Happpy New Year to All Honda Fans and my dearest readers… !!! Promise more interesting, exciting videos and pictures for the new year!! More modification, more horsepower, more torque and more funs for YEAR 2008!!! Cheers Jack Lan = ) (Read the full post about ‘Happy New Year 2008′…)
Plants/Manufacturing, Mitsubishi, PSA, Peugeot, Citroen More news from the advancing front of European carmakers expanding eastwards: PSA, Europe’s second largest automaker and the French parent company of Peugeot and Citroën, is considering opening its new plant in Russia to partnerships with rival carmakers. The new factory is located in Kaluga, some 180 km outside of the capital, Moscow. Russia is considered one of the fastest-growing markets worldwide, alongside India and China, where Western automakers have also been setting up factories, principally through joint ventures with local manufacturers. (Read the full post about ‘Mitsubishi could partner with PSA at new Russian plant’…)
Diesel, Mazda, UK We’ve been keeping an eye on the new Mazda2 for a while, and our UK readers can now start calculating just how badly they might want to drive one of these little cars. Mazda has announced that the common-rail turbo diesel-engined Mazda2s will start at £9,499 (on-the-road) for the lower-end version and £10,999 for the upper end (see details after the jump). The cost will nab you a supermini that gets 65.7mpg (Imperial, which is 54.7 U.S.) and emits just 114 grams of CO2 per kilometer. Compliant with the Euro IV directives, the Mazda2 will cost the owner just £35 in annual road taxes. Deliveries start in March. (Read the full post about ‘Mazda announces Mazda2 diesel prices for the UK’…)
Convertibles, Sports/GTs, Mercedes Benz, AMG It’s been a regular smorgasbord for fans of Mercedes roadsters over here, with this teaser shot of the upcoming facelifted flagship SL hitting the web just a few days after Benz revealed the updated version of the smaller SLK. But while the SLK was revealed first in “ordinary” guise, the image above shows the full-fat, fire-breathing SL 65 AMG version. We already know that the facelift will feature a heavily revised front end with new headlight treatment, but from the rear three-quarter view Mercedes is enticing us with, all can also see the revised taillights, new diffuser with quad exhausts, and a subtle lip spoiler. (Read the full post about ‘Teaser: Mercedes releases twin SL AMG roadsters’…)
Coupes, Sedans/Saloons, Mercedes Benz, AMG We’ve been seeing camouflaged test mules of an updated Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class sedans driving around for some time now, but the German automaker apparently can’t keep it under wraps anymore. On Saturday the online motoring press worldwide lit up with two pictures of the facelifted “four-door coupe”, reportedly leaked by someone inside Mercedes ahead of its intended debut. The pictures show an updated top-of-the-line CLS 63 AMG. What we can tell from the images is that the newest AMG rocket gets a new grille split in three sections instead of four; upgraded wheels from 18 to 19 inches, with a style similar to those on the Porsche 911 Turbo; led tail-lights; a carbon fiber rear spoiler; a new rear diffuser; and updated exhaust outlets. (Read the full post about ‘Leaked: facelift for Mercedes CLS’…)
Concept Cars, Detroit Auto Show, Sedans/Saloons, Buick, GM Through the success of the Enclave, Buick has discovered that nicely designed, well-built, high content vehicles sell. Being the first Buick in a long time to log advance orders, GM thinks it might be onto something with the Enclave formula. That recipe consists of bolder styling than past Buicks, with cues coming from the Velite and Riviera show cars. Avoiding retro, forthcoming Buicks promise to amp up the curbside drama with unabashed curves, and a lot of chrome. The Enclave has an interior that was obviously fussed over, too. If Buick can turn out a car using the same discipline that guided the successful Enclave launch, it should be exciting to watch the brand reinflate. (Read the full post about ‘Execs say Buick to get more “bold”, “dramatic”’…)
Hybrids/Alternative, Green, Honda, Toyota
Well, that was short-lived. According to an article in the Freep, automakers are already beginning to disregard the idea of a hot hybrid, despite the benefits in fuel economy, emissions and performance.
The lackluster sales of the Honda Accord Hybrid, which was quasi-marketed as a pseudo-sports sedan, proved that the combination of “performance” and “hybrid” is too much of a stretch for the majority of consumers. While the Priusification of the species continues, with Honda confirming that it will be developing a direct competitor to Toyota’s rolling fromage, it’s worth mentioning that Toyota’s own SARD racing team took the Tokachi 24-hour race this past July in a hybrid-equipped Supra.
(Read the full post about ‘Automakers losing interest in performance hybrids’…)
Euro, Plants/Manufacturing, Tech, BMW, Mercedes Benz
Reports out of Munich are that BMW and Mercedes will be getting very cozy when it comes to cooperation. Earlier this year, Mercedes said “nein” to some sort of tie-up with BMW, even as Daimler was eying MINI motors for its upcoming A- and B-Class cars. Unnamed sources, though, have told the Financial Times Deutschland that BMW and Mercedes are not only looking at cooperating on engines, but they could also be open to developing assemblies like “axles, steering gear or drive systems.”
BMW is being driven by the desire to cut costs. One can only assume that Mercedes, for all of its protestations, has the same thing in mind.
(Read the full post about ‘Mercedes/BMW collaboration gaining steam’…)
Hybrid, Honda, Lexus
Last April at the SAE World Congress, participants in a panel discussion on the future of performance powertrains discussed hybrids as one of the best routes to enhancing vehicle performance without increasing emissions or fuel consumption. That approach may still prove to be viable in the future, but it appears increasingly unlikely that automakers will actually promote it that way. When Honda introduced a hybrid version of the Accord a few years ago they actually sold it as a performance enhancement rather than an efficiency booster. The Accord hybrid proved to be a retail failure and most of the Toyota’s Lexus hybrids have been relatively weak sellers as well.
(Read the full post about ‘Carmakers dumping the idea of performance hybrids’…)
Concept Cars, Coupes, Sports/GTs, Mazda
click above for more images of this 2012 Mazda RX-9 concept
The only car brochure we ever held on to was for a 1993 Mazda RX-7. It was the baddest car of the time — the 300Z was four years old, the 911 had gone soft, Ferrari had that hideous 348, the C4 Corvette never really did it for us, and the lunar lander Supra hadn’t landed yet. The low, tiny twin-turbo monster was it as far as we were concerned.
Which is why we are always happy to read about the next coming of the RX-7. Just Put has renderings of an RX-9 concept that it says would have a Wankel powerplant of somewhere around 1.8 liters, and be more oil and fuel efficient than the current generation.
(Read the full post about ‘Rumormill: 2012 Mazda RX-9, real or fake?’…)