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GM recalling 524k vehicles over hood latches and toe link nuts

Just hours after confirming to Autoblog its intention to recall 97,540 vehicles in the US (117,651 in North America) for a possible manufacturing defect in the chassis control module of several models, General Motors is issuing two more campaigns that affect another 379,401 units in the US (524,384 in North America).
One campaign covers 290,107 US examples of the 2010-2015 Cadillac SRX and the 2011-2012 Saab 9-4X because the "rear toe link adjuster lock nuts" may be improperly torqued. If not up to spec, the toe adjuster link could separate and allow the wheel to shift while driving, making the handling unstable. GM says that it knows of three crashes and two injuries as a result of this problem. Dealers are inspecting the nuts and installing a new link assembly, if necessary. Autoblog first reported about this potential issue when it showed up on a list of recalls from Transport Canada.
The second recall is for 89,294 examples of the 2013-2015 Chevrolet Spark in the US manufactured from January 17, 2012, through July 29, 2014. According to GM, "corrosion can cause the secondary hood latch striker to stick in the open position." If this happens, and the primary latch also isn't engaged for some reason, the hood could fly open while driving. About 13,000 of these affected Sparks are at dealers and are being held until repaired. The fix requires replacing the hood striker. GM isn't aware of crashes, injuries or fatalities caused by this problem.

Cars with the most reckless drivers are full of surprises

Insurify is a site for comparing auto insurance quotes. Because insurance shoppers need to submit information like the vehicles they're driving and the infractions they've compiled while driving those vehicles, Insurify has quite the database of correlations tying certain models to a habit of breaking certain laws. When the site's data analysts decided to compile a list of the top ten models for reckless driving citations in the decade from 2010 to 2019, the ranking contained a few wild entries. The Dodge Challenger making the countdown will surprise precisely zero people. But the Saturn L200? First, a definition: USLegal.com defines reckless driving as "driving with a willful or wanton disregard for safety. It is the operation of an automobile under such circumstances and in such a manner as to show a willful or reckless disregard of consequences." So this list is a caution about particular drivers more than the cars. For a baseline, according to Insurify data, for any random model, 15 out of 10,000 people who drive that model have picked up one citation for reckless driving. Back to that Challenger, then. No shocker for being here, but it's actually number 10, with 44 out of 10,000 Challenger drivers nabbed for a willful disregard of consequences on the road. That's better than the first surprise entry, the Saturn L200, a sedan only on sale for six years, with the least horsepower on the list, and out of production since 2005. The data set put drivers of GM's extraterrestrial sedan at 45 reckless pilots per 10,000 drivers. There are two pickups on the list, the only modern one being the Ram 1500 at eighth, with a rate of 46 in 10,000. Somehow, drivers of the third-best-selling pickup in the U.S. outrun the overwhelming numerical superiority of the best-selling vehicle in the States, the Ford F-150. The other pickup is the Chevrolet K1500 at number five, with a rate of 56 in 10,000. This is not only the oldest vehicle on the list, it went out of production in 2002, before any other vehicle on the list. Between the trucks, the Volkswagen CC slotted in at seven with 47 in 10,000 reckless driving chits, the Cadillac ATS slipped into sixth with 48 in 10,000.  The top four is a bag of unexpected. The Nissan 370Z is the first hardcore sports car on the list at number four, with 61 in 10,000 Z drivers flaunting their Fairladys in the face of Johnny Law.

Hottest Cadillac CT4-V and CT5-V rumored to offer manual transmissions

We recently received one large detail to fill in the picture of the hottest versions of the Cadillac CT4-V and CT5-V, the sedans maybe or maybe not called Blackwing. As you know, due to a platform switch caused by cost cutting at parent GM, the 4.2-liter twin-turbo Blackwing V8 won't figure in the equation because it won't fit in the engine bay of either sedan. The new, gone-too-soon engine is too wide and too tall. The hottest V models will turn to stalwarts in the range, the CT4-V appearing to get the 3.6-liter twin-turbo V6 used in the departed ATS-V, the CT5-V working with the 6.2-liter supercharged V8 also put to use in the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and C7 Corvette Z06. But all of this could mean good news for three-pedal enthusiasts; both engines have been paired with manual transmissions previously, and Muscle Cars & Trucks says both of the coming flagship V models will get manual transmissions. We've expected a manual in the CT4-V. Not only did GM President Mark Reuss say, "Cadillac will make manuals in V-Series" during the launch of the milder V variants, but spy video of the CT4-V from last summer captured a camouflaged CT4-V looking and acting like a car with a manual gearbox. However, no one surmised that the CT5-V would get a manual, too. None of the bigger sedan's competition is sold with a stick shift, and the retired CTS-V with the same 6.2-liter supercharged V8 was only sold with an eight-speed automatic, while just one aisle over the Camaro ZL1 offered a six-speed manual and the Corvette Z06 a seven-speed manual. The last time Cadillac put a row-your-own in the midsize luxury scorcher was the second-gen CTS-V — the one that came in a wagon bodystyle, too — which paired a supercharged LS9 V8 derived from the C6 Corvette ZR1 and a six-speed Tremec manual. MCT doesn't cite any sources, so take this as rumor for now. It's possible to read Reuss' statement in line with this rumor, though. The assumption has been that the plural "manuals" referred to multiple stick shifts going into multiple CT4-V sedans, whereas he could have meant there will be two manual-equipped sedans in the V-Series range. We'll hope for the best and see what pops out of the transmission tunnels on both sedans when they debut later this year. Related Video: