Tag: model

Rumormill: First 1K next-gen Mustangs to carry 2014 1/2 model year?

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Ford, Rumormill

Next-gen Ford Mustang spy shots - profile view, camouflaged

A new report from Mustangs Daily, citing insider sources at Ford, tells us that the Blue Oval will produce 1,000 next-generation Mustangs with the model year designation of 2014 ½, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the storied marque. The commemorative half-year designation is a rumor that’s been swirling in Mustang forums for quite some time now, and seems more plausible than ever with this most recent report. Certainly it’s not far-fetched to believe that Ford will want to make a big deal of the golden anniversary for its most-loved model.

The story (compiled by Drew Phillips, who runs the aforementioned Mustang site when he’s not directing the photography on these pages) goes on to say that the limited-run cars will be the first built on the new Mustang platform internally known as S550 (and spied testing in the attached gallery). Each car is said to carry a “special” VIN and build number, though no performance upgrades versus the 2015 cars to follow are in the works. A collector’s dream then, rather than a weekend racer’s.

First 1K next-gen Mustangs to carry 2014 1/2 model year? originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 18 Jul 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ETC: Buick celebrates 110 years by naming most significant model of each decade

Filed under: Classics, Etc., Buick, Design/Style

1963 Buick Riviera

In May of 1903, Buick began work on its first vehicle, the 1904 Model B, the first example of which was sold to a doctor in Flint, Michigan. That first sale was appropriate since later on, Buick became known as a “doctor’s car.” The Model B is the first of 11 cars chosen by Buick to highlight each decade of the company’s 110-year history.

The 1916 D-45 Touring with a six-cylinder engine was Buick’s highest seller that year, and helped push overall sales past six figures for the first time, making Buick the top-selling automotive brand. In 1931, Series 50 got an eight-cylinder engine, which helped the company survive the Great Depression. The 1936 Century was the first Buick that could hit 100 miles per hour, the 1949 Roadmaster had a supporting role in Rain Man, the 1953 Skylark had Italian wire wheels and the owner’s name engraved on its steering wheel.

Then we have the iconic 1963 Riviera, the V6-powered 1975 Regal, and in 1987, the legendary GNX. With a turbocharged, intercooled V6 pumping out 276-horsepower it could hit 60 mph in just 4.6 seconds. In 1999 Buick built the first car in China, the Century, and that country remains the brand’s largest market.

To represent the current decade, Buick chose the 2008 Enclave because it introduced the company’s current design language and brand focus to the market. You can see photos of all these memorable Buicks in the gallery and read more of the brand’s history in the press release below.

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Buick celebrates 110 years by naming most significant model of each decade originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 23 Jun 2013 17:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tesla Model S battery swap takes just 90 seconds, will track your old battery pack

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Tesla Motors

tesla model s

We’ll link to this 2009 post up front, just to make sure everyone’s clear that the fact that a Tesla EV can, indeed, do battery swaps is old news. Yes, four years ago, we learned the all-electric Model S was designed with battery swaps in mind. Or, as Tesla CEO said tonight, “We designed Model S from the beginning to be capable of swapping out the battery pack faster than you can fill a gas tank.” Are we clear? Good.

Still, last night’s first public demonstration of such a swap – which took place at the Tesla Design Studio in Los Angeles and involved two Model S EVs getting fresh packs before a gas car at “LA’s fastest gas station” filled up its tank with gasoline – represents a big new step in the evolving electric vehicle landscape. With the recent departure of Better Place, no one could blame you if you thought the only reasonable way to travel long-distance in an electric vehicle was to use fast charging (where there are three competing standards: CHAdeMO, SAE Combo and Tesla’s own free Supercharger network). But now Tesla has surprised us all with an official announcement about the Model S battery swap. Tesla has been hinting about the battery swap system for weeks now (1, 2), and here’s what we learned tonight.

Musk framed the choice to Supercharge or swap as one between “free or fast.” While Supercharging costs a Model S driver nothing, getting a new, fully charged battery pack will cost around the same as about 15 gallons of gas (so, let’s say around $60). Later, you can get your old pack back (again, fully charged and for another $60 fee) or you can pay an undetermined fee and keep the pack. Forbes says there will be a warranty available on the replacement pack, depending on its condition.

The pack swap stations, which cost around half-a-million dollars to build, will be installed next to Supercharger locations and will be available in busy Tesla areas, like the I5 corridor in California and between Boston and Washington, DC.

We’ll have more information later today.

Tesla Model S battery swap takes just 90 seconds, will track your old battery pack originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Fri, 21 Jun 2013 02:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: BMW V8-powered Ford Model A is the definition of Hot Rod

Filed under: Aftermarket, Classics, Performance, Truck, Videos, BMW, Ford, Specialty

BMW V8-powered Ford Model A - video screencap

Today, hotrodding has a pretty staid definition. Take one classic American car, add one classic American V8, sprinkle with tire smoke and you pretty much have every hot rod to roll out of a shop in the last 40 years. Mike Borroughs knows it wasn’t always this way. Once upon a time, getting your bucket to go faster meant grabbing whatever parts were lazing about the yard, bolting them together with a bit of ingenuity and laughing your way down the quarter mile. It’s in that spirit that Burroughs built his 1928 Ford Model A.

Rather than turn to the tired flathead or the common Chevrolet small block, Burroughs plucked a 4.0-liter V8 from a 1995 BMW 7 Series. With 300 horsepower and 300 pound-feet of torque, the engine has no trouble shuffling the old A around town. He had to build a custom chassis to get everything to cooperate, but the result is a 1,500-pound heathen that looks built to harass dry lake beds. You can check it out in the video below. Be warned, the soundtrack by Hanni el Khatib may not be safe for work – awesomeness of this caliber rarely is.

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BMW V8-powered Ford Model A is the definition of Hot Rod originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 20 Jun 2013 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tesla Model S recalled for seat safety issue

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Tesla Motors

Tesla Model S at sunset

Back when the first Tesla Model S electric vehicles were rolling off the assembly line in California, CEO Elon Musk was literally checking each vehicle before it went out into the wild. As production ramped up, this was no longer possible. And, not that we’re suggesting the two issues are directly related, now the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Tesla are announcing the first big Model S recall. Tesla’s first NHTSA recall affected the Roadster back in 2009.

The Model S recall affects 1,228 vehicles that were made between May 10 and June 8 of 2013 and is about a possible failure of the seatback mounting. Specifically, “an improper method for aligning the left hand seatback striker to the bracket may have weakened the weld between the bracket and the frame of the vehicle.” What does that mean? “In the event of a crash, the left hand seatback may not stay mounted, increasing the risk of injury to passengers.”

“Tesla has revised assembly procedures and retrained manufacturing technicians.”

The problem happened because Tesla redesigned the joint between the bracket and vehicle to “improve function and reduce weight,” and the new joint was put into place May 10. The new bracket worked just fine, but then, “on June 7, 2013, a technician on the assembly line was adjusting the alignment for the newly designed left hand second row seat striker utilizing a slide hammer when he noticed the action caused the striker to become loose. … Upon review, Tesla Quality determined that the weld and bonding between the second row left hand seat striker mounting plate and the vehicle was compromised due to this method of adjustment.” Since then, “Tesla has revised assembly procedures and retrained manufacturing technicians.”

There have been no complaints or reports of injury about this issue. Tesla will repair the issue in the affected cars, but has not yet said when. Owners should be on the lookout for notification from Tesla if their car is subject to the recall.

You can read more in these PDFs (1, 2), which are letters between Tesla and NHTSA regarding the recall. You can also find more information on the NHTSA site by searching for campaign number 13V249000, and the text of the recall can be seen below.

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Tesla Model S recalled for seat safety issue originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Elon Musk confirms Tesla Model S battery swaps, demo coming this week

Filed under: Emerging Technologies, EV/Plug-in, Tesla Motors

tesla model s red

For something as secret as a battery swap option in the Tesla Model S electric vehicle, we sure have heard rumors about it for years. Four (!) years ago, after all, we knew that the Model S was designed to accommodate battery swaps and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has talked about taking long-distance EV trips that included battery swaps, and Tesla’s proprietary Supercharger network was supposed to have a battery swap component at one time. But then the discussion shifted to focus on that Supercharger network, and how, by stopping for lots of 20-minute sandwiches along the way, a cross-country EV road trip would be totally doable. And, for a while, the Tesla battery swapping talk disappeared.

“Live pack swap demo on Thurs night. Seeing is believing” – Elon Musk

Until, of course, Musk brought it back a month ago by tweeting: “There is a way for the Tesla Model S to be recharged throughout the country faster than you could fill a gas tank.” That set off a fresh search for information, which we now know we will be cleared up later this week.

Yesterday, Musk tweeted: “Live pack swap demo on Thurs night at 8pm California time at our design studio in Hawthorne. Seeing is believing.” He also tweeted that Better Place founder Shai Agassi “actually got the idea from a visit to Tesla. The idea is obvious (many things allow battery swap), but the technology is not.”

We have so many questions about this new option: does it apply to all Model S vehicles? Will it be free, like Supercharging? Will the swap locations be at Tesla stores, Supercharger stations or at other locations? Why is Tesla thinking of battery swaps when it’s also been so bullish on its fast-charging technology? We’ll try to find answers to all of these questions when the first public swap is performed live on Thursday.

Elon Musk confirms Tesla Model S battery swaps, demo coming this week originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Tesla Model S costs one nickel per drag race [w/video]

Filed under: Tesla, Electric

Historically, the intersection between electric vehicles and drag racing has been really small – or so we guess, at least. But the advent of Tesla in the auto marketplace, and the subsequent performance offered up to drivers by way of battery-powered cars, has caused even racy publications like DragTimes to get in on the action.

Having posted several YouTube videos featuring the Tesla Model S doing pulls at the local strip, DragTimes encountered questions about just how many races that car might be able to run before needing to re-juice its battery pack. The publication monitored the energy being used by the Tesla during full-throttle, quarter-mile runs, and determined that the net use (after energy from the regen braking was added back in) amounted to just 0.5 kWh per go. Considering that the full battery capacity is 85 kWh, DragTimes figured that the Model S is good for a remarkable 170 races before needing a recharge. By that math, and using electricity costs in DragTime‘s home state of Florida, each race would cost just a nickel and a penny’s worth of electricity.

With respect, that theoretical number is probably way too high. For starters, the car would expend some energy getting to and from the starting line between races. Perhaps more critically, the system is designed to not allow for a completely full charge or deletion of charge, so the car can’t use all 85 kWh. Still, 100 runs is in the realm of possibility. In the video below, the narrator makes mention of 150 runs, which is optimistic but more likely. Cheap thrills, in any case (once you’ve paid for the car).

Continue reading Tesla Model S costs one nickel per drag race [w/video]

Tesla Model S costs one nickel per drag race [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 14 Jun 2013 19:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: BMW 3 Series production to end in October, next-gen model coming in spring 2012

Filed under: Convertible, Coupe, Sedan, Performance, Europe, BMW, Luxury

2011 BMW 335is

2011 BMW 335is – Click above for high-res image gallery

Production of the current E90 and E92 BMW 3 Series will come to an end for good in October, in preparation for next spring’s launch of the all-new F30 3 Series. Before the gas models bow out, the oil-burning 335d will cease production in August.

The death of the current 3er makes room for a sleeker, less cluttered version of the car which clings closely to the more aggressive new BMW design language. Among the changes will be flatter kidney grilles as well as shorter overhangs, as well as a more muscular stance.

The new 3s will also get a bump in efficiency, with a range of turbocharged four- and six-cylinder mills, with the outside chance of a three-banger joining the lineup later on. The next M3 will ditch V8 power in favor of a twin-turbo inline-six sporting about 450 horsepower.

BMW 3 Series production to end in October, next-gen model coming in spring 2012 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 May 2011 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mercedes-Benz furthers Grand Edition franchise with new GL model

Filed under: Crossover, Mercedes-Benz, Design/Style

Mercedes-Benz GL Grand Edition

Mercedes-Benz GL Grand Edition – Click above for high-res image gallery

Ain’t life grand? Mercedes-Benz seems to think so, as the German automaker recently introduced its Grand Edition lineup, starting with the Sprinter van, and now including the GL-Class crossover.

Available on the entire GL range, the Grand Edition adds unique 20-inch light-alloy wheels, newly designed two-tone leather seats and black ash wood trim inside the cabin. Other grandiose cues include dark-tinted headlamps, a black grille and a redesigned front bumper that incorporates standard LED running lamps for maximum bling effect.

Prices start at €80,206 for the GL350 CDI BlueEfficiency Grand Edition – about $112,716(!) based on current exchange rates – and reach as high as €99,127 ($139,292) for the range-topping GL500. Follow the jump for Merc’s official press release.

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Mercedes-Benz furthers Grand Edition franchise with new GL model originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 23 May 2011 18:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Red Bull Racing to collaborate on Infiniti performance model

Filed under: Performance, Infiniti

Infiniti and Red Bull

History and the contemporary automotive market hold no lack of examples of F1 teams translating their checkered flags into road cars. It’s practically Ferrari’s raison d’être, after all. McLaren’s following suit, as well. Even Williams has collaborated with Renault on performance-oriented Clios, and now with Jaguar on the C-X75. But though each of these teams has claimed its share of championships and then some, these days it’s Red Bull Racing that’s on top. Trouble is – PlayStation fantasies notwithstanding – Red Bull doesn’t make automobiles beyond a small batch of single-seaters for Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel. That’s where Infiniti comes in.

Powered by sister company Renault’s engines, the Red Bull team this year features prominent sponsorship from Infiniti – a move which is expected to turn into a more comprehensive re-branding scheme in the future. In the meantime, Infiniti is keen to capitalize on its tie-in with the world champion F1 team (particularly since its only previous racing activities involved limited success in converting the Q45’s V8 for Indy racing), and now reports are suggesting that a collaborative road car project between Red Bull Racing and Infiniti could be underway.

Citing the Renault Clio Williams as precedent, the Japanese luxury automaker is reportedly looking into making a performance-oriented version of one of its current products to go beyond the current Infiniti Performace Line. The G37 coupe would be the likeliest basis, but a substantial re-engineering effort could (unlike the Renault Williams tie-up) involve the F1 team’s engineers to transfer their competencies to the road. Sources expect the project to be complete within two years from now.

Red Bull Racing to collaborate on Infiniti performance model originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 23 May 2011 17:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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