Textio

Posts Tagged ‘ash’

Last week just might have been a small landmark in Autocar’s 114-year history.

Steve Sutcliffe, a driver whose abilities are held in high esteem by more than one supercar manufacturer, had to admit that electronic chassis ‘aids’ have reached a new level of competence.

“Yes, the electronics in this car are specifically intended as performance parts, not safety features. Switch them off and you will not be able to lap a circuit as fast as you can with them on, not even if your name is Fernando Alonso. You might just be able to match the system for a couple of corners if you fluke the perfect sequence of brake, turn-in, balance power, apply throttle at the exit.”

Read Steve Sutcliffe's Ferrari 599XX drive

In a more down to earth way, I experienced something similar on the launch of the new Audi A8. That car will come with ‘Drive Select’ as standard, which allows you to choose from ‘comfort’, ‘auto’ and ‘dynamic’.

This switchable chassis tuning really does make a difference, especially if you specify the optional sports differential on Quattro versions, which can split the engine’s torque between the rear wheels.

Read Hilton Holloway's Audi A8 drive

So far I’m also the only Autocar staffer to have driven the Mito in both stock and electronically controlled Cloverleaf forms. The difference between the two – driven back to back at Alfa’s test track – was incredible.

Read Hilton Holloway's Alfa Mito Cloverleaf drive

It seems that we have moved into a new era, (partly thanks to the new high-speed Flex ray wiring systems) that will see electronic chassis controls so sophisticated that virtually no driver can out drive them. And better still, the average future car could now be wired to have three very distinct personalities.

Ideally, many of us would prefer that exemplary ride and handling was delivered through the engineering purity of the car’s layout.

But then again, these systems can also make 2.7 tonne cars – such as the new Range Rovers – handle with physics-defying alacrity.

25 years after the false dawn of digital speedometers and talking dashboards, it seems automotive virtual reality has finally arrived.

We’re yet to drive the new Cayenne S Hybrid but impressions from the passenger seat reveal Porsche’s first series production petrol-electric model will be a clear thorn in the side of rivals such as the BMW X6, Lexus RX400 H and Mercedes-Benz M400 Hybrid.

With performance – both off the line and through the gears – on par with the 400bhp naturally-aspirated 4.8-litre V8 Cayenne S, the new four wheel drive displays exceptional levels of mechanical refinement without any indication of the complex processes taken by its advanced driveline, which was developed in a joint venture between Porsche’s own Weissach based engineers and their counterparts at Volkswagen’s engineering centre in Braunschweig, Germany.

Porsche Cayenne Hybrid – full details

Step off is typical strong, with the electric motor and its 184lb ft of torque providing primary propulsion from standstill up to speeds of 50km/h or until the energy level of the battery runs low.

The only indication of the introduction of the petrol engine – the same unit used by Audi in the S4 – to the drive process from the passenger seat is when the needle on the rev counter – now placed in the centre of the instrument binnacle as with Porsche’s more sporting models – springs to life.

At loads under 2500rpm, the supercharged 3.0-litre V6 is so well isolated from the cabin its operation is barely audible. Under greater throttle load there is a low level growl as acceleration builds but it is never over bearing.

Out on the motorway the over riding impression is of wind noise around the large exterior mirrors. The decoupling of the clutch at speed occurs seamlessly when the driver backs off from the throttle, allowing the Cayenne S Hybrid to coast at zero revs in a state not dissimilar to a bicycle when it is freewheeling with the engine fully disengaged.

Further to the mechanical aspects of the new Porsche, there has been a wholesale improvement in interior ambiance. The new dashboard, similar in style to that gracing the Panamera, is of a much higher quality than that of the first generation Cayenne.

The question that now remains is: how much will Porsche charge for it?

I’ve been reading some of the web threads and letters on Infiniti of late and think it might be time to put the record straight a bit on Nissan’s luxury brand.

Even though the cars are good, Infiniti already seems to have copped all manner of flak. Observations like, it’ll never take off; BMW won’t notice or care; they’re just Datsuns in disguise and it’s going to be like Lexus all over again.

Why all the hostility?

OK, let’s take the last one first. Lest we forget, Lexus was created originally for North America where over the years it’s been hugely successful and influential (yes, even Mercedes and BMW had to sit up and take notice). Europe has been a much harder slog and 20 years on, Lexus is still mostly about refinement, comfort, quality and luxury, and now eco-friendly hybrids, of course.

Driver appeal and sportiness have never been high on the agenda – until the IS-F came along, that is. And it’s here that the two Japanese brands part company.

Infiniti most definitely is about driver appeal and sportiness, just the kind of things readers of this site and mag are wired in to. Nissan has some demon engineers who turn out good stuff like the 370Z, Skyline and GT-R and when you drive the latest Infinitis, you can feel this DNA coming through.

Yes, I know, all that on its own is not enough. Until Infiniti comes up with some new clean diesels and gets C02 down to a certain level, it’ll be a blip on the radar screens. Guess what, Nissan knows that already which is why diesel power and a new rear-drive hybrid are working their way through the system as we speak. The party starts on that next year, but – yes – really should have been there from the start…

Nissan is also clued into the badge snobbery bit, which is why it’s not making any rash promises about world domination and blowing BMW away tomorrow. It look Audi, after all, the best part of 20 years to make it into the same premium car park as BMW and Mercedes.

Nissan is sensibly starting out slow and steady and, yes, much ultimately depends on how much Carlos Ghosn invests, when the diesels and hybrids come and what the dealer experience is like.

Anyway, Infiniti is not going to be like Lexus. The cars and culture are different, with Infiniti appealing far more to the (free-thinking) petrolheads among us. An attitude like that is eminently worthy of support, I’d say.

Our site works with third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use non-personally identifiably information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. The privacy of our visitors to Textio is important to us.

At Textio, we recognize that privacy of your personal information is important. Here is information on what types of personal information we receive and collect when you use and visit Textio, and how we safeguard your information. We never sell your personal information to third parties.

Log Files
As with most other websites, we collect and use the data contained in log files. The information in the log files include your IP (internet protocol) address, your ISP (internet service provider, such as AOL or Shaw Cable), the browser you used to visit our site (such as Internet Explorer or Firefox), the time you visited our site and which pages you visited throughout our site.

Cookies and Web Beacons
We do use cookies to store information, such as your personal preferences when you visit our site. This could include only showing you a popup once in your visit, or the ability to login to some of our features, such as forums.

We also use third party advertisements on Textio to support our site. Some of these advertisers may use technology such as cookies and web beacons when they advertise on our site, which will also send these advertisers (such as Google through the Google AdSense program, as well as the Kontera Advertising network) information including your IP address, your ISP , the browser you used to visit our site, and in some cases, whether you have Flash installed.

This is generally used for geo-targeting purposes (showing New York real estate ads to someone in New York, for example) or showing certain ads based on specific sites visited (such as showing cooking ads to someone who frequents cooking sites).

Kontera and DoubleClick DART cookies
We also may use Kontera and/or DART cookies for ad serving through Google’s DoubleClick or Kontera advertising networks, which places a cookie on your computer when you are browsing the web and visit a site using DoubleClick advertising (including some advertisements).

These cookies are used to serve ads specific to you and your interests (“interest based targeting”). The ads served will be targeted based on your previous browsing history (For example, if you have been viewing sites about visiting Las Vegas, you may see Las Vegas hotel advertisements when viewing a non-related site, such as on a site about hockey). These cookies use “non personally identifiable information”.

They do NOT track personal information about you, such as your name, email address, physical address, telephone number, social security numbers, bank account numbers or credit card numbers.

You can choose to disable or selectively turn off our cookies or third-party cookies in your browser settings, or by managing preferences in programs such as Norton Internet Security. However, this can affect how you are able to interact with our site as well as other websites. This could include the inability to login to services or programs, such as logging into forums or accounts.

Deleting cookies does not mean you are permanently opted out of any advertising program. Unless you have settings that disallow cookies, the next time you visit a site running the advertisements, a new cookie will be added.

Advertising Networks Privacy Policy

You can review Google’s Privacy Policy by visiting http://www.google.com/privacypolicy.html You can review Kontera’s privacy policy by visiting the following website: http://www.kontera.com/index.php/em-privacy-policy

The Ford Fusion hybrid

According to a recent Consumer Reports survey, 81 percent of new car buyers would consider a vehicle from the Big 3, while only about 50 percent would consider an Asian or European vehicle.

Interestingly, however, the most recent month of auto sales data does not correspond with this survey. In August, for instance, Asian automakers achieved a record 50 percent market share.

Obviously, cash for clunkers and its focus on fuel efficiency might have advantaged Asian automakers. So does that mean Americans don’t trust the Big 3 when it comes to fuel efficient products, or that the Big 3 simply don’t have the right fuel efficient autos, such as Toyota Prius contender?

Will real world data back up this survey in coming months?