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Gaywheels.com yesterday announced its Top 10 Most-Researched Vehicles list for the third quarter of 2008. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered car shoppers, who make up the Web site’s demographic, continued to show favor for Volkswagen models, keeping the Rabbit and the Eos in first and second place, respectively. The list is based on website statistics gathered from July 1, 2008 – September 30, 2008 from Gaywheels.com’s New Car section.

The Mazda3 yielded its third-place spot to sister car MX-5, which now shares the bronze with Audi’s A3. There was another tie on the list for fourth place, between the Mazda3 and Volkswagen Jetta; the spot for 6th place was a tie between the Saab 9-3 and Dodge Caliber, and 9th was a tie between the Toyota Matrix and the Mini Cooper.

Out of ten slots, and four ties, there was only one domestic vehicle that made the cut – the Dodge Caliber. While it doesn’t seem surprising that image and quality-conscious gays and lesbians cotton to brands like Volkswagen, Audi, Saab, Volvo, MINI, and even Maserati, the random Dodge Caliber that tied for sixth is a non sequitur. Maybe it’s the availability of that vehicle’s six-pack-cooling glove box? (The gays do NOT drink room-temperature diet coke).

To view the list in its entirety, visit gaywheels.com.

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In a test that included 17 midsize SUVs, Consumer Reports placed the new Ford Flex in fourth place and the upgraded Mazda CX-9 in fifth. On the other hand, the redesigned Honda Pilot fell to 11th place, surpassed by the GMC Acadia, Saturn Outlook, Hyundai Veracruz, Buick Enclave and Ford Taurus X that nudged it out of the top ten.

Consumer Reports praised the Flex's quiet and luxurious interior, flexible interior layout, SYNC electronics package, and considerable rear seat room. They also liked the fact that the Flex was lower to the ground and more like a station wagon than the other SUVs and crossovers in the test.

The magazine found lots to like about the Mazda CX-9, noting its agility, quietness, steering, transmission, interior flexibility and blind spot detection system as strong points. They found that in just one model year, the CX-9 had "improved considerably" and considered it among the sportiest SUVs they've ever driven.

The November issue of Consumer Reports, which includes this test, is on newsstands now.--Colin Mathews

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Fall is upon us, and for most of the country that means dropping temperatures. The air - or even nitrogen for some of you Sam's Club geeks - in your tires shrinks as it gets colder outside.

As morning temps dip lower and lower, checking your tires weekly before setting off, which of course you always do, might result in their pressure dropping week by week. Don't worry - if the change is small, you don't have a leak. Rather, as the air in your tires gets colder along with the weather as fall progresses, its volume decreases. This results in it taking less space in your tire, ergo a drop in tire pressure on the gauge. For every 10 degree drop in temperature, tire pressures drop roughly 1-2 psi (depending upon tire size and overall volume of air inside). Because of this same phenomenon, always check tire pressure in the morning before the tire has heated up from driving duty.

Did you know there's an organization called the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA)? Well there is, and they urge drivers to check their pressures at least once a month for reasons that include both safety and economy. We'd recommend doing it weekly. Even if your pressures are spot-on week after week, it's a good way to commune with your machine and it builds character to get the hands dirty from time to time. RMA claims that 85 percent of American drivers "do not know how to check their tire pressures correctly." We hope you're not that clueless, but if so it's your little secret, and you can visit betiresmart.org to get with the program.

If your tires are low on pressure, you'll end up sucking down extra gasoline just to keep your ride moving down the highway. Not to mention, you'll be creating intense friction, which results in heat, which can ultimately result in nasty things like tread separation. As we all remember too well from the Ford/Firestone fiasco, tread separation is no trifling matter.

Quick note for you more-is-better types: overinflation ain't so hot, either. While you may eke out a little more mpg riding on rock-hard rubber pumped up to max specs, you'll wear bald spots in the center of the tread as my grandfather, the King Of Overdoing It, found out with his '80s Chevy Suburban diesel (this from the same man who brushed his teeth so aggressively with a "firm" toothbrush that he landed himself a mouthful of root canals).

So get out your quarters and try to find a gas station with an operable air pump that hasn't been run over by late night drunkards or fallen hopelessly out of service by stressed station owners. Or do what my ultra-organized father does: buy an air pump that plugs into the cigarette lighter auxiliary power outlet in your vehicle. He swears by the mini-compressor that I hear rattling away in his garage from time to time.--Colin Mathews

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Marking the tenth anniversary of adorable (if slow) little smart cars roaming the streets, Daimler AG has teamed with NASA and equipped the fortwo with solid rocket boosters enabling the vehicle to launch into space and orbit the earth. A moon landing is planned for 2011.

In another zinger, Dr. Dieter Zetsche, President and CEO of Daimler AG, proudly announced, "we invented the car - and we will do it again!"

But in all seriousness, smart is gearing up to produce an all-electric fortwo model, the fortwo ed, that will be beta-tested in Berlin, and will be part of the program known as "e-mobility Berlin." While all-electric smart fortwos have been on the road since 2007, when the brand leased 100 of them to Londoners, the fortwo ed will make use of the ultra-efficient lithium-ion battery, and that is the big news here from smart at the Paris Auto Show.

Automakers are still perfecting the operating characteristics of the lithium-ion battery, so this smart stands as a concept for now. But the promise of a high-range, zero-emissions city runabout with a cult following like the smart has enjoyed since 1998 (over one million on the road in a total of 37 countries) makes a lot of sense for European cities, where fuel costs are outrageous and congestion is a serious issue. Daimler AG promises test versions in Berlin at the end of 2009.

e-mobility Berlin is a consortium of the German government, the state of Berlin, and energy provider RWE. Daimler AG is stepping in to provide 100 smart ed vehicles, and RWE will be providing 500 charging stations. With all four entities working together, the group represents the largest electric vehicle program of its kind, and they all plan to work out the kinks of an electric-only infrastructure, the issues presented by charging, and the challenges of bringing reliable and safe lithium-ion technology to the mass market.

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We already told you about the Kia Soul Hybrid's "transparent acrylic bonnet and floor," all the better to show off its gas/electric propulsion system and battery packs. But the official view from Paris also shows a panoramic powered folding fabric roof, a rare-but-cool feature seen on the likes of the BMW 318 ti and 1963 Volkswagen Beetle (where it was fabric but manually operated).

We also told you about the high-torque permanent magnet electric motor that fortifies the Gamma 1.6-liter gasoline four to the tune of an extra 77 lb-ft and 20 horsepower, and routes that addional urge to the Soul's wheels via a Kia-developed CVT.

Just like many other gas/electric hybrids (Kia being the king of imitation), the electric motor is mounted between the flywheel and the transmission, where it acts as starter motor and assistant for acceleration and hill-climbing. This electric ally also shuts off during high speed cruising and employs regenerative braking to recharge the "Li-Poly 180 volt, 5.3 Ah power pack" located in the floor of the Soul's trunk (the very bottom of its Soul?).

Kia claims economy ratings of 48 mpg U.S., putting it in a virtual dead heat with Audi's A4 TDI concept e (48.95). Kia's claim that its Soul Hybrid "will accelerate briskly" from zero to 62 mph in 12.3 seconds reveals that this will be a poky little beast, and will eat the dust of both the Toyota Prius and the aforementioned Audi (10.4 and 10.7 seconds to 60 mph, respectively). Kia says top speed will be 97 mph. The Audi tops out at 128 mph, and we've heard reports of the Prius hitting 106 mph. Autobahn drivers, take note.--Colin Mathews