Honda Civic Hatchback Prototype

The Honda Civic Hatchback Prototype is set to make its North American debut on March 22, in advance of the 2016 New York International Auto Show.  This highly anticipated prototype showcases the aggressive styling of the 2017 Civic Hatchback, which is launching later this year.  This will be the third new variant of what is considered the sportiest Civic lineup ever, whose options include the 2016 Sedan and Coupe, as well as the upcoming Civic Si and radical Civic Type R.

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The Honda Civic Hatchback Prototype’s looks are sporty and aggressive, with a major influence from European hatch styling.  It features Honda Turbo engine technology, the handy utility of a hatchback, and an impressive lineup of premium features and class-leading safety technology.

Honda-Civic-Hatchback-Prototype-rear

With the production model launching late in 2016, everyone in Civic Nation will be anxiously awaiting the return of an icon – the Civic Hatchback.

Stay tuned to Hamilton Auto Blog for more updates on the expanded Honda Civic lineup.  To view out current Civic inventory, please visit www.imagehonda.com.

Source: Honda Canada

The Buick Avista Concept

Debuting at the North American International Auto Show, Buick revealed the stunning Avista concept – a 2+2 coupe that highlights the brand’s commitment to contemporary design and draws inspiration from its historic performance roots.

Elegant and sleek, the Avista concept is a contemporary grand tourer, with a 400-horsepower twin-turbocharged V-6 with rear wheel drive and an amazing, futuristic driver-focused cockpit offering a comfortable, connected center of control.

“The Avista embodies the dynamic soul of Buick,” said Duncan Aldred, vice president of Global Buick Sales, Service and Marketing. “It is a modern expression of the brand’s heritage of sophisticated performance, communicated with beautiful elegance.”

2016 Buick Avista Concept

2016 Buick Avista Concept

The Avista’s uninterrupted body lines stretch front to rear, suggesting fluidity and swiftness. The absence of conventional B-pillars between the doors and rear side windows enhances the flowing profile.

“There is elegant simplicity in the Avista’s surfaces, which speak to the purity of the car’s performance, and a timeless beauty that’s a hallmark of Buick design,” said Bryan Nesbitt, executive director Global Buick Design. “It was designed to capture the spirit of the perfect drive.”

Marking the front and rear, Buick evolves its signature wing-shaped lighting with “soft curtain” elements that create illuminated “halos” around lamps’ edges, suggesting a three-dimensional shape and sculpture. Their design forecasts the evolution of Buick’s production lighting features, while the Avista’s grille features the brand’s new winged tri-shield insignia (returning to the 3-coulour design), set against a three-dimensional mesh background.

Like the exterior, the Avista’s 2+2 interior is elegant and streamlined.  It features 3D-printed door and seat trims and a future vision of Buick’s IntelliLink, with touchscreen controls on a widescreen instrument panel display.

The centre console also incorporates touchscreen controls and extends to the rear seating area. Open side storage compartments built into the front of the console are enabled by the new Electronic Precision Shift, similar to the 2017 LaCrosse.

The Superior Blue exterior colour is gorgeous and is complemented with Mist Gray leather seating inserts, console trim and door trim. Exposed carbon fibre and aluminum accents throughout reinforce the precision of the performance-oriented driving experience. The fading pattern on the seats, console and doors were inspired by waves receding at a beach’s edge.

“Waves, whether from the sea or in the sand, are all about motion and flow,” said Nesbitt. “That’s exactly what this concept is all about – flowing design and the purity of the driving experience.”

Buick designers enhanced the passengers’ sensory experiences with next-generation QuietTuning and air-quality control, including advanced noise cancellation technology, ionic air purifiers and aromatherapy.

The Avista also advances Buick’s legacy of turbocharged performance, which carries forward in the 2016 Regal GS and other models. Similar to the 2017 LaCrosse, the concept twin-turbocharged 3.0L V-6 features fuel-saving Active Fuel Management (cylinder deactivation) and Stop/Start technology to complement its power with efficiency. The engine is backed by an eight-speed automatic transmission and Magnetic Ride Control delivers more precise body motion control.

Hopefully this Buick Avista concept will find its way into production – it’s sophisticated, sleek design would be a welcome addition to Buick’s modern and innovative lineup.  Visit us at Hamilton Auto Blog regularly for updates on the latest vehicles from Chevrolet, Buick and GMC.

 

Source: http://media.gm.ca/media/ca/en/gm/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/ca/en/2016/Jan/0110_Buick-Avista.html

2016 Chevrolet Camaro and 2016 Honda Accord make Car and Driver’s 10 Best Cars List

Car and Driver has released their exciting list of 10 Best Cars for 2016 and it’s an impressive lineup.  Every year, Car and Driver enters a weeklong evaluation, looking for these new and improved vehicle virtues: value and engagement, performance and poise, sights and sounds, soul and character.

“It’s our job to unearth gems. Cars on the 10 Best list should have your neighbors asking questions, sometimes relating to your sanity. Issues of personal taste, social conformity, and other base impulses rarely factor in.”, says Eddie Alterman, editor at Car and Driver.

For us at Queenston Chevrolet Buick GMC and Image Honda, it’s exciting to see two of our models appear on this prestigious list.

2016 Chevrolet Camaro – “A Corvette with a back seat”, J. Gall

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The Camaro’s Highs: Uncommonly precise chassis, stonking performance, spectacular seats and steering wheel.

For the 2016 Chevrolet Camaro’s full review, click here.

 

2016 Honda Accord – “Someone who cares obviously headed development”, D. Sherman

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The Accord’s Highs: Peerless powertrain, roomy interior, subtle good looks.

For the 2016 Honda Accord’s full review, click here.

 

 

Visit us at www.queenstononthemountain for our full lineup of Chevrolet, Buick and GMC models and at www.imagehonda.com to view our exciting Honda cars, trucks, vans and SUVs.

 

Source: http://www.caranddriver.com/features/2016-10best-cars-the-winners-features-photos-and-more-feature

New Athleticism for the 2016 Camaro?

There will be a leaner, more athletic design for the 2016 Camaro, which will be introduced on May 16, during a special public event in Detroit. There are several new additions to the design of the Camaro including an aluminum hood with a sculpted look that appears as though it is “form-fitted” around the mechanical components. The outcome? The hood looks as though it has been shrink-wrapped around the engine. The modifications make the Camaro look lower and wider when in reality; it’s smaller than its predecessor.

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The anticipation is almost too much!  We can’t wait for its reveal…can you?

 

 

 

 

Credit: GM Canada

Child-Focused Safety Features For The Interior Of Your Vehicle – Part 1

car safety

Most family-friendly vehicles come with a long list of child-focused safety features, but what do they all mean? We have put together a short list of vehicle safety features that you might want to consider when purchasing a child-friendly vehicle. A lot of the features listed below do come standard, but what roll do they play in your family’s traveling safety?

3-point belts: A 3-point belt is a ‘Y’-shaped arrangement, similar to the separate lap and sash belts, but unitized. Like the separate lap-and-sash belt, in a collision, the 3-point belt spreads out the energy of the moving body over the chest, pelvis, and shoulders.

Safety belt pre-tensioners: Reduces slack that may exist in a seatbelt system at the moment of a collision.

Shoulder belt height adjusters: Simply aligns the seat belt comfortably away from the neck of the passengers when properly positioning the height of the seat belt.

LATCH (Lower Anchors and Top Tethers for Children) Rear Seats: Also known in Canada as, LUAS (Lower Universal Anchorage System). LATCH is a way to secure a child safety seat to the vehicle using straps from the child safety seat that connect to special metal anchors in the vehicle. LATCH consists of lower anchors and top tethers, which are built-in to your vehicle, and connecting hooks that are built-in to your car seat. Lower anchors are used instead of the vehicle’s safety belt to secure the child seat to the vehicle. Tethers are used in addition to the lower anchors or the vehicle’s safety belt to secure a forward-facing child safety seat to the vehicle.

Vehicle LATCH Anchors:
Lower Anchors: These are a pair of metal “u-shaped” bars that are often hidden in the crack of the vehicle’s seat.

Tether Anchors: These are metal rings that are found behind each rear vehicle seat.

OnStar In-Vehicle Communications and Assistance Service – Subscription-based communication that provides customers with peace of mind through auto security and safety features -these include:

Automatic Crash Response
Emergency Services
Crisis Assist
Stolen Vehicle Assistance
Remote Door Unlock
Roadside Assistance
Remote Horn and Lights
Turn-by-Turn Navigation
Hands-Free Calling
Vehicle Diagnostics

Sliding rear seat: The rear seats have the ability to slide back and forth to give more leg room or more rear cargo space.

Tinted glass: Solar-absorbing tinted windows that are UV-filtered to limit children’s sun exposure.

Driver and Front Passenger Frontal Air Bags: Front air bags that help restrain the driver and front passenger in moderate to severe front impact crashes. Dual-depth units automatically adjust the deployment of the air bags based on the severity of the collision, the seat position and other factors.

Airbag Deactivation: The purpose of the switch in the OFF position is to disable a frontal air bag in order to transport occupants who are at increased risk for air bag-related injury due to age, size, or medical condition.

Head Curtain Side Impact Airbags: Seat-mounted and head curtain air bags help provide additional protection in moderate to severe side impact crashes.

ABS (Anti-Lock Brake System): ABS helps the driver maintain proper vehicle steering control during hard braking, even on slick surfaces. ABS is standard equipment on most GM and Honda vehicles.

Hill Start Assist: This system prevents the car from rolling when trying to pull away on an upward or downward incline. The system engages automatically when the vehicle is at a complete stop on an incline. It then acts to hold the car stationary for two seconds after the brake is released giving the driver time to apply the throttle.

Some other convenient features to consider when buying a vehicle with children are: Steering wheel mounted audio controls, DVD entertainment with headphones, auxiliary audio input jack, USB ports, flat-folding rear seats, fold-flat front passenger seat, remote start, cargo area security net, halogen headlamps, fog lights, cup holders, extra lighting, keyless entry, Bluetooth and a large storage area.
We hope you enjoy all the excitement that comes with selecting a new vehicle for you and your family. Remember to ask your sales associate what features are standard and which are optional when you are selecting a vehicle. Give yourself peace of mind and leave our dealerships knowing your family is safe and secure.
Coming soon- PART 2: Child focused safety features for the exterior of your vehicle.

photo credit: http://www.mymetroparents.com

The 2015 Chevrolet Colorado Reveal

We all know this has been a big year for Chevrolet and their entire full-sized truck line.  With the reengineering of the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, 2500 and 3500, we saw a lot of big changes and truly got a sense of what Chevy meant when they said “finding new roads”.  Well, on November 20th at 12:30pm ET at the Los Angeles Auto Show, Chevrolet will be revealing the final piece to Chevrolet’s pick-up truck portfolio with the reveal of the 2015 Chevrolet Colorado.

Re-defining what a midsize pick-up is, the new Colorado has been designed to be the “most capable, most versatile and technologically advanced midsize truck in the market”

We are inviting you to join us on our AutoHwy Facebook page on November 20th at 12:30pm for the LIVE reveal in Los Angeles!

2015 Colorado reveal

As always, we encourage you to contact us if you are interested in any of the vehicles in our award winning line-up by visiting us at Queenston on the Mountain or Queenston on Centennial.  For the latest and up to date information make sure to follow us at Hamilton Auto Blog.

“Truck Yeah” – Silverado Sierra Tour

If you love pick-up trucks like us, then you are as excited as we are about the newly redesigned 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra.  In fact, General Motors is so proud of these outstanding trucks, they have put together the event of the year – The Silverado Sierra Tour!

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The Silverado Sierra Tour gives you the unique opportunity to drive these two trucks on a closed course test drive with driving event modules, so you can put the all-new 2014 Silverado and Sierra to the test!  Each session runs for a duration of 1.5 hours and is completely free to you. You will also be provided with a thank you gift and have the opportunity to win some fabulous prizes.

Each person interested in participating, must register the event separately.  It also requires that you be 21 years of age and possess a full valid driver’s license to participate.

As can be expected, this consumer opportunity is extremely limited and will run on a first come, first serve basis.

The event began on June 5th and will continue to run across the country until August 28th!  The schedule dates are as follows:

Silverado Sierra Tour Schedule

With such limited spots, make sure you register for the Silverado Sierra Tour today! (Click here to register)

If you have any questions, please visit www.queenstonchev.com or follow us at Hamilton Auto Blog for updates.

By: Amy Cochren