Automotive News

Filed under: Videos, Supercars, Ferrari

To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Prancing Horse, VOD Cars has put together a compilation video that’s a must watch for Fezza fetishists. Justifiably, there have been plenty of complaints about certain automotive vids whose producers are predisposed to bad music choices, masking the real aural wonders that are purportedly the focus of the flick. This isn’t one of them, so click on through to enjoy.

[Source: VODCars via Jalopnik]

Continue reading Autoblog Night Watch: Fezza overload

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Filed under: Videos, Supercars, Ferrari

To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Prancing Horse, VOD Cars has put together a compilation video that’s a must watch for Fezza fetishists. Justifiably, there have been plenty of complaints about certain automotive vids whose producers are predisposed to bad music choices, masking the real aural wonders that are purportedly the focus of the flick. This isn’t one of them, so click on through to enjoy.

[Source: VODCars via Jalopnik]

Continue reading Autoblog Night Watch: Fezza overload

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Filed under: Maintenance, Euro, Tech, FIAT

Who would have thought that Pixar would turn out to be a prophet of the automotive industry? In creating its talking automobiles for the computer-animated film Cars, the Disney-associated studio might have done just that, as a group of engineering students in England have demonstrated.

The team at Cambridge developed a “talking” car of their own. Based on a Fiat Stilo, the prototype is capable of telling mechanics what’s working and what’s not. By transmitting radio signal tags, engine components can inform workshop staff of the working condition of specific parts, as well as identifying parts that haven’t received recall work yet and what parts are worth salvaging should the car be heading for the scrap yard.

According to Prof. Duncan McFarlane, the team is discussing selling the technology to “a number of firms”, and we hope that the feature gets adopted fast. This is one piece of tech that really speaks to us.

[Source: Auto Express]

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Filed under: Maintenance, Euro, Tech, FIAT

Who would have thought that Pixar would turn out to be a prophet of the automotive industry? In creating its talking automobiles for the computer-animated film Cars, the Disney-associated studio might have done just that, as a group of engineering students in England have demonstrated.

The team at Cambridge developed a “talking” car of their own. Based on a Fiat Stilo, the prototype is capable of telling mechanics what’s working and what’s not. By transmitting radio signal tags, engine components can inform workshop staff of the working condition of specific parts, as well as identifying parts that haven’t received recall work yet and what parts are worth salvaging should the car be heading for the scrap yard.

According to Prof. Duncan McFarlane, the team is discussing selling the technology to “a number of firms”, and we hope that the feature gets adopted fast. This is one piece of tech that really speaks to us.

[Source: Auto Express]

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Filed under: Etc., Euro, Government/Legal

The County Court of Nottingham, England has decreed that Thou Shalt Not Congregate With Thine Automobiles. Or something like that. The authorities wanted to halt bad drivers and the ferocious noise of fast car owners racing through the streets, and found it easiest to simply ban any kind of gathering. From now until June 2009, the county forbids >”five or more motor vehicles from congregating together, driving in convoy or racing each other on the highway.” If they catch you in convoy, you’ll be fined and spend two years in the tower, or whatever they use for jails in Nottingham. The police will be watching the county’s closed-circuit TVs to make sure the law isn’t flouted, and as an example, they impounded a motorcycle that three kids were taking turns riding.

>Is there no Robin Hood among the people who will rise up against the evil Sheriff of Nottingham? If not, we suppose we could lend you Kevin Costner, but we want him back at the end of the month for a Field of Dreams sequel.

>Thanks for the tip, Jay!

[Source: The Newspaper]

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Filed under: Etc., Euro, Government/Legal

The County Court of Nottingham, England has decreed that Thou Shalt Not Congregate With Thine Automobiles. Or something like that. The authorities wanted to halt bad drivers and the ferocious noise of fast car owners racing through the streets, and found it easiest to simply ban any kind of gathering. From now until June 2009, the county forbids >”five or more motor vehicles from congregating together, driving in convoy or racing each other on the highway.” If they catch you in convoy, you’ll be fined and spend two years in the tower, or whatever they use for jails in Nottingham. The police will be watching the county’s closed-circuit TVs to make sure the law isn’t flouted, and as an example, they impounded a motorcycle that three kids were taking turns riding.

>Is there no Robin Hood among the people who will rise up against the evil Sheriff of Nottingham? If not, we suppose we could lend you Kevin Costner, but we want him back at the end of the month for a Field of Dreams sequel.

>Thanks for the tip, Jay!

[Source: The Newspaper]

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Filed under: Euro, Tech, Audi

Audi has seen the future, and the future is exciting; at least in Ingolstadt. Engineers at Audi have cooked up the automotive equivalent of the Focusrite Liquid Mix. An A8L has been pressed into service as the basis for Audi’s emulator, having been modified with extra hydraulics, an active steering system and hardware to steer the rear wheels, as well. Dubbed HORST, for Handling Online Research Simulation Tool, the car was initially developed to ape the dynamic responses of an E-Class Benz. More cars have been added as “presets,” and engineers can switch from a range of vehicles, including a VW GTI, a Lotus Elise, even a Hyundai Getz, all at the behest of a laptop.

[Source: Auto Express]

Continue reading Chameleon A8 - an Audi that drives like an Elise, GTI, Getz and E-Class!

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Filed under: Euro, Tech, Audi

Audi has seen the future, and the future is exciting; at least in Ingolstadt. Engineers at Audi have cooked up the automotive equivalent of the Focusrite Liquid Mix. An A8L has been pressed into service as the basis for Audi’s emulator, having been modified with extra hydraulics, an active steering system and hardware to steer the rear wheels, as well. Dubbed HORST, for Handling Online Research Simulation Tool, the car was initially developed to ape the dynamic responses of an E-Class Benz. More cars have been added as “presets,” and engineers can switch from a range of vehicles, including a VW GTI, a Lotus Elise, even a Hyundai Getz, all at the behest of a laptop.

[Source: Auto Express]

Continue reading Chameleon A8 - an Audi that drives like an Elise, GTI, Getz and E-Class!

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Filed under: SUVs, Plants/Manufacturing, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep

Production of the next generation Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen will apparently be moving from New Jersey to Detroit alongside the Jeep Grand Cherokee at Chrysler’s Jefferson North Assembly Plant. The new models are expected by the end of 2009 and preliminary work has begun to reconfigure the plant to accommodate them. The Durango/Aspen will evidently share a platform with the Grand Cherokee, while the absence of the soon-to-be-cancelled Commander will free up plenty of space at the Jefferson North plant for all three models, and possibly the yet-to-be-named JC49 crossover.

Since other SUVs like the Explorer are moving away from body-on-frame designs, it seems probable that all the Chrysler models will use the next generation of the Grand Cherokees unit-body platform. If the Durango/Aspen move to a new platform at the end of the 2009, that would mean a very short run for the hybrid versions of those vehicles, which are due out in the second half of 2008.

[Source: Detroit Free Press]

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Filed under: SUVs, Plants/Manufacturing, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep

Production of the next generation Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen will apparently be moving from New Jersey Delaware to Detroit alongside the Jeep Grand Cherokee at Chrysler’s Jefferson North Assembly Plant. The new models are expected by the end of 2009 and preliminary work has begun to reconfigure the plant to accommodate them. The Durango/Aspen will evidently share a platform with the Grand Cherokee, while the absence of the soon-to-be-cancelled Commander will free up plenty of space at the Jefferson North plant for all three models, and possibly the yet-to-be-named JC49 crossover.

Since other SUVs like the Explorer are moving away from body-on-frame designs, it seems probable that all the Chrysler models will use the next generation of the Grand Cherokees unit-body platform. If the Durango/Aspen move to a new platform at the end of the 2009, that would mean a very short run for the hybrid versions of those vehicles, which are due out in the second half of 2008.

[Source: Detroit Free Press]

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