Enlarge Photo

Perhaps as a platform to promote vehicle sales to its active-lifestyle, youth-oriented, and other-hyphenated niche markets, American Honda Motor Co. and Honda Canada Inc. today announce a 3-year agreement naming Honda as the official vehicle of the National Hockey League (NHL). Predictable press release wording reads as follows: "This partnership integrates the leading brand in the automotive industry with the strength, momentum and excitement of the NHL brand."

"Elements of the agreement," they say, "include Honda sponsorship of NHL television and Internet coverage along with active participation at NHL events in both the United States and Canada." American Honda's Steve Center, vice president of advertising and public relations, notes that the NHL "plays a big part of the sports landscape in North America," pointing to the league's 53 million fans in the U.S. and Canada.

So, to recap, VW stands for soccer and Honda has just inked an agreement with the folks who wield pucks, sticks, and busted teeth (why not Acura, now the brand of the snaggle-tooth?). Depending upon which way this election goes, being a Hockey Mom could become quite chic, so listen up you hockey families: Honda's got an Odyssey they'd love to sell you. Or a Pilot, a CR-V, or an Element.--Colin Mathews

Enlarge Photo

Hot on the heels of Insurance Institute for Highway Safety accolades (five new "top safety pick" awards for a fleet total of 16), Ford Motor Company rolls out Collision Avoidance with Brake Support. The system mirrors functionality found on many upscale European luxury vehicles and will be optional in select Ford and Lincoln vehicles next year.

Using radar sensors to detect moving vehicles ahead, Collision Avoidance with Brake Support alerts the driver with a beep and a red warning light projected onto the windshield when it believes a collision is imminent. When the system is triggered in this way, the vehicle's brakes are pre-charged and a brake-assist feature is also engaged, which enables maximum brake force more rapidly from the time the driver touches the brake pedal. Ford does not mention a seatbelt pre-tensioning function, as is employed in pre-collision systems by manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz.

According to Ford's VP of engineering for global product development, Paul Mascarenas, "Ford will be the first to offer this technology on mainstream models that many families can afford." It is Ford's latest use of radar-based active safety technology rolling out in its '08 and '09 models. Previously, the automaker announced Adaptive Cruise Control that launched this year, as well as BLIS (Blind Spot Information System) with Cross Traffic Alert, to debut in 2009.--Colin Mathews

Fall is upon us, and for most of the country that means dropping temperatures. The air - or even nitrogen for some of you Sam's Club geeks - in your tires shrinks as it gets colder outside.

As morning temps dip lower and lower, checking your tires weekly before setting off, which of course you always do, might result in their pressure dropping week by week. Don't worry - if the change is small, you don't have a leak. Rather, as the air in your tires gets colder along with the weather as fall progresses, its volume decreases. This results in it taking less space in your tire, ergo a drop in tire pressure on the gauge. For every 10 degree drop in temperature, tire pressures drop roughly 1-2 psi (depending upon tire size and overall volume of air inside). Because of this same phenomenon, always check tire pressure in the morning before the tire has heated up from driving duty.

Did you know there's an organization called the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA)? Well there is, and they urge drivers to check their pressures at least once a month for reasons that include both safety and economy. We'd recommend doing it weekly. Even if your pressures are spot-on week after week, it's a good way to commune with your machine and it builds character to get the hands dirty from time to time. RMA claims that 85 percent of American drivers "do not know how to check their tire pressures correctly." We hope you're not that clueless, but if so it's your little secret, and you can visit betiresmart.org to get with the program.

If your tires are low on pressure, you'll end up sucking down extra gasoline just to keep your ride moving down the highway. Not to mention, you'll be creating intense friction, which results in heat, which can ultimately result in nasty things like tread separation. As we all remember too well from the Ford/Firestone fiasco, tread separation is no trifling matter.

Quick note for you more-is-better types: overinflation ain't so hot, either. While you may eke out a little more mpg riding on rock-hard rubber pumped up to max specs, you'll wear bald spots in the center of the tread as my grandfather, the King Of Overdoing It, found out with his '80s Chevy Suburban diesel (this from the same man who brushed his teeth so aggressively with a "firm" toothbrush that he landed himself a mouthful of root canals).

So get out your quarters and try to find a gas station with an operable air pump that hasn't been run over by late night drunkards or fallen hopelessly out of service by stressed station owners. Or do what my ultra-organized father does: buy an air pump that plugs into the cigarette lighter auxiliary power outlet in your vehicle. He swears by the mini-compressor that I hear rattling away in his garage from time to time.--Colin Mathews

Enlarge Photo

Toyota Motor Sales' president, Jim Lentz, announced the company will not be battling truck giants Chevy, Ford, and Dodge for full-size supremacy. Automotive News presented this information in line with Toyota's recently announced 0 percent financing, designed to move slow-sellers like its new Tundra pickup. With Tundra sales down 60.7 percent compared to Chevy Silverado sales off only 3.9 percent, it is refreshing that Toyota is setting realistic goals for itself and its dealers.

Lentz blamed Texas and Indiana plant shutdowns as part of the reason for an abbreviated 2008 model year that saw abysmal Tundra sales. In addition, many past Tundra buyers are commuters who purchase based on image and are not necessarily truck devotees. This factor, in addition to economic realities and gas prices, makes it easier for Tundra buyers to walk away from a segment they were never wedded to in the first place.

Falling short of saying it has been cancelled, Lentz did say that development of a diesel engine for the Tundra has been shelved for the time being. Said Automotive News, "that's a big step back from Toyota telling dealers...that a diesel would arrive by 2010 or 2011."--Colin Mathews

Enlarge Photo

Reporting from the Paris Auto Show, Automotive News claims that Volvo plans to introduce diesel/electric hybrid vehicles by 2012. This makes it the first confirmed plan to mate a diesel engine with an electric motor in a mass-production car. Volvo also plans to implement engine start-stop technology beginning on some 2009 vehicles.

The diesel hybrids will first appear in Volvo's larger sedans, crossovers, and SUVs. The system consists of a front-mounted, front-wheel drive diesel powertrain and a rear-mounted, rear-wheel drive electric propulsion system. It has electric-only capability at low speeds. Magnus Jonsson, Volvo's senior vice president of R&D, said that plug-in hybrid models will come "very quickly" after the first hybrid models become available.

Because both diesels and electric motors produce the bulk of their torque at low engine speeds, the combination of the two hasn't been a popular one where fossil fuel/electric hybrids are concerned. But, conceivably, proper gearing will help keep the diesel's RPM low enough while cruising to boost efficiency. This seems like an ideal setting for a CVT transmission, where ratios can be adjusted infinitely.

Lex Kerssemakers, Volvo senior vice president for business and product strategy, said the firm is contemplating abandoning the V-8 engine that it recently installed under the hood of its S80 and XC90 vehicles. It will likely go back to turbocharged sixes if it nixes the V-8. Said Kerssemakers: "if the environment is changing, you can be stubborn, or you can look for alternatives."--Colin Mathews