Subaru assures us that for 2011, we can expect a return to the fundamentals that helped establish the STI as a force to be reckoned with. See that spoiler? Yeah, baby. The STI is back, and on more than just a wing and a prayer.
The plucky little 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX has gone off to summer camp and returned as a full-figured looker. Now donning its bigger sister’s widebody dress and uprated wheels at all four corners, there are few tells this thing isn’t fully capable of stopping at a moment’s notice. And all we can say is: It’s about time.
The 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid tries to create a distinctive new model with a unique look that says “I care more about the earth than you do” without incurring the cost of a whole new platform and all-new sheetmetal.
It’s Monday afternoon and you know what that means. It’s time to submit your questions for this week’s podcast. We’ve got a list of topics to discuss below, starting with a supercar question to get our resident curmudgeon warmed up. Got a question for our intrepid team of podcasters? Now’s the time to ask away. Don’t forget to vote on which questions deserve our attention the most, though we’ll try to get to as many as we can. Discussion topics for Autoblog Podcast #187, which we’ll record tonight, can be found below. Finally, subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes if you haven’t already to hear your question answered.
Discussion Topics for Autoblog Podcast Episode #187
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Toyota has officially spoken out against allegations that it planted a story in TheWall Street Journal that attributed the majority of the company’s unintended acceleration woes to driver error rather than entrapped floor mats or faulty software. The Japanese company’s American arm emailed a statement to Just-Auto saying that no one within Toyota has any access to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration’s research, and that no one in the government agency had reported any findings to the automaker.
As you may recall, cited “people familiar with” the NHTSA’s research on the Toyota unintended acceleration problem. It wasn’t long before fingers began pointing back at Toyota for the story with the WSJ. Just-Auto originally cited a spokesperson with the NHTSA who said that the information that the publication used came from Toyota.
In its defense, Toyota has said that any reports that claim that the company planted a news story are absolutely false. In its independent research, Toyota has found a number of causes of unintended acceleration, one of which happens to be “pedal misapplication.” For those of us that don’t speak corporate, that would be driver error. Whether that means that someone at the The Wall Street Journal managed to get their sources crossed or whether the NHTSA is simply trying to cover its bases after leaking otherwise confidential information remains to be seen.
Up until the last few years, was known for being one of the most engineering driven companies in the world. Soichiro Honda instilled a remarkable spirit of innovation in his staff, driving the company to spawn amazing ideas like the CVCC engines of the mid-1970s, the oval-piston NR750 race bike and the fuel cell powered . As of late, though, the Japanese automaker has been looking a bit ‘behind the curve’ with models like the , and lacking the cleverness, spark, and class-leading competence that made past Honda models so iconic.
Thus, it might be a good time to take a look back at what made Honda so great. One of the all-time highlights of the company’s road car portfolio remains the Honda/ NSX. Although both and toyed with the idea of building mid-engine exotics, only Honda actually put one into production. The influence of the NSX on its market segment extended far beyond its commercial success. The NSX was the first “exotic” to demonstrate that you could combine everyday driveability and reliability with supercar performance. Before the NSX, , and the like forced drivers to make all sorts of compromises in order to have their performance at one’s disposal. It’s fair to say that the supercars of today are far better all-around drivers today thanks to the lessons taught by the NSX. Unfortunately, Honda shelved plans for a successor model, so in many respects, one could argue that the spirit of the everyday supercar remains alive in the Audi R8.
Perhaps Honda’s product planners and beancounters alike would do well to take a stroll down memory lane and revisit what once the company great. We can’t think of a better way than to check out the dramatic video tribute to the NSX . Thanks to everyone for the tips.
and terminated the contracts of thousands of dealers while the automakers were in bankruptcy proceedings; a move that was required by the Obama Administration’s auto task force as a condition of bankruptcy. The scheme was heralded as a way to save the struggling automakers millions or even billions of dollars, but special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) Neil Barofsky claims in an audit that the dealer closings weren’t “necessarily critical to the manufacturers’ viability.” Barofsky added in his TARP audit that the closing of dealerships would add thousands of workers to the unemployment lines “without sufficient consideration of the decisions’ broader economic impact.”
The U.S. Treasury, obviously, doesn’t agree with Barofsky’s assessment. The Detroit Free Press quotes an anonymous source who points out that it was well known in the auto industry that Detroit automakers have too many dealers. Toyota, for instance, has a much smaller dealer body than GM. And the dealers Toyota does have average much higher sales volumes than dealers of domestic products. That theoretically leads to dealers with more marketing muscle in their perspective markets. Not all automaker executives wanted to shrink their dealer networks, either. Some feared the loss of sales that would follow shutting down retail outlets, but the task force reportedly felt those lost sales would be recouped within a few years
But while arguments can be made for or against shrinking the pool of retail outlets around the country, one fact is hard to ignore. A reported 35,000 dealer employees lost their jobs in 2009 and 2010, or over three percent of all dealership employees around the country – roughly equal to the 32,000 jobs lost within the industry.
Barofsky also touched on the process which both Chrysler and GM used to determine which dealers should stay and which should go. The auditor claimed that Chrysler stuck to its plan throughout, which is evidenced by the fact that only 28 dealers won their arbitration cases out of 789 stores that were closed last year. Barofsky claims that GM wasn’t so strict in determining which dealers to cut, and there wasn’t much documentation to show how and why the General cut its dealers. GM has since restated 666 of the 1,454 dealers it cut, though the company gave dealers more than a year to wind down operations, while Team Pentastar cut off its under-performing dealerships almost immediately.
We’d already heard that we the conventionally-powered version of Volkswagen’s city car, the Up! Now we hear, per Autocar, that it won’t be called the Up!, it will be called Lupo. The Lupo, a nameplate known throughout Europe until it , was VW’s small, sub-Polo offering. In its new incarnation, the Lupo will replace the Fox, currently the smallest VW sold.
The conventional power of the Up!/Lupo will also come with a more conventional powertrain layout. The rear underfloor-mounted engine was innovative yet ultimately too complex for production. The Lupo that goes on sale next summer is expected to be offered with the choice of either a 1.0-liter three-cylinder gas engine putting out 75 horsepower or a 1.2-liter Bluemotion-branded diesel.
The E-Up that will supposedly hit our shores in 2013 might be coming as an Audi only. The VW Group plans to spread the Up!/Lupo gospel throughout its companies, but the electrified version is being worked on “in partnership with” Audi. Since Audi’s already getting all kinds of electric ink in the U.S. thanks to its sexy e-tron concepts, and with the price premium electric cars command, we wouldn’t be surprised if the electric Lupo initially comes to the U.S. wearing interlocking nose rings.
Just like Australia does things differently than “our” Toyota, Europe does things that make us go, “That’s not the Chevy we know…” The latest example is a handshake study, headed by a professor of psychological sciences at the University of Manchester, that seeks the formula for the perfect handshake. And what is the driving force behind such obscure academia? Creation of a “handshake training guide for [Chevy] staff to prepare them ahead of the launch of the new 5 Year Promise offer, which aims to offer peace of mind and reassurance to its customers.”
If you need more help figuring out how to apply it – hint: pay close attention to the ‘dr’ part – follow the jump for the press release, which explains the formula’s gobbledygook in detail, lists useless related facts like the Top 10 Handshake Turn-Offs, and somehow manages to work in a Frankie Valli reference.
Note that the Top 10 Handshake Turn-Offs rundown doesn’t include, “Absurd and contrived scientific formulas on how to correctly shake hands.” Maybe it ought to be a Top 11.
2010 Subaru Outback – Click above for high-res image gallery
Ford’s SYNC does 3G WiFi, and with the help of Autonet so do , , , some and now Subaru. The Japanese automaker has put WiFi on the options list of the 2011 for the pretty standard price of $499 as a dealer-installed option. That’ll get you an encrypted connection good within 150 feet of the car, and it can be used while the car is in motion. The subscription is $29 per month after that, and Subaru is gracious enough to pick up the first three months for you. Follow the jump for the full press release.
During World War II, the Jeep was one of the key pieces of hardware that helped win the war for the Allies. By the time Vietnam rolled along, lousy roads and inhospitable terrain meant the helicopter had cemented itself as the troop transport of choice. But while both the Jeep and the helicopter are far more advanced than they were decades ago, the basic ideas are the same, and according to Popular Mechanics that could change – or more to the point, merge – soon.
The Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is asking for proposals for a flying Humvee that it calls, predictably, “The Transformer.” The new transporter would be used to avoid roadside bombs and fly over insurgents, giving U.S. soldiers the upper-hand in battles that are traditionally won and lost by bunkers, bullets and bombs alone.
DARPA has a few ‘must haves’ for any flying fortress. Among them is the capability of vertical takeoff, a combined 250 mile travel distance between driving and flying, along with seating for four. One military contractor, Textron, thinks it has the answer to DARPA’s latest challenge, and it involves hardware that is anything but future-tech.
The proposed military transport has wings, helicopter-like rotors and a powerful ducted fan for forward motion. While stationed on the ground, the multitasking war machine acts like a standard troop transporter, except the wings and blades, which are affixed to the roof above the rear seat, neatly tucked away. When it’s time to hit the unfriendly skies the aerodynamic bits switch to Ready mode and the weighted rotors lift the vehicle. Once airborne, the rotors slow and the wings take over, providing lift while the fan provides directional boost. Textron is working with Carter Aviation Technologies, which currently produces commercial air vehicles, to build the vehicle.
Head over to for more information on the flying fighter-truck of tomorrow.
Karen Jacobsen, GPS voiceover artist – Click above to watch video
There may come a day when personal devices go the way of the dodo. As direction services on our handheld devices become ever savvier, more and more consumers are ditching their old dashboard-mounted screens in favor of the ones they already keep in their pocket. Fortunately, even if our or devices become relics, odds are we’ll still be able to get turn-by-turn directions on our smartphones. That’s a good thing, too, because otherwise a whole generation of lost motorists would never be able to find their way while listening to Karen Jacobsen call out directions.
Who is Karen Jacobsen? While she happens to be a Queensland native who now spends her days writing music and playing in a three piece band, she’s also the most popular GPS voice on the planet. Jacobsen spent a total of 50 hours in a recording studio rattling off everything from directional phrases to single words, locations and every letter in the alphabet so that we would have the pleasure of listening to her Aussie accent as we bumble down the highway. to see an interview with the muse of maps as well as a sample of her singing.
Aside from the recent dust-up over immigration law in , we’ve heard very little about America’s efforts on border patrol lately. Where once we heard all about fences, militia parties and night-vision, now the collective media consciousness is focused elsewhere. That doesn’t mean that the challenges facing border patrol have exactly evaporated, of course. The men and women charged with keeping an eye on the line between the U.S. and Mexico still face mile upon mile of some of the most grueling terrain on the planet, which is exactly why the Yuma Sheriff went ahead and ordered up a before the official government-issue fleet arrives.
Automobile Magazine’s Eszra Dyer decided to tag along with Major Leon Wilmot to see how the truck handles itself in an official capacity and just what this border patrol business is all about. As it turns out, the majority of the operation is concerned with large expanses of sand, moon dust, non-exploded ordinance and the cleverness of a people who want nothing more to outwit American law enforcement. If you’ve got a hot second, click over to Automobile for a quick read.
2010 Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid – Click above for high-res image gallery
For every engineering stroke of genius out there, there are a million duds – projects that someone slaved over in good faith, only to realize that someone else had already come to market with a superior and/or more viable alternative. Both the electronic and automotive industries are awash with tales of second-place finishes in two-man races. Blu-ray vs. HD DVD, VHS vs. Betamax and vs. are all stories of outright champions and also-rans. It’s rarer, however, to see a company build and sell an ugly duckling right alongside the varsity all-stars of the family, which is exactly what has done with its 2010 Hybrid.
It’s clear that GM desperately wants to mix the seemingly unblendable worlds of full-size pickup trucks and hybrids with its electrified Silverado, and to some degree, they’ve succeeded. Yes, our tester has a bed, four-wheel drive and a meaty V8 up front. And yes, it packs an electric motor and a mammoth battery pack. But the finished product feels like the road-going equivalent of a spork – a utensil to be used as a last resort. The only problem is, there are far better alternatives, many of which are available from The General’s stable.
Gallery:
Photos by Zach Bowman / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.
: 2010 Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid is all swing, all miss
GM’s H50-1 ATD in action – Click above for high-res image gallery
has made an unusual donation to the Smithsonian: a . Well, not just any crashtest dummy. The company handed over its H50-1 anthromorphic testing device, or ATD, to the museum to help catalog the advancement of vehicle safety in this country. After a full 15 years of service, H50-1 was ready for retirement, and rather than spend his days playing shuffleboard, The General decided to allow him to continue educating by going on display at the National Museum for American History.
GM also donated a slew of other “safety artifacts” along with its ATD. According to the Smithsonian, GM’s dummy design helped to set the industry standard for crash safety research. While H50-1 was constructed as a stand-in for the typical male, the company says that it has over 200 ATD designs to represent every sort of vehicle occupant under the sun. We’d like to see that family portrait. for the full press release.
During the first quarter of 2010, Russian automaker Avtovaz lost 2.6 billion rubles ($85M U.S.). In the second quarter it made almost a third of that back when it posted a net profit of one billion rubles ($32.7M U.S). The spike came courtesy of Russia’s cash-for-clunkers program, which more than doubled the firm’s sales over Q1 numbers to 149,100 cars.
The cars that sold were reported to be mainly “older and cheaper models.” In response, Russian Prime MInister Vladimir Putin advised Avtovaz CEO Igor Komarov to modernize the company, rather than flogging ancient Lada designs even if the flogging is good. Komarov said Avtovaz is sending a team of 500 to methods, which could mean they’re finally broached almost a year ago. Now if we could just get that built…
You didn’t think Forza Motorsport 3 was just watching GT5 trailers and girding its loins for November, did you? No way. Available today from the FM3 is the , headlined by the V8 Orange Julius otherwise known as the . The nine additional cars offered for your virtual gratification include the , Mercedes-Benz CL 65 AMG, , Colt Ralliart, , , , 2011 Citroen DS3 and . You can get the pack right now at Xbox Live for 400 Microsoft Points, or just go with the Mitsubishi Colt Ralliart for now as it’s free.
The 2011 and 2011 Lincoln MKX configurators have gone live for your shopping – or time-wasting – enjoyment. The Edge SE starts at $27,220 for the 3.5-liter V6, but you can hit it out of the park before even leaving the first page by selecting the Edge Sport all-wheel drive for $38,070. That’ll get you a 305-horsepower, 3.7-liter V6 canvas to play with. There isn’t much more you can add to it, but after stuffing it like a turkey we got it up to $45,171. For those with a mind to be a kinder on wallets and Mother Earth, there are SEL and Limited trims on offer, as well as the 2.0-liter four-cylinder EcoBoost engine.
The Lincoln MKX puts less on the table when it comes to varieties: the front-wheel drive starts at $39,145, the AWD at $40,995. Both get that 3.7-liter V6, six-speed SelectShift transmission and SYNC as standard fit. If you go the package route, your work is just about finished, because they cement quite a few exterior and interior choices. But don’t take our words for it – click the links and get to configuratin’. Hot tips, Drew and Tony!
2011BMW M3 Frozen Gray Coupe – Click above for high-res image gallery
If you were one of the 30 Bimmerphiles to snag a last month, expect to fill out another round of paperwork before you take delivery of your new matte gray baby.
is apparently requiring all owners to sign a “maintenance agreement” that insists the is never polished or waxed, ran through an automatic car wash or even strongly rubbed. Additionally, BMW politely asks that you immediately remove bugs, bird droppings, tree sap and fuel spills with a soft sponge, and naturally, dealers are more than willing to sell you appropriate products for maintaining the matte finish.
According to enthusiast site Bimmerfest, BMW explicitly states the M3’s warranty won’t cover any damage due to owner neglect and it notes that all exterior repairs must be performed by a BMW-authorized shop. What’s more, if you don’t sign the agreement, no Frozen Grey M3 for you. That’s a lot of disclaimers. All of which could be easily solved for less if you simply went down to your local custom vinyl shop and wrapped your (decidedly less expensive) standard M3 in a 3M coating. But how do you put a price on exclusivity?
As the old saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And while many of us look at a and describe the brand’s styling as “awkward” or “quirky,” owners of the competent, all-wheel drive conveyances tend to show unconditional love. More recent, Subaru designs like the or are less “outside the box” than past efforts, but some hardcore Subaru fanatics look at the change in styling as an aesthetic neutering. Still, sales have improved immensely over the past few years, as Subaru has not only survived the Great Recession, but thrived. So what’s in store for the future of Subaru styling?
In a recent interview with AutoWeek, Subaru’s new design boss Osamu Namba claims that the Japanese automaker is looking to ditch its odd designs once and for all, with cleaner lines that appeal to a wider audience. Namba joined Subaru back in 2008 after spending a decade heading his own design firm, and he’s said to be working on the next-generation Impreza; his first production Subaru. But to see where Subaru’s design direction could go, look no further than the from the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show. The Namba-designed concept is a totally new look for Subaru, with clean, modern lines and an aesthetic that’s far less challenging than past models.
Perhaps the biggest challenge for the Subaru design staff is to improve styling without alienating its loyal audience. While some critics may mention that the Hybrid Tourer Concept would rub Subaru owners the wrong way, the Japanese automaker is hoping that those loyal fans will continue to love their products because of their all-wheel drive, boxer engine and entertaining driving characteristics. Head over to AW to read over the article about Namba and the future of Subaru design, and make sure to weigh in on the poll below.
With the all the news coming out of , it’s obvious its Indian parents are intent on making the leaping cat a credible competitor to the world’s luxury automakers. To wit: not only has – a next-generation XK-based competitor to the – it ready to take the fight to the in the form of a reborn X-Type.
While the previous Mondeo-based X-Type fared poorly during its run, Tata Motor’s chief executive, Carl-Peter Forster, told Automobilwoche that in order for the British brand to compete on a global scale, a smaller sedan is a requirement. To that end, a new sedan is under development to slot in below the , likely utilizing a new aluminum architecture based on its next-generation sedan.
In addition to X-Type replacement and the new, smaller coupe – rumored to arrive in 2012 – Forster says that work is underway on a long-wheelbase version of the XF for the Chinese market and a wagon version of Jag’s mid-size sedan is slated for sale in Europe ( estate, anyone?).
On the front, the is the first of three new products to debut in the next five years, including an all-new Freelander with seating for seven and a revised Defender which is set to arrive in 2015.
After receiving more than 3,000 reports of in vehicles, the U.S. Department of Transportation has concluded that driver error was actually at fault. According to TheWall Street Journal, investigators analyzing different data recorders from Toyota vehicles found that at the time of these sudden acceleration crashes, the throttles were wide open rather and the brakes were not depressed. Thus, they have reason to believe that drivers were mistakenly stomping on the accelerator rather than slamming the brakes in an attempt to avoid these crashes.
Of the 75 fatal crashes blamed on sudden acceleration, only one incident has actually been verified as being caused by vehicle fault – the accident that killed a California highway patrolman and three other passengers . Even so, this case was chalked up as an incident where the floor mat trapped the gas pedal, which Toyota quickly issued a recall for.
The WSJ also reports that U.S. Transportation Department officials have stated publicly that they have yet to find any electronic glitches in Toyota vehicles that could lead to these crashes. The only defects proven to be true are those that have been outlined by Toyota itself – and that are slow to return to idle.
So while Toyota may not have been at fault in these sudden acceleration cases, the automaker’s image has indeed been seriously tarnished over the past few months. Over eight million Toyota vehicles have been recalled worldwide – a large blemish in automotive history, and it appears that much of the hand-wringing may have been for naught. Thanks to everyone for the tips!
