2 0 12 4 CORnERS New car Guid e help avoid a collision. Meanwhile, the 2013 Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Acadia seven-passenger crossover SUVs boast the industry’s first center-mounted air bags. The tubular-shaped restraint deploys between the front seats and is designed to help protect the driver from injury in the event of a collision on the passenger’s side when the driver is the only occupant. It’s also expected to provide additional protection to the driver and front passenger in a side-impact crash and help deliver additional safety benefits in rollover situations. The 2013 Cadillac XTS affords a seatof-the-pants approach to helping a driver avoid collisions with its new Safety Alert Seat. It transmits pulse patterns on the left or right side of the cushion when
Houston, we have a solution: Altima’s new ‘zero gravity’ seats Similarly, the 2013 Ram 1500 full-size pickup truck ditches the shift lever in favor of a rotary dial-in gear selector. As anyone who drives long distances can attest, sitting in a comfortable driver’s seat can make the difference between an enjoyable and intolerable journey. To that end, Nissan is introducing “zero gravity” seats on its 2013 Altima midsize sedan. Based on posture research from NASA, the new seats utilize an articulated seat shape with continuous support from the pelvis to the chest and are said to help reduce muscular and spinal loads and improve blood flow, thus reducing fatigue.
Connectivity/Infotainment
Auto makers are working overtime to attract younger, technology-savvy buyers with new features that connect them to their cars and to each other. To that end, Nissan is debuting a smartphone interface in the aforementioned Altima and the 2013 Infiniti JX luxury crossover SUV that will read text messages aloud to users and enable them to respond, either by voice command or via a steering wheel-mounted button that sends preset text like “driving, can’t text,” or “running late.” What’s more, the previously mentioned 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL allows live Web
the car is, say, drifting beyond highway markers or when it’s in close proximity to other cars or obstacles while parking. Vibrations on both sides of the cushion would alert the driver to threats from the front or rear, such as when the car is coming up too quickly on traffic ahead. As part of the 2013 Subaru Legacy sedan and Outback wagon’s new EyeSight safety system that includes lane departure warning and collision mitigation systems, the car can also emit an alert when the vehicle ahead moves and the driver doesn’t react within several seconds. While we’d like to proclaim this as a great advance, the taxicab driver stopped in traffic behind us usually performs the same function by blowing his horn. © CTW Features
browsing while the vehicle is stationary, along with access to apps such as Google Local Search, Yelp and Facebook, with software that can be remotely updated “over the air” as needed. Similarly, Subaru is rolling out the interactive platform, Aha, in its 2013 models that lets drivers interact with web-based content through their vehicles’ radios. As if that’s not enough connectivity, the 2013 Dodge Dart compact sedan can be fitted with a dealer-installed Wi-Fi hot spot that enables users to avail themselves of mobile Internet service from as far as 150 feet away from the vehicle. The Dart also offers a new inductive wireless charging system that allows occupants to simply set electronic devices in a specified charging zone to keep the juice flowing.
Safety
Auto safety remains a paramount consideration among new-car buyers, with auto makers continuing to develop increasingly advanced systems. Among them is the new backup collision intervention system in the 2013 Infiniti JX. It not only warns a driver to the presence of vehicles and objects crossing its path while in reverse gear, it can also automatically engage the brakes to
More, better: 2013 models like the Altima include safety alerts typically found on more upscale vehicles 4CornersNewCarGuide.com ~ Sunday, September 23, 2012 • 9