A new trailer for has made its way to the web. As you may recall, the game allows you to design a vehicle from the ground up with your own chassis, engine and exterior design before attempting to sell the car to the masses as part of your own car company. The game is now officially available for pre-order, which can save you $10 off of the final $30 purchase price. Camshaft Software will even throw in some exclusive content with each pre-order purchase.
Automation makes you the head of a new vehicle company in the year 1946. It’s your job to turn your startup into a brand that’s recognized the world over by producing the best vehicles possible. We couldn’t care less about the business end of the prospect, but the thought of designing our own vehicles from the platform on up is enough to get us excited. to check out the trailer and click over to the game’s page for more information.
How would you feel about a with a diesel engine? Those of you in America shouldn’t bother answering that question, however – it’s strictly for the Europeans. At the , Cadillac’s VP of marketing said that a diesel is “under consideration for vehicles sold outside the United States,” with its U.S. chances going only so far as “a potential hedge.”
When committing to the best fight against its rivals overseas, Cadillac’s rep said, “if that means making the right powertrain choices, then those are the choices we will have to make.” No mention was made of Opel’s diesels or whether would choose to develop something new, but the German subsidiary has done well with oil-burners in the Insignia, and a trial of diesels in Caddys could help use up the allotment that won’t necessarily be needing.
We’ve seen some painful product placement efforts revolving around cars over the past few years. Some of them involve movies or television shows, but more than a fair share come down to music videos. Yet none, absolutely none, can compare with the bizarre spectacle of .
For those not yet acquainted, the music video (available ) features a performing artist unknown until now singing some extremely cheesy lyrics in, on and around the Florida-built supercar, accompanied by some very strange sideshow acts. It hardly does the performers any favors, and certainly doesn’t help the exotic sports car along any either. But just how did this collaboration come into being?
The story is a little stranger than you might have thought. This wasn’t, according to an investigative report undertaken by our friends at Jalopnik, just some American Idol reject getting ahold of a hot car in an attempt to jump-start her career. It actually runs a lot deeper than that, delving deep into a struggle over the business itself responsible for creating the car.
It all seems to revolve around one Todd Wagner, an engineer who, while at Mosler, helped create the RaptorGTR. Wagner has long since been ejected from the company, which is now being controlled by his ex-wife Jill. Todd says he has a distributorship agreement with Mosler in place – a claim that the company flatly denies – and that he created the video in order to promote the vehicle.
Reports also indicate that the terms of Mosler’s sale specifically preclude Todd Wagner – who is quickly emerging as severely delusional – from having any involvement. Jill Wagner, meanwhile, speculates that her ex-husband is romantically involved with Cubey, and that the video is part of some misguided effort to promote her career as well as the business that is apparently not his to promote in the first place.
So is it working? Well, with some 40,000 YouTube hits in less than a week, we’re reminded of the truism that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. But after watching the video ourselves, we’re beginning to doubt that very much. for the original video.
If This Is The New Lexus, We Can Stop With The Pejoratives
So wants to be taken seriously now. Certainly the brand is a heavyweight – and has been since the moment it launched 22 years ago, changing the luxury market almost overnight. It’s just had trouble garnering the respect of the cognoscenti, the car enthusiast types, the sorts of people who can see a pair of taillights flash by and identify year, make and model.
Lexus representatives are not shy about the issue, in part because it’s hard to ignore years of critics calling your cars bland and soulless, while smirking, self-avowed “car guys” trade their sedans in on new BMW sedans, even as they grumble about electronic nannies, iDrive and Chris Bangle.
That’s why Lexus built the , say the company’s flacks, who seem unnaturally willing to admit that previous models were lacking a certain something, having settled upon the word “emotion” as the politically correct way to describe what was wrong with this last generation of Lexus products. But the real reason behind such refreshing, if specious hindsight, is that the Lexus braintrust thinks it has the solution to winning over its detractors in the .
There are reported to be just three surviving Back to the Future Delorean DMC-12 movie cars left in existence, and only one of those is held in a private collection. Next month, you’ll have a chance to take it home. One of the stainless-steel wonders used in Back to the Future III is headed to the Profiles in History auction block. The Icons of Hollywood auction will feature a litany of items from the trilogy, including the vest worn by Michael J. Fox’s character Marty McFly and a remote-control hoverboard. This has the makings of the best Halloween costume ever.
According to the auction house, the DMC-12 was used in 1955 drive-in move scene where Marty heads off into the Old West. The vehicle was built specifically for off-road use, though the auction doesn’t specify exactly what sort of modifications were made to the gullwing machine to handle bouncing through the desert sand. The auction house expects the vehicle to roll away with a winning bid between $400,000 and $600,000. for the full press release.
has released a new teaser for the company’s upcoming FT-86 that gives us all a glimpse into the vehicle’s design process. The quick spot depicts designers as they slave over both exterior and interior details by choosing wheel and material options for the two-door sports coupe. We’re guessing the same level of attention to detail went into crafting its North-American-bound twin, the Scion FR-S. The video also gives us a quick glance under the hood, where we see a very familiar-looking naturally aspirated 2.0-liter boxer engine.
A fairly stout strut-tower brace is also clearly visible in the ad, though it looks as if Toyota has kept the vehicle’s battery under the hood instead of kicking it to the rear of the vehicle for slightly better weight balance. It’s also worth noting just how low the flat-four sits in the engine bay of the FT-86. The top of the engine sits well below the strut towers, making for what looks to be a decidedly low center of gravity. While you’re waiting for this car to debut at next week’s , to check out the video for yourself.
Who will want to buy a brand-new, nicely equipped for $25,995? If you peruse General Motors’ press release, then you may think it’s people who are cross-shopping a or a , a or a . These are the vehicles that GM helpfully points out cost more than the new Malibu, and the green competition is completely intentional. The Eco trim level, coming in the first quarter of 2012, will be the first 2013 Malibu released and gets 26 miles per gallon in the city and 38 mpg on the highway (GM estimates). The other trim levels for the 2013 model year – LS, LT and LTZ – are not coming until the summer. Until then, the 2012 model will still be produced.
As it was getting the new Malibu Eco ready, GM looked at who buys green cars, and they found are people who tend to like a little bit of fancy technology inside. That’s why, Russ Clark, GM’s Director of Marketing, Midsize and Performance cars, told AutoblogGreen, the main marketing message will be that the Malibu Eco offers a compete technological package, combining good fuel economy (thanks to eAssist) and an infotainment system that is more commonly found in higher-end models. “It really is an outstanding package of fuel economy and price,” Clark said.
Nonetheless, even with the Eco label, the 2013 Malibu Eco certainly doesn’t have the same green cred that a car with the hybrid label does. Clark said that “Someone who is dead-set in their mind that they have to have a hybrid,” will be difficult to persuade, but that, “this kind of technology [eAssist] will continue to grow over time. It’s something that people will become more familiar with.”
This is similar to how the is being received. People don’t necessarily know everything about the Volt’s powertrain, but they may come into the dealership to find out. Once there, they may purchase a Volt or a or, soon, a Malibu Eco. “With new technology, you will attract people to your products,” Clark said.
There are currently 588 dealers in the U.S., and in 2010 they sold 256,830 examples of the brand’s products. Come 2018, however, VW plans on selling 800,000 vehicles here, and the current dealer body just won’t be enough. In April of this year Jonathan Browning, head of VW of America, said there would be an “evolutionary” increase in dealers for the next couple of years, after which a .
Browning indicated that 2014/2015 would see the ramping up of dealerships. He predicted the brand to sell in excess of 300,000 cars this year and improve on that by a “double-digit” amount next year.
How many VW dealers might 800,000 units mean? In 1970, when VW set its sales record with nearly 600,000 units moved here, it had more than a thousand dealerships in the U.S. Dealer dynamics have surely changed in 41 years, but might be a guide: the Japanese maker sold a tad more than 800,000 cars here in 2010 and is said to have about 1,100 dealers in the U.S.
While (and by relation, ) have been pioneering in-car connectivity for the last few years, is still playing catch-up. The Korean automaker’s focus has been squarely set on bringing world-beating products to market, but consumer demand for infotainment systems isn’t abating. So Hyundai is joining BMW and a range of technology companies to work on the next generation of in-car networking solutions.
Broadcom, NXP, Freescale and Harman have banded together to create the OPEN (One-Pair Ether-Net) Alliance special interest group and BMW and Hyundai are the first two automakers to sign on.
The group will be working towards ethernet-based automotive connectivity, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be running a CAT5 cable out your house and into car.
The SIG is backing Broadcom’s BroadR-Reach cable – specifically developed for automotive applications – that’s able to transmit up to 100 Mbps over a single, unshieled wire. This should reduce internal networking costs and also shave a few pounds from production vehicles in the process. If you want to geek out on the details, for the release.
While styles its own sports cars, SUVs and sedans, its consumer goods division, PorscheDesign, styles all manner of goods: watches, phones, yachts, bars, appliances, tools, toys, clothing and accessories… even condominium buildings. At least it does now as a new project on Miami Beach prepares for construction.
Called Porsche Design Tower, the project is a joint effort between the design studio and real estate developer Gil Dezer. The 57-story block on 2.2 acres of prime Collins Avenue real estate is set to incorporate 132 housing units, each with its own parking spaces. That bit is straightforward enough, but it’s where the slots are situated that is the novelty.
Rather than have residents park downstairs and take elevators up to their condos, the project includes three robotic car elevators that allow residents to take their cars right up to their pads. It’s not the first project that incorporates car elevators, but is the first planned by Porsche Design, and could lead to similar projects across the United States. So even if you don’t want to live in your , you can still live with it.
The R performance sub-brand isn’t just a niche cog in the massive machine known as the Volkswagen Auto Group. If R GmbH’s heads are to be believed, it’s an instrumental component of the German automaker’s push to offer something for everyone. And after speaking with the two men shepherding R into the future, it appears that good things are on the way.
With the set to go on sale in the U.S. early next year and R-branded performance parts already proliferating throughout VW’s core products, Ulrich Riestenpatt gt. Richter, R’s Executive Director, and Dr. Hendrik Muth, R’s marketing head, are looking to the future. Fortunately, they were thoughtful enough to provide Autoblog with a small glimpse into what’s on the way.
“The future is diesel and all-wheel-drive,” Richter told us on the floor of last week’s . That could mean that the next great performance offering from VW R could come in the form of an AWD diesel hatch – essentially an oil-burning Golf R. Further, Richter contends that he can make an R version of any vehicle in the VW stable, so don’t be surprised to see a R in the coming years and the getting the green light.
Just as telling, Richter says that while hybrids have their place (VW will be at the ), the fuel savings of hybrid-electric systems pale in comparison to weight reduction. “You can get the same efficiency [as a hybrid] by dropping 100 kilos,” Richter admits, but the high cost of advanced composites – namely carbon fiber – is still too high. So that means more aluminum is on the way, and partnered with a high-performance diesel powerplant, enthusiasts should be able to have their tire-shredding cake and eat less at the pump in the process.
has been wise in reviving old nameplates to inject some excitement into its contemporary model lineup. Recent products like the and – both named after classics from the brand’s past – have drummed up a considerable amount of enthusiasm where names like Stratus and Intrepid could not. But don’t expect that formula to be applied to everything Dodge puts out.
Contrary to rumors that the upcoming replacement for the would bear the name Hornet, a report from The Detroit News suggests that it will not. The nameplate originates from the Hudson Hornet that was built by the American Motors Corporation in the 1950s and the AMC Hornet that followed in the ’70s before the company was subsumed into . The original re-appeared as Doc Hudson in the computer-animated Pixar film Cars, and was revived off-screen for a concept car (pictured above) which Dodge showed in 2006.
The new production compact, set to compete against the likes of the and , will fill a critical role for , which currently lacks a viable competitor in that vital segment. Whatever it’s called, it’s being jointly developed with and is expected to bow sometime early in the new year. We’ll just have to wait to see what they call it.
Though the modern has retained much of the same style as the original, there’s still something about a classic Carrera that attracts a certain breed of enthusiast. That’s what led to the creation of the Singer 911, and what has apparently motivated a German tuning outfit called DP Motorsport to retrofit a 1973 model to lightweight specification.
The modifications start with a complete carbon fiber rebody. The front and rear bumpers, hood, fenders, doors and whale tail have all been replaced with the lightweight weave, while the windows and lamp covers have all been ditched in favor of lighter-weight replacements. The result is a 870-kilogram (1,918-pound) curb weight instead of 1,080 to 1,335 kg (2,380-2,943 lbs) stock. But that’s only half of the less weight, more power ratio equation.
DP Motorsport has also fitted a 3.6-liter flat-six with 310 horsepower, enhanced by a new carburetor and filters, fitted to a G-50 gearbox and limited-slip differential. It rides on 16-inch Fuchs wheels on a coilover suspension with adjustable stabilizers, and they’ve fitted the brakes from a 964. The interior has likewise been lightened, fitted with bucket seats and swathed in grippy black Alcantara.
In short, the DP 911 is like the air-cooled original, only more so. Check it out in the high-res image gallery and the press release .
Few rumors have circulated quite like the prospect of a new Alfa Romeo Spider. While the previous stands as one of the most beautiful cars ever made, dynamically speaking, most found it deeply flawed. But the Milanese automaker has long been rumored to be working on a more successful successor – even commissioning Pininfarina to create the sleek concept pictured above. Now, the latest word on European streets is that Alfa has got its sights set on the .
That the next Alfa Spider will pack a turbocharged four-cylinder – likely the 1.7-liter unit from the Giulietta – is pretty much a given, but in order to take on the venerable Miata, Alfa will need to cut its weight down considerably. And considering how heavy some of the marque’s most recent products have been, the carbon-fiber 4C concept notwithstanding, that’ll prove to be no mean feat.
Think about the position that was in over a decade ago; that’s about where is today. The rebirth of a brand doesn’t happen overnight, so until Lincoln debuts its next generation of fully redesigned and reimagined products, subtle evolution and continued refinement are the order du jour. Hence the .
The greenhouse of Lincoln’s flagship sedan carries over unchanged, but the front and rear fascias, fenders, hood, HID headlights and LED taillamps are all new and punctuated by the reworked grille. That last bit is far and away the most radical change, making the 2013 MKS come off as less baleen and slightly more elegant.
Stuffed behind the standard 19-inch aluminum wheels (or optional 20s) is all new braking hardware to address one of the MKS’ most glaring dynamic faults, with the front discs upsized to 13.86-inches – more than an inch larger than the outgoing stoppers – and 13.58-inch rotors in the rear. More impressive is the standard fitment of Continuously Controlled Damping (CCD), which monitors and adjusts the suspension up to 500 times a second to balance handling and comfort. CCD works in conjuction with a torque vectoring differential and the new Lincoln Drive Control, which modifies ride, throttle, shifting, steering and traction control on the fly when changing the system from Comfort to Sport mode.
The powertrains are also largely carry-overs, with the standard 3.7-liter V6 getting a boost in horsepower from 274 to an even 300, all while returning 19 mpg in the city and 28 on the highway in FWD spec. The 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 – standard with AWD – outputs 355 hp and 350 lb-ft of torque and is projected to return fuel economy ratings of 17/25.
On the tech front, the MKS comes equipped with the , with standard Operator Assist, WiFi hotspot functionality and a tweaked UI to match the updated interior. Also included for 2013 is the new Lane Keeping System and Lane Keeping Aid, which alerts the driver if he or she is drifiting out of a lane and applies a small amount of torque to the wheel to bring things back in line.
We’ll have full impressions of the MKS from the floor of the later today, but in the meantime, get all the details in the press release .
We at Autoblog like the , lackluster sales numbers aside. Ever since its launch in 2008, we’ve grown quite fond of not only its boxy styling, but its high levels of overall comfort, refinement and usability. Adding the EcoBoost engine in 2009 only sweetened the deal, and now, there’s a lot more to like about the Flex for 2013… if you can get past the styling.
As we , is certainly embracing the weirdness of the Flex, and the new front fascia certainly reflects that. Even in person here at the , we don’t love it as much as the old model (but we certainly don’t hate it), and there’s no reason for us to believe that the Flex won’t still be a wonderful people-and-things hauler.
Ford has updated the base 3.5-liter V6 (it has 20 more horsepower for 285 total) and will continue to offer the slick 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged EcoBoost six. Inside, the Flex’s cabin gets a healthy dose of freshness and includes the that will make its way into the rest of the Blue Oval lineup. The new Flex goes on sale early next year, and while there have been plenty of rumors about the crossover’s demise, we hope it sticks around for many years to come, funky face and all.
The is only 144.7 inches long – nearly two feet shorter than the subcompact Sonic. But while the Spark is small in size, designers have made a real effort to make sure that it can still stand out in a crowd.
The Spark took the stage at the in four distinct pastels, with oversized headlight assemblies-a-blazing. The Spark may be a bit of a runt, but it certainly boasts some height. It’s 61 inches tall, or only six inches shorter than the crossover. The Spark also features plenty of room for four occupants, with 42 inches of front leg room and a respectable 35 inches for rear seat passengers.
Power comes from The General’s diminutive 1.2-liter four-cylinder engine, with 85 horsepower at 6,400 RPM and 82 pound-feet of torque at 4,200 RPM, mated to either a standard five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic. That’s not a lot of go-juice, but luckily the Spark weighs in at only 2,269 pounds when equipped with the manual transmission.
The little hatchback will feature an available MyLink infotainment system with a seven-inch touch screen that features smartphone-based navigation and Bluetooth for hands-free calling. The Spark also comes with standard 15-inch alloy wheels, which should help reduce cabin noise compared to the steel wheels that are standard on many subcompacts.
The Chevy Spark is scheduled to arrive in dealerships mid-2012. to read over the official press release.
The and never gained much favor outside of livery slaves and foot-in-the-grave pensioners, and for good reason. Utterly devoid of sex appeal or even the presence of the or less costly , the Barges of Ft. Lauderdale always came across as something had to sell, not something it wanted to.
That looks to be changing with the that serves as their replacement.
Like the CTS that put Caddy back on the map both in design and dynamics, the XTS slots between two segments. Bigger than the and but smaller than those two German companies’ flagship sedans, the XTS offers more interior room than anything in its segment-splitting class, along with a trunk that eclipses even the for volume.
The XTS’ crisp exterior comes off as a bit sedate in person, but to the design team’s credit, chrome use has been kept to a minimum, opting instead for brushed metal and tasteful brightwork in Platinum trim.
If the exterior doesn’t excite, the interior should, with handling everything from navigation to streaming audio, topping it all off with a 12.3-inch configurable display in the IP. But it’s also the little things. Purple contrast French stitching on the dash, doors and seats might sound like Joker-approved trim, but the effect is subtly stylish, as are the leather surfaces ahead of the passenger whose perforations spaces out in a gradient as it nears the doors.
As , power is provided by a 3.6-liter V6 making 300 horsepower and 264 pound-feet of torque. The base XTS sends power to the front wheels, but with the addition of General Motors’ HiPer Strut system in front, rear air suspension and Magnetic Ride Control dampers pulled from the V parts bin, the XTS could be a handler – particularly when fitted with the optional torque splitting all-wheel-drive system. Plus, braking is by Brembo all around, even on base models.
Sales of the Oshawa, Ontario-built sedan are slated to begin late next spring, and if you’re thinking a V-series version sounds compelling, don’t be surprised if it shows up in two years time.
Few automakers make crossovers quite like does. And that extends to its luxury division , as well. Infiniti crossovers tend to be, well… rather small. The combined a sportscar with a crossover long before thought of the , and the is barely bigger than most hatchbacks. Want something bigger from Infiniti? That’d be the , but it’s a proper truck-based SUV, and that behemoth just isn’t for everyone. Enter the JX.
A new safety system warns the driver and even stops the JX if something scurries across its path while backing up.
Previewed in back in August, the JX35 is now set to make its production debut at the upcoming . Its design incorporates themes laid down by the , but in a much larger form that encompasses three rows of seating for seven coddled souls. The JX is also jam-packed with luxury features and the latest technology you’d expect from a Japanese luxury automobile. That includes the usual suspects: adaptive cruise control, cameras all around, lane-departure warning and a Bose sound system. There’s also a new industry-first safety system that warns the driver and even stops the vehicle if something scurries across its path while backing up.
All that tech and cabin space is handled by Nissan’s 3.5-liter DOHC V6 driving 265 horsepower and 248 lb-ft of torque through a CVT to either the front wheels or all four. An independent front suspension handles the load up front, with a multi-link set-up in the back. Vented disc brakes larger than 12 inches in diameter at all four corners work with a host of electronic nannies to keep everything in check and are packed inside 18- or available 20-inch alloys.
Prospective buyers will begin taking delivery of 2013 models next spring, with prices starting at $40,450 – before taxes and delivery – for the front-wheel-drive model. Extra features are bundled into five packages, and together with all-wheel drive, can quickly push the price into the high-$50K range.
Why is this man smiling? Well, it could be because hotcakes only wish they were selling as well as Hyundais. Or perhaps that grin says he knows something we don’t – like when and where his company plans to build a second North American assembly plant.
Yet CEO John Krafcik told reporters last week that the Korean-based automaker has no plans to expand its U.S. production, which is currently running at literally 110 percent. Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama has the capacity to build 300,000 and models, a number that’s been boosted by another 30,000 units this year by way of increased efficiencies. (Hyundai is also getting crossovers from corporate cousin , which operates a plant in Georgia).
Despite the boost in production, Hyundai inventory levels dipped to an extremely low 21 days supply this summer, even as sales continued to grow. Hyundai has already blown past its 2010 numbers, and year-to-date sales are up 21 percent.
This leads Edmunds AutoObserver.com to conclude that it isn’t necessarily buying Krafcik’s no-new-factories line. “It seems inevitable Hyundai must address its stretched-to-the-max production,” says the report, which predicts that Hyundai will announce a plan for U.S. expansion early next year.
