latch system or a seat belt to install a car seat.
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Remember when kids riding in the back of a minivan were locked in and blocked from the rest of the world, like the boy in the bubble? Times have changed! Last night after leaving a school function, I had a charming moment watching my daughter roll down the rear window of our 2012 Mazda5 long-term test car while her friend rolled down the window in the back of her parent’s Honda Odyssey to wave goodbye and giggle at one another. I also took note of the roll-down windows on the Chrysler Town & Country at the Heels and Wheels event I attended last week. Roll-down windows on minivans are a great feature and, hence, are the Feature of the Week. Why should minivan owners have to sacrifice this basic feature we’ve all come to know as standard in our cars, after all? Does your minivan have roll-down windows? If not, do you wish you had them, or is it a feature you could live without? Tell us in the comments section below.
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Ford Motor Co. raised prices by an average of $124, or 0.4 percent, per vehicle this month because of higher commodity costs, said Todd Nissen, a spokesman.
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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating 440,000 2007-08 Nissan Altimas for possible brake master cylinder leakage, more than 222,000 2007-08 Jeep Wranglers over concerns the airbag may not inflate, and about 65,000 2007 Saturn Auras over concerns the vehicle could roll away when parked.
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Dallas — Eighteen months ago, customers at Jim Snell’s Land Rover dealerships sometimes bought new SUVs that looked just like their old ones.
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Tokyo— Toyota production in Japan will recover to 90 percent of pre-disaster levels in June, faster than the world’s biggest automaker had projected and highlighting its power to bounce back from the supply disruptions caused by the March earthquake and tsunami.
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Greensburg, Ind.— Honda says it will add 1,000 jobs at its southeastern Indiana plant by the end of the year as it adds a second shift.
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Detroit’s Big Three, which eliminated tens of thousands of hourly jobs during the downturn, are gearing up for massive factory hiring.
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Lexus’ latest hybrid, the 2011 CT 200h, is a four-door hatchback that seats five passengers. This gas-electric hybrid is a hot seller, spending an average of nine days on dealer lots in April, according to KickingTires. For the Car Seat Check, we use a Graco SnugRide 30 rear-facing infant-safety seat, a Britax Roundabout convertible child-safety seat and Graco high-back TurboBooster seat. The front seats are adjusted to a comfortable position for a 6-foot driver and a 5-foot-8 passenger. The three child seats are installed in the second row. The booster seat sits behind the driver’s seat, and the infant seat and convertible seats are installed behind the passenger seat. We also install the infant seat in the second row’s middle seat with the booster and convertible in the outboard seats to see if three car seats will fit. If there’s a third row, we install the booster seat and a forward-facing convertible. Here’s how the 2011 Lexus CT 200h did in MotherProof.com’s Car Seat Check: Latch system: The CT 200h has two sets of lower Latch anchors in the outboard seats. They sit behind zippered openings that open wide for easy access to the anchors. Three tether anchors can be found halfway down the seatback under hinged covers. Both the Latch and tether anchors are easy to use. Booster seat: Our high-back booster seat fit well in the CT 200h, thanks to its seat bolsters that held it in place. The seat belt buckles are anchored in the seat cushions, but not recessed. Convertible seat: After removing the head restraint, the forward-facing convertible fit well in the hybrid. To get the rear-facing convertible to fit, we had to move the front passenger seat forward several inches. This resulted in the tester’s knees pushing against the glove box. Infant-safety seat: Like the rear-facing convertible, we had to move the front passenger seat forward several inches to get the rear-facing infant-safety seat to fit in the second row. However, we didn’t have to move the passenger seat quite as far forward, which left our tester’s knees just grazing the glove box. How many car seats fit in the second row? Two Editor’s note: For three car seats—infant-safety seat, convertible and booster seats—to fit in a car, our criterion is that a child sitting in the booster seat must be able to reach the seat belt buckle. Parents should also remember that they can use the Latch system or a seat belt to install a car seat.
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When the 2012 Mazda5 was set to arrive several months ago for my long-term test drive, I waited a few extra weeks just to make sure we had snow tires on it. This is Denver, after all; the mile-high city is known for its crazy weather patterns. On top of that, my house is 1,000 feet higher than Denver in elevation.
I was beginning to think that effort was for naught with a decidedly mild winter here. That is, until last week. On Mother’s Day, it was 80 degrees, and by Tuesday, I had 4 inches of snow outside my house. How are one car and one type of tire supposed to handle that drastic of a weather mood swing? Needless to say, I was extremely grateful for the Blizzak WS70s that Bridgestone so kindly installed on my test car.

I’m familiar and comfortable with these tires, having put them through the paces on both snow and ice at the Steamboat Winter Driving School a few years ago. They’re perfect for our crazy weather patterns here in Colorado since they’re “built for peak performance on not just snow and ice, but also on wet and dry surfaces,” said Phil Pacsi, vice president of consumer marketing for Bridgestone America Tire Operations.

It’s amazing how much time, energy, research and science goes into tire development at Bridgestone. I won’t bore you with the details of Multicell technology, Nano-Pro Tech rubber compounds and more in the WS70s, but I will say that they safely transported me and my family to Grandpa’s house for Mother’s Day brunch on 80-degree dry pavement and then two days later worked their magic on 4 inches of slush and snow.

You might think a tire is just a round thing made of rubber, but they’re the only thing connecting you and your family to the road while screaming down the highway at more than 70 mph. Tires matter!
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