Category: Auto Industry

Official: Ford S-Max Concept previews new look, technology for Euro seven-seater

Filed under: Minivan/Van, Technology, Ford

Ford S-Max Concept showcases sharp styling, a thoughtful interior and innovative technologies.

Ford unveiled today the S-Max Concept, which comes with a new, sleek look and loaded with innovative technology, such as a heart-rate monitoring seat. But if your heart is set on a minivan sports activity vehicle (SAV) and you live in the States, don’t wait for this one – it’s a Europe-only product, and we don’t expect that to change when the next-gen S-Max is released.

The styling follows Ford’s global design language, looking a bit like an overgrown Focus hatchback with the company’s signature grille, wraparound headlamps, steeply raked windshield and curved roof line. Ford also implemented details to make the S-Max look longer and faster, such as a feature line on each side of the vehicle and muscular-looking fenders. The engine isn’t Ford’s most powerful, but the new 1.5-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder engine should be potent enough with turbocharging and other efficiency related technologies.

Ford says the new interior, which seats up to seven people, features high-quality materials and fine detailing, such as an “ultra-soft” leather wrap for the instrument panel and leather and carbon-fiber details on the seats. Ford’s Sync connectivity system with MyFord Touch makes the car a wireless hotspot, and there’s a tablet docking station for second-row occupants.

But it’s the health-related systems that have our attention. The heart-rate sensing seat records the driver’s heart rate and has the potential to respond to medical emergencies via Sync. This can range from alerting medical experts to triggering active safety systems that can take over temporarily for an incapacitated driver. The car even has a glucose monitoring system that Ford claims can detect a sleeping child having a diabetic episode in the back seat.

Take a look at the press release below for a closer look into the sharply styled, tech-forward SAV.

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Ford S-Max Concept previews new look, technology for Euro seven-seater originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 28 Aug 2013 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Redline debuts with Battle of Motorsports in first episode

Filed under: Motorsports, Videos, Australia, Racing, Comparisons

The first episode of Redline, a new automotive web video, pits seven racecars from different backgrounds against each other.

What do you get when you mix YouTube and Ketzal Sterling of the High Octane DVD series? Another web-video series about high-performance cars with a motorsport twist and juvenile humor. Redline is the newest show by Sterling, and the man devised an epic shootout of seven seriously quick race machines for the first episode.

The catch is that each of the vehicles represents a different motorsport background. Machines that make an appearance include a Super Touring Ford V8; Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution rally car; S14.5-generation time attack Nissan Silvia; Suzuki GSX-R1000 motorcycle; FC-generation Mazda RX-7 drift car (with V8 swap); Subaru WRX STI gymkhana car; and KZ2-class shifter kart.

While the inclusion of one of the entries virtually gives away the winner, we won’t spoil it for you. And it might be closer than you think. Scroll down to watch the Battle of Motorsports episode, which has some substance and is enjoyable if you can put up with the humor and obnoxiously loud narration.

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Redline debuts with Battle of Motorsports in first episode originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 27 Aug 2013 20:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ETC: Aston Martin DBC Concept would be a gorgeous new direction for the brand

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Aston Martin, Design/Style

Aston Martin DBC Concept by Samir Sadikhov

The world may never see a mid-engine Aston Martin. Never, ever. Why? Because grand touring, which is and has always been what Aston Martin is about, goes about as well with a mid-engined layout as whiskey goes with wasabi. Why do you think Ferrari and Bentley, also notable GT manufacturers, keep their big, comfortable and fast vehicles with the engine in front?

That said, if Aston were to suddenly decide that it wanted a piece of the Ferrari 458 Italia or McLaren MP4-12C, we sincerely hope the resulting car would look at least half as good as this concept car, designed by Samir Sadikhov. It’s called the DBC, and it is an absolute stunner, perfectly integrating Aston Martin’s traditional design cues – look at this profile shot of the DBC alongside the DBR1 – and current styling trends with a mid-engined layout that is a dramatic departure from the long hood and short deck of the current cars.

Sadikhov isn’t some new kid on the block, though. The Azerbaijani captured second place in the Ferrari World Design Contest with his Xerzri Concept. As for the DBC, according to his website, one of his goals was to create a car with parts that “could be easily carried over into a production car.” We like the sound of that. Aston Martin, we’ll take ours with the V12 Vantage S engine mounted amidships, a six-speed manual, and British Racing Green paint. Make it so. Head over to Sadikhov’s site for a full look at the DBC Concept.

Aston Martin DBC Concept would be a gorgeous new direction for the brand originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 27 Aug 2013 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon midsize pickup trucks to get diesel engines

Filed under: Truck, Chevrolet, GM, GMC, Diesel

Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon teaser

The market for midsize pickup trucks has all but been abandoned in the US, but General Motors is about to shake the market up with the all-new (to the US) Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon. Launching next year, GM already told us that its new trucks would be a “fuel-efficient alternative” to fullsize trucks, and aside from the smaller size, Automotive News says that these trucks will accomplish this with a diesel engine.

According to the AN report, the next-gen Colorado and Canyon will offer a small, four-cylinder Duramax turbo diesel with a displacement of either 2.5 or 2.8 liters – both engines are currently used in this truck for other markets. This would allow GM to join the Cummins-powered Nissan Titan and Ram 1500 EcoDiesel as the only non-HD trucks in the US to offer diesel. The article goes on to say that the diesel versions of the Colorado and Canyon would launch about a year after the trucks go into production in fall of 2014.

Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon midsize pickup trucks to get diesel engines originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 27 Aug 2013 18:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Auctions: eBay Find of the Day: 1987 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe is showroom fresh

Filed under: Classics, Coupe, Performance, Auctions, Ford

1987 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe

There’s an ultra-rare Ford Thunderbird for sale on eBay, although it’s not quite the T-Bird you’re probably thinking. This is a 1987 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe, complete with a five-speed manual transmission and just a shade over 13,000 miles on the clock. The condition is said to be mint, and judging by the interior and exterior pictures, we’re inclined to believe the seller. The paint is glossy and the interior looks showroom new, while the underbody is stunningly clean for a 26-year-old car.

Underhood sits a 2.3-liter, intercooled and turbocharged four-cylinder (also found in the Mustang SVO) that was producing 190 horsepower when it left the factory. Inside, the five-speed manual transmission adds to the car’s rarity. The vehicle’s sole owner has been as immaculate with the paperwork as he has with the rest of the car – it’s all there, including brochures and other product material.

The eBay auction ends tomorrow at midnight (9:00 PM if you’re on America’s west coast). Bidding has reached $10,200, and there’s still plenty of time to get in on this future classic. The vehicle is located in Millstone Township, NJ.

eBay Find of the Day: 1987 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe is showroom fresh originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 27 Aug 2013 18:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Toyota RAV4 EV lease gets cut in half to $299/month

Filed under: Car Buying, Crossover, Toyota, Electric

2013 Toyota RAV4 EV

If you’re in the market for a new electric vehicle, now is definitely the time to buy or lease. Following price drops on just about every other EV on the market, Toyota is looking to push a few more all-electric RAV4 crossovers out the door over the Labor Day weekend. The Detroit News is reporting that, through September 3, anyone looking to get into a RAV4 EV in Los Angeles or San Francisco, can get a deal: a $299 a month lease (no word on down payment, though) or zero-percent financing for 60 months for buyers.

The $49,800 RAV4 EV normally leases for twice as much – $599 a month – so this move could be an attempt to sell more of the 2,600 units Toyota has planned to produce. Or maybe, if you thought $599 was a fair price, you can now get two RAV4 Evs. Although temporary, the price drop comes at a time when many other EVs on the market have had their prices reduced, including the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt, Smart Fortwo ED and Honda Fit EV, not to mention already low prices for the Fiat 500e and Chevy Spark EV.

*Note: 2012 RAV4 EV pictured here

Toyota RAV4 EV lease gets cut in half to $299/month originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 27 Aug 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Official: Mazda reports strong Skyactiv sales, plans to boost output 25%

Filed under: Budget, China, Japan, Plants/Manufacturing, Technology, Mazda

Skyactiv Technology logo

Mazda is set to expand production of its Skyactiv engines after critical and commercial acclaim for the fuel-sipping powerplants. The Japanese manufacturer has a number of plans in the works to bump up production, with the first being a 25-percent increase in output from its Hiroshima, Japan engine facility.

Besides adding a new line, Mazda will modify the line that built MZR engines, a family of mills that includes the 2.3-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder found in the Mazdaspeed3 and the 2.0-liter found in the MX-5 Miata. The bump in production is just part of Mazda’s goal of selling 1.7 million vehicles globally by 2016, with 80 percent of those vehicles expected to wear a Skyactiv badge.

Mazda also builds Skyactiv engines at a joint-venture facility with Ford, in Changan, China, while a Mexican facility will go online by March of 2014. Skyactiv engines currently power the Mazda3, Mazda6 and CX-5.

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Mazda reports strong Skyactiv sales, plans to boost output 25% originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 27 Aug 2013 17:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Watch and hear Renault’s awesome Twin’Run driven in anger

Filed under: Concept Cars, Performance, Videos, Hatchback, Renault

We’re a little tardy in getting to this, but the engine notes will make up for the delay. When Renault revealed the Twin’Run concept at the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix earlier this Summer, it didn’t reveal much of the engine note. This was an appalling shame, since the not-road-legal Renault 5 revival had a mid-mounted, race-tuned Nissan V6 that could soar to a practically unsilenced 7,000 rpm.

A few members of the auto journo cabal have corrected that, Top Gear being one of them by including the Twin’Run in its Speed Week festivities. Calling it “deafening, smelly, brilliant,” the verdict of Sam Phillip was that it “makes every car on Top Gear’s Speed Week… feel as woolly and distant as a tumble-dried sheep.” Them’s pointed words when “every other car” includes metal like the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series.

You’ll can check out Top Gear‘s run around the Charade Circuit in France below. We’ve also included a longer clip of the Twin’Run doing some dynamic testing (worth it for the 360-degree-stunt alone), and an in-depth piece from Autoweek Holland.

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Watch and hear Renault’s awesome Twin’Run driven in anger originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 27 Aug 2013 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Motor Recall app makes game out of identifying vehicle lights at night

Filed under: Technology, Videos, Toys/Games

motor recall app

What will they think of next? This is an app called Motor Recall, and if you’re at all like us, it’s pretty much the equivalent of any nighttime car ride as a kid – see a pair of headlights or taillights, pick out the make, model and if you’re lucky/good, the year. Now, the clever folks at Case By Case Studios have turned that time-honored way of surviving a long drive into an app.

Loaded with over 250 different headlight and taillight patterns, players have the choice of either matching the headlights with taillights in a game called Match, or out and out guessing which vehicle is being shown, not surprisingly, called Guess. Players can score points and unlock even rarer vehicles the longer they play. Case By Case is claiming that it will continue to update with new vehicles to keep you guessing, which makes us quite excited for this new game. Could be a great time waster.

Take a look at the demo trailer below. Motor Recall is only available in the Apple App Store, but we’d expect it to arrive on other platforms in the future.

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Motor Recall app makes game out of identifying vehicle lights at night originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 27 Aug 2013 16:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Study: Car customer satisfaction down for first time in two years

Filed under: Etc.

ACSI study finds that car customer satisfaction fell slightly from last year.

Car customer satisfaction fell for the first time in two years, according to the 2013 American Customer Satisfaction Index automobiles and light vehicles report. Over the course of 4,078 random phone and e-mail interviews between April 6 and May 22, the index, based on a scale of 0 to 100, revealed that customer satisfaction with automobiles fell from 84 in 2012 to 83. Domestic autos bring up the rear.

Domestic vehicles, which received an average score of 82, also lost traction in perceived quality, with European automakers ranking 84.7 and Asian brands close behind at 84.1. This is reflected in the scores of the 20 individual automakers counted in the study.

Mercedes-Benz is at the top of the index with a score of 88, up four percent from last year. Lexus relinquished its lead with a score of 87, down two percent from 2012. Third place is a three way tie between Subaru, Toyota and Honda, which all scored 86. Here are the rest of the scores in order: GMC (85), Cadillac (85), Volkswagen (84), Acura (83), Ford (83), Nissan (83), Chrysler (83), Buick (82), BMW (82), Hyundai (82), Kia (82), Mazda (82), All Others (81), Jeep (80), Dodge (79) and Chevrolet (79). It’s worth noting that both GMC and Chrysler gained five points from last year.

While it’s not a good sign that customer satisfaction went down, the authors of the report explained that it could be due to “greater customer expectations that the automakers are then challenged to meet.” But the ACSI says automakers should take the erosion in customer satisfaction as a warning signal: once pent-up demand has subsided, successful brands will keep the customers they have and poach new ones from elsewhere, and customer satisfaction plays a direct role in this relationship.

Car customer satisfaction down for first time in two years originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 27 Aug 2013 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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