chevrolet

If I were a betting man, I'd wager that the SEMA Show in Las Vegas is easily the largest aftermarket car show in the world. Hundreds of customized cars (dinged-up daily drivers, glossy show cars, battle-scarred race cars, and bench racing dyno queens) crowd the Las Vegas Convention Center every year. It's nearly impossible to see it all, but that doesn't stop us from trying. So after filling up an SD card with snapshots, we've sorted out the best of the first day for your enjoyment.

The Camaros, Corvettes, Sparks, and Sonics that populated Chevrolet's … Read more

Voice-command systems in cars let you make phone calls, enter an address into navigation, and even request music by an artist or album name, all without taking your eyes off the road or your hands off the wheel. Voice command over music usually works with an iPhone or iPod cabled to the car, or a thumbdrive plugged into the USB port. Most of the cars below rely on Gracenote's music database to translate artist and album names into phonetics understandable by a voice recognition system. This database includes nicknames, so instead of saying "play Bruce Springsteen," you can say "play The Boss."

Here are five cars waiting to take your musical requests. … Read more

You may already be familiar with the maxim, "Less is more." Clearly the infotainment engineers over at General Motors are, because it seems that they've taken this approach to designing the dashboard of the 2013 Chevrolet Spark LT.

There are only four buttons for volume up and down, power, and home below the 7-inch touch screen. There are only three knobs for the basic climate control system. There isn't even a CD player -- GM's betting that you probably won't even notice that last bit, because its target market carries music around on phones … Read more

One of the greatest automotive rivalries exists between the Chevy Camaro and Ford Mustang. Although it lay dormant when the Camaro ceased production, the 2010 model reignited the rivalry. However, when it comes to discussions of horsepower, Ford could hold the Mustang-based Shelby up as having no competition among Camaros. Until now.

The 2012 Camaro ZL1 adds a supercharger to a big V-8, the same strategy as the Shelby, to produce massive horsepower. And while the Shelby is still the power king, Chevy can boast other tech tricks that help give the Camaro ZL1 the edge at the track.

Foremost … Read more

With its Spark model, Chevrolet is exploring new ground for the century-old company. The Spark is the smallest car in its lineup, and is being marketed for the urban jungle. With a combined economy of 34 mpg, it is also Chevy's second most fuel-efficient car, behind the Volt.

And two years ago, I drove one through the Swiss Alps. Although the car is just being released in this country, Chevy has sold this generation of the Spark in Europe for a few years. The European version of the car I drove came with a 1.2-liter engine that made … Read more

When we saw demonstrations of Chevy's MyLink system last year, it looked like the company finally had a solid competitor to Ford Sync. MyLink not only offered advanced voice command over phones and MP3 players, but also integrated smartphone apps.

However, as we saw in the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu, Chevy hadn't built a MyLink head unit that was compatible with a navigation system. The result: buyers had to choose between having advanced voice command or onboard navigation.

The 2013 Camaro seems to solve that little problem.… Read more

Few countries can boast as vibrant an auto industry as the United States of America. Our Henry Ford revolutionized how cars are built, while quite a few other start-ups participated in the early days of this industry. For decades, the industry was dominated by the Big 3: Ford, Chrysler, and GM. Now, of course, the story is a bit more complicated, with U.S. companies building some cars abroad and some foreign companies running plants here, employing thousands. But this selection of cars represents the most historic United States marques, and one all-American newcomer.… Read more

Apple announced last week at the 2012 WWDC that many automakers have signed on to integrate Apple's Siri in their vehicles, but few have said which cars or when. However, two compacts from General Motors may be among the first to include the new "Eyes Free" feature in its vehicles, reports blog GM Authority.

The Chevrolet Spark and Chevrolet Sonic will be the first GM vehicles to get this latest infotainment feature. The two vehicles are already available with MyLink, an infotainment system that integrates with the driver's smartphone. MyLink leverages the handset's Internet connection … Read more

The Chevrolet Volt has been on sale in all 50 states for around a year, but General Motors' engineers are still perfecting the extended range electric vehicle. Using driving data from existing owners, they have improved the fuel efficiency of the 2013 Chevrolet Volt, according to GM.

Engineers tweaked the 2013 Chevrolet Volt's battery cell chemistry to increase the battery pack's capacity from 16 kWh to 16.5 kWh. They also reduced its energy storage buffer, and the changes increase the new model's electric range from 35 miles to 38 miles. The EPA fuel economy also gets … Read more