Tag: cars

Video: Gran Turismo 6 to get exclusive concept cars from Aston, BMW, Nike and more

Filed under: Concept Cars, Motorsports, Performance, Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, GM, Honda, Infiniti, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Peugeot, Alfa Romeo, Toys/Games, Racing, SRT

Vision Gran Turismo video

Much like a real conflict, the console wars being waged between Microsoft and Sony spill into a number of different battlefields and theaters. Home to some of the fiercest fighting is the racing genre, which sees Microsoft’s Forza Motorsport series go head-to-head with Sony’s Gran Turismo series. While there’s been plenty of press about Forza, GT has just struck back with some news that we aren’t sure Turn 10 Studios and Microsoft can match.

When Gran Turismo 6 arrives on the Playstation 4 on December 6, it’s with the promise of a huge suite of free, downloadable content featuring some of the finest cars from manufacturers, design houses and brands from across the globe. The staggered release will see the free content distributed from 2013 to 2014, although it’s unclear just how many cars will be distributed in total or in each car pack.

Vision includes concepts from Alfa Romeo, Alpine, Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, General Motors, Honda, Infiniti, Mercedes-Benz, Peugeot, SRT, and Volkswagen, along with vehicles from legendary design studios like Bertone, Italdesign Giugiaro, and Zagato. Following in the footsteps of previous GT games, global brands like Nike will take part as well. Conspicuous by absence are past GT partners Citroen and Red Bull, although we doubt that this is a comprehensive list. We’re expecting plenty of surprises when DLC starts arriving.

This news is a blow to the Forza series, which while impressive in its own right (and this author’s preferred title), has seemingly struggled to have the same degree of legitimacy and exclusivity inherent in the titles from Polyphony. Gran Turismo 6 is slated for a December 6 debut. Check back here for more info and a full write-up of the new game before then. Until then, scroll down for a trailer on Vision Gran Turismo and a complete press release from Polyphony.

Continue reading Gran Turismo 6 to get exclusive concept cars from Aston, BMW, Nike and more

Gran Turismo 6 to get exclusive concept cars from Aston, BMW, Nike and more originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 21 Aug 2013 17:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Luca doesn’t believe in electric cars, but Ferrari will build more hybrids

Filed under: Hybrid, Performance, Technology, Ferrari

2014 Ferrari LaFerrari at Geneva

Confirming what we’d long suspected, the hybrid powertrain in the Ferrari LaFerrari was not a one-time thing. “I don’t believe in the electric cars, but I strongly believe in hybrids,” Ferrari boss Luca Cordero di Montezemolo tells Bloomberg. It’s unclear when we’ll see another hybrid Ferrari, though, as the automaker’s current lineup is quite fresh – the oldest model is the California, which was updated for the 2013 model year – but make no mistake, there are more electrified cars coming from Maranello. “The answer is yes,” Montezemolo told Bloomberg when asked about hybrids, although he was quick to add “without exceeding.” It’s that last part that is key for enthusiasts of the gas engine.

Ferrari’s move towards hybrid powertrains reflects a pair of trends in both the political and motorsports spheres. Politically, automakers, even exotics, are being pushed to produce cars with cleaner emissions, or in many cases, no emissions at all. Look no further than the Range Rover Hybrid, which was just announced. Formula One’s push towards hybridization and smaller engines is also informing decisions at Ferrari, with the LaFerrari already using hybrid tech already inspired by the sport.

Still, it’s reassuring to know that while Ferrari is pushing forward with future technologies, that the gas engine won’t go the way of the manual transmission in Maranello – at least in the near term.

Luca doesn’t believe in electric cars, but Ferrari will build more hybrids originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 21 Aug 2013 14:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Two new RWD Toyota sports cars to join FR-S?

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Scion, Toyota, Rumormill

2013 Scion FR-S

Toyota as we know it could become a thing of the past. According to Australian site Car Advice, the Japanese brand known for bland cruisers like the Camry and Corolla is preparing to bring two new rear-drive cars to market that would slot above and below the Scion-badged FR-S. This is very, very good news.

Car Advice spoke to the GT86/FR-S’ chief engineer, Tatsuya Tada, who claimed, “Akio Toyoda always says to me, Toyota sports car [family] should be three sports car brothers. 86 is in the middle.” The oldest “brother” would be the spiritual successor to the Supra, even if it doesn’t wear that name. Tada is in charge of that project, while a sub-GT86 project is being headed-up elsewhere.

Tada refused to comment on names (CA specifically mentions MR2 and Celica) for the new small car, but did say that, “Yes it is rear-wheel drive and that’s Toyota’s strong position – Toyota sports car must be rear-wheel drive.” Perhaps the juiciest bit of information obtained from Tada’s interview with Car Advice was his hinting that both new sports cars would be joint ventures, like the GT86/FR-S/Subaru BRZ triplets. Tada wouldn’t say who Toyota was in bed with on the smaller model, but did mention that the Supra would be a product of the world’s largest automaker’s partnership with BMW.

Now, things can and do change often, so we’d advise taking this information with a grain of salt. Still, the above report basically confirms a 2012 story on the return of the MR2 and Supra, while filling in a few blank details, like the fact that both cars will be join projects with other manufacturers. Looks like the next few years will be exciting for Toyota fans.

Two new RWD Toyota sports cars to join FR-S? originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 09 Aug 2013 14:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: CarTube answers what happens when you add YouTube to cars

Filed under: Videos, Humor

Braly Political makes a video about what would happen if YouTube made apps for cars. Enter CarTube.

We’ve already found out what can happen to people when they drive while operating their cell phones, and it can be tragic. There are plenty of studies on distracted driving that show use of mobile devices while behind the wheel is both dangerous and increasingly commonplace, and the obvious solution, voice-controlled technology, might also be more dangerous than we thought.

But technology doesn’t slow down for anybody. With digital media devices becoming an inescapable part of our lives, YouTube applications have become so popular that the video service can be operated on almost anything with a screen. But there’s one frontier YouTube hasn’t conquered: the automobile. Could you imagine what would happen if we could watch videos on car windshields, or had a keyboards mounted to steering wheels? We’re glad Barely Political dared to imagine (but we hope YouTube doesn’t), and then made a hilariously creepy video about it for YouTube’s Geek Week called Introducing CarTube. All we ask is that this one stays in the idea box.

We won’t spoil the fun, so be sure to watch the video below – this one shouldn’t be missed!

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CarTube answers what happens when you add YouTube to cars originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 08 Aug 2013 19:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Study: Six small cars earn IIHS Top Safety Pick+ awards [w/video]

Filed under: Coupe, Budget, Sedan, Safety, Hatchback, Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, Scion, Volkswagen

2013 Honda Civic Sedan IIHS crash test
IIHS Top Safety Pick + Award
The Insurance Institute For Highway Safety has released the results of its latest small overlap front crash tests, and there’s a surprise among small cars. IIHS tested 12 cars, half of which managed “Good” or “Acceptable” ratings overall, qualifying them for the the coveted Top Safety Pick+.

Top Safety Pick+ is still a fairly rare achievement since the new small overlap crash tests were instituted, as it’s taken manufacturers time to design, engineer, build and bring to market cars that can score well on the new metric.

The overlap front crash test covers the car’s structure, restraint systems and kinematics, as well as measuring the “injuries” the crash test dummy’s heads, necks, chests, hips, thighs, legs and feet.

The highest scorers were the Honda Civic Sedan, followed closely by the Civic Coupe. These were also the only two to earn overall scores of “Good.” The Dodge Dart, Ford Focus, Hyundai Elantra and Scion tC all earned acceptable scores overall, which was still enough to qualify them for the TSP+ rating. The bottom half of the test included the Chevrolet Sonic, Volkswagen Beetle, Chevrolet Cruze, Nissan Sentra, Kia Soul and Kia Forte.

Only 25 models have earned the TSP+ rating so far, which requires cars to earn “Good” ratings for occupant protection in four out of five tests, while scoring at least an acceptable on the fifth test.
Click through for the full press release from IIHS, as well as a video

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Six small cars earn IIHS Top Safety Pick+ awards [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 08 Aug 2013 17:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Bloomberg: BMW, Ferrari, VW cars use tungsten mined by terrorists

Filed under: Government/Legal, Plants/Manufacturing, Technology, BMW, Volkswagen, Ferrari, South America

Rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), enter a small town near Miranda, Colombia, Wednesday, April 17, 1996. A column of the same rebel group ambushed a military convoy Monday killing 31 soldiers and wounding 18 outside the town of Puerres, located 350 miles southwest of Bogota. The FARC are the largest and oldest guerrilla group in Colombia. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Bloomberg Markets is reporting that BMW, Volkswagen and Ferrari have been using tungsten ore sourced from Colombia’s FARC rebel terrorists. The extensive story focuses on Colombia’s illegal mining trade and calls into question the provenance of the rare ore that is used not only in crankshaft parts production, but is also found in the world’s computing and telecommunications industry for use in screens.

The ore is mined by the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army), and exported to Pennsylvania, where it is refined. The refined ore is then sent over to Austria, where a company called Plansee turns it into a finished product. Now, it’s important to note that we aren’t talking about the world’s supply of tungsten here. In 2012, Plansee’s American refinery purchased 93.2 metric tons of tungsten, valued at $1.8 million. That’s peanuts, with the entire Colombian tungsten mining industry producing just one percent of the world’s supplies.

That doesn’t make indirectly supporting FARC any more acceptable, though. BMW, VW and Ferrari are all committed to not accepting mineral supplies from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is also in the grips of a guerrilla insurrection funded, in part, by illegal mining. The same commitment would figure to extend to Colombian mining, but as BMW points out, it’s difficult for a multi-national manufacturer to know where every item in its supply chain comes from. A company spokesperson says as much, telling Bloomberg, “These few grams out of the billions of tons of raw materials passing through the BMW supply chain are of no practical relevance.”

This response is perhaps somewhat blasé, but BMW, Ferrari and Volkswagen aren’t directly negotiating with the FARC rebels, and we’d be stunned if the three manufacturers were even aware of where the tungsten was coming from. By the time it arrives in their respective factories, it’s traveled from Colombia, to Pennsylvania to Austria, making for a rather difficult web of countries and networks to track. Even so, with Bloomberg drawing a spotlight on the activities, we’re assuming a few phone calls are going to be made.

Bloomberg: BMW, Ferrari, VW cars use tungsten mined by terrorists originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 08 Aug 2013 13:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Baby boomers now buying more new cars than their children

Filed under: Car Buying

a row of new cars parked at a...

Could it be that the automobile’s luster has faded over the years, that cars have become less synonymous with youth and freedom to Generation Y? A study by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute clearly says yes, but that’s not the whole story, Bloomberg reports. Though young people are buying fewer new cars, baby boomers, the crowd born between 1946 and 1964, are buying more new cars.

Young people aren’t flocking to buy used cars, either … there’s a growing percentage of them who legally can’t drive.

People aged 55-64 had the highest rate of new-vehicle purchases in 2011, according to the study, and they’ve become the age group most likely to buy a new car. Just four years ago, the population aged 35-44 was most likely to buy a new car, which goes to show how much the auto industry and its customer base has changed since the recession in 2008. But the decline in miles driven by Americans started in 2004, according to another study by the University of Michigan, much of which has been related to lifestyle choices, such as urban living and public transit.

“The car was a phenomenon of the 20th century,” says John Wolkonowicz, an automotive historian and former Ford product planner. Young people aren’t flocking to buy used cars, either. The data of registered drivers in the US shows that they’re not just avoiding new car purchases, there’s a growing percentage of them who legally can’t drive. In 2011, only 79 percent of drivers aged 20-24 had driver licenses, compared with 92 percent in 1983. Conversely, the percentage of the population aged 60-64 with driver licenses is 93 percent today, but was 84 percent in 1983.

So what can an automaker do? Marketing hasn’t helped sway young people, as vehicles like the Honda Element, which was aimed at 25-year-olds, were bought more by baby boomers, says John Morel, a market researcher for Honda. “But your propensity to buy a car at 25 is roughly a quarter of what it is at 65,” he relates. “By definition, very few cars sell in high volume to 20-somethings.”

Baby boomers now buying more new cars than their children originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 07 Aug 2013 11:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: High-speed bicycle inspired by land-speed-record cars

Filed under: Etc., Videos, UK

Land-speed-record bicycle

Inspired by the backyard engineering of land-speed racers who built 600+miles-per-hour rockets on wheels, bicycle frame builder Tom Donhou built a bike intended to exceed 100 mph under pedal power alone. As the mini-documentary video below attests, Donhou was able to reach about 80 mph behind his aerodynamically optimized Ford Zephyr 6 draft car (complete with column-mounted manual shifter), but he’ll need a draft car with a higher top speed if he wants to top 100 mph.

To pedal the bicycle to such a high speed, Donhou also needs the correct gearing to get him there. The huge 104-tooth chain ring connected to a 13-tooth sprocket should suffice, as he proved with a run to 102 mph on rollers. Don’t expect to see him riding up any hills, though you may soon spot him testing the bike on public roads behind his next draft car: a friend’s more capable Ford Capri Cosworth.

We hope the Capri’s much higher top speed will allow Donhou to go even faster on his next run, but until then, watch his first experiment in speed in the nicely produced video below.

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High-speed bicycle inspired by land-speed-record cars originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 03 Aug 2013 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ETC: Mercedes drastically reduces size of S-Class with new model cars

Filed under: Mercedes-Benz, Toys/Games

Mercedes-Benz S-Class scale models

Mercedes-Benz takes its all-new S-Class quite seriously, even by German standards. So it shouldn’t come as a shock that even a scale-model Sonderklasse is carefully crafted. The miniatures in question cover the 2014 S-Class and come courtesy of three brands, in three different sizes, and are available through the Mercedes-Benz Collection.

The largest, and not surprisingly priciest, model is a 1:18-scale (making it about 11.4 inches long) creation from Norev. It features 145 individual parts, with opening and closing doors, trunk, and hood. For those that like to play with their expensive toys, the Norev S-Class comes with gloves. Dropping down the line is a 1:43-scale from Schuco that sits at 4.5 inches long. Like the larger model, it has a sunroof, detailed headlights, and multi-spoke wheels. With 55 parts, the doors, hood, and trunk can’t be manipulated, but it does come on a stylish plinth, with a case. The smallest model is by Herpa, and is a tiny 1:87-scale (about 2.3 inches long) miniature. Only 26 parts are used, but like the Schuco, it comes on a plinth and with a case.

All three models come with a choice of three paints, with Diamond White Metallic available across the range. The Norev model adds Blue Anthracite and Iridium Silver, while the Schuco can be had in Diamond Silver and Magnetite Black. The Herpa, meanwhile, runs a mix of the two, with Blue Anthracite and Magnetite Black.

Pricing is only available in euros, and includes Germany’s 19-percent value added tax. The Norev is 79.90 euros ($106.06), the Schuco is 29.90 euros ($39.69) and the Herpa is 15.90 euros ($21.11, all conversions are today’s rates.) Scroll down below for a press release from Mercedes.

Continue reading Mercedes drastically reduces size of S-Class with new model cars

Mercedes drastically reduces size of S-Class with new model cars originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 01 Aug 2013 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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‘What On Earth!’ documentary shows how cars might look to aliens

Filed under: Etc., Videos

what on earth screen grab

What On Earth coverThere’s a classic The Far Side comic where two aliens, cleverly disguised as traffic lights, discuss eliminating the Earth’s population slowly, one at a time. The joke, of course, is that things aren’t always what they seem.

Apparently, filmmakers Les Drew and Kaj Pindal had a similar idea back in 1966, when they made the animated short called What on Earth! The nine-minute movie is a satirical look at Earth from outer space. Specifically, when Martians arrive on our blue rock, they assume, based on the observable conditions, the automobile is the dominant species. It’s a warm and funny little video, especially the part about how getting crushed and heading to the junk yard is an individual’s final contribution to society. The Film Board says, “This animated short proposes what many earthlings have long feared – that the automobile has inherited the planet. When life on Earth is portrayed as one long, unending conga-line of cars, a crew of extra-terrestrial visitors understandably assume they are the dominant race. While humans, on the other hand, are merely parasites.”

What On Earth! was nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Short in 1967, but lost to something called The Box. Produced by the National Film Board of Canada, the movie was shown in theaters and on ABC television in the US in the 1960s. Now, it is available for your viewing pleasure simply by clicking below.

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‘What On Earth!’ documentary shows how cars might look to aliens originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Tue, 30 Jul 2013 19:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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