Catching Up to Speed: Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2008

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German car news
Buzz continues to build for the 2009 BMW 7-Series (think $80,000 neighborhood), which includes a revamped iDrive system. AutoWeek reports that ‘menus now flow intuitively from one to another,’ while ‘redundant shortcut buttons sit around the main controller wheel — including a much-needed back button.’

Meanwhile, Volkswagen announced details and showcased photos of the sixth-generation Golf (leaked images were already published online last weekend). The 2009 wagon, complete with interior instruments and chrome accents like those on the Passat CC, as well as either a gasoline or diesel engine, will go on sale in Europe this fall and eventually head to North America.

Acura RL gets top safety pick award
It’s also been a big press week for the Honda imprint. On Tuesday, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gave this year’s Top Safety Pick award to the 2009 Acura RL. The luxury sedan got ‘good’ marks (the institute’s highest rating) on front, side and rear crash tests. Today, Leftlanenews.com showed photos of the new Acura CUV, which it believes will have the same chassis as the 2009 Acura TL.

Inflate your tires, save the world?
Barack Obama defends his comments that driving on properly inflated tires will improve gas mileage and cut oil consumption, despite a John McCain campaign backlash mocking it.

— Whitney Friedlander