When Dana Delaney, the newest character on ABC’s “Desperate Housewives,” drives down Wisteria Lane, she’ll be behind the wheel of a 2008 Lincoln MKX.
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Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal, Green
The combination of electronic engine management systems and other emission controls has eliminated anywhere from 90-99% of noxious pollutants from modern cars. The problem is that these systems rely on an array of sensors to manage the fuel/air mixture, and when they fail emissions skyrocket. For several decades drivers, in California have had to get regular emissions checks before renewing their registration. Now drivers won’t have to wait until their annual checkup, as the South Coast Air Quality Management District has a mobile emissions check van that evaluates cars remotely as they drive by.
The infrared and ultraviolet sensor equipped van parks on on-ramps and takes a picture of polluting cars as they pass by. A letter is sent to the car owner suggesting the car either be repaired or scrapped. There is also a volunteer program that will provide $500 toward repairs or $1,000 to scrap the car. Since the program started in March, 2,000 letters have been sent out. With 10% of vehicles producing over half of the pollution, the program is intended to catch people who are either cheating or making temporary repairs just to pass the annual test and get those vehicles off the road.
[Source: LA Times]
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Filed under: Volkswagen, Earnings/Financials, By the Numbers
To them that have, more is given. Europe’s biggest car maker just posted the biggest month-on-month increase in its entire history. The People’s Car and its family brands did 12.1-percent more business in August 2007 than in August 2006, getting 286,000 vehicles into new homes.
For the year, VW sales are up 8.3-percent over 2006, with 2.4 million Golfs et al finding new homes. The numbers are lead by emerging market gains, with Brazil up 30-percent, China up 27.4-percent, and Argentina doing 21.3-percent more business. Volkswagen is expected to sell more than 3.5 million cars this year.
[Source: Just Auto, sub req’d]
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Filed under: Etc., Safety, Tech
The Max Planck Institute for Iron Research and the German Steel Institute have developed a variety of steel that strengthens as it elongates. In the event of a car crash, the steel is ductile enough to absorb impact energy, but remains strong enough to protect occupants.
Called Twinning Induced Plasticity steel, the secret is that the steel passes the deformation energy down its length and to other parts, which also deform. The benefit is that with more area available to share the impact load, there is less that can reach the car’s occupants. The institute mentions using the steel in bumpers and side doors, the most vulnerable areas in a crash.
Improved passenger safety is always good. Yet with more structures to inclined to deform, such a development would also seem to need new inspection techniques after a crash to make sure everything is still safe. Also, while the fracture point of the pictured steel is listed as 1,250-percent of elongation, it would need to be established how much elongation-before-fracture was still safe.
Thanks for the tip, Ben!
[Source: Physorg]
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Filed under: Etc., Tech, Videos
Bose is most commonly known for its stereo systems and other home entertainment gear. The truth is that the company holds tons of patents, which it licenses to shrewdly fund research and development in a wide variety of areas, seemingly following the whims of Dr. Bose himself. The company has been working on electromechanical suspension systems for years now - I was even passed by one of their tricked out Lexuses while on my way up the hill to their Framingham, MA headquarters once. The video we’ve embedded after the jump shows the system in action, and compares it with a conventionally suspended LS400 with nifty split-screen footage. The results are dramatic, but we’re curious if the cars were being driven at the same speed through the course. Be sure to watch to the end, where engineers let loose and jump the thing.
Thanks for the tip, fooman!
Continue reading VIDEO: Bose suspension in action
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Filed under: Motorsports, Etc.
Mr. Lamm, the mad man behind the 24 Hours of LeMons, did a mass mailing to let all and sundry know that bad things do happen to good racetracks. The expansion of the 2007 LeMons series (yes, that’s right, we’ve officially called it a “series”) continues, with a fourth event schedule for the weekend of December 29 and 30.
The good news is that the dates are booked at Thunderhill raceway, between Sacramento and Redding, CA; the bad news is that it won’t be a full 24-hour enduro. Even though T-hill is located in the middle of nowhere, its neighbors weren’t too hot on the idea of hearing a bunch of crap-can cars running around the track in the wee-hours of the morning. Instead, they’ll stick with their Altamont routine and split it up into two days. However, the pits are open all night and the track offers RV hookups, so Lamm and the LeMons crew are planning a host of activities, including pit-bicycle demo derbies, movies and a pseudo-New Year’s Eve party.
We may or may not be on hand to cover the event, but we’ll keep you posted of any future developments. In the meantime, you can check out the 24 Hours of LeMons site for more details.
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Filed under: Mercedes Benz
For many BMW fans, visiting the automaker’s M performance division in Munich is akin to finding the Holy Grail, which is why the workshop’s factory tour program has been a runaway success. Strangely, rival tuner AMG has been very slow to open its doors to the public.
All that could change, as new European delivery arrangements may give AMG customers a chance to visit the factory and see their cars being built. Management at the Affalterbach-based tuner is considering opening the doors to the factory to satisfy a growing desire from many of its customers to visit the premises. “We have been working on a factory tour in Affalterbach for awhile,” revealed AMG’s director of marketing and sales Mario Spitzner. “We are starting slowly because the demand would be more than we could handle.”
Unlike BMW’s M range, which is limited to a handful of cars, AMG offers a substantial number of cars, meaning getting a chance to go behind the scenes will likely entail dealing with long waiting lists. or could be limited to customers ordering only the most expensive models.
[Source: Edmunds]
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Filed under: Spy Photos, Coupes, Hatchbacks, Mercedes Benz
While the previous generation Mercedes-Benz C-Class Sport Coupe proved to be little more popular in the U.S. than the old BMW 318ti, evidently enough hatch-happy Europeans bought it to justify a second edition. Now that the sedan and wagon versions are out and about, this largely camo-free coupe has been spotted. Much like the previous edition it looks like a truncated fast-back version of the sedan. We’ll probably see the model in a non-matte finish no later than the next Geneva Motor Show and possibly sooner. It’s interesting to note, however, that we understand the C-Class Sport Coupe will be based on the previous generation C-Class chassis and merely wear the nose of the new model.
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Filed under: Sports/GTs, Euro, Hatchbacks, FIAT
The Fiat Grande Punto Abarth officially goes on sale this month in Italy, and it will be available in other European markets in the months ahead. Fiat has released a number of new images (52!) showing what has become our absolute favorite hot hatch with Italian style to spare and enough grunt from its 150 HP engine to keep things interesting. The Grande Punto Abarth, however, is just the tip of the iceberg, as Fiat has spun off the Abarth label into its own company that will offer its own line of high performance hardware soon. First up is the Grande Punto Abarth, followed by Grande Punto Abarth SS, the 500 Abarth and 500 Abarth SS, and then we may see the Abarth line expand with its own unique models. In all, four Abarth models are scheduled to be unveiled by the end of 2008. Clearly Fiat’s excited, and Europeans should be too. We in the U.S., however, are sulking because the likelihood Fiat will be selling cars in the U.S. anytime soon is nil.
[Source: Fiat]
Continue reading An eyeful of new Fiat Grande Punto Abarth shots
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Project Gotham Racing 4 has the video game version of the question, “Is it real or is it Memorex?” They’ve created a split-screen video of the latest Gotham racer next to actual hi-def footage of the live cars churning through the streets of New York City. When it comes to the car scenes, even when you know which one is live and which is video, there’s still the occasional flicker of doubt. Watching it, it’s hard to believe we ever got excited about a game called Pong.
Thanks for the tip, zizzy!
[Source: Megatonik]
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