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Volvo

In a perfect world, my daily driver would be a Porsche 911 that goes from 0-60 in 3.5 seconds, stickers for under $20,000, seats five in comfort, is made entirely from recycled water bottles and runs solely on universe juice. And earns an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's Top Safety Pick award, of course.

Needless to say, I'm not going to be holding my breath as I wait for Porsche to get something like this into production, and not the least of the reasons for this is because, at this stage in the game, some of my requirements are mutually exclusive. For example, to get Porsche-like performance in a vehicle that runs on electricity (about as close as we can currently get to universe juice) happens to require six figures' worth of technology — along with proximity to a Tesla dealer.

On the other hand, if you're looking for a vehicle that outperforms the industry in just one of those measures, that's a lot easier to find. And this is really the lens through which one should view the IIHS results.

Making the IIHS Top Safety Pick list is akin to winning the Green Car of the Year Award or setting a new lap record on the Nürburgring. It puts one measure of vehicle performance ahead of the others, and honors the cars and trucks that excel in that specific area, without regard to performance in other, equally important measures.

I mean, if you want a safe midsize SUV, you probably won't go wrong with an IIHS Top Safety Pick such as the Subaru Tribeca — as long as you don't mind driving a vehicle that achieves a combined EPA mileage rating of just 18 mpg. But you also probably won't go wrong with something like a GMC Terrain, which gets a combined 26 mpg and, like every other vehicle currently on sale in the U.S., meets or surpasses all federally mandated safety requirements.

To kind of level the playing field here, think of the situation like this: If the Tribeca gets points for going "far beyond minimum federal safety standards," as IIHS president Adrian Lund indicates, the Terrain has to receive some love for going far beyond minimum mpg standards.

And this year, quantifying how far a vehicle has to go beyond those federal safety standards to qualify as a Top Safety Pick has become a brewing controversy. More than 90 vehicles made the IIHS list last year, while only 27 did for the 2010 model year. The difference is that the IIHS has added a new roof-strength test to the mix. Top Safety Picks had to receive a "good" rating in this test, and, per the IIHS, "Vehicles rated good have roofs more than twice as strong as the current federal standard requires."

That's a significant addition to the testing regimen, and I don't think anyone can argue that the resulting Top Safety Picks are those that take safety performance to significantly extreme lengths. But just to be clear, they do so in the same way Bugatti takes performance to extreme lengths when it packs 1,000 hp into the Veyron.

That's the reason that Toyota, which had 11 Top Safety Picks last year, has a grand total of zero this year, a number matched by BMW.

With all this in mind, here's how I break down the winners: Ford and its Volvo division had six Top Safety Picks. Four were Volvos, and these, frankly, don't get any extra attention for making the list; Volvo "owns" safety, and every one of their vehicles should be a Top Safety Pick. Getting the Ford Taurus and Lincoln MKS on this list, however, is further evidence of the Blue Oval's momentum.

Subaru put every one of its models except the high-performance Subaru Impreza WRX on the list, which is an impressive feat; but as I hinted at above, one of the company's key safety advantages — its all-wheel-drive technology — continues to hamper its ability to make fuel-efficiency gains.

Volkswagen scored with the Audi A3, Volkswagen Golf, Volkswagen Jetta, Volkswagen Passat and Volkswagen Tiguan. The notable thing here is that this includes two vehicles offered with diesel power — the Golf and Jetta — giving VW a sort of two-for-one bonus. But I also have to point out that the Tiguan appears to be another vehicle sacrificing fuel efficiency for safety; the EPA rates it at 19/26/21 in terms of city/highway/combined mpg, which is well off the Terrain's numbers. Plus, the Tiguan calls for premium gasoline.

Honda put both the Honda Civic Sedan and Element on the list, the latter of which joined the equally geometrically challenged Kia Soul and Nissan Cube among the safest boxes on the road. Along with the Buick LaCrosse, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Chevrolet Malibu, these vehicles all stand out as winners that can bring the safety without sacrificing in other areas.

Of course, the oddest thing about this year's IIHS list was that Chrysler saw four vehicles earn Top Safety Pick honors: the Chrysler Sebring, Dodge Avenger, Dodge Journey and Jeep Patriot. I mean, I didn't know the awards were given out posthumously.

Volvo Aims At Younger Crowd With Twilight Tie-In

Although the effectiveness of product placement in modern movies has been debated ad nauseam, there is no question that the publicity blitz surrounding a motion picture event like the Twilight saga can only be a boon to any company directly involved. Not only has Volvo been able to insert two of their products into the series so far – the Volvo C30 coupe and a new Volvo XC60 crossover – but they have also expanded their online presence to further draw the attentions of teenage vampire fans.

The crux of their web effort is a game called “What Drives Edward?” in reference to the film’s main undead character. By mobilizing the film’s fanbase, Volvo has seen a huge spike in the number of people who access the company’s primary website, primarily the section where visitors can configure the Volvo XC60 online. Given that the vehicle in the film is a modified version of the standard SUV, Volvo is pleased to see that their web traffic has swelled more than 50 percent as fans attempt to build their own edition of the XC60 in the same image as what they have seen on screen. Interestingly, Volvo has not had to pay to have their cars and trucks used by the Twilight filmmakers, as they were already an integral part of the book series written by Stephanie Meyer that the movies are based on.

Ferrari Pushes Ahead With Theme Park

Economic troubles haven’t thrown too much of a monkey wrench into Ferrari’s plans to open a massive theme park in Abu Dhabi. Construction has been completed and all that remains now are for the opening festivities to get underway. Abu Dhabi, which recently hosted their first ever Formula 1 racing event, has situated the park on Yas Island which is located kiddy corner to the area’s Yas Marina race track.

Dubbed Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, the venue is chock full of the standard thrill rides that can be found at most major theme parks, such as roller coasters and other mechanical wonders. However, it does boast a few unique offerings such as an enormous Ferrari 599 engine replica, and a Ferrari-style coaster which can hit speeds of up to 125 miles per hour. Inside the 1 million square foot enclosed space – said to be the largest covered park in the world – fans of the prancing horse can try their hand at a racing school as well as sample Italian foods native to the brand’s home country. The enormous stylized red roof bears an equally plus-sized Ferrari logo, which is said to be the most expansive Ferrari emblem ever erected.

Buick Makes Small Car Push

In their ongoing effort to repaint the brand in the minds of consumers, Buick has revealed that the upcoming Buick Regal will be powered exclusively by small displacement, four-cylinder engines. The Buick Regal is in essence a rebadged Opel Insignia, a vehicle which General Motors sells in Europe, although from a design perspective it has been revamped to fall in line with Buick’s styling language. Smaller than any other car in either the Buick or Cadillac lineup – two of GM’s premium car marques – the 2011 Buick Regal will assume a role previously unoccupied in Buick showrooms.

The base engine for the 2011 Buick Regal will take the form of a 2.4 liter unit that provides in the neighborhood of 182 horsepower, while a sportier edition will feature a turbocharged 2.0 liter that boosts production by as many as 40 ponies. Six-speed automatic transmissions will be the order of the day. This small car initiative points the way for General Motors to improve upon their Corporate Overall Fuel Economy (CAFE) rating, as each version of the Buick Regal is expected to return around 30 miles per gallon on the highway.

Ford Unveils Inflatable Seatbelts

Airbags have undoubtedly saved millions of lives since they became commonly available in the 1990s, but new seatbelt development has largely been restricted to the implementation of pretensioning systems. Ford has gone a step beyond the standard three point harness with their work on belts which actually include an inflatable component meant to reduce the strain placed upon the body during an impact or sudden deceleration.

Chief amongst the concerns of Ford engineers was the safety of rear passengers, who don’t get the benefit of the front airbags afforded to forward occupants. Their solution was to incorporate an airbag which fills with cold compressed gas into the diagonal belt which fits across the chest of a passenger. By inflating this bag, the forces involved in a crash are more evenly distributed, which reduces the chance of a cracked rib or tissue damage – especially in the very old and the very young, whose bodies are often more susceptible to injury from these types of stress. The new equipment is as comfortable or even more so than existing restraint systems, and Ford plans to introduce the inflatable seatbelts on production vehicles starting in the 2011 model year.

Toyota To Remain In NASCAR Despite Ditching Formula 1

Toyota’s decision to cut Formula 1 racing out of their yearly budget was for many across the world a warning sign that the automaker had plans to reduce their motorsports involvement across the board. Almost every competitive series around the world has felt the pinch of the recent recession, an economic squeeze which has caused even giants such as Toyota to reevaluate their financial priorities.

Fortunately for NASCAR fans, Toyota has stated that they have no intention of abandoning their efforts in either the Sprint Cup, Nationwide or Truck racing levels of the sport. While Toyota has yet to achieve a high level of success in NASCAR’s premier Sprint Cup series, they have been impressive competitors in the other two series. This is contrasted with nine years of participation and no wins whatsoever in the much more costly Formula 1 world. The inexpensive – by comparison – nature of NASCAR makes it likely that Toyota’s involvement in it will continue regardless of their withdrawal from other areas of racing.