Paul Tan on the Automotive Industry
Looks like Lexus isn’t the only one doing promotional videos by putting one of their models next to a different kind of model. Here’s a series of videos comparing the Nissan Juke to “Amber”, a model from Sports Illustrated in various areas like agility, acceleration, and even aerodynamics. None of them make much sense but we both know you know you’re still going to watch the videos! 
The presence of Proton cars in the motorsports arena continues with the recent announcement that Welch Motorsport will be running a Proton Persona in the Next Generation Touring Car spec series of the 2011 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship.
Welch Motorsport announced that it would be running a “booted version” of the GEN2 in the NGTC BTCC series – I’m assuming that they mean the Persona as the Persona shares the GEN2 name with the GEN2 hatchback in the UK.
Team Principal John Welch told btcc.net that the team would be taking delivery of the car today and will begin rebuilding it into a BTCC contender. His son 27 year old Daniel Welch will be driving it. As there will be time needed to convert it into NGTC spec, Welch Motorsport hopes they will be able to join the series in the second half of the season sometime in August, going up against other cars like the SEAT Leon Eurocup and the Vauxhall Vectra.
The Welch Motorsport Proton GEN2 will be running the standard NGTC spec “unbranded” turbo direct injection electronic throttle engine, which has 2.0 litres in displacement and makes over 300 horses, with the option for an overboost as well.
This standard unbranded engine offering exists to help reduce team engine budgets by more than half, somewhat like the Cosworth engine option in Formula One. Currently, teams will have the option to either run their own engines or use the NGTC engine up until 2013. Both FWD and RWD are allowed. Not everyone has opted for the unbranded engine – the Dynojet team’s Toyota Avensis uses a Toyota 2.0 litre 3ZR family engine that makes about 140 horses in stock form, equipped with a turbocharger to make over 300 horsepower.
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Hybrid here, hybrid there, hybrid everywhere, it seems. The next one to bat is from Porsche – the Panamera S Hybrid will make its world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show before making its entry into the market in June.
Makes sense actually, especially if you already have a system running in another product in the lineup. In this case, the Panamera S Hybrid gets the same system found in the Cayenne S Hybrid – a 3.0 litre V6 compressor engine delivering 333 hp supported by a 47 hp electric motor, which also operates both as a generator and a starter.
There’s a NiMh battery in the mix, and the range in purely electric mode is approximately 2km, with speeds of up to 85 kph, depending on the driving situation. The transmission is the familiar eight-speed Tiptronic S box.
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Performance figures include a 0-100 kph time of 6.0 secs and a top speed of 270 kph, and despite the GT having a combined output of 380 hp, Porsche says that – shod with optional Michelin low rolling resistance rubbers – the car can manage a best case consumption of just 6.8 l/100 km based on the NEDC cycle.
Standard kit will include adaptive air suspension including the adaptive shock-absorber system with PASM, with Servotronic also on. The car will also feature an innovative display concept that provides the driver with all the relevant information about the vehicle’s specific hybrid driving status.
It has certainly been a dream debut for the Ford Fiesta RS World Rally Car, with the vehicle making for a 1-2-3 finish at the Rally Sweden last Sunday.
Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team’s Mikko Hirvonen – and Jarmo Lehtinen – won the opening round of the FIA World Rally Championship by just 6.5 secs from Mads Østberg and Jonas Andersson. The Castrol Edge-backed Ford Abu Dhabi team rounded off the podium spots with Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila third.
It was Ford’s first podium clean sweep since Rally Sweden in 2008, when Latvala claimed his maiden WRC win and was followed home by Hirvonen and Gigi Galli. Hirvonen’s victory, his 13th, makes him Ford’s most successful WRC driver, edging him ahead of former team-mate Marcus Grönholm.
Khalid Al Qassimi and Michael Orr, driving the team’s Fiesta RS WRC for the satellite Team Abu Dhabi squad, finished 10th. Seven-time world champion Sebastian Loeb finished in sixth place.
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We showed you the Lancia Thema in the previous post, which is essentially a Chrysler 300 with an Italian name, and here are the other members of the new Chrysler based Lancia range of cars. Meet the Lancia Grand Voyager and the Lancia Flavia sedan and convertible.
Like the Thema, these “new Lancias” are largely unchanged from the American cars they were based on, and in the case of the MPV, Lancia didn’t even bother changing its name! The Voyager has been a mainstay in the segment for 27 years now, selling thirteen million units in 120 countries in the process, so perhaps that’s why Lancia isn’t changing its identity. The Grand Voyager replaces Lancia’s previous MPV, Phedra, which is a twin of the Citroen C8 and Fiat Ulysse.
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Called the Chrysler Town & Country in America, the current Grand Voyager is 5.14 metres long and 1.99 m wide, so it’s a huge box that’s even bigger than a Hyundai Starex. Main features include Stow ‘n Go seats in 2-2-3 formation and electric tailgate and sliding doors. It’s a Lancia so interior trim is more luxurious than if it was a Chrysler. The Grand Voyager is be powered by a Euro 5 rated 2.8L CRD engine with 163 hp/360 Nm or a 283 hp 3.6 V6 petrol.
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Also converted is the Chrysler 200 sedan and convertible, which will be called the Lancia Flavia, reviving a nameplate from the 1960s. This younger brother to the Chrysler 300 is a revamped Sebring with a new name, in hope that it will offer better challenge to mid-sized stalwarts like the Camry and Accord. The 200 Convertible was unveiled last month. It’s a four-seater with the choice of a retractable hard top or a cloth soft top.
Those who remember the old days where Lancias were beautiful, exotic and race winning will cringe at the sight of these. I’ve unearthed something and would like to share it with you. Look out for it after the jump.
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We’ve known since mid last year that Lancia will sell rebadged Chryslers after Fiat bought a stake in the American company. The Lancia Delta appeared at last year’s Detroit show as a Chrysler and the upcoming Geneva show will see the just revamped Chrysler 300 show up in Switzerland as a Lancia, the new Lancia Thema to be exact.
This revives the Thema nameplate, which Lancia used for its big saloon in the 80s. If the original Thema was famous for having a version that used a Ferrari V8 engine, today’s Thema will be motivated by less exciting powerplants. There will be three V6 options – Chrysler’s 292 hp/353 Nm 3.6L Pentastar V6 with an 8-speed automatic ‘box and two 3.0L diesels (190 or 224 hp) with a 5-speed auto. All are Euro 5 compliant.
The petrol has the best performance figures – top speed of 230 km/h and 0-100 km/h in 7.2 seconds – but the Italian VM supplied oil burners will be more popular in Europe, especially the higher powered version with 550 Nm from 1,600-2,800 rpm.
Lancia focuses on style and luxury these days, so their 300 will get an option of Nappa leather and a Poltrona Frau leather-covered dashboard, as well as real wood inserts on the centre console, panels, doors and steering wheel. The seats feature four-way lumbar adjustment with up/down and front/back direction actuators and density adjuster plus S-shaped “serpentine spring suspension”. Best in class cabin isolation is also talked about. The two trim levels are called Gold and Platinum.
The Thema will go on sale from October 2011 in Europe. Click here to see the donor Chrysler.
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Porsche has begun the rollout of the first of three electric-powered Boxsters it has slated for field testing on German roads – essentially, the trio of Boxster E cars will be mobile laboratories that will provide practical, user-derived feedback and information on EVs, the company says.
Depending on the configuration, the Boxster E can be powered by a 29 kWh battery working with two electric motors, offering 180 kW output in total; there are no details on performance figures, but Porsche says the E is comparable to a Boxster S in terms of performance levels.
The company adds that the Boxster platform offers the ideal basis for the electric drive system’s practice-oriented testing, allowing the new components, electric motor, battery and high voltage components to be easily and safely accommodated. As yet, no announcement has been made as to whether the car is planned for serial production.
Audi has introduced an armoured version of its top-of-the-range sedan, called the A8 L Security, meant for heads of state or very important people who need such a blanket.
The car doesn’t look any different than a standard production A8, so the bad boys won’t be able to tell. Which is presumably how its owner would like to keep it.
Indeed, secrecy is the buzzword from the word go – the armoured sedan’s custom security modifications are performed by hand in a small, well-guarded workshop with specially secured doors and where the use of cellular phones is strictly prohibited.
Around 450 hours of work is carried out in making the A8 into a litreal armoured car. There’s a heady mix of materials – hot-formed armoured steel, aramide fabric, ceramics, special aluminium alloys and polycarbonate-coated multilayer glass.
The interior armouring alone weighs approximately 720 kg, and if you add the additional 300 kg for the special glass and 360 kg for the closing assist feature found on all the doors, that’s pretty much another car in there.
It does transform the A8 L Security into a VR 7 class ballistic protection certified offering though, with the sheet metal and glazing in the passenger cell able to withstand 7.62 mm rounds, as well as a hand grenade. In certain areas, the armour is even VR 9 and VR 10 class compliant.
There’s more in the way of security, among them an emergency exit system utilising pyrotechnics to detach the door, as well as a fire extinguisher system covering the wheel arches, underfloor, tank and engine compartment. Also on, an emergency fresh-air system, which has two oxygen cartridges housed in the protected area to prevent toxic gases from penetrating the cabin.
A standard two-way communication system allows passengers in the A8 L Security to communicate with the outside world when the windows are closed. The system makes use of a speaker in the single-frame grille as well as microphones for the cabin and exterior.
Other items include a smoke extractor for the passenger compartment, an LED signaling system for convoy travel, flashing lights, a siren, a permanently installed telephone, an accident data recorder and even a flag holder.
Of course, the quattro permanent all-wheel drive car sacrifices none of the mod cons expected of a luxury sedan. The 6.3 litre W12-equipped vehicle – offering 500 hp and 625 Nm, working with an 8-speed transmission – will begin shipping to customers sometime in mid-year, though Audi is set to introduce a second engine choice in 2012.
The Middle East is facing unprecedented upheaval at the moment and tensions are running high in Bahrain following the deaths of two protesters calling for political reform. There have been threats that some might use the Formula 1 season opener to further its cause and Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone is understandably worried at the situation.
“The danger is obvious, isn’t it? If these people wanted to make a fuss and get worldwide recognition it would be bloody easy, wouldn’t it? You start making a problem on the start grid in Bahrain and it would get worldwide coverage,” Ecclestone told UK’s Daily Telegraph.
Will the Bahrain GP scheduled for 11-13 March be canceled? Ecclestone will discuss the matter Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman ibn Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa. “As I say, I’m speaking with the Crown Prince later on. We’re watching events closely. We’ll rely on what they think the right thing to do is,” he said.
Bahrain International Circuit CEO, Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa, on the other hand is adamant that the show will go on as usual. “The safety of all Bahraini nationals, expats and overseas visitors is a priority at all times in the Kingdom and, at the Bahrain International Circuit, our focus at the present time is on delivering another successful event in the form of the 2011 Gulf Air Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix.
“We are monitoring the situation very closely indeed in association with the relevant authorities, and will respond appropriately to any further developments.”
Daimler AG has scrapped plans to sell a smart-badged B-segment car in the US based on a Nissan. We first heard news of this plan in October last year where it was reported that Smart USA had signed a MOU with Nissan to collaborate on a new vehicle for the US market. There were even sketches of a car that looked like a Nissan Micra with smart styling.
Mercedes-Benz USA also announced that it would be handling the smart brand itself in the USA from now on, taking over distributorship of the brand from dealer Penske. This is in line with Daimler AG’s global integration of Smart into its Mercedes-Benz cars unit since September last year, with Smart USA being the last country where it has remained separate until now.
But the real reason for the integration of Smart until MB Cars is to help with the upcoming tighter Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards to be implemented in the USA in 2016. CAFE is a strange regulation in the US that averages the fuel economy of all models sold by a company. CAFE is currently at 30.2mpg but in 2016 it will be 39.0mpg.
