Gas Prices Calgary – Precios de Gasolina en Canada

You’re driving along, all seems well, and suddenly your “check engine” light comes on. Nothing else has changed; your vehicle is operating exactly the same as it has for years. How critical is it to deal with this right away? Will I damage my car if I keep driving? The general answer is that you can continue to keep driving, although it would be advisable not travelling further than necessary without having it checked out. The MIL (malfunction indicator light) is an amber light, not a red one, because the urgency and risk of continued operation are relatively low, and its primary purpose is notifying you of a fault that could cause increased emissions. Exceptions to this “carry on” advice include if the light’s presence is accompanied by a change in behaviour (like vibration or reduced power) or additional lights/messages. A flashing MIL also indicates that there is a misfire that can potentially damage your catalytic converter(s). Driving with a misfire can quickly melt or break up the ceramic honeycomb that’s inside the converter(s). Since 1996 automakers in the U.S. and Canada have been required to use both a standardized data-link connector (DLC) and diagnostic trouble code (DTC) protocols determined by the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers). Because of this standardization, basic code readers that plug into your car’s DLC are inexpensive and widely available. Even so, what the reader tells you isn’t always going to be straightforward, and it may not give you the entire picture. It’s important to understand that just because a code’s definition spells out a specific component, that component may still not be the culprit. A split or loose intake air duct can set a mass airflow sensor code, for example. While common failures certainly exist, remember that the internet is chock full of information, both accurate and inaccurate. An inexpensive part might be worth a Google gamble, but what about a $400 airflow sensor? Having a trusted repair facility advise you on the potential severity of the fault is your best play. Brian Early is a longtime Wheels contributor and a Red Seal automotive technician with over 25 years experience. The post HOW DO I…Understand trouble codes? appeared first on WHEELS.ca.

The best thing about this weekend’s U.S. Grand Prix is that none of us have to get up early on Sunday morning to watch the race. So, to get this out of the way quickly, here are the TV times: TODAY: 3:45 p.m. to 5:30, TSN2, PRACTICE TOMORROW (Saturday): 4:55 p.m. to 6:25, TSN3, QUALIFYING. The session will be followed by a round of the all-woman W Series. SUNDAY: 1:30 p.m. to 5, U.S. Grand Prix (RACE at 2:55 p.m.), ABC and TSN, preceded at 11:30 a.m. on TSN by another round of the W series. ALSO SUNDAY: NASCAR Cup race from Kansas, TSN, 3 p.m. I’m curious about something. TSN has NASCAR on two channels and F1 on only one. Who knows the thinking behind that decision? We, of course, will get the Sky Sports feed. Danica Patrick is being added to the team for this race. Formula One is returning to North America, too late for Canada (this year) but in good shape for Austin – Circuit of the Americas there – and Mexico. I would not be surprised if Brazil is called off, as COVID-19 is still out of control there. Meantime, several Canadians have been identified for dodging tax by a consortium of investigative journalists (including some from the Star) who published the information in an investigation called the Pandora Papers. Lawrence Strohl and Jacques Villeneuve are identified as being two Canadians who are involved. Strohl owns 15 per cent of a British Virgin Islands company called Superwit, which is run by a Strohl family trust registered in the tax haven of Liechtenstein. The usual suspects, Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone, are also named. Exactly what happens next is cloudy. It’s like the annual Sunshine List naming people earning more than $100,000 in government money every year. It seems to be geared more toward jealousy than anything else. Whatever, Lance Strohl will be in his father’s racing car this weekend, as will Nicholas Latifi be in his Williams. While the Strohl family has lived in Switzerland for years, Latifi still lives in Toronto with his parents and came home for a visit for four or five days leading up to Austin. He said that his relationship with partner George Russell hasn’t really changed since Russell was officially named to partner Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes going forward. “We’re both pushing the team forward,” he said. As far as his personal progress, he said, “it’s on an upward trajectory and is becoming more consistent.” He added that it would be nice to outqualify Russell at least once before his teammate moves on. He has six races, including Austin, to do it. Speaking of both Strohl and Latifi, the offshore betting agency Bodog has odds out on both. Will Strohl finish ahead of teammate Sebastian Vettel this season? Higher: +225; lower minus 300. And will Latifi score another point this season? Yes minus 200; no, +150. I’ll take the Latifi minus 200 bet. And Austin is preparing to show what you have to do these days to get people to actually go out and take in a race rather than those of us who prefer to watch it all on the TV. The major-league eating contest this time around will be called Spamarama and the contestants will be forced to scarf down cans of Spam. Nathan’s hot dogs at Coney Island, I can see. But Spam? Musical entertainment will feature Bill Joel (he’s okay in small doses but he’s now on my Sirius lineup instead of the Love Channel and if they don’t fix that pronto, I’m cancelling); Kool and the Gang and etc. And, as you wander the grounds, you will come across theme villages. They also will be featuring the all-woman W Series, in addition to F1. Honda Indy Toronto, take note. OTHER NEWS  Christian Lundgaard, an all-American boy, has signed to drive for Bobby Rahal’s IndyCar series team next year. Nico Hulkenberg, another all-American boy, will test an IndyCar for Arrow McLaren SP. Brian Mao and Ben Zhang, two students at Waterloo University, hope to be part of history this weekend when an autonomous million-dollar race car they helped develop drives itself around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at speeds up to 120 miles an hour. See you Monday with a report on all the weekend’s racing news. The post U.S. GP means you can sleep in Sunday  appeared first on WHEELS.ca.

The race for pickup truck supremacy has taken another leap, with GMC introducing a pair of swanky new trims on its popular Sierra line of half-ton haulers. Both will be laden with the type of opulence and tech features once reserved for the toniest of luxury sedans – and one also seeks to conquer off-road trails. We’ll get to that trim in a minute. First out of the gate is the Denali Ultimate, which GMC says will be positioned one rung above the top-dog Denali. Dripping with darkened chrome (the brand told Wheels it is internally referred to as Vader chrome, which is all kinds of excellent), exclusive 22-inch wheels, and available Super Cruise driving assistance tools, it’ll show up for duty with an interior that finally lives up to the Denali name. Taking much from the Denali-grade Yukon, the new Sierra Denali Ultimate features a 13.4-inch infotainment touchscreen in its centre stack, pairing with the 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster and 15-inch heads up display. GMC is fond of saying there’s now “over 40 inches of diagonal screen display” in the Sierra, though that assertion is like adding all the dimensions of your home televisions together and bragging to your buddies you’ve a 120-inch jumbotron. Nevertheless, this is a quantum leap over the existing GMC Sierra interior, with a new console shifter and all manner of premium materials like suede headlining and relief maps of Mount Denali embossed into the swanky leather. The availability of Super Cruise in a pickup truck is a big deal, doubly so when one learns it’ll work while towing a trailer. Save for automatic lane changing, all the Super Cruise bag of tricks will be available when hitched up, making it a boon to long haulers and nervous first-time RV owners. After inputting a handful of trailer dimensions, Super Cruise is ready to take stress out of those lengthy highway journeys. As for power, the Denali Ultimate will come standard with GM’s excellent 6.2-litre V8 engine which continues to make 420 horsepower and 460 lb-ft of torque. But it’s the new AT4X trim which really grabbed your author’s attention. This truck takes the AT4 sub-brand, which GMC says is responsible for bringing a healthy number of new customers into the fold, and cranks everything to eleven. Found on each corner are GM’s excellent DSSV shocks, truck suspenders previously reserved for Chevy and their ZR2 line of off-road beasts. AT4X will also permit the use of Terrain Mode (including one-pedal rock crawling) in 4Lo, a distinction the pedestrian AT4 does not share. Front and rear e-lockers, plus an extra skid plate over the transfer case, round out the mechanical differences of this package. With this off-road kit, how does it differ in intention from its ZR2 sibling? GMC told us features such as power massaging seats and unique upholstery options are intended to set the truck apart, suggesting GMC is going after customers who don’t want to give up Denali-like features in exchange for off-road prowess. The mighty 6.2-litre V8 is standard here as well. These trims are in addition to the existing Sierra catalog. Elsewhere in the 2022 lineup, look for a redesigned front end (it’s not your imagination – that grille is four inches wider) similar in shape to what’s shown on this Denali Ultimate and AT4X, plus a trio of new colours. SLE trims and above will benefit from this new interior design, leaving base models with the old cabin, and GM’s 2.7-litre Turbo truck engine now gets a torque boost to 420 lb-ft, some 20 per cent more than last year. Barring supply chain challenges, look for the new Sierra on dealer lots in Q1 of 2022. The post 2022 GMC Sierra introduces Denali Ultimate, AT4X trims appeared first on WHEELS.ca.

October 21 is Back to the Future Day. The day that Marty McFly travelled to in 2015 in Back to the Future: Part 2 II, in order to save his kids (despite that changing the future in violation of the movie’s rules). For Porsche, October 21 2021 just happens to be close enough to the date where the company’s Electrify America and Ionity charging networks reached 1.21 gigawatts of combined power capacity. So they made a video to celebrate. To mark the day, Porsche made a 60 second film that celebrates the electric Porsche Taycan and the DeLorean of Back to the Future. The clip shows a Taycan being overtaken at speed (at least 88 mph) by Doc Brown’s time machine. The short is loaded with Easter Eggs, with the most obvious being the driver of the Taycan. Actor Donald Fullilove, who played Hill Valley Mayor Goldie Wilson in the franchise and is an EV enthusiast in real life. The part Porsche wants you to remember is the part about the 670 Electrify America charge sites and 372 Ionity locations (and nearly 30 Electrify Canada sites), making up close to 5,000 charge stations. With 800V charging and the Taycan’s 270 kW charge capability, the Porsche Taycan can power up from 5 to 80 percent in as few as 22 minutes. Taycan owners get the first 30 minutes of each charge for free during their first three years of owning their car, and the automaker points out that the in-car charging map and routing is much more convenient than waiting for a lightning bolt to hit the clock tower. The post Porsche Celebrates Back to the Future Day With 1.21 GW of Fast Charging appeared first on WHEELS.ca.

The Dodge Durango Hellcat should not exist. The vehicle is such an unnatural monstrosity, such an unholy perversion, that Dodge was only able to offer the Durango Hellcat for sale for a single year. Whether this was truly down to the “lawyers and bean counters” at Chrysler not loving the idea of a Hellcat-powered Durango, as was claimed at Dodge’s reveal last year, is anyone’s guess. Whatever the reason, the Hellcat trim will be unavailable on the Durango in 2022… and is presumably disappearing from all Dodge models after 2023. And since the 2021 Durango Hellcat is technically sold out, this monster is even more elusive — an even more uncommon and unnatural sight. The Dodge Durango Hellcat is a 710-horsepower freak of nature, standing in defiance of god and man. And I love it to pieces. Not just because of its accolades. Sure, the Durango Hellcat is the most powerful SUV in the world. But that’s just trivia. I think you have to judge a vehicle on whether or not it succeeds at the job (or jobs) it’s meant to do. And the Dodge Durango Hellcat is truly amazing because it succeeds at the two things it sets out to do. It is both a great family SUV and a ludicrous, borderline-terrifying muscle car. And it hasn’t had to do much compromising of either experience to achieve the other. In its role as a family SUV, there are only two real drawbacks of the Hellcat trim. First is the laughably terrible gas mileage — I found it difficult, even while behaving myself, to achieve anything better than an average of 17L/ 100km. Second, there is noticeable, additional noise, vibration and harshness over the standard SRT 392 model. The vehicle gently shakes a little at idle. It also shivers slightly and drones a bit from slow rolls. The suspension, in every setting, is mercilessly stiff, especially for what is supposed to be a big, comfy SUV. The 392 version is practically a Rolls Royce compared to the Hellcat. But honestly? I could care less. Those are minor concessions, especially when you consider the Durango Hellcat’s more aggressive supercharger setup, larger x-pipe with 4-inch exhaust outlet, specially tuned transmission and competition suspension with adaptive damping — an upgrade over the 392’s standard performance suspension. Further working its role as a family SUV, the Durango Hellcat is anything but Spartan on the inside. Our tester featured the $1,500 upgraded Laguna leather, high-performance seats, finished in “Demonic red” and embroidered with SRT Hellcat logos. What kid wouldn’t get a kick out of that? In addition to the Hellcat-specific interior finishing, you can expect to find all of the infotainment options available throughout the Durango lineup. Dodge’s Uconnect 10.1-inch touchscreen is present and remains simple and intuitive while navigating through its menus. Maps, Bluetooth streaming audio, hands-free communication and the ever wonderful SRT performance pages are easy to find and use in real-time. The system is also wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatible. Children will be most interested in the rear DVD “Entertainment Centre”, which features its own remote and headphone sets, and can be connected to a variety of devices, including a built-in Blu-ray player, found in the centre console. I’m personally most fond of the 19 Harman Kardon speakers and subwoofers found in the Durango. Harman Kardon remains, in my books, the best audio equipment currently found in any vehicle. The whole vibe of the Durango Hellcat makes it difficult to choose between blasting Iron Maiden or Run The Jewels through the phenomenally high fidelity speakers. There’s also a variety of expected safety features, including parking assist, blind-spot assist, and assisted braking.  No, none of this is as sexy as 710 horsepower. But it has to be said how incredible it is that the Durango Hellcat has 710 horsepower and a rear DVD entertainment centre. On the performance front, the Durango Hellcat carries through a few key components from the lesser SRT 392 model. The Quadra-Trac active on-demand transfer case, performance-tuned electric power steering, Brembo performance 4-wheel antilock disc brakes with red calipers, and 3.70 axle ratio are all carried over.  Outside, 20 x 10-inch machined aluminum wheels with “dark pockets”, red-accented stripes and a host of the menacing, unmistakable Hellcat badges help to distinguish the Hellcat from the less powerful 392 model. Which brings us to the power. The Durango Hellcat receives the beloved and epic 6.2-litre supercharged HEMI V8, tuned to 710 horsepower and 645 lb-ft or torque. Of course, in the Durango, unlike the Challenger and Charger, this goliath power is delivered to all four wheels. This is enough to propel the Durango Hellcat to 100 km/h in 3.5 seconds. A few real-world launch control tests with our tester scored between 4.1 seconds to 4.3 seconds on unprepped and sometimes wet surfaces. So a pro driver? On a prepared surface? Yeah, I’ll believe the brochure on that 3.5-second time. Those are just numbers, though. And if the Hellcat has done anything wrong, ever, it’s making the Internet think 700 horsepower is no big deal. But it is still, in 2021, a very, very big deal. You have to put this kind of power and acceleration into perspective. This six-passenger family sedan will eat a current generation Mustang GT or Camaro SS, and many previous generation Corvettes and 911 Carreras between the lights. In the world of SUVs… Porsche Macan GTS? Range Rover Sport? Never heard of them. You’re looking at the Lamborghini Urus before you can find an SUV which hangs with the Durango Hellcat. Is it really $40,000 more car than the 392? Yeah, it is. And then some. The 480-horsepower 392, 6.4-litre HEMI V8 is a lot of fun — in every application. What I love about that engine is that you really can use all of the horsepower most of the time. And if the 392 has any advantage over the Hellcat, it’s that. You can’t just use a Hellcat engine whenever you feel like it. You have to be calculating. And you have to be holding on. A blast to 80 km/h in a 392 is like being mauled by the cartoon Tasmanian devil. It’s in your face, but it’s all in good fun. There’s really no such thing as a blast to 80 km/h in a Hellcat, because before you know it, you’re doing… Well, let’s just say “a lot more than 80 km/h” to keep me out of any specific trouble. Put it this way: blink, and you’re shattering the speed limit. Full-throttle acceleration in a Hellcat feels like being sucked into the vacuum of space. The power feels all-consuming and seemingly endless. With your foot pinned to the floor, the whole car rears up and the front end lifts as you feel a great pressure on your chest and neck. Supercharger whine fills your ears as each upshift is complemented by exhaust crackles and bangs. As you become gripped in a tornado of violence and speed, you dare not even look down at the speedometer as the world is now coming at you faster than you can actually think. The Hellcat simply rips and tears you forward through space and time. The experience is a cacophony of noise and heart-pounding thrills. It’s pure euphoria. The 392 offers a very healthy amount of horsepower. 480 horsepower is more than most need, and presumably more than some can handle. But with a 392, you can always sense that there’s an end to it. Your feet can touch the bottom. A Hellcat, on the other hand, is like being in open water… on the ocean. Thrilling. Terrifying. And so much bigger and more powerful than you are. In that way, the Durango Hellcat isn’t just a good muscle car, but a great one. It demands you respect it and it never ceases to thrill you. I’ve often said that the 392 “Scat Pack” cars are fun more often than a Hellcat, and I stand by that. But a Hellcat offers a level of intoxication, enthrallment, and obsession with its power and acceleration that — even though there are so many reasons the 392 is the better buy in the real world — I just couldn’t possibly recommend a 392 to anyone who has the option of purchasing the Hellcat. The Dodge Durango Hellcat is a Frankenstein monster. It’s a collection of dead things, stitched together for the purpose of wreaking havoc on the puritanical villagers. Even though all it wants is for you to love it. And unfortunately, the pitchforks are out. The public can no longer tolerate monsters such as these and they will soon be gone forever. But a Hellcat is a monster I want in my life. Because a little bit of terror is fun. It reminds you that you’re alive. The post REVIEW: 2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat appeared first on WHEELS.ca.