We record Episode #267 of the Autoblog Podcast tonight, and you can drop us your questions via our Q&A module below. Check out our discussion topics or chime in to help determine what else the crew chats about this evening. Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast if you haven’t already done so, and if you want to take it all in live, tune in to our (audio only) channel at 10:00 PM Eastern tonight.
Discussion Topics for Autoblog Podcast Episode #267
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How good will the upcoming return of the Acura NSX be? So good, apparently, that despite still being three years out, the supercar has converted well-known fan Jerry Seinfeld to worship at the altar of the NSX Concept.
Though we wouldn’t think the creator and namesake of the hit TV show Seinfeld would need any more money (syndication ftw!), here he is shilling for , obsessed with being first in line for a product that the Japanese automaker isn’t expected to begin selling until 2015. Turns out, however, he’s not the only comedian with more money than sense who wants an NSX.
, and help us posit why Acura would spend millions of dollars producing a Super Bowl commercial that doesn’t promote any of its currently available products. Couple this commercial with parent company , and we think Honda and company have earned this year’s award for spending the most on celebrity talent.
Fear not, fans. According to Stephan Winkelmann, president and CEO of the brand, the company’s vehicles will remain naturally aspirated “for now.” Winkelmann recently spoke with Autocar, and said that the Raging Bull will remain turbo-free for at least the remainder of the decade. That means we won’t see a forced-induction Lamborghini until 2020 at the earliest. That means that it’s crystal-clear that the next-generation Gallardo, set to debut in two years or so, will not show up with a turbocharged engine as its heart.
That’s interesting news for a number of reasons. Whispers kicking around the web have suggested that the next will receive a smaller-displacement, forced-induction powerplant in the near future and that Lamborghini would share that lump. According to Winkelman, that’s not the case. However, with fuel and emissions standards tightening by the moment, Lamborghini may be forced to abandon massive naturally aspirated engines whether it wants to or not.
Our spy photographers have snagged a few fresh images of the as engineers put the SUV through its paces during a little winter testing. The prototype looks identical to the bruiser we say playing around on the last year. Details were scarce then and they remain so now, though this batch of photos show the big Rover’s interior for the first time. From the looks of things, the cabin doesn’t seem to have received much in the way of an update, though there’s no way to tell if this particular tester is fitted with a full production-spec interior.
The next-generation Range Rover is expected to bow with a gently sloping roofline and a more aggressively raked rear window. Word has it that the vehicle will ride on the same underpinnings as the , though the luxury utility will likely undergo a serious diet before it debuts. Land Rover has made it clear that reduced mass is a top priority as governments around the world continue to push more aggressive fuel economy and emissions targets.
In September, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of 2002 and 2003 models. Owners were reporting that airbags were deploying when there hadn’t been an accident. At the time, there were 39 complaints filed: seven to NHTSA and 32 field reports from . Ten of those complaints resulted in injuries.
A report by The Detroit News says the probe has been upgraded – there have now been 87 complaints, with 50 of them resulting in injury. Chrysler hasn’t been able to nail down a single cause of, or even a single protocol for the problem; the airbags have deployed on startup and when the car is running – sometimes it’s just the driver’s side unit and sometimes it’s both driver and passenger bags.
There are 386,873 Liberty vehicles included in the probe from those two model years. Chrysler says it is cooperating fully with the investigation and trying to find the source of the issue, with one suggestion being “a transient voltage spike” in a circuit.
Drivers on a stretch of Interstate 75 in Florida found themselves in the midst of a scene from a nightmare early Sunday morning. Fog and smoke from a nearby brush fire combined to significantly reduce visibility, which resulted in a massive pile up just south of Gainesville involving 12 cars and six or seven semi trucks. The collisions began at 3:45AM EST and police have confirmed at least 10 deaths associated with the incident and ensuing vehicle fires. All six lanes of the highway are closed now as investigators work to discern exactly what caused the tragedy.
According to reports, the smoke and fog were still heavy when rescuers arrived, forcing emergency personnel to listen for screams and cries in the darkness. The wreckage was spread over a mile across both sides of the interstate. Around 18 people were injured and taken to local hospitals for treatment, though their conditions are unknown at this time.
Authorities had closed the highway earlier in the day due to poor visibility, but later opened the road again when the smoke appeared to have cleared. for a Reuters news report on the incident.
What’s up with the sales, orders and reservations of the ? The Japanese automaker back in September, 2010 and Nissan’s Mark Perry that, since then, that number has climbed to around 26,000. Where do things stand today? That’s not exactly simple to figure out. Here’s what we know:
Number of accepted Leaf reservations: 26,000
- : 10,000
- Number sold in January: 800 (estimate)
- Number sold in February: 800 (estimate. Perry recently said these two months were sold out or nearly sold out)
- Number of people who haven’t had a chance to order because they live in a state where the Leaf is not yet for sale: 2,000 (according, again, to Perry)
- Number of people who cancelled (unknown)
= 12,400 people or so
Nissan’s Katherine Zachary tells Autoblog that the company doesn’t share cancellation data, so it’s not possible for outsiders to know exactly how many of the 12,400 have raised and then lowered their hands. Zachary added, “We have new people coming into the process every day, so it’s really a moving target.” Still, somewhere out there, there could be 12,000 people who are patiently waiting to snatch up Nissan’s 2012 Leaf production. Even if 50 percent of them cancelled, that still leaves many months of strong sales coming for Nissan in the U.S. this coming year, .
One thing that Zachary was willing to share were the colors chosen by buyers for model year 2012 Leaf orders. They are:
Given that Blue Ocean was the Leaf’s “Launch Color,” we’re a bit surprised to see it being outsold by silver, if only just. If you were going to order a Leaf (or if you already have), what color would it be? Take our poll below.
See that above? It’s the Monroney for Tony Stark’s in The Avengers. We , when most of what we had to say about it centered on its potential hints to the as-yet-unseen Acura NSX concept. Someone got a closer look at the roadster on display, and its details are nothing short of cartoonish but in the best way.
The $9,229,000 supercar uses a palladium-powered 80,000 TOHC 32-valve engine boosted by, get this, nitrous. As well as its nine-speed hyper-shift transmission, lithium dioxide-injecting shocks and reflex-response steering column with target guidance feedback, it is fitted with a device to create an enviro-clone projected hologram of its surroundings. You know, for defense. And because actual palladium use might vary among agents, the 234 city/302 highway mpg is for Tony Stark only.
Head over to for more closeup images of Stark’s low-density-plasma-emitting Acura roadster and a closer read of that window sticker.
Super Bowl Sunday is a scant six days away, which means you’ve got less than a week left to prepare yourself for the onslaught of advertising that will commence well before kick off. We’re doing our part by showing you the car commercials ahead of time so you can use those commercial breaks for more important things like evacuating your bladder or refilling the salsa, not necessarily in that order.
Cadillac has developed an ad for the Super Bowl that will be 30 seconds in length and highlight its new , which at the . Unlike every other Super Bowl commercial you’re probably going to see, Cadillac’s playing it straight with this one. There will be no humor, no overpaid celebrity endorsement and no sweepstakes on Facebook involved.
Instead, you’ll just see real footage of the ATS being tested during its development in an inhospitable environment. No, it isn’t footage of the ATS playing Peek-a-boo among the snow drifts of Scandinavia or arid dunes of Death Valley. Where this footage was shot was truly hell. Descend to the first circle .
In spite of the near-Pavlovian howling that commences anytime the is mentioned, and in spite of the 5GT of its sales target that BMW has been , the ungainly hatch during its time on our shores. And that was before it got dressed up with .
It shouldn’t be a surprise then that the 3 Series GT is still rushing our way, with a report on BMW Blog (not connected to the company) declaring it will be here in March 2013. is promoting the hatchback 3 as “the alternative to alternatives, a style conscious car with the dynamic prowess to match its looks,” which smacks of PR-speak veering dangerously close to Newspeak.
We’ll find out soon enough, nevertheless, for the moment, the 3GT is claimed to offer the cargo capacity of the but with even more room for everyone’s legs. It is predicted to wear a slightly different face than the rest of the line and have frameless windows (the rendering on BMW Blog has frames). Power should be from the current 3 Series lineup of turbocharged four- and six-cylinder engines.
A few months ago, Steve Shannon, vice president of marketing at said the brand would to the game, instead of focusing just on features, and with this peppy quip: “We’re making Super Bowl spots. We need to get that headset on. The bar is high.”
The first three ads are, and in one of them, “All for One,” a designer needs a little extra support getting a job done. He gets it from his coworkers. And plant workers at Hyundai’s Montgomery, Alabama facility. And Rocky. to check that one out along with “Cheetah” (pictured) that features the and “Think Fast,” which introduces the revamped You’ll also find the press release describing Hyundai’s Super Bowl gameplan and find link links to watch the behind-the-scenes videos for each, as well.
All of the auto industry’s big-time players are making large three-row crossovers these days, so the segment has become extremely competitive. With stalwarts like the , and at the top of the sales charts, how does a smaller automaker like Mazda compete? Two oft-repeated words: Zoom-Zoom.
The checks the same boxes as its competition: a beefy V6 engine, seating for up to seven, available all-wheel drive and a bevy of technology options. Those features are all part of the price of admission, but to make headway in this crowded field, that’s not enough to cut it. On the market since 2007, we wanted to find out the 4,546-pound CX-9 still has the engineering mojo to dance to the head of the pack, so we grabbed the keys to a loaded Grand Touring AWD and headed for the floor.
Yup. Someone has apparently taken it upon themselves to slather the slinkiest of Alfa Romeo models with the bright orange paint and stars and bars of the General Lee from The Dukes of Hazzard. Why? Because if you have enough cash to park an 8C Competizione in your expansive garage, you can paint it in whatever livery you damn well please. Details are scarce, but our source says the coupe is real, and it rocks the appropriate “01″ numbering on each door. We’re hoping there’s a horn capable of whistling Dixie under the hood as well, and we’ll award bonus points if the doors are welded shut and there’s a cage inside.
We’d love to know who ordered up this particular color combination. Our source, John S., says this photo was clicked near Balocco in Northern Italy (presumably adjacent to Alfa’s test track facility there), but for now, we’ll just content ourselves by wondering how you say “Daisy Duke” in Italian.
Way back at the beginning of Saab’s struggle for life after , exotic car firm Spyker was ($527M U.S.) from the European Investment Bank. The loan was approved after it was guaranteed by Sweden’s Debt Office, and Saab’s recent bankruptcy filing forced the Debt Office to back up the guarantee with a €217-million payment ($286M) to the EIB – the portion of the loan that actually drew upon.
It’s not exactly bad news for the government, since the government’s stake in Saab Automobile Parts and Saab Automobile Tools – used to guarantee its own guarantee of the EIB loan – is understood to be worth more than €217 million.
In the next couple of weeks, bids are expected from both and private equity group for the purchase of Saab in its entirety. No one can predict the outcome, but it this last-ditch situation might have the best chance: the European auto supplier organization CLEPA is assisting Youngman, the numbers being hinted at would indicate sane and motivated buyers, GM’s intellectual property concerns appear to have been addressed, and it’s certain that the sellers would love to see a bit of sun after a long spell of gloom for the hard luck brand.
isn’t typically one to dive into the Super Bowl advertising fracus with splashy spots, so when the company anonymously teased us with a quick clip of Matthew Broderick reprising his role from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, our eyebrows did a little dance. Now the company has dropped a full-length ad on the web, and it features Broderick skipping his acting duties for a little frolicking about in the city. The spot features more than a few classic Ferris Bueller lines (though nitpickers will note that some of them are a little off), and while it’s well put-together, seeing the star take to the wheel of a instead of a is a crushing reminder of our own mortality.
Still, we like Honda’s crack at half-time advertising a good bit more than the previously released (though not more than the clever spot that’s presently circulating televisions nationwide). to take in Honda’s spot before the big game, and be sure to keep a steady out for the various ‘easter eggs.’
Heather Peters is in Torrance, California over the lackluster fuel economy she’s gotten out of her Hybrid. It isn’t really a new lawsuit, it’s one that sprung from Peters not signing onto the settlement of an earlier class-action lawsuit brought by one John True, who sued over the same issue. The meat of the claim is that Honda’s window sticker attested to an EPA combined 42 miles per gallon figure, but unhappy drivers are getting closer to 32 mpg.
True’s suit was settled out of court in 2009 and plaintiffs have until February 11, 2012 to partake of redress that the Attorneys General of 26 states declared unfair. Peters didn’t sign on, taking her own case to small-claims court where cases aren’t tried by lawyers. According to Automotive.com, Honda’s point man Neil Schmidt didn’t appear at the previous hearing, but this time he showed up and provided several dossiers to Commissioner Carnahan. Most of the paperwork submitted into evidence was reportedly “testimony from happy Civic Hybrid owners,” which the judge dismissed.
Schmidt first suggested that Peters did not adhere to the right service procedures with her car, then Honda’s EPA certification engineer said that Honda had no option but to follow the EPA’s testing procedures. While that is correct regarding following testing protocol, Peters argued that automakers have the discretion to use lower fuel economy numbers in their advertising and on Monroneys if they see the need. Peters claims Honda didn’t lower the number because it was trying to take advantage of “the green revolution.”
Some observers believe the reduced mileage is an effect of a mandatory software upgrade applied to 2006-2008 Honda Civic Hybrids. The upgrade was meant “not just to prolong the life of the battery, [but] .” While there were complaints about the mileage before (as there are of a great many cars), it was after the upgrade that forums began to light up with tales of poorer mileage. That could have been because , a fix to allegedly offset the battery deteriorating more quickly than Honda anticipated.
Commissioner Carnahan is expected to rule on the case as soon as next week. Peters hopes it’s before the February 11 deadline to participate in True’s lawsuit settlement. At stake is not just the $10,000 Peters is seeking, but a figure potentially in the billions as other unhappy owners could flock to lawyer-free small-claims court to fight their cases. In the event of a loss, Honda is expected to appeal, to which Peters says, “I’m ready!”
You’ll want to skip the next post if you haven’t unwrapped the weekend’s Rolex 24 at Daytona awaiting you on your (apparently very capacious) DVR. For the rest of you, the 50th running of the event that commences Speedweeks and the sports car racing season saw David trounce several Goliaths: the /Riley of Michael Shank Racing entry piloted by A.J. John Pew, Oswaldo Negri Jr., A.J. Allmendinger and Justin Wilson crossed the line in first. Not only that, their sister MSR car finished in third a minute down.
A.J. Allmendinger was behind the wheel at the checkered flag, his leg cramps so severe that he had to be helped from the car. MSR has been at the Daytona 24 for nine years and this is the team’s first victory, while it was Allmendinger’s first win in any series (he also competes in NASCAR with Penske Racing) – in six years.
They beat a bunch of drivers you’re more likely to have heard of, with names like McNish, Montoya, Rahal, Franchitti and Tracy. The top five positions were filled out by the Starworks Motorsport Ford/Riley with Ryan Dalziel crossing the line in second, Juan Pablo Montoya driving the Chip Ganassi Racing /Riley across the line in fourth, and the Action Express Racing – the first year for the Corvette in Prototype Class – in fifth. For the complete rundown of all winners in all classes, check out .
It was only a few weeks ago that CEO Dieter Zetsche laid out his global sales vision for the brand, aiming to be the world’s Number One luxury automaker by 2020 with . One component of that plan is building another plant in North America, and a report by the TheDetroitBureau.com indicates that the plant will be built in Aguascalientes, Mexico – right next to a Nissan assembly plant that’s already there.
recently announced of its Aguascalientes facility to produce up to 175,000 units annually. According to the Bureau report, “the sprawling Aguascalientes complex has been laid out with the idea that the German maker will eventually participate.” Daimler hasn’t commented officially, but if it does happen, then that would give Daimler and Renault-Nissan two tie-up locations, the other being in Tennessee where for the Mercedes-Benz A-Class (a prototype for which is shown above).
One of the factors at the heart of the Mexico decision would be Mercedes’ MFA platform, which supports the A- and B-Class vehicles soon headed here: that platform is also expected to underpin the production . And if Renault-Nissan CEO can be believed, then a great deal more sharing between the two firms is an eventuality, and further up the food chain at that. last year, “You’d be very surprised if in five or six years that Mercedes and Renault-Nissan had only cooperated on small cars.”
The 2010 was the first home for Chrysler’s Pentastar V6 engine. As you may recall, the powerplant was codenamed “Phoenix,” and it was charged with in 11 models in the and lineups. Along with it being a well-regarded piece of engineering, its sheer ubiquity goes a long way toward explaining how in just 18 months the Trenton, Michigan plant that produces it has cranked out a million of them.
The 3.6-liter V6 is rated from 283 horsepower up to 305 hp, and can be found under the hood of front-, rear- and four-wheel drive vehicles in varying transmissions. Another signal of how much Chrysler thinks of the Pentastar: after being , rumors last year suggested could go into the .
Follow the jump for Chrysler’s press release on the seven-figure milestone of a lump voted one of Ward’s “10 Best Engines.”
You know those commercials that we never get, the ones aired in distant lands like Australia and Brazil and that are, oh, interesting? We’re finally getting one. Toyota is returning to Super Bowl advertising after a three-year hiatus with a 30-second version of this longer-form 60-second spot for the , and we think it’s amusing enough to be worthy of The Big Game.
This is a continuation of introduced in the first 2012 ad last year, and this commercial adds some comedy, a welcome change from Toyota’s typically sober marketing campaigns. Toyota will also air a second 30-second spot during the NFL’s championship game. Check it out in long form (along with the official press release) .
![8d80e leaf colors percent A word on Nissan Leaf sales, orders and reservation numbers [w/poll]](http://theautoblog.ru/wp-content/plugins/wp-o-matic/cache/8d80e_leaf-colors-percent.jpg "A word on Nissan Leaf sales, orders and reservation numbers [w/poll]")
