10Feb
One observation was made at the 2003 North American International Auto Show. The Japanese manufacturers are going out with a swarm of new trucks and SUVs, and the Big Three. Detroit are finally rediscovered cars. European automakers have been building high-quality, fun-to-drive cars all along, and debuts at this year’s show reaffirmed Europe’s expertise in this area.
10Jan
The Salon de Geneve has always been one of my favorite auto shows on the circuit It’s relatively small, allowing for easy traverses from one side of the show to the other for press conferences, and it is the international host for the majority of concept vehicle debuts, giving it an extra dramatic flair.
10Dec
The unofficial prize for the most adventurous car at the Geneva show went to the speed . The tuning company best known for its Porsche conversions has created an amphibious concept that is parts of the sports car, part boat and part hydrofoil. The transformation is a complex hydraulic mechanism.
10Nov
MINI will be unreveiling a new addition to its Convertible range at the 2007 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), when it presents the Sidewalk model for the first time on January 6 in Detroit.MINI have always combined great handling characteristics with the thrill of open-top motoring, but when the Sidewalk hits MINI dealers.
10Aug
If you ever wanted to check your email while driving down the road, you’re in luck. BMW is planning on putting full on-board internet access in their cars.It will be called the ConnectedDrive. It will operate through an EDGE mobile connection. Here’s more info n how it’ll work through the BMW iDrive control system:
“…the Web can be surfed via a small joystick mouse. Information relevant to a destination can be put on the navigation system with the press of a button. For safety reasons the Internet can only be used at speeds of less than 5kph. If the vehicle has a rear DVD system, passengers in the back seat can access the Internet when the vehicle is traveling at any speed.”
Source
10Jun
The diesel-powered vehicle is a standard production model fitted with a special towing adaptor and loaded with ballast to bring its total weight to 7.7 tons including the driver, a VW engineer from Germany (naturally). A Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI has succeeded in towing a Boeing 747-200 Jumbo jet weighing more than 170 tons, just outside London, England.
10Apr
Dr. Bernd Pischetsrieder he has handed the keys of a long-wheelbase 6.0-liter, 450-bhp Phaeton to none other than Pope Benedict XVI since His Holiness is also German, this seems quite apt. Defying the cynics who have proclaimed that Volkswagen couldn’t give the Phaeton away in the whole wide world.
10Mar
The Panamerican 20,000 was the latest and most comprehensive test of Ferrari’s new 599 GTB Fiorano. Over Andean plateaus and through mountain passes some 13,000 feet above sea level to be test by professional drivers was test also by the latest model of Ferrari’s. On an often grueling 15-leg journey, a herd of 48 journalists took turns driving from Belo Horizonte in Brazil to the Argentinian pampa.
17Jan
Being Europe’s largest auto maker, it has defied all odds by stating that the new year would herald growth in spite of the growing economic pains sweeping across the continent. Unlike their American counterparts, there has been little effect on the financial status of the auto giant who says there will be sales increases these coming months. GM, which has shares in Opel and some other known European brands is expecting to close many of their European theater manufacturing plants as foreclosure looms. This weighs hard for foreclosure is seen as the last straw for the US giant that will herald in dissolution. Volkswagen has continued its philosophy into the correct balance between power and economy much like the Japanese who have also managed to escape huge losses last year.
The auto giant has long had a tradition of reliability with the forever existing beetle that ceased production way back in the 90’s yet still have models on the streets today, testament to their drive and insatiable need for innovation that they infuse with technology making some of the most innovative cars that last the world over. Boasting growth is no easy task for any business for the recession is indeed in Europe and markets are showing with stocks ending in dismal levels mid last year. The company remains a shining ray of light in the gloomy European car market as they forge ahead into 2010 when they hope the recession will end.
29Dec
For one of the greenest cars around, you’d be surprised to find some odd-ball diesel-powered ones around like the Jetta from Volkswagen, Europe’s Largest Auto Maker. The Bluetec rating signifies that it conforms with strict emission requirements set in both Europe and the US and for a diesel powered car, that is unique. To attain that, VW settled for a smaller engine than the one they used for the Touareg. They also had to put aside some of their mechanical pride by opting to use a common rail injection system that uses pietzo-electronic injectors instead of their favorite fuel injection system. On the emissions side, they kept the smell to a minimum by using a NOx trap and dual catalysts to screen out the offensive smell normally expected from diesel cars. The better fuel injection improves overall efficiency while the multiple exhaust control system takes on the emission side of the equation making for one of the greenest diesel-powered cars around.
