Hennessey has just cranked out their street legal monster tuned version of the Corvette ZR1 called the Hennessey ZR700. By re-tuning and adding a new intake, exhaust and supercharger pulley this bitch can now yank you back in your seats with a 705HP and 717 LB-FT of torque!!
Here is a short yet insane sounding Pagani Zonda R Video from the Monza track in Italy. If doesn’t give you a slight shiver and glimpse of how ridiculously awesome the new Pagani Zonda R is, then you should immediately find someone to drag you behind a shed and put you out of your misery. Don’t forget to checkout the Pagani Zonda R - Monza Track Pictures and the Pink Pagani Zonda spotted in Singapore in 2008.
The graffiti on the wall in the photo above expresses my profound sentiments for this car!
Here is a massive 42 Inch Chrome wheel by Lexani Luxury Alloy Wheels. According to Jalopnik this is now it’s 3rd year at the SHOW without rubber on it. I wonder when when the rubber companies are gonna get their shit together so that we can see a 42 on a Hummer H2.
Up until now, much of I've written about the smart fortwo has been relatively objective, due to the fact that I personally haven't been in the market for one of the little models. Today that changes, however, as a family member is considering the purchase of a new fortwo, and it's with rather mixed emotions that I write this article. A few days ago at the start of the Detroit Auto Show, Daimler announced that at the end of 2009 the company will begin production of an electric smart fortwo, and they are "exploring" opportunities for the United States market. They then took the opportunity to detail at length the various projects currently underway in which electric fortwo models are in operation, such as the previously detailed "e-mobility Berlin." But going back to what I said originally, with a family member considering a new fortwo, American consumers have to ask: what the hell is taking so long?
Wouldn't you just love to be a fly on the White House auto task force wall. We know we would. What do you suppose they're saying in there? [CNBC]
This is the Perana Z-One. With a beautiful skin lovingly crafted by Zagato and a 6.2-liter V8 Corvette engine under the hood, there's nothing about this 999-unit two-seater that doesn't scream hot sex.
We're still waiting for the full press release, but here's what we know — the Perana Z-one is the first fruits of a collaboration between Milanese coachbuilders Zagato and a newly formed South African Vehicle Manufacturer called Perana Performance Group. It'll be built in South Africa as a 999-unit limited-run (as opposed to Zagato's normal 99-unit run) 2-seater coupe. Thanks to a Corvette LS3 under the hood, it'll also be fast — with a 0-to-62 time of under four seconds. The price? Around R750 000 (or around $115,400 $75,000 for those of us who barter in greenbacks).
The Perana Z-One will be revealed officially at the Geneva Motor Show next month, so for the moment, we'll have to make due with the renderings and sketches above. Frankly, if it's this sexy rendered, we can't wait to see what it'll look like in the real-life sheet metal.
Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione? Forget it. Retro must die. Instead, the just-announced MiTo GTA Concept is the car Alfa should return to the United States with. It’s irreverently anti-retro, futuristic and very, very Alfa.
We are tiptoeing down a canyon road on spent winter tires in the wake of a bus kicking up gray sludge at every turn, a road put on this green Earth for Tsuiso drifts and gravity runs on April nights with the transmission in neutral and no sound but crickets and the wind. An Alfa MiTo powers its way uphill and flashes by us in a quick ball of pearlescent black. This is one of the perks of living in Europe. The other: tomatoes come in red, as opposed to sickly ethylene orange.
All Alfas should be driven in anger. This one? No different. The range on the tach beginning at 5,000 rpm? Every time you drop below that, God kills a bunny. Magic akin to Honda’s VTEC happens from then on and students of mechanics should be able to explain to you the tiny machined parts involved. Unfortunately, I’m a student of that peculiar strand of piano wire that goes straight from you eardrums into your heart and which shares the eigenfrequency of high RPM engine noises. So I can’t tell you anything about the mechanics. Let it suffice for me to say hearing it will make you happy.
Mimette is guiding us down the canyon road with a sure hand and since she is well-versed in Alfas, twenty-four valve V6’s in particular, with the inlet pipes lined up in one neat chromed row, I say: “So hey, did you see the MiTo GTA?”
The MiTo tortures her. If you’ve owned Alfas, you don’t buy teeny-tiny Alfas, you buy big Alfa sedans with twin exhausts to carry the gospel of the V6. But try living with a 16-foot sedan in a cramped unplanned European city. You’ll go mad trying to park it. So she sold her big Alfa for a tiny, zingy Fiat, a Punto, which will be replaced by the Grande Punto upon which the Alfa MiTo will be built. Big names, yes, but we’re talking about cars concealable in an average American bacon cheeseburger. And the MiTo would be her logical choice: skip the Grande Punto, it’s all supermini and all Alfa.
But what if it’s retrograde like the Fiat 500 and the Mini Cooper? I’m afraid that would be the end of it as a reasonable pick. Retrograde is what is killing the age of the automobile. You can sex it up all you want by calling it retrofuturism and applying Ford GR–1 concept levels of chrome. Whatever. You're still saying: I have given up and the Sixties are good enough for me. Obviously, they are not. The 500 and the Mini fail this test. Growth hormone and twelve airbags do not Vorsprung make.
Trouble is brewing for our MiTo, even though the GTA spec conjures up a ludicrous 240 HP from five Coke cans of engine (turbocharged, yes, but this is still on the outer reaches of Hondas and Ferraris and whatnot). The MiTo is essentially the 8C Competizione if the bigger Alfa was transmogrified into a European supermini. Also, if the 8C wasn’t a horrible retro sports coupé for rich buyers who happened to come into wealth forty years too late to enjoy it.
Oh yes, grown men will grow knee joints of Jell-O in its presence and its flat-crank V8 is a marching band but—aside from an impressive array of technological underpinnings—it is a forty year old car. It is actually called the Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale and it was built in 1967.
Let’s go back now to 2007. My friend Larry and I are 120 MPH-ing our way through the foothills of the Italian Alps when he takes an exit to pull into the town of Rovereto and says: “Peter, you have got to see this.” And by this he means an exhibit on Italian car design where you float past a Miura and a Ferrari F40 to come face to face with the 33 Stradale. Here you go, and that’s Larry on the phone:
After an absolute massacre in the early years of Formula 1, Alfa Romeo retired from racing only to return in the middle of the 60s with the moderately successful Tipo 33 that most importantly spawned the 33 Stradale. If you’ve never seen one in person, the best way to describe the feeling is to have all the blood flush out of your head all at once and proceed fortwith to your nether regions. Only eighteen were made.
Each has 230 HP—less than the MiTo GTA!—, but they come from a 2-liter racing V8 that redlines at 10K with no more than 1,500 pounds of car to propel all the way to 160 MPH. And then you peek through the transparent engine cover to see eight velocity trumpets stacked behind your head. If your significant other has long hair, those eight velocity trumpets will suck up the strands and proceed to light them on fire.
That’s the 33 Stradale and, in a twist of design, this is where the MiTo GTA transcends the 500, the Mini and all the other old cars masquerading as new cars automakers make these days. It’s a boy racer supermini modeled on a shamelessly unoriginal supercar, itself modeled on perhaps the most awesome street special, with race cred in spades. But as I said earlier, forget the 8C Competizione: Frank Stephenson, designer of the MiTo, has morphed an elusive supercar into a boy racer you will actually be able to buy. That’s not retrograde, that’s pure irreverence.
And what a gorgeous design. Yes, diffusers are the new rear wings on hot hatches, but since when do city cars have field mortars for exhausts? Or masses of spider legs for rims? Or better yet, inverted Hofmeister kinks for rear windows? I dare you to drive one and not feel as if there's superglue sneakily squirted between the go pedal and the floor.
Let’s just hope the engine won’t fall to bits producing those 141 HP per liter. Or that they’ll dial out the turbo lag. Let’s just hope that Alfa Romeo will actually make it because the MiTo GTA is a brilliant, hopeful hot hatch. It’s got heritage, it’s got futurism, and it’s what Alfa Romeo should return to the United States with, not a retro sports coupé for your local James Glickenhaus-type. Give us the future any day, not the past.
Peter Orosz, the editor of Hyperleggera, a website he fervently claims is not a car blog (although it really is, we don't care what he says — Ed.), pens Jalopnik’s newest feature dubbed "Crazy Euro Car Boy." It's a series all about one Hungarian sometimes-motoring journalist’s obsession with the cult of cars.
As we've come to expect from Swedish cars these days, the 2010 Volvo S80 is getting a chrome facelift rather than a complete redesign. But with a new, ultra-fuel-efficient twin-turbo diesel, that might be enough.
This new S80 isn't just about added chrome detail or increased fuel efficiency (up to 41 MPG combined), it's about driving. In addition to the standard model, a lowered, sports suspension package is now on offer while the most powerful diesel (still capable of returning 38 MPG) mages 310 Lb-Ft of torque.
This all sounds like an improvement to Volvo's flagship, but we still long for the days when an expensive Volvo meant more than a fancy Ford. [via WCF]
With the reveal of the 2010 Chrysler 300C, 2010 Jeep Grand Cherokee and the 2010 Dodge Charger we overlooked the reveal of the 2010 Dodge Durango in Chrysler's Viability Plan. Old-vs-new comparison below.
We compared the 2010 Dodge Charger and 2010 Chrysler 300C to their existing models this morning, but we've now come across new profile images of the 2010 Dodge Durango and 2010 Jeep Grand Cherokee in Chrysler's Viability Plan documents.
The 2010 Durango is all-new and looks the part, leaving behind the bloated look of the current model and replacing it with a much more streamlined design. Gone are the over-inflated wheel arches and B-pillar split day light opening. The rear quarter window has a slight hint of Magnum in its design as well as the forward sweep of the rear hatch. Chrysler looks to have opted for less of a rugged truck-like feel, instead approaching the design with some much needed sensitivity. Like both the 2010 300C and 2010 Charger, the 2010 Durango receives softer, less protruding front and rear bumper surfaces as well. We're guessing the 2010 Durango will no longer be marketed as an SUV, rather Chrysler will jump on the CUV bandwagon with the new model.
The 2010 Jeep Grand Cherokee on the other hand retains its SUV-like design. The wheel arches appear to have been softened, but they still have a sense of ruggedness to them. The day light opening appears to now be one single unit with the use of blackout B- and C-pillars and also seems to be a little bit shorter giving it higher perceived belt line. The tail lamps are now smaller, but continue to wrap around to the side and the rear sweep of the hatch remains true to the current Grand Cherokee. Again, the bumpers are close to zero offset, helping to define the overall shape of the truck. The front end, which we can see clearly, doesn't need much explanation about its new design direction other than the 7-slot grille is now more pronounced and appears to be wider. The headlights lose the signature Jeep roundness, instead they've been replaced with smaller, sleeker units that wrap around to the side. The hood has also been reworked and features a defined shoulder that intersects the mid-section just above the grille.
We'll have to wait for some new clearer images to really make a judgment call on the new 2010 Dodge Durango and 2010 Jeep Grand Cherokee, but from what we can see so far, Chrysler's done an a-ok job creating a couple of easily forgettable entries into the already bloated SUV market. Carry on.
The bludgers at Holden announced today ahead of the 2009 Melbourne International Motor Show the right-hand-drive 2009 Holden Cruze econobox, yet another badge-engineered Chevy product for the Aussies.
We know what you're thinking. You've already seen the 2012 Chevy Cruze and you're wondering what's the big deal. Well we're in the same boat as you. The main differences between the car that we'll receive next year and the 2009 Holden Cruze that will go on sale in the Fall is most obviously the Holden badges and the fact that it's right-hand drive. The differences end there.
It will be offered in two different trim levels, CD and CDX, the later being the more luxuriously appointed version that can be optioned with leather seats. Both trim levels receive the 1.8-liter 140 horsepower ECOTEC gasoline engine, but the CD model can be optioned with the 2.0-liter turbo diesel that develops 150 horsepower and 236 lb-ft of torque from 2,000 rpm.
Both the 2012 Holden Volt and the 2009 Holden Cruze will give the Holden brand a much needed economy boost, but regardless, the badge engineered styling kills us.
Holden Press Release:
The all-new Holden Cruze made its Australian debut at the Melbourne International Motor Show today signalling the company's latest entrant in the competitive small car segment.
Cruze is the first of General Motors' new wave of global products and enters Australia's small car segment equipped with striking road presence, advanced interior comfort and high levels of safety features.
Powered by a 1.8 litre 4-cylinder ECOTEC petrol engine or optional 2.0 litre 4-cylinder turbocharged common rail diesel engine, Cruze will go on sale in the second quarter of 2009.
GM Holden Chairman and Managing Director, Mark Reuss said Cruze represented Holden's commitment to the small car market and marked the beginning of a new era for the company.
"The small car market is the largest growing segment in the Australian market and this is our response to that change," Reuss said.
"Cruze will play a significant role in Holden's future and presents us with a new generation car, a new design and a new way of thinking.
"It is a world class small car that has the perfect blend of both style and substance, all from the base model to the top of the range."
2009 HOLDEN CRUZE HIGHLIGHTS:
Drawing on GM best practices from around the world, Cruze was developed by a global design and engineering team.
Product line-up
The Cruze line-up will include CD and CDX models, both powered by a 1.8 litre 4 cylinder ECOTEC petrol engine with the choice of a five speed manual transmission or six speed automatic transmission with Active Select.
A 2.0 litre common rail turbocharged diesel engine will be available as an option on the CD model and will form part of the Holden EcoLine range.
The choice of powertrains ensures fuel efficiency and excellent performance all with the ride and handling ability of a true Holden to ensure it feels as good as it looks.
Exterior styling
With a wide track, long wheelbase and its wheels located at the outer edges of its body, the Holden Cruze sedan's 'four-door coupe' styling delivers the presence of an upscale mid-size sedan.
State of the art manufacturing processes ensures gaps are minimised and margins in the exterior design deliver high levels of quality, fit and finish.
Cruze has been designed to appeal to drivers who value sophisticated design combined with sporty good looks.
Interior comfort
Inside, Cruze boasts one of the most advanced interiors of any small car on the market offering exceptional quality and functionality, while delivering sportiness and luxurious comfort.
Stylish and spacious, the Cruze interior offers exceptional fit and finish and comfort with contoured sport seats and a dual cockpit design which houses an advanced integrated centre panel with graphic information display and CD with MP3 "plug and play" functionality.
An integrated centre stack houses the infotainment display, radio and HVAC controls resulting in a fresh and contemporary look.
With generous rear passenger leg, head and shoulder room this small car comfortably sits five adults, and when combined with one of the largest range of standard features from the base model customers do not need to compromise on large car features.
Storage, functionality and convenience applications found on the new Cruze are plentiful with 60/40 split rear seats, seatback pockets, a centre console CD storage, a shopping bag hook and six cup holders.
Safety
Safety was an overriding objective in the development of Cruze. Significant advancements in structural strength and a full offering of active and passive safety systems should combine to make the all-new Holden Cruze among the safest in its class.
The Cruze's stiff structure helps to minimise noise and vibration as well as assuring a good crash safety performance and optimal ride and handling properties.
With an impressive level of standard safety features across the range including:
* Electronic Stability Control (ESC)
* Traction Control (TC)
* Anti-lock Brakes (ABS)
* Brake Assist (BA)
* Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD)
* Six airbags including driver, front passenger, front side and curtain airbags
* Seatbelt retractor and lap pretensioners with seatbelt load limiters
* Sixty-five percent of the structure is high-strength steel
Holden Cruze CD Feature Highlights:
* 1.8 litre 4-cylinder ECOTEC petrol engine or optional 2.0 litre 4-cylinder turbocharged common rail diesel engine
* 5-speed manual transmission or optional 6-speed automatic transmission with Active Select
* 16 inch steel wheels
* Body coloured door handles and mirrors
* Electronic Stability Control (ESC) incorporating:
o Anti-lock Braking System (ABS)
o Traction Control (TC)
o Brake Assist (BA)
o Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD)
* 6 airbags including:
o Front airbags for driver and front passenger
o Front side impact airbags
o Side curtain airbags
* Automatic headlamps
* 6 speaker audio system with MP3 compatible in dash CD, radio and MP3 "plug & play" functionality with graphic information display
* Air conditioning
* Steering wheel audio controls
* Cruise control
* Trip computer
* Power windows, front and rear
Holden Cruze CDX - includes all CD specific feature highlights, plus:
* 1.8 litre 4-cylinder ECOTEC petrol engine
* 5-speed manual transmission or optional 6-speed automatic transmission with Active Select
* 17 inch alloy wheels (4)
* Front fog lamps
* Leather steering wheel
* Leather appointed seats
* Heated front seats
* Rear park assist
Full specifications, fuel economy figures and pricing will be released closer to launch.
[via Holden]
We warned you about it. We gave you plenty of advance notice. And now it's finally here. Our full 2009 Sno*Drift Rally film. Be afraid, be very afraid, because Jalopnik don't do no lilly-livered video.
This year's Sno*Drift Rally, held in Atlana, MI, brought a frothy mixture of high horsepower and tasty hydrocarbons to a quaint, rural town. Did you catch those friggin' sweet AfterEffects titles? Expect more of the same.
Right now, we're deep in the heart of Missouri to cover the 100 Acre Wood Rally here in Salem. We've upped our camera count from two to five to bring you exactly what you crave: dirty, naughty racing obscenity. If you catch us in our megaphone-equipped gunmetal-brown Saab 9-7x, stop and say hi. Press on regardless!
A skirt-lifting teaser of the much-anticipated T.25 City Car has been released accompanying the announcement Gordon Murray Design is now officially entertaining franchise buyers of the super-secret microcar.
We still don't know when the car will be officially unveiled (Geneva perhaps?) but Gordon Murray Design is now taking orders from parties interested in distribution, with twelve companies in fifteen countries already interested. In addition to the actual car, GMD is licensing the "iStream" technology and techniques that have been developed to simplify manufacture and assembly of the affordable and pint-sized little car. Go HERE for the full resolution image, and check out the currently available details below.
GORDON MURRAY DESIGN officially ‘On Sale' with their T.25 City Car & iStream process.
Friday 27th February, 2009: Gordon Murray Design announces that they are officially ‘On Sale' with the T.25 City Car & licenses for their new iStream manufacturing process.
The T.25 is a radical, innovative design for a new type and class of personal transport vehicle that offers solutions to reduce congestion and parking problems whilst addressing the issue of full lifecycle CO2 damage. It is designed and packaged to protect mobility, personal freedom and driving ‘fun' whilst greatly reducing the environmental damage from vehicle manufacturing.
The iStream assembly process is a complete rethink and redesign of the traditional manufacturing process and could potentially be the biggest revolution in high volume manufacture since the Model T. Development of the process began over 15 years ago and it has already won the prestigious 2008 ‘Idea of the Year' award from Autocar who were given privileged access in order to make their assessment.
The simplified assembly process means that the manufacturing plant can be designed to be 20% of the size of a conventional factory. This could reduce capital investment in the assembly plant by approximately 80%. Yet the flexibility of this assembly process means that the same factory could be used to manufacture different variants.
The iStream design process is a complete re-think on high volume materials, as well as the manufacturing process and will lead to a significant reduction in CO2 emissions over the lifecycle of the vehicles produced using it, compared with conventional ones. The design process has therefore been built around the mantra of ‘Think Light' and all materials for each variant are carefully selected to be as light as possible whilst being ‘fit for purpose.'
In short, the T.25 architecture, packaging, materials selection and manufacturing process promises to be the biggest revolution in the mass production of cars in the last 100 years.
Whilst the T.25 is only officially on sale this month, Gordon Murray Design have already been approached by 15 potential clients based in 12 different countries. Gordon Murray says "This is an idea that began in 1993 and, with the hard work of the team and help from our investors, it's great to finally see it coming to fruition. I believe the timing is perfect given the current situation within the automotive industry.
At last year’s Geneva Motor Show Hyundai unveiled a stylish MPV concept vehicle called the HED-5 that at the time was rumored to be destined for production. Not much has been seen or heard since then but now, just a month out from the 2009 Geneva Motor Show, Hyundai has released details and a rendering of a new concept vehicle that builds on that original concept. The latest version is aptly labeled the HED-6 and was created by Hyundai’s European design works. The HED-6 is described as an “urban nomad” and was designed with cultural influences from major cities such as Berlin, Paris and London.
Saab is close to completing development work on a new midsized crossover based around GM’s Theta platform and expected to be revealed for the first time in production late this year for sale in early 2010. To spread development costs, most of the 9-4X’s design has been shared with the 2010 Cadillac SRX and both vehicles are tipped to be manufactured at a plant in Ramos, Mexico. The 9-4X will be similar in size to BMW’s X5 but pricing should be closer to that of the X3 and Volvo XC60 – two of the Saab crossover’s prime targets.
General Motors has notified its employees that it will reduce salaried employment globally from a current level of 73,000 to approximately 63,000 - a reduction of 14% - over the course of the year. The company will also slash compensation and benefits for its remaining salaried employees as it attempts to turnaround its losses in the lead-up to the February 17 U.S. Treasury viability presentation. In the United States, approximately 3,400 of GM's 29,500 salaried employees will be impacted. These reductions will be made using GM separation programs and policies, which provide for severance payments, benefit contributions and outplacement assistance.
Diesel engines are still failing to gain much traction in the U.S., in part because of a national memory of the diesels of three decades ago, and in part because diesel fuel and engines are still too expensive to make good business sense. But Mini is thinking a small, sporty and efficient diesel may be just the thing to make Americans switch. Slipping a torquey and efficient diesel into the small and sporty platform of the Mini could be just want U.S. drivers are looking for, at least in larger cities: something nimble, easy to park, yet highly efficient and not terribly expensive.
Finding ways to make cars more efficient isn't always about improving the engine, changing the fuel or adding a hybrid system to the mix. Sometimes it's about recapturing some of the energy already expended. Volkswagen's thermoelectric generator applies that idea to waste exhaust heat, and turns it into electricity. BMW demonstrated a similar system last year, and the idea itself isn't new; automotive applications are, however. The Volkswagen system scavenges waste heat from the exhaust system to generate up to 600W of electricity, offloading some of the generation duties from the engine's alternator. Taking the load off the engine itself means less power is diverted to auxiliary functions, which thereby directly improves efficiency.
NuVinci's Parent Company Fallbrook Technologies is Closing in on Its First Automotive Application
Back in September 2006 I test drove a cool new CVT that was about to go into production on a bicycle The NuVinci Code--Finally a tranny with some balls. This unique design, dreamed up in the 15th century by Leonardo himself (hence the name), involves two dish-like discs clamping down on a set of balls whose axis of rotation can be varied relative to the two discs to change the ratio between input and output speeds.
Devastating Downturn Leading Automakers To Ask Themselves If Events Are Worth the Cost
During the opening days of last week's 2009 Geneva Motor Show, journalists jostled for space in the show's crowded halls to check out the latest new cars and crossovers. When you add in the big name manufacturers like Volkswagen, Opel, and Toyota, as well as the specialty makes Geneva attracts, there are literally scores of brands and hundreds of new models on display. No wonder there were thousands of journalists on hand for the show's media preview, with hundreds of thousands more potential customers expected to pour through the turnstiles during the public days.
Not unlike the Concorso Arizona I attended a couple of months ago, this past Sunday's Wheels of Wellness proved to be a great event and a successful fundraiser for The Wellness Community.
Following my preview post from last week, the Wheels of Wellness not only benefited from great weather but from an outstanding collection of classic race cars.
Wheels of Wellness raised $15,000 for The Wellness Community, benefiting their cancer support and education programs.
I have posted additional photos to Ridestory on Flickr. It was amazing to see all of these cars together, in one place.
The 308 CC is a good car.
When I say ‘good’, I mean it’s quiet, has a classy interior and the PSA/BMW engine is as refined and sweet revving as ever.
It even wafted comfortably over the French roads we were driving on without flexing uncontrollably. Even better, it represents the end of the 307 CC – a whale of a car that has too often sat in front of me on the motorway with its offensively ugly bottom refusing stubbornly to get out of the way and out of my line of vision.
The 308 CC might not win any beauty contests but it is at least ungainly in a quirky way rather than the 307 CC, which is sort of quirky in the way that a bludgeoned seal is sort of quirky.
But you can read the first drive if you want to find out what the latest 308 is like to drive, here I would like to ask Peugeot what they were thinking when they stood up in the press conference and describe the car as a “genuine four seater”? Do they expect us to take their word for it and not actually attempt to contort ourselves into the back seats?
I can understand why manufacturers might insist that a car is great to look at when the majority might not necessarily agree – style is a subjective thing, as those people who actually bought a 307 CC forever proved. But rear space is a palpable, physical thing. You might as well stand up and say that two plus two equals five.
When the passenger seat in the new 308 CC was set to what I consider to be a comfortable position, I couldn’t fit my legs in the space behind and ended up sitting ‘side saddle’ style on the rear bench so that my shins didn’t forever bear the imprint of the back of a 308 CC seat. And the bad news doesn’t stop there. I’m 5’ 6”, and yet if I sat up straight my head pressed against roof when it was up.
You’ve made a good car, Peugeot, and one that represents a huge step forward from its predecessor. Be proud of that. But don’t tell the press that you’ve made a four seater when you’ve clearly made a 2+2.
The media likes a catchphrase and the motor industry makes for easy pickings. I’m thinking ‘road rage’, ‘Chelsea tractor’, ‘bailout’, that sort of thing.
Be prepared for another, because if electric cars take off, ‘range anxiety’ will be on all our lips.
Range anxiety is worrying when your electric car will run out of juice. Specifically, whether it’s before you reach your destination.
In this week’s Autocar we’ve road tested the all-electric Tesla Roadster, the first time in living memory we’ve road tested an electric car.
Initially the Tesla brought with it the kind of range worries that car owners usually only experience crossing Australia’s Nullarbor Plain, but the fear passes quickly. 
The day the Tesla arrived, fully charged, it was taken for a few quick thrashes up the road and back, then went on a photoshoot; all adding around 100 miles. I then had the task of driving it 35 miles home.
So I trickle charged it from a 13-amp mains plug for a couple of hours and braved it. The Roadster would have breezed it even without the charge.
And that was the end of my range anxiety.
I charged the Tesla overnight and next morning drove 85 miles to MIRA test track. I lost somebody five quid by arriving on time, and not on the back of a trailer. The Tesla had only used half its juice.
To be fair, we then charged the Tesla overnight again to make sure it had full beans before our performance tests. But it completed our entire 60-mile road test cycle in one hit. And thrilled us with its power delivery.
Yes, going fast cuts the Roadster’s range, but that’s no shocker. We had to refuel a Subaru Impreza during testing once.
The Tesla still has issues. Time constraints meant we trailered it home from MIRA and that’s not terribly practical. And its motor overheats under hard lapping and reduces power (though in no less time than it takes for most cars’ brakes to fade).
So battery power probably isn’t the future (certainly not with the current generation of batteries).
But the Tesla Roadster isn’t meant to change the world. It’s meant to prepare us mentally for cars that might. And show us that electric oomph can be every bit as cool as petrol oomph.
If that also involves introducing us to (and getting us over) range anxiety, all credit to it.
Ford has officially announced the pricing for the all-new 2010 Ford Mustang.
Pricing for the 2010 Ford Mustang will start at $20,995 for the base Mustang with the 210 horsepower 4.0L V6. The Mustang undercuts its two main competitors with the Camaro starting at $22,995 and the Challenger SE at $22,545.
Moving up to the Mustang GT with its 315 horsepower 4.6L V8 will cost you $27,995, which is also less than the V8 powered versions of the Camaro and Challenger.
The ultimate Mustang, the GT500 starts at $46,325 and features a 540 horsepower 5.4L V8.
A droptop will add an additional $5k.
Recession? Global Warming? Future gas-price worries? Bah.
Recession? Global Warming? Future gas-price worries? Bah. This is turning out to be some sort of National Musclecar Month (stay tuned for more Camaro/Mustang/Challenger news coming very soon), and Jack Roush is striking while the iron is hot. Today, Roush Performance unveiled its fifth-generation Mustang performance car, the 2010 427R, at its Livonia, Michigan, factory in suburban Detroit.
Photo Gallery: 2010 Roush 427R Ford Mustang Unveiled - Feature - Motor Trend
Blame it on all that Nürburgring tuning done to the CTS and the time the engineers had to just sit in the pits while development drivers were out having fun. No doubt somebody at some point said, “Man, I wish we could get online. My buddy posted this hilarious video on Facebook the other day. If only one of these spare cars sitting around was connected to the internet.”
Ask and ye shall receive, innocent development engineer. At the New York auto show, Cadillac will announce the availability of Autonet mobile internet in the 2009 CTS. For $499, CTS buyers will be able to make their car a roving WiFi hotspot via a dealer-installed router. One gigabyte of data is $29 per month, five is $59. Using signal from the 3G cellular network, the Autonet system provides connection speeds up to 800 Kbps.
Keep Reading: Cadillac CTS To Offer Mobile Internet - Car News
Recently, some of our readers emailed us asking question about how BMW of North America is helping the “hurting” BMW dealerships in clearing some of their inventory and getting through this economic downturn.
As we learned recently, many auto dealerships across the country are closing their doors and there is a fear that many others will follow. But can the carmakers help them? What steps should they take to avoid this and help them position themselves better when the economy recovers?
I have just learned from our sponsor, BMW of Peabody, that BMWNA in conjunction with their dealership, is hosting a special One Day Sales Event to help them reduce their 2009 inventory.
As some of you might know, each BMW dealership receives an annual allocation from BMWNA and sometimes it can be difficult to get the car you want if it’s not part of their allocation or the unit numbers are low. For this event, BMWNA provided a special allocation of new BMWs, giving the buyers an opportunity to select from over 300 new vehicles.
Every vehicle will be specially priced for this event.
Combine these prices with the low financing rates of 0.9% and the first two payments paid by BMW on select models, and you might walk away with a great deal.
I’m not sure at this point if other dealerships across the country are hosting similar events, but as soon as we hear something, we’ll update the article.
The BMW of Peabody factory-authorized event will take place on Saturday, March 28th, from 9:00 am until 8:00 pm.
If you have more questions, contact Alex Dytko or your local dealership.
P.S This the least we can do to help the BMW dealership clear their inventory. There are some tough time and I’m glad we could at least spread the word. In the end, the more BMW dealerships in your area, the better for us, BMW fans, to get a better deal and have many car service options.
You need to be re-programmed to test the Tata Nano. Normal references do not apply. For the moment, disregard the Nano Europa that appeared at the recent Geneva auto show, as well as the possibility of a U.S. version. Instead, it is the simplest, most basic model that counts: available for as little as $2200, it’s the cheapest new car available anywhere in the world.
We must not forget that the Nano is first and foremost a car for India, a country of about one billion people where fewer than two percent own a car. It was instigated by Ratan Tata, the chairman of the Tata conglomerate, India’s biggest corporation, in a gesture that looks as much philanthropic as business savvy. Watching the way whole families travel on motorcycles—rider, pillion passenger, and two children hanging on—and noting the terrible toll in road deaths involving two-wheelers, Tata called for a safer four-wheeled vehicle that bike riders could afford.
Small Car, Big Ambitions
Everyone knows that small, cheap cars mean small profits, and for Tata the margin on the Nano at its entry price is, well, marginal. But look at the big picture and perhaps we can see the Ford Model T or the Volkswagen Beetle for the 21st century. Through the Nano, Tata of India hopes to become one of the biggest players on the global automotive stage.
The “people’s car” of today primarily has to be for first-time buyers with average incomes way below those of the industrialized Western countries. Ratan Tata’s brief for the Nano was that, apart from being cheap to buy, it must be a “proper” car capable of accommodating five people, exceed Indian safety and emissions requirements, and be economical to run. One look at the Indian market told the Tata engineers that the cost objectives could not be met by stripping out an existing conventional car. The cheapest car on the Indian market, the Maruti 800, is based on an age-old Suzuki minicar and costs twice as much as the Nano.
Keep Reading: 2009 Tata Nano - First Drive Review
General Motors announced today that 7,631 United Auto Workers have accepted early retirement and buyout offers. The buyout will allow GM to cut costs and hire new, less expensive workers.
"This is a significant milestone of progress towards our restructuring plan," said GM Spokesman Tony Sapienza. "There is more work to do, but this will help us become leaner and stronger."
More than half of the workers accepting the buyouts are located in Michigan.
According to GM most of the workers that accepted the offer were eligible for retirement, meaning they had been employed by GM for over 30 years. Those workers were already eligible for a $37,000/ year pension plus the buyout package that included $20,000 in cash and a $25,000 voucher toward a new GM vehicle.
Those workers that accepted the offer must leave the company by April 1st.
(Credit: Hyundai Motors)
Hyundai has given us our first look at its Blue-Will plug-in hybrid concept. While the silhouette is nice and the proportions are pleasing, there are more character lines and creases than it appears the designers could handle. Then again, it's a concept, so we can forgive ...
Before Frank Zamboni developed the machine in 1949 that bears his name, resurfacing an ice rink took a team of men and a tractor about an hour. The early Zambonis were based on Jeeps. It wasn’t until 1964 that the Zamboni HD-series took on the enclosed shape and design that we know today.
Driving a Zamboni is not as much fun as it looks: Visibility from the elevated left-rear position is poor, the abrupt throttle tip-in takes some getting used to, and the vague steering is totally ’70s Cadillac. Despite the studded tires and all-wheel drive, the handling profile is pure oversteer.
Keep Reading: Zamboni 101 - Feature
PayPal founder Elon Musk's next planned opus for his Tesla Motors electric-car company is a $57,400 electric luxury sedan to be built in Southern California. (You know Tesla, of course, from their Lotus-based Roadster.) According to the company, the Tesla Model S will have up to 300 miles of range, a 4900-pound curb weight, and expected acceleration to 60 mph of 5.6 seconds. After attending the unveiling, we can confirm that it wears the beguiling looks of a Jaguar XF doppelganger.
If all goes to plan—a plan which includes an infusion of both government and private funds to the teetering company—production of the Model S should begin in the third quarter of 2011. Musk says that no matter what happens, the Model S will go into production even if funding shortages prolong the launch date.
Keep Reading: 2012 Tesla Model S Sedan - Official Photos and Info
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| Just moments ago, we took the wraps off the Model S, an all electric family sedan that carries seven people and travels 300 miles per charge. We also launched a web site and began taking orders for this historic vehicle, which will likely be world's first mass-produced, highway-capable EV. |
After wowing the auto press with the sleek design of Tesla Motors' all-electric Model S, company CEO Elon Musk is now making an economic argument to consumers--and, perhaps, the U.S. government--for buying the luxury sedan.
Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk
(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)
After months of anticipation, Tesla ...
Originally posted at Green Tech
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| Following the Polo, the BlueMotion initiative and the Golf GTI, Volkswagen is now spanning its next arrow in the bow: this time, the Golf GTD. With a powerful 125 kW (170 PS) TDI engine, it is aimed at diesel drivers who value the maximum in dynamics. |
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