Remember that old saying, “What’s good for GM is good for America”? Well it seems that the UK is developing a similar ethos. “What’s good for Ford is good for the UK”. Now, this isn’t some arrogant Ford executive trying to brainwash the UK public that buying their cars is their public duty. There really is a good reason behind this. Honestly. Read More >
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Category: Engines
According to The Global Times, China’s burgeoning love affair with the automobile is maturing nicely: though sales have slowed in the Middle Kingdom, the engines are getting bigger.
In July, smaller cars accounted for only 65.38 percent of overall passenger vehicle sales, which totaled 946,200 units, declining 1.42 percentage points month-on-month and dropping below last year’s average of 69.5 percent for five months in a row.
“Small cars,” it should be pointed out, means cars with 1.6 liters displacement or less. This despite a 3,000 yuan ($443.37) government subsidy on 71 qualifying “small car” nameplates. And if an uncooperative market weren’t enough to cause some head-wagging in Beijing, only one Chinese-brand car made the China Association of Auto Manufacturers “ten best-selling sedans” list: the BYD F3. And no, not the plug-in hybrid version.
Honda’s Civic Hybrid has always been something of an afterthought in the marketplace, as Honda’s “mild” hybrid system consistently fell behind the Toyota Prius in terms of mileage, electric-only range and green street-cred. Then, late last year, Honda settled a class action lawsuit alleging that the Civic Hybrid couldn’t hit its EPA numbers. And though the weak-selling Insight has replaced the Civic Hybrid as Honda’s problem hybrid of the moment, the Civic Hybrid woes are still piling up. The latest bad news comes from the LA TImes, which reports that Civic Hybrid batteries have been dying before their time, and that Honda’s software “fix” for the problem reduces mileage from 45 MPG to 33 MPG. Since the standard Civic is rated at 30 MPG, a number of Civic Hybrid owners are wondering why they paid extra for what amounts to a 3 MPG improvement on the highway… and they’re accusing Honda of refusing to replace batteries under warranty. In other words, this looks to be one of the first major battery warranty-related fiascos of the hybrid era… and it’s shaping up to be a nasty one. Electric car makers, take notice.
In its first public appearance, the Porsche 918 Spyder prototype delivers an aural experience that its cousin, the GT3 R Hybrid, just can’t match. In fact, at this point it’s probably safe to say that the 918 is already the best-sounding hybrid yet created.
TTAC Commentator Scorched Earth writes:
Hi Sajeev, my buddy has a manual-transmission, non-turbo 7M-GE MKIII Supra with about 150,000 miles. Supposedly the previous owner had replaced the head gasket at least once. About a month ago it started smelling like burning oil, and the engine is known for being overly prone to blown head gaskets, so he decided to play it safe and take it off the road within 2 hours of the symptom appearing.
Draining the coolant reservoir revealed a sludgy black substance, which we assumed to be oil, within the coolant. Another strike. The spark plugs, too, were swimming in oil. The rest of the coolant, however, was fine. We could not find any coolant mixed in with the oil, either. Furthermore, there was no greyish/whitish substance around the radiator cap.
Still, we went through the arduous process of removing the head. When the moment of truth arrived, the head gasket was found to be undamaged. And at this point, we’re clueless.
The head gasket needs to be replaced regardless since we’ve taken off the head, which will cost about $500. If we can find out what the source of the issue is, that’s fine. But if not, it may make better financial sense to junk the poor car.
Any idea what problem could be posing as a blown head gasket?
Prior to going on television on Monday, I spoke to a GM spokesman in hopes of better understanding the business case for the Volt. Perhaps the most interesting thing he told me was that a major impetus for developing the Volt as an Extended-Range Electric concept was GM’s failure to achieve success with three alt-energy concepts (EV-1, Hydrogen, and yes, E-85 ethanol) due to their need for fueling infrastructure. As we talked, it occurred to me that three other less-than-entirely-successful GM “green car” projects might have helped lead The General down the primrose path to the Volt: GM’s BAS “Mild Hybrid,” the Parallel Hybrid Truck system (PHT), and the V8-based “Two-Mode” hybrid drivetrains. He admitted (somewhat grudgingly) that GM’s hybrid sales had been “disappointing” and that the ambitious Volt project was to some extent motivated by this lack of market success. What he didn’t tell me: GM is bringing back the discontinued mild-hybrid BAS system for 2011.
The Chevrolet Volt began life as a marketing concept: “what if,” GM’s finest minds asked themselves, “we could sell a car that could go 40 miles without burning any gasoline?” That goal was achievable (although how easily and regularly remains to be seen), but it came at a cost: if you check out GM’s just-released standard equipment sheet (click on “standard equipment”), you’ll find that the Volt’s gasoline range extender requires premium fuel. What’s strange about this is that the Volt’s 1.4 liter range extender is hardly an overstressed buzz-bomb, making only 80 hp at the crank and 74 hp at the generator. Why then does it need premium? Considering that the Volt would have struggled to pay off its premium over the Toyota Prius anyway, the decision to require premium fuel makes no sense at all.
Last week, the big news coming out of Ford was that the new Lincoln MKZ would be available with a hybrid drivetrain as a no-cost option. With Mercury on its way out, and Lincoln struggling to carve out a niche in the luxury space, that move made a certain amount of sense at the time. What we didn’t know until today is that the “free” hybrid option on the MKZ was only Ford’s opening salvo on the status quo of automotive drivetrain option pricing. Today, with the 2011 Explorer dominating the news cycle, Ford has announced its latest head-scratcher: making the four-cylinder “Ecoboost” engine option more expensive than the more powerful standard V6. Yes, really.
Reuters reports that Honda has canceled plans to build a new minicar and diesel engine plant north of Tokyo, as the company focuses its product offerings ahead of worldwide emissions standards ramp-ups. Honda’s move away from diesel has been slowly building for years, and the strategy was all but confirmed by the cancellation of a US-market Acura TSX diesel, which was replaced by the V6 TSX. Instead of developing new oil-burners, Honda is focusing on a new hybrid drivetrain capable of powering its larger vehicles. Thus far Honda has kept a conservative approach to hybrids, refining its “mild hybrid” IMA system over several generations. As Honda seeks to improve its fleetwide emissions, this new system (which could be Honda’s first “full hybrid”) has taken on new importance. Honda will officially announce its medium-range plans next Tuesday… and don’t be surprised if it involves a new full hybrid system capable of going toe-to-toe with Toyota’s Synergy Drive.
Via Top Gear comes this in-car footage of the Porsche GT3 R Hybrid lapping a racetrack and making some peculiar sounds in the process. Part Porsche purr, part RC Car whine, this new note is one of the first hints at what future supercars will sound like, in particular the forthcoming Porsche 918 Spyder. It may not be the most viscerally evocative sound ever recorded, but dammit, it’s the future.
78 liters of displacement, 18 cylinders, 12 turbocharges and a tame 3,500 hp and 10,300 lb-ft of torque make for one mean Mini. Well, it would if it actually worked. Instead, this will probably just be on static display at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. Fun fact: the engine alone weighs about 15 times what an original Mini did.
Note to Volkswagen marketing: it’s important to know your competition. The Acura RDX is a compact SUV that comes with a standard turbocharged engine, a fact that makes your already-questionable marketing claim look just plain stupid. Alternatively, this is yet more proof that Acura is the most invisible brand in America. [Hat Tip:Alex Rashev]
As we all know, those oblivious to history are bound to repeat its mistakes. Longtime readers also know I’ve gone down this road before, but the powers of my Twitter news feed shoved extra grist into this particular mill. Behold: Alain Raymond’s blog about the death of the V8 engine. Raymond’s weakest argument revolves around one fact: V8’s did lose mainstream appeal shortly after the demise of the Butterfly Collar. But Alain wishes to beat this dead horse for some misguided reason.
Do you buy the base four-cylinder, or upgrade to a V6? For most car-purchasing decisions, this is an important question to think through. And usually the trade-offs are simple: you can pay more for more power and less efficiency with the V6, or save money and gas with the four-potter. And with fuel prices staying volatile, four-cylinder engines are becoming all the more popular: for example, Hyundai’s new Sonata has been engineered to be four-cylinder only. But according to Consumer Reports, the differences between the V6 and the four-cylinder option aren’t always as clear as you might expect.
The National Academy of Science’s National Research Council has released a comprehensive report on fuel-saving technologies and their associated costs [full report available online here, summary in PDF format here], and it’s data-licious. Just about every currently-available (within the next five years) efficiency-improving technology was assessed, not just for efficiency gains, but for cost as well… but let’s wait on the cost part for just one moment. Above, you can see the study’s findings in regard to efficiency gain available through various near-term technologies, as applied to vehicles with 4, 6 and 8-cylinder engines. It should come as no surprise to find that conversion to Hybrids, diesels and dual-clutch or continuously-variable transmissions offer some of the greatest benefits… but what about those costs?
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