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Source: AutoCar

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100mpg is the new 100mph

Want to make the Toyota Prius seem terribly inefficient and wasteful? Then you’ll need one of these. This is the Loremo L1, a prototype diesel car from Germany that manages an incredible 188mpg.

First shown as a concept at the 2006 Geneva motor show, the Loremo is now a fully running prototype, and will be unveiled at the Frankfurt motor show in September.

It will be available with two engines; a two-cylinder 20bhp turbodiesel ‘LS’ or a three-cylinder 50bhp ‘GT’ turbodiesel, which ‘only’ returns 105mpg.

The Loremo manages this feat through its super-lightweight construction - the standard car weighing just 450kg – and ultra-low drag. Naturally emissions are as low as the fuel economy is high, at under 50g/km of CO2.

The LS hits 62mph in 20sec and tops out at 99mph, the GT 9sec and 137mph. Both cars have five-speed manual gearboxes.

The engine sits in the middle of the car, powering the rear wheels. This means that the rear seats, which are rear-facing, are suitable only for children. Those seats are accessed via the boot, but it’s the way you get into the front of the car that will most surprise. The entire front section of the car hinges forward, dashboard included, and you climb aboard.

Standard kit includes airbags, air-con, sat-nav a radio and MP3 stereo.

The Loremo is in the running for the multi-million dollar Automotive X-Prize, which is for the firm that can create the first commercially viable car capable of over 100mpg. Loremo reckons that the car will start at around €11,000 which is £7500. We can’t wait to try one.
 
So it returns 118MPG and manages to move as slow as a 2CV.

But it isn't nearly as cool as a 2CV.
 
What's so special about 100MPH anymore? we hit that in, what the late teens?
 
Slicks
The car: Nice. I like the idea of an all-black Cayman. I can't say the wheels fit the car (something anodised or powercoated black would look better, IMHO). Though I've never known what alcantara is. A type of leather?
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Alcantara is a microfiber cloth that very closely resembles suede. Aside from feeling nice, it is also very grippy. It's been fairly common in Europe for sporty cars to come with Alcantara covered interiors, especially the seats and steering wheels. The 911 GT3 and M3 CSL both have Alcantara intensive interiors for example, as well as numerous Ferraris and Lambos.

I used to have a 330i ZHP that had Alcantara seats, steering wheel and shifter boot. It was awesome! Looks cool, feels great plus it was cool in the summer and warm in the winter.


M
 
Source: 4car

Alpine founder dies

It's been announced that Jean Redele, founder of French sports car company Alpine, has died aged 85.

Redele, the son of a Dieppe Renault engineer and dealer, built his first complete sports car - based on the Renault 4CV - in 1954 and drove to some success at Le Mans and Sebring. The fibreglass-bodied A106, styled by Michelotti and built around a tubular backbone chassis, followed, and then the A110 in 1962. This tiny rear-engined, polyester-panelled lightweight, which used components from the Renault R8, proved agile and quick - it could do 120mph - and proved its talents in the Monte Carlo Rally and even Mille Miglia.

Redele did a deal with Renault to market his car, and the A110 was then produced under licence in Renault facilities in Spain, Brazil, Mexico and even Bulgaria, in addition to his own headquarters in Dieppe - a factory now owned by Renault, and the home of the Renaultsport division. Though it started with a 51bhp 950cc engine, many road versions had 1300cc and the R16's 1600cc engines; 1440cc Gordini-tuned Renault units were also fitted and, by the end of production in 1974, competition versions featured a 180bhp-plus 1800cc - strong stuff for a car weighing just 620kg.

Redele became the head of Renault's competition department, overseeing rally wins by the A110 well into the 70s - including a 1-2-3 victory in the 1971 Monte Carlo Rally and the world championship title. Renault took over Alpine in 1974, eventually merging it with Gordini to form Renaultsport; the turbocharged Alpine A442B won its class at Le Mans in 1978, but the A310 road car was less popular.

The subsequent Renault-Alpine GTA - exported to the US with a turbocharged V6 - took the Alpine name through the 80s and the successive 610 was built 1991-94. The Dieppe factory went on to build the Renaultsport Spider, Renault's motorsport cars and the various hotted-up Clios and Meganes and, after a series of deals, Renault regained ownership of the Alpine brand-name in 2005. There have been many rumours that it is to revive the name, probably on a small sports coupe, in the future.

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R.I.P Jean Redele
 
Awww...all those rear-heavy oversteering rally cars...XP

He had a good run. Hope they're treating you well in Heaven, Mr. Redele.
 
I said this (not in a statement) in the DYSAGT thread, but I'm surprised no one caught it.

R.I.P. Mr. Redele.
 
Slicks
The car: Nice. I like the idea of an all-black Cayman. I can't say the wheels fit the car (something anodised or powercoated black would look better, IMHO). Though I've never known what alcantara is. A type of leather?

The shoes: Want! Where, and how much? Is that an Adidas logo I see on the front?
Daddy needs a new pair of driving shoes.
Edit - Oh dear god, there's a whole line of these shoes!!!!
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Bwahahaha... I spied a pair of these at an Adidas store... and I'm not normally a shoe person... I buy "sensible shoes" off the discount rack, when I can, and plain-jane sneakers for walking... but when I saw those black and red ones (in the pic), I just went ga-ga. My wife didn't even whimper when I pulled out my wallet... I think she saw by the lust in my eyes that I might actually attack her if she stopped me. :lol:

Nice driving shoes, by the way... and subtle. I sometimes get away with wearing them instead of formal shoes at events. ;)
 
Source: AutoCar

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Ford speeds to hydrogen record

Ford made history this week as its Fusion Hydrogen 999 set a new speed record for production car-based fuel-cell vehicles.

The 999 reached 207.28mph at Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, USA. It was designed and built by Ford engineers in collaboration with a team from Ohio State University, Ballard Power Systems and Roush.

“What we’ve accomplished is nothing short of an industry first,” said Gerhard Schmidt, vice president, Research and Advanced Engineering for Ford Motor Company. “No other automaker in the world has come close. We established this project to advance fuel-cell powered vehicles and to do what has never been done before; and we did it.”

Schmidt said Ford’s historic run at Bonneville will further expand the company’s technological horizons with fuel cell-powered vehicles.

Ford already has a fleet of hydrogen-powered Focus fuel cell vehicles on the road, to conduct real-world testing of fuel-cell technology. The 30-car fleet has accumulated nearly 580,000 miles since 2005.

The firm is also conducting tests with a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, the Edge with HySeries Drive. It uses a series electric drivetrain with an onboard hydrogen fuel cell generator to give the vehicle a range of 225 miles with zero emissions.
 
TVR&Ferrari_Fan
Source: AutoCar

It will be available with two engines; a two-cylinder 20bhp turbodiesel ‘LS’ or a three-cylinder 50bhp ‘GT’ turbodiesel, which ‘only’ returns 105mpg.

The Loremo manages this feat through its super-lightweight construction - the standard car weighing just 450kg – and ultra-low drag. Naturally emissions are as low as the fuel economy is high, at under 50g/km of CO2.

The LS hits 62mph in 20sec and tops out at 99mph, the GT 9sec and 137mph. Both cars have five-speed manual gearboxes.
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I'd totally buy one. The GT is faster than my car and I'd save 200$ a month on fuel. :lol:
 
Source: AutoCar

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Meet the French Mondeo

This is our first glimpse of Citroen’s Audi-inspired styling for the new C5, in the shape of the C5 Airscape concept, due to make its debut at the Frankfurt motor show in September.

Citroen’s new Mondeo competitor will follow the form of the open-top Airscape, but with a conventional three-light saloon glasshouse and four doors.

The nose, with its double-chevron grille, wraparound headlights and deep lower air intake is expected to be unchanged on the production C5, apart from minor details.

A radical departure for the C5 is the switch to a four-door saloon bodystyle (the old car was a hatch), also previewed on the Airscape with its neat rear overhang and flat deck-lid. There will also be a C5 estate, expected on sale in summer 2008, after a spring launch for the C5 saloon.

One key element not expected on the production C5 saloon is the Airspace’s pronounced rising line along the side. Instead the C5 saloon will have more restrained, curvier metalwork.

Expect the overall proportions of the production four-door to be very similar to the Airscape’s, including the long front overhang, a consequence of sharing the same platform that underpins the Peugeot 407.

The Citroen’s wheelbase is, however, understood to be stretched by around 30mm over the Peugeot’s, a feature that will help Citroen’s reputation for comfort over long-distances. Indeed, expect this to be a major selling point of the C5, which is unlikely to match the Mondeo dynamically.

Powering the Airscape is a mild-hybrid 2.7-litre V6 diesel with the same integrated starter motor and stop/start technology as fitted to some C2s and C3s. That’s unlikely to make production, though a mild-hybrid four-cylinder diesel is a possibility, and the C5 will be offered with a V6 diesel, unique in its class since VW dropped the layout from the current Passat.

Details of the concept’s suspension remain a mystery, although information from France suggests that C5 production models might be offered with a choice of suspensions — steel springs for entry and mid-range models and hydractive gas/oil units for top-spec models.

The Airscape also shows how Citroen’s design team under boss Jean-Pierre Plouie Is developing the look first introduced on the C6. The ‘planform’ around the nose — the curved bodywork around the front corner — is very different to the C6’s flat, chiselled profile.

Although pictures of the interior aren’t yet released, Citroen is making big claims for the cabin’s design and quality. The steering wheel uses Citroen’s unique fixed centre-hub wheel and there is chrome trim throughout, including a section of the wheel rim.

There’s no word yet from Citroen if the Airscape previews a C5 coupe or convertible, but we wouldn’t bet against it.
 
Audi inspired? I'm not seeing any Audi in that.

What I am seeing is...freakin' awesome!
 
Danachronism
What I am seeing is...freakin' awesome!
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Shame that like almost all French concept cars - it will either never make production or make production as a much watered down version of the concept :grumpy:
 
Completely awesome

And Danny, I suspect they're referring to that grille - but it's nowhere near as big and fugly as Audi and Peugeot grilles.
 
Source: PistonHeads

Russian Thieves target Bentleys

Bentley’s popularity has never been bigger in mother Russia thanks to a booming luxury car market, and car thieves are getting in on the action.

This year has seen seven of the Brit barges stolen in Moscow alone.

Thieves even nicked one belonging to Vladimir Zhmudsky, who was on the 1972 gold medal winning Olympic water polo team- and apparently still a hero in Russia.

One woman had her sky blue Continental stolen from a parking space near her apartment block. Police said she valued the car at $340,000.

So far, only one has been recovered and a further two were stolen last week.

But where are the cars going? Look out for a W12 powered Lada belting around the streets of Moscow any day now.
 
"Well, If i'm gonna steal a car, I might as well do it in style!!!"

I wonder how these rare cars dissappear so easily?
 
Jim Prower
"Well, If i'm gonna steal a car, I might as well do it in style!!!"

I wonder how these rare cars dissappear so easily?
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2 ways no doubt.

1, broken down to become parts. Either salvaged for other Bentleys (I doubt parts are all that available) or just sold off to other people looking for special parts.

Or, more likely, shipped off to Africa. There used to be a car theft ring in Briton that would steal high end cars, chop the roof off, label it scrap, and ship it off to Africa. When there, weld the roof back on and sell it.
 
Source: AutoCar

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Next Fiesta puts style first

The next Ford Fiesta will abandon the conservative styling of the current car in favour of the much sleeker, sharper look of this concept car.

Described as "hinting at a future small European Ford", this car gives us the best look yet at the next Fiesta.

Senior Ford design sources have said the new Fiesta puts style and good looks above all other considerations. Ford is also keen point out that the concept previews the design themes for other future small Fords, most notably the next Ka.

The biggest visual differences between this car and the production Fiesta will be the height of the roofline, which will be taller. But the rear end is very similar to the real thing, right down to the shape of the window and the roof spoiler.

At the front, the concept introduces a new Ford grille, paring the usual trapezoid down to little more than a chrome-trimmed sliver. The bonnet reverses the shape of the Mondeo’s, while the production car’s lights will be smaller.

This is Ford’s first attempt at translating its ‘kinetic design’ theme into a small car. The project has been overseen by Ford’s European design director, Martin Smith, and has been designed to create the elements of a car that will be recognisable around the world as a Ford. The new Fiesta will be Ford’s first global car, to be produced and sold in markets as diverse and Mexico and South America.

The engineering basics were developed by Mazda for the 2, with which the Fiesta shares its platform. Although easy-to-change panels such the front wings and bumpers will be modified for different markets, the core elements of the design, such as the rake of the windscreen, will remain.

This strategy will also help Ford to improve the profitability of its small cars; traditionally it is hard to make good money from smaller vehicles. By sharing a platform across the world, analysts forecast production of over a million B-cars by 2011.

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HUUUUUGE lower grille!

Also, do i see a little bit of a gilette grille forming in the artist's impression?
 
Does look much sleeker. Kinda like a seat leon and it looks less chubby this time and more purposeful like a seat ibiza or astra type bodyshape instead of being a blob like chewing gum car.
 
No, no, no, it's going to be duller than ditchwater.

I went to the current Fiesta supplier launch, many, many years ago. On the stand next to the veiled car was the Punto and the brand new Corsa of the time. I remember looking at both cars and thinking, not bad. When the Fiesta was revealed, my only positive thought was 'nice rear headrests'.

Worse than that, they made a big play about the 3-door being 'a coupe'. When we got outside, there was a dull 3-door hatchback. "Where's the coupe?" I ask. "That's it," says the Ford marketing gimp who obviously had his entire sense of automotive reality surgically removed at birth.

More shocking still, there was the 'B226'... a seemingly funky, boxy, fat tyred, chunky alloyed junior Land Rover, with a bold Explorer style grille. And this imaginative and dare I thunk it at the time - 'cool' vehicle became.... the Fusion. :P

This is the company which promises the Mustang concept... and delivers the Mustang. Promises the Iosis, and delivers the Mondeo. Grudgingly, yes, the Mondeo is an excellent vehicle.... but (as demonstrated by the concept to C6 photos above) it's not as stylish as it could be.

Alfa aren't doing too bad nowadays. Haven't seen a bad one in recent memory. Shame they've put on a few pounds. :)
 
Jim Prower
Also, do i see a little bit of a gilette grille forming in the artist's impression?
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I saw that too! The "Red White and Bold" look seems to translate somewhat easily into the "Kinetic" look when it needs to, so this is pretty much solidifying the idea that the Fiesta is coming to the United States. That, or Ford is merging both styles (like they've thought about) before sending the Fiesta, and hopefully the Mondeo, our way.

I'm looking forward to this car very, very much.
 
Source: AutoCar

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The TVR Griffith is back - almost

Lancashire engine guru Al Melling is launching a 170mph, front-engined two-seat sports car, designed to replace the TVR Griffith, the failed Blackpool car company’s most famous model.

Called the Melling Griffon, it is similar in size to the Griffith and is powered by a further-developed, 460bhp 4.7-litre version of Melling’s AJP8, the flat-crank, two-valve V8 he designed in the early 1990s.

The new car is designed to be the car the TVR Griffith would now have been, had it remained in production. First buyers will get cars early in 2008 at a price close to £50,000. Initial production rate will be 300-400 units a year.

"The Griffith was always the most popular TVR," said Melling. "It is still highly recognisable on both sides of the Atlantic and it’s a tragedy it was allowed to die. But we’re doing something about that."

Melling, whose business interests were recently rationalised into one NASDAQ-listed group, has pushed the Griffon to the top of his priority list because he believes there is urgent demand for a £50,000 bespoke British roadster. But he is also continuing to work on the 200mph V10-engined Hellcat super-coupé revealed earlier in 2007.

Melling and his Rochdale-based company have been closely associated with TVR and its successive managements for years. First they operated parallel businesses in the same county, then Melling designed engines for TVR (notably the AJP8 and Speed Six), plus a still-born six-speed gearbox. Finally Melling became a bidder for TVR, when it hit the buffers in 2006 under the management of Russian-born Nikolai Smolenski.

Melling was not successful in buying TVR, but he believes his association with its customers gives him insight into their future requirements, hence the Griffon.

The Griffon, which will be built at Melling’s Rochdale HQ, has all-new suspension and a tubular spaceframe/backbone chassis designed to correct what Melling sees as key engineering shortcomings in the original TVR. It will make its debut at the Autosport show at the NEC in January 2008.
 
I disagree that TVR is a 'failed' car company, but the car looks nice.
 
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