Posts Tagged ‘rim’
Chevrolet’s (lack of) Spark
February 13th, 2010 | 
Author: A simple car. Straightforward to assess, you'd think. It's nearly all about objectivity at this level. .
Even so, very few cars in my memory have given us such cause for debate about our verdict on them.
What's unusual for Autocar, and unique in my time on the mag, is that the Spark is a new, fresh-from-the-box product to which we've given a lowly two-star rating.
I believe it's the right verdict. During the past year we've tried to make more of our star ratings – to stop being afraid to open up low scores to poorer cars.
Usually, though, it's older cars that fail to paint in the higher stars. So I'm sad the Spark is among them.
A hell of a lot of hard work went into this car. It rides and handles competently. It's roomy enough. The people who engineered and built it did so in the best faith; they made the wisest, most prudent decisions they could; and I have too little knowledge about the constraints their time and budget placed on them.
Hence our consternation. Maybe it's worth an extra half star, we pondered?
Thing is, though, Autocar (as all motoring mags should) reports to its readers, not the industry, and the Spark is a car we could never imagine recommending to somebody.
An examination of the trim, a look at the price list or a listen to the engine is telling. To experience the Hyundai i10 is to seal any doubt: the Spark is off the pace.
But I'm sad that I'm content that we've reached the right verdict.
First impressions – on board the Porsche Cayenne 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?
The price of Veyron ownership
A routine service, for instance, costs £12,866 or the price of a middling Polo, whereas an annual service for a Ferrari Enzo is £1680, which seems like a bargain by contrast.
Bugatti Veyron vs Bugatti EB110
Buying new rubber for the Veyron will produce similarly heart-freezing bills, a set of four tyres costing £23,500, in part because they have to be capable of 253mph, more than 100mph faster than Concorde’s landing speed.
Worse news still is that at every fourth tyre change the Veyron’s rims must be stress tested for cracks – a sensible precaution in a car this fast – and replaced if they are found wanting at a cost of £7050 per corner.
For all these reasons, it’s not surprising to learn that one owner has taken to having his Veyron trailered to his favourite roads and following it there by executive jet, an arrangement that works out cheaper than driving the Bugatti several hundred miles to reach the dream Tarmac.
All of which is guaranteed to keep the Veyron out of reach of 99.9 per cent-plus of all car buyers, even if it should depreciate colossally. And, despite these maintenance costs, even that looks unlikely.
Just how good are winter tyres?
What with all this talk of winter tyres we thought we’d do our own little investigation while the snow is still around. So today we ventured down to our nearest snow bound test track to experiment with two RWD diesel BMWs. One with its regular summer tyres, the other fitted with a set of Continential Cold Weather tyres.
This wasn’t a proper scientific test, in no small part down to the fact the two test cars were different models. BMW's press garage is snowed in, so we had to make do with what we already had at the office and a 118d, borrowed from Conti.
Watch the winter tyre test on video
So not exactly a fair test, but still we thought it might tell us something interesting.
On a level icy surface our long-term 635d on summer tyres could just about get going, but introduce any sort of incline or angle and it just struggled massively. While the 1-Series with winter tyres still slipped around a bit, it found traction much more quickly and generally felt ten times more secure. It even managed to keep going through thick fresh snow. Conditions that had us pushing the 6-Series.
Talking to the people at Conti here’s the really interesting thing - winter tyres aren’t just for snow, they can be used on slush, ice, frost and even wet roads. In fact any time the temperature dips below +7deg you’re better off on winter tyres. Apparently.
Also there’s no real reason you can’t use winter tyres all year round in the UK. There is some trade off in dry braking in really hot conditions, but this balanced with better braking in the wet and cold. Likewise the softer compound might wear more quickly in the summer, but this is balanced with better wear rates in the winter.
So why aren’t winter tyres more widely used in the UK? According to Conti, they account for just 0.5% of UK sales. Mostly it’s down to the fact that we just don’t have the culture or infrastructure here to encourage people to switch between summer and winter tyres. And in my opinion it’s about time that changed.
If for no other reason than it means you can continue to enjoy the benefits of rear wheel drive even when the roads get a bit snowy.
USA: AT&T is forecasting global economic recovery from next year
The 2009 AT&T Road to Growth Study is based on more than six dozen one-on-one interviews with IT executives employed with multinational companies in the U.S. and Europe. The U.S. portion of the study included CIOs and senior information technology executives from approximately four dozen multinational companies averaging $4.75 billion dollars revenue and operations in 28 countries. All U.S. executives interviewed for this study work for a U.S company or a U.S. subsidiary of a foreign company, and they have responsibility for making decisions about IT strategy and budget allocations.
2009 Road to Growth Study Key Findings:
Time horizon to achieve ROI narrowed by 50%: In today’s economic climate, U.S. companies have significantly shortened the time frame over which return on investment (ROI) is delivered.
More than half of U.S. IT executives interviewed stated they are under pressure to deliver a return on investment in half or less than half the time. As a result, two-thirds cited that the
change has affected their IT budgets, strategies and priorities. The study found that companies are less willing to invest in longer-term projects or projects where the return does not come quickly. One CIO stated that the added pressure has forced the company to focus on IT projects that give at least 100% ROI in 12 months; otherwise, the project(s) get dropped.
Cost cutting and improving productivity are top priorities: Cost cutting and increasing revenue remain the two primary business goals cited by U.S. companies. To achieve the goals, survive the recession and move towards growth, IT strategies are focused on:
Reducing operating costs: 87 percent cited “reducing operating costs” as “extremely or very important”;
Improve collaboration with customer and partners: 85 percent cited “improved collaboration with customers and partners” as “extremely or very important”;
Enhancing workforce performance and productivity: 83 percent cited “enhancing workforce performance” as “extremely or very important”.
“U.S. companies are under added pressure to deliver, and IT investments are more critical than ever before,” said Bill Archer, chief marketing officer, AT&T Business Solutions. “From the study, we expect U.S. companies to come out of the recession leaner and more agile. Technologies that cut cost, reduce redundancies and loss, and improve efficiencies top the priorities list.”
Short and long term strategies are similar: The Road to Growth study found that U.S. companies employ multiple strategies to address business goals, and do not distinguish between short-term and long-term strategies. It appears that U.S. companies are reducing the time period for their long-term forecasting until after the recession is over. The role IT plays in helping U.S. companies achieve long-term strategies is very similar to the role IT plays in supporting the companies’ short-term business strategies.
Business continuity & security solutions have the highest positive impact: IT investments and priorities will go towards lowering cost, reducing risks and improving productivity and efficiency. The study found that “business continuity and security solutions” will have the biggest positive impact on business growth as U.S. companies prepare for an economic turnaround. This is closely followed by “enterprise mobility solutions” and “Web delivery solutions”. Areas of IT investment that are expected to have a high to moderate impact on businesses are “unified communications services” and “hosted solutions.”
These findings are in line with AT&T’s annual study on business continuity and disaster recovery preparedness for U.S. businesses in the private sector, conducted in June this year. The dramatic rise in social networking and mobility trends is presenting new challenges to companies’ network security, disaster planning and business continuity programs. Businesses are stepping up their technology investment and efforts to meet these challenges, despite the economy. IT executives indicated in the Road to Growth study that they expect to make the biggest financial investments in business continuity and security solutions and hosted solutions in the next 9 months.
Disparate views in Europe: The European portion of the Road to Growth study found that in contrast to the U.S., European executives have a consensus view that the global economy will rebound between Q1 and Q4 2010. The majority of executives expect a recovery towards mid to the end of 2010. Additionally, 50% of the European executives stated that there is no change in the time period with which they achieve ROI.
The consensus between European and U.S. IT executives is that the two largest global economies – the United States and China – will emerge first from the current recession.
For more information on the AT&T Road to Growth Study including the complete research results, please visit www.att.com/roadtogrowth.
AT&T Study: U.S. Companies Preparing for Economic Recovery in First Half of 2010
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