Just ahead of its unveiling at the Geneva Auto Show Mitsubishi has released their media teasers to hopefully build a bit of anticipation in the going public for the Lancer Prototype S. Building off the well-received styling of the Lancer Evolution X, the Prototype S was designed by Mitsubishi with specific targets in mind. With a 240-hp Evo-Lite 2.0 turbocharged 4-cylinder engine and all the time 4WD this hatch is giving the Subaru WRX the stink-eye from across the room. Also, Mitsubishi believes that the design of the Lancer Prototype S will be a real winner for them in the UK in particular.
The spice that makes the Prototype S look so nice on the outside does not stop there. The interior of this concept goes out the extra mile to promote a true sensual grip on the senses. With a black suede finish on the upper dashboard and tops of the doors there is bound to be a whole new sensation to that new car smell. The seats for the Prototype S concept are a light brown leather combined in 3 different finishes: plain, perforated and weave. While that may not sound all that appealing in print, the sight of it is quite intriguing. …Official Press Release and Photo Gallery after the leap…
The Polish city of Lodz, weary of its losing efforts in fighting illegal street racers, has capitulated if you will by legalizing street racing in a cordoned off section of the city. In cooperation with local street racing organizers the city will permit racing on the chosen section of town as long as they can help to prevent any non-sanctioned street racing in the rest of the city.
The city’s hope is that by providing a secured area in which street racers can get their fix they will be less likely to take their challenges to the other parts of town. To many, particularly street racers, the efforts of the city leaders in Lodz may be preferable to the legal actions elsewhere in the world. While cities in California and Australia are making examples of seized street racing vehicles by crushing them or crashing them for educational films, Lodz, Poland is reaching out to them. The effectiveness of Lodz efforts will truly be determined by the street racers themselves.
There are other parts of the US where organizers have worked with local leaders and drag strip owners to provide alternatives to illegal street racing. By having venues open to racers you help cater to the crowd of racers who love the speed, but not the risk of getting busted or of causing others harm. Hopefully Lodz and other cities like them can set the example for other municipalities to follow.
As American auto manufacturers revive their muscle car days with heavy V8 engines and late 60’s styling there are a few groups across the pond in Europe that are dipping a bit further back into their heritage. Classically styled roadsters like the Wiesmann GT and the Morgan Aero 8 are an expression of a time when the 2-seater ruled. However, a couple of these roadsters are not just reworking their classic lines but also the power that moves them. The Imperia GP Hybrid is doing just that.
The Imperia GP is the revival of a Belgian brand roadster that has been updated and married to a gasoline hybrid engine. The blend starts with a 2.0 liter V4 engine that produces 176-hp. The gasoline engine is then mounted to the hybrid engine that does have the ability to run on all EV mode, thus allowing the gasoline engine to recharge the batteries. The Imperia GP is also a plug-in hybrid that can be fully recharged in 4 hours.
The Imperia GP at heart is still a sportscar and in all EV mode it has the capacity to reach 0-to-100 km (62 mph) in 4.8 seconds. While in regular driving mode with the gasoline engine the Imperia GP reaches that same speed in 7.1 seconds. Ofcourse, speed is not everything (*wink wink). The V4 gasoline engine of the Imperia GP produces a mere 87g/km of CO2, while obviously producing zero emissions during all EV mode. …Video and Photo Gallery to follow…
Across the Pacific over in Japan Honda has been putting in extra effort on the hybrid initiative as they push to knock the Prius off its pedestal by 2010. Along with an improved hybrid image in their designs, Honda is also looking to provide their hybrids with something the Prius and no other hybrid on the market today has achieved: improved highway mileage. While the Prius and other hybrids are great around town and under 40 mph, their highway miles, when the car is running solely on its gasoline motor, are not as compelling. Honda is exploring the use of the Rankine System as a means of harnessing the heat that is typically lost via the cars exhaust and turning it into electricity, and thus electric motor horsepower.
The Rankine System is rather complex and would easier be explained by a Science Professor than a car junky, but here is the nutshell version. The heat produced by the internal combustion engine passes through a cylinder that recaptures that heat and uses it to create steam by passing it through water. The steam is then captured and rotates a turbine that generates electricity. The electricity is then harnessed to produce horsepower for the electric hybrid motors of the car (very nutshell version).
After making a couple stops along the North American Teaser Tour Honda is preparing to take their CR-Z Hybrid over to the Geneva Auto Show, but with a bit more business in mind than just showing off. Word has come out that Europe will be the first to get the new Honda Hybrid some time between 2009 and 2010. This could be yet another devastating blow to the Americans as they seem to be playing second-fiddle to Europe and Asia when it comes to new car releases. It must be foreign auto makers way of “Sticking it to the man,” and it seems that North America is “the Man.”
Honda’s CR-Z Hybrid, which first appeared in Tokyo, carries in its design some genetic breeding to its 80’s ancestor the CRX. Ofcourse in the CR-Z Hybrid you have a gasoline engine that is assisted by an electric motor that is housed between the engine and the transmission. Unfortunately, with this Hybrid setup there will be no all-electric driving option, but hopefully the Hybrid assist will bring the fuel mileage numbers up to the old CRX’s numbers. Even back in the day friends were bragging about achieving 40 to 50 to almost 60mpg. Some of that may have been hyperbole and some of it true, but any of those would be good targets for Honda. …photo gallery to follow…
The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) has released its 11th annual Top 10 listing of the Meanest and Greenest vehicles for 2008. Basing their rankings on results derived from what ACEEE calls a “Green Score”, “a singular measure that incorporates unhealthy tailpipe emissions, fuel consumption, and the emissions of gases that cause global warming.” Coming out on top of 2008’s Green list for the second year in a row is the limited production Honda Civic GX. Running on natural gas, which burns cleaners than gasoline, and averaging 39 mpg the Honda Civic GX is surely clean, but virtually impossible to buy.
Running the dubious honor of being #1 as 2008’s Meanest car is the VW Touareg. With fuel ratings at or below 20 mpg from all 3 engine variants (the diesel is rated at 20 mpg highway), yet still in the mid-to-high teens, there would seem meaner vehicles on the market. Part of what brought down the score for the VW Touareg would be its diesel engine’s emissions results. With higher nitrogen oxides and particulate matter being emitted from the tailpipe the VW Touareg TDI is a top ranked polluter according to ACEEE. …Full Top 10 Lists and Press Release after the link…
After a year on the concept tour and after watching it’s sibling the C30 hit the road ahead of it the Volvo XC60 finally has its game-face on and is ready to show you what it has. The design of the XC60 is a late comer to the mid-sized SUV and CUV market, but enters in with the same design class that its larger sibling the XC90 possesses. Also, with gas prices ever increasing and with the new CAFE standards in the USA the smaller sized SUV should be easier to bring into compliance with better mpg. Ofcourse Volvo’s main concern is in competing with the Jones’s and with the BMW X3 already on the market and the Mercedes-Benz GLK and Audi Q5 following close behind Volvo does not want to be caught on the outside looking in. As they stretch ever slightly forward to be considered in the elite luxury class of brands they must make their attempts to match-up well with their line-up.
The XC60 will be arriving with a few engine choices that should suit the needs of Volvo shoppers. The most interesting of the engines is Volvo’s 3.0 liter turbocharged 6-cylinder that pumps out 285 horsepower. However, the more popular engine is bound to be one of the 4-cylinder varieties that would give the driver either 163-hp or 185-hp. As with other brands of late the engine variant that produces the best mpg seem to sell the best in today’s high priced fuel market. Photo Gallery on the next page
There is a new Swiss firm out that is looking to help move the lithium-ion hybrid technologies forward. The company is called Mindset and their new E-Motion hybrid car is designed to effectly change all our mindsets on hybrid technology. The mind behind the design of Mindset’s E-Motion hybrid is former VW Chief Designer Murat Guenak. He prescribed to it the classic round headlights, the long torso, the gull-wing doors and the modern brake-lights of the rear-end. But despite its purpose driven design it is the motivation and aluminum light-weight construction of the car that is what makes the E-Motion special.
In the video below you will get a good glimpse of the E-Motion sans skin to see what the Aluminum framing looks like and the sound of the electric motors in action. Making the work of the electric motors easy in the E-Motion is the weight of the frame. It weighs a mere 1764 lbs. Feeding power to the electric motors are lithium-ion batteries that are recharged in 3 different ways. Not only is the E-Motion a hybrid car with a 24hp motor that serves to recharge the batteries on the road and gives the car an added 100-km (62 miles) range, but it is also a Plug-In and also contains Solar Panels on its rear-quarters for additional charging.
Check out the video below and look for the photo gallery of the E-Motion afterward.
As the Knight Rider TV movie began on NBC at 9pm there was a certain level of nostalgia within me that made me want to watch. That nostalgia was reinforced upon the intro music that featured the classic music for the show that then gets digitized. By the end of the intro the nostalgia was replaced with a tiny shrug. As the movie progressed and the trademark villains maintained their vigilant pursuit and the trademark heroes were chauffeured around by a sometimes sweet Shelby Gt500 KR that uses the voice of Val Kilmer to whisper sweet nothings in your ear it felt as though they had stepped right back into the shoes of the 1980’s version.
When you break down the pieces there is really nothing new about the script style, the casting style, the film style, nor the acting style. As time has grown on I personally have stepped away from series television on the major networks because the formula that they have relied on for so long has worn quite thin. The Knight Rider Movie as it made its debut on NBC just may have ripped through the last fragment of stitching that was holding that formulaic material together. And having a last moment appearance by the Hoff himself at the tail end of the two-hour even may have been all that was necessary to shred the fantasy and bring us back to a modern day reality of I can’t believe they made this.
However, there were some interesting things… so follow the leap.
