Automotive News

Filed under: Etc., Marketing/Advertising, Honda

ASIMO, Honda’s increasingly uncanny humanoid robot, has finally impressed enough Hollywood producers to get his own show. The running, walking, talking, stair-climbing Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility (aka ASIMO) takes the stage at Honda’s ASIMO Theater in the Tomorrowland section of Disneyland. You’ll be treated to a 15-minute show in which ASIMO interacts with a live host and shows off how he will act when he finally makes it into private homes. Apparently, one of ASIMO’s principal roles in our robotic future will be to “act as a servile companion to those most in need of physical assistance.” That sounds like the beginning of I, Robot to us, but what do we know? And if your name is Sarah Connor, you might want to skip that attraction for now.

[Source: Gizmag]

 

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Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Mercedes Benz

Unlike many carmakers, Mercedes-Benz has traditionally built its own transmissions . It has even supplied them to others, such the slushbox that they sold to Porsche for the 928. Economic realities could soon cause that to change, as the team from soon-to-be Daimler AG investigates outsourcing transmission production to other companies. Mercedes wants transmissions that will help the fuel efficiency of their next generation A, B, and C-Classes, such as eight-speed dual clutch units. Rather than spend the resources developing its own. it might just purchase such a unit from a company like Getrag or ZF, according to a report in Auto Motor und Sport.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. req’d]

 

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Filed under: Coupes, Trucks/Pickups, Etc., Marketing/Advertising, Crossovers/CUVs, Ford

Americans spend billions of dollars on breakfast cereal every year, and there is no better way to place advertising at the family breakfast table. Ford knows that and has teamed up with Kellogg’s to give kids of all ages a Hot Wheels collector card featuring either the F-150, Mustang, or Edge. The blue oval Hot Wheels cards will be available after Labor Day (only at Target, which is lame) in over a million boxes of cereal. There are three different cards for each vehicle, each with a different color. If you find all three colors of a specific vehicle, you win yourself the real thing, courtesy of the gang in Dearborn.

We’ve had a lot of cereal in our time, and when we were kids there was always something to dig for in every box, even if it was total junk. The promo is cool, and while we’re all for contests, we would have preferred actual Hot Wheels cars in-box instead of trading cards.

[Source: Ford]

Continue reading Free Prize Inside! Ford and Kellogg’s supply kids with Hot Wheels

 

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AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Volkswagen of America, Inc. announced today that they have partnered with Carbonfund.org to offset one year of carbon emission from each new Volkswagen vehicle sold in the United States from September 1, 2007 through January 2, 2008.

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Filed under: Motorsports, Japan, Honda, Toyota

Thirty-odd years ago, Japanese car manufacturers began designing and building cars specifically for the world’s largest automotive market place: America. Sadly, the big three never returned the compliment and have yet to design a car tailored to the second largest market: Japan. However, California’s Swift Engineering has just won the contract to make all the chassis for Japan’s top single-seater racing category, Formula Nippon, and so will be making a tiny dent in Japan’s vast automotive trade deficit with America. Or they would be if the cars were road legal.

The new carbon monocoque replaces a steel-framed Lola chassis that the formula has used since becoming a single-make series in 2002, and will be bolted to 600HP+ 3.4L Honda and Toyota engines that are architecturally similar to those used in IRL. The most striking design change is that gaping 6′4″ wide front wing which bucks the trend in international single-seater formulae for smaller, less efficient aerodynamic aids.

Will this help the car maintain downforce when drafting down straights and thus encourage overtaking? Let’s hope so, but even if it doesn’t, we think it looks cool.

[Source: Formula Nippon]

 

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Filed under: Aftermarket, Tuners, Sports/GTs, Supercars, BMW

You figure after two different tuners had squeezed the M5’s 500 HP V10 into an E92 BMW 3-series, you’d seen enough of that particular swap. Not quite. The German tuners at G-Power thought that a more suitable candidate for the big boy in the M lineup would be the previous generation E46 M3. A CSL no less.

Performing the swap is a feat unto itself, but G-Power managed to coax another 43 HP from the V10, dropping the power to weight ratio to 5.95 lbs./hp, and allowing the M3 to scoot to 60 in 4.2 seconds and onto a theoretical top speed of 208 MPH.

Getting that power to the ground is a set of 21-inch G-Power Silverstone Diamond wheels, along with a KW-Automotive custom-tuned suspension setup.

Although G-Power offers this swap for both the E46 and the E92 3-series coupes, they will also cram the V10 into the Z4 and X5, and the madness doesn’t end there. The tuning company is in the process of developing a twin-supercharger kit for the V10 that’s expected to boost power up to between 640 and 750 HP.

[Source: G-Power via World Car Fans]

 

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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons, Euro, Jaguar

Click the styling buck for a gallery of other XF rejects

When the Jaguar C-XF concept appeared just before the Detroit Auto Show most observers breathed a big sigh of relief. After the disappointments of the X-Type and S-Type Jaguar fans were looking for signs of fresh life from Coventry. For a company that has been tied to styling tradition for so long, coming up with a new direction was definitely a challenge. Along the way to the XF, there were numerous proposals ranging from the warmed -ver S-Type pictured above to variations on what was ultimately approved. Check out the gallery to see what the XF was spared from being.

[Source: Autocar]

 

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Filed under: Frankfurt Auto Show, Sedans/Saloons, Audi

A couple of weeks ago we reported about the updates Audi was planning for its A8 lineup. Things like the addition of the 2.8L FSI six-cylinder that will be offered (in Europe, at least), more direct steering and a revised air suspension should make the ‘08 A8 even closer to perfection. Audi is also adding new safety features, like a side-assist system that will alert drivers when a vehicle is in the sedan’s blind spots and a lane departure warning system that will keep an eye on lane markers and alert the driver with a vibration in the steering wheel should he or she begin to go astray. Finally, the car is said to quieter than the 2007 edition.

Visually, Audi has updated the single-frame grille, incorporated new lighting in back, added new wheel styles, put turn indicators on the outside mirrors, and will offer a number of new paint finishes. New interior colors and inlays are also on tap. In short, Audi’s taking a good thing and making it better. And now we have word that most of those changes will make their way into the freshened S8 as well. With photos and info from Fourtitude, we see an updated S8 that will most likely debut in Frankfurt next month sporting some refined styling touches inside and out as well. Check out the gallery.

[Source: Fourtitude]

 

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Filed under: Etc., Jaguar

As a wrap-up to a very memorable career as “The Architect,” Karl Rove’s Jaguar was covered in plastic wrap by some White House jokers. Rove is the man considered to be the mastermind behind George W. Bush winning both his Presidential bids, but it couldn’t stop him from getting punked. While away in Texas, Rove apparently left his Jaguar in a parking lot adjacent to the White House’s West Wing. When he got back into town, he found his Jag had not only been wrapped, but two small Bald Eagles were mounted to the trunk and signs were placed on it that read “King Karl” and “I love Obama.” CBS News added that because of the heavy security that usually monitors the White House, they were suspecting it was an inside job. Oh, those nutty news people.

[Source: CBS News]

 

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Filed under: Concept Cars, Frankfurt Auto Show, Peugeot

Click the image above for a high-res gallery.

In Geneva early this year, Peugeot picked from over 4,000 entries to name the Flux as the winner of its 4th annual design competition. Now, the lucky designer who penned the Flux, Mihai Panaitescu, will see his creation built to scale and unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in a scant two weeks.

As a refresher, the designers were tasked with creating a concept based around the P.L.E.A.S.E. acronym, which stood for pleasure, lightweight, efficiency, accessibility, simplicity and ecology. Peugeot figured that Mr. Panaitescu hit all the nails directly on the head, and in addition to seeing his concept brought to life, he’ll have the opportunity to drive it in the virtual realm when it’s incorporated into the Xbox 360 game, Project Gothem Racing 4.

You can read the full press release after the jump and check out a series of renderings in the high-res gallery below.

[Source: Peugeot]

Continue reading In Flux: Peugeot Flux concept coming to Frankfurt

 

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