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Is your new-car warranty good at the race track?

We've all heard the horror stories. Your buddy knows a girl that was dating a guy whose best friend's brother once broke his brand-new, recently purchased performance car while making runs at a drag strip or laps at a track day, and the manufacturer wouldn't cover the repair under warranty. True story? Urban legend? Complete crap? Yes, no, maybe. One thing's for sure: Automotive warranties have always come with caveats. In 1908, an ad in the Trenton Evening Times clearly stated: "All Ford Cars Guaranteed for One Year." Although it changed over time, by 1925 the Ford New Car Guarantee only covered 90 days on material and 30 days on labor, and it clearly stated that that there was "No guarantee whatever on Fan Belts, Glass, Bulbs, Wiring, Transmission, Bands, Hose Connections, Commutator Shells, Rollers, Spark Plugs or Gaskets." Whether or not Ol' Henry would pay to fix your Model T if you broke it shaving a tenth off your lap time at the local board track seems to be lost to history. We're guessing no. But what about today? Do new-car warranties in 2017 cover cars when they are driven on race tracks? We researched the warranties of 14 auto brands to find out, and the answer is yes, no, maybe, depending on the brand, in some cases the model, and whether or not your car is modified from stock. Acura has been out of the high-performance car game for a number of years, but jumps back into the party in 2017 with its hybrid-powered $173,000 NSX supercar. And Acura's warranty, as well as Honda's, clearly states that it does not cover "the use of the vehicle in competition or racing events." View 33 Photos So we asked Sage Marie, Senior Manager of Public Relations for Honda and Acura. "If the car is stock, the warranty covers it on a track just as it does on the street. No question," he told us. "However, if the car is modified, say with slick tires or other components that would put higher stresses on the vehicle's parts and systems, then we would have to investigate the circumstances further." Marie went on to say the same would be true for any Acura model or Honda vehicle, including the new 2017 Honda Civic Si. This became a common theme. Chevrolet actually started this practice with the fifth-generation Camaro on the high-performance ZL1 and Z/28 models.

2016 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid Quick Spin [w/video]

If a Chevy Volt is like a hybrid that prefers its electric motor, then the new Malibu hybrid is like a Volt you never have to plug in. That's partly because you can't plug it in, but more because the Volt and the gas-electric Malibu share a lot of major components. Since we happen to like the newly refined Volt, that's good news for the larger family sedan. The shared parts include the blended braking system, A/C compressor, the auxiliary power module, and most of the hybrid transaxle (what you might call a fancy electro-transmission). In the Malibu, the electric motors use neodymium magnets for efficiency and power, while the Volt has weaker ferrite magnets to reduce drag, and the Volt also gets an extra clutch to lock out the engine. The two use different batteries, with their size, power capabilities, and chemistry suited to the task for each vehicle. Unlike most of the midsized sedan leaders, the Malibu has never had a full hybrid option. For a few years in the last generation, Chevy offered the Malibu Eco with a version of GM's eAssist mild-hybrid system, which featured a small motor-generator in place of an alternator hooked up to a bigger battery that could harvest energy during deceleration and add some back in when you hit the throttle; it also brought engine stop-start functionality to save a little more fuel. But it saved only a little fuel, so eAssist was nixed in favor of a more efficient four-cylinder with a standalone stop-start system. Driving Notes Mode switches between gas and electric are just as smooth as in the Volt. No shudder or weirdness in the throttle. It drives as much like a gas-only car as any midsized hybrid does. The blended braking system is also noticeably well sorted. There's no deadness in the pedal, no touchiness, and no artificial, wooden feeling when you step through the regen portion of its travel. There's nothing abrupt or jarring about any of the experience, and the Malibu's baked-in quietness helps to deal with noise from the somewhat coarse 1.8-liter gas engine. Engine startup and shutdown are noisy from outside, but much less noticeable from within. The 2016 Malibu is larger yet lighter. The hybrid weighs about 125 pounds more than a comparably equipped 1.5T. You don't notice the extra weight, but there is some space eaten out of the trunk by the battery.

How to locate a fleet Chevy Caprice PPV you can buy

The Chevy Caprice shares the same platform as the now-defunct Pontiac G8 and Chevy's SS sedan. The Pontiac G8 received excellent reviews, but the economy was not doing so well, and gas prices were high, so no one bought them and Pontiac went under. The Caprice PPV is available with a 3.6-liter V6 with 300 horsepower or a 6.0-liter V8 with 355 hp. It comes standard with heavy-duty suspension and a limited-slip differential on the V8 model. The Chevy Caprice also received praise for its handling and road manners and even received a perfect score in a past assessment by the LA County Sheriff's Department. Unfortunately, you won't be able to buy one new even if you want one. The Chevy Caprice PPV is a fleet vehicle available only to law enforcement. However, if you go on Cars.com, select Chevrolet in the dropdown, click all types of vehicles, change the year filter from 2011 to 2015 and type in the keyword Caprice, lo and behold, listings for pre-owned Caprice PPVs appear. Many of these have low mileage and were not sold for whatever reason, and they sat around. Some come with the remainder of the three-year / 36,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty and a five-year / 100,000-mile warranty on the powertrain. Those who have strong negotiating skills can extend the bumper-to-bumper warranty a couple of years for around $1,500 or less. The purchase price of the Caprice PPV is around $30,000 to 34,000. The pre-owned ones are less; dealers took the brunt of the depreciation cost. Best of all, the bonus of driving a Chevy Caprice PPV is everyone driving around you will follow the speed limit and every motor vehicle rule in the book because they think you are the law. Used ex-law enforcement fleet purchase are risky. But this is too unique to pass up, go buy one quick. There are only a couple in the country at the moment. Follow me on Twitter: Donkleblanc Related Video: Image Credit: wikimedia Chevrolet Used Car Buying Police/Emergency chevy caprice chevy caprice ppv open road