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Automakers have been on the honor system when stating the tow ratings of their pickups, and that has led to lofty numbers that could only be achieved under a very particular set of ideal conditions. Claiming the biggest number for any truck spec is a big deal, but maximum towing capacity is the crown spec. So it was only natural that these automakers – mainly Ford, General Motors, Dodge (Ram), Toyota, Honda and Nissan – would feel the pressure to keep coming up with better and better tow ratings.

Enter the Society of Automotive Engineers and détente: Five of the six truck manufacturers mentioned above have agreed to assess their trucks’ tow rating based on SAE standard J2807. The new standard lays out several benchmark tests for pickups, so automakers won’t be allowed to simply find the right conditions and produce the highest tow rating possible anymore. For the J2807 test, a standardized trailer is hooked up and the truck is put through acceleration tests on level ground and an incline, and its response to effects like understeer, trailer-sway and braking are measured. Only Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Honda and Chrysler will be employing J2807 now, but by 2013 all pickup truck makers will be obliged to adhere to it.

Someone had to go first, and today we learn that Toyota has adjusted its pickup’s tow rating to the new standard, and so the Tundra can tow less on paper today despite not a single change being made to the vehicle. Its towing capacities were lowered anywhere from 400 pounds on the 2WD regular cab (10,800 to 10,400) all the way up to 1,100 pounds on the 4WD CrewMax (10,100 to 9,000).

This shouldn’t be viewed as a knock against the Tundra, because we won’t know where it really falls until we get revised ratings from each of the other five manufacturers, and we expect them all to shift downwards.

[Source: PickupTrucks.com]

Toyota lowers tow-rating of Tundra, but it’s a good thing

Nissan has officially confirmed that the new fascia we saw on the European version of the 2011 Murano will find its way to the land of the free. The look carries a reworked bumper, along with similarly sculpted headlights and a new grille. If you were hoping to see the diesel model crop up on dealer lots in your neck of the woods, we’ve got bad news – it ain’t happening. The oil-burning Murano is still only available to our cousins across the pond, leaving us with the capable 3.5-liter VQ V6 with 250 horsepower and 240 lb-ft of torque as our only powerplant option.

Even so, Nissan has chucked an additional trim line into the mix. Buyers can now choose between a total of eight variants on the Murano theme, including the new SV FWD and SV AWD trims. The Japanese automaker has thrown in 20-inch wheels, a dual-panel moonroof and a bevy of exterior color choices as optional goodies, too. Look for the 2011 Nissan Murano to land on dealer lots by October. Follow the jump for the full press blast.

[Source: Nissan]

Continue reading 2011 Nissan Murano unveiled with mild refresh, new SV trim

2011 Nissan Murano unveiled with mild refresh, new SV trim

Is everything made by Aston Martin better than everything made by Ferrari? Is the Porsche 911 really nothing more than a glorified Volkswagen? Is a three-wheeled Reliant Robin the best possible choice as a replacement for the out-of-service space shuttle? And, finally, Who is the Stig?

These are the ongoing questions asked time and time again by fans of the hit British motoring show Top Gear. And, in the case of the Stig, that topic is also one of Google’s most often searched queries. Interestingly enough, those in the know claim they’ve had the answer for quite some time.

If you don’t want the elaborate ruse to be spoiled, stop reading now. Still with us? Okay, good. It’s Ben Collins. Allegedly. In this particular case, though, the evidence seems almost indisputable since it comes from financial information obtained from Collins Autosport, Ben Collins’ own company.

According to the paperwork, the former Formula Three racing driver had a big increase in pay in 2003, which just so happens to be the first year in which the White Stig took over for the recently deceased Black Stig. That income was reportedly from “driving services provided for the BBC, mainly in the Top Gear programme.” So there you go. Mystery solved?

P.S. – Can we get that autobiography already, then?

[Source: Telegraph]

Identity of the Stig revealed… again [spoiler alert, maybe]

According to Automotive News Europe, Volkswagen is keen on continuing its hungry, hungry hippo march through the automotive world. The report says that the German manufacturing giant has its eye on snapping up Alfa Romeo, even though parent-company Fiat has no intention of turning the brand loose.

The news comes courtesy of two unnamed, high-ranking VW officials who claim that the company has developed a serious taste for Italian as of late. Meanwhile, a similarly shadowy figure in the upper echelons of the Fiat kingdom says that Fiat won’t sell Alfa Romeo to the Germans.

While the two companies appear to be drawing lines in the sand, Fiat has said that it wants Alfa Romeo to become a world-class luxury manufacturer. That includes selling upwards of 500,000 units per year by 2014 – nearly five times what the company managed to move in 2009.

So why does VW want Alfa Romeo? Nabbing the brand would be an easy way to help the carmaker in its quest to take down Toyota as the world’s number one automaker. Dipping into the Alfa Romeo stable would also give VW access to a wealth of new front-engine, front-wheel-drive chassis options as well.

[Source: Automotive News Europe]

Report: VW wants to buy Alfa Romeo, Fiat unwilling to part

It’s no secret that the revived 2010 Honda Insight has been a huge sales disappointment in North America. The once-robust sales of the Civic hybrid have also evaporated in the last two years. Apparently, things are far worse for Honda’s hybrids in Canada where higher fuel prices typically cause people to buy more efficient vehicles.

An unconfirmed report from a Canadian web site indicates that both the Civic hybrid and the Insight are being discontinued there. Checking the Canadian sales charts, the Civic as a whole is one of the top-selling cars in Canada with 31,604 units sold in 2010 through July.

While hybrid sales are not broken out by Honda Canada, we can do a little educated guessing. Since only 643 of those Civic sales were imports and the hybrids come from Japan, we can figure that those 643 were the hybrid models. Similarly, Canadians only bought 748 Insights in the same period. When it launched, Honda projected 10,000 annual sales in Canada. Evidently Canadians just aren’t taken with hybrids – even the mighty Prius has only found 2,272 Canadian buyers this year.

Honda hasn’t yet responded to a request for comment on the cancellation of these two models. Apparently, Honda Canada will still proceed with the launch of the CR-Z there, maybe leaving it as the company’s only hybrid. A tip of the hat to Mario!

[Source: Monvolant]

Report: Honda Canada discontinuing Insight and Civic hybrid

Things just got a lot more interesting for owners of the 2011 Ford Mustang. This weekend at the Woodward Dream Cruise, Ford Racing released its new supercharger package for the new 5.0-liter V8, turning the already potent pony car into a serious drag-strip contender.

The supercharger system is available in three packages, each utilizing a 2.3-liter Whipple twin-screw supercharger, air-to-liquid intercooler and 47 lb/hr fuel injectors. The base package provides 525 horsepower and 470 pound-feet torque and comes with a 12-month/12,000-mile warranty when installed by a Ford or Lincoln dealer, while the second kit offers 624 hp and 536 lb-ft torque… but no warranty. Finally, those that want to build their own custom system can opt for the tuner kit, which comes with only the core components but needs to be independently calibrated to work with the engine’s computer. Hit the jump to see full details on both packages, and if you’re the owners of a 2011 Mustang, you’ve got some decisions to make. Top tip, Panayiotis!

[Source: Ford Racing]

Continue reading Ford Racing now selling supercharger that boosts new 5.0-liter V8 to 624 HP

Ford Racing now selling supercharger that boosts new 5.0-liter V8 to 624 HP

Numbers, in form of prices and horsepower, have been appended to the English sports car known as the Arash AF-10. Although the Corvette Z06 isn’t considered a supercar, its LS7 V8 is a certifiable star and has found yet another supercar starring role in the AF-10’s engine bay.

The base model gets 500 horsepower and requires €360,000 ($457,560 U.S.). The mid-range, which hasn’t been priced, will be tuned for 800 horses. The top dog shots up another four hundred notches to 1,200 hp, and gets slapped with a €1.6 million price tag ($2.03M U.S.). That’s the same horsepower as a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport with the price of a Veyron Grand Sport. In an alternate dimension we might call that “a bargain.”

As if that weren’t enough, the Arash site offers two more treats: the AF-10 configurator and a sketch of the Arash AF-8, a less extreme sibling. We’ll wait for the AF-10 to fully arrive and prove it knows what to do with 1,200 hp, but if you like its looks yet not its price, there might be hope on the way.

[Source: Autoblog.it (translated)]

Arash AF-10 gets one step closer to a 1200-hp reality

Our own Sebastian Blanco played Nostradamus on this one, predicting that Fisker’s retention of Lambesis as its ad agency of record would turn into sexified commercials. Nevermind the fact that a kindergartner could have figured that out, Blanco is the one who delivered – and so did Lambesis.

The last Fisker commercial was driving shots and useless malarkey. The new ad is legs and painted nails, mood lighting and water, some plugging and unplugging, a couple of donuts and an ice cube. That’s how you want your plug-in hybrids, isn’t it? Then go get it in the spot after the jump. Now stay tuned while Blanco tells us when the Karma will really go on sale…

[Source: Fisker]

Continue reading Video: Latest Fisker Karma ad has all the sexy we expected

Video: Latest Fisker Karma ad has all the sexy we expected

The 2012 Chevrolet Malibu has been busted again, wearing front and rear camo, which is more camo than it wore the last time we saw it. It’s clear that the flanks are getting just enough etching to add some visual interest, but we’re wondering how far the front and back treatments will move toward Regal-ish styling or whether they’ll carve a place of their own. That Volvo- and Camry-esque trunk treatment has really got us going…

According to Inside Line, this version of the ‘Bu could go international, which makes the expectation of “a complete interior overhaul” a necessity. Even so, a navigation screen is only expected to be optional. Rumored engines are a direct-injection four-cylinder, a hybrid, a 3.6-liter V6 and a turbocharged ECOTEC.

[Source: Inside Line via GM Inside News]

Spy Shots: 2012 Chevrolet Malibu continues its camo striptease

Sudeep K. Agarwal, a Mercedes owner in India, decided he’d had it up to here and wasn’t going to take it anymore. Over a period of a few years Agarwal took his Mercedes to a dealer in Bangalore to have the same problem repaired, but the dealer never got it fixed to his satisfaction.

During one more trip to the dealer, the dealer told Agarwal they had no spare car to offer while his Benz was in service. Making things worse, Agarwal’s driving was apparently called into question by the dealer staff. He immediately pledged “I will show you how to drive the car,” then delivered on it by getting in and plowing onto the showroom floor, taking out a few new Benzes in the process. He scored three direct hits and was finally overpowered before he could score a fourth.

While this might all sound crazy – because it is – our tipster offered a bit of background to the breakdown. According to our reader Toni, dealers and manufacturers in India hold absolutely all the cards when it comes to addressing consumer complaints, as “there are no lemon laws” and “a typical court case takes ~10-20 years to resolve.” From the way Toni makes it sound, after spending all that money on luxury some buyers end up spending all their time on redress. Not that the justifies doing an impression of Crash Bandicoot…

[Source: Express Buzz]

Angry Benz owner goes on showroom rampage

Sharpened Tech Claws More Than Scratch The Surface

If you checked Ford’s bloodstream right now, you’d probably find trace amounts of Ritalin floating along with the 5w30. The company is an absolute blur of product development – churning out new models (Fiesta), entirely reworking staples (Focus) and honing beloved and established products (Mustang), into cars that can swing well above their intended weight class. The Blue Oval isn’t sitting around waiting for the competition to guilt it into making its vehicles better. Instead, the company is constantly improving what needs attention, even in the case of the Edge – a crossover that’s had no problem establishing itself as a market force to be reckoned with.

Just recently, Ford announced that 400,000 Edge crossovers have found homes in the U.S. since late 2006, making it king of the high-riding crowd in the process. Ford credits much of that success on the Edge’s styling, which the rest of this crowd just can’t seem to match. There’s no mistaking this five-door with anything in its segment (MKX aside), and that won’t change anytime soon. For 2011, Ford has given the Edge a detailed once over, plopped a few new engine options under the hood and given the interior the kind of remake that doesn’t typically pop up mid-cycle. If the rest of the segment was hoping to catch up, it can keep dreaming.

Photos Copyright (C)2010 Zach Bowman / AOL

Continue reading First Drive: 2011 Ford Edge

First Drive: 2011 Ford Edge

	Fisker’s new ad: Karma is “Designed to get you hot, not the planet” Look at the curves.		EV sellers will have to teach drivers to treat their car like their phone, plug it in! New habits die hard?
	Tesla to buy old resources from GM, Toyota for NUMMI plant Turns out there were a few items Tesla can use there.	Other news: Nissan Leaf price war wages on! SF dealer to offer 5% off MSRP Going to Pot: Motive to unveil cannabis-composite Kestrel electric car [w/video] Video: Porsche owner electrifies his 928

AutoblogGreen for 08.23.10

The Woodward Dream Cruise is all about classic, unique and nostalgic vehicles spanning over 100 years of automotive history, but sometimes even more can be seen by zooming in and studying the details of these fabulous machines.

We scoured Woodward Ave. with a magnifying lens looking for those special angles that make you appreciate good automotive design. These are the close-ups of the 2010 Woodward Dream Cruise. Check ‘em out in the high-res image gallery below and let us know your favorites.

Photos Copyright (C)2010 Autoblog Staff / AOL

2010 Woodward: I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. Dream Cruise

Nestled between the classic and muscle cars at the Woodward Dream Cruise are vehicles that turn heads for very different reasons. At some point in the history of the Dream Cruise, the fleet of quirky cruisers became as big a spectacle as a ‘32 Ford Coupe or a ‘57 Chevy. To be honest, we wouldn’t have it any other way because these often ludicrous machines bring a smile to our faces during a hard day’s work of covering the cruise.

This year, we spotted such fine rides as a Volkswagen Beetle that hinges to open like a Hungry Hungry Hippo (above), an Econoline van with a stripper pole and a late-model Monte Carlo with Lambo doors. That’s just three among the dozens of misfits we found trolling the streets of Woodward yesterday. Browse the gallery below for some high-res perspective on how to raise eyebrows while cruising the Woodward strip.

Photos Copyright (C)2010 Autoblog Staff / AOL

2010 Woodward: The Weird, Wild and Not-So-Wonderful

Every year, the muscle car is the most well-represented vehicle type at the Woodward Dream Cruise. And with good reason: These burly V8-powered steeds reinforce Detroit’s legend as the Motor City.

As we discussed in our post on Woodward’s classic cars, we’ve kinda sorta arbitrarily split American automotive history into two parts, using 1964 as the dividing line. Everything post-1964 is a muscle car… at least for our purposes. With that in mind, take a look at a bunch of classic Mustangs, Chevelles, Corvettes and, of course, Pontiac GTOs in our high-res image gallery below.

Photos Copyright (C)2010 Autoblog Staff / AOL

2010 Woodward: Muscled up in Motown

Now that General Motors has submitted the necessary paperwork for its IPO to the SEC, Forbes read through the entire 734 page filing and found this curious tidbit: “We have determined that our disclosure controls and procedures and our internal control over financial reporting are currently not effective.” And yes, that means exactly what you think it means.

In case you think it’s only cautious puffery, the document goes on to say, “Until we have been able to test the operating effectiveness of remediated internal controls and ensure the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures, any material weaknesses may materially adversely affect our ability to report accurately our financial condition and results of operations in the future in a timely and reliable manner.”

And there’s more, but the gist is that GM wants you to know that it might have to shuffle some of its past numbers at some future date. The problem seems to go back to early last year, when new accounting procedures were put in place to please the SEC. The General’s trip to Narnia bankruptcy and back, however, prevented it from fully vetting those procedures, so it can’t be 100% certain that they’re 100% accurate. It could actually just be caution on GM’s part, but nevertheless, some funny things are happening on the way to this IPO…

[Source: Forbes]

GM to Investors: Internal financial reporting controls are ineffective

There’s no doubt that classic cars make up the bulk of what keeps us coming to Detroit to cover the Woodward Dream Cruise year after year. But what makes a car a classic?

That question is as debatable as ever, but for the purposes of our coverage this weekend, we’re calling a classic anything built before 1964 or so. That’s around the first year you could buy a Pontiac GTO – what many consider to be the first true muscle car – and the end of what we’re calling our classic car era.

Yes, it’s a bit arbitrary to divide all these vintage vehicles into two groups, but there’s just too many for one gallery! So here’s the first, our gallery of pre-1964 (or so) classics. Post-1964 (or so) muscle cars will follow, so get through the gallery below and we’ll bring the muscle a little later.

Photos Copyright (C)2010 Autoblog Staff / AOL

2010 Woodward: Classics make Dream Cruise worth the weather

Mahindra Pik-Up – Click above for high-res image gallery

At long last, Mahindra can get in the business of actually selling its Pik-Ups instead of waiting for the EPA and fighting with its dealers. PickupTrucks.com reports that the little Indian truck has finally received EPA certification, meaning that retail sales of the TR20 and TR40 diesel pickups can begin next year.

Global Vehicles (Mahindra’s U.S. distributor) put on a happy face, saying, “Our dealers are excited as well. This is great news,” but it’s unclear how this development will affect the ongoing litigation between the two entities. Global Vehicles recently sued Mahindra for missing three deadlines to have its trucks ready for sale, claiming that GV and its dealer body spent $95 million getting everything prepared. Our guess is that they’ll find some timely way to kiss and make up so that you can get your $22,000 Pik-Up as soon as possible.

[Source: PickupTrucks.com]

Mahindra diesel pickups finally get EPA certification

We aren’t the biggest fans of most vanity plates. At the Woodward Dream Cruise, however, there are plenty of witty, snappy and mildly inappropriate plates to be seen, and we can’t help but laugh (or at least chuckle quietly) at some of these creative tags. After all, it’s one thing to cruise Woodward Avenue in a PT Cruiser with wood paneling and flame decals, but having a vanity plate that reads “HOTWOOD” really completes the package.

We found all sorts of interesting letter combinations at this year’s cruise, which you can see for yourselves in the high-res gallery below.

Photos Copyright (C)2010 Autoblog Staff / AOL

2010 Woodward: Vanity plates that make you double-take

We aren’t the biggest fans of most vanity plates. At the Woodward Dream Cruise, however, there are plenty of witty, snappy and mildly inappropriate plates to be seen, and we can’t help but laugh (or at least chuckle quietly) at some of these creative tags. After all, it’s one thing to cruise Woodward Avenue in a PT Cruiser with wood paneling and flame decals, but having a vanity plate that reads “HOTWOOD” really completes the package.

We found all sorts of interesting letter combinations at this year’s cruise, which you can see for yourselves in the high-res gallery below.

Photos Copyright (C)2010 Autoblog Staff / AOL

2010 Woodward: Vanity license plates that make you double-take