Tag: 2014

Video: This is what F1 racing will sound like in 2014

Filed under: Motorsports, Videos, Mercedes-Benz, Racing

Mercedes-AMG Petronas V6

Formula One is making a switch from the current naturally aspirated 2.4-liter V8 found in the back of every car, to a new, 1.6-liter turbocharged V6. Suffice it to say, things are going to change. The new engines are having such an impact on the teams of F1, that at least one manufacturer, Ferrari, is reportedly thinking of branching out to Le Mans.

For spectators, though, the concern over the new turbocharged mills isn’t so much one of power. We know the things will still be ridiculously powerful. What we’re worried about is just what these new engines will sound like, which is arguably the most defining characteristic of any era of F1. Changes in cylinder counts and the addition of forced induction can result in dramatically different exhaust notes.

We’ve now gotten our first chance to hear the new engine that will be fielded by Mercedes AMG Petronoas and Williams next year. The engine used in the video below is a development powerplant at AMG’s High Performance Powertrains facility in the UK. Set to debut for the 2014 season, it sounds, um, different? Now we know why Bernie Ecclestone mentioned augmented sound. It’s certainly a big departure from the current V8s. Take a listen as it laps a virtual Monza circuit below, and let us know what you think of the new sound in Comments.

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This is what F1 racing will sound like in 2014 originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 02 Aug 2013 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Official: 2014 Toyota Corolla and Tundra production underway

Filed under: Budget, Sedan, Truck, Plants/Manufacturing, Toyota

2014 Toyota Corolla reveal

2014 Toyota Tundra Doublecab - front three-quarter view, blueAfter months of leaked photos and speculative reports, Toyota finally unveiled its 2014 Corolla to the world in early July at a star-studded California party. The confetti has been swept up and the champagne flutes washed and stored, and now the real work can begin: production. Toyota has announced that its new C-segment player has begun rolling off the lines at its plants in Mississippi and Ontario, Canada this week ahead of the planned start of sales in September. What’s more, the refreshed 2014 Tundra pickup has also segued into production in San Antonio, Texas.

Corolla production in Mississippi is still a relatively recent phenomenon, with the plant having begun assembly of the outgoing model in the fourth quarter of 2011, while Toyota’s Cambridge, Ontario plant has been churning out the compact volume king since 1988. Conversely, the Tundra has been in production at the Texas facility since 2006, and Toyota projects that the plant will build its milestone one-millionth new vehicle in September, right around the time the reworked fullsize pickup goes on sale.

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2014 Toyota Corolla and Tundra production underway originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 02 Aug 2013 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Official: Volvo prices revamped 2014 lineup

Filed under: Car Buying, Sedan, Crossover, Volvo

2014 Volvo XC60 R-Design

Volvo has made quite a few changes to its US lineup for the 2014 model year. The C30 hatchback and C70 convertible are gone; the S60, S80, XC60 and XC70 have all been reschnozzed; and in a few months, Volvo will bring its V60 wagon across the pond for Stateside consumption. Only the range-topping XC90 carries on unchanged, though a brand new version is expected to launch sometime next year.

The S60 starts as low as $32,400 for the entry level T5 model, and reaches as high as $45,700 for the T6 R-Design Platinum trim. The larger S80 sedan starts at $39,900, with its range-topping T6 Platinum version commanding $48,150. XC70 pricing ranges anywhere from $34,500 for the 3.2 FWD to $45,650 for the T6 Platinum, XC60 numbers span from $34,850 to $49,800, and XC90 prices start as low as $39,700 and as high as $45,400. None of these prices include $895 for destination, and pricing for the swoopy V60 wagon has not been released just yet.

While the majority of Volvo’s 2014 model year enhancements are visual, some neat updates have been made mechanically, as well. There’s a new Advanced Quick Shift mode for the six-speed automatic transmission that’s paired with the turbocharged six-cylinder engine, and Volvo says that the S60 R-Design will now scoot to 60 miles per hour two-tenths of a second quicker (5.3 versus 5.5). In the XC60 R-Design, AQS improves 0-60 acceleration by four-tenths of a second, down to 6.2 from 6.6 seconds.

Volvo will continue to offer three engines for its full range: a naturally aspirated 3.2-liter V6 with 240 horsepower, a turbocharged 2.5-liter inline-five with 250 horsepower, and a turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six with 300 horsepower. R-Design versions of the S60 and XC60 get a slight bump in power, up to 325 horsepower and 354 pound-feet of torque. The T5 engine can only be had on the S60; the S80, XC60 and XC70 use both the NA V6 and the T6; and the aging XC90 can only be had with the 3.2-liter mill.

Have a look at the full list of changes and pricing information in Volvo’s press blast, below.

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Volvo prices revamped 2014 lineup originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 01 Aug 2013 18:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Drive: 2014 Porsche 911 GT3 [w/video]

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Videos, Porsche, First Drives, Racing

The Bearable Lightness Of Being

Start with a standard Porsche 911 Carrera and its 350-horsepower, 3.6-liter flat six-cylinder engine. Bore a crepe-thin slice of aluminum from each cylinder to get to 3.8 liters, add a wider track out back and two extra exhaust pipes and voila, you can append an S to the Carrera’s name. Hang two sets of wet, multi-disc clutches along its spine and you can make that a 4, or a 4S. Bolt on two forced-induction compressors and piping, add two fender vents and comically wide rear tires and you’ve redeemed your ticket to a Turbo. Increase the boost pressure and swell the corral to 560 horses and you have the Turbo S, which is the Virginia Slims of the 911 line-up because it’s come a long way, baby.

Or you can go in a different direction. At that second stop, grab the 3.8-liter and cart it over to the engineers at Porsche’s development center in Weissach, Germany. If racing were meat, they would be among the alpha carnivores. The baseboards in their homes are probably painted with miniature billboards for motor oil and vintage cigarettes along the straights, red-and-white stripes around every corner.

Instead of watching them add things to the 911, watch them take away. They will subtract the kinds of things you can feel in your hands, like components and weight and mass. By doing that, they will add the things you can feel in your butt and your gut, like acceleration and handling and thrill.

That has been the formula for the previous four generations of the 911 GT3, and it is that same incantation chanted over this fifth generation 991-based GT3. It’s stiffer, more powerful, faster and handles better than the coupe that came before it. It weighs more than the outgoing model, but it also – as we’ve come to expect – has more power.

And when Thomas Jefferson’s line “Every generation needs a revolution” was the opening quote of the press conference that introduced the 2014 911 GT3, the easy explanation would be that the speaker was referring to the coupe’s advances. But we’re pretty sure he was answering the question everyone’s been asking since the words “PDK-only” began being applied to the car: “What in Gott‘s name have you done with my manual transmission?”

Continue reading 2014 Porsche 911 GT3 [w/video]

2014 Porsche 911 GT3 [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 01 Aug 2013 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Official: 2014 BMW 328d rated at 32/45 mpg

Filed under: Sedan, Wagon, BMW, Diesel, Luxury

2014 BMW 328d

BMW still hasn’t released official fuel economy numbers for its diesel-powered 2014 328d, but now, those mileage ratings have been posted on the EPA’s FuelEconomy.gov website. As expected, the 328d is quite an efficient little machine, with the rear-wheel-drive sedan good for 32 miles per gallon in the city and 45 mpg highway. That even bests the 30/42 mpg of the smaller Volkswagen Jetta TDI.

The last time BMW offered a diesel 3 Series in our market, it was the six-cylinder 335d, which – while mighty quick and excellent to drive – was only offered as a rear-wheel-drive sedan and was rated at 23 mpg city and 36 mpg highway. For 2014, BMW will offer the 328d with optional xDrive all-wheel drive, though that reduces the fuel economy numbers to 31/43 mpg. Beyond that, the BMW will even sell you a 328d xDrive wagon, which nets the same 31/43 mpg rating, according to FuelEconomy.gov.

Look for the 2014 BMW 328d to hit dealerships this fall, and when it launches, it will be the only diesel offering in its class (until the next Mercedes-Benz C-Class arrives, anyway). Lexus and Infiniti will offer hybrid versions of the IS and Q50, respectively, but we’ve always had a taste for torque, and the 328d’s 2.0-liter engine with 180 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of twist shouldn’t disappoint.

2014 BMW 328d rated at 32/45 mpg originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Drive: 2014 Hyundai Equus

Filed under: Sedan, Hyundai, First Drives, Luxury

A Lesson In How To Out-Lexus The LS

2014 Hyundai Equus Ultimate

I think that the new BMW 4 Series is an attractive coupe. The design is a little bit on the wrong side of “fussy” I’ll grant you, and I don’t particularly care for the look of the scalloped, black-bordered vents on the fender sides – functional though they may be. But for the most part, I find the coupe to be pretty pleasing to look at.

You all, by and large, do not care for the 4 Series. (For the sake of constructing my intellectual argument, I’m going to make the ridiculous statistical assumption that the 140 or so comments on our 4 Series First Drive provide a representative opinion of our readership as a whole.) In the first 24 hours after we published our review of the car, you felt moved to comment that it was “ugly,” “REALLY ugly” and “a disappointment” among other, less reprintable statements of ardor.

So clearly we see things a little differently in terms of styling, but what does any of this have to do with the 2014 Hyundai Equus?

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2014 Hyundai Equus originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Official: 2014 Ford F-150 gets CNG option

Filed under: Truck, Work, Ford

Ford is toiling away, installing heavy-duty engine components into select 3.7-liter V6s to allow them to run on compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquid petroleum gas (LPG) in addition to gasoline. That’s nothing new, but now, Ford has announced that it will offer the 2014 F-150 with this engine configuration, bringing the Blue Oval’s total number of CNG/LPG-friendly vehicles up to eight. The F-150 will be the only half-ton pickup on the market that can run on these gases.

Ford will charge $315 per vehicle to equip the optional engine, but the trucks won’t be ready to run on the alternative fuels straight from the factory and must be upfitted with additional equipment. A Ford Qualified Vehicle Modifier will install a separate fuel system for the compressed gases at a cost of $7,500 to $9,500, depending on fuel tank size. With the right-size tank, the F-150 equipped with the CNG/LPG-prepped engine can go 750 miles on one tank of gas, according to Ford, averaging 23 miles per gallon.

The practice of offering flex-fuel vehicles is gaining momentum as businesses take advantage of cheap gas. CNG can be bought for $2.11/gallon on average (per gasoline equivalent), and sometimes for as little as $1.00 in some parts of the US, Ford states. “With the money saved using CNG, customers could start to see payback on their investment in as little as 24 to 36 months,” says Jon Coleman, Ford’s fleet sustainability and technology manager. The automaker expects to sell a total of 15,000 CNG/LPG-prepped vehicles in the 2014 model year.

Check out the press release below to read the details, and to see what other vehicles Ford offers with the CNG/LPG package.

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2014 Ford F-150 gets CNG option originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Official: 2014 Audi RS7 priced from $104,900* in the US [w/video]

Filed under: Car Buying, Performance, Hatchback, Audi, Luxury

2014 Audi RS7

Audi has officially priced the svelte 2014 RS7 from $104,900 (*not including $825 for destination), undercutting its sole competitor, the BMW M6 Gran Coupe, by $8100. Even when we’re talking about six-figure super sedans, that’s not a small amount of money. And soon, this class of sleek stormers will be joined by the updated Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG 4Matic.

With its combination of a twin-turbocharged, 4.0-liter, 560-horsepower V8 engine and Audi’s excellent Quattro all-wheel drive, the RS7 is expected to hit 60 miles per hour in just 3.7 seconds, 0.4 seconds faster than the manufacturer estimate for the M6 Gran Coupe.

We’ve already given the RS7 a thorough shakedown in Europe, and we came away quite impressed with just how stunning this Audi is, both to drive and to look at. Now that we’ve got a price to go along with the performance and style, this Audi is even more appealing – in our high-dollar dreams, anyway. Take a look at a short video from Audi, as well as the official press blast, below.

Continue reading 2014 Audi RS7 priced from $104,900* in the US [w/video]

2014 Audi RS7 priced from $104,900* in the US [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 30 Jul 2013 15:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Chrysler delays 2014 Jeep Cherokee media launch

Filed under: Jeep

2014 Jeep Cherokee

Chrysler is making the unusual move of delaying the first media drives of the 2014 Jeep Cherokee, which were slated to start next week in Seattle. And while something like this is a rare occurrence, and one that most of the Autoblog staff can’t recall happening this publicly or so close to the event itself, it won’t effect the actual on-sale date of the new Cherokee, which is set to hit showrooms in September.

“Over the last couple of weeks during final quality and durability testing, we have discovered the opportunity to further improve powertrain calibration,” Chrysler told Automotive News. This marks the second notable delay in the Cherokee’s short life, after production was delayed for roughly a month earlier this summer.

Still, we’d rather Chrysler make sure the Cherokee is ready for primetime before flying media in from around the country. It shows a willingness to get things right the first time, rather than offering media drives and then tweaking the car after the fact.

A simple look at the Cherokee’s powertrain is all that’s needed to understand how big of a deal it is. Everything under the oddly styled CUV’s hood is new, from a tweaked 2.4-liter engine to a new 3.2-liter V-6, to the first use of Chrysler Group’s new nine-speed automatic, developed jointly with ZF. The pressure to get this right must be immense. We’ll find out if Chrysler succeeds in September.

Chrysler delays 2014 Jeep Cherokee media launch originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 30 Jul 2013 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Drive: 2014 Toyota Tundra

Filed under: Truck, Toyota, First Drives

Raising A White Flag To The Competition

2014 Toyota Tundra

We all benefit from highly competitive battles. In the automotive sector, few campaigns are so closely fought as the decades-long struggle for supremacy in the fullsize half-ton pickup truck segment. The Ford F-150 has dominated for ages, but Chevrolet, Ram and GMC have been closing the gap with freshly redesigned trucks that are rocking the industry.

Today’s half-ton trucks are better than they’ve ever been, and we have fierce competition to thank for that.

But where does the segment leave a truck from an automaker that has chosen to no longer fight and deliver its best product? What kind of vehicle comes from a company that has relinquished any desire to strive for the top of the class – one who is now content offering nothing more than minor updates and mediocrity in an aim to placate brand loyalists?

Such a calculated underachiever would look a lot like the 2014 Toyota Tundra.

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2014 Toyota Tundra originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 30 Jul 2013 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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