Car FYI

Photo Credit: ISC Images & Archives via Getty Images With the start of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, competitors racing with the Chevrolet bow tie will be running an unmarked vehicle. Of course, fans of the sport will instantly recognize the car as the sixth generation Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 that has raced since 2018 and since 2022 in the form of the Gen 7 stock car, there is no mention of the Camaro name on the vehicle for 2025. The discontinuation of the production Chevrolet Camaro following the 2024 model year prompted the adjustment to how the brand’s vehicles would be represented in racing. Running what is essentially an obsolete car for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, the Chevrolet contingent are not the first teams to compete with cars no longer running off assembly lines. From the foundation of NASCAR in 1948 to the 1970s, Cup races would commonly feature cars across several model years but a Grand National Series (later Cup Series) rule required that cars be based...

Clip of Possum Van during a Red Green Show season 1 scene transition.  It could be argued that the car someone regularly drives can be reflective of their personality. The level of character traits found in our automobiles can range from subtle to flamboyant as practicality, style, power, brand loyalty and other details are factors influencing our vehicle affection. On the big screen and silver screen, an automobile (frequently popularized as a Star Car) can be used to affirmatively to expand on a human character. Batman’s Batmobile, the Dodge Charger called the ‘General Lee’ in Dukes of Hazzard, the Volvo P1800 featured in the 1960s television version of The Saint, the Aston Martin DB5 driven by James Bond in some of the most famous spy movies are some popular examples where vehicles play a major role in reinforcing the appearance of fictional individuals. Due to the budgetary constraints of Canadian media productions, the presence of native Star Cars is rare. However, one success...

Photo Credit: Chris Nagy/Car FYI Canada 2024 Product Lineup: Durango, Hornet Overall Brand Impression:  2024 for the Dodge brand features a contrast for its image. Dodge loses two modern icons (the Charger and the Challenger) but gains focus and promise for the future. While an electrified performance coupe is eagerly anticipated, a taste of this aggression can now be obtained through the recently introduced Dodge Hornet that drops its plug-in hybrid variant in 2024. The dependable Durango sport utility vehicle carries the brand’s reputation for everyday versatility with a health dose of sportiness and luxury. What’s New for 2024:  Last year, the Hornet compact crossover became the first all-new product to be added to the Dodge lineup since the unsuccessful Dart in 2013. For 2024, the awaited plug-in hybrid model of the Hornet debuts using the R/T badge in a historically significant way. The first time that Dodge’s Road/Track branding is being applied to a hybrid or electrifi...

Photo Credit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway untitled Though a privilege that has been reserved by Chevrolet’s Camaro or Corvette since 2004 , the honour for being the pace car of the Indianapolis 500 is one many vehicles were able to savour. A prime advertising platform for a production vehicle ahead of finely-tuned race machines, the role was first occupied by a 1911 Stoddard-Dayton, a vehicle brand that Indianapolis Motor Speedway founder Carl G. Fisher sold through a dealership. Through the 104 editions of the 500-mile event on the 2.5-mile oval, some vehicles have gone on to great success including the Ford Mustang in 1964 and others have proven less popular among customers such as the Chevrolet SSR that paced the 2003 Indy 500 race. Regardless to the reception, the glory of being an Indianapolis 500 Pace Car is a cherished moment for an automobile, the team that designed and built it. In almost every case, the event’s pace car is firmly set to lead what is...

Photo Credit: Car FYI Canada/Chris Nagy For several decades, automobiles have been introducing motorists to a trendy alternative to the familiar key. Originally allowing for the remote locking and unlocking of doors as well as opening a trunk, the key fob would eventually permit starting of an ignition. The technology of the modern key fob has even evolved beyond its initial buttons with many new vehicles greeting the driver by unlocking and starting simply by an approach.  Unfairly, with the emergence of new technology, there always seems to be those looking to nefariously exploit it. As the role of the physical key is being usurped by the key fob, a new avenue of car theft has the ability to bypass the long-operating defense of a vehicle. Thieves have been able to use electronic devices to acquire or spoof the radio signal of an automobile’s key fob and proceed to steal a vehicle in a relatively clean manner compared to previous methods of car theft. This type of auto theft ha...

Photo Credit: Chris Nagy/Car FYI Canada Theme of the Show: The Next Dimension By the time of the 2012 Canadian International AutoShow, I have attended the event for three consecutive years prior and twice on media day. There was a heightened sense of pep during the 2012 festivities each year since 2010 at this show featuring a lot of new vehicles with bold personalities. Between the manufacturer displays and the special exhibitions giving up a rare opportunity to see many historical vehicles for myself, the single day I attended the show flew by.  With the notable vehicles I’m highlighting in this recap of the 2012 auto show in Toronto, there are a few omissions I’ve decided to leave out due to the article already being longer than I intended. The Mercedes-Benz SL 550, Audi Allroad, Scion FR-S, Infiniti Etherera and Mazda Shinari are among the splendid vehicles I regret having to cut.  Notable Vehicles: Ford Fusion Photo Credit: Chris Nagy/Car FYI Canada Showcasing the Focus c...

Photo Credit: James Lipton for Dodge/Fiat Chrysler Automobiles When Dodge introduced the Hellcat moniker as an enhancement to the SRT version of the Challenger in 2015, the insane horsepower that erupted through the coupe’s exhaust was seen as astonishing. Shortly after the Challenger introduced the high performance variant, the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat made use of the same 707-horsepower, supercharged HEMI V-8 engine that made the Challenger SRT Hellcat a beast. In an announcement of their 2021 product line, Dodge’s parent Fiat Chrysler Automobiles unveiled a third member of the ferocious Hellcat family based on their Durango sport utility vehicle. The 2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat establishes a new performance peak for the three-row passenger vehicle lineup for the American brand. A creation that was once difficult to conceive, the appearance of the Durango SRT 392 in 2017 for the 2018 model year paved the way for this even more aggressive take on the sport utility vehicle. ...