Destiny, an alluring lass with a voice of such fine tenor we had to fight the urge to put the phone down and bow to it whenever she spoke, was in Tampa, 271 miles away. We could only credit fortune for the delivery of a 2011Mercedes-Benz CL63 AMG for the purpose.
BMW is still testing and fine-tuning the F10 M5, but the German automaker has been kind enough to bring along a video camera.
Editor in Chief John Neff kicks it old school with Chris Shunk and Dan Roth this week. First topic for debate: the latest Autoblog redesign, which is now being tested in beta.
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Ford Focus ST testing – Click above for high-res image gallery
We’re looking forward to getting our hands on the of the , and why not? We Americans have had no choice but to sit back and watch while our overseas comrades got to have all the fun behind the wheel of high-performance Focii, which made the hot hatchbacks the forbidden fruit we tend to crave.
promises that the U.S. will finally have a chance at the next-generation ST, which should supply at least 246 horsepower and 266 pound-feet of torque courtesy an EcoBoost 2.0-liter mill. The only problem is that the high-pot Focus ST is still a year away, but that doesn’t mean we won’t see test mules traveling the highways and test tracks around the world.
Ford tells us they have 60 ST models testing everywhere from California to Germany’s Nürburgring. The testers may look like last-generation ST or more pedestrian current-gen Focus models, but the big wheels, low profile and double exhaust passes will show that the mules are anything but ordinary.
Matthias Tonn, who heads performance engineering at Ford of Europe, says that the testing is needed to make the next ST shine, adding that engineers are “fine-tuning, testing, and fine tuning again many of the small but critical details to make sure it is worthy of the ST badge.”
And just because the ST will be a performance hatch doesn’t mean Ford isn’t keenly focused on fuel economy as well. Tonn says the goal is to produce class-leading fuel economy even with a performance variant. Mixing fuel efficiency and performance is no easy task, but Ford is banking on a thrifty EcoBoost engine and fuel-saving technology like a finely tuned Electric Power Assist Steering (EPAS) system to do the trick.
While the Focus ST is still a way away from production, Ford provided some “spy photos” of an ST mule during testing in Germany, which you can peruse in our high-res image gallery. to read over the Ford press release.
Caterham Seven Team LotusSpecial Edition – Click above for high-res image gallery
It was only a few months ago that we on Caterham’s plans to expand its lineup. But a lot has happened since then, particularly for an automaker whose core product range is anchored in a design that goes back nearly six decades.
Since the launch of the , Caterham was by Tony Fernandes – the same Malaysian entrepreneur behind Team Lotus F1. The new ownership is intent to keep the same management in place, but the cash injection is expected to lead to a further broadening of the company’s lineup.
Just what that will entail remains to be seen, but Autocar reports that whatever comes next down the pipeline will (arguably unlike some of ‘ own new products) remain faithful to Colin Chapman’s less-is-more philosophy.
The report also indicates a two-way door between Caterham and Team Lotus, the latter’s F1 cars set to feature the former’s branding while F1-derived technologies are set to trickle down to Caterham’s products. A Caterham Seven with regenerative braking and adaptive aerodynamics? Too soon to say, but the sky’s the proverbial limit.
is rolling out a new roadside assistance app for owners equipped with an iPhone, Blackberry or Android device, and drivers with older Audis can get in on the action as well.
Once you’ve download the app from the corresponding store, you enter your VIN and some basic personal information, and get access to Audi’s roadside assistance program supplied by Allstate. Jump-starts, fuel delivery and towing are included in the service – free for new owners and requiring a fee for older models. The app also includes a dealer locator and taps into your smartphone’s GPS functionality to pinpoint your location.
The Curve and Bold are the first two Blackberrys supported by the app (), with the iPhone and Android versions available at the and , respectively. Full details in the press blast .
We’re capturing our first driving impressions of the this week, but we’ve already learned that the midsize fuel-sipper will be priced at $26,500 when it goes on sale in the coming months, excluding $750 for destination and handling.
Curiously, the $26,500 price tag represents an increase of $705 versus the ’s platform mate, the . tells us that the price increase is because the Optima comes with more standard equipment than the , including things like a rear backup camera, rear spoiler, auto-down front windows for the driver and passenger, a cooling glovebox, compass, and , Kia’s brand new infotainment system.
Like its Sonata kin, the Optima Hybrid uses the automaker’s 2.4-liter direct-injected four-cylinder engine, mated to an electric motor and paired with a six-speed automatic transmission. This combination expected to return fuel economy ratings of 35/40 miles per gallon city/highway, same as the Sonata Hybrid.
Valentino Balboni and the four Lamborghini Countaches – Click above for high-res image
We’ve seen a lot of creative comparison tests over the years. Most of them involve new cars compared against other new cars. But for its latest retrospective, Inside Line has gone a decidedly different route, comparing the various renditions of the Countach against each other. And they brought along Lamborghini’s veteran test driver Valentino Balboni for an inside line of his own.
Now if you think the lasted a long time, well… it did. Eight years, in fact. The Diablo before it lasted eleven. But the Countach was around for an astonishing sixteen years – an incredibly long lifetime for any car. And over the course of the three decades it remained in production, the Countach spawned numerous derivatives, from the original production LP400 through the wide-body S and the Quattrovalvole through to the straked 25th Anniversary edition.
As the Countach ages from the chintzy and cartoonish to the iconic and historic, choosing which one stood out as the finest example was undoubtedly a difficult task, but someone had to do it. Follow to see what they found. It’s worth the read.
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Editor in Chief John Neff kicks it old school with Chris Shunk and Dan Roth this week for Episode #229 of the Autoblog Podcast. The big changes afoot for Autoblog are but one topic of conversation, which ranges from the chatter about an Acura RSX successor, Jaguar’s C-X75 heading for production, the Opel Astra GTC coming to Buick, and Toyota’s commitment to plug-in hybrids for the 2014 Prius. Your feedback and questions finish it off, and we’ve re-posted the Q&A at the bottom of this post so you can play along at home, too. Thanks for listening, we’ll see you next week!
Autoblog Podcast #229: Autoblog changes, Acura RSX successor, Jaguar C-X75, Astra GTC for Buick, Plug-in Prius
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Runtime: 01:26:24
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Ford researches dandelions for plastics – Click above for high-res image gallery
If you are going to use a plant as a renewable resource to create sustainable materials suitable for automotive use, you may as well start with a weeds. After all, anyone who lives in states with plenty of lush, green grass knows how prevalent dandelions are in the summer months.
And so it’s not terribly surprising that researchers from and The Ohio State University are working on new rubber and plastic compounds created from the milky white juice that seeps from the stem of the yellow-flowered weeds. The specific plant being used is the Russian dandelion, otherwise known as Taraxacum kok-saghyz to all you budding botanists out there.
Before any dandelions actually start showing up in our cars, Ford needs to ensure the rubber and plastic produced in this process is up to its quality standards. If that happens, such plastics could be used for floor mats, cupholders and interior trim pieces.
Another potential natural plastic resource is the guayule (apparently a shrub that grows naturally in southwestern U.S.). to read the entire press release from Ford.
Ruh-roh. It looks like Sebastian Vettel hasn’t quite ingratiated himself with his hosts in Istanbul, though there’s no telling what (if any) repercussions might ensue.
According to reports, Vettel was told before the start of that, if he were to win, he would not be allowed to drink the champagne. Not because alcohol isn’t permitted in Turkey – while in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain the traditional bubbly is replaced with a sparkling non-alcoholic beverage in deference to the ban on alcohol under Sharia (Muslim law), Turkey, while predominantly Muslim, is a more liberal country. No, the instructions were given specifically to Vettel because of a new Turkish law that places the minimum drinking age at 24. And Vettel (both the youngest race winner and the youngest world champion in F1 history) is just 23. As you can see above, drink champagne he did.
Now Vettel isn’t the youngest driver on the grid this year. Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari and Sauber’s Sergio Perez are all younger, but given their track records compared to Vettel’s… well, let’s just say the bookies weren’t giving even odds on that particular bet.
The restrictions in Turkey extend as well to a ban on advertising alcohol, forcing some teams to temporarily jettison their liquor sponsors (much as they did when tobacco advertising was banned in certain countries, but not others). McLaren, for example, is sponsored by Johnnie Walker scotch whisky, as Force India is by Whyte & Mackay, while Sauber is sponsored by Jose Cuervo tequila. ( is apparently no longer sponsored by Martini, while we assume Vettel and Webber simply left the vodka out of their Red Bulls for this round.)
Will Vettel face some sort of punishment at the hands of the Turkish authorities? We’d hate to think what that would entail, but one way or another, he’ll be legal by next year’s grand prix. That is, assuming the race takes place again next year; an increase in the fees by Bernie Ecclestone could mean that this year’s was the last for Istanbul Park.
Tornado attack vehicle – Click above for high-res image gallery
One of the toughest aspects of tornado chasing, besides running headlong into almost certain death, is finding a vehicle that can withstand the violent onslaught of wind and debris generated even by (relatively) weak storms. Over the years, storm chasers have come up with all sorts of solutions to the transportation issue, with everything from to balls-to-the-wall armor-plated beasts.
The Tornado Attack Vehicle is the latter, and is credited as being one of the first specialized tornado chasing machines ever created. The truck was commissioned by legendary tornado chaser Steven Green and is the first vehicle to be driven in to the heart of a funnel cloud. Even with heavy modifications, Green knew a road-going pickup truck platform wasn’t going to cut it. To ensure he and his team got through the twister and lived to tell about it, he had the truck built from the ground up.
The skeleton of the monster is a steel tube frame, draped with 16-gauge steel bodywork. The windows and wheel covers are made of bulletproof M10 Lexan plastic, while the windshield sports a triple layer of super-strong DuPont Mylar. According to the listing, one layer of Mylar is enough to stop a .38 caliber pistol round.
All that armor means this thing isn’t what you would call light, so a ZZ502 big block was chosen to send power to front and rear Dana axles through a custom Turbo 400 automatic transmission. That’s an impressive list of specs to be sure, but we’ll stick to doing our tornado watching courtesy of CNN. Check out the .
The new BMW M5 is not afraid to get wet – Click above to watch video
Are you currently suffering from withdrawal? Autoblog is here to help, and we’d like to offer up a video that will allow you to cope while you wait for the . is still testing and fine-tuning the F10 M5, but the German automaker has been kind enough to bring a camera along to capture the more exciting bits.
Test drivers examine how the M5 responds to wet weather, steep inclines and smoky launches. Here’s a spoiler for you; it handles all of that quite well. But you don’t have to take our word for it. to see for yourself.
Florida engineer Matti Holtzberg has spent the last 40 years trying to perfect and implement a way of building useable engine blocks from composite plastics. With the advent of carbon fiber and its subsequent permeation of all things high-performance, Holtzberg decided to apply the technology to his composite engine idea.
Armed with a vast base of research and immense skill, Holtzberg retooled his operation to mold carbon composite engine blocks, with an eye toward selling them to racing teams. Holtzberg’s blocks are based on the venerable 2.0-liter Duratec mill that sees duty in the .
Holtzberg’s carbon-fiber block has the potential to save more than 20 pounds over the aluminum equivalent, but at an enormous cost. There’s no definite word on pricing just yet, but it should be at least $2,500 per pound saved, which pretty well limits the technology to race teams… for now.
The technology could make huge leaps forward in weight saving and fuel economy should it ever hit the streets, but don’t figure on that happening for quite a while.
The March 11 earthquake and resultant tsunami in Japan rocked the country’s automotive supply chain, leaving many suppliers with damaged factories and unreliable power. One nearly immediate impact was that automakers like , and could no longer offer colors like .
That’s because Merck’s Onahama factory, which makes the Xirallic pigment used to add luster to colors, was damaged by the natural disaster. But while repairs were scheduled to take longer, The Detroit News reports that the facility was fixed ahead of schedule and production has resumed.
Peter Halas, who heads Pigments and Cosmetics at Merck, said in a statement that the timely repair of the factory was a major achievement, adding “I would like to thank our employees in Japan for their tremendous efforts.”
Merck says that the Onahama facility, which is 36 miles south of the badly damaged Fukushima nuclear plant, is outside of the evacuation area, and the company will adhere to public directives to ensure the safety of employees. The company is also testing products from the plant to comply with safety standards.
To help prevent future shortages of Xirallic, Merck says it plans to establish another production site in Germany for the popular pigment.
has confirmed that the U.S. market is primed to receive a redesigned XC90. Automotive News had the chance to , CEO of Volvo Cars of North America, and suss out the automaker’s plans for the future. While pushing for increased sales of the new is part of Volvo’s short-term strategy, bringing in a replacement for its aging XC90 is certainly a key component to the marque’s long-term success.
There is no talk yet of a timetable or just what’s in store for the next generation XC90. Now that the S60 sedan has been given a well-conceived makeover, we have to assume that Volvo’s dealers are chomping at the bit for the strong-selling to get a new-and-improved big brother.
2011 Kia Optima 2.0T – Click above for high-res image gallery
The mid-size sedan battle rages on year after year. Perennial kings are dethroned while new challengers emerge boasting fresh styling and a bountiful list of standard features. Consumer Reports launches its June issue today, and the institute’s testers have put a host of family-minded four-doors powered by four-cylinder engines through a workout to determine which is the top dog. Ten vehicles were tested but, as Christopher Lambert will tell you, there can be only one.
As it has here at Autoblog Towers, Kia’s draws big praise from the Consumer Reports crew. In fact, the Korean squeezes out a higher rating than the . It may have only beat the Honda by one point, but this represents a significant win for . The opinions of Consumer Reports are highly valued by a large number of car shoppers, and this victory ought to push the Optima further onto radar of the American car buying public. Interestingly, while the Optima earned a “Very Good” rating, it wasn’t the comparison’s overall winner, however, as the (a perennial CR favorite) claimed the test’s top spot, neatly trumping the Honda and the best-selling in the process.
One vehicle not fairing so well in the June issue of Consumer Reports? The . Nineteen mid-size sport utility vehicles were rounded up for testing, and the Explorer wound up in 17th place – well behind the Hybrid – a dismal showing for the Blue Oval brand. If you don’t have an issue of CR in your mailbox, check out the official press release for more details.
Dually owner understands the value in recycling – Click above to watch video
There are many ways to crush a Coors Light can. One can go with the classic squeeze box, the ogre-brand forehead smash or perhaps you might prefer to let your foot do the stomping. The owner of an air-bag suspension-equipped dually pickup has another option when it comes time to crush cans; flip a switch and let the quad-cab do the recycling.
Miami’s a giant concrete brothel; a municipal madame hosting sweaty assignations that pair every income with its choice of cruise, cuisine, club, narcotic or panorama. We were there on a quest for a quest, anxious Lancelots after a late night run in a Series II E-Type over the A1A – yes, the Vanilla Ice road – had turned into a late, late evening with two Spaniards and three Ecuadorians discussing the merits of Top Gear and flying to Bogota to learn Spanish.
That’s when Destiny called. Not fate itself, but a ferociously alluring lass with a voice of such fine tenor we had to fight the urge to put the phone down and bow to it whenever she spoke. She requested our presence in Tampa, 271 miles away, and we could only credit fortune for the delivery of a for the purpose. It’s the ultimate in modest-yet-graceful savagery (modest compared to the ), two tons of animatronic shark – a modern, mechanical Jaws – that would get us safely through the gators, hawks and sawgrass of the Everglades.
It turns out the predators were the least of it. First, we had to get out of the humid human swamp that is Miami.
Mazda6 and Subaru Tribeca – Click either image for high-res gallery
The and haven’t exactly set the U.S. auto market ablaze, and a report in AutoWeek (citing Japan’s Nikkan Kogyo) claims that both models could meet an untimely demise.
The Tribeca has been unpopular seemingly since the day it was introduced as the B9 Tribeca, and recent sales figures show that the Subaru crossover has only found 910 new homes so far in 2011. attempted to increase interest in the CUV by giving it a new face, but buyers have been mostly unimpressed. And since other Subaru models are selling like hotcakes, the Tribeca is doing little more than taking up space at the automaker’s Indiana assembly plant. The automaker has reportedly already stopped research and development on the next generation Tribeca, which definitely isn’t a good sign.
While the Tribeca has been something of a sales catastrophe, the Mazda6 hasn’t been quite as big of a dud, but it has serially underperformed. was looking to move about 100,000 units per year out of its Flat Rock, MI plant, but sales haven’t been quite so robust. The Japanese automaker sold only 45,168 units in 2010, which has led to speculation that Mazda may quit producing the model at the facility.
Mazda hasn’t divulged any plans regarding the 6, but speculation is that the automaker could move out of Flat Rock altogether, leaving the facility to , which produces the at the plant. One rumor has Mazda moving to a new facility in Mexico, where labor costs are much lower than in the States.
If Subaru opts to stop making the Tribeca in the U.S., the CUV is likely dead forever. That’s not necessarily the case with the Mazda6, though, as Mazda could potentially import the mid-size sedan from other markets. Neither Subaru or Mazda have announced any plans about either vehicle or their production plans in North America.
The is the king of the hot hatches. Sure, there are more powerful, better-driving cars in the segment, but ’s hot kicked off this niche of flingable sport compacts back in the mid-1970s, and it’s quickly grown to become one of our favorite vehicle classes. When it comes to fun per dollar, you just can’t beat a hot hatch.
To celebrate the 35th birthday of the Golf GTI, Volkswagen has created this, the 35 Edition, which goes on sale in Germany this week. Visually, the 35 Edition is set apart by a unique front bumper, special wheels, and ‘35′ badging on the door sills and seats. The most important upgrade, however, is the substantial boost in power over the normal GTI – 25 horsepower – for a grand total of 235 hp.
Volkswagen hasn’t said a word about availability here in the United States just yet, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed. The Golf GTI 35 Edition makes its official debut at the infamous GTI Meet in Wörthersee, Germany, on June 1st. for VW’s (translated) press release.
Auto sales are continuing to rise here in the U.S., and carmakers are working hard to gain as many new buyers as possible. For many of them, adding sales means investing in plants, which appears willing to do. The Detroit News is reporting that GM is planning on investing $2 billion in 17 production facilities this year alone.
GM CEO Dan Akerson is expected to announce the investment at its Toledo transmission plant today. The chief executive will reportedly inform the rank and file that the automaker is investing $250 million in the facility, which while also lead to 250 new jobs. The announcement will be big news for the state of Ohio, and the mayor of Toledo and Governor John Kasich will be in attendance.
Details are sketchy regarding other investment opportunities, though the Detroit Hamtramck plant that currently builds the is expected to be among the plants receiving upgrades. GM plans to rework the production line to make room for the , giving the automaker flexibility to increase volume as demand increases.
The added investment in facilities is good news for America’s battered manufacturing sector, while at the same time helping GM better utilize its existing plants. In total, the investment should help create or retain about 4,200 jobs, which should help GM at the negotiating table with Bob King and the United Auto Workers this summer.
