Sunday, November 1, 2009
BMW M6 from Prior Design
Company Prior Design has presented a new expanding bodi-whale and the program of easy modernisation of engine for BMW M6. With a front part designers did not begin to subtilize, having tried to make it whenever possible more simple and elegant.
The aerodynamic complete set consists of the modifed front fenders, new thresholds and the new expanded rear wheel arches. As a result the body has extended on 80 mm that has allowed to improve roadability and to create sensation of sports dynamics. Besides, for better hearing on the car have established muffler PD made manually with four exhaust pipes from noncorrosive steel. Besides it, for the car complete sets of 20 and 21-inch disks and an option of drop of a ground clearance on 30 mm in front and 25 mm behind are offered.
Ford Kuga will be produced in USA
Dollar exchange rate falling under the relation in the European currency and presence of free capacities to the USA force company management Ford to transfer manufacture of cars from Europe to America. According to agency Bloomberg, crossover Ford Kuga becomes the first European model which will move for ocean, – in 2011 this car will start to assemble not in Germany, and in America in the State of Kentucky.
Simultaneously with it in the USA sale Kuga which could be bought till now only in the Old World will begin. Thus about 80 000 assembled in America Kuga will be then delivered to Europe. Certainly, from the point of view of logistics it is not too convenient, however, at the expense of lower cost price of manufacture of cars in the USA, it will be all the same more favourable, than to do cars in the Old World.
Soal Mobil Hybrid, RI Ketinggalan dari Malaysia
Pemerintah Malaysia akan memberikan potongan pajak bagi produsen otomotif yang mengembangkan mobil hybrid ataupun listrik, agar industri otomotif Malaysia lebih kompetitif bila mengacu pada keberhasilan Thailand.
"Memang Thailand telah mengembangkan otomotifnya dengan lebih baik, tapi mereka terlambat dalam mengembangkan mobil hybrid," ujar Menteri Perdagangan dan Industri Malaysia Mustapa Mohamad, seperti dilansir The New York Times, Senin (2/11/2009).
Di bawah peraturan baru, produsen asing diizinkan untuk memiliki 100 persen produksi pembuatan mobil hybrid dan listrik.
Thailand, yang memikat produsen mobil asing seperti Toyota, Honda, General Motors dan Ford Motor untuk membangun pabrik-pabrik di zona industri sebelah timur Bangkok, kini menjadi negara eksportir ketiga di Asia setelah Jepang dan Korea Selatan.
Asosiasi Otomotif Malaysia, yang menaungi produsen mobil domestik, memuji langkah pemerintah untuk memberikan insentif bagi produsen otomotif untuk mengembangkan mobil hybrid dan listrik.
"Ini adalah langkah yang benar, dan kita dapat bergerak maju untuk berusaha mengejar ketinggalan dengan Thailand," kata presiden asosiasi tersebut, Aishah Ahmad.
Analis di Kuala Lumpur mengatakan, kebijakan baru Malaysia ini mungkin akan menarik produsen mobil Eropa seperti Volkswagen, Peugeot dan Volvo, bahwa di bawah aturan baru ini, mereka akan mampu menghasilkan mobil hybrid dan listrik.
GYM concept car makes you exercise for your ride
Sure, you can plug it into the wall for easy charging, but that wouldn’t be as much fun as hopping on the car’s stepping machine, grunting through a few reps on its bench press, rowing for a while and then doing a set of pull-ups.
Only thing missing is pushups, but wait, that might be possible by strapping the car’s arm weights onto your back. So Corporal, you want to go Oscar Mike? Hit the deck and give me twenty!
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Air Hogs Zero Gravity Micro R/C cars will drive you up the wall (or ceiling)
A powerful fan built into the top of the car creates a venturi effect between the bottom of the car and the wall, effectively sucking it onto the surface. Just keep your fingers crossed that the batteries don't happen die at an inopportune moment.
'2030' future car: a solar-powered van good for you or the Pope
Stamati's vision of 2030 has us driving in solar-powered, four-seater, door-slidin' boxy cars with green windows and plenty of visibility. A cylindrical add-on can be fixed to the rear of the vehicle for extra seating (complete with a bar-style desk), and, also located at the rear, there are two electric engines. Both engines must be a bit on the weak side as the 2030 future car tops out at 20 miles per hour. That means it's probably only good for short-range urban driving or for use in special situations, such as at large amusement parks. Come to think of it looking at the 2030 you could also slap some bulletproof windows on there and you got the Pope's next glass-cage-on-wheels. And this one actually looks good to boot.
Wind-powered cars go where the breezes carry them
That doesn't mean there aren't people working on wind-powered vehicles, however. InVentus has just won the Racing Aeolus 2008 competition, which pits wind powered vehicles against each other. The InVentus vehicle weighs in at a mere 286 pounds before the driver gets in, which allows it to pick up a good deal of momentum from its propeller on the back when it catches a breeze. Is it going to replace gas-powered cars anytime soon? No, but it's nice to see some alternatives out there being worked on.
Greased Lightning: 100MPG biodiesel hybrid blasts from 0 to 60 in 5.9 seconds
The ambitious Colorado company with a staff of 12 says the car will be ready for production in 2011, with a three-wheeled version rolling out even sooner, in 2010. The 100MPG cars are expected to sell for between $39,000 and $59,000, and are candidates for the Automotive X-Prize, with $10 million going to the winner of a stage race of 100MPG vehicles.
This is one wild-looking ride, with its split rear window and lift-up door hatch for easy entry. Its three-cylinder turbo biodiesel is augmented by a hydraulic pump/motor, whooshing an additional 150hp into the wheels of this pocket rocket. Amazing. Click Continue to take a look at the video.
Crazy looking Honda Zeppelin features swiveling front seats
The front seats of the Zeppelin swivel 180° (when the vehicle isn't in motion, or that's the plan), so that the occupants can interact with one another as if they were in a living room instead.
Supposedly the glamor of air travel inspired both the curvy, crazy exterior and the more personal interior thus the Zeppelin. I don't want to sound like a downer, but when I think of flying on a plane lately, I don't think of having space to stretch my legs or wanting to talk to the folks around me. Still, pretty car.
Evolusi Sepeda Motor
Skyline R34 GTR Nissan Super Sports Car (Sports Car and a Sedan)
The interior of Nissan Skyline R34 GTR is simple, sporty, and luxurious, with plenty of head and leg room for taller drivers. Seats are comfy for long trips yet still hold you in when cornering hard. Center gauges have been replaced with a LCD screen. This shows loads of information like, throttle position, boost pressure, torque split, a built in G-meter, and it has a com-port so you can download your trips data onto a laptop.
And it makes this compromise asconvincing as hardly any other car does.These refinements make driving the GTR a pleasure with every aspect improved. Steering is responsive and grip is phenomenal making Nissan Skyline R34 GTR a true cornering machine. Ride quality is on the firm side but harsh bumps are absorbed well, but this is asports car after all.
Turbo chargers where also revised featuring a dual ball bearing core which reduced lag and improved the power band. The gearbox was replaced by a 6-speedgetrag which features, shorter ratios, and a shorter throws. Acceleration times have improved, 0-100 is achieved in 4.9
seconds and the 400m sprint in completed in 12.9.
Namir Hybrid Eco-Powered Concept Cars The"fastest hybrid car in the world."814cc rotary engine 400V lithium polymer battery
Those stats are staggering--they make it sound as if we should all be driving Namirs just for the sake of saving the planet. Such a shame that this machine will probably never make it past the concept phase. As Jalopnik puts it: "Odds Of Production: 99,999,000,000-to-1." Though even if it did surpass the "just a dream" stage and make it onto the roads, you can bet its price wouldn't look very different from that number.
DB-ONE Aston Martin by designer Ruben Vela Super Sports Car Concept
The DB-ONE concept is a proposal for an extreme Aston Martin, with classical proportions combined with ultramodern surfaces resulting in a fresh vehicle which also represents the traditions associated with Aston Martin.
In designing the Aston Martin DB-ONE Vela took the elements essential to Aston Martin, large front grille, long bonnet and side vents and created a car with an immense sense of movement, based around the idea of tension - beginning with the grille and moving back towards the rear of the car.
The rear of the Aston Martin DB-ONE concept is extremely clean due to the small gap in the tail which hides the taillights and a rear diffuser provides a neat finish to the design.
Although the Aston Martin DB-ONE is an independent design created outside the company and exists only on a computer and as a scale model, Aston Martin's new owners, Prodrive, could certainly take note of a few styling ideas introduced by Vela on the DB-ONE concept.
Cars and environment Green cars: Genuine or a marketing tool?
“The ‘green’ tag, particularly in Indonesia, is nothing more than an effort to gain more buyers. Global environmental consciousness is providing manufacturers new excuses to market their products,” Indah Sukmaningsih, a member of the Indonesian Consumer Protection Foundation (YLKI), told a seminar Thursday.
Some car manufacturers have promoted their “green” cars, which they say are less harmful to the environment than comparable conventional vehicles.
Toyota for example, has recently launched its hybrid car, the Toyota Prius, which runs on two power sources, a gasoline engine and electric batteries.
Johnny Darmawan, president director of PT Toyota Astra Motor, claimed the Toyota Prius produced very little CO2 emission and used recyclable materials.
“Prius’ Power Split Device [PSD] makes constant automatic adjustments to the power ratio from electric motor and gasoline engine according to the situation,” he said.
“On a flat road, for example, it uses only the electric motor to run the car at medium speeds. At an incline, it will automatically turn on the combustion engine to produce more power. So the car is also fuel-efficient,” Johnny added.
PT Honda Prospect Motor is also planning to sell cars under the Honda Civic brand that consume less fuel and are considered environment-friendly.
Indah, however, said that it was not enough to be called “green”.
She cited the issue of fuel quality in Indonesia, which has yet to meet environment-friendly criteria.
“No matter how ‘green’ your car is, as long as the fuel still has high sulfur content, it will produce noxious, harmful emissions,” Indah said.
“Becoming ‘green’ is supposed to be a comprehensive concept that requires everyone’s involvement, not just industry. So if the stakeholder institutions still work unilaterally, everything they call ‘green’ will be misleading.”
Indah also criticized the government which, she said, seemed to prioritize maximizing income from vehicle taxes while neglecting environmental issues.
In response, Panggah Susanto, the Industry Ministry’s director for land and military transportation industries, said the environment issue was not his responsibility.
“We focus only on the industrial sectors. The automotive industry is a major employer and contributes the most to the regional budget in all regions throughout the country, so we must be sensitive when designing policy that will affect this sector.”
Chevrolet Corvette GTR by Specter Werkes/Sports
These
days, you just can’t build a fast car without carbon fiber; apparently, the guys at Specter Werkes/Sports know that, and they’ve liberally applied the stuff to their Corvette GTR. Chief among the carbon-y items on this wicked Corvette Z06–based machine are the sweet HRE CF40 carbon-fiber wheels, which are wrapped with Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 tires. Weighing in at only 22 pounds each, the wheels reduce unsprung weight, meaning this beast will have even less trouble breakin’ ’em loose and ripping off one massive burnout.
Of course, the stock 505-hp powertrain is perfectly suited to that task even with the factory wheels, but Specter went all nuts under the hood anyway, adding a twin-turbo LS7 from Lingenfelter Performance. As a result, 800 horsepower rumble under the modified hood. StopTech six-piston front and four-piston rear calipers harness all those ponies when its time to slow down.
Backing up the Corvette GTR’s asphalt-annihilating power is one pissed-off and remarkably tasteful body kit, and the car wears attractive custom blue pearl paint from BASF. The headlight housings, front splitter, and mirrors are all matte-finish carbon fiber. A Corsa exhaust system with some rather appalling finishers—really the only misstep to our eyes—rounds out the GTR package, which can be applied to any C6 Corvette of your choice. The Corvette GTR is bowing at the 2009 SEMA show in Las Vegas.
Honda Considering Another Eco-Friendly Sports Car
"I would like to see Honda have a sports car that symbolizes our technology," Ito said.
Don't, however, expect Honda to create a hybrid successor to the vaulted NSX, even if Ito had previously designed the NSX' chassis. Ito doesn't want the car to mimic the new Lexus LFA - or, for that matter, the V-10-powered NSX successor that Honda shelved late last year. "The era of V-10 engines is gone," says Ito.
We wouldn't be surprised if the car helped fill the gap left by the S2000 roadster. Ito didn't comment, but did indicate development of the car will only occur when Honda has enough capital to invest in such a vehicle.
Toyota, Honda go separate ways on sports cars
At the Tokyo Motor Show on Wednesday, Toyota took the wraps off the Lexus LFA, a two-seater supercar with a roaring 4.8-liter V10 engine that can reach speeds of 325 km per hour (200 miles per hour) and go from zero to 100 kilometers kph (60 mph) in 3.7 seconds.
It's a car that flies in the face of the automaker's image as a pioneer of greener vehicles but one that Toyota's new boss, Akio Toyoda, says is crucial for cars to remain a product that consumers can get excited about as motorization spreads to more corners of the world.
Toyota, the world's biggest automaker, is planning to limit LFA production to 500 units, between December 2010 and December 2012, taking orders for the $375,000 car starting on Wednesday.
"It's our mission as automakers to offer cars that possess the 'fun' spirit that should be at the base of any car," Toyota President Akio Toyoda said at the unveiling, noting he had been involved in the LFA's development from its early stages.
Ask his counterpart at Honda, though, and the LFA is old-fashioned. The future, Takanobu Ito says, is about clean, sustainable cars, and sports cars are no exception.
"Sure, there are folks who like that 'vroom' of the engine out of nostalgia," Ito told Reuters earlier this month. "But those people are stuck in the past."
Japan's No.2 automaker had been preparing a successor model for its legendary NSX sports car, also with a V10 engine, but ditched those plans last year citing an urgent need to save money amid the economic downturn and the growing consumer shift toward greener cars.
"The era of V10 engines is gone," said Ito, who betrayed no sense of regret over the canned project despite having designed the ground-breaking all-aluminum body on the NSX back in 1990.
Honda's FCx Clarity