This week in Car Tech

Nissan Maxima loses length
I went for a preview drive of the 2009 Nissan Maxima this week, and was impressed by the fact that Nissan chose to shorten the car by four inches from the previous model. A shorter car shouldn't be something to get excited about, but over the last 15 years it seems as if every model upgrade has added size. For example, the new Highlander is bigger than its predecessor, turning what was a well-sized multiuse vehicle into a typical SUV. Nissan is hopefully leading the way in reversing this trend, bringing car models back to more manageable sizes. 2009 Nissan Maxima photos

Garmin Nuvi 660
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Garmin Nuvi 350
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Magellan Maestro 4250
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Garmin Nuvi 200
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TomTom GO 930 GPS
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2008 Honda Civic EX-L
For point A to point B usefulness, a Honda is never a bad choice when the budget demands practicality. The 2008 Civic EX-L with navigation offers quite a bit for the money. Read more

Asus R700t
For the company's first stab at the GPS market, the Asus R700t is an impressive debut, offering some great navigation features. However, we'd like to see the addition of text-to-speech functionality and smoother performance before committing to it. Read more

2009 Toyota Corolla XLE
The 2009 Toyota Corolla is your classic commuter, good on fuel economy and reasonably comfortable. But its cabin tech isn't particularly impressive and doesn't go out of its way to work with personal electronics. Read more

2009 Ford Flex photos
At the grand opening for the San Francisco Ford-Mercury-Lincoln dealership, we got a close look at the new Ford Flex. This big wagon offers retro styling, something that made the new Ford Mustang so popular. But the Flex doesn't share the same kind of heritage, making its success less of a sure thing. Read more

Mazda shows off a concept SUV in Moscow
Wayne Cunningham
Over the last auto show season, Mazda demonstrated its new Nagare design direction with a whole series of concept cars, named Nagare, Ryuga, Hakaze, Taiki, and Furai. Now the company is seeing how one of these low-slung cars would look at SUV height. The new concept SUV will be shown off at the Moscow Auto Salon from August 29 to September 7. Read more

How long before fuel cell cars make an impact?
Posted by sfousi123
I'm sure you guys saw the news this morning that Honda will be producing its FCX Clarity in the U.S. in a very limited fashion. How long before you think this is a viable larger production technology? Read more 

• 1. 2008 BMW M3 Coupe
• 2. 2008 Audi S5
• 3. 2008 Cadillac CTS
• 4. 2008 BMW 535i
• 5. 2008 Mercedes-Benz C300 Sport
• 6. 2008 Lexus GS 460
• 7. 2008 Infiniti EX35 Journey
• 8. 2008 BMW 135i Coupe
• 9. 2008 Audi R8
• 10. 2008 Acura RDX

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