On Tuesday, June 23, a group of engineers hit the track at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee in a completely stock . When Mustangs are usually on track the drivers are in search of outright speed, but that wasn’t the case this time around. Instead the team of five drivers alternated every hour to see how far they could make the Mustang go on just one tank of gas. The new 3.7-liter V6 in the Mustang is rated at 305 horsepowerand 30 mpg on the highway, and the team’s goal was to cover 1,000 laps of the 0.533-mile “bull-ring” track.
Twelve and a half hours after they started the car rolled to stop having covered 1,457 laps at an average speed of 43.9 miles per hour. The 16 gallon tank had been depleted at the rate of 48.5 miles per gallon. Not bad for a 305 hp sport coupe and as they say, your mileage will vary. A lot.
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[Source: Ford]
V6 runs 776.5 miles on one tank, 48.5 mpg [w/Video]
Mustang V6 runs 776.5 miles on one tank, 48.5 mpg [w/Video]
2011 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive – Click above for high-res image gallery
As a population, the way we approach transportation hasn’t changed significantly since the first fluttered onto the scene way back in 1903. In over 100 years, we’ve simply been refining the recipe we know the best instead of coming up with a new brew all together. Doing so has inextricably tied our civilization to the internal combustion engine, complete with all of its pitfalls. While we’ve more or less known that roping ourselves to is neither sustainable nor responsible since the early ’70s, it wasn’t until gas prices went haywire that the American population realized just how dependent it was on the black stuff.
Conveniently, with those astronomical figures at the pump came the plucky little , a car that symbolized what could be accomplished if a driver were willing to sacrifice everything for a low-cost, high-efficiency vehicle. With fuel prices hovering above $4.00 per gallon, sales exploded for a short time, and news outlets around the country heralded as the face of the future for U.S. transportation. But it wasn’t long before gas prices crawled back down, and Smart sales went catatonic just as quickly as they took off.
Now the company has jumped into the race to be one of the first to bring a completely viable electric vehicle to market with the 2011 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive. It’s a move that just might alter the transportation landscape for good – not just in the U.S,, but around the globe.
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Photos by Zach Bowman / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.
The Formula One tweaking continues, even though we think this year’s championship has been the most consistently rewarding since 2006, and maybe even back to the last millennium. The FIA’s World Motor Sports Council has approved a slate of changes for 2011 to help make even more things happen on track, and the biggest could be banning the F-duct (this year’s double diffuser) and instead allowing a movable rear wing. Adjusting the wing can’t be done during the first two laps, but afterward, if any time a car trails another by less than a second the wing can be made to stall and allow higher speeds.
Additionally, the minimum weight has been raised from 620 kilograms (1,367 pounds) to 640 kg (1,411 pounds) to make way for the return of KERS, and the safety car rules have been clarified to disallow passing on the last lap of the race even if the safety car comes in. The 107% rule, not seen since 2002, has been reintroduced to remedy the backmarker situation. However, if it were in force during the Canadian GP only Karun Chandhok would have been disallowed. And, the rule allows for a special dispensation if a driver sets a fast practice time, but can’t match it in qualifying.
A development certain to be as big as the rest: Pirelli has been named the official tire supplier for F1 for three years. Bridgestone is stepping out this year even after Bernie and the teams asked the company to stay. Other makers like Hankook and Cooper got in the race, but didn’t get very far. Michelin also considered joining, but wasn’t interested in being sole supplier and wanted a tire war. After a 19-year absence from F1, Pirelli and its new family have a lot of work to do.
Hiromu Naruse’s Creations – Click above for image gallery
Last October I had the chance to shake hands with one of my heros. I was of the in Florida and after taking a few hot laps around Homestead, I was offered a ride with Hiromu Naruse, “Master Test Driver” and the man responsible for the automaker’s first and last supercar.
At 66 years old, he put me to shame. Smooth inputs, graceful slides and nearly imperceptible throttle inputs had him lapping the track seconds faster than anyone in attendance. Including one race driver. But the LFA wasn’t his greatest work.
Naruse-san helped create my childhood dream cars. Stapled above my Countach poster and a cutaway of the Acura NSX was a small picture of the Toyota 2000GT carefully snipped out of my first issue of Road & Track. That was his first baby and there were many more to follow.
While most of my Valley-born peers were interested in muscle cars and pickups, I was fawning over the Sprinter Trueno and the original MR2. When the Lexus IS300 showed up in the late ’90s, I scammed my way into one of the first manual models at the local dealer and racked up 30 miles on to the odometer during an elongated “test drive.”
Naruse-san was responsible for all of them, and . One of the few men left at Toyota passionate about driving has exited stage right, and the automotive world stands to be a worse place without him.
2010 Ford Escape Hybrid – Click above for high-res image gallery
will be ending production of the current generation crossover by the end of 2011 and move production of its replacement from Kansas City, Missouri to Lousiville, Kentucky. The Kansas City plant has built the Escape and its Mercury twin since they launched in 2000.
Production of the Mariner will end in the next few months as Ford and the new Escape will be built on the global C-segment platform. The new Escape is expected to be share a platform with Europe’s next generation Kuga crossover. Space in Louisville was freed up by moving the new uni-body to the Chicago assembly plant alongside the and . Louisville may add additional C-segment products such as the C-Max MPV.
Officials in Missouri are considering new tax breaks to help convince Ford to put a new product in the Kansas City factory alongside the which will continue to be built there.
Hyundai Veracruz – Click above for high-res image gallery
While the Hyundai Veracruz is a perfectly competent vehicle, the upscale three-row crossover hasn’t been selling particularly well, making it stick out like the proverbial sore thumb on the Korean automaker’s otherwise white-hot sales charts. What to do? Well, Autoblog has learned that while the CUV will soldier on largely unchanged for another couple of years, it is almost certain to be replaced by a long-wheelbase version of Hyundai’s popular Santa Fe.
The move is unusual for a crossover but not without precedent. In other markets, has added a stretched version of its well-liked, hard-to-pronounce known as the . Of course, other automakers have also offered extended-wheelbase models of their body-on-frame SUVs (think: Cadillac Escalade ESV) for many years.
At this time, it’s not clear how much the next-generation model will be stretched to accommodate the third row, or what name the longer model will take, but it will almost certainly maintain the Santa Fe descriptor and styling in order to build nameplate equity and control costs. Oddly, the Santa Fe was itself offered with three rows up until it received a modest refresh for model year 2010, but that option was dropped due to a very low take rate. Presumably, buyers are looking for more space for third-row occupants, and a longer passenger cell will have buyers considering a next-generation three-row Santa Fe anew.
In other Santa Fe news, the CUV figures to be a prime candidate for the new lithium-polymer hybrid drivetrain that Hyundai has developed for the . While our sources won’t confirm that the model will go gas-electric, they do admit that the company is keen to spread out development costs through added scale and they also acknowledge that the CUV’s size would make packaging an easy and natural fit.
2011Hyundai Sonata Turbo – Click above for high-res image gallery
According to , its new 274-horsepower 2.0-liter turbocharged engine for the sedan is going to be a real gem. To wit, the Korean automaker says the boosted-four will propel its midsize sedan to 60 miles per hour in just 6.5 seconds. That’s serious speed for the segment and it means the Sonata will at least have the accelerative chops to stick with the rest of the sport sedan competition.
Of course, these days frugality is just as important as horsepower, and Hyundai assures us that its 2.0T-powered Sonata will be able to return the 22 miles per gallon in the city and 34 on the highway – all on regular-grade fuel. For those who like to keep track of such things, Hyundai claims those figures are 16% and 17% better respectively than the outgoing 3.5-liter V6.
Want more? Well, that’s all we can share for now… but our initial driving impressions will be on their way just as soon as Hyundai gives the word. Stay tuned.
Hyundai Genesis Coupe – Click above for high-res image gallery
“Anything you can do, I can do better” might be playing on the loudspeakers in Korea right now, as is apparently set to introduce a bored out version of the formerly 4.6-liter Tau V8 for action in the and Equus. More interestingly, this new 5.0 may do duty in the as well. This new 5.0-liter V8 was mentioned during a media event at Hyundai R&D and if the claimed numbers are legit, this Mustang-challenger will produce a few more ponies than the Blue Oval bruiser. Where is getting 412 horsepower from its five-point-oh in the , Hyundai says its 5.0-liter V8 will be packing 429 hp when it reaches production.
No official word from the South Korean automaker yet, but this new direct-injection 5.0 in sure to be fitted to the Genesis Sedan for 2011, reportedly backed by a new eight-speed automatic transmission developed by Hyundai. Chances are it will eventually find its way under the hood of the Genesis Coupe, possibly backed by a proper stick. Hyundai is apparently launching the Equus with the 4.6-liter Tau, but the new flagship sedan will get the upgraded mill soon after, right about the time the upgraded 2011 Genesis Sedan appears. The output figures being reported are 429 hp at 6,500 rpm and 376 pound-feet of torque at 5,000 rpm, with an 11.5:1 compression ratio – a healthy jump above the 385 hp, 333 ft-lb for the 4.6 liter V8 currently found in the Genesis Sedan.
If the 5.0 does show up in the Coupe, we will definitely have to revisit our from last month. These arms races can start so innocently, but never end well, so don’t be surprised to see Ford’s 5.0 get a bump if this comes to fruition.
It looks like could file its first paperwork for an initial public stock offering as soon as next week. The IPO registration is the first step in the process of getting approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission to become a publicly traded company again. A stock sale could come as soon as November and probably no later than early 2011.
At this point it appears that most of the shares to be sold will come from the block held by the United States Treasury, which accounts for 60.8 percent of the automaker. The Treasury would like to start unloading its stake as soon as possible and preferably before this year’s election. Roughly one third of the government’s holdings are expected to be sold in what may well be the biggest IPO of all time. Depending on the IPO price, the sale could bring in anywhere from $10-20 billion for what would be about 20 percent of the company. At the time of its bankruptcy last year, GM’s market capitalization was barely $700 million.
Hennessey VelociRaptor 600 – Click above to watch the video
Well of course they did. If is known for anything, it’s strictly adhering to the “Needs more power!” motif. This guy could watch a shuttle launch and return to his lab plotting a third booster. So yes, Hennessey has slapped two turbochargers onto Ford’s batty-yet-burly F150-mutant and produced the VelociRaptor 600 and 800, two products that will nicely compliment the existing , a supercharged version of the Raptor 5.4.
Through the magic of forced induction, power grows from the 6.2-liter V8 Raptor’s stock 411 horsepower and 434 pound-feet of torque to a slightly-goofy 602 hp and 622 lb-ft of twist in the V-Rap 600. Not enough for you? Hennessey either, which is why he’s also selling the VelociRaptor 800. Get all the liquids out of your mouth now, as the engine stonks it up to the Texas-sized tune of 810 hp and 745 lb-ft of torque. Can we borrow an exclamation point?
We know what you’re thinking — the twin-turbo V8 makes 752 pound-feet of torque, besting the Hennessey 800 by seven pounds of twisting force. However, the Hennessey VelociRaptor 800 makes 305 more ponies than the British thoroughbred, weighs less (what doesn’t?) and can keep up with the hounds no matter the fox hunt. That said, the Muslanne has a nicer interior. Think we’re being silly? We are, because engines like this bend our minds a bit. Remember, 810 hp is nearly 100 hp more than a Ferrari 599XX.
But what if you already have a Raptor 6.2, want more power but don’t want two turbochargers? Again, no problem, as Hennessey is also announcing the VelociRaptor 475, that through better breathing and some reprogramming, ups the big V8’s output to 475 hp and 485 lb-ft of torque. Dang. Watch the video .
2011 Mercedes-Benz R-Class – Click above for high-res image gallery
As it turns out, you have to do a little more than build the in order to get buyers to come take them off of your hands. Since the big Silver Arrow crossover first sauntered onto the scene back in 2005, has done very little advertising, and as a result, consumers can’t quite figure out what to make of the vehicle. According to Automotive News, that may be about to change. The company says that it will spend up to 15 percent of its total fall advertising budget on spots for the luxury people mover.
The ads will be geared toward wooing young families and will crop up during shows like CSI and Grey’s Anatomy as two 15-second spots – one at the beginning of the commercial break and one at the end. Beyond that, we’re not exactly sure what to expect from the commercials.
The move is part of a concerted effort to turn R-Class sales figures around. By May of this year, Mercedes-Benz had only managed to move a paltry 1,223 of the crossovers off of the lot. With a and plenty of advertising bucks headed toward the R, the German automaker says it hopes to see a double-digit percent sales increase compared to current numbers.
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Photos by Zach Bowman / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: ]
2011 Buick Regal – Click above for high-res image gallery
In its ongoing quest to reinvent the brand as something other than the official car of the AARP, has launched a new social media marketing campaign complete with swanky parties in cities like Miami, Chicago and Philadelphia. There will be no shuffle board. The move is part of The General’s new “Buick’s Moment of Truth” campaign, where party attendees are given flip cameras to record their impressions – positive or negative – of the brand’s products. The videos will then be posted to a site for all to see.
According to Brand Week, the Remix parties are designed to help people become aware of exactly what the Buick brand means in post bankruptcy trim, and the shindigs dovetail with an aggressive internet marketing campaign targeted to 35-40 year-olds. That’s a smart move, considering that most consumers hold opinions on the brand that range from apathetic to downright negative.
Automotive News says that while West Coast buyers have little idea of what Buick means as a brand, mid-westerners remember the malaise days of Tri-Shield engineering better than most. Buick’s new campaign should kick off later this month with the launch of the Moment of Truth site.
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Photos by Michael Harley / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: , ]
You know the old conundrum, “Fast car slow or slow car fast?” If you’ve never heard it before, it’s a bit of automotive philosophy that asks on a given road, would you rather drive a Lamborghini Murcielago at five-tenths, or a 1982 Honda Prelude until the wheel-bearings shatter? And really, like the sound of one hand clapping, there is no answer. That said, the new is one slow car all of us would love to drive fast.
Check the stats: The wheelbase is nearly two-inches longer while the length has grown by almost 4 inches. The front and rear tracks are wider by a smidge — seriously, a smidge — 10mm front, 5mm rear. A 1.2-liter gas engine replaces the 1.3-liter from the previous Swift, but the new mill includes variable-valve technology, so while displacement is down, power is up — 92 horsepower and 87 pound-feet of torque. True, that’s barely enough oomph to get make it up the AMG staircase, but consider the Swift weighs half as much as most cars (the current car is just under one ton) and comes standard with a manual (automatic’s an option). Sounds better now, no?
While the exterior hasn’t changed much, the Swift’s suit appears a bit more tailored. The big news is the interior which has borrowed some dressy, ritzed-up cues from its big brother . Will the Swift come to our big-car loving shores? The answer is probably not, even though the Swift should get about 45 mpg and sticker under $10,000. However, does need products, and there will be a 1.6-liter Swift Sport coming soon, so who knows?
PorscheCayman S – Click above for high-res image gallery
If you salivated at the but longed for something with a fixed roof, the rumor mill has something tantalizing in store for you. According to reports, is preparing to give a similar treatment to the .
Tentatively called the Cayman Clubsport, the hardcore coupe is tipped to get a 20-30 horsepower boost over the 300 hp offered from the 3.4-liter flat-six in the existing Cayman S. Couple that with a weight reduction scheme and similar chassis mods as those carried out on the Spyder and you’re looking at a mid-engined Porsche with a 0-60 time in the high fours.
A host of visual enhancements are likely to set it apart from the standard model. But at this point we’re looking largely at speculation – the such rumors have rounded the mill – so don’t go canceling your 911 GT3 order just yet.
has dropped the goods on next year’s Tacoma, and it looks like the company will be giving the people what they want by offering more automatic transmissions as standard equipment. For 2011, the Japanese automaker is nixing three manual gearbox models and adding five new slusher versions of the pickup. Prices for the pickups will start at $16,365 for a bare bones, manual-transmission, two-wheel drive regular cab and top out at $27,525 for a V6-equipped four-wheel drive with an automatic gearbox and a double cab long-bed.
Buyers will continue to be able to opt between a 2.7-liter four-cylinder engine with 159 horsepower or a more potent 4.0-liter V6 with 236 horsepower. Those power figures have stayed on from last year, so we’re betting from both will stay on par with 2010 models as well. That means that the base truck will hit close to 20 mpg city and 26 mpg highway while the topped out version will land closer to 16 mpg city and 20 mpg highway. for the full press release.
[Source: Toyota]
prices 2011 Tacoma, deletes some manuals, adds more automatics
Cadillac ATS mule – click above for high-res image gallery
Look what the spies have caught. Fresh from our time in the nothing-else-looks-like-it , comes these furtive shots of what we think is the upcoming . We’ve heard different rumors, but the dedicated fighter will either show up in 2013 as a 2014 model, or 2014 for the 2015 model year. Whenever it shows up, the ATS will be riding on a smaller version of GM’s new/upcoming , the same basic RWD chassis that will also underpin the third generation as well as the next .
We’ve taken a long, hard look at these spy shots, and have concluded that whatever sits under the CTS shell has had its wheelbase shrunk, leading us to believe this is in fact an ATS mule. The wheels are far too close to the passenger compartment. The other giveaway are the two places to insert fuel. At first we thought perhaps this is an and that the second orifice was (maybe) because of the new big Caddy’s plug-inhybrid (PHEV) powertrain. However, we think the vestigial door in the photographs is actually there because of the shortened chassis of the ATS. Also, GM will be placing PHEV plugs on the driver’s side for convenience. We’ve also heard nothing about an ATS PHEV, though an .
As for the mule in these pictures, here’s hoping whatever’s under there is worthy of all six ducks.
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This week’s podcast team is Sam Abuelsamid, Alex Nunez and Dan Roth. We dive right in after a quick garage overview and take on the 2011 Honda Odyssey, JD Power’s Initial Quality Study results, action suggested by the new United Auto Workers president, and a whole bunch of first drives. The 2011 Grand Cherokee, Honda CR-Z and Cadillac CTS Coupe were all sampled by our wheelmen, and we discuss. We work in your feedback and wrap up with a question at the 80-minute mark. See you next week!
Autoblog Podcast #183 – Odyssey, IQS, UAW, CR-Z, CTS Coupe and Grand Cherokee
In the Autoblog Garage:
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redefines the Tipping Point
Coupe is audacity in motion
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Runtime: 54:32
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2011 Audi RS3 – Click above for high-res image gallery
The next generation Audi RS3 is coming, it’s just a matter of when. But the bigger question is what’s going to power hottest hatch when it arrives on European shores.
Considering that the on which it’s based shares the same platform (PQ35) as the , there’s a good chance that Audi could swap the coupe’s turbocharged 2.5-liter FSI inline-five into the engine bay. Unchanged, the five-pot would put out 335 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque to either a six-speed manual or S Tronic dual-clutch gearbox, and naturally, power will be delivered to all four wheels with a similar 40:60 front-to-rear torque split.
Our recent batch of spy shots show a slightly modified A3, complete with a RS-ified fascia, lower stance and massive brakes front and rear, although the single, twin-tipped exhaust (and grilled-mounted badge) could be mistaken for a standard S3. More interestingly is the rear wing, which remained fixed during part of the RS3’s ‘Ring run, but was canted upwards around another section. It could be some kind of adaptive air brake or it could’ve just come undone while whipping around the track.
Regardless, since Audi doesn’t offer an S3 in the U.S., there’s little chance of the RS3 making it to the States anytime soon.
