It didn't have to be like this. In the age of green screens and VFX houses, filmmakers responsible for the sixth installment of the "Fast & Furious" franchise didn't have to actually destroy hundreds of cars.

They didn't have to run over a custom 1969 Ford Mustang with a tank. The 2008 BMW M5, one of several demolished, didn't need to be thrown through a building. And the 1970 Ford Escort Mark 1 — beloved in the United Kingdom — didn't need to be tossed 70 feet in the air over a freeway divider with a live stunt driver behind the wheel. Twice.

"He likes to use as little CG as possible," said Dennis McCarthy of "Fast & Furious 6" director Justin Lin, referring to computer-generated imagery. From his sprawling shop in Los Angeles' Sun Valley neighborhood, McCarthy has assembled and modified millions of dollars of cars for each of the last four "Fast" films Lin has directed. The latest installment opens on Friday.

PHOTOS: The cars of 'Fast & Furious 6'

Fans of the "Fast"...

The redesigned 2014 Subaru Forester captured the top spot in Consumer Reports' reviews of small SUVs.

It bested similar crossovers that were recently redesigned, including the Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V and Mazda CX-5, in what has become a competitive segment of the auto industry.

Consumer Reports noted that Subaru resisted a trend in which other automakers have made their small SUVs sportier. Instead, Subaru focused on utilitarian basics, such as a space-efficient design, large windows, and big square doors. That has given the Forester a spacious cabin with good visibility.

“Overall, if you’re looking for a small SUV that’s very functional and fuel-efficient, the Forester is hard to beat,” said Jake Fisher, director, Consumer Reports Auto Test Center.

The Forester also gets a segment-leading 26 miles per gallon overall and 35 mpg on the highway, Consumer Reports found.

Still there are some glitches. Consumer Reports dinged the Forester for a jittery ride, calling...

Honda continues its aggressive roll-out of new models -- six new machines launched since February, and 19 over the last two years -- with the impressive CBR500 trio of R, F and X units.

They're long on style, performance and value, and short on price, part of Honda's commitment to put new riders on Honda motorcycles.

Built in Honda's new Thailand factories -- like the company's new CBR250 and dual purpose CRF250L -- the CBR500s feature a parallel twin, fuel-injected, 500cc engine. It's a lightweight, low-vibration power plant, built on the same engine platform as the CBR250 and designed to run maximum miles with minimum maintenance.

PHOTO GALLERY: Top Ten Most Expensive Motorcycles The three models are priced competitively -- aggressively, even. The CBR500R, the road race model, lists at $5999, with a $500 kicker for the ABS braking package. The CBR500F, the "naked" style urban model, lists at $5499, plus $500 for the ABS. The CBR500X, the "adventure" version, doesn't yet have an MSRP...

A bill to extend carpool-lane access for electric cars and other zero-emission vehicles passed the California Assembly by a wide margin Monday.

The legislation, AB 266 written by Robert Blumenfield (D-Woodland Hills), also gives such vehicles access to carpool lanes converted to toll roads. The bill passed on a 49-22 vote and now moves on to the state Senate.

Under Blumenfield’s legislation, cars with white clean-air vehicle stickers — such as electric, hydrogen fuel cell or compressed natural-gas vehicles — would get carpool-lane access to 2020.  If the bill doesn’t pass, the program phases out in 2015.

Cars with green stickers — plug-in hybrids — would get carpool lane use until 2018. 

While there is no limit on the amount of white stickers, green stickers are capped at 40,000. 

“We won’t make a dent in our clean air and climate goals without getting more of these cars on the road,” said Blumenfield.  “With more clean cars...

Though Aston Martin is spending this year looking back on its past 100 years, the British automaker recently took a quick glimpse into its future as well.

The company debuted the CC100 Speedster Concept at Sunday’s famed 24 Hours of Nurburgring. The car pays homage to the DBR1 that racing legend Sterling Moss piloted to victory on the same course in 1959.

Hence the car’s slightly odd setup: it lacks a windshield and the driver and passenger are separated by a carbon fiber body panel that bisects the cockpit at shoulder level.

PHOTOS: Aston Martin brings CC100 concept to 24 Hours of Nurburgring

In fact, all of the CC100’s panels are carbon fiber, as is the interior. Aston crammed its 6.0-liter V-12 engine under the hood. It pushes power to the rear wheels via a six-speed automated manual transmission with steering-column-mounted paddle shifters.

The company estimates the car will hit 60 mph in four seconds and has a top speed of 180 mph. Both this new concept and the...

Delinquent auto loans and vehicle repossessions rose in the U.S. by double-digit percentages in the first quarter of the year, Experian Automotive reported.

The number of auto loans delinquent at least 60 days climbed 12.4% in the first quarter compared with the same period in 2012. Repossessions, meanwhile, surged 16.9% from a year earlier.

Loans made by finance companies accounted for the increase in repossessions, Experian said. Repossession rates fell on loans from both banks and credit unions.

Automakers and banks eased their credit terms in the past year, lending more to people with lower credit ratings.

Despite the surging delinquencies and repossessions, both remained well below record levels.

"When you compare the current findings with previous years, they are still lower than the recession-level rates,” said Melinda Zabritski, Experian’s senior director of automotive credit.

Even those who financed through the riskiest subprime auto loans, she added, are doing...

Maserati of North America is recalling 7,438 model year 2005-2008 Quattroportes, model year 2008 GranTurismos, and model year 2008 Alfa Romeo 8Cs for a corrosion problem that could lead to a loss of control of the cars.

One of Maserati's slogans is "excellence through passion." GranTurismos that sold for $120,000 or more when brand new still fetch as much as $68,200 after five years.

But even Maserati owners have problems with their cars.

PHOTOS: The 10 worst cars ever

The rear tie rod assemblies on the cars "may have insufficient anti-corrosion material applied, allowing them to weaken and possibly fail," according to documents on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website.

"Failure of the tie rods may result in a loss of vehicle control and increase the risk of a crash," the NHTSA documents said.

Maserati and Alfa Romeo are owned by the Italian car giant Fiat SpA. The automaker says it has no reports of accidents or injuries related to the problem.

Maserati will...

It looks like a truck, drives like a truck and hauls like a truck. So the 2013 Ram 1500 is, you guessed it, very much a truck.

This is despite the fact that beneath the handsome sheet metal are two key elements that, until recently, would have disqualified it from many full-size-truck buyers' lists: an eight-speed transmission and a V-6 engine.

Both are new additions for the current Ram truck, which received a thorough mid-life makeover for the 2013 model year. The new drivetrain and thoughtful upgrades mean this truck is well positioned to take on the longtime sales champ — the Ford F-150 — as well as all-new full-size pickups from Chevrolet and Toyota due out later this year.

PHOTOS: 2013 Ram 1500 gets a thorough makeover

This generation of the Ram was initially launched in 2009. But until this refresh, buyers who didn't want (or couldn't afford) a V-8 had to settle for a tepid V-6 and a four-speed automatic.

Fuel economy has also becoming a serious consideration for...

The gig: Felix Holst is vice president of design for the Mattel Wheels Division and the chief designer behind the Hot Wheels and Matchbox toy car brands. He supervises more than 50 designers who work on toy cars and related products.

"We get to engage in automotive fantasy in little 3-inch works of art," said Holst, who lives in Venice.

Prior gig: Bassist and manager of The Kustombuilt, a British rock band that toured England for five years.

"The two passions in my life have been cars and music," Holst said.

Mattel contributed to Holst's music as well as his car career. The designer got his chance to pursue the rock band when Mattel closed the British office where Holst worked in 1996. This was about the time the band started to get its single played on BBC radio.

"I figured this was a good time to see if I had a future in rock and roll," Holst said.

The name of the band came straight from California car culture, a reference to the idea that custom cars are "built from scraps here and...

Automakers are spending billions of dollars to squeeze efficiency from a car part most people never think twice about — the transmission.

Over the next five years, many new vehicles will have transmissions with up to 10 speeds, replacing the mostly six-speed transmissions in cars now. Though designed for refinement and performance, the transmissions aim mostly to help meet stricter federal fuel economy and pollution standards.

"We are trying to extract efficiency out of every subsystem of the vehicle," said Mircea Gradu, vice president of transmission and driveline engineering at Chrysler Group. "There are very aggressive targets that are in front of us."

This year, Chrysler has already added eight-speed transmissions to some of its Ram trucks and a couple of Chrysler sedans. It plans to put a nine-speed gearbox in the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Dart.

General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. launched a joint project last month to create nine-speed and 10-speed transmissions for...

Boldly proclaiming, "The year 2013 will be remembered in motorcycling history as the year that Husqvarna was reborn," KTM on Thursday announced that the venerable Swedish motorcycle manufacturer will join its sibling rival Husaberg under the KTM umbrella.

This looks like good news for Husky fans. But what happens to Husaberg?

The 110-year-old Husqvarna was purchased this year from BMW by Pierer Industries AG, a company controlled by Stefan Pierer -- chief executive of KTM. BMW had bought the company --which started life in 1689 as an arms maker for the Swedish crown and began selling motorcycles in 1903 -- five years ago from the owners of MV Agusta brand, which had acquired the line when it bought Italian motorcycle company Cagiva, which in turn had taken charge of Husqvarna decades earlier.

(An entirely different Husqvarna is the world's largest manufacturer of chain saws, lawn mowers and other power garden tools, but it is no longer affiliated with the motorcycle company. Another...