Now more than ever, there’s a good chance a camera is watching you when you’re doing something stupid. Whether it’s dumping your Bugatti Veyron in a Texas marsh or crashing your during an impromptu street race, you may have to answer the unblinking eye of YouTube the next time things go squirrely behind the wheel.
Police in Montgomery County, Texas have reopened an investigation into a crash involving two . Officers on the scene originally called the crash an accident but decided to take a second look after a video of the two sports cars racing from light to light surfaced on the web.
As of right now, the clip has garnered more than 2.3 million views since it was uploaded on November 24. While no charges have been filed as of yet, there’s a good chance that these drivers may get slapped with a street racing offense in the coming days. Remember kids, keep it on the track and off the streets. to watch the video again.
Day Corvette crash may result in charges [w/video]
may be looking to take on the Hoveround in the competitive personal mobility segment. The company unveiled its E-Canopy three-wheeled scooter at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show. Honda envisions the all-electric trike primarily for personal use, though the large optional trunk may also make the vehicle ideal for small delivery businesses that may need to cover short distances. The large, plexiglass windscreen should help keep the driver fairly dry in light weather, though the lack of passenger seating may be a problem should the E-Canopy ever make it to production.
We can already see roving gangs of overweight Americans whirring their way to the local Golden Arches before prowling the aisles of their favorite box stores on their Honda Hoveround E-Canopy.
Tokyo Struggles To Remain Relevant On The World Stage
The 2009 Tokyo Motor Show was largely ignored by industry and media alike.
There is one model that looks more like a phone booth than a car, another that dispenses its driver like candy from a vending machine. There are party concepts, complete with disco lights, and otherconcept vehicles that could have been a case study for a film like Transformers. One thing you always know about the was that you will get to see some of the wildest, weirdest and wackiest concept cars ever created – and occasionally some, like the snail-shaped S-Cargo, might actually go into production.
There is a serious side, as well. And that is really what has made the biennial Tokyo Motor Show one of the automotive world’s most important events, journalists and industry executives jostling for space as each new car was unveiled. And there are plenty of unveilings, sometimes two, even three simultaneous news conferences stretching out over the two-days allotted for the gathered media.
But something went wrong two years ago, the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show was largely ignored by industry and media alike. Indeed, many suspected there wouldn’t even be a 2011 show. But in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami that struck the island nation last March, organizers redoubled their efforts to save the show. And how things turn out later this week could determine whether the Tokyo Motor Show thrives, survives in downsized form or simply vanishes, Japan ceding to the twin shows in and that are rapidly becoming the must-attend industry gatherings.
Paul A. Eisenstein is Publisher of and a 30-year veteran of the automotive beat. His editorials bring his unique perspective and deep understanding of the auto world to Autoblog readers on a regular basis.
There’s gilding the lily, and then there is this: An open-air version of Hennessey’s 1,200-horsepower Venom GT supercar.
The Venom GT Spyder turns up the wick on its hardtop sibling to the tune of an additional $150,000, with a base price starting at $1.1 million. That’s a pretty steep charge for a removable roof panel, although Hennessey Performance Engineering CEO Don Goldman says Venom GT Spyder buyers will also get “an even greater driving sensation.” While we have yet to see official specifications or an order sheet for the Spyder, we imagine seeing “Extra wind and sound from the twin-turbo V8″ listed under standard equipment. Regardless, we know which one we’d take the keys to if given the opportunity: This Vitamin D special.
Hennessey says it has already received orders for two of the five Venom GT’s it will build for the 2013 model year. So if you’re in the market for one of the remaining three cars, now you have a choice. Click for the press release.
Despite consistently slow sales, has executed a slight facelift for the Ridgeline’s 2012 model year and begun offering a new low-cost Sport model (pictured) to enhance appeal. But the unibody four-door pickup’s sales have been lackluster since its 2006 model year debut, leading to widespread speculation that the Ridgeline would disappear from showrooms altogether. The rumormill eventually built up enough steam that American Honda’s Truck Planner, Sage Marie, was compelled to take the unusual step of addressing the gossip head-on last month with an However, that statement of support didn’t shed any light on future developments for the model.
We’re here in Japan for the , and we’ve had the chance to talk with Tetsu Iwamura, President and Chief Executive Officer of American Honda, about the future of the Ridgeline. According to Iwamura,
“Ridgeline is quite an important model to us. It’s the only truck-type of model we have. We’re fully aware of the importance of that model and we’re trying to make that model grow much more. At this moment, there is no intention to stop the Ridgeline. In order to make Ridgeline much more attractive – in order to enhance Ridgeline – we are studying lots of things at this moment.”
When further pressed if Honda remains fully committed to this segment, Iwamura confirmed that the company is indeed in it for the long haul, though he declined to say that that the Ridgeline would get a second-generation model. Still, it sounds like Honda is still expecting to offer something with a bed, and the Ridgeline can’t continue to soldier on indefinitely as-is… might the Japanese automaker ponder a radical new direction like the ?
Sitting inside Nissan’s Smart House perched above the automaker’s booth here at the was a fitting setting to talk about Nissan’s plans for future electric vehicles. The mock building was being powered by a , with the EV parked below and connected through the Leaf-to-Home system. Within a few minutes of starting my interview with Hideaki Watanabe, Nissan’s corporate VP of the Zero Emissions Business Unit, the lights flickered on and the ceiling fan began to spin. For a country just beginning to recover from the March 11th tsunami, being able to pull extra energy from an EV during a blackout would be indispensable. But that’s not why I’m sitting down with Mr. Watanabe.
I want to know about performance EVs.
Seeing a Nismo version of the Leaf sharing the stage with Ghosn implies that Nissan is at least exploring the possibility of a sports-oriented EV.
Nissan is committed to a zero-emissions future. Carlos Ghosn, Nissan’s President and CEO, maintains that 10 percent of the global automotive market will be comprised of electric vehicles in 10 years. And Nissan is helping to lead the way with the Leaf and two forthcoming EVs: a small commercial vehicle and an electric city car, both due to arrive in the next few years.
But more often than not, zero emissions means zero fun. So seeing a Nismo version of the Leaf sharing the stage with Ghosn implies that Nissan is at least exploring the possibility of a sports-oriented EV. And even Ghosn hinted at the idea when speaking about Nissan’s dual (or is that dueling?) roles as both performance brand and alt-powertrain champions.
But after speaking with Watanabe, we’re still a ways off. “It’s about [EV] volume,” Watanabe tells me, making it clear that first comes widespread electric vehicle adoption followed by component costs coming down. Once that happens, Nissan can justify production of an electron-powered sports car. So when is that going to happen? Three to five years seems like a reasonable guesstimate, but more importantly, what form will it take?
The Nismo Leaf Nismo (above) is just a concept and it’s nothing more than a body kit to provide additional downforce and a new set of wheels – a bit ridiculous for a glorified commuter. The – with it’s dramatic weight loss and race-spec hardware – may pack the performance, but it’s far too hardened to be considered for production. So what’s likely to happen first is some kind of hybrid sports coupe from Infiniti, followed by a full EV (see ) that can justify the price premium, ala the . But an electric performance vehicle from a major automaker is definitely in the cards; it’s just a matter of waiting to see who pulls it off first.
There was a time when American buyers were routinely forbidden from getting their hands on automakers’ more entertaining pieces of engineering. These days, more and more automakers are turning to global product development, which means we get to play with hardware like the and the Ford Focus ST. , however, seems bent on keeping the really fun stuff on its home turf, including the delicious . The company’s engineers went full bore on the turbocharged flat four-cylinder engine under the hood, balancing all of the internals, dropping on a ball bearing turbo and reflashing the ECU for a total of 316 horsepower.
Outside, the sedan comes equipped with fender-mounted vents and special badges to distinguish the model from the rest of the fleet, and designers have clipped the vehicle’s iconic wing in favor of a smaller lip spoiler. We like the look. We just wish we could drive it. for the full press release.
I’ll be honest – I don’t love our . It’s a perfectly fine luxury sedan, but as a daily driver, it has about as much personality as the new sofa I bought last month. Autoblog Editor-in-Chief John Neff, on the other hand, is quite fond of our long-termer, and in my conversations with him, the vast majority of his praise was concentrated around the Hyundai’s behavior on really long road trips – something that, even after our team collectively put nearly 20,000 miles on the car, I had yet to experience, aside from a few quick jaunts between Detroit and Chicago.
Earlier this month, I needed to make a trip from Detroit to southern Illinois and back – 1,200 miles in total that would be covered over two 9.5-hour stints. And since my route would only take me along the hardly scenic, decidedly boring interstates of the midwest (looking at you, I-75, I-70 and I-57), this was clearly a job for the .
Keep your eyes locked on the official for the majority of our updates, as well as the official Autoblog Twitter account (, look for the hashtag).
It appears the gentleman who piloted his into a Texas lagoon has run into a spot of legal trouble. The insurance company that paid out $2 million for the trashed exotic is calling fraud on the whole scenario, and a federal judge has decided that the claim should go before a jury. Andy House of Lufkin, Texas, originally purchased the Veyron after securing an interest-free $1 million loan from Lloyd Gillespie. Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company alleges House attempted to pay a confidential informant to steal the Bugatti and set it on fire so that he could later claim insurance on the vehicle and double Gillespie’s initial investment.
Before that could happen, however, House drove the Veyron into a salt water marsh. Amateur video captured the vehicle calmly exiting the paved surface and splashing down, and House later said that he had swerved to avoid a pelican on the road while trying to pick up a dropped cell phone. The vehicle’s owner then left the supercar idling in the salt water for 15 minutes until the vehicle died of its own accord. House claimed that he was being bitten by mosquitos at the time and didn’t want to return to the car to turn off the engine.
The insurance company also claims that the collector’s car policy House took out on the vehicle doesn’t apply in this case since House violated the terms of the policy. Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company claims House put over 1,200 miles on the vehicle in the three weeks he owned it. to check out the video once again.
has experienced a very challenging 2011. The devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the flooding in Thailand have conspired to badly damage Honda’s ability to build vehicles here in North America. That should change soon, though, as Automotive News reports that North American Honda plants will be running at full steam by the beginning of December.
Honda’s challenges during the Japan earthquake included a and several plants that were unable to produce the parts needed to build vehicles here in the States. Just as production began to normalize, the Thailand floods caused a shutdown of the automaker’s Ayutthaya plant, which reportedly led to a 4.7-percent reduction in output.
With Honda’s plants running at full steam, the automaker should be able to for new models like the and the .
Every other year, trots out another Pivo concept to the , and each successive version is weirder than the next. But this latest version – the predictably named – is different. Nissan wants to build it, and while its awkward shape and trick doors won’t make it to production, much of the underlying tech will.
Since 2005, each Pivo has featured some four-wheel-steering system, and the Pivo 3 takes it to the next level with a 6.6-foot turning radius that can practically spin the Pivo on its axis. Power is delivered thorough individual in-wheel motors, with energy stored in a Leaf-inspired lithium-ion battery pack. The big feature is the Pivo 3’s automated parking system, which not only finds a space, but drives off to park itself then returns courtesy of a smartphone app.
So when are we going to see it hit the Japanese and European markets? Two years? Five years? Your guess is as good as ours as Nissan isn’t giving up much.
has whipped the sheets off of its EV-STER, a rear-wheel drive electric roadster not dissimilar in size and scope to the late, lamented . If you’re looking for a successor to Honda’s S2000 or a rival, this isn’t it – the EV-STER is significantly smaller than those cars, and with a pure electric drivetrain, this showcar is more suited to top-down fun in the city than the open road.
Purely a concept for the moment, the EV-STER offers a 160-kilometer range, a 0-37 mph (60kph) time of 5.0 seconds and a top speed of 99 mph, though Honda isn’t offering much in the way of hardware specifications.
Attractive in both general form and detail, we could admittedly do without the yoke-style steering interface employed here and in Honda’s other concepts. Steering wheel aside, we hope Honda finds a way to bring something like the EV-STER to market… and we wouldn’t mind if it weren’t a EV, either.
had provided early sketches of its , and many of you in the comments weren’t confident that it would look as good in real life as it did in (digital) ink and paper. Dare we say it, but we think it looks better in the metal than it did in drawings. A mean, ground-hugging wagon with a 1.6-liter boxer-hybrid powertrain, its internals are close enough to production to make the jump in the not-too-distant.
Its interior, however, is another matter. Undeniably beautiful, features like the monitor in the steering wheel and the steel-rimmed wood pedals are treats we won’t be seeing anytime soon. No matter – if there were to be a wagon in our future, we’d hope this were it. There’s a bit more information after the jump, and a much closer look at it in the gallery of high-res photos.
is bringing a whole range of transportation solutions to the , from this plug-in hybrid sedan concept to folding scooters and pod cars. Dubbed AC-X for Advanced Cruiser eXperience, this streamlined sedan draws heavily from the FCX Clarity fuel cell sedan’s aesthetics, applying its design language to a plug-in hybrid electric showcar.
Powered by a 1.6-liter four-cylinder and a pair of electric motors, the four-seat AC-X features a super-slippery .21 cD thanks to active aero bits (front bumper, side skirts and rear diffuser) and transparent full wheel covers that remain stationary when the car is in motion.
Just as interestingly, the AC-X explores autonomous control, with “Automatic Drive Mode Support,” which folds the control yoke ‘wheel’ into the dashboard, reclines the front seat and presents an ottoman for the driver’s legs, all while safely delivering its passengers to their destination.
Despite such future-think technologies, the AC-X’s powertrain seems remarkably near-term, with a realistic EV-only cruising range of 50 kilometers and a maximum electric-only top speed of 100 kph (62 mph). Check out more in our gallery live from the show floor.
With Nismo set to in the coming years, in-house tuning division needs to start with something both customizable and attainable. And it appears the Juke is it.
Nismo has done the standard cadre of mods to the , including the fitment of larger Brembo brakes with slotted rotors up front, stiffer springs and shocks, 19-inch wheels with performance rubber and an assortment of interior baubles to match the racy exterior. The body kit isn’t just a looker – it’s functional – with the revised front and rear bumpers, grille and rear diffuser all aiding aerodynamics.
Nismo isn’t saying what’s been done to the turbocharged 1.6-liter four-pot aside from saying it delivers “more power,” so we’re assuming it’s an ECU reflash partnered with some new breathing hardware.
As for the possibility of production, our sources say Nissan is looking into offering the Nismo Juke as either a stand-alone model or an upgrade path, but the trigger hasn’t been pulled yet. If it does, expect it to be available in the first half of next year. Make the jump for the official release.
will unveil a new CUV concept at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show this week. The Cross Coupe concept is the first vehicle, concept or otherwise, that we’ve seen ride on the company’s new modular transverse matrix architecture. More importantly, it may give us an indication of what to expect from the next generation of Volkswagen SUVs.
The Cross Coupe is smaller than the current and offers a unique all-wheel-drive hybrid drivetrain with two electric motors (one for each axle) and a direct-injection, turbocharged gasoline engine. The system has a maximum output of 262 horsepower with the engine and one electric motor sharing propulsion duties up front, and a second 114-horsepower electric motor powering the rear axle when driving conditions require all-wheel drive.
Volkswagen managed to fold the vehicle’s lithium-ion battery pack into the transmission tunnel where the driveshaft would typically reside. This design allows for a low center of gravity and plenty of interior space, as well. VW says Cross Coupe weighs in at 3,854 pounds with a full tank of fuel. Even with all of that heft, it can travel up to 25 miles on pure electric power while dashing to 60 miles per hour in around seven seconds.
for the full press release and stay tuned for our coverage of the Cross Coupe’s live debut tomorrow at the Tokyo Motor Show.
Less than five minutes after entering the new home of the , we’re greeted with this: the .
Designed to compete in the GT300 class of Japan’s SuperGT touring car series, the is set to replace the Legacy B4 that’s competed in the series for the last two years. Being a GT300 contender, the BRZ’s output will be limited to 300 horsepower and judging by the “Proud of Boxer” stickers flanking the front and rear, it’s sure to be packing some manner of flat four, likely displacing around two liters.
We’ll be seeing the BRZ racer take to the track early next year, but in the meantime, scope out the live shots in the gallery above.
Ken Block had a busy summer. The exhibition driver spent the season frolicking around the globe with a few friends and putting on Gymkhana shows as part of a world tour. The event showed up in just three cities; Los Angeles, Vienna and Melbourne, and gave a handful of lucky Block fans a show worth remembering. But with so few shoes spread across such a wide distance, that left plenty of the driver’s faithful out in the cold. Ever the publicist, Block crafted a video for those who couldn’t make it out to breathe the tire smoke.
The result is three shows crammed into less than six minutes of footage. There’s plenty of sideways action as well as airborne motocross riders, scantily clad ladies of multiple nationalities and at least one gold tooth as part of the clip. One very famous Segway also makes an appearance or two. to see the full clip for yourself and read the press release.
Radar Tires has initiated a new charity campaign to fight breast cancer. The Mobilizing Hope campaign is aimed at stirring awareness through various channels, including the Ring of Hope project, which features a limited-edition pink sidewall tire. Based on the Radar Tires RPX900 all-season performance tire, the rubber will initially be available in two sizes: 195/60R15 and 205/55R16. Radar Tires says that those sizes will fit a variety of popular vehicles, including the , , , , Chrysler PT Cruiser and among others. Look for the limited edition tires to hit the market in the first quarter of 2012.
Radar Tires has been donating $1 for every four tires it sells to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation since May of 2011, and the Ring of Hope project is simply a more visible way to underscore the company’s commitment to fighting breast cancer. Radar Tires will donate a minimum of $250,000 annually to the charity. for the full press release and check out the company’s for more information.
is giving Focus buyers a model to tide them over until the Focus ST arrives next year. The wears a full sports suspension with stiffer springs and dampers for slightly improved handling, though there’s no word on whether or not the model sits any closer to the ground than its base counterpart. A full aero kit is part of the package, as well, complete with front and rear spoilers and new side skirts. Buyers can also look forward to a set of 17-inch alloy wheels, and inside, the driver is treated to sport pedals.
The Focus Zetec S will be available with four engine options, including a range-topping 177-horsepower 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine. That’s a far cry from the 246 horsepower available in the upcoming Focus ST, though buyers looking for a little style without any of the go may find something to smile about in the Zetec S. for the press release.
Paul A. Eisenstein is Publisher of and a 30-year veteran of the automotive beat. His editorials bring his unique perspective and deep understanding of the auto world to Autoblog readers on a regular basis.
