Jaguar's Excellent 2009 XJR
The Fabulous 2009 Jaguar XJR
Jaguar, as a brand, has been struggling under the weight of a poor reputation for decades. For the most part, they earned this reputation. Since the mid 1980s, quality control had been severely lacking, and their cars were regularly plagued with electrical gremlins and persistent mechanical faults. Ford, when they bought the company in 1996, began a complete reworking of the manufacturing processes, and quality control increased dramatically. By 2002, their cars were showing evidence of that work, but the platforms they were based on were showing their age. Read More…
The all new 2010 Land Rover Range Rover debuted at the New York Auto Show today, and despite the fact that we secretly (ok, openly) deem the Range Rover unworthy of living up to the utilitarian, rough ‘n’ ready promise of the Land Rover nameplate, if we have to cover the debut of one more 50-horsepower micro compact, the next piece of news you’ll hear about the NY Auto Show will involve the NYPD Crisis Negotiation Team attempting to talk us down from the ledge of the convention center – so the 2010 Range Rover it is.
Unveiled alongside the Range Rover Sport, the new 2010 Range Rover represents a fairly drastic change for the über luxury SUV and, we must say, a marked improvement. The exterior modifications are relatively subtle and don’t venture too far beyond the traditional “update” most automobiles receive every 5 years or so – because the real changes were made where it counts. Beneath the hood, the 2010 Range Rover receives two new, powerful engine options designed by Tata to provide both the road-hugging performance of a Jaguar with the rugged off-road capability of a Land Rover. The first of the new engines is a naturally aspirated 5.0L V8, conservatively rated at 375-horsepower (280kW) and 375 lb-ft (507Nm) of torque and allegedly capable of sprinting from 0-60 mph in 7.2 seconds. The second powerplant is a supercharged variant of the 5.0L V8 and boosts engine output to a staggering 510hp (380 kW) and 461 lb-ft (624Nm) while simultaneously cutting the Range Rover’s 0-60 mph time down to a mere 5.9 seconds. For those owners who actually use their Rover for the purpose with which it was intended (all 3 of them), the 2010 Range Rover also comes with a highly advanced Terrain Response system that electronically adapts both the traction control and suspension system to deftly maneuver any surface, be it a treacherous mountain range or sandy desert. Read More…
Despite our earnest hope otherwise, it appears as though the Tata Nano is once again slated for release and poised to take the global auto market by storm. Initially unveiled in production form back in January, the Tata Nano instantly made headlines with its sensational claim as the cheapest car in the world. Featuring a retail price of just 100,000 rupees ($1,979) the 10-foot long Nano was designed to encourage India’s motorcycle riders to upgrade to a safer means of transport by offering an affordable four-wheel vehicle. Powered by a 33bhp, 624cc 2-cylinder rear-mount engine, the Tata Nano maxes out at 65 mph yet supposedly achieves 54 mpg, making it highly desirable for India’s primitive, congested traffic conditions.
As expected, Indian consumer demand for the Nano has been enormous, but construction complications with Tata’s factory have limited the number of Nano’s produced to only 100,000 units the first year. Taking great pains to resolve the problem as fairly as possible without alienating any potential customers, Tata has announced they will be using a computerized lottery system to distribute the first vehicles when they officially become available on April 9th. Read More…
2009 Land Rover LR2
Land Rover is not historically known for providing much of an “entry level” option into their four-wheel-driving world. The ill-concieved and awkward looking Freelander was still relatively expensive and seemed out-of-sync with the rest of the lineup. Since there has to be something in the lineup that is the cheapest of the bunch, for 2009 that vehicle is the LR2.
More bad news for Jaguar and Land Rover who were purchased from Ford by Indian automaker Tata Motors for $2.3 billion last march. The already struggling British manufacturers have announced that they will cease production for a week at the end of October at their Halewood plant. This comes after a number of other “black” days where production has slowed or stopped at other plants.
We wrote about the Tata motors air car and how it works a while ago. But now, another air car is getting some attention, the San Jose based Magnetic Air Car. The Magnetic Air Car supposedly uses the same compressed air technology as the Tata air car initially, but differs when it gets to the actual engine. Instead of a piston engine like the Tata has, the Magnetic Car is said to use three on-board air compressors to channel the air stream towards a magnetic motor.
I’m still a bit leery about the whole magnetic motor concept in general. I’ve seen too many “perpetual motion machines” that were powered by magnetic motors. There are very few specifics from the company website, but from my understanding, the magnetic motor works by harnessing the power of the magnets repelling each other.
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ZPM Air Car
Compressed air engines aren’t new, they’ve been around since the 1920s, but they’re just now getting the mainstream notice that will allow them to flourish.
Back in Feburary, Zero Pollution Motors (ZPM) announced that they’d be offering their compressed-air engine Air Car in the United States starting in 2010. They’ve been pushing back the date for when they’d start accepting orders for the car, and it’s finally settled at “Mid-2009″.
All this talk about the Air Car, but how the hell does it work?
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Mysterious India, land of the Karma Sutra, mango chutney, and over a billion people. And all those people need transportation to their Comcast call center jobs. Scooters and motorcycles are the most popular mode of personal transport in India. In fact, in 2007, the motorcycle and scooter industry sold about 7 million two-wheelers, that’s six times the number of cars sold. But Ratan Tata wants to change that.
Tata wastes no time after acquiring both Land Rover and Jaguar in a $2.3 billion purchase from Ford: Land Rover LRX and the Jaguar F-Type concept receive an immediate go-ahead.
After Ford sat on the decisions for the two concepts, and appropriately so since they were planning to unload them, Tata took no time at all in the aggressive decision to target them both for a 2012 release. Both the Jaguar F-Type Concept or XE as some refer to it and the Land Rover LRX give a “Tip of the Hat” to the respected design heritage of their British Auto Maker, while also giving a nod toward the future.
The Jaguar XE/F-Type is intended to be a sportscar that can compete with the big names of Porsche, Ferrari and Maserati. The open air roadster shares some of the design cues of great roadsters and racing roadsters of the past. It is uncertain as to whether the roadster design will be bolted to an XF or XK chassis, but either way it is certain to be a show-stopper.
The Land Rover LRX has made its way through a show or two and has found some outside support of its own. As a sleek two-door sport concept model it would certainly stand out among the great 4×4′s associated to Land Rover. The interior carries that Concept flare toward future gadgets and elegant seating and trimming, but unlike other concept autos Land Rover has expressed the desire to keep much of their concept LRX’s design intact well into production… as evidenced in the photo galleries to follow. Read More…
