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Okay, so maybe this isn’t much in the way of confirmation, but BMW M division president Friedrich Nitschke told Car and Driver that the company was “considering” building an M Performance version of the 7-Series. While that’s not quite an M7, it’s close.

Remember, M Performance is the new quasi-M car line that BMW has created to offer a higher performance version of its vehicles to slot between the standard models and the full-blown M cars. M Performance will also allow BMW to create performance diesel and all-wheel-drive models without sullying the M badge.

Of course, enthusiasts looking for a full-size BMW performance sedan can already have an Alpina B7 like the one pictured above, but there’s something alluring about a real M-badged 7-Series. Given that BMW has already M-ed the X6, it only seems fair that the 7-Series gets some love too, even if it’s just in M Performance form.

Nitschke’s interview revealed a few more interesting details about BMW’s product plans, namely that turbocharged engines are here to stay. He said BMW has no plans to use superchargers for its M products, and it sounds like naturally aspirated M engines are a thing of the past as well. Manual transmissions will continue to be offered, as according to Nitschke, new models will be equipped with transmissions that use software and electronics to “protect” the tranny from mismatched shifts. We won’t be seeing a hatchback M135i here in the U.S., however, nor are any of the diesel M Performance models headed towards our shores.

BMW considering possibly, maybe making an M7, sort of

Oh, how we’d like to go all grumpy-old-man-get-off-my-lawn on Chevrolet for this latest bit of hipster marketing. But dammit, it’s got robots in it. Real robots, industrial robots, installed inside a 2012 Chevrolet Sonic hatchback. And it’s just so cool.

The robots are there to help Jeff Soto paint a mural on an empty brick wall, and while we’re pretty sure the final product of this collaboration is still something like 90-percent man and 10-percent machine, we really like what we see. Chevy calls Soto a “respected street artist,” which we figure just means a graffiti artist with a degree rather than a rap sheet. (Soto’s is from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA.) Soto, in turn, refers to the compact Sonic as the first “robotic art car.”

While Soto did a lot of conventional work on the mural, he also used the Sonic’s robotic arms, which were controlled from within the car and could be operated while Soto drove. The painting appendages emerged through the Sonic’s windows, sunroof and hatchback, and seem to take up all the available space inside the car, save for the driver’s seat.

While we were fairly impressed seeing the Sonic play indie rock, we definitely think the little car should focus on its art. There’s some real talent there.

Continue reading Watch an assembly line robot try its hand at street art

Watch an assembly line robot try its hand at street art

We’re losing track of how many top gunners post high-speed-run videos on public roads on YouTube and then get busted. Police take that tomfoolery personally, and you’d think they put the entire department on the case judging by how quickly the perps get caught.

Latest on the list is a Canadian motorcyclist who took his Yamaha on the Trans-Canada Highway and ran it to about 300 kph. CBC News now reports that the unidentified rider in question is 25 years old, unlicensed, riding an uninsured Yamaha R1 registered in his mother’s name. Then there’s the small matter of his 25 previous infractions.

Police wasted no time tracking down YouTube poster “Joe Blow,” but he’s been uncooperative up to now. We have no idea why he wasn’t in jail already after 25 violations, but we’re guessing his Internet handle will soon be changed to “Three Hots and a Cot.” Scroll down to refresh your memory with a video demonstration of his stupidity.

Continue reading 185-mph Vancouver joyrider’s motorcycle impounded [w/video]

185-mph Vancouver joyrider’s motorcycle impounded [w/video]

Argentinian rally champ Lucas Bonetto can attest to the udderly day-ruining power of hitting a wayward cow on an ATV at open throttle. There’s no way to know for sure, but we can guess Bonetto was thinking, “Oh, that’s bull…!” right before T-boning this side of beef. Unlike some cows, most ATVs don’t have horns, and even if Bonetto’s did, there was little chance of it being herd over the roar of his quad. Plus, ATVs aren’t exactly known for quick steering.

At the last moment, the cow tries to hoof it out of the whey but gets creamed anyway. The resulting crash will make your blood curdle. Luckily, Bonetto is chucked from his ride because it becomes hogtied with a barbed wire fence, rendered unusable for the rest of the race. The cow? Of course it ran off to hide, likely to get a good ribbing at the next celebrity roast. The race probably ground to a halt.

This wasn’t Bonetto’s first rodeo, and we’ll steak our reputation on the bet that he’ll go a little slower next time. And, yes, we know the video is from 2011. We thought we’d milk it just a bit more.

Continue reading What happens when an ATV hits an unmoovable object?

What happens when an ATV hits an unmoovable object?

Along with Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn, Ford CEO Alan Mulally is confident in the growth of the electric car segment. It’s a long-term play, though, so Mulally isn’t committing the electric Ford Focus EV to making a strong sales statement. For now, Ford’s chief says he’d be fine moving fewer than 5,000 Focus EVs in the model’s first full year. And even that would mean a steep rise in uptake based on just 12 having been sold in December and January.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Mulally has also let slip the cost for the battery pack in the all-electric Focus: “around $12,000 to $15,000,” which makes the Focus Electric’s starting cost of $39,200 a bit more understandable. Given that price range and the EV’s 23-kWh battery, that means Ford’s cost is between $522 and $650 per kWh, which is lower than the estimated $689-per-kWh industry average so far this year.

Reportage on the current sales of EVs is a bit schizophrenic – for example, bullish here, bearish here, but the commentators and the numbers seem to support Mulally’s confidence. If the Focus EV did manage 5,000 sales this year, that would be a little more than half of the 2011 tally for the Nissan Leaf, yet according to Bloomberg, EV market share grew more quickly than any other segment in Q1: Nissan is still working through its Leaf pre-order list, Chevrolet Volt sales were up 277 percent to 2,129 units vs. March 2011, the Opel Ampera has exceeded sales expectations, and other electric vehicles and their marketing pushes will come online later this year. Oh, and gas prices are still climbing.

There were no Focus EVs sold in February or March, but the retail push is gearing up now for the Spring season.

Ford prepared for slow sales with Focus Electric

The 1961 Impala SS inaugurated the SS trim line to the brand, and its SS cars have found more than a million homes since – examples like this 1966 model helping the way. Turns out, though, that General Motors just got around to patenting the designator SS on April 13, 2012. Since the SS descriptor has historically indicated a model variant or trim level, distinctions that apparently don’t normally warrant trademark protection, the questions are why now and what for?

The evidence would seem to lead to this being a model designator, not just a trim, and there have been rumors that a civilian version of the police-only Caprice will hit the market and simply be called SS. But if that’s the case, what would the hotter Impala prototype we’ve seen in spy shots be named, and what – if anything – would happen to the SS trim available on other Chevy models?

Click the image below for a look at the patent application, and we’ll be looking forward to finding out what is going to go where.

Chevrolet trademarks SS designation… why now?

Euro Hatch Icon Reclaims Some Of Its Mojo

The challenge of small, efficient and clever hatchbacks catching on with the American masses is a long story that shows infrequent signs of becoming less challenging. The bottom line is that most U.S. consumers feel such vehicles are simply too small for our wide-open-spaces sensibilities. This smallness is only enhanced when one looks around while stopped at American intersections, only to see big and tall sheetmetal in all directions. There are admittedly serious strides being made in this segment in various U.S. markets, usually of the urban variety and on the coasts, but it will always be a struggle.

The last time Peugeot tried directly communicating in American English with imported product was back in 1991 with its 505 and 405 ranges that unceremoniously flopped. There was ongoing talk at that time of bringing over the 205 hatchback to try and improve things, but we missed out and Peugeot was gone. Perhaps the seven percent of PSA Peugeot-Citroën now owned by General Motors will someday result in the importing of the solid hatchback tested here, but I won’t hold my breath.

Recently, the new Peugeot 208 was all over the French giant’s show stand at the Geneva Motor Show, together with its legendary GTi trim and new XY upmarket trim. Back in 1984, it was the 105-horsepower 205 GTi that established the legend of the French hot hatch. While the 206 was then a smash hit with buyers between 1998 and 2006, the subsequently larger 207 has been far less popular in the face of much improved competitors – a group that blossomed from just 16 different models on the European market in 1998 to now 27 separate hatches today. In its prime, the 206 outsold even the mighty Volkswagen Golf and stayed at the top of Europe’s sales charts for a time. The outgoing 207, however, has routinely lingered behind the Volkswagen Golf and Polo, Renault Clio, Opel Astra and Corsa, not to mention the Ford Focus and Fiesta.

Continue reading 2012 Peugeot 208 [w/video]

2012 Peugeot 208 [w/video]

Anything Ferrari can do, McLaren can do better. At least that’s what the boys in Woking seem to believe. After all, McLaren has trounced Ferrari around the Formula One circuit for the past several years now. But while the British team has followed its Italian rival from grand prix racing into building supercars with the McLaren F1, Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren and (most recently) the MP4-12C, one thing Ferrari does that McLaren doesn’t is grand tourers. And with the advent of the FF, shooting brakes.

That could all change, however, if the latest rumors are to be believed. (Which is something which, in this case, we wouldn’t take for granted.) According to the rumormongers over at Auto Express, McLaren is preparing a shooting brake based of the MP4-12C (pictured above, flashing its air brake). Now given that the 12C is a mid-engined supercar and not a front-engined GT like the Ferrari Four, we’d say that makes about as much sense as Renault reaching back into its showcar history to build the Espace F1.

The rumors further state that the McLaren shooting brake (fancy-talk for a two-door wagon) would go downmarket to rival the Porsche 911 – which is something we’ve been expecting McLaren to pursue sometime after the MP4 roadster and the upmarket successor to the original F1 supercar. But something’s a little amiss here, so for the time being, we’ll take this particular report with a grain of salt that would dwarf Lot’s wife. Then again, we did run into McLaren design director Frank Stephenson checking out the Fisker Surf in Paris last year…

McLaren working on MP4-12C shooting brake?

Want a hot little hatchback? You could do a lot worse than a Mini. But as with many cars, your budget will determine how much speed you get: Cooper, Cooper S, JCW or – with the first-gen model, anyway – the top-of-the-line John Cooper Works GP.

Introduced just before Mini launched the second-generation model line, the GP edition packed more power, less weight and a sportier suspension. After receiving reports a few months ago that Mini was planning a similar version of the current model, we brought you spy shots a few weeks ago of a prototype hatchback wearing some tell-tale signs of GP-ification. But what is this? A GP coupe?

That’s what it would seem, with the less versatile and more backwards-hat-wearing Mini Coupe wearing a minimally camouflaged lower fascias front and rear, plus four-spoke wheels like the first GP edition.

The question is whether Mini is planning GP versions of both the hatchback and coupe, or if one of these prototypes is merely a diversion of some sort. We’ll have to wait to find out, but you can take a closer look at the spy shots and start to wonder as well.

Mini preparing JCW GP version of Cooper Coupe too?

Last week, a fire broke out at the General Motors Technical Center battery research lab in Warren, Michigan. General Motors has since said the fire was caused by a battery that was being tested under “extreme stress.” Engineers were trying to get the pack to fail, which it did, but not to ignite, which it also did when gases leaked out and somehow caught fire.

There’s one detail we have not heard yet, and that’s how much the fire could end up costing GM: up to $5 million, the The Detroit News reports, based on information that the automaker’s representatives submitted in a police report. The local fire department has estimated that the damage could be closer to $3 million, with one million of that due to property loss – at least two labs were damaged – and $2 million worth of damage to the labs’ contents. An investigation into the cause and extent of the fire continues.

The battery pack involved was not the same as the one used in the Chevrolet Volt and GM says that the incident has not negatively affected Volt sales. Media reports have suggested the battery is be intended for the Spark EV program and that the prototype battery pack was made by A123 (which has had other battery issues recently). Multiple people were injured in the fire but only one remains in the hospital because of “an estimated four-inch gash to the back of his head.”

GM battery lab explosion cost could reach $5M

The arrival of any new Ferrari is bound to be anticipated eagerly by legions of fans around the world, but few more keenly than the successor to the famed Enzo.

Following in a line that dates back to the 288 GTO, through the F40, the F50 and most recently the Enzo, the new top-of-the-line hypercar from Maranello is now well on the road to readiness. We’re told to expect its arrival in less than a year from now at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, but while endless speculation has filled the void until now, we’ve now got our first batch of spy shots showing – to some extent, anyway – what Ferrari is working on.

While the widened 458 test mule in these spy shots is wearing a hideously humorous hodgepodge of sheetmetal and body cladding evidently thrown together in a back room in Maranello (with the lights off), we’re told this is not an actual prototype for the Enzo successor – sure to wear a different name, but referred to internally as project F70 – but rather a rolling test bed for components that will make up the finished product.

That is expected to include an uprated (and backwards-turned) version of Ferrari’s new 6.2-liter V12 from the F12 Berlinetta, producing more power and augmented by a hybrid electric assist. Despite the added hybrid bigs, the F70 is still said to be light in weight, and it will be sent gunning for the Bugatti Veyron with a targeted 0-60 run in under 2.5 seconds and a top speed in excess of 250 mph.

Ferrari Enzo successor had better look better than this test mule

The Google self-driving-vehicle fleet has grown by one. According to Wired, the tech giant has added a black Lexus RX450h to its autonomous stable. The hybrid SUV was spotted out on the road for testing wearing a new roof-mounted sensor array that’s significantly more streamlined than the gear found on the company’s autonomous Toyota Prius models. Google says it is constantly testing its driving algorithms on a wide range of vehicles in order to refine the technology, and that the RX450h is merely the latest step in that process.

Google first began unleashing its driverless cars onto public streets in 2010 using a fleet comprised of six Prius hybrids and one Audi TT. The company’s work has spurred the California legislature to draft a bill requiring the California Highway Patrol to outline safety standards for autonomous vehicles. Wired reports the legislation passed the state’s Senate Transportation Committee with an 8-0 vote and is now headed to the Senate Rules Committee. Nevada has already passed a similar law.

Google adds hybrid Lexus RX450h to autonomous fleet

Our colleagues at Consumer Reports, when not professing their love for all things Toyota, have recently taken a real shine to Subarus. First they crowned the 2012 Impreza the top small sedan, while elevating the Subaru brand to the top of the 2012 CR ratings. Now comes this surprisingly entertaining “first look” video featuring the 2013 BRZ.

CR loved hot-shoeing the BRZ around the track, of course. As we’ve seen, this car is fun enough that anyone with a pulse should be able to enjoy it. But more importantly, the magazine answered a few important questions about the car’s suitability for the low-budget racing crowd. Those that might be interested in campaigning a BRZ in local autocross events or track days will be happy to know that a helmeted, six-foot-tall driver can fit inside the car with proper head clearance. Equally as important, the BRZ’s stability control can be switched entirely off, enabling the kinds of power slides that are great fun but sure to place you last in your SCCA Solo II class behind all the Miatas, Z cars and E36 M3’s.

Go ahead and scroll down to watch the whole video.

Continue reading Consumer Reports lets its hair down, drifts Subaru BRZ

Consumer Reports lets its hair down, drifts Subaru BRZ

After years of doing without a grand prix in the United States altogether, Formula One is gearing up to return to these shores in a big way. The United States Grand Prix is set to take place later this year at the newly constructed Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. And next year, the Grand Prix of America is scheduled to join the calendar in New Jersey, just across the river from Manhattan. But will the Jersey race be ready in time?

According to the latest reports, that second grand prix in the U.S. could be pushed off until 2014. This according to a quote attributed to Bernie Ecclestone, the man who orchestrates the commercial aspects of the sport – including where the races are held.

While he was at it, Ecclestone also reportedly indicated that the French Grand Prix will be back on the calendar within the next couple of years. But rather than holding it at Magny-Cours where it was held from 1991 through 2008, the renewed French Grand Prix – absent from the calendar every year since – will go back to the Paul Ricard circuit where it was held in the 70s and 80s (a track which Ecclestone just happens to own himself).

The arrangement will, according to reports, alternate year-to-year with the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa.

F1 race in New Jersey could be postponed

We certainly like the idea behind the Infiniti Performance Line, but execution has left us largely underwhelmed. Instead of an M or AMG fighter, buyers are left with little more than fancy paint and a stiffer suspension. But according to Motor Trend, Infiniti may have something more impressive brewing.

An unnamed source spilled the goods on the future of the G line, including a juicy detail about a hyper performance coupe. The next-generation G is set to hit the market during the summer of 2014, bringing with it a rash of changes.

One of those is the introduction of an IPL-specific 3.7-liter V6. The source claims the engine is all-new and features direct-injection and two turbos to help it produce a whopping 530 horsepower. This time, it seems Infiniti has its heart set on stepping up to the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG and BMW M3. The engine will be built in Japan alongside the powerplant for the Nissan GT-R.

Now for the bad news. The shadowy source says the high-performance IPL will be priced in line with the GT-R, at least in Japan. On this side of the globe, the brawny Nissan commands a price well north of the $58,930 MSRP on the C63 AMG, which leads us to believe there’s still some pricing to be sorted out on that front.

Infiniti working on 530-HP twin-turbo IPL model for G

Dart pricing, non-retro Mustang, Impala SS, brake override mandate

Episode #278 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Chris, Dan, and Zach are joined by David Kiley of Autoblog and AOL Autos to chat about Dodge Dart pricing, the next Ford Mustang shying away from retro styling, Chevrolet quietly developing an Impala SS, and a NHTSA proposal to mandate brake override systems. Your questions and comments power the end of the ‘cast, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. We’ve embedded our Q&A module after the jump for you to scroll through and follow along, too. Thanks for listening!

Autoblog Podcast #278:

• Dodge Dart pricing
• Next Mustang to be non-retro?
• Is Chevrolet preparing an Impala SS?
• NHTSA proposes brake override system mandate

In the Autoblog Garage
2012 Fiat 500
2012 Volvo C30 Polestar
2012 Volvo XC70 T6
Long-Term 2011 Mini Cooper S Countryman

Hosts: Dan Roth, Chris Shunk, Zach Bowman

Feedback
Email: Podcast at Autoblog dot com

Review the show in iTunes

Autoblog Podcast #278

Bob Lutz is not going to take attacks on the electric car lying down – the closest he’ll come to that is doing push-ups on The Colbert Report. After spending a few of his Forbes columns laying into right-wing pundits for their attacks on the Chevrolet Volt, he is switching to a positive message about how plug-in cars can help with American national security. It is not surprising that Lutz, a former Marine, co-authors the article with two former U.S. Marines commandants and the CEO of FedEx (the three are all members of Securing America’s Future Energy’s (SAFE) Energy Security Leadership Council). The gist? Well, here’s part of the opening paragraph:

When … threats exist because the United States is the protector of the world’s global oil supply lines, it is a clear illustration of how our nation’s over-reliance on a single, globally priced fuel impacts our national and economic security.

America’s addiction to gasoline costs the government billions of dollars a year, an estimated $80 billion, in fact, to guard the sea lanes, including one little area by Iran:

From a national security perspective, the U.S. military is forced to protect the world’s vital oil infrastructure. The single greatest chokepoint is the Strait of Hormuz, through which 17 million barrels of oil per day passed in 2011 – 20 percent of global supplies. Protection of the sea lanes of commerce has become an American burden and will remain so, costing the United States Treasury an estimated $80 billion per year while taxing our military, which is already engaged on multiple fronts.

It’s arguments like this that have made the recent right-wing criticism of the Volt such a mystery. If we use less gasoline, we can spend fewer lives and less treasure importing the fuel (of course, we don’t lose many lives at the Canadian border, which is where most of our imported oil comes from). The Army says that today’s soldier uses an average of 22 gallons of gasoline a day.

Lutz and his co-authors are quite clear that high gas prices are hurting Americans’ pocketbooks, “essentially” wiping out tax cuts that Presidents Bush and Obama put into place. That’s why, they say, “government action is needed to mitigate the risks of oil dependence, because there is no free market for oil.” This intervention contains both expanded domestic production and – surprise – plugging in our light-duty transportation fleet as much as possible and feeding our big trucks lots of natural gas. To that end, they write:

Regarding electrification, the beauty of plug-in hybrids and pure electric vehicles like the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf is that they are powered by electricity, which can be generated from many sources: nuclear, coal, natural gas, and renewables. Best yet, these are all domestic energy sources, meaning OPEC won’t be able to corner the market. And the retail price of electricity is far less volatile that the price of oil.

Hard to disagree with that. There’s more at Forbes.

Bob Lutz praises Leaf and Volt, says national security requires going electric

When a company like Audi debuts a new model line, enthusiasts know it brings with it the promise of a high-performance muscle-beast to follow. And so is the case with the A6 leading to the RS6.

The first RS6 packed a twin-turbo V8 good for 444 horsepower, and the second-generation model had a 571-horse V10. As is the general trend with German muscle, the new model pictured in these spy shots – snapped at the Nürburgring with telltale RS4-style intakes and widened fender flares – will likely downsize back to a twin-turbo eight. The smart money’s on Quattro GmbH taking the 4.0 TFSI from the S8 and the Bentley Continental GT, but tweaking it to its own specifications. Output is likely to hover around that of its predecessor, trading two cylinders for as many turbo spools.

As with past models, the new RS6 is likely to come first in Avant wagon form before the sedan comes along soon thereafter. Whether any RS6 models makes it Stateside, however, remains to be seen, but we can certainly hope.

Audi testing new RS6 Avant at the Nürburgring… so what’s under the hood?

We tend to think of Mercedes-Benz as a luxury automaker – and indeed it is – but overseas it’s a full-line brand, known as much for its trucks and vans as it is for its upscale passenger cars. And this is the latest.

Previewed back in February, the new Citan has just been revealed in Amsterdam ahead of its September debut at the IAA Commercial Vehicles show in Hanover, Germany. Smaller than the existing Sprinter, Vario, Viano and Vito vans, the Citan is geared for use inside Europe’s crowded cities.

The compact panel van will be available in three lengths, with a choice of three turbodiesels ranging from 75 to 110 horsepower. There’s also a 115-hp supercharged gasoline engine mated to a five- or six-speed automatic transmission with an available BlueEfficiency package that includes a stop/start system.

Although the Citan by design won’t be as luxurious as we’d expect a Mercedes to be (hint: it’s based on the Renault Kangoo and will be built at the French automaker’s Maubeuge assembly plant), it does feature a more ergonomic cabin design than most vehicles in this segment and comes packed with all the electronic gizmos we’ve come to anticipate from a vehicle with a silver star in the grille. But while the Ford Transit Connect (like Mercedes’ own Sprinter) has made the journey across the Atlantic to American showrooms, we wouldn’t expect the same from the Citan any time soon.

Scroll below for the full press release and scope out the high-resolution images in the gallery above for a closer look.

Continue reading Mercedes-Benz goes to work with new Citan van

Mercedes-Benz goes to work with new Citan van

When you think of major car auctions, you probably think of Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale. That’s the one that came to mind for us, which is why we sent Jessi and Patrick to experience its sights and sounds this past January.

Not only did they come away with what it’s like to be inside the big tents of Barrett-Jackson on the company’s biggest day of the year, they also followed the experiences of several sellers, all of whom were counting on six- and seven-figure prices for their precious pieces of metal. Did they leave the Grand Canyon State with smiles on their faces? Scroll down and watch the latest episode of The List to find out.

Click here to watch The List #0041: Attend A Major Car Auction.

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Continue reading The List #0041: Attend A Major Car Auction

The List #0041: Attend A Major Car Auction