Showing posts with label car technology. Show all posts
Top Gear is out to show the world that you don’t need a brand new hybrid car with a $25k price tag to be eco friendly. Their goal: Build a car that can get 70 mpg for only $7,000 and can hit 60 MPH in under 7 seconds. It’s called…The Sipster.
The Top Gear.com American team choose a 1981 VW Rabbit. Classy and classic that Volkswagen is. The project just started but we wish them the best of luck out smarting a Toyota Prius while keeping the price in a recession friendly range. The blog will be updated with pics and the progress. We’ll be keeping a close on this one.
The ECOnetic Fiesta that Ford sells in Europe is a sporty little five-passenger hatchback that gets 65 mpg and emits less CO2 than a Toyota Prius. It is the greenest family car sold in Britain and just the thing to boost Ford's sales - and image - at home. But Ford has no plans to bring it to America for one simple, stupid, reason. It's a diesel. The Fiesta sports a 1.6-liter turbocharged engine with direct injection. It produces just 88 horsepower, so acceleration is, shall we say, relaxed, but European customers don't seem to mind. They've snapped up more than 42,000 of them since the car's debut last fall. But we can only look on with envy. Diesels are huge in Europe, where they comprise about half of all cars sold. They're slowly catching on in America as European automakers like Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz bring them here and the IRS offers tax credits to make them more attractive. Even Japanese automakers plan to roll them out in America. But the Big Three - which make and sell diesels in Europe - have shown little interest in offering them here because they don't think it's economically viable. They don't see people buying them, so they can't see making money on them. "We don't have a full scale energy policy in place in the U.S. that promotes the usage of diesel fuel," Ford spokesman Said Deep told Wired.com. "So, we will bring the Fiesta to America in the most affordable manner." The US-bound Fiesta will arrive in 2010 with a 1.6-liter four-cylinder gas-burning engine with fuel economy in the high 30s. Nice, but less than half what the diesel gets. It's hard to stomach considering the ECOnetic has exploded on the EU market like a pinata full of pesos. Aside from the stellar sales figures, the car - which starts at less than $13,000 - has been lauded with awards from the likes of What Car? andCleanGreenCar.com. The Sun predicts it will be Britain's best-selling car this year. J.D. Power and Associates predict that diesel sales will account for as much as 14 percent of the U.S. auto market by 2017. European automakers Mercedes-Benz and VW are leading the way with cars like theE320 Bluetec and the Jetta TDI, which was named Green Car of the Year by Green Car Journal. BMW may bring a diesel Mini to America in 2010. It helps that this new generation of clean diesel cars is eligible for a federal tax credit of $900 to $1,800. Yet most Americans still associate diesels with 18-wheelers and buses, and taxes can make diesel as much as a dollar more a gallon than gasoline. Detroit is also committed to electric vehicles partly because American consumers don't find diesel as sexy as hybrid or electric vehicle technology, even if diesels can deliver the same fuel economy at much lower cost. "We have to change the perception of diesel in America and make sure it is not left out," said Jeffrey Breneman, Executive Director of the U.S. Coalition for Advanced Diesel Cars. "It's here today, not tomorrow."
Japanese minicar manufacturer Takeoka Jidosha Kogei's Milieu R is the perfect car for anti-social folks, featuring only one seat and a range of 50km that's just enough to make your commute while being limited enough to get you out of going to the bar afterward. Thus far those who socialize only with (very) small animals have been left out of the company's offerings, but that all changes with this new prototype, the T10. It's ever so slightly larger, gaining 90mm in length and 40mm in width, making room for a shelf to the left of the driver's seat intended for some sort of pet (we're guessing hamster, possibly a petite guinea pig). The other specs, including that 50 km range and top speed of 55 km/h, stay the same, meaning there'd still be no concerns about getting to work early or having to socialize afterward, but we're not sure its charming looks make up for a price tag set to be somewhere north of ¥856,000 (about $9,520); awfully close to that of a "real" car. At least it looks a little safer than the HUVO.
The 2010 911 GT3 might seem like more of the same from Porsche, but that's hardly a bad thing. The combination of a high-revving flat-six combined with excellent handling and boy racer looks has never been so appealing.
Since its official unveiling yesterday, Porsche released even more gorgeous high-res photos of the car, along with a video of the new GT3 on track with legendary rally driver Walter Röhrl behind the wheel. Check out the new pictures in the gallery below, and watch the video after the jump.
Feel that breeze? It's the draft coming through the front door. The door that was opened a crack to let in the banks and Detroit Three but has been pushed wide open. The latest industry to claim distress is from another automotive sector, the rental car business. Yes, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that rental car agencies are now seeking Troubled Asset Relief Program funds, too.
The backstory goes like this: As the economy has tanked, business and leisure travel has slowed and demand for rental cars is now at its lowest point since the 1970s. The agencies aren't selling off their used fleet vehicles as easily, either, so times are tough indeed at the rental counter. That's why Enterprise, Avis, Budget, Hertz, Dollar, Thrifty and others are asking Congress to let them tap into TARP money. The House of Representatives has already added a clause that would allow the government to back loans for rental-car companies and other fleet buyers, and now the issue goes before the Senate.
The thinking behind all of this is that America needs the Detroit Three to sell more cars, so allowing fleet purchasers easier credit will result in additional sales by the thousands. Critics suggest that what the plan fails to consider is that fleet sales tend to be extremely low margin sales that don't add much to the automakers' bottom line. Further, if fewer people are renting these new cars, it doesn't make sense for agencies to be buying them in the first place. Thus, opponents believe that most rental companies are more likely to forgo updating their vehicles in favor of maintaining their existing fleet. Us? We just want to see more Hertz ZHZ Corvettes available on the cheap.
Few topics have set the Autoblog commenting system on fire more than the Nissan GT-R. And once stories began to surface about Godzilla's gearbox grenading when customers invoked the power of launch control, it was like a Hateraid atom bomb had gone off below the fold. Well folks, strap on your riot gear and grab a stick of C4. Nissan's in the news again, officially addressing the GT-R's gearbox failure and rolling out a new software program to mitigate the problem
According to the dealer directive (below) and a subsequent report by InsideLine, Nissan has begun implementing a software change on around 50 GT-Rs awaiting dealer delivery, along with "vigorous encouragement" for current owners to bring their vehicles in for reprogramming. The onboard computer modification will supposedly offer "acceleration similar to that with the current launch control," but will do so without disabling the Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC). At launch, revs will be reduced from 4,500 rpm to somewhere between 3,000 and 3,500 rpm and the clutch engagement has been reprogrammed to limit driveline stress. And this isn't just for Stateside GT-Rs. All the vehicles sold from here on out, no matter the country, will use the revised programming.
Nissan North America's chief of product public relations, Scott Vazin, told IL that the situation, "...has been blown way out of proportion." And according to Nissan, less than 1% of the vehicles – between 16 and 19 cars out of the 1,750-1,800 GT-Rs delivered to customers in the U.S. – have been affected. Furthermore, Nissan is sticking to its guns about disabling VDC, making it clear that the only time the system should be turned off is when the vehicle is stuck in the mud or snow. To make sure that point is driven home, a revised customer disclosure form will be required for all new GT-R sales from this point forward.
photo gallery
http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2008-nissan-gt-r-details/460450/
When the curtain rises on the 2009 Geneva Motor Show, Bentley will take a large share of the spotlight with the vehicle you see above. It has no name yet, and no technical specifics have been released, but what Bentley has revealed is that this will be the marque's fastest, most powerful production car yet... and it runs on biofuel. Visually, the grilles all have a blackout treatment, and sizable vertical intakes occupy the front bumper's outer edges. The hood also sports a pair of vents, presumably to help extract engine heat. Given that the 600-horsepower/553-lb-ft Continental GT Speed currently owns the "most powerful production Bentley" title, look for more extreme ratings on this new, obviously Continental-based monster.
As for the biofuel half of the equation, we expect to see an ethanol-drinking version of the twin-turbocharged W12 that propels the rest of the Continental range. In any case, a new Bentley's coming and it's fixin' to open up a plus-sized can of whoop-ass. We'll learn more closer to the Geneva festivities. UPDATE: One more thing we can tell you: if you happen to not be going to Geneva, but still want to see it in person, head to the Big Apple in April. The car will be displayed at the New York Auto Show.
The Grand National Roadster Show celebrated its 60th year this past weekend in Pomona, CA with a gathering of the most beautiful hot rods, customs and motorcycles in the world. The show is the longest running indoor car show anywhere, and over 600 show cars were there competing for various awards, plus another 100 historic vehicles on display including a recreation of the show from 1959 when it was located in Oakland, CA. Visitors could also view the Mach 5 from Speed Racer, the Dukes of Hazzard's General Lee and a restored Munster Coach.
The highlight of the event comes when the title of America's Most Beautiful Roadster is crowned on Sunday afternoon. This year, Harry Willett's 1932 Ford Roadster (above) won the prestigious award, beating out 13 other highly-qualified contenders. The completely hand-built hot rod was also one of the "Great 8" competing for last year's Ridler award at the Detroit Autorama and features a stretched body, custom rail and tubular chassis, and a Viper V10 mated to a 6-speed transmission. Willett joins last year's title holder, Rudy Necoechea's 1932 Ford Roadster, and 2007's Iowa Radster as one of the few AMBR winners.
http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2009-grand-national-roadster-show/1314191/
California start-up Better Place and Danish utility Dong Energy said Tuesday they have lined up financing to bring an electric car charging network to Denmark by 2011. The two organizations have secured almost $103 million in equity and convertible debt that will go toward constructing stations where drivers can swap in fresh batteries for electric cars. Better Place's business plan focuses on building a network of automated battery-swapping stations along driving corridors. Places to rapidly charge or get fresh batteries will address the range limitations of existing car batteries, according to Better Place. Although Better Place has announced customers with the governments of Israel, Hawaii, Portugal, and San Francisco for its network of charging stations, Denmark appears to be the first to secure financing to build the charging infrastructure. Once a network is set up, state-controlled Dong Energy said its excess wind power capacity can be used for charging electric cars. Denmark now gets 20 percent of its electricity from wind turbines, but a portion of that electricity is exported because it can't be stored economically. "Our goal in investing in Better Place Denmark is to help reduce CO2 emissions and increase the consumption of sustainable energy by capturing and leveraging wind power more efficiently," Dong Energy CEO Anders Eldrup said in a statement. The structure of the deal underlines the pieces auto industry executives say need to be in place before electric cars can be used by large numbers of consumers. Utilities need to be involved to understand and manage the shift in power-grid load that electric cars bring. Government incentives need to be in place to overcome the higher cost of battery-powered vehicles. In Denmark, the government does not levy a sales tax on electric cars to promote their use. The start-up also announced that it has hired former Microsoft Europe executive Jens Moberg as CEO of Better Place Denmark.
