Tuning Truck

You've likely purchased some sort of hands-free device, like a Bluetooth headset, over the past several years—if you don't already have one built into your late-model car.

Now that you don't have to press buttons, flip a phone, or deal with a keyboard, no worries, right? Sadly, no; the evidence continues to build up against calling and driving in any form. And a story published yesterday in the New York Times suggests that some information from U.S. researchers

 If your first glance at a 2010 Kia Soul doesn't turn you off, then you're just the person the Soul is looking for. The Soul is the latest in the boxy-style compact utility vehicle. At first glance, it doesn't look like a family car, but it sure can be, if you like this vehicle. The Kia Soul certainly makes a statement about the type of person it wants to attract. The good thing is that Kia seems to know that person well, and carries those same attitudes throughout the vehicle.

TuningTruck.com has

 Jonathan McGrew at AllSmallCars.com tipped us off to eGo CarShare, which reminds me of those luggage carts you rent at the airport. Negative feelings aside about the airport, the eGo CarShare program sounds like it has all the details worked out. The gist of the program is that you have 24/7 access to a car from a fleet. Make a reservation, and the car is yours. No insurance, parking or gas fees. Jonathan does a great job of summarizing the details of the program, so check out his post on eGo

The Zap Xebra, a three wheel Chinese built electric vehicle classified as a motorcycle, has been recalled by the manufacturer.

The Xebra, a three wheeled, low speed electric vehicle built in 2008 and in use in the U.S. mainly by parking enforcement and campus safety personnel is subject to a recall due to its excessively long braking distance.

Since the vehicle is classified as a motorcycle, most safety requirements do not need

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) says the 2009 Audi Q5 is among the safest vehicles on the road.

The IIHS--an insurance industry-funded testing body that crash-tests new vehicles--says the 2009 Q5 earns "good" ratings in all three of its tests. The agency uses front-end, side-impact and rear-impact crash tests to assign ratings to new cars and trucks it chooses for testing.

The IIHS' crash tests also are considered more difficult to pass than those from the federal

The 2009 Mazda CX-9 caught my eye on the styling. It's rare for me to evaluate a family vehicle based on how it looks, but in this case it made sense. Rex Roy, editor of The Car Connection, got my attention, saying, "The 2009 Mazda CX-9 resembles a full-size wagon jacked up about a foot, riding on oversize wheels." Whoah. Sounds like a monster truck to me. Then I took another look, and realized it's that "jacked up about a foot" part that makes it so much easier to shuttle little kids in and out of

So here's an idea: Take an existing car, re-engineer it with a large lithium-ion battery pack, rebrand it, and sell it in the US as the first all-electric car of its kind.

Aha, you say! The 2009 Tesla Roadster!

Errrrr ... well ... no. It's the Coda, a new four-door, five-passenger electric sedan expected to go on sale in autumn 2010, a couple of months ahead of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle.

Coda is the new