General Motors has announced a recall of certain 2011 and , and models for wipers that may fail under heavy snow. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, snow or ice buildup may restrict the wiper movement, which may in turn lead to the wiper arm loosening from the vehicle. The ensuing reduced visibility could increase the risk of an accident. The recall only covers models currently registered in heavy snow states – about 50,000 units – including Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware and Idaho, among others. The full list may be found in the recall report .
GM is expected to begin notifying owners on Monday, April 16, and dealers will address the issue free of charge. In what sounds like one of the simpler and quicker recall fixes we can remember, dealer technicians will tighten the wiper arm nuts to prevent the wiper arms from becoming inoperable. Click for the full recall notice.
is getting religion when it comes to light-weighting its vehicles. The company has entered into a new partnership with to develop carbon fiber that can be manufactured at affordable prices for high-volume applications. That, of course, is the holy grail of weight reduction, which is why other manufacturers like General Motors are also to try and achieve the same ends.
Now before you get too excited about the carbon-fiber in the photos, understand that it was just a limited-production car shown at in 2009, and it carried a price tag of $135,000. That’s the problem with carbon fiber parts – they are expensive because they are much more difficult to manufacture in volume than steel.
But if Ford and other carmakers are going to achieve the sorts of fuel economy improvements required by new regulations, they’re going to have to either scale carbon fiber or dramatically shrink the size of most vehicles. Ford says it’s targeting a 750-pound weight reduction per vehicle by the end of the decade.
More details are filtering in about at the Technical Center battery research lab in Warren, Michigan.
First, the number of people injured has climbed to five, with one taken to the hospital and four treated at the scene. The local deputy fire chief said none of the injuries were life-threatening. The fire department also told the local mayor that it was fumes from hydrogen sulfide that caused the explosion, but GM declined to comment on that aspect. We learned yesterday that a battery under “extreme testing” caused the explosion.
According to The Detroit News‘ David Shepardson on , “Chemical gases from the battery cells were released and ignited in the enclosed chamber. The battery itself was intact” , “All areas of the Alternative Energy Center except for the battery lab and adjacent offices will operate normally on Thursday.”
Unnamed sources have told the media that it was a prototype battery pack made by A123 that caused the fire. Fox News that pack was being tested for use in the Chevy Spark EV and other all-electric vehicles. Batteries made by A123 were recently involved in in the .
has a knack for creating some of the concept world’s most lustworthy creations, and they are made all the more desirable by their functionality. This year, the star of the Easter Jeep Safari was the company’s Mighty FC Concept. Penned as tribute to the old Willys Forward Controls of yore, the Mighty FC boasts high-dollar portal axles and a cab-forward design.
Motor Trend caught up with the big blue machine as it lumbered around the desert this year with Mark Allen, head of Jeep design, behind the wheel. Allen took the time to explain some of the challenges behind bringing the Mighty FC to life as well as the origins of some of the components on board.
As it turns out, Jeep used a snowboard bag for the seat inserts and arm rests. With a cab lifted straight from a standard Wrangler, engineers had to come up with some steering trickery to make sure the vehicle drove like a standard SUV instead of a school bus.
MT even found an old-school Forward Control to bomb around in for a spell as well. Very cool. to see the video for yourself.
While we normally don’t care whether or not Justin Beiber wakes up and takes a breath each morning, it is unfortunate news when the teen pop idol is produced by one of the world’s best designers, and then proceeds to wrap it in chrome, stick on some fuscia LEDs and drive it around on giant black wheels.
Celebrity-stalking site TMZ caught the Beiber taking his one true love, the also-famous-for-reasons-beyond-our-comprehension Selena Gomez, to Chick-fil-A in the reflective Karma. The editors at TMZ seem to agree with us that Bieber’s treatment of his Karma is criminal, but were surprised to discover that chroming one’s car is well within the rule of law.
That doesn’t mean the Bieb’s daily driver is entirely copacetic, as the tiny strip of fuscia LEDs installed under the front grille violate California law. It also violates the laws of good taste, but that’s just our opinion.
The second coming is finally here, and it goes by the title of the 2013 Porsche Cayenne GTS. Porsche has put 20 more horses under the hood to bring matters to 420 horsepower, and to get more out of them it has lowered the chassis a further 20 mm and installed a lower final-drive ratio. The one unkind note: whereas the first GTS was available with a six-speed manual, this one is fitted exclusively with Porsche’s eight-speed Tiptronic S paddleshift gearbox.
In the search for improved fuel economy, stop-start is standard, and when things get underway, the extra go-fast means a 5.4-second roar from zero to 60 mph. Along with unique side skirts and wheel arches, features only on the GTS include new Peridot Metallic (as shown) and Carmine Red paint, unique 20-inch wheels and eight-way GTS seats inside. There’s an available Sport Chrono package to keep tabs on your 162-mph SUV, but that won’t be included in the $82,050 base price (which includes $975 in delivery fees).
The GTS will be revealed at the later this month, but you can find out more in the video and press release and get few choice glimpses in the gallery of high-res photos.
Fisker Automotive may drop plans to use a Delaware factory to build its upcoming sedan and is looking at “other options,” Automotive News reports, citing an interview with company CEO Tom LaSorda. The company, in an online meeting with owners of the extended-range plug-in sedan, spelled out some of the issues that have been plaguing the car.
Fisker will hold off on deciding on the Atlantic’s production site until the end of summer, which will delay the model’s debut. LaSorda maintains that Fisker will be able to produce the Atlantic with or without Department of Energy funding, according to Automotive News. Fisker’s director of corporate communications, Russell Datz, tells AutoblogGreen that the company remains “committed to Delaware” but admits that if the rest of the company’s DOE loan money does not come through, the plan to build the Atlantic in Delaware could change.
While the 2014 may have many charming qualities and boast a plethora of engine options, one feature it reportedly won’t be offering is all-wheel drive. According to GMInsideNews.com, reps have said all-wheel drive is not part of the short-term or long-term plan for the new large sedan.
While the Impala will share a platform with the Cadillac XTS and – both of which do offer AWD – apparently General Motors wants to keep the Impala front-drive-only to help differentiate it from the and . While it remains to be seen whether the lack of all-wheel drive will hurt the Impala’s chances of competing with the and , which both offer it, Chevy’s people have reportedly called all-wheel drive a “very slim piece of the full-size sedan market.”
The is new for the 2013 model year, so it makes sense that would jump start the vehicle’s launch with a new ad campaign. Honda’s luxury arm went with the “Gulliver’s Travels” theme, which of course demonstrates that the refreshed crossover is big and luxurious, yet not too big. Get it? Gulliver is a giant and yet the RDX is big enough for him… moving on.
to watch the pair of 30-second spots. In the first ad, the little people give Gulliver an RDX, and in the second spot they wash it. As you can imagine, it takes a lot of Lilliputians to wash a mid-size luxury CUV.
Move over, Batmobile, and make room in the geekosphere for the latest comic book superhero ride.
, as you may be aware, signed a multi-picture deal with Marvel to have its carsfeatured in a raft of superhero movies. The Japanese luxury brand’s cars were there at the end of Captain America, they were there in Thor, and they’ll be there in full force in the highly anticipated upcoming superhero spectacular, The Avengers.
Most prominent of these will be the NSX-like roadster Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) has been on set, but that won’t be the extent of it for the Honda brand. Feast your eyes on the MDX which Acura has prepared for the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division – the fictitious government agency that brings the gang together.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. with the Sentinel Package is, according to its , packs the same Palladium-powered titanium engine, nine-speed transmission and diamond quartz brakes as the Stark roadster, albeit packed into a more capacious form. It’s got an aerial drone stored in a briefcase in the back, a cloaking device, bulletproof body, repulsor cannon and advanced targeting system.
So what would a fictitious vehicle like this set you back? MSRP (with destination and Sentinel package) is pegged at a nearly $6 million. Suck on that, .
is out to make both and General Motors sweat with the Auburn Hills automaker’s newest pickup, the . Debuting at the 2012 New York Auto Show, the half-ton pickup bows with less weight, an efficient new 3.6-liter V6 option and an eight-speed automatic transmission. projects the V6 alone should help yield 20 percent better fuel economy over the old 3.7 lump, thanks in part to a start/stop system. While there are no solid EPA numbers as of yet, our estimations put the vehicle at around 17 mpg city and 24 mpg highway. Throw in aerodynamic tweaks like an active shutter system that closes off the engine bay and a standard air-ride suspension that lowers the vehicle by as much as 1.2 inches for better efficiency, easier loading and load leveling and you have a force to be reckoned with.
The Pentastar churns out 305 horsepower and 269 pound-feet of torque, besting the 3.7-liter V6 in the by around three ponies. Chrysler has also increased the output of the optional 5.7-liter V8, from 390 hp to 395 and 407 lb-ft of torque. Engineers managed to free up the extra grunt by using an electronic power steering system in place of the old belt-driven unit. Interestingly enough, the V8 will also boast 20 percent better fuel economy thanks to an eight-speed automatic.
In addition, the new 1500 features a tweaked interior, complete with the company’s excellent 8.4-inch UConnect touch screen interface. We love the system in vehicles like the Dodge Charger, and the tech should be right at home on the big pickup.
Chrysler also managed to trim a significant amount of weight from the 2013 Ram 1500. In V6 guise, the truck now uses aluminum control arms, an aluminum hood, a new bed and frame design as well as lighter bumpers for a combined weight savings of around 147 pounds over the previous generation. V8 models get away with a more modest trimming. for the full press release.
Arguably the biggest news of the for enthusiasts is the debut of the new SRT Viper. But as the high-performance arm of has pointed out, the street-legal Viper “isn’t the only high-performance snake making a triumphant return” here at Javitz.
No, Auburn Hills hasn’t missed a beat in releasing the new super-musclecar’s racing counterpart, the SRT Viper GTS-R, alongside the production version. Picking up where previous competition-spec Vipers left off – including three successive GTS class one-two victories at Le Mans, a landmark win in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and numerous international GT championships – the new Viper GTS-R is gearing up to take on the American Le Mans Series already this year.
Two of these bad boys will be fielded in ALMS, driven by Indy race winner Ryan Hunter-Reay, German driver and Rolex 24 veteran Dominik Farnbacher, Le Mans vet Marc Goossens of Belgium and Viper racer Kuno Wittmer of the great racing town of Montreal. But before these guys get to turn a wheel in anger, their new ride is on show here in New York, and we’ve got the gallery of high-resolution photos for your viewing pleasure. ( as well for more info in the press release.)
The wait is finally over. … excuse us, has officially pulled the wraps off the 2013 , and it’s everything we were hoping it would be. Let’s discuss numbers: 640 horsepower and 600 pound-feet of torque from a front/mid-mounted 8.4-liter V10 and the best power-to-weight ratio of any Viper ever built.
Two models will be available, the standard high-performance SRT and GTS.
In fact, the 2013 SRT Viper’s 4.9 pounds per horsepower puts it just behind the and and ahead of such performance stalwarts as the and . What’s more, this engine has no turbocharger or supercharger, and those 600 lb-ft make this V10 the most torque-rich naturally aspirated production engine in the world.
Two models will be available, the standard high-performance SRT and GTS. The SRT is meant to “offer a perfect blend of extreme performance and a deliberate preservation of what has become the iconic DNA of the Viper,” says Ralph Gilles, President and CEO of the Street and Racing Technology Brand and Motorsports. Buyers looking for a little more technology can opt for the GTS, which adds such niceties as a two-mode active suspension and interior creature comforts not normally associated with the Viper.
The 2013 Viper isn’t just about power, either. Chassis updates are plentiful and include a beautiful X-brace up front that helps the new platform boast a 50-percent increase in rigidity over the last Viper. To help the driver maintain control, the 2013 Viper is fitted with stability and traction control (both fully defeatable, says Gilles) along with Pirelli P Zero Z-rated tires that were designed specifically for the Viper in massive 355 sizes in back and 295 up front. Three different wheels will be available, with five or six spokes in polished, matte black or gloss black finishes, along with a special lightweight set as part of the SRT Track Package.
Inside, the Viper is more luxurious than ever before, with seats from Sabelt (the same supplier used by ) and a seven-inch LCD screen directly in front of the driver that’s configurable with a whole slew of custom operations. Chrysler’s stellar 8.4-inch Uconnect Media Center is also included, as is a Harmon Kardon sound system. Oh, and for the first time ever, cruise control is standard.
For the first time ever, cruise control is standard.
Though first and foremost a street car, SRT fully intends to establish the 2013 Viper’s racing credentials early and often. Viper will return to the American Le Mans Series in 2012, fielding a two-car team driven by Dominik Farnbacher, Marc Goossens, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Kuno Wittmer. And gaming fans aren’t left out, either – SRT has worked with the Forza Motorsport 4 crew to make sure the 2013 SRT Viper is available soon as DLC.
There’s lots more information in the press release and videos , but we suggest you check out our high-res image galleries first, as this Viper is one beautiful machine.
Giving the keynote speech at the today, the president and CEO of said that he stands behind his prediction that in the places they are available. He also said that he expects Nissan to sell 1.5 million zero emission cars by 2016.
Ghosh brushed off a question about by pointing out that the Leaf is still constrained by supply, given the earthquake and tsunami in Japan last year as well as the strong yen. Leaf production in the UK and U.S. that will start in the near future (later this year for , early 2013 for ) will make the car more available to more people. “I don’t want you to take a one-month or two-month sales result in one particular market to try to make your opinion about the evolution of a very important technology for the industry,” he said. “I think the electric car will hold its promises. All the stars are lining up to make it a very important segment. … I am not at all changing my bullish approach.”
Ghosn has reason to be bullish. Nissan has sold 27,000 Leafs worldwide since introducing the car in late 2010, and 11,000 of those sales were in the U.S. And, he added, “The Nissan Leaf has had no quality problems.”
Looking forward, Ghosn also said that the challenge is to reduce the cost, size and weight of the battery and “we have to do it fast” because government incentives will not last forever. Luckily, the industry has changed enough in the last half-decade to make this possible. He said:
One of the biggest evolutions we are seeing in our industry is the battery. As you know, when we started our electric car goals, it was in 2006, there were not a lot of battery makers in the world. Fortunately, with our drive and with the drive of other carmakers, the number of battery makers and companies investing in batteries has really been impressive. Today, you can find very good batteries, extremely competitive, in Korea, in Japan, in the United States. The Chinese are investing in batteries. … The life of the battery is going to be longer than the life of the car.
Harmless as it may seem, the new-for-2013 actually packs quite a punch. Rated at an estimated 38 miles per gallon, it boasts the best four-cylinder fuel economy of any midsize sedan, and that’s without the use of any electric motors, turbochargers or even direct injection. Impressive stuff, and considering that the sleek new Altima starts at a cool $21,500 (not including $760 for destination), it should prove to be a worthy opponent for rivals like the and .
The engines – a 2.5-liter inline-four and 3.5-liter V6 – carry over without many changes, but the big powertrain news is that the Continuously Variable Transmission has been heavily massaged. It’s the smoother-running transmission’s revised gear ratio spread that is largely what allows for that huge fuel economy win. The fact that the Altima is 79 pounds lighter than its predecessor – the lightest car in its class, actually – certainly helps, as well.
With the Altima, also debuts its new infotainment platform, Nissan Connected, which seems to be like, well, just like every other new infotainment system that’s come to market lately. The Altima is also available equipped with lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring and moving obstacle detection that’s all wrapped in to one single wide-angle camera mounted on the car’s rump.
Check out our live shots of the Altima direct from the show floor, and to read our in-depth deep-dive of Nissan’s new midsizer.
Overheard at the reveal event for the this evening: This is the car you buy your secretary.
Yes, the altogether good-looking Atlantic sets a new high for plug-inhybrid looks, and even though is tight-lipped about things like all-electric range, cost or an estimated delivery date, for now the car speaks for itself. All anyone would tell us is that the Atlantic will come in at “a much lower price point than the Karma,” as Fisker executive chairman Henrik Fisker put it, suggesting something in the range of the or “the upper end of the .” So, $45,000? In any case, Fisker seems to have learned its lesson with the Karma situation/delay, and is keeping mum about its future plans.
One thing Fisker was very happy to talk about was that the Atlantic is a car that will be built and will go into production. It is “a promise we are going to deliver,” he said.
Whenever the Atlantic arrives, it is most likely going to be incredibly similar to what we see in the pictures here (and in ). Fisker said that his company does not do concepts – see how little the Karma changed between auto show reveal and showroom. And that’s fine by us. The lines and angles of the little Karma might be too busy for some, but in person they most certainly work. One thing to note is that in person the headlights have a frozen/frosted look that offers an ‘eagle eye’ with a strength of strong character not seen on a production car before,” the Fisker press release says.
Despite the off-hand suggestion from the peanut gallery that this is a car for those with a bit of money to throw around, Fisker repeatedly emphasized the practicality of the Atlantic. For one thing, it will have the second-generation EVer (Electric Vehicle with extended range) powertrain that incorporates a BMW four-cylinder gasoline engine, because, Fisker said, “range equals freedom.” He also showed the gathered media how the rear seats fold down and called it “a pure family vehicle.” Must be nice to be in that family.
Your nitro-fueled R/C racer may look all badass and be really fast, but it’s got its limitations. Namely, walls. The Sand Flea robot shown above, developed by Boston Dynamics, won’t win any races or beauty contests, but it laughs at walls. More precisely, it just leaps over them.
The little bot, which scoots around like a regular all-terrain R/C car, is equipped with a CO2-powered piston that gives it the ability to leap 30 feet in the air. When presented with a challenge, the Sand Flea stops, tilts, and launches up and over the obstacle in front of it. The video showing it in action, , is simultaneously astonishing and hilarious (especially when you to each leap). On a full charge, the Flea can make 25 jumps. A gyroscope keeps it stabilized while airborne, and its wheels act as the cushion upon landing.
Funding for the project comes from , the , and the Army’s , and it’s meant to bolster the military’s ever-expanding arsenal of reconnaissance tools. As such, that the Sand Flea is headed to the for safety certification, after which several examples will head to Afghanistan for some real field testing.
You know things are rough when you have to sell your corporate headquarters to raise some cash. But that’s just what PSA Peugeot-Citroën did this week, unloading its Parisian office building for about $327 million, according to Automotive News.
The 48-year-old headquarters is located in Paris’ central business district, not far from the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Elysees. According to the report, the French carmaker will continue to lease the building from its new owner, Ivanhoe Cambridge, a real estate subsidiary of Canadian pension fund management company Quebec Deposit and Investment Fund.
This latest move follows several efforts by PSA Peugeot-Citroën to reduce debt, cut costs and boost profitability. Last fall, it and in January it . In February, it announced a plan to liquidate assets and agreed to sell a seven-percent stake to General Motors, as part of that could help both car companies trim costs through shared purchasing.
We love crazy promotional videos with hair-raising stunts that seem to defy gravity, and this particular spot certainly checks all those boxes. has teamed up with The Demon Drome crew to determine if its can successfully whirl around a motor drome.
The motor drome is essentially a cylinder about 30 feet in diameter with wooden planks that are positioned at an impossible angle. Trained men and women have traditionally used motorcycles in these stunts, but the Japanese automaker evidently thought its tiny Mazda2 would be an ideal four-wheeled replacement.
We knew the Mazda2 was nimble, but this is pretty sweet. to watch the video for yourself… and try not to be alarmed by the demonic-sounding backwards talk.
Despite the unusually warm winter we’re having this year, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have Jessi and Patrick check ice racing off . So we sent them to New York to meet our good friend and ice-racing expert, editor-in-chief Tim Stevens, for an inside look at this very special and frigid sport. Thanks to the courtesy of the , they were able to get in and complete their objective before the warm temperatures returned the track back into a lake.
As Tim explains in the episode, the great thing about ice racing is the amount of time you actually spend racing. And with two classes that cover both stock and modified vehicles, anyone can race with whatever they’ve got in their garage. But as Jessi and Patrick learn, racing on ice is easier said than done.
to watch The List #0032: Go Ice Racing.
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You know things are rough when you have to sell your corporate headquarters to raise some cash. But that’s just what PSA Peugeot-Citroën did this week, unloading its Parisian office building for about $327 million, according to Automotive News.
