is bringing its diesel-powered to the States after all. But don’t get too excited – it’s only coming in the form of a concept car at the . At least, for now.
We last saw the Alltrack at the in November where VW announced that it would offer the all-wheel-drive wagon in the UK with two versions of the 2.0-liter turbo-diesel inline-four. The engines are rated at 138 and 168 horsepower, the smaller of which is available with a manual transmission.
Despite the fact that the Tokyo show car was a full-on production model, VW is calling the New York-bound Alltrack a concept to presumably gauge the U.S. public’s perception. If Americans seem open to the Alltrack, it would be a welcome alternative to ’s pricey Allroad and granola-flavored .
Check out our Tokyo Motor Show below, and for the official press blast. Be sure to tell us if you think the Passat Alltrack should come to the states in our poll, as well.
This week, the racing yacht finished its run from Miami to New York City. Intended as a record attempt, skipper Giovanni Soldini because he didn’t feel it was reflective of the real speed Maserati is capable of. (The boat had to deal with several weather systems on its way up from Florida, which slowed it. Another attempt at a better time will be made in the future.)
With the boat spending a few days at Manhattan’s North Cove marina, just outside the World Financial Center, Maserati invited us down to take a look in person. Maserati, a 70-foot, carbon-fiber monohull, contested the 2008 Volvo Ocean Race under a different moniker. It was subsequently overhauled, had its weight distribution adjusted, and made 10 percent lighter, after which it was reintroduced in its current form, with Maserati as its primary sponsor.
It’s capable of traveling at an incredible 40 knots under sail (hence the 46 mph reference in the headline), and what’s striking about Maserati in person is that in addition to the hull itself, almost everything else on board is made of carbon fiber: the wheels at the helm, the mast, the grinders and winches, and so on. I pointed at and asked watch leader Brad Van Liew, “How much is that?”
“Around $80,000,” he answered. The whole boat apparently cost around $8,000,000. It’s the state of the art, and if you’re in Manhattan, you might still be able to check it out in person. It’s due to head out on another speed record attempt (destination: Cape Lizard, UK) in the coming days.
If you want to follow the ongoing exploits of VOR70 Maserati, bookmark for news, blogs, video, the crew’s Twitter feeds, and more.
It appears the right-wing wall against the is starting to crumble. Following months of beating on the Volt, Fox News aired a puff piece on earlier this week. Now we hear that for his son Neil as a birthday present. As our friend Chelsea Sexton , “Can’t wait to see what Fox News makes of that!”
In a sense, the Bush family should be among the first to buy one of GM’s plug-in hybrids, since the $7,500 federal tax credit that the car qualifies for was put into place during President George W. Bush’s second term. Since President Obama has also , that makes the Volt a vehicle that presidents from both major American parties can agree on.
After being confronted with a petition against the – known as one of the biggest funders of climate-change denial – following an , CEO Dan Akerson said earlier this month that he . Based on a press release put out by the group that organized the petition, , it appears that GM will no longer give the Heartland Institute any money. In 2011, the GM Foundation donated $15,000.
Forecast the Facts’ petition was signed by over 20,000 people, including 10,000 who own or owned a GM vehicle. Following , Forecast the Facts campaign director, Daniel Souweine, said in a statement, that, “We applaud GM’s decision and the message it sends: that it is no longer acceptable for corporations to promote the denial of climate change, and that support for an organization like Heartland is not in line with GM’s values.”
We pity the fool who don’t think this is cool. Put aside the celebrity provenance of this “authentic replica,” allegedly “certified” by George Barris, for now and just take a look at the thing. It appears to be a spot-on knock-off of , the perfect midlife-crisis toy for anyone who grew up watching The A-Team. Imagine how cool it would be to drop the kids off at school in this?
Okay, the traffic snarl during drop-off time won’t clear out any faster, but when it comes to “,” you can’t top this custom 1983 G10. Wait, what’s that you say? B.A. drove a ? Of course he did. But this is a replica, and one that seems to have been built from a nearly identical Chevy donor.
The seller claims the van was built for none other than Mike Myers, he of Wayne’s World and Austin Powers fame. We’d like to see some documentation of this celebrity provenance, though it’s not the sort of thing that we’d see too much value in, regardless. We’re also curious about the last line of the sale ad: “Movie coming out in June!” It was back in June 2010 that the A-Teamfeature film debuted, which makes us think the seller might be willing to deal on his $20,000 price.
BMW i, the sub-brand within with its eye towards the future of mobility, has unveiled its third concept, the i8 Spyder. Based on the that debuted last year alongside the i3 city car, the i8 Spyder is at once an obvious followup, but also appears to be a couple of steps closer to the production models that will eventually go on sale to the public.
Like the coupe, the i8 Spyder is a plug-in through-the-road hybrid with a 96 kW (131 horsepower) electric motor up front powering the front axle and a mid-mounted turbocharged three-cylinder gas engine (presumably with a displacement of 1.5 liters like the coupe) producing 223 hp that powers the rear. A pack of lithium-ion batteries are located in a center tunnel between the two power sources, which together can produce a total system output of 354 hp and 405 lb-ft of torque. On electricity alone, the i8 Spyder can travel about 19 miles before the gas engine turns on to recharge the batteries. BMW says the system is good for 94 miles per gallon on the Imperial cycle, which converts to upwards of 78 miles per gallon on our own EPA cycle.
The beauty of the i8 Spyder’s drivetrain is the car can be front-wheel-drive, rear-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive depending on whether efficiency, performance or all-weather traction is called for. Like the coupe, the i8 Spyder also features a perfect 50:50 weight distribution, and BMW claims to have completely cancelled out the extra weight of the hybrid drivetrain through extensive use of lightweight materials like carbon fiber and aluminum. Performance is also impressive, with 0-62 mph happening in five seconds and a top speed governed at 155 mph.
Not everything between the coupe and spyder is the same, though. The i8 Spyder has a slightly shorter wheelbase and overall length. Its upward-swiveling, windowless doors are also different. The car’s developers have also whimsically included a pair of electric scooters underneath a glass panel in the rear. Aside from a few more exterior tweaks to accommodate the open air design, which can be closed again with a two-section folding roof, the rest of the i8 Spyder is identical to the coupe, including the interior that features a slightly warmer choice of colors.
Scroll down for the official specs and info from BMW, and stay tuned while we hunt down the i8 Spyder for some in-person impressions. Though BMW makes no mention of its appearance at next week’s , the timing of this debut suggests it will be there.
“Fleet” is sort of a dirty word when describing vehicle sales, and the Detroit Three have traditionally been quite smitten with bulk buyers. Unfortunately fleet sales have been demonized for a reason. They can adversely affect resale values, and since fleet buyers tend to expect warehouse store pricing, they’re obviously not great for the bottom line, either. But one automaker seems more than happy to sell to fleets: Ford.
Bloomberg reports that a larger percentage of Ford’s overall sales are going to fleets, rising from 22 percent of in 2006 to 27 percent in 2011. Of those vehicles, 41 percent reportedly went to the likes of Hertz and Enterprise. That leaves the rest of the sales at the local, state and federal level, plus a smattering of commercial buyers. In other words, needy customers with cash in hand. And those buyers tend to want high-margin rides like trucks, crossovers and SUVs; vehicles Ford make money on.
Ford fleet director Kevin Koswick tells Bloomberg that the automaker knows what it’s doing, adding “I don’t see it as an issue as long as you manage your fleet and you’re balanced in what you do.”
Cash-strapped enthusiasts may not have had much to get all sticky over from Camp in recent years, but the automaker’s new / coupe promises to mine a rich paystreak of driving enjoyment. And while we’re big (okay, huge) fans of the car’s low-speed dynamic thrills, not every enthusiast is so forgiving of its rather middling power and acceleration figures. We knew it wouldn’t take long for the aftermarket to remedy this perceived power deficit with things like forced induction and ECU reflashes, but we foolishly expected a full engine swap to take a bit longer than it apparently has.
What you’re looking at here is Manabu “Max” Orido’s Toyota GT 86 prepped for drifting in D1 Grand Prix events. In this case, that means the two-door has been gutted and stuffed with the 5.0-liter V8 from the , one of Toyota’s more emotive offerings thanks to its honkin’ great eight.
Orido’s GT 86 is shown here undergoing shakedown testing, and from the looks of things, the transplant appears to be going rather swimmingly. At first glance, we even dig the more aggressive widebody look, lack of paint and all. Check it out for yourself , and be sure to have your speakers on.
If you’re Alan Mulally’s gardener, it’s probably a good time to ask the boss for a raise. The Chief Executive Officer earlier in the month, and now his 2011 compensation has been made public – and it’s increased some 11 percent.
Mulally received $29.5 million in 2011, according to The Detroit News, more than twice the next-highest-paid Ford officer cited in the report, Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr., whose total compensation was $14.46 million. While Mulally’s salary amounts to a paltry $2 million, he was paid a $5.46 million bonus, with the rest coming in “stock and option awards as well as personal expenses, which can entail personal use of private aircraft, cell phone use, security, and fuel and car washes,” according to the report.
The News says Ford surpassed its profit targets in 2011, but missed other internal benchmarks.
Doing some quick math, Ford sold 5.7 million vehicles globally in 2011, meaning that Mulally pocketed $5.17 for each one.
Arguably more than any other mainstream automaker, is serious about its heritage. So much so that it – former chief executive of , and – to head up its classics program. In this capacity, Paefgen oversees the heritage departments of each of the group’s brands, but while its commercial vehicles operation may seem the least likely to preserve its past, today’s announcement proves that assumption wrong.
The Oldtimers department of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles just recently moved into a new 7,000 square-meter facility in Hannover, Germany, where its staff of 13 dedicates itself to the restoration and preservation of old VW Buses. Although the garage has been active for several years, working on the company’s own vehicles, the Oldtimer department has now opened its doors for private owners to bring in their vehicles for any degree of service.
Have an old Bus in need of some TLC? Click for the press release for further details and check out the gallery of high-resolution images for a closer look inside the workshop.
By now you’ve probably heard about “Batman” getting pulled over by the cops in his . The story has been all over the Internet this week, thanks to the in-car video from the local Maryland police department that stopped the caped crusader. But now we’ve got the real scoop on this would-be Bruce Wayne, thanks to the Washington Post.
His name is Lenny B. Robinson, and being Batman is only a part-time gig for the wealthy philanthropist. Robinson visits sick children in hospitals around the Baltimore area, decked out in a $5,000 neoprene-and-leather Batman suit, according to the report. He hands out Batman toys, signs autographs and gives the kids some much-needed fun, while boosting the morale of the parents, as well.
The is just part of the fun, though Robinson told the Post that he’s having a “real” Batmobile built. (Which of the various movie cars he’s having replicated was not specified.) While this episode marked Robinson’s first time in a national spotlight, it wasn’t his first encounter with the police while in costume. Patch reported on a back in November 2011, when Robinson’s Gallardo had a flat.
Today’s automobiles are more connected than ever, and the National Transportation Safety Board doesn’t seem to approve. The Detroit News reports that NTSB Chair Deborah Hersman is standing behind a recommendation to from making hands-free phone calls that aren’t of the emergency variety.
Hersman is battling automakers head-on when it comes to distracting technologies, and there are plenty of those technologies in today’s vehicles. That includes hands-free calling made via Bluetooth, which has long been viewed as a safer alternative to grabbing a phone and calling someone the old-fashioned way. The proposed ban on hands-free calling reportedly doesn’t include OnStar, which integrates calling directly through the vehicle. Hersman reportedly went as far as to suggest that automakers make their number one priority “safety, not sales.”
While we think distracted driving is worth fighting, it’s difficult to see where banning hands-free calling is the answer. And we’re not alone. Even National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator Ray LaHood feels the NTSB recommendation . If automakers are forced to remove the tech from new vehicles, we’re thinking many drivers will simply revert back to hand-held calling.
The NTSB thinks that hand-held and hands-free are equally dangerous, but it’s difficult to argue that case, especially if integrated technology like OnStar is permitted. Once a phone is paired, what’s the difference between pressing the hands-free button and pressing the OnStar button? We’d argue that having kids in the back seat is far more distracting than hands-free calling, and we don’t see the NTSB calling for a ‘no kids in the car’ policy any time soon.
The strength of the Yen is forcing many Japanese automakers to consider building cars for export markets outside their home country. is no different, and has confirmed that it will build the hatchback at its starting in the spring of 2014.
The plant in Mexico is not the only location where Honda will build the Fit, but it will be used to supply the small hatchback to the large United States, Mexican and Canadian markets. Honda expects to build up to 200,000 subcompact vehicles per year at its plant near Celaya, Guanajuato.
Honda already builds a huge number of vehicles in North America. In fact, as pointed out in the press release , more than 85 percent of the Honda and models sold in America were built in the United States, Canada or Mexico. What’s more, the addition of the Fit to the , , and means that all four of Honda’s global nameplates will be produced in North America.
We will now know the “” – the small four-door “coupe” built on the MFA platform supporting the (pictured above) and – as the CLA. It will debut at April’s , and it’s just one of the five variants that has planned for its MFA underpinnings.
When it hits the streets in 2013, advance reports indicate that both front- and all-wheel-drive versions will be available. Power will come from a range of gas and diesel engines with anywhere from 110 to 150 horsepower (there’s even a potential AMG model with more than 300 hp on the way), mated to seven-speed dual-clutch and six-speed manual transmissions.
Of note, though, over its long gestation, the CLA has been referred to as the CLC, but the CLA and CLC are different cars. The CLC is the Concept Style Coupe, said to be , which was a two-door hatchback, yet also of the , which was a sedan. The CLA will make its debut in China, but the CLC will be at an Mercedes-sponsored art festival called “Transmission LA: AV Club.” The Beijing show and the art festival overlap, so we’ll find out which car is which and what they both look like soon enough.
Who wants to wait until the of the Nina plug-in hybrid next week when we can see spy shots right this second? Neither do we.
So, what do the shots reveal? For starters, we can see that the Nina is indeed shorter than its big brother. This is expected, but the impression we have is that the Karma’s design language translates quite well into a vehicle about the size of a . The front end, too, sports a moustache-like grille that’s similar to the one on the Karma. On the back side, the “EVer” badge is still proudly in place, but the diamond-shaped exhaust outlets are missing. The four-door sedan’s rear doors have the handles hidden smoothly between the window and the C-pillar. Then there are the wheels. It’s hard to miss those. If you want to compare the Nina with the Karma directly, open the gallery above as well as in another tab and click away.
The problem with these images is that they still don’t tell us much about the car itself. We’ve heard the cost for the Nina, which is supposed to be , will be about the same as a top-of-the-line . That implies something north of $45,000, despite what Vice President Joe Biden : “It looks like a four-door Ferrari, I can’t believe it’s only going to be $40,000.” We’ll hopefully know more when we get to the next week.
After all the problems Fisker has had with the Karma launch and the DOE loan, it’s important to remember that it’s the vehicle you see above that the DOE has been helping with all along. Do you like where your tax dollars have gone?
will slowly be expanding its commercial vehicle lineup here in the United States, and the next product to hit dealerships is this . Pricing has now officially been set, with the base 12-passenger NV3500 carrying an MSRP of $31,690 (*not including destination charges). Tick every option box on the NV configurator and a fully decked-out NV3500 SL V8 with leather and navigation will run you just shy of $40,000.
The NV passenger van is mechanically the same as its cargo van kin, meaning power comes from either a 4.0-liter V6 with 261 horsepower and 281 pound-feet of torque or a 5.6-liter V8 with 317 hp and 385 lb-ft of twist. Both engines are mated exclusively to a heavy-duty five-speed automatic transmission and only send power to the NV’s rear wheels. Inside, the NV3500 boasts all the creature comforts of any passenger vehicle, including a touch-screen infotainment system, lots of storage space and mobile office capability.
Following the launch of the NV3500 passenger van, Nissan will bring the smaller – the , for those of you keeping track – to market. All in, Nissan aims to have a full line of commercial vehicles on sale here in the U.S. within the next few years.
This year, will, once again, be crawling with electric vehicles. will be there with its , and the Pikes Peak EV Challenge Committee has just announced it will bring a new all-electric car to scale the 14,110-foot peak in Colorado this July.
The prototype vehicle will be developed by , where APEV stands for the Association for the Promotion of Electric Vehicles, and will be driven by the legendary Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima. Tajima has , for the first time last year.
But that was in a gas-powered , which isn’t nearly as eco-chic as doing it with zero emissions. The coolest part, for real, is that Team APEV and Monster Sports will be participating to help victims of the 2011 Japan earthquake disaster as well as promoting environmental education projects for children and “projects to promote active participation from the senior citizens of Japan.”
When our friends at told us they’d be sending over a set of Bridgestone Blizzak WS-70 tires mounted on 17-inch Sport Edition alloy wheels for our , our minds were immediately filled with images of the little blue hatchback bounding along snowy roads with razor-sharp precision and confidence. Instead, editors Neff, Paukert and myself can literally count on one hand the number of times we actually had to drive the on snowy/slushy roads. So much for winter tire/all-wheel-drive snowy playtime.
To say that we’ve had an unusually mild winter here in the Midwest is truly an understatement (note: we are absolutely not complaining). In mid-March, we saw record-high temperatures in the mid-80s. As Neff said in , seriously, what the hell is going on?
So rather than wear down the tread on our Blizzaks even further, we took the over to Motor City Mini once again to have its stock Pirelli Cinturato 18-inch wheels and run-flat (boo!) tires put back on. Perfect timing, too, since the car was just about to roll over the 12,000-mile mark, meaning its first scheduled maintenance was due. The oil was changed, fluids were topped off and all of the other mechanical elements inspected, and thus, our Mini is now prepped and ready for spring and summer in The D. We of the run-flat tires combined with our optional sport suspension already, so we’ll spare you another round of grumbling. If there’s one thing we’ll miss about the winter tires, it’s the smoother – albeit, slightly louder – ride.
Our observed fuel economy numbers are falling short of what the EPA suggests.
With 12,000 miles now under our belts, the Countryman is plenty broken in. But after a quick math session with the car’s logbook, it seems our observed fuel economy numbers are falling short of what the EPA suggests. I’ll personally admit to driving the Mini more aggressively than most consumers likely will (hey, this thing is seriously fun to throw around), but even so, the fact that our observed fuel economy is only 24.9 miles per gallon is indeed questionable. The EPA rates the 2011 Cooper S Countryman All4 at 26/32 mpg city/highway and 28 mpg combined when fitted with the six-speed manual transmission, and our best recorded fuel economy is only a dismal 29.3 mpg. Either I’m not the only one with a heavy right foot or something is off here. We’ll definitely be keeping a close watch over this as time progresses.
In the next month, associate editor Chris Shunk will put the Countryman to use as a family hauler, so we’ll get a better idea of just how kid-and-cargo-friendly the four-passenger interior really is. Stay tuned.
Keep your eyes locked on the official for the majority of our updates, as well as the official Autoblog Twitter account (, look for the hashtag).
The UK is currently experiencing a run on fuel after a government minister warned citizens to stock up ahead of a possible strike by British fuel tanker drivers. Despite the fact that a strike is anything but certain, and must also be preceded by a week-long warning period, Britain’s Petrol Retailers Association says that gasoline sales are up 81 percent and diesel 43 percent since the comments were made. The average price of fuel there today is £1.40/liter, or $8.49/gallon.
Cabinet Minister Francis Maude had originally commented that Britain’s drivers should store fuel, “maybe a little bit in the garage as well in a jerrycan.” Late Tuesday, Transportation Minister Mike Penning attempted to walk back that comment a bit, stating that Maude had misunderstood the size of a jerrycan (20 liters). Penning, however, still remarked the he supported the advice to keep fuel tanks topped off in case a strike date is set.
Lines to purchase fuel today are reportedly so long in places that authorities are ordering some stations to close in order to clear the road congestion. Gasoline containers are also reportedly flying off shelves.
The potential strike would involve some 2,000 drivers represented by Unite, the country’s largest trade union. The union is negotiating for minimum standards that would cover things like wages, hours and holidays for drivers that deliver fuel to Shell and Esso gas stations, as well as supermarkets.
The UK government is defending the ministers’ comments as taking appropriate precautions, but other organizations, like Britain’s Automobile Association, are blaming the official advice for panic buying that will lead to fuel shortages ahead of a strike that may not even happen.
California Assemblyman Mike Gatto has introduced , which could eventually return three kinds of vintage license plates to California roads: yellow and black plates from the mid 1950s, black and yellow plates from the 1960s – such as the sample 1963 plate pictured – and blue and yellow plates from the ’70s.
The initiative is called the Legacy License Plate Program, but before you collectors and period-correct enthusiasts salivate over – or lament – the possibilities, it has a few hurdles to clear. First, the bill has to be passed when its put to a vote on April 9, which is expected. Then it would only come into effect after 2,500 people had signed up for the plates, assuming that the DMV did its math correctly and had enough money to pay for it. Finally, once all of that got checked off, the program would begin in 2014.
Current regulations mean that in California, the license plate has with the car since new, so if you see a black plate on a 1966 Corvair, then that tag was minted the same year as that Chevrolet. The plates will be updated to modern standards, e.g., reflective paint, so they won’t look just like the old timers, but we figure vintage-minded owners won’t be fussed at all.
