Interstate 10 near Phoenix, Arizona was shut down Saturday when heavy rain caused a chain reaction accident claiming 69 (Heh!) cars (Take that San Francisco ). Only six people were taken to the hospital, with two in serious condition. [ MyFoxPhoenix ] More

What would comedy be like if Douglas Kenney was alive? Hard to say, but the man who helped found National Lampoon and served as a co-writer of both Caddyshack and Animal House can be judged by the company he kept: Chase (in his most fertile era), Ramis, the Murrays, and O’Rourke to name just a few. After a not-so-positive… Read the rest

Experienced any unexpected stalling in a late-model Jetta TDI? You might have information that’s useful to Volkswagen, or to the federal government’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which just opened a preliminary investigation into the issue. NHTSA said that its Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has received seven…

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The EPA has to adapt to changing times.  New vehicle types like the Chevy Volt and Nissan LEAF require new types of fuel economy testing and labels to allow consumers to compare among them. The agency has just released two new sets of labels, and are asking the public to comment

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Auto sales may have helped consumer spending in July, but were a small bright spot in some pretty dim economic news. [Detroit Free Press] What car would you lose your job over? We’d choose an XKR Convertible, but–hey, wait–we drive cars for a living! No need to steal! Whew. [Jalopnik] The 2009 VW Jetta is being investigated for stalling.… Read the rest

In today’s morning mail, the Mazda Shinari–a gorgeous four-door coupe that we can’t help but think would kick the RX-8 to the curb. Agreed? [MotorAuthority] The 2011 Buick Regal is one of the IIHS’ Top Safety Picks this year, meaning it’s earned top scores, has stability control, and meets new roof-crush standards. Three cheers for engineers!…

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Filed under: Hatchback , Mazda , Rumormill , Diesel 2010 Mazdaspeed3 – Click above for high-res image gallery File this in the drawer labeled “Only Remotely,” but Mazda U.S. VP of product development Robert Davis allowed that the company is considering a diesel engine for the next Mazdaspeed3 . Based on the report in Car & Driver, it looks… Read the rest

Filed under: Motorsports , Motorcycle , Racing Tragic events unfolded at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend when Peter Lenz, 13, was killed after falling off of his motorcycle and being hit by another rider during a warm-up lap. Ben Spies, who took second place during Sunday’s MotoGP event, commented on the unfortunate events: “I told myself before the race,… Read the rest

The ZR1-thrashing security guard is definitely fired , but maybe for a guy making $10-an-hour it was worth it. What car would you lose your job over? More

Filed under: Concept Cars , Sedan , Paris Motor Show , Mazda Mazda Shinari Concept – Click above for high-res image gallery With the departure of Laurens van den Acker to Renault , Mazda’s loved or loathed Nagare design language has been dispatched, and in its place is a new designer (Ikuo Maeda) a new theme, a new concept… Read the rest