Auto News linked by TVR&FF "Closed"

  • Thread starter Thread starter Pebb
  • 606 comments
  • 32,033 views
Status
Not open for further replies.
I agree with Dave. When I originally saw the mk2 Focus I and many others thought it was a backwards step, however I've grown to like it alot.

Mk3 looks great.
 
focus_2.jpg


Man that reminds me of the first Toyota Prius, which isn't a good thing. I'm really starting to think if Ford is a Euro car company, or a American...
 
Source: AutoCar

Power: it's not what it seems

A Swedish company that makes specialist engine test equipment has come up with an answer to the perennial bar-room argument about how much power a car engine really produces.

Stockholm-based Rototest, whose chassis dynamometer bolts directly onto the wheel hub, has been testing cars since 1995. It has collated the figures from more than 500 tests and concluded that in the average car only around 90 per cent of the quoted peak engine power is available at the wheels.

"We see this measurement as an interesting way to define customer value," says company boss Christian Engstrom. "It is what you as a customer get as available performance compared to the claimed performance that you paid for."

Manufacturers providing more power than their official claims include Mazda, VW, Skoda and Mini. Three of the top five models had forced induction engines.

"It’s very difficult to tell exactly why they do well, but maybe the car we tested is better built or that the manufacturer under-quotes the power for marketing reasons. They are also press cars and there is a chance they are in, let us say, peak condition," explains Engstrom.

During homologation — the legal hurdle that all cars have to jump before production can start — each model must take an EU power test, which measures the engine alone, with no gearbox attached and in lab conditions, producing a figure for flywheel power. Once in production they are allowed a five per cent variation against the quoted figure, says Rototest.

Its all-time worst performer was a 1996 Nissan Primera 2.0, whose CVT gearbox absorbed a shocking 23 per cent of the engine’s quoted output.

That result is comparable to the more recent 2005 Range Rover Sport Supercharged, whose 385bhp engine produced only 78 per cent of that figure at the wheels.

Audi has three models in the worst five — a 2005 A6 Avant 4.2 quattro automatic, a 2007 S6 Avant auto and a 2006 RS4 — which were unable to produce nearly 20 per cent of their quoted power output at the wheels.

Much of these losses are due to the car’s four-wheel drive systems, as a comparison between the V10-powered S6 and the similarly engined, rear-wheel-drive BMW M5 shows. The BMW loses just seven per cent of its claimed 500bhp.

The complete set of figures is available at:

www.rri.se
 
Isn't this extermemly old news? I know I've known this for quite awhile. In an effort to make their cars seem as fast as possible, manufacturers claim the highest numbers possible: right off the crank. What you really get is after that all goes through the transmission ect. Naturally, this figure will be lower.

I've never seen the specifics, but the data provided here somehow doesn't seem that striking.
 
philly cheese
Isn't this extermemly old news? I know I've known this for quite awhile. In an effort to make their cars seem as fast as possible, manufacturers claim the highest numbers possible: right off the crank. What you really get is after that all goes through the transmission ect. Naturally, this figure will be lower.

I've never seen the specifics, but the data provided here somehow doesn't seem that striking.
Click to expand...
It is extremely old news, but on the other hand, not everyone is familiar with it.

Frankly, I don't really care if manufacturers all advertise horsepower from the crank. At least they're all doing it the same way, which is good for comparison.
 
It is good, but that really is only comparing the engines. I think a better comparison would be what goes down to the wheels, because then we could better compare performance, not parts. Then, some cars like the Audis would probably get faster as they try to cope with suddenly low numbers compared to the competition.
 
Who remembers the Ford SVT scandal from '99 when the car was missing nearly 20 BHP in most cases?

...I think that was probably one of the main reasons why this became such an issue with some people. But then again, when the SAE changed their testing procedures what, two years ago, we saw more models making less power than they technically should have...

It happens, and when people find out they're lying, thats a problem. I know here in Michigan Toyota and Honda were pretty much harpooned for this high-balled quotes (turned out most of the American models were low-balling their estimates), but then again, Michigan is an odd place to live.
 
Source: AutoCar

The Ferrari of the future

On the eve of its 60th anniversary celebrations, Ferrari has given us a glimpse of its future at a special technology conference held at Fiorano.

We're not about to get electric Ferraris, but regenerative braking, advanced turbocharged engines, massive weight reductions and biofuels are all on the cards for the famous Italian brand.

"The world is changing, and Ferrari is changing too," said a spokesman. The aim is to lose no performance, but to make lighter, more efficient cars.

Ferrari displayed its planned technological advances in a special 1000kg Enzo-based car called the FXX Millechili. It's 365kg lighter than the production car. Ferrari says its plan is to reduce the weight of every car it makes by around 300kg over their predecessors.

Ferrari reckons that had the Enzo weighed 1000kg its 650bhp would have been as effective as 800bhp.

Lighter cars will require less power, and also therefore smaller brakes and lighter suspension components. Handling is also likely to be improved.

The 599 GTB, says Ferrari, is the last car it will build using "late 1990s technology" in the shape of a chassis that's a mix of extruded and bonded aluminium. Future cars will have a monocoque chassis, in what was dubbed "a major rethink" of the way Ferraris are built.

Engines will be downsized, with smaller capacities, direct injection and turbochargers all playing a part. Future Ferraris will also have the ability to run on E80 bioethanol fuel. The plan is to reduce average CO2 emissions across the range from 400g/km to 250.

Transmissions will be smaller and lighter, not least because they will not need to cope with quite as much power.

Ferrari also wants to harness regenerative braking power; but unlike in current cars this won't be used to charge the batteries or work in place of the alternator. Instead, it would power a small motor attached to the transmission, with the aim of keeping it spinning, enabling smoother gearchanges.

Aerodynamics will also move on. Ferrari is currently working with Imperial College London on an advanced active aerodynamics system that involves using air pumps to push air over and under the car. This smoothes airflow and cuts drag.

All of these changes are expected to happen over the next decade, so expect the Ferrari of 2017 to be a very different beast to today's machines.

Finally, Ferrari hinted that a replacement for what it dubbed "the collector's car", the Enzo, would be brought to market in 2010. Expect it to be lighter, faster and even more dramatic.

After 60 years, it seems that Ferrari is following the advice of Lotus founder Colin Chapman, and adding lightness wherever it can.
 
TVR&Ferrari_Fan
Ferrari reckons that had the Enzo weighed 1000kg its 650bhp would have been as effective as 800bhp.
Click to expand...
You would need at least 1200 BHP to outrun the ugly the Enzo had.
But in any case, I'm glad the theories of AWD Ferraris aren't going to come to be.
 
In a relatively recent Road&Track article, a representative from Ferrari said that they wouldn't do AWD, and that they wouldn't do a "small" or "cheap" Ferrari (read: Dino revival).

They had to do something new.
 
TVR&Ferrari_Fan
Source: AutoCar

20955121712.jpg


Austin-Healey to get Chinese revival

Nanjing Automobile Corporation (NAC) has made a deal that will result in the revival of the Healey and Austin-Healey sports car brands.

NAC is the owner of MG – last month it restarted production of the TF roadster at Longbridge – so it’s well aware of the useful publicity that comes from using famous British names.

NAC’s deal is with the current owner of the Healey brand, HFI Automotive, an American firm that bought the rights to use the Healey name when it acquired Healey Automobile Consultants (established by Donald Healey and his son) in January 2006.

In February 2006, HFI announced plans for several new Healey sports cars; a "high-performance sports car with the DNA of a Healey 3000 - in convertible and coupe derivatives, as well as a modern affordable replacement for the much-loved Healey Sprite."

There’s no indication yet as to what form the new Healey or Austin-Healey will take.

Healey, a brief history

Healey was founded by Briton Donald Healey, and produced cars in Warwick from 1946 to 1954.

An Austin-engined prototype shown at the 1952 Earls Court motor show was adopted by BMC, and became the Austin-Healey 100. The brand was highly successful in the 1950s and early 60s, but it disappeared in 1970.

Healey then collaborated with Jensen, producing the troubled Jensen-Healey from 1972 to 1976.
Click to expand...

Am I the only one seeing the Kappa triplets in this?
 
Source: AutoCar

Britain’s most dangerous road

The A682 in Lancashire has been named Britain’s most dangerous road, in a survey by EuroRAP, the European Road Assessment Programme.

In the past decade, there have been almost 100 deaths or serious injuries on a 15-mile stretch of the A682 – a winding country road between junction 13 of the M65 and Long Preston. It is the only road in the highest-risk category of EuroRAP’s 2007 survey.

There has been no improvement in the death and injury toll on this section of the A682 since EuroRAP’s last survey in 2006, but there is better news elsewhere. It’s not all about speed cameras, either.

"The good news from the survey is that many of Britain's authorities have brought in countermeasures to tackle the higher risk routes in their areas," said Dr Joanne Hill, who heads the Foundation's research. "Most are quick, simple and cheap, involving little more than adopting modern signing, hazard markings and junction layouts."

Vehicle-activated signs ahead of hazards are also praised for their contribution to reducing accidents at a third of sites.

Surprisingly, given traffic density in the south of the UK, all of the 17 most dangerous roads in the EuroRAP survey are in the Midlands or further north.

EuroRAP was founded in 2002 as a sister programme to EuroNCAP, the crash-test assessment programme.
 
I don't find it suprising that the most dangerous roads are all up here. The land is much more hilly, you;ve got the pennines and the lakes and there's a lot of winding and undulating A and B roads, I'd say a much larger number of them up here than there are down south.
 
Dangerous roads? Damn, I might have to visit northern England to check it out.
 
Try the Snake Pass in the winter, when it's icy. Or the A666, that's had it's fair share of accidents.
 
(I posted in the wrong thread. Damn Opera browser! I don't know how my post for another thread ended up HERE. Disregard this post.)
 
Dangerous roads yes, but this thread isn't about just dangerous raods.
 
Source: AutoCar

Mercedes’ duelling supercars revealed

British engineering powerhouse McLaren is set for a head-on collision with German specialist AMG as the two Mercedes satellite companies go toe-to-toe in the supercar market.

In a world exclusive, Autocar has learned that both McLaren and AMG are developing mid-engined, V8-powered supercars, both of which will appear on the market in 2010, and which will compete as rivals.

This supercar grudge match has been years in the making, flaring up after the controversial gestation of the £240,000 Mercedes McLaren SLR in 2004.

Inside sources say that ever since the launch of the carbon-bodied UK-built machine, AMG has been lobbying Mercedes to be given the chance to build a bespoke supercar for its parent company.

Now, it looks like AMG is going to get that chance, but that won’t stop Brit outfit McLaren forging ahead with its plan for its own, V8-powered alternative

The McLaren is likely to be called the F2, while the AMG version could get the Mercedes SLC moniker – and you can read the latest on both by clicking below.

----

Uncovered: the McLaren F2

2767745512.jpg


Autocar can reveal that McLaren’s own long-delayed mid-engined supercar project is back on track. The first prototypes already on test in the UK, and our exclusive artist’s impression reveals, for the first time, how the car could look.

For McLaren the project will be a chance to build a pure-bred follow-up the legendary F1, a car still regarded by some as the finest high-performance car in history.

F2: aborted Mercedes project comes good

The F2 has its roots in the P8, the car McLaren had been committed to building as a smaller and cheaper supercar with Mercedes, after the launch of the SLR. Mercedes boss Jurgen Hubbert confirmed in early 2004 that the company was actively “looking at a mid-engined road car”.

Codenamed P8, the car was put on hold in late 2004 by then-Mercedes Car Group boss Eckhard Cordes. Cordes said that the P8 had “successfully completed the concept stage,” but development had been frozen.

The hiatus was mainly a result of huge losses at Mercedes and the emergence of significant quality problems in its mainstream models. Also, the SLR was also not as well received as Mercedes had hoped and there was a great deal of recrimination in the air, especially about its perceived engineering failings.

McLaren goes it alone

The F2 will be a solo effort by the Woking outfit, and a chance to re-establish the company’s credentials at the top-end of the market.

Sources have told Autocar that mechanical mules disguised under a Ferrari 360 body are already running around the company’s Woking HQ. They advise to expect a mid-engined machine built around a carbon-fibre monocoque.

If the new car does echo the 15-year old F1 concept it will be powered by a normally aspirated V12 powerplant too. However, as F1 currently demands V8 engines, the baby McLaren could reflect F1’s attempts to become greener by concentrating on keeping weight down in tandem with a more modest powerplant.


Exposed: the Mercedes SLC

2767745619.jpg


AMG is taking the next logical step in its 40-year history of building high-performance Mercedes derivatives and running successful race teams, by building a completely bespoke supercar.

AMG founder Hans-Werner Aufrecht is getting his chance to prove his company can build a better car than McLaren, and Autocar can bring you an exclusive preview of that car in the shape of our artist’s impression above.

New Super-Benz is go

Mercedes has just given the green light to Aufrecht and his company HWA (a spin-off from AMG itself) to build a supercar, which should be unveiled in concept form at the Geneva motor show next spring.

So far there’s little in the way of solid detail about the car, aside from the fact that it will be powered by a high-performance AMG V8 engine, possibly a new 6.0-litre turbocharged V8. This engine was put on hold but is said to be back in development.

The Mercedes-AMG is also likely to be both more compact and lighter than the SLR, and could use parts from the forthcoming SL Black Series.

Like the CLK Black Series, this car will be re-engineered with bespoke suspension and drivetrain components. Using them in a second model would help spread the considerable cost.

The production version will be built in Affalterbach near Stuttgart, possibly starting in 2009 if the Geneva reception is favourable.
 
Evo Vs STI
Camaro Vs Mustang
Corvette Vs Viper
Gituar Vs Banjo

and now, McLaren Vs Mercedes.

Wow.
 
Interesting... both looking like the R8.
 
Should be an interesting battle. The SLC artist's impression looks very much like a (nicer) Audi R8. The artist's impression of the Macca F2 is just plain lazy - take a ferrari 360/430 and stretch a F1 skin over it. I bet it will look totally different and i bet they call it something different too.
 
Wolfe
The "F2?" Could they really not come up with anything good?
Click to expand...
You got to remember the last car they fully designed the McLaren F1 had its model name set to F1, so maybe they are just following there tradition.
 
TVR&Ferrari_Fan
You got to remember the last car they fully designed the McLaren F1 had its model name set to F1, so maybe they are just following there tradition.
Click to expand...
But F1 isn't just a letter and a number. It means something more -- it's named after Formula 1.

It'd be like Ford calling the successor to the GT the "GU."

TheCracker
These days they'd call it GP2 then wouldn't they.
Click to expand...
They would indeed. But while it may very well end up being less ambitious than the F1, I don't know why they would want to announce to the world, "Hey! This new car of ours isn't quite as good as the last one!"
 
They'd be announcing it's more affordable and more accessible to everyone.

They really should call it F3. :lol: ...or A1. But if they call it the A1, they'd have to put an "overtake" button in there, that would give the owner 50 extra horses for ten seconds. After five uses, he has to go back to McLaren to have them reset it... :D
 
It looks like the R8 is having more of an influence than I had expected, which truly has been a surprise. The McLaren P2 seems like a rational step away from the SLR and back towards the F1, but largely depending on how they go about building it, I'm uncertain of how well it would be accepted. I think we all want to see something come from McLaren to wipe the smirk off of VAG's face (ie, the Veyron), but the likelihood of that seems slim these days.

...As for the "SLC," God only knows I guess. I think Mercedes should stick to what it knows best for high-performance sports cars, that being FR supercars that push forward style and performance. While the SLR certainly wasn't the best way of doing so, it was by most measurements a rather awesome car, and not only had the guts, but looked quite nice while doing it.

We'll see I guess.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest Posts

Back