From Hybrids and plug-ins to direct-injection and HCCI, a number of new technologies hold the promise of ever-cleaner automobiles. But what if, by solving existing pollution problems with these new technologies, we create new pollution problems? That’s what the Health Effects Institute’s Special Committee on Emerging Technologies (SCET) looked into in its “Communication 16,” titled The Future of Vehicle Fuels and Technologies: Anticipating Health Benefits and Challenges [via GreenCarCongress, PDF here]. The findings? Gas Direct Injection (GDI) may improve efficiency, but particulate matter (PM) emissions are still a serious concern. Urea exhaust treatment systems for “clean diesel” engines
gives rise to concerns regarding the formation of nitrogen-containing compounds, including nitro-PAHs, in emissions and possibly other toxic compounds.
EVs have their own issues, including electromagnetic field (EMF) radiation and the possible introduction of battery materials into the environment through production or crashes. Both fuels with more than ten percent ethanol (E15, E20, E85) and biodiesel (B20) have not been sufficiently studied for exhaust pollutants. And even in “regular” gas, the use of metallic additives has not yet been fully tested for health risks. As a result of all of these untested effects of new automotive technologies, the HEI’s Research Committee will begin study of tailpipe emissions from vehicles using GDI, Urea exhaust treatment and biofuels, and will also study the toxicity of lithium and other battery components used in hybrid and electric vehicles. hopefully they’ll find that the cure isn’t worse than the disease…
Autoevolution reports that CPP Global Holdings, the Vladimir Antonov-owned firm that recently bought Spyker’s sportscar business, has bought Bowler, the makers of off-road racers built on the Range Rover platform. CPP Managing Director Brendan O’Toole explains the deal as
extremely positive news for fans and customers of Bowler vehicles. I have followed the brand closely for several years and am delighted to have the opportunity to take the Bowler brand to new heights on the basis of very exciting plans. I’m looking forward to working with Drew Bowler and the exceptionally talented team at Bowler to bring these plans to fruition. This development is another step in CPP’s strategy to grow as a collection of complementary specialist automotive businesses
The big question: is this deal a sign that Antonov still has more more money than sense, or will the Saab financier actually find some synergy between his new acquisitions, possibly in the form of the Peking-to-Paris SUV concept? Spyker hasn’t mentioned its possible SUV entry for a solid year, but having lost money every year since going public, a second model line might not be a bad idea (especially one based on an already-developed chassis like the Rangie’s). But as of our last report there’s still a number of details to work out before the Peking-to-Paris makes it to production, namely whether the sports-ute will use an AMG engine or a “supercharged Ferrari” mill. Decisions, decisions…
There’s a reason why car enthusiast sites have features like Murilee Martin’s Down On The Street and Paul Niedermeyer’s Curbside Classic. People enjoy photos and commentary on cool old cars, particularly those that are still being driven. Site publishers, on the other hand, like drawing traffic and those features do draw in new readers often searching for information about a particular make, model and year. Hence after Murilee departed from Jalopnik, they started a series called Found Off The Street.
So when I saw a Porsche 928 in what appeared to be pretty decent shape sitting at a repair shop in Royal Oak, I asked our esteemed ed Ed if I could take a whack at it. The trick, of course, is to be the same but different.
Just about 2 years ago, the steering rack failed on my 1996 Lexus SC400 at 132,000 miles. Reconditioned rack #1 went bad in 3 weeks, and replaced with another. Reconditioned rack #2 also failed in about 2 months, and was replaced with a brand new rack.
Every time I got the car back, the steering feel was horrible even though they claimed they did an alignment (which they ended up doing every time I returned with the car). The last straw came when I was driving up a freeway entry ramp that had the pavement scraped in vertical lines, and the steering felt like a snake undulating left and right. Pissed, I finally took it to a Lexus shop where they performed an alignment and the car seemed to handle better. While satisfactory, it still was not the same as before the rack went bad. However, 2 weeks later the steering wheel was cocked to the left and the car was out of alignment. It went in yet again for an alignment at an independent shop and everything seemed fine – it was done better than by Lexus. Now two weeks after the latest alignment the steering wheel is cocked to the right and I’m beginning to feel the snake undulations again. What is throwing the car out of alignment? I live in Tampa, and the roads where I travel are in good condition, no potholes, I’m not running into curbs, and my wife doesn’t drive the car.
We’ve already seen BMW’s new smooth-and-sleek Six Series as a droptop, but is it possible that the design will gain back some of its Bangle-ian spizzarkle as a coupe? Don’t hold your breath. The new design has more old-world grace than the previous model, but as a result it looks like it’s trying a bit too hard to be a Jag or Maserati. Sure, both of those brands offer some of the most elegant touring options on the market, but isn’t BMW supposed to be just a little farther ahead of the curve than its “Olde Worlde” competition? Shouldn’t BMWs be just a little bit more architectural and a lot more coldly technical-looking? Still not sure? Hit the jump for some endless B-Roll and a gallery. (Read More…)
The city council in San Bernardino, California voted 5 to 0 last week to pull the plug on its red light camera program. The action follows the lead of a growing number of jurisdictions in the Golden State that have grown disillusioned with automated ticketing machines. Most recently, Rocklin‘s cameras were shut off last Tuesday. San Bernardino officials argued it would be worth paying the private contractor American Traffic Solutions (ATS) about $110,000 to get out of the contract before its 2014 expiration date.
We all remember the Starion, with its TURBO badging on everything from the seat belts to the door handles, but who among us can recall ever having seen the other 80s hot-rod Mitsubishi in the wild? (Read More…)
Japan’s industrial output suffered major damage after one of the world’s strongest earthquakes, followed by an unprecedented tsunami hit Japan last week. Global supply chains are disrupted.
This is today’s rundown on auto plant closures. (Read More…)
Even if Japan’s nuclear power plants will be brought under control, even if roads, rails and ports are back up, the Japanese car industry will have to deal with a more serious problem: Blackouts.
On Monday, Tokyo Electric Power, or Tepco, will start turning off the power for three hours each to selected areas. This will happen once, in some areas twice per day. When the schedule was put up on Tepco’s website, the server crashed. That was just the beginning of the problems. (Read More…)
For all the buzz surrounding the Compact segment, the real battle at the moment seems to be in the Midsized (D-Segment) class. As in the C-Segment, Toyota is maintaining its leadership by a healthy margin, but right below it there’s a knife fight between Fusion, Accord, Altima and Malibu (look for this fight to include Sonata if Hyundai brings more capacity online). The fact that Accord no longer has a lock on second place has opened a huge opportunity, as the contenders clamor to become the Camry’s main rival. But this battle for second place has also bifurcated the segment into contenders (15k units and up) and everyone else. And speaking of “everyone else,” Mazda6 dropped off our chart this month with only 2,838 deliveries, hanging out with such underachievers as the Passat/CC (1,750 units) and Saab 9-3 (494).
Unlike a number of segments, the Compact Crossover space has a fairly well-established order. And with no new products in this segment on tap for this year, it’s hard to see this ranking changing too much in the next 12 months or so. Still, the C-CUV is becoming an increasingly important segment, and even if automakers aren’t stealing much share from each other here, all the major models are improving their sales. Could this be the segment where everyone wins?
Say what you want about Toyota’s recent struggles, it still knows how to sell the bejeezus out of its C-segment Corolla/Matrix juggernaut. Toyota’s compact twosome outsold its next closest competitor by more volume than the Kia Forte sold on its own. Chevy’s Cruze is also sneaking up on Civic (please note: Feb 2010 volume for Cruze is actually Cobalt), and VW’s new Jetta is streaking up the charts, landing Volkswagen’s C-segment offerings into fourth place (Golf made up only 2,337 of that volume). Elantra and Sentra are neck-and-neck, although look for Nissan’s aging compact to be leapfrogged by both Hyundai and Ford when fully ramped-up volumes of the new Elantra and Focus hit dealers.
On most weekends, TTAC publishes the fun, frivolous kinds of stories that don’t make it into our regular weekly coverage, exposing our readers to everything from the hilarity of the LeMons series, to obscure automotive histories to pictorials of such undercovered vehicles as vintage Snow Cats. This weekend, however, TTAC is feeding you your vegetables: sales graphs of the major automotive segments from February. We start our coverage with the subcompact segment, where the Nissan Versa continues to kill the competition, proving yet again that what Americans are looking for in a small car is a large car. Kia’s Soul held off the Fiesta’s attack on the number two spot, while Toyota’s Yaris slipped to Kia Rio volume levels and the Scion xD slipped to the bottom of the chart. Meanwhile, few of the long-established names in this segment are beating their year-ago numbers, but look for that to change if gas prices keep going up.
Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of a bus crash on New York’s I-95, but it’s clear from these photos [via ABC] what caused many of the 14 fatalities in the crash: a sign warning motorists of red-light photo enforcement is what appears to have ripped the bus in half. Now, as much as we dislike photo enforcement, we wouldn’t argue that the sign caused this tragedy… but the irony of a sign intended to improve safety actually becoming a deadly obstacle is more than we can ignore.
Many friends asked us what they can do to help the people in Japan. After many emails and Skype calls with family and friends, here are Don’ts and Dos of helping. (Read More…)
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