Even though won’t be offering a gasoline-powered version of its exclamatory little city car here in the United States, we’re still slated to get its E-Up! electric counterpart. Earlier reports stated that a larger version of the E-Up! as early as 2013, and we now have spy shots of a pair of Up! prototypes out testing in the Death Valley heat.
Our keen-eyed spy photographers pointed out that while these two prototypes appear to be very similar, the one with its grille closed off could actually be the all-electric E-Up! model. Thus, we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for more spy shots of the VW prototypes as they go through their hot weather testing. For now, have a look at these initial spy shots for yourself in our high-res gallery below.
Brabus iBusiness – Click above for high-res image gallery
The folks at have always been known for fitting ridiculously high-powered engines into the full line of vehicles, but this new creation has more than just staggering performance to offer. The latest products from Apple, including the iPad, have all been integrated into a Mercedes-Benz to create the Brabus iBusiness. Not only does it promise to be exciting to drive, but the rear passenger compartment is fitted with enough tech to make an Apple junkie’s head explode. John NeffSteve Jobs, your stupid-fast luxury sedan has arrived.
Under the hood, Brabus has shoehorned in a twin-turbocharged 6.3-liter V12 that produces 750 horsepower and 995 pound-feet of torque, though the torque output has been electronically limited to only (only!) 811 lb-ft. Hitting 62 miles per hour takes just four seconds, and with your pedal pressed firmly to the floor, you’ll hit 211 mph when all is said and done. Power is routed to the rear wheels by a five-speed automatic transmission and Brabus offers a custom limited-slip differential to maximize overall traction. It’s staggeringly quick, this iBusiness.
The most unique thing about this car, however, is its interior – mainly, the rear accommodations. In addition to the cushy leather seats and Alcantara headliner, the rear compartment is stocked with two Apple iPads, two seat-mounted multimedia screens, a 64GB iPod Touch and a 15.2-inch headliner-mounted Mac display. Not only can these products be used for personal use, but the two iPads also control the car’s Command system, encompassing the radio, navigation and telephone systems. The whole Apple setup is powered by an ultra-small Mac Mini in the trunk that is housed in an electronically deployed drawer.
We think we’ve found our new mobile office.
Hit the jump to read the whole list of details in Brabus’ press release, and scroll through the high-res photos below to see the iBusiness for yourself.
2011 Nissan Juke – Click above for high-res image gallery
Remember the of the mid-’90s? The tiny, econobox-based sportster was as cute as a bug and spent its brief lifespan mixing it up with other long-gone, sporty front-wheel drive affordables like the Mazda MX-3, Honda Civic CRX, Toyota Paseo and even the Hyundai Scoupe. While there were a lot of inexpensive, racy looking coupes back then, most automakers just don’t see any money in that segment anymore. Instead, when they look to spin something off of their entry-level B-class chassis, most veer toward the white-hot crossover segment.
Consider the latest example, Nissan’s 2011 Juke. Come to think of it, this in-your-face city slicker has some startling similarities to the NX. For one, at 162.8 inches long, it’s deceptively small – just 0.4 inches longer than the ’90s coupe. Further, both the Juke and the NX1600 rely on 1.6-liter four-cylinder power. And like the Sentra-based NX, the more emotional Juke is based on the same humble underpinnings that give structure to Nissan’s workaday offerings, in this case, the and . And while the Juke may not be cute as a bug, there’s something downright insectian about its Predator-like mug.
Despite not being a traditional sporty car, has been talking up its controversially styled mini-ute with many of the same descriptors, so we hopped a plane to Vancouver to see if the Juke could bob and weave its way into our hearts. to find out how it fared.
Muscle cars have never been about exceptional handling. Muscle cars are meant to be imposing, definitely brash and undeniably loud. Muscle cars are supposed to make an impression, and beyond that, leave an impression. A decked-out Challenger like this certainly does all of that.
A Pontiac Firebird slammed into the concrete pillar of an overpass while doing over 100 mph after sliding into the median and being launched airborne and sideways. Somehow, the driver survived the crash after being ejected from the car and no other motorists were injured.
The 2011 Ford Fiesta passed its battery of evaluations with flying colors, earning a Top Safety Pick nod in the process. But we were also treated to a tour of some of the more poorly engineered models from the recent past. See all that and more in our visit to the IIHS.
Jay Leno takes a look at the 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca – Click above to watch video
Sure, Jay Leno has some pretty varied taste when it comes to cars, but the apple of his eye is likely his ‘66 Shelby GT350. He’s owned the car for the better part of a quarter of a century, and it routinely comes up when he speaks about the essence of a good-driving car. It’s fitting, then, that Leno was on hand for the debut of the . With 440 horsepower from a naturally-aspirated 5.0-liter V8, track-oriented aerodynamics and a lively 3.73 rear axle ratio, this sucker is designed for some serious flogging.
Leno managed to corner Tom Barnes, the vehicle engineering manager for Mustang, trackside for a quick rundown of what the new Boss and the Laguna Seca edition are all about during the latest episode of Jay Leno’s Garage.
Now, the really interesting part of this whole video is when Leno lets it slip that the Boss will feature a unique tech-laden key. Barnes wasn’t willing to elaborate on the details, saying that more information would be released at a later date. to see the full video for yourself.
Hurst Hemi Challenger – Click above for high-res image gallery
We’ve seen how , but the last time we we couldn’t get above 25 mph because of the prototype wheels. To correct that hideous oversight, Hurst slapped a couple of production wheels on a black and a white version of their Challenger, and we took both out for their yearly physicals. Just like the song went, it was ebony and ivory living in perfect harmony. Like King Kong and the Abominable Snowman. Follow the jump for the story.
2011 Ford Fiesta gets IIHS Top Safety Pick – Click above to watch video
We have mountains of respect for the men and women who work at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. After being invited to the institute’s Charlottesville, Virginia facility for a front-row seat to the frontal-offset test, we can honestly say that if we had their job, we’d have a hard time getting into just any old car ever again. While the Blue Oval’s new sub-compact passed its battery of evaluations with flying colors (being the first and only minicar to earn a Top Safety Pick nod since the institute added a rollover test), we were also treated to a tour of some of the more poorly engineered models from the recent past.
Manufacturers have made an impressive amount progress on the safety front in the last decade, thanks largely to a close partnership with the IIHS. The institute has worked to revise crash tests to more accurately reflect the composition of vehicles on the road. One of its primary functions is to identify crashes where people die in otherwise well-rated vehicles and to adjust crash tests accordingly. While the public identifies the institute with bouncing perfectly good cars off of chunks of aluminum and concrete, the truth is that crash testing is only a small part of the IIHS mission. Of course, it’s also the most fun part. to take a look at a video of the Fiesta’s frontal-offset test.
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Some photos by Zach Bowman / Copyright (C)2010 AOL
2011 Ford Mustang vs 2010 BMW M3 – Click above to watch video after the jump
Ask and ye shall receive. Well, not always. We could probably ask to borrow a , a and private access to both a drag strip and a road course until our faces turned blue, but that doesn’t mean we’d get any of the four anytime soon. Fortunately, that’s not the case with the goons at Motor Trend. They’ve set about on everyone’s mind once for these two mighty coupes turned out to be so similar – who’s top dog?
In classic MT fashion, the two cars were put through all of the necessary paces to drum up semi-official figures. Both the bad Bavarian and the muscle-bound Blue Oval were tested on 0-60, quarter mile, skid pad, figure eight and lap times, and the results are, well, they’re surprising. We won’t ruin the surprise by telling you who comes out ahead of the curve, but we will say that we know where we’d put our money if it were our name on the line. for the flicks. Thanks for the tips, everyone!
Walter Röhrl driving the Porsche 911 GT2 RS – Click above to watch the video
Fact: We would run many a gauntlet in order to get some on-track seat time behind the wheel of a . Hell, we’d be overjoyed just to get a secondhand, passenger seat experience of what this monstrous is capable of. And if we had our choice of drivers, Walter Röhrl, Porsche’s senior test driver and decorated racer, would be our first pick.
Until that day comes, however, we’ll just sit back and watch this video of Porsche’s tame racing driver piloting the 630-horsepower GT2 RS around Luk Driving Center. Buckle up and watch this in-car video for yourself, .
The Buick Enclave took many by surprise when it debuted in early 2007 with attractive styling and a well-appointed cabin. And since production started, the Enclave has continually beat the combined sales of its crosstown rivals, the Ford Flex and the Lincoln MKT. We find out why.
Our brothers from another mother over at Translogic have uncovered the Chevy Volt’s Mountain Mode, 0 to 60 time and even reveal some fuel mileage hints.
Chris, Sam and Dan cover the reinstatement of GM’s high performance division and its new focus on small cars, the Ford Edge Sport being out-dragged by its lesser SEL sibling, and the BMW Megacity electric car.
2010 Ohio State University Buckeye Bullet – Click above for high-res image gallery
As they have for the past several years, the kids from Ohio State University made the trek out to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah this month to see how fast they could go without emitting any pollutants. The Buckeye Bullet has always been electrically driven, but in past years the juice for the motors was provided by hydrogen fuel cells. In 2009, a fuel cell-powered Bullet set an FIA two-way . This year, OSU has teamed up with Venturi, the Monaco-based maker of very few electric vehicles, and transformed the Buckeye Bullet 2 into a test mule for an all-new 2011 car.
The fuel cells have now been replaced by lithium-ion batteries from A123 Systems and, after several days of aborted runs and wind-storms, the team finally got in two clean passes Monday afternoon. On the first run, the Bullet traversed the flying mile at 286 miles per hour. After repacking the parachute and turning the car around, the students watched as the car sped by in the opposite direction at 297 mph for a two-way average of 291 mph and, yet again, a new battery-powered vehicle record.
has chosen a winner for its . Out of all of the clever coding submitted, one shining piece of software rose above the rest – DUDE. Think of it as a handy in-car butler that assists the driver with a number of tasks. For instance, the app measures vehicle speed, location and fuel consumption to offer up suggestions on driving style. You even get a handy little floating avatar to torment with your driving. Volkswagen hasn’t said who developed the DUDE app, though a user named Page is listed as the creator on the .
As you may recall, the German automaker in an attempt to craft the next piece of integrated on-board software. The contest winner was picked by the community of app developers at large and a panel of VW execs, and was awarded cash prizes. The lucky coder will also take part in a special Volkswagen vehicle debut. You can play around with the DUDE app by stopping by the program’s development page , though we honestly couldn’t get it to do much.
Peel P-50 and Trident pose with a Rolls-Royce – Click above for high-res image gallery
Sure, there’s an increased emphasis on small cars here in America and all around the rest of the world, with brands like and vying for customers that think it’s a big deal to go small. But none of these current machines can hold a candle to the 1962 Peel P-50, which to this day holds the record as the smallest car ever produced.
Just how small are we talking? Here are some stats: Wheelbases measures 50 inches, total length measures 52.8 inches, width measures 39 inches and height comes in at 47.2 inches. Perhaps most impressive of all, though, is the weight: just 130 pounds ready to drive.
Naturally, not a lot of power was needed to get this microcar moving, so a DKW single cylinder engine displacing 49cc was mated to a three-speed manual transmission without reverse, unless you count the handy grab bar at the very rear. One door was available on the left side of the car, which led to a lone seat and room for a grocery bag. Want one? Yeah, we do too, but there were only 50 made on the Isle of Man in the UK, so they aren’t particularly easy to come by.
Fortunately, then, Peel Engineering has recently reopened its doors and is planning a small production run of 50 new cars, divided up between the aforementioned P-50 (above, blue) and the bubble-roofed Trident (red). From what we can discern, the reborn Peels will each go for a heady £12,499 and will use an electric powertrain in lieu of a scooter engine. No other specifications have been released that we are aware of.
We also don’t know if any of the 50 pint-size Peels will make it Stateside, though with three wheels, it would seem the machines would be classified as motorcycles and would therefore eschew any need for crash testing requirements… which would seem rather important, don’tcha think? for a couple of videos of the Peel P-50, including one from Top Gear where the six-foot five-inch Jeremy Clarkson takes one for a drive to through the office.
Translogic Episode 5.4 – Click above to watch video
Our brothers from another mother over at Translogic just released their latest episode yesterday, episode 5.4 for whoever’s counting. Host Bradley Hasemeyer spent a day with at the automaker’s Milford Proving Ground driving the and came away with some heretofore unknown tidbits of information about the series hybrid.
For one, in addition to Eco, Normal and Sport modes, the Volt will have what’s called Mountain Mode that allows it to climb any grade in the country. A GM engineer says they checked to be sure its Mountain Mode was adequate for any grade in the States and we the Volt can climb. When Mountain Mode is selected, ideally about ten miles out from any big hills you want to climb, the Volt will kick on its on-board generator and create extra energy for the batteries. This allows the Volt’s drive system to draw more power than normal from the battery packs while climbing a grade. If the battery packs are drained and the generator’s already on, Mountain Mode will then increase the engine’s RPM to make up the difference.
Bradley also performed an impromptu 0-60 miles per hour test in the Volt, completing the run to highway speeds in 8.53 seconds while the car was in Sport mode. Not earth shatteringly quick, but plenty spry to feel normal in everyday driving conditions. Over the course of the day, Bradley drove the Volt a total of 59.7 miles, 16.1 of which occurred with the gas-powered range-extending on. During that time, 0.59 gallons of gas were consumed, which means the Volt achieved about 100 mpg for the day and 27.3 mpg while the engine was operating.
The rest of the video is full of Volt information of which we’re already aware, including how it interacts with mobile devices, charging options and the like, though we can’t say we’ve seen anybody throw around the Volt yet like Bradley did. to view episode 5.4 for yourself and visit the here.
2011Hyundai Equus – Click above for high-res image gallery
In case you hadn’t noticed, is quickly moving up the ranks of automakers by pushing the boundaries of the classes in which its vehicles compete. Exhibit A was the , which was quickly followed by the and now the Equus luxury sedan. But the Korean automaker isn’t content to rest on its rear-wheel-drive laurels.
John Krafcik, president and chief executive officer of Hyundai Motor America, has confirmed to us that the next generation of the Genesis (in both Coupe and sedan forms) and Equus will get optional all-wheel drive. All three machines share a similar platform, and when the architecture gets updated within the next couple of years, space for the all-wheel-drive components will be baked in.
At this point, we don’t have any word on powertrains for the next-gen rear- and all-wheel-drive Hyundais, but the automaker’s latest 5.0-liter V8 seems like a safe bet for both the Genesis and the Equus. Naturally, we’d love to as well, especially since Hyundai says the sport coupe will go upmarket (from to fighter, perhaps?) for its next trip ’round the block.
There was a time when was the brand of choice for doctors, lawyers and politicians. Its cars were elegant enough to show success without being overt signals of wealth, they were the epitome of inconspicuous consumption. But that was a long, long time ago. Buicks of the last 30 years look like slightly disguised versions of a run-of-the-mill , with a bit more chrome and better seat fabrics.
The Enclave can be compared to other luxury crossovers in the segment without an asterisk.
Buick design went from purposely understated to flat-out dull, and the average age of the brand’s buyers shot up to over 70 in the mid-2000s. If it weren’t for Buick’s success in China, the Trishield would have likely followed Oldsmobile into retirement. But instead of mothballing Buick for good, General Motors decided to finally give the brand what it really needed: new and exciting products. Former Vice Chairman Bob Lutz went as far as to say that Buick’s new products were going to compete against . We were all a bit skeptical, but one vehicle began making believers.
The took many by surprise when it debuted in early 2007 with attractive styling and a well-appointed cabin. And since production started, the Enclave has proven to be a strong seller. In fact, the Enclave continually beats the combined sales of its crosstown rivals, the and the .
Since Lexus itself does not offer a three-row CUV, does the Buick offer a credible alternative to the hush and plush Japanese automaker? We spent a week with a very well appointed Enclave CXL AWD to find out if GM’s highest-end large crossover really represents the brand’s new mission. …
2011 FordEdge – Click above for high-res image gallery
According to popular American folklore, you should always buy the biggest engine available. Such thinking likely became prevalent in the 1950s, when the American automotive industry was busy building new V8 engines, experimenting with multiple carburetors and high compression, and generally discovering the art of hot-rodding. Gas prices? Fuel economy? Pfft. It was a great time to be an American.
These days, life isn’t quite so simple. There are countless reasons to consider a downsized powerplant. First off, we all care about fuel mileage and many of us care about emissions. Then there’s the cost consideration, and, finally, the biggest engine isn’t always the best performer. Proof of such can be seen in the new , that we and that was recently put through the full testing regime by the boys at Motor Trend.
There are currently two V6 engines available in the Edge (a 2.0-liter EcoBoost is on the way in a few months), a 3.5-liter and a 3.7, which comes straight from the . Power for the smaller engine comes in at 280 horses and 253 pound-feet of torque. The larger 3.7 puts out 305 horses and 280 lb-ft and is available only in the Edge Sport. So, the Sport is the fastest, right?
Not so fast… literally. MT clocked a 7.1-second run to 60 in the base Edge, but only managed a disappointing 7.6 seconds in the 3.7-powered Edge Sport. Apparently, the problem is weight. The base Edge tipped MT’s scales at 4075 pounds while the Sport came in at an obese 4405, part of which can be explained by the addition of all-wheel drive. In any case, the Edge Sport, with its massive 22-inch wheels and wide tires, can’t keep up with the base Edge in a straight line.
On the flip side, the AWD Edge Sport (with those aforementioned oversize wheels and tires) handily out-handled its base model sibling. In other words, this is a case where you need to pick your poison, either handling or straight-line acceleration. And of course the upcoming EcoBoost will add another interesting option to consider in a few short months.
Sharpened Tech Claws More Than Scratch The Surface For 2011, Ford has given the Edge a detailed once-over, plopped a few new engine options under the hood and given the interior the kind of remake that doesn’t typically pop up mid-cycle.
Just five races remain on the 2010 Indy Racing League IndyCar schedule, and only one of those is a road course. The final four rounds of the championship will all be contested on ovals – but this weekend the drivers took on Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California.
They don’t call it the World Rally Championship for nothing. The globe’s best and brightest descend on the pinnacle of the rally sport, and while Ken Block hasn’t fared as well as predicted this season, he’s at least made it to the point where he can step into the ring.
