I wish you all the best in this New Year.
May this new year be better than the last, full of happiness, love and peace.
Monday, 31 December 2012
2012 2 hour crash compilation [Video]
Short News: Five decades of design from Renault TV [Video]
Sunday, 30 December 2012
Tesla in Mega-Factories
Short News: Hans-Joachim Stuck and the 5-cylinder engine from Audi [Video]
It's always a bit nostalgic remembering the racing cars of the 80s and 90s, besides being pleasant to discover the stories behind the details that made a car an innovation and a winner.
In the video below you can see the driver Hans-Joachim Stuck tell us details about the race held on September 17, 1989 at the Sears Point track (IMSA/GTO) in the USA. The Audi 90 had a 5-cylinder engine with over 700hp, and used together with the quattro system managed to beat other vehicles with bigger and more powerful engines, but also heavier.
Saturday, 29 December 2012
TÜV Reliability Report 2013 - The best and the worst
Auto Bild together with one of the biggest German independent consultants, TÜV, tested 222 cars to see to see which are the most and least reliable vehicles divided by several categories.
In each category we have the average mileage, and the percentage of serious defects in each model.
The most reliable - Source: AutoBild
Category 2-3 years
1st. VW Polo, 32,000 km, 2.2%
2nd. Mazda 3, 38,000 km, 2.7%
3rd. Audi Q5, 61,000 miles, 2.8%
4th. Toyota Avensis, 44,000 km, 2.9%
5th. VW Golf Plus, 37,000 km, 3.1%
5th. (ex-aequo) Mazda 5, 33,000 km, 3.1%
Category 4-5 years
1. Toyota Prius, 63.000 km, 4,0%
2. Mazda 2, 48.000 km, 4,8%
3. Toyota Auris, 57.000 km, 5,0%
4. Smart Fortwo, 42.000 km, 5,1%
5. (ex-aequo) Toyota Corolla Verso, 71.000 km, 5,1%
Category 6-7 years
1. Porsche 911, 59.000 km, 6,2%
2. Toyota Corolla Verso, 91.000 km, 6,6%
3. Toyota Prius, 83.000 km, 7,0%
4. Toyota RAV4, 81.000 km, 8,3%
5. Toyota Avensis, 96.000 km, 8,6%
Category 8-9 years
1. Porsche 911, 78.000 km, 8,8%
2. Toyota Avensis, 108.000 km, 9,9%
3. Honda Jazz, 93.000 km, 10,7%
4. Toyota RAV4, 100.000 km, 11,3%
5. Subaru Forester, 104.000 km, 11,4%
Category 10-11 years
1. Porsche 911, 87.000 km, 11,0%
2. Toyota RAV 4, 110.000 km, 14,2%
3. Mercedes SLK, 94.000 km, 16,9%
4. Toyota Corolla, 110.000 km, 18,1%
5. Toyota Yaris, 109.000 km, 18,3%
The least reliable - Source: AutoBild
Category 2-3 years
128. Citroen C4, 41,000 km, 10.6%
129. Fiat Panda, 30,000 km, 11.7%
130. Daihatsu Sirion, 33,000 km, 12.0%
131. Fiat Doblò, 50,000 km, 12.3%
132. Dacia Logan, 48,000 km, 13.3%
Category 4-5 years
116. Peugeot 407, 85,000 km, 18.0%
116. (ex-aequo) Renault Mégane, 76,000 km, 18.0%
118. Fiat Doblò, 80,000 km, 21.4%
119. Renault Laguna, 90,000 km, 23.0%
120. Renault Kangoo, 72.000 km, 23.2%
121. Dacia Logan, 73,000 km, 25.8%
Category 6-7 years
103. Renault Laguna, 103.000 km, 29.3%
104. Renault Kangoo, 93,000 km, 29.4%
105. Mercedes M Class, 118.000 km, 30.0%
106. Fiat Stilo, 96,000 km, 31.6%
107. Chrysler PT Cruiser, 87,000 km, 32.6%
Category 8-9 years
82. VW Sharan, 144,000 km, 33.2%
83. Alfa Romeo 147, 111.000 km, 33.8%
83. (ex-aequo) Renault Kangoo, 119.000 km, 33.8%
85. Renault Laguna, 123.000 km, 34.2%
86. Fiat Stilo, 109,000 km, 35.6%
87. Chrysler PT Cruiser, 115,000 km, 36.8%
Category 10-11 years
64. VW Sharan, 166,000 km, 37.2%
64. (ex-aequo) Renault Laguna, 125,000 km, 37.2%
66. Renault Kangoo, 149.000 km, 37.7%
67. Ford Ka, 56,000 km, 37.8%
68. Ford Galaxy, 159.000 km, 38.8%
69. Fiat Bravo / Brava, 125,000 km, 38.9%
Curious that the most reliable models are built by German or Japanese brands, while among the worst we have French and Italian car manufacturers.
2014 Range Rover Sport spied again in England!
Two weeks ago you saw here pictures of the upcoming Range Rover Sport, now we have some more images of the car while testing in England. This time we get to see the back a little better.
It has a rather large rear spoiler and a lower roof line in comparison with the "normal" Range Rover. In the front we are able to see that the front bumper is very similar to the one in the Evoque. We might even see the presentation in just a few weeks, so stay tuned.
Source: GMotors
Short News: Drawings from DAF
There are people in the world who have an amazing ability to draw, either by hand or using a computer, creating images that are incredibly realistic and full of details. And if you think it's hard to create a car, then what about a truck?
The DAF has released some images of their latest designs so we can verify the skills put into them. Enjoy.
Friday, 28 December 2012
Vote for what you think is the best F-Segment car!
What do you think is the best car in the F-Segment? Choose one from the eleven choices you have in the right column!
Gumpert Tornante production version ready to show its face
Not long ago Gumpert was almost bankrupt, but they wasted no time and now presented their new supercar that has the official presentation scheduled to March, at the Geneva Motor Show.
The Tornante aims to be a more upscale supercar and not as radical and pure as the Apollo, whose production started recently again. Compared to the concept presented in the last Geneva Motor Show, many changes were made mainly on the back of the car, with new taillights, bumper, rear glass and tailpipes.
Source: AutoPortal
Officially we do not know anything about the engine and its performance, but rumors point to a bi-turbo V8 engine with 700hp connected to a 6-speed semi-automatic transmission, meaning the car will do 0 to 100km/h in less than 4 seconds and will have a top speed of over 350km/h.
The overall shape looks like the Bugatti, in particular the wheels.
Source: AutoPortal
Short News: Land Rover Freelander 3 spied testing in England
The next generation of the Land Rover Freelander is already on the road and was caught testing somewhere in England, although with plenty of camouflage, preventing us from having a good idea of the appearance of the car.
But what we know is that it will follow the design used first in the Evoque and then in its big brother, the Range Rover. Besides that it will use the LR-MS platform of the Evoque, but longer to be slotted better between the Evoque and the Range Rover.
Source: GMotors
The new Freelander, expected to debut in 2014 with sales starting in 2015, will offer an optional third row seat, therefore will have room for 7 people.
Source: GMotors
Volvo XC60 facelift revealed in China
It seems that the Chinese automobile market is entitled to have the majority of updates before all other countries, and once again it happened with the facelift of the Volvo XC60.
The front lights, grille and bumpers are different and follow the style presented with the new V40. On the inside we get to see a new dashboard. The facelift will hit dealerships in May.
Source: yiche
Towards the end of 2013 the model abandons the 5-cylinder engines and will adopt the more economical and less polluting, 4-cylinder motors.
Source: yiche
Thursday, 27 December 2012
Opel Corsa Flexfuel will come prepared for LNG from factory
Besides being cheaper, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG or GPL) is also less polluting, emitting less SOx, NOx and Particulate Matter. So it is normal that many brands begin to invest in this fuel, and Opel is no exception with the introduction of the Corsa Flexfuel.
Opel promises a 40% reduction in the fuel bill and 15% in CO2 emissions for the only engine available, which has four-cylinders, 1.2liters, 16 valves, and develops 85hp (83hp when using LPG) while producing 115g/km of CO2. It has a total range of 1200km, of which 400km are achieved with LPG.
The car will have an average fuel consumption of 5,6l/100km while using petrol and 7,1l/100km for the LPG. The gas tank, with a total volume of 42 liters, has the capacity to hold 29.2 liters of liquefied gas. Sales will start on January with a price tag of around €16.000 ($21.200).
Short News: The importance of tires during the winter.
Audi’s Diesel-Electric R20 Supercar
Seems Audi is not happy with R8 and want a new supercar to sit above it, and to do so they will build a street-legal Le Mans racer based on the R18, with a diesel engine and an electric motor.
The appearance of the car will be shaped based on the Le Mans race car, including the trademark full-length tailfin, a downsized single frame grille, stacked LED headlights, ventilated front and rear wings, an adjustable rear spoiler, and a relatively narrow canopy-style cockpit accessed through gullwing doors, so it will have a long, wide, and low look like a racing car.
Source: automobilemag
The diesel engine is said to be a twin-turbo V6 producing 550hp, while the two electric motors connected to each of the front wheels will help with 150hp adding torque vectoring, zero-emissions capability, ultimate traction, an on-demand boost effect, and an improved torque curve reaching 1000Nm.
Of course there are no acceleration, top speed, or consumption figures available for now, but we expect the vehicle to do 0 to 100km/h (62mph) in around 3.0 seconds and a top speed of more than 320km/h (200mph).
The hybrid technology allows for staggered brake energy recuperation, high-speed coasting, and a broader start-stop application. Supposedly the car will be shown to the public in 2015 and will begin to be delivered to its buyers in 2017, ready to tackle the Porsche 918 Spyder, the Lamborghini Aventador, McLaren P1 and the Ferrari F70 (codenamed F150).
Source: automobilemag
