The next-generation BMW Z4 roadster is slated to arrive in 2015, and according to new reports, it’s going to be a more dynamic machine. Well, slightly more dynamic, since the Z4 will still need to squeeze into the triangulated space between better driving chops and not looking too different than the current car. Buyers may want a better driver’s car, but they also want a timeless design that will still look good in 15 years.
Inside Line reports that the next Z4 will have a shortened hood and the lighter, N20 four-cylinder engine – as is found in the – which will mean better weight distribution. But with BMW aiming to ensure its cars maintain their image for 15 years, we look forward to seeing how engineers and designers collaborate on a harder car that won’t be, in any way, too hard.
Today announced that a will pace this year’s Indianapolis 500, marking the 23rd time that a Chevy has paced the race and the 11th time the has performed the duty. With 638 horsepower from its supercharged 6.2-liter V8, the Corvette ZR1 will be the most powerful production machine to serve as the race’s pace car.
Helping to celebrate six decades of production, the 2013 Corvette ZR1 pace car mimics the design cues of the that debuted earlier this year with Arctic White exterior paint and a full-length racing stripe in Pearl Silver Blue. Inside is a Blue Diamond leather-wrapped interior with suede accents.
Look for the 2013 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 during the 96th running of the Indianapolis 500, scheduled to start at 12:00 pm ET on Sunday, May 27th.
BMW Takes On Mercedes And Audi In The Profit Margin Wars
As the years go by, it’s become the Germans who are most closely watching what each other are doing over the backyard fence. So much so, at times, that it can almost seem like they’re freely swapping all their trade secrets unapologetically in full view.
Take this nicely executed new luxo-niche player, the . It’s no scoop, of course, that it was created specifically to not miss out on what both and are discovering for themselves with the and . And yes, that “nicely executed” modifier just used to describe the Gran Coupe could indeed ring with more enthusiasm.
The 640i Gran Coupe we sailed around in all over Sicily under a crisp sun is a generally good-looking machine. designers have taken the existing Big Bimmer language and successfully created a new dialect for the company, if you will. But these “four-door coupe” creations are curiosities for which many develop a love (or, occasionally, a distaste) for over the long run. Only the first-generation CLS in 2003-04 absolutely socked it to us at first glance, and since then, everything else in the genre has felt derivative. Well, they essentially are blatant derivatives, right?
is massaging the 2013 line with more modern gearboxes and trims to match its more modern design (the non-conceptual version of which still has yet to be seen). In addition to the six-speed manual replacing the five-cogger currently offered on four-cylinder models, the folks at the Temple of VTEC forum have found an order sheet indicating a CVT will be available on mid-range LX, EX and EX-L models. For the enthusiasts hoping for the manual to return to the V6 sedan, no dice – the 6AT is what you’ll get.
The sheet also omits the sedan’s current SE trim slotted between the LX and EX, and in its stead is a Sport trim. It can be had with either the manual or the CVT, but it’s not listed with the “navi” option. The coupe’s trims remain the same. When we can put these specs together with the actual 2013 car, then we’ll start to guess how it will far against its archfoe, the .
Automotive News reports may use the company’s new to put some distance between itself and parent company . Buyers have snapped up a total of 4,900 GS models in just two months, breezing by year-long sales estimates in the process. The company attributes much of that success to non-traditional advertising efforts, including the Tori 500 iPhone and iPad app, and says that it could use similar tactics in the future to lure buyers in based on traits like “character and handling.” Traditionally, consumers have turned toward Lexus because of Toyota’s reputation for efficient and reliable machinery.
The GS, with its hour-glass grille and aggressive front fascia, is a first-step in giving the luxury automaker a more distinct brand image. In the past, Lexus has had trouble keeping buyers coming back, and the company believes that’s partly due to the fact that luxury consumers are more interested in owning a brand than a particular vehicle. As such, we can expect to see more corporate design cues across the company’s portfolio in the near future. The move may help set Lexus apart as something other than a slightly nicer Toyota in consumers eyes.
Announced , finally gave us some more details about the was the all-electric EV will be sold to the general public during the 26th Electric Vehicle Symposium in Los Angeles today. The important number? The MSRP for what Toyota calls a “fully equipped” RAV4 EV is $49,800 and will be available before the end of the year.
Toyota says the RAV4 EV’s range is 100 miles and that the car will charge from empty in approximately six hours on a 240V/40A charger. The new RAV4 EV has LED and halogen headlights and it has special “environmental blue” color emblems on the outside. The vehicle will be made at the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, Inc., plant in Woodstock, Ontario. The first generation of the new RAV4 EV was . Our First Drive report is .
With a battery and powertrain designed by , the new RAV4 EV certainly appears to be one of the new breed of . We had heard that the RAV4 EV will be lease only, but the official press release says the car “will go on sale in late summer 2012 through select dealers, initially in four major California metropolitan markets.” Those markets are Sacramento, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles/Orange County and San Diego and the news matches the rumor we heard last year, that sales about be In all, Toyota hopes to sell just 2,600 units in the next three years. , you’ve got nothing to worry about.
Automobile’s Georg Kacher goes deep into the product plan, looking at the 32 models that the group’s ten brands will roll out over the next five years. These vehicles are expected to drive VW to the top of the mountain in 2018, where the flag for World’s Largest Automaker awaits.
The armada is based on three platforms: MQB for transverse FWD/AWD cars like the VW Golf, MLB for the longitudinal FWD/AWD cars in Audi’s stable, and MSB for AWD/RWD front-, rear- and mid-engined cars like the 960.
Said to be due in 2015, the discussed last year as a bridge model between the and 918, but Kacher has it listed with the MSB-M platform cars like the Porsche / and , not the front-engined MSB-F or rear-engined MSB-H cars. Yet the 960 is said to be a -fighting “four-door coupe” powered by a twin-turbo flat-six. We’ll wait for clarification on the number of doors, since in September of last year, posited the 960 as a mid-engined coupe priced “on the creepy side of €200,000.”
Other intriguing notes from the plan: for VW, a coupe is planned for 2016, the might get a coupe variant, the second-generation Scirocco “has the potential” for U.S. sales and the will be replaced; is desgining an even edgier third-generation , the will experiment with e-quattro, and the next-generation will break the same-sausage, different-lengths design mold.
has been involved with Life Ball, one of Europe’s largest charity events, since the brand first bowed in 2001. This year, the automaker turned a brand-new over to Franca Sozzani, chief editor of Italian Vogue, for a complete makeover. Sozzani dipped the convertible two door in matte Deepest Purple paint with contrasting rally stripes and added steel accents on the side mirrors and wheels to help set the machine apart from the standard model. The charity car also sports a unique floral design on the roof. Mini will auction off the special Roadster at the Hall of Ceremonies at Vienna’s Hofburg palace.
Life Ball highlights the fight against AIDS. The celebrity-studded event features live music and a fashion show, and Mini says that sales of its past Life Ball models have raised over $654,000 for AIDS research. Scroll past the break for the full press release.
After Lawrence Drake gave up his pickup truck for a Chevrolet HHR, he wanted a camping shelter more hardy than a tent. The trick? Finding a solution that was in line with the HHR’s 1,000-pound tow capacity. He found it when he designed the Teal Camper, a modular enclosure that fits on a four-by-eight trailer and weighs just 630 pounds empty, including the trailer.
Basically, the camper is a set of weather-sealed panels that are bound with Phillips-head bolts and a strap. They come in a few configurations, such as corner pieces and those with windows and door openings, and you can assemble them in rectangular shapes as small or large as you like. The standard kit comes with a bed that sleeps two and a table, but Drake has designed lightweight optional fixtures like canvas cabinets. There’s also a pop-top that can extend headroom to six feet, and the entire assembly can be bolted to a plywood floor with straps or angle brackets.
Drake’s gone as far as he can on his own resources and is looking for investors for manufacturing. As such, there’s no price tag yet but he projects around $3,000 for an empty shell. It’s a neat concept that we think deserves a shot. Check it out in the gallery of photos.
After Lawrence Drake gave up his pickup truck for a Chevrolet HHR, he wanted a camping shelter more hardy than a tent. The trick? Finding a solution that was in line with the HHR’s 1,000-pound tow capacity. He found it when he designed the Teal Camper, a modular enclosure that fits on a four-by-eight trailer and weighs just 630 pounds empty, including the trailer.
Basically, the camper is a set of weather-sealed panels that are bound with Phillips-head bolts and a strap. They come in a few configurations, such as corner pieces and those with windows and door openings, and you can assemble them in rectangular shapes as small or large as you like. The standard kit comes with a bed that sleeps two and a table, but Drake has designed lightweight optional fixtures like canvas cabinets. There’s also a pop-top that can extend headroom to six feet, and the entire assembly can be bolted to a plywood floor with straps or angle brackets.
Drake’s gone as far as he can on his own resources and is looking for investors for manufacturing. As such, there’s no price tag yet but he projects around $3,000 for an empty shell. It’s a neat concept that we think deserves a shot. Check it out in the gallery of photos.
Always looking for ways to one-up its Japanese competitors, has announced that a brake override system will be standard equipment on its full line of vehicles, starting this month.
Truth be told, every 2012 Hyundai model save for the already had a brake override system fitted. So why the announcement, and why now? Well, other than just tweaking , whose unintended acceleration problems led to widespread recalls, a , and prompted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to , the announcement likely has more to do with the end of Elantra Touring production than it does with anything else.
The old Hyundai i30, on which the Elantra Touring was based, has been redesigned, and reviews of the new model have already started showing up . We won’t get our version of the i30, dubbed here in the U.S., until later in the summer.
We’ll be driving the GT in June and we promise to issue a full report, though we’re going to try to avoid testing this new technology.
Alex Zanardi is an impressive person. Despite losing both his legs (and almost his life) in what many assumed was a career-ending crash during a 2001 CART race at Lausitzring, Zanadari wasn’t content to accept that fate. After being disappointed with the prosthetic limbs doctors offered at the time, he designed his own and it wasn’t long before he was back behind the wheel of a vehicle.
Two years later, he returned to competition using hand-operated throttle and brake controls on the same track that almost took his life. He’s since competed in a wide range of automotive racing events. Now Zanardi has turned his focus to hand-bike racing, and has produced a video previewing this new chapter in the determined competitor’s ongoing story. to watch.
Moderately obese people, who have a greater than 30, typically shave three years off of their lives, just by being overweight. (Morbidly obese people lose 10 years, according to .) And then there’s that long list of potential health problems obese people face in America ranging from asthma and diabetes to heart disease and cancer – as well as scorn and ridicule from skinny judgmental people. So it only makes sense that obese people are statistically less likely to survive a severe automobile accident.
A by the University of Buffalo suggests that the bigger you are, the more likely you’ll die from injuries sustained in an accident.
In a severe accident, moderately obese people face a 21 percent greater risk of death and morbidly obese people are 56 percent more likely to die than those of lesser weight.
“The severity and patterns of crash injuries depend on a complex interaction of biomechanical factors, including deceleration velocity at impact, seat belt and air bag use, vehicle type and weight, and type of impact,” says Dr. Dietrick Jehle, professor of emergency medicine at University of Buffalo School of Medicine.
With nearly one-third of the American population now considered obese, Jehle suggests carmakers begin testing safety equipment with big boned dummies and devise other means to help obese people better survive accidents.
“The rate of obesity is continuing to rise, so it is imperative that car designs are modified to protect the obese population, and that crash tests are done using a full range of dummy sizes,” Jehle states.
Motor Trend reports may have plans to resurrect the Supra name, or at least a new sports coupe to fill the role of the long-dead two door. Hot on the heels of sports cars like the and , designers are reportedly working on dusting off the 2007 FT-HS Concept for another go at life. Paired with the company’s GRMN MRS prototype chassis, the vehicle will likely deliver up to 400 horsepower from a 3.5-liter V6 engine and an electric motor.
If the notion of a hybrid Supra is enough to ruffle your feathers, you may want to stop reading right now. Unlike the previous sports coupe, the new model will make use of an all-wheel-drive system. Still reading? MT reports the machine will put power to all four wheels via a CVT pulled from the .
That noise? It’s the sound of a lonely sad trombone echoing down the halls of the internet.
Of course, all of this seems to be little more than a few educated guesses stuck together. Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda has voiced his support for a Supra successor in the past, and if green-lit, the model could see production by 2015. Early guesses say the car would bow with a $60,000 price tag, which would make for a perfect argument against sticking a new NSX in your garage.
will launch its seventh model – a two-door version of the crossover – at the later this year, and our trusty spy photographers recently spotted this prototype out testing. Many sources have stated that the car will be dubbed Countryman Coupe when it hits the market, but we’ve also heard rumors that the vehicle will wear the name that was given to the original concept that debuted at the .
Whatever it ends up being called, the two-door Countryman formula is pretty simple. The rear doors have been removed, allowing for a more swept-back roofline that integrates into an updated rear fascia. The rear end design – as previewed in these spy shots, anyway – is immediately reminiscent of the , the Countryman’s main competitor.
Mum’s the word on powertrain choices, though we’d expect the four-door Countryman’s range of naturally aspirated and turbocharged engines to carry over largely unchanged, mated to both front- and all-wheel drive. Stay tuned for the car’s official unveiling in Paris later this year.
has been , as the and its and variants have grown increasingly at odds over the past two generations. Now this gets thrown into the mix: When the new WRX gets released in late 2013, it may ditch the traditional exhaust-gas powered turbocharger for a new, electric design.
That’s right, according to The Sydney Morning Herald, Subaru is working on an electric turbo, shades of those computer-fan-sourced “power adders” you used to see advertised in the back pages of Sport Compact Car a decade ago. Except we would assume Subie-parent Fuji Heavy Industries is developing a design that actually works. According to the report, heat from the exhaust would be captured, but instead of using the exhaust pressure to turn the turbocharger’s turbine, the heat energy would be converted to electricity, which would then spin the impellers. This could be more efficient, as well as eliminating the piping and turbo lag.
While that sounds neat and all, we’re not so sure we want to see an unproven technology like this applied to one of our favorite affordable performance cars. Unless, of course, it allows for -like performance in a $30,000 car.
We can’t tell you how many times we’ve asked an automotive executive about future product plans only to be given the default, “We’re investigating new options,” or, “Anything is possible,” write-offs. So, to that end, here’s another bit of grease for the ever-spinning rumormill.
Auto Express reports that could possibly launch a sportier version of its entry-level , dubbed – wait for it – Evoque Sport. The news comes after the British magazine sat down with Gerry McGovern, Land Rover’s design director, at the recent . When pressed about plans to expand the Evoque range, McGovern stated, “For the moment, we’re looking at the and – we could do a more overtly sporty one, for example.”
A suggestion, Land Rover: Move the Evoque Sport above the cabriolet on your to-do list.
McGovern didn’t spill any more beans about what a Land Rover Range Rover Evoque Sport (what a mouthful) would be powered by, but Auto Express suggests it would likely be a boosted version of the 2.0-liter turbocharged four found in the current model. Of course, more visual aggression would be added in the way of larger wheels, a body kit and a lowered suspension. Beefier chassis and brake components would likely be added to enhance the drive experience, as well.
Assuming the Evoque Sport does come to fruition, we likely wouldn’t see it until the end of next year since the current vehicle is still a newborn in the market. So, for now, rumormill, keep on spinning.
The venerable served the United States as the go-to vehicle for 25 solid years. Before that, various militarized models had been pressed into service since 1941, when the army first identified the need for a lightweight, all-terrain vehicle capable of carrying a few troops and all their gear into battle.
It seems the so-called Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle (MRAPS for short) aren’t going to have the same kind of life expectancy as their predecessors. According to CNN, the military is finding it difficult to cook up uses for the 20,000 MRAPS it possesses that are no longer needed for the war in Iraq, where the threat of improvised explosive devises necessitated gigantic V-shaped hulls and several tons of armor.
Due to the sheer size and weight of the machines, along with the specialized nature of their design, the military isn’t likely to continue using MRAPS in differing battlefield conditions after troops are pulled from Afghanistan in 2014. So, what will become of these 20,000 MRAPS? So far, the only option on the list is for mine clearing and explosive ordinance disposal. Thing is, they don’t need 20,000 of them for that.
In any case, one thing is for certain: Lives were saved due to the ability of the MRAPS to protect U.S. troops from roadside explosives (see above). And for that, everyone is thankful. As far as the future goes… may we suggest heavily armored food trucks? Or the circuit?
We so wanted to lead this post with a Jim Belushi joke. Alas, the press release announcing the launch of its rear-drive flagship in Korea today specifically clarifies that the K9 will be renamed for other markets.
While Kia says the large sedan rides on “its own platform,” we know enough about the auto industry to posit that much of that platform is shared with the underpinnings of corporate cousin Hyundai’s and . Like the pair, Kia is clearly hoping the not-called-K9-here will help the brand move upmarket, positioning the car as a premium product designed, in the words of Kia’s head of design Peter Schreyer, “to compete head-to-head with the European luxury brands.”
The Kia sedan will split the difference between the Genesis and the Equus, matching the 120-inch wheelbase of the latter, but with an overall length of 200 inches that’s three inches shorter than Equus and almost four inches longer than the Genesis. The Kia sedan will have the same 0.27 coefficient of drag as both the Hyundai models.
Kia says its luxury sedan will be powered by two distinct versions of the corporate 3.8-liter , one making 286 horsepower and the direct-injection version rated at 329. The more powerful engine is said to be “joining the global engine line-up next year,” which we’d expect would coincide with the flagship sedan’s U.S. launch. Both engines will be mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission. Kia says the car will be available with a number of safety features including a lane-departure warning system and blind sport detection. A reclining rear seat with leg rest will also be available, just like in the Equus.
Today’s announcement raises an interesting possibility. While we wouldn’t expect Kia to send its flagship stateside with the less-powerful V6 – indeed, a V8 engine option is surely bound to accompany an official statement of the car’s U.S. sales plan – doing so would certainly allow Kia to bring the car to market at a more attractive entry-level price. Kia has a scant resume when it comes launching anything other than budget models here in the U.S., and the brand certainly has considerable work to do if it aims to catch up to Hyundai in pricier segments.
It will certainly be interesting to see where Kia tries to position its unnamed sedan – and whether its (*ahem*) dogged pursuit of the luxury dollar will succeed. Scroll down to read the full press release and check out our .
has made it clear that it is hard at work on a successor to the automaker’s bread-and-butter . Word has it we’ll get our first glimpse at the next-generation Mini toward the end of next year, and when it debuts, Sonny Lim believes the machine will be smaller, more mainstream and far less gimmicky than the current creation.
Having served as the senior designer with DesignWorksUSA, Lim knows a thing or two about BMW styling. His sketches show a modern three-door hatch that’s still easily-identifiable as a Mini thanks to bulging fender arches pushed far to the vehicle’s corners, pie-plate headlights and a traditional Mini grille.
Lim says the next-generation Cooper will be more true to the concept of the original Cooper. Measuring in at just 140.6 inches from stem to stern, the Mini Zero Concept is shorter than the current hatchback and just slightly longer than the the now deceased . The clipped size means the Zero weighs in at 1,851 pounds, which should help it yield better fuel economy and performance with minimal changes to the drivetrain. Head over to for a deeper dive.
Always looking for ways to one-up its Japanese competitors, has announced that a brake override system will be standard equipment on its full line of vehicles, starting this month.
