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Smart to unveil Edition Limited Three in Geneva

February 26, 2009 at 12:27 pm By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, smart

Mercedes-owned fuel efficient auto maker; Smart has announced that it will launch the Smart fortwo Edition Limited Three in Geneva, Switzerland. This new limited edition model which is finished in Melon Metallic Green and powered by a 71HP engine is offered both coupe and cabriolet forms.

It also features micro hybrid drive (mhd) technology which is basically an engine start/stop system to further improve its fuel efficiency. The tiny power plant shuts down when the driver brakes and when the vehicle’s speed falls below 8 km/h. It will then restart when as soon as the driver releases the brake pedal.

This helps reduce fuel consumption to only 4.4 litre (4.5 for cabriolet) for every 100 kilometers traveled, which accounts for 20% reduction with the start/stop technology. It also produces only 106 grams of emission per kilometer.

Other features included with the Edition Limited Three with soil-coloured interior; 15 inch alloy wheels in a sporty 6-spoke design, aluminium-effect “limited three” logos in the mirror triangle, automatic temperature control, instrument panel featuring dark brown leather-effect details, 3-spoke sports steering wheel with steering wheel gearshift, and for the coupé, a panoramic roof with sunblind.

The Smart fortwo Edition Limited Three costs 15,470 Euros as a coupe and 18,510 Euros as a cabriolet. Continue reading to view two more images of the interior.
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EDAG’s open source Light Car for Geneva

February 26, 2009 at 11:53 am By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Cars, Concept Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, International News, Videos

German company EDAG has revealed that it will preview the open source Light Car study concept at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show. The study concept which measures 4 meters long, 1.70 meters wide and which has a wheelbase of 2.90 meters long is fully electric and emissions free. With electric drive systems in the wheels, it can deliver up to 150 kilometers in terms of driving range with power supplied by a lithium ion battery pack.

The 5-seater study concept is built out of a new material called basalt fiber. According to EDAG, lightweight basalt fiber which is to be utilized in the construction of rotors for large-scale wind power plants in the future, is 100% recyclable and is in fact cheaper than aluminium or carbon, and that it is also available indefinitely.

Most interesting about the study concept is that the driver can alter certain design elements of the vehicle depending on his/her mood. The driver can change the contours of the head lights according to personal taste. This customization concept is also featured on the inside of the vehicle, enabling the driver to basically “re-arrange” the dash area!

Meaning, the driver can “put” the tachometer or the climate control gauges where ever he/she pleases within a designated area on the dash. The driver can individually configure his/her cockpit as far as size, position and style of the instruments is concerned. How cool is that? Its like a desktop PC with four wheels, which is actually what EDAG is trying to achieve.

The driver can also customize the tail lights on the tail gate and it does not stop there. It also serves as a communication device with the ability to project coloured messages. For instance, the braking force applied by the driver can be communicated to the vehicle behind by means of an illuminated scale on the back of the car.

Other information such as a distance reading or if there is the tail end of a traffic jam ahead, can be clearly displayed on the back of the car, even if the vehicle behind does not have a car-to-car communication system of its own. Furthermore, the driver of the car behind can see the information straight away, without the need of taking his/her eyes off the road! Continue reading to view a short video clip.
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Fifth Gear brings out the best in Ford’s 300HP Focus RS

February 26, 2009 at 11:00 am By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Cars, Ford, Videos

Fifth Gear, our good old U.K-based auto review television show has got its hands on the most powerful Focus ever, the 2009 Ford Focus RS and host Jason Plato, who also races in the British Touring Car Championships was given the task of bringing out the best, and the worst out of the powerful hot hatch in beautiful but challenging mountainous roads.

The Focus RS with its 300HP inline-5 “Duratec RS” power plant that is also capable of a massive 440Nm of torque received an excellent review overall. Plato also mentioned that the turbo lag which was evident actually helped improve the handling. A front wheel drive car with a 300HP engine should suffer from a great deal of torque steer during hard acceleration, something which was expected with this new RS.

However according to the Fifth Gear host, the slight turbo lag actually helped keep torque steer at bay, especially when exiting a corner with a heavy foot on the accelerator. Anyway I will say no more. Please continue reading to watch the 4 minute 11 second-long review.
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Kia releases renderings of 2010 Sorento XM

February 26, 2009 at 9:58 am By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Cars, International News, Kia, Koreans

Korean based auto maker; Kia which has been giving birth to some excellent vehicle designs lately (thanks to Peter Schreyer) has released two renderings of the 2010 Kia Sorento SUV, code named the XM.

Featuring a front fascia that has hints of the Kia Cerato Forte, the SUV is expected to be powered by a number of motivators including; a 200HP 2.2 litre turbodiesel R engine with 436Nm of torque and a 2.0 turbodiesel which would be capable of 184HP and 392Nm of torque.

It will also receive a number of petrol fueled power plants including a 2.4 litre 4 cylinder engine and a 3.8 litre V6 which is good for 270HP. The most significant improvement is the chassis design. As reported earlier, the 2010 Sorento will part ways with its traditional, or more off-road friendly ladder frame design, and that it will feature a monocoque chassis design which will definitely improve ride comfort as well as handling.

I wonder what else Kia is working on at the moment. The Korean auto maker seems to be at the top of its game in terms of vehicle design. Lets hope that these new generation Kia’s drive as good as they look. Continue reading to view another image of the rear.
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Saab’s production lines grind to a halt?

February 26, 2009 at 9:25 am By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Cars, International News, Saab

Saab LogoAccording to published reports by Swedish based; The Local, production lines at struggling auto maker Saab’s Trollhattan plant has ceased. Apparently this is because the Swedish Customs has temporarily blocked the transportation of all goods to, and from the factory after revealing that Saab has failed to pay considerable amounts of custom duties.

Due to the discontinuation of the parts supply into the factory, Saab had no choice but to grind everything to a halt. This sudden and unforeseen event occurred after the General Motors-owned brand filled for reorganization in Swedish courts a couple of days ago on March 21st.

Customs officials revealed that Saab has to pay the amount (which was undisclosed) it owes the agency in order to resume its factory operations and the agency confirmed that the auto maker has to pay every single cent of it, and that the customs has no interest in giving the struggling auto maker a helping hand.

In another development, Saab is seeking an approximate amount of US$ 1 billion to enable the restructuring to take place and thus far it has yet to receive any indication regarding the crucially needed funds. By filling for restructuring, Saab will be reshuffled into a whole new organization that would be viable for investment. The courts in Sweden will appoint an executive who will head the company during the period.

Related Posts:
Saab might go bankrupt in 10 days

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Lotus Omnivore 2-stroke concept engine set for Geneva debut

February 26, 2009 at 5:49 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Concept Cars, International News, Technology

Lotus Omnivore

Lotus has revealed some details about the Lotus Omnivore engine concept that it will be unveiling at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show. The Omnivore runs on a two-stroke operating cycle that Lotus says is more suited to flex-fuel operations than conventional 4-stroke engines. It also has direct fuel injection, a system called Orbital FlexDI that allows fine-tuning the injection spray to help with HCCI (sparkless ignition) control. The engine uses a monoblock design that combines the block and head, thus eliminating the cylinder head gasket. This improves durability and reduces weight. The exhaust port has a charge trapping valve that allows assymetrical exhaust flow timing and a continuously variable exhaust opening point. A puck at the top of the combustion chamber moves up and down to alter the geometric compression, thus achieving variable compression ratio.

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Taiwanese Yulon Motor unveils its new turbocharged Luxgen MPV based on a Renault chassis

February 25, 2009 at 7:42 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News

Luxgen MPV

Taiwanese auto industry player Yulon Motor has taken the wraps off its new 3-row Luxgen MPV, which will be built by a newly formed subsidiary company from April 2009 onwards. The MPV will be sold under Yulon’s own LEXGEN marque, which probably means it will be oddly called the LEXGEN Luxgen?!

The name Luxgen is derived from combining the words Luxury and Genius and is meant to reflect the qualities that Yulon have attempted to build into the MPV. Built on an old Renault Espace chassis, the Luxgen has a central in-car computer system powered by Microsoft Windows CE that provides the entertainment system as well as an interface to various features such as the “night vision”-capable cameras mounted on the wing mirrors. Under the hood is a 2.2 litre turbocharged engine producing 200 horsepower and 280Nm of torque which should be way more than enough to lug around 7 people together with their luggage.

The MPV is 4,800mm long and 1,876mm wide, which is actually longer and wider than the benchmark Toyota Estima’s 4,795mm length and 1,800mm width. Look after the jump for more shots of the Luxgen.

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Taiwanese carmaker to launch new MPV in 2009
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Maserati 250F F1 car: greatest race car ever?

February 25, 2009 at 6:27 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Formula 1, Maserati, Motorsports

Maserati 250F
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One of the most iconic cars in Maserati’s history has also been voted the world’s greatest racing car ever by British magazine Octane. This car is the Maserati 250F and it was a Formula One car, which debuted in the 1954 season and used by customer teams until 1960. The name 250F refers to the specs that were instated for F1 in 1954 – a maximum engine capacity of 2.5 litres hence the 250 number, and F refers to Formula One naturally. Those rules also stipulated 750cc supercharged engines but Maserati decided to take the normally aspirated route.

It was built on a simple multi-tubular ladder-like frame which carries the suspension, body panels and engine. The rear used a De Dion axle while the front was of a double wishbone design. Maserati engineers paid their full attention to the engine that powered the car, a 2.5 litre inline-6 with twin spark dual spark ignition and 3 Weber 45 DCO3 Caburattors. It produced 270 horsepower at 8,000rpm. For those that complain about cars coming with rear drum brakes these days, this F1 car used drum brakes all-round!

Maserati 250F
Click for enlarged image

The 1950s Formula One world were dominated by road-car teams like Maserati together with Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz. The Maserati 250F competed in a total of 46 F1 championships with 277 entries and won 8 times. Its performance in its first two races exceeded Maserati’s expectations where it was driven by Juan-Manuel Fangio to victory before he unfortunately left to the newly-formed Mercedes-Benz team.

VIDEO: Fangio driving the 250F Maserati in Modena, Italy in the 1950s

Thanks to the beauty of the internet you can even check out Fangio driving the 250F from its on-board cam today, recorded all the way back in the 1950s!

“It steered beautifully, and inclined towards stable oversteer which one could exploit by balancing it against power and steering in long sustained drifts through corners. It rode well on the normal type of relatively smooth-surfaced course, although its small coil springs and leaf spring rear-end would use up available suspension movement over the bumps at the Ring,” said a young Stirling Moss who drove it as a private racer.

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Geneva Preview: Biofuel-powered 621HP Bentley Continental Supersports

February 25, 2009 at 12:27 pm By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Bentley, Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel

Bentley Continental SuperSports

Bentley will join the Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland next week with the Bentley Continental Supersports, which is actually the most powerful and fastest Bentley ever. With a 6.0 litre twin turbocharged W12 under the hood, the new Bentley is capable of 329 km/h in terms of top speed and can sprint to the 100 km/h mark in just 3.7 seconds, thanks to a total of 621 ground cracking horse power and a remarkable 800Nm of torque which is achieved between 1,700 and 5600 revs. 1,700 revs!

That’s not all folks, the power plant which is mated to a revised ZF 6HP26 6 speed automatic transmission with ‘Quickshift’ system that cuts shift times by 50% and enables double downshifts, can be fueled with a combination of petrol and biofuel or ethanol (E85)! This brings us to the next question; will you lose power? Well, that answer is no actually.

According to the British auto maker, the engine is fitted with sensors that monitor how much gasoline and/or ethanol is being used which will allow the ECU to make sure power and torque remain constant no matter what the ratio of fuel mixture is. Fueling the 2-seater with biofuel can help reduce emissions by 70% which is a huge margin. Bentley calls this petrol/biofuel mixture system as FlexFuel.

The all wheel drive coupe with 40:60 rear biased split features up-rated front suspension with aluminium forward levers, stiffer bushes together with re-tuned anti roll bar and Servotronic steering for sharper turn-in, revised Continuous Damping Control (CDC), Advanced ESP, Standard-fit carbon-ceramic brakes, larger twin elliptical exhaust tailpipes and rear valance with discreet vertical divider and so on.

The interior is finished in a combination of Alcantara, carbon fiber and ‘Soft Touch’ leather’ with choice of Single Tone and Duo Tone combination. Fitted with unique lightweight, 20-inch 10-spoke alloy wheels, the Bentley Supersports is a crucial 110 kilograms lighter than the latest Continental GT Speed which was launched at the Detroit Motor Show. Continue reading to view an image gallery.
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Aston Martin reveals the DBS Volante V12 convertible ahead of its Geneva debut: Full Details

February 25, 2009 at 11:25 am By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Aston Martin, Cars

Aston Martin DBS Volante

British sports car maker; Aston Martin has revealed the open-top DBS Volante V12 ahead of its Geneva debut next week. With a fabric convertible top which is designed to copy the silhouette of the DBS coupe, the DBS Volante becomes the company’s 16th top-less vehicle. It takes 14 seconds to operate the convertible and the operation can be performed at speeds of up to 48 km/h.

Power is derived from Aston’s hand built all alloy 6.0 litre V12 (quad overhead camshaft, 48-valve) front-mid mounted engine that is able to kick out 510 HP and 570 Nm of chassis twisting torque. The Volante features a top speed of 307 km/h and a naught to 100 km/h figure of 4.3 seconds. The 2+2-seater convertible’s engine is coupled with a rear-mounted 6 speed manual gearbox, while a 6 speed ‘Touchtronic 2′ (with electronic shift-by-wire) option is also available for those you who prefer to leave gear changes to the tranny.

The DBS Volante with High Intensity Discharge (HID) head lights up front and LED tail light at the back features high performance carbon ceramic brakes as standard, with ventilated carbon ceramic discs, 398 mm diameter with six-piston calipers up front and ventilated carbon ceramic discs, 360 mm diameter with four-piston calipers at the back.

Suspension wise, the north end is set up with independent double wishbone incorporating anti-dive geometry, coil springs, anti-roll bar and monotube dampers while down south features independent double wishbones with anti-squat and anti-lift geometry, coil springs, anti-roll bar and monotube dampers. The dampers feature Adaptive Damping technology.

The Volante which measures 4721 mm in length, 1905 mm in width and 1280 mm in height with a wheelbase of 2740 mm has its interior which is finished in full grain leather fitted with; heated sports seats with electric adjustment and memory settings, trip computer, LED map light, Hard Disk Drive (HDD) satellite navigation system, Bluetooth connectivity, Tire Pressure Monitor, Battery disconnect switch and much more.

With the roll-over protection system, the safety features of the convertible is made up of dual-stage driver and passenger front airbags as well as side airbags, Dynamic Stability Control (DSC), Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), Emergency Brake Assist (EBA) as well as traction control.

To give a more defined spirited driving experience, the DBS Volante includes a “Sports” driving mode that engages; a more aggressive gear shift strategy as gear changes feel sharper and more forceful, engine speed matching on downshifts is more aggressive and in full automatic mode, up shifts occur at higher engine speeds. There is also a designated ‘Track’ mode which automatically sets all dampers to their firmest positions, making it ideal for circuit driving.

Drivers can select and press the button for two seconds to engage DSC ‘Track’ mode which raises the threshold at which the DSC system intervenes, to allow the car’s rear to step out further. Holding the button for four seconds disables DSC completely leaving everything to the driver’s skill.

As standard, the DBS Volante comes with a Bang & Olufsen’s BeoSound audio system that features 13 individual speakers and Bang & Olufsen’s unique Digital Signal Processing system for your ear-satisfying pleasure. Other optional accessories include; 20 inch wheel packages comprising of 20-spoke alloy wheels with graphite finish, 10-spoke diamond-turned alloy wheels and 10-spoke diamond-turned alloy wheels with graphite finish, Piano Black fascia trim and centre console surround for the interior as well as a tracking device.

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