We’ll admit, it feels like a typo whenever we write “,” but if BMW is as insistent upon further from its sedan ranges as we’ve been hearing, we’ll just have to get used to it. The BMW 4 Series is expected to officially kick off when the two-door versions of the new are launched, and our spies recently caught a prototype of the new droptop 4 testing in the rain.
There’s still lots of cladding under all that swirly paper, but we expect the 4er Convertible’s design to mimic that of the new 3 Series, complete with the more squared off headlamps that pinch in toward the dual-kidney grille. Like the outgoing droptop, the 4 Series cabriolet will use a folding hardtop configuration, and engine choices will almost certainly be exactly the same as what’s offered in the 3 Series sedan. (428i and 435i – weird.) An M version is also said to be in the cards.
Look for the 4 Series range to debut sometime in 2012.
Going Mainstream With The Beauty Of All-Wheel-Drive
found itself in an interesting position when the North American auto market imploded back in 2009. While most manufacturers were busily darting about trying to stop their sales from bleeding out, the quirky Japanese automaker actually posted gains in both market share and earnings during the recession.
It was a dark time for most dealers. Salesmen began eying the fairest compacts on their lot for sacrifice in an attempt to appease the sales gods that had abandoned them, and showrooms began devolving into tribal law in earnest. Meanwhile, we’re guessing many Subaru dealers watched through gold-rimmed monocles from across the street with a mixture of curiosity and amusement.
But what happens when the national financial ship rights itself and social order is restored once again? Will buyers still shun emblems of excess and continue to opt for practical, economy-minded Japanese all-wheel-drive wagons and compacts? If the is any indication, the company may be concerned its products aren’t quite mainstream enough to retain conquests acquired through the dark days of ‘09. The 2012 Impreza is more comfortable, quieter and offers a more attractive interior than ever before, but those gains come with sacrifices that risk alienating the model’s longtime fans, ourselves included.
TheDetroitBureau.com reports that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is out to change the zero-emissions-vehicle (ZEV) game again, this time revising its desired numbers for vehicle sales and prodding industry to make alternative fuels more available. From 2018 to 2025, CARB wants ZEVs to number 1.4 million sales every year. According to its numbers, by 2025, that would result in a decrease of 52 million metric tons of emissions.
But what good is a car that runs on hydrogen without convenient places to refuel? The Cleans Fuels Outlet part of its plan “would require oil companies to install hydrogen refueling stations.” That part of the plan sounds like it will be rather expensive for someone, but according to CARB, somehow it won’t be the consumer: CARB says residents will save $22 billion on fuel costs, 21,000 jobs will be created because of the move to different fuels, and a car buyer in 2025 would save $4,000 over the life of the car even with the extra cost of the tech.
What’s more, in 2017, CARB – in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency – has released an emissions-level limit of 166 g/km for cars sold in the state. That would represent another 34 percent drop from the emissions levels targeted in 2016.
The Detroit News reports that will resume full production of the today, after a supplier issue caused a production snarl at its Lordstown, Ohio facility . On Tuesday, the Lordstown facility’s third shift was put on hold, and both the first and second shifts were shortened. Full production will resume when third shift workers arrive tonight, and GM states that employees scheduled to work the first and second shifts on Friday should report at their regularly scheduled times.
It is still unclear exactly what sort of supplier issue caused the Cruze plant to go partially offline this week. Either way, we’re sure that the plant’s 4,500 employees will be happy to be back at full capacity.
The Motor Press Guild (MPG), the largest automotive media association in North America, held its 17th annual Dean Batchelor Award banquet at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles this week. The association’s awards honored those with outstanding automotive contributions in the areas of writing, audio/visual, photography and lifetime achievement.
Dean Batchelor Award: , by Asif Kapadia and Manish Pandey.
Best Book:Elva, The Cars, The People, The History by Janos Wimpffen
Best Article: “Questor Grand Prix” by Tom Stahler
Best Photography: “Everybody’s a Photographer” by Reinhard Klein
Lifetime Achievement Award: Brock Yates was honored for his many contributions to both the automotive and entertainment industries. Not only was Mr. Yates the longtime executive editor of Car and Driver, but he reported for television motorsports, wrote numerous books, was the screenwriter for Smokey and the Bandit II (1980) and The Cannonball Run (1981) and he founded the famed coast-to-coast Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash (better known as the Cannonball Run), along with its eventual offshoot, One Lap of America.
Pictured is Brock Yates and his wife Pamela, with Laura Burstein, president of the Motor Press Guild. The full press release is below.
When you’re starting up a new venture – really any new venture, but especially a new F1 team – what you really need is some experience on your side. And if you don’t have it, you hire it, and you stick with it until you’ve gotten where you need to go. Someone has apparently forgotten to tell that to the people at HRT.
The backmarker team has already changed hands a couple of times since joining the field just two seasons ago, and has changed drivers like the rest of us (hopefully) change socks. The one constant was Colin Kolles, but even he’s walking away now.
The experienced race strategist from Romania has run the Jordan, Midland, Spyker and Force India teams (though those are, admittedly, varying names for the same team), and was hired by the Hispania Racing Team to run its F1 effort. (A trained dentist, incidentally, Kolles has even had to perform emergency track-side dental surgery on his drivers.) But in a recent announcement, the two parties revealed the end of their collaboration.
HRT, for its part, will move its operations from Kolles’ facility in Germany to its own headquarters in Spain. As for where Kolles will land next, it’s anyone’s guess, but something tells us that he’ll be sticking around the racing world in some capacity or another.
After languishing in mediocrity for far too long, the can’t come soon enough, and our shooters managed to snag a camouflaged prototype – both inside and out – for the first time.
Based on the long-wheelbase version of the Epsilon 2 platform, the reimagined Impala is set to be powered by a choice of either GM’s 3.6-liter V6 or its . An eAssist version is also likely to be offered soon after its debut.
Inside, we get a glimpse of a reworked interior that’s more plush than the current model, complete with leather dash and trim, tasteful aluminum accents and a sizable nav screen front-and-center.
The exterior is harder to gauge, but the ride height is noticeably lower, the roof and windshield more raked and the front fascia has taken on a pointed, -esque shape. We should know more in the coming months before takes the wraps off in the first half of the year.
We’ve seen Romeo Ferraris tune all manner of vehicles, but oddly none from the automaker with which it shares the first part of its name. That’s all changing, but not with a current Alfa Romeo model. For their latest project, RF has turned its attention to the recently discontinued Alfa Romeo Brera.
Long considered one of the most beautiful designs mired by a substandard chassis, the Brera went out of production over a year ago. But to give it one last swan song, Romeo Ferraris has teamed up with venerable Alfa tuning firm Autodelta. Together, they’ve given the Brera’s 3.2-liter V6 a supercharger, intercooler, custom exhaust and remapped ECU to boost power up by 97 horsepower for a more substantial 353 hp. That’s tipped to drop the 0-62 time down to five seconds and the top end up to 162 mph.
Naturally a full body kit is also part of the package, as is an adjustable suspension and (we would hope) upgraded brakes as well. A fitting goodbye to one of the best-looking cars ever to grace the roads – and one that will hopefully keep it on them for years to come.
At this time of year there are no shortages of holiday miracles. Most of them seem to involve animals, the cuter and furrier the better. Just today we read about a . Earlier in the week, it was the four deer who were saved from drowning by boaters in Alaska. Well, here’s a car story in the same vein.
It’s about a Beetle. A red, 1963 convertible to be specific. Earlier in the month, the car was listed on eBay and the seller, Eric, contacted website Bring A Trailer hoping to get a little wider . Eric was offering the car with a treasure trove of documentation, including the original registration for its California “black plate.”
So who should happen to see the pictures of the car? None other than the son of the original owner, Jim, who was with his dad when they drove it home from the dealership almost 50 years ago. When he saw the license plate, those six randomly assigned alphanumerics lit up his memory and, well, then he saw his dad’s signature on a photo of the registration…
Let’s cut to the chase: Jim is the proud new owner of the Bug.
But that’s not all. It seems that Jim had saved one of the keys to his dad’s old VW, and sure enough, when he showed up at Eric’s house to look at the car, it unlocked the driver’s door. As if that’s not enough to make you believe in karma, destiny, and , Jim bought the car on his son’s 15th birthday. So dad will teach son to drive in the same car that grandpa taught him in.
Honda And Toyota Miscues Help Detroit Gain An Edge
All three domestics have gained market share this year, the first time that has happened since 1998.
If Detroit’s three automakers could each get a wish for Santa this holiday season, it would be to keep the healthy gains in sales and market share they’ve racked up over the past year. The so-called Big Three have come through the worst automotive downturn since the Great Depression in far better shape than even their most ardent admirers might have hoped.
Individually, all three have gained market share this year, the first time that has happened since 1998. And if they can maintain the pace of the first 11 months of 2011, they should be able to end the year with a collective two percent increase in market share – which they’ve gained at the expense of two import rivals who, until recently, seemed on an inevitable and irreversible path towards domination.
Of course, it certainly didn’t hurt that and saw much of their global production network idled for much of the past nine months, hobbled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that devastated Northeast Japan – home to much of that country’s automotive supplier base. And just when the Japanese thought they’d weathered the worst, they were slammed by flooding in Thailand that put ambitious recovery plans on hold.
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.
Between our and the , the is officially out of the bag before its debut at next month’s . And like its predecessors over the last five decades, the new SL continues to offer luxury and innovations in a svelte, drop-top package.
While the styling might not be a radical departure from the R230 chassis that’s been around since 2003, the new front fascia takes the ‘ upright nose – an element that’s infecting the rest of the line-up – and joins it with a more raked hood and bi-xenon headlamps with fiber optic accents and daytime running LEDs mounted low in the bumper. When we got a preview of the SL last month, we were smitten by the aggressive new front end, but the profile and rear view left us comfortably numb.
The interior, on the other hand, is a masterwork, with more SLS-inspired elements carrying over inside, including the crosshair vents, a beautiful combination of leather, wood and carbon fiber, and a center console that blends simplicity and elegance, topping it off with a squat transmission stalk. The “Mercedes-Benz” text engraved in aluminum on the bottom of the flat-bottom steering wheel is a particularly nice touch, but the silver gauges come across as more circa 2005 than 21st-century Benz.
The roof can be had with either standard glass or the Magic Sky Control available on the . Mercedes claims it stows away in 20 seconds and is more cleanly integrated than the R230, along with weighing 13 pound less thanks to its partial magnesium construction.
As , the new SL will be around 300 pounds lighter than the outgoing version, living up to its Sports Light moniker by coming in under 4,000 pounds. That might not be a huge reduction, but it’s the first of many steps Mercedes plans to implement in the coming years.
At launch, the SL550 will come equipped with the twin-turbocharged and direct-injected 4.6-liter V8, outputting 429 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque – a significant boost over the old model’s 384 hp and 391 lb-ft. The dash to 60 is claimed to come in around 4.5 seconds, with fuel economy improved by up to 10 percent thanks to a modified seven-speed automatic gearbox and start/stop tech.
Speed-sensitive, electromechanical steering joins two suspension options: the standard Agility Control Suspension or the Active Body Control setup that debuted on the outgoing model.
Finally, two new technologies come standard on the SL, the previously featured Magic Vision Control which integrates the spray nozzles into the wipers, and the new FrontBass system that mounts two subwoofers in the driver and passenger footwells. And naturally, all the safety gadgetry is included, ranging from Pre-Safe to Adaptive Brakes. Get the full details in the press release and look for the all-new SL to hit dealers this spring.
Despite recent sad decisions by Ingolstadt and the company’s regional bosses in Herndon, Virginia not to include either the stunning new A6 Avant or the handsomely reworked A4 Avant in its U.S. lineup, has crunched the numbers on another niche’s business case and decided to throw us one hell of a bone. Arriving on our shores by July 2012 for the first time is this spanking refreshed A4 Allroad Quattro. As consolation presents go, it’s a humdinger.
We’ve just had a shot at driving this latest A4 Allroad – a model originally created in early 2009 – in various European trims along the Portuguese shore north of Lisbon and over the mountain roads just inland of the same. We can say right off that the discreet slice of American premium car buyers who understand the Allroad legend have much to look forward to. They make up a sympathetic (though generally separate) fan club from those who buy the . Allroads are for well-to-do drivers who share a passion for this rough-roading, do-it-all niche, and they won’t be palmed off with traditional SUVs or their more upright crossover substitutes.
To inaugurate the second coming of the Allroad franchise to the States, Audi is holding the A4 Allroad’s world premiere at January’s . Through thick and thin, Audi has always treated Motown’s motor expo very seriously. Showing such a fondly admired model like the Allroad here first means a lot. There has been a lingering sense of unwilling withdrawal ever since Audi creased importing the A6-based Allroad back in 2005, and confirmation of this new model figures to be a homecoming of sorts.
Inside Line is at it again, this time with a list of the 100 worst cars ever made. While we were pretty pleased with the website’s choices for earlier this year, this one is somewhat less satisfying, which is to be expected.
Calling out the bad eggs is indeed trickier and more fraught with potential missteps than merely committing sins of omission. So yes, we’ve got our beef with a few of the cars listed. The General Motors EV1 at #92? That’s like calling out Gottleib Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach for not building a flying car. The 914 at #45? Hardly. If you want to pick on a , why not the 924? Speaking of which, putting the Isetta on the list (#3) is like bullying a kindergartener. And don’t even get us started on the inclusion of the Ariel Atom, at #94 or any other number.
Despite our quibbling, the list is a lot of fun – and sure to bring back “fond” memories for those who’ve had the misfortune of owning Iron Duke-powered GM products or tried to convince others that a Renault Fuego qualifies as a sports car. After devouring all 100 entries, we can say with certainty that there are far more “worthy” of inclusion here, and encourage you to name names in the comments.
And before anyone gets upset that our lede photo spills the beans on the “winner,” ask yourself, is there any other vehicle that could possibly top such a list?
Oh, what a difference one seat makes. just announced that the will be, “the first all-electric vehicle to achieve a 100 miles per gallon equivalent (MPGe) fuel efficiency rating.” But wait, you’re saying, what about the , which gets ? Ah, this is when you finish reading Ford’s sentence, which ends, “with seating for five.” The i is rated as a four-seat (two-plus-two) vehicle while the Focus is a “normal” five-seater.
100 MPGe is just one selling point for Ford’s upcoming EV. The other is faster charging technology that allows the Focus EV, “to charge in half the time of a using 240-volt outlets.” That means a three- to four-hour recharge time.
On the plug-inhybrid side, Ford also announced that the C-Max Energi is expected to have “miles per gallon equivalent rating in electric mode better than plug-in hybrid” and the C-Max Hybrid (non-plug-in) should get “better fuel economy than .” The C-Max Energi “is expected to deliver a better fuel economy equivalent in electric mode than the Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid with a 500-mile overall driving range, more than .” Even though it’s not ready to give us a lot of numbers for the C-Max models quite yet, it’s clear that Ford is getting ready to take on the best-selling fuel-efficient cars in the U.S. in 2012.
In California, New York and New Jersey, the first orders for the 2012 Focus Electric were taken in November. Fifteen more launch markets will open up next year. The Focus Electric has started production at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant. The C-Max models also go on sale in 2012.
With models like the and , has shown it is no stranger to performance-oriented crossovers. That extended to its brand when it opted to enter the in the World Rally Championship, but now we’ve received confirmation that a road- (or off-road-) going Countryman JCW is on its way.
Currently undergoing winter testing in Austria, the Countryman JCW is to be unveiled at the in March. Mini has yet to confirm the details, but we’re expecting the 1.6-liter turbo to churn out a good 215 horsepower or so – a significant increase over the Cooper S Countryman (pictured above) and its 177 hp – for a 0-60 time of less than seven seconds.
The John Cooper Works version of the Mini crossover will also ride lower than existing versions, and sport all the suspension and aero upgrades you’d expect from a JCW model, with sales expected to start in about a year. The question is whether this is which Prodrive – the motorsport consultancy that fields the Countryman WRC – is currently preparing, or whether that is still to come as a performance model of its own.
We’ll have a drive report on the Countryman JCW prototype coming in just a matter of days, so watch this space for more information.
is hard at work engineering a for 2014, and it appears that the Japanese automaker is close to picking a final design. Dutch site Autoweek.nl reports that there are three designs on the table, and one will be chosen in January. That likely means that we won’t see the production hatch any time soon, but a fall showing in or Los Angeles is a possibility.
The January time frame doesn’t leave a lot of time for engineering Etherea-based hatch, but keep in mind that the compact Infiniti will be based on the front-drive Mercedes-Benz A-Class platform. This engineering partnership will enable Infiniti to focus its collective energy on creating a unique design inside and out.
Information about the powertrains of the Infiniti hatch are scarce, but reports that a hybrid could be part of the equation. We’re guessing that a diesel is out of the question for the U.S., but a turbo-four or maybe even the 2.5-liter V6 from the could be in the works.
may engineer its vehicles like no other in the world, but its flagship New York City dealership is another story. According to the New York Post, neighbors have complained to the city for weeks about loud air vents and showroom lights.
“They’re horrible neighbors,” one disgruntled Manhattanite told the newspaper.
Nearby residents describe the noise as “like a roar,” “like a vacuum cleaner in a wind tunnel,” and “overwhelming.” The dealer has been cited for exceeding legal noise levels, according to the report, but has yet to do anything about the problem. While the general manager at the dealership seems contrite, fixing the problem is going to take time.
“Our engineering company has put together an initial study but not a final proposal of what materials and engineering are going to be required,” he told the newspaper. “When that’s going to be finalized I can’t tell you.”
Here’s an idea: Service loaners to the neighbors until it gets fixed?
Here we go again, boys and girls. One day after a couple grainy black-and-white brochure shots of the new leaked out early, a massive stash of official shots has hit the web via GermanCarForum.com.
We still can’t say what powertrains plans to put under the SL’s stately hood, but we do know those horses will be saddled with 308 fewer pounds to move around. That can only mean good things for driving dynamics.
What we can say with certainty, though, is that the 2013 SL bears a completely new look that draws inspiration from its smaller sibling and the supercar. Note the upright grille, the shape of the light clusters and the overall boxier sheetmetal.
We like what we see inside the big Benz – there’s a nice mix of modern materials, leather and genuine wood trim, plus what will surely be a boatload of technology thrown in for good measure.
Pricing, as you would imagine, is unavailable as of yet. While we wait for the proper time to publish all the details, satiate your curiosity with the high-res image gallery above. And remember, you’ll get the chance to see it live at the .
There are plenty of automotive phenomena we don’t entirely understand. Take sound system competitions, for example. We just never saw the practical use for a stereo worth more than your vehicle, especially when the largest fraction of that investment gets channeled into bowel-wobbling subwoofers. That is, until now. The owner of this particular Pontiac Grand Prix has found a unique way to shed snow from his car in the winter. Instead of standing in the cold with a brush and scraper, he simply cranks the volume on his Rockford Fosgate P3 subwoofers and lets physics take over.
Thanks to a little pounding bass, the vehicle’s windows are clear of snow in no time flat. Of course, the gentleman’s neighbors might have a word or two to say about his turning the community’s winter wonderland into a pounding dance floor. to check out the clip for yourself, just be sure to nix the volume.
What’s the only thing better than a 700-horsepowersuper-coupe? Why, a 700-horsepower supercar roadster, of course! Since the last two V12 supercars from – the Diablo and (not to mention the ) – both spawned open-top derivatives, we knew it would only be a matter of time before the would follow suit.
Now the word on the street (and by street, we mean the internet chat rooms) is that Lamborghini has got the Aventador Roadster all but completely ready to go, and that it is likely to present the roofless despot at the in March.
We’re hearing that the Murcielago Roadster’s notoriously useless umbrella roof contraption has been replaced by something more functional, which we can only hope for. One way or another, we’ll be finding out soon enough, as the Swiss auto expo is only a few months away.
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.
