In a few years, by 2016 to be exact, P.J. O’Rourke’s “ass-engined Nazi slot car” may be history in the U.S.A. Gone. By that time, Porsche needs to have a Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) of 41.4 mpg – if President Obama gets his wish. Mission impossible, says Porsche. Jack Baruth, stock up. Porsches will be extinct. Read More >
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Category: Fuel Economy
As much grumbling as there is among US-based enthusiasts about increasing efficiency standards, Europe’s emissions requirements are yielding even stranger fruit than mere V6-powered Porsche Panameras. One such product of the conintental obsession with downsizing: Fiat’s new TwinAir engine, available this summer on European-spec Fiat 500s. The 900 cc turbocharged twin generates 85 horsepower while emitting fewer than 100 grams of C02 per kilometer, and uses Fiat’s much-vaunted MultiAir technology. An uprated turbo version with 105 hp will become available later, reports Edmunds, as will a 60 hp naturally-aspirated version. The only other automaker to offer a two-pot in a road car? That would be Tata, which equips its Nano with a 33 hp, 632 cc engine. Given the close ties between Tata and Fiat, could Europeans have a 100 hp+ Abarth-branded Nano in their future?
TTAC GM Bashing Alert! The following article has been read and reviewed by the TTAC-GM Assault Protective Services Committee and has been found to contain material that may put GM in a negative light. Reader discretion is advised.
Unless the elves are asleep at Google, the odds are good that there will be an ad for the 2010 Chevrolet Equinox immediately to the right of this article. And it will proudly trumpet its 32 mpg EPA highway rating, like every other Equinox ad. From GM’s first gleeful announcement, it was hard to swallow from the that a tall, almost 4,000 lb CUV could actually get 32 mpg on the highway, or 26 mpg combined. It appears others are having the same blockage of the pharynx. Now that there’s a number of reviews out, they all show the same pattern: the Equinox EPA numbers are highly deceptive. But would the EPA ever come down on Government Motors? Read More >
The euro-trance exhaust note is what tipped us off. The GT3 R Hybrid is not planned for production, but will serve as a “racing laboratory” in the 24 Hours on the Nordschleife of Nürburgring, reports Green Car Congress. Williams Hybrid Power is reportedly exploring road-car applications of its Formula 1 KERS-derived “fly-brid” system. Technical details after the jump.
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With BMW feeling very small in a big fish’s pond, you’d think that BMW would be scrambling to make friends with bigger fish in order to survive. Well you’d be right. Canadian Business report that BMW have reaffirmed their co-operation with Peugeot-Citroen in order to develop an engine which will help both parties meet Europe’s “EU 6” emission standards, whereby a car’s nitrogen oxide level cannot be more than 80mg/km. In a joint statement, BMW and Peugeot-Citroen said they want to build a four cylinder petrol engine to meet this standard, which is due in 2014. The current engine can be found in some MINI models, Peugeot’s 207 & 308 and Citroen’s C3 Picasso, while a new generation would likely help power BMW’s forthcoming sub-1-Series models.
Having re-birthed themselves at the taxpayers’ expense, one of Chrysler’s top priorities is restoring the brand equity that has bled out since the Daimler takeover. First up was the move to spin “Ram” off as its own brand, and now it seems that no-one is safe from “re-birth,” as UPI.com reports that Chrysler are rethinking their strongest brand, Jeep. Unfortunately, one man’s brand rebirth is another man’s brand betrayal. Chrysler want to replace all of Jeep’s products, except for the Wrangler and Grand Cherokee, and the idea is to utilise Fiat’s experience of fuel efficient engines as the basis for it. That means Jeep is likely to become smaller, more fuel-efficient and less off-road capable [rumors of a Fiat Panda 4×4-based Jeep (rendered above) date back to the earliest days of the Fiat-Chrysler alliance]. If you had to boil the proposed shift into a single word, UPI figures it would be “soft.” And the markets have reacted to this news in pretty much the same way you’ve probably just reacted: they think the idea is bad. Very bad.
We’ve spilled a few pixels on these pages over Hyundai’s dedication to direct injection (DI) technology, even going as far as to crown Hyundai the “new Honda” of motor technology. But DI technology isn’t without its downsides, and Hyundai tells Automotive News [sub] that the technology isn’t likely to appear on future engines with less than two liters of displacement.
The UK Sustainable Development Commission yesterday released a report recommending the use of average speed cameras for round-the-clock tracking of motorist journeys nationwide. The government advisory body said that widespread deployment of average speed cameras was required to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide by automobiles, a factor that some believe is linked to global changes in temperature. The report made a number of recommendations affecting the driving public.
“The business models associated with private motoring are not aligned with sustainability,” the report explained.
Honda’s half-hearted approach to hybrids is about to be shaken up, possibly leading to the development of a hybrid system that goes beyond Honda’s traditional integrated motor assist (IMA) system. Automotive News [sub] reports that Honda CEO, Takanobu Ito has told his Research and Development staff to develop a hybrid which beats the Toyota Prius in fuel economy. Or else. This development probably has something to do the failure of the Honda Insight (Prius sales in 2009 were 139,682. Insight sales for the same period: 20,572); as Honda Executive VP, John Mendel said “Are we happy with how sales are going? No, we’re not happy.” Mr Ito made it clear that Honda’s hybrid line up is a top priority. “We want to develop and expand our hybrids,” said Ito. “We made some major sacrifices to shift people and resources to do that.”
This week saw the Volt’s price point issues return to the public eye, as GM’s Chairman and CEO made it clear that he takes the government’s $7,500 tax credit for granted. But Whitacre’s dissembling revealed once again GM’s fundamental problem with the Volt: getting people past the sticker shock. Though GM’s short-term viability doesn’t hinge on the Volt selling like gangbusters, it’s clear that the Volt’s initial success or lack thereof will be a crucial factor in GM’s ability to hold a successful IPO and extricate itself from government ownership. Which, according to The Big Money‘s Matt DeBord, is one of the reasons the government should expand the Volt’s credit of $10k. Another reason: the Volt’s competition is too good!
with the base Prius selling for just over $20,000 and the base Honda Insight hybrid for under $20,000, the feds may have to start thinking about how to enable innovative electric and gas-electric plug-ins to survive. The EPA mandate to raise fleet fuel-economy standards to average of 35.5 mpg by 2016 looms, and a component of that target should be EVs and plug-ins. Otherwise, carmakers may abandon the tech, leaving it stillborn to cynically massage their fleet numbers by importing small cars from foreign operations to North America—cars they know Americans will only grudgingly purchase and that may force the government to chuck the 35.5 requirement.
In 2005, California opened its High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) or carpool lanes to hybrid drivers, as an incentive for Californians to purchase more fuel-efficient vehicles. Without a stickered hybrid, HOV lanes are only allowed to be used by vehicles with two or more occupants. But this hybrid perk expires at the end of this year, meaning California’s hybrid owners will no longer be able to drive in the HOV lane as a single-occupancy vehicle. In their anger, a few of the estimated 85k HOV pass holders are letting their ugly hybrid superiority complexes hang out for all to see in the San Jose Mercury News’s Roadshow column. One hybrid owner writes:
Some critics had a choice in buying their vehicle. Did you choose to buy a gas hog-pig SUV or truck, BMW 300 series [sic], a Mercedes-Benz E-class or a safety-first Volvo? You knew these cars didn’t qualify for the carpool lane because they are environmentally unfriendly. You made a conscious choice to be self-centered and materialistic and now you all are projecting your selfishness upon hybrid owners
I love the smell of entitlement in the morning…
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Ford’s facing one of the toughest challenges in automotive product planning: how to offer the competitive compact pickup consumers say they want without cannibalizing far more profitable full-sized trucks. The solution? Don’t offer a competitive compact pickup. “It’s no secret we have a new Ranger coming globally. We’re working on one for all the other markets in the world,” Ford’s Derrick Kuzak tells Pickuptrucks.com. “The difference is that all of those other markets only have a Ranger. They don’t have an F-150 above it.” See how that works? But don’t worry, Ranger fans. Ford has your effete, pathetic backs…
The Detroit Free Press reports that a recent filing by the California Air Resources Board [Full filing in PDF format here] threatens that a rapid ramp-up to the proposed 35.5 mpg 2016 standard and a reduction in zero-emission vehicle credits are necessary “to ensure California’s continued support.” CARB spokesman Stanley Young explains that “what we wanted to do is convey the level of importance for these two issues,” and that it’s “too early” to say whether California will withdraw from its compromise with the Obama administration. Still, the threat of a California withdrawal should be enough to get some attention in Washington, as Obama adviser David Axelrod has called the emissions compromise one of the administration’s top accomplishments of 2009.
Today’s Nikkei [sub] clarified the Japanese position on US cars qualifying for Nipponese cash fur clunkers money. The program offers up to 250,000 yen ($2,800) in subsidies to buyers of cars that meet Japanese fuel efficiency standards.
According to the Nikkei, about 30 percent of U.S. imports to Japan enter the country through the “Preferential Handling Procedure,” that does not require them to pass Japanese fuel efficiency tests. These cars, which had been excluded from the program, will now be considered – based on mileage data collected in the U.S. Good luck with that. Read More >
Let’s pretend they never happened because… well… we’re still waiting for them. Sure, on the surface things could be worse. Real estate is getting to be cheap. Cars are getting even cheaper. We seem to be in this period of mild deflation where ‘deficits don’t matter’ and interest rates remain low thanks to China. It’s a debtly paradise that will eventually turn our economy upside down, but for now it’s all good. As John Fogerty used to say, “There’s a calm before the storm, I know it’s been calmin’ for some time.” I’m not convinced that hyperinflation will be on that menu, but a happy-go-lucky tightwad like me realizes that books and reality need to be balanced no matter what. So…
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