Posts Tagged ‘wheel’
Ferrari, the greenest car maker on earth?
February 13th, 2010 | 
Author: Aston Martin sources engine, body and electrical parts from outside the main plant at Gaydon, as does Jaguar. Even Morgan, that most bespoke of car companies, sources one or two components externally, including quite a few trees.
Ferrari 599XX video, pictures and first drive review
At Ferrari, though, everything except the cows that provide the leather is now made at Maranello. Since November, in fact, they’ve even been generating their own electricity in order to power the Scuderia’s various tooling facilities – to the extent that in January Ferrari sold power back to Italy’s National Grid.
As a result, Ferrari now claims that its plant at Maranello produces between 25-30 per cent less CO2 than it did before its new “Trigeneration” system fired up in November – in which mechanical power, heat and cooling are produced by just one source. And that’s real world emissions, by the way, not ones that appear in EU approved documents, and which mean not a great deal in the overall scheme.
Imagine how much less angst would be displayed towards the car industry in general if all cars were created in the same way, with the same efficiency? The green meanies would hardly have a leg to stand on, and us car enthusiasts could carry on enjoying our cars (virtually) guilt free. Even ones like the utterly barking 599XX, on whose launch I discovered all of the above.
Posted in 
Tags: 
Why the VW Amarok has its work cut out
Apart from a wealth of beautiful old Mercedes lorries, there seems to be a particular fondness for large, delapidated Ford and Chevy pick-ups.
You'd think this would be an easy market to tap, but in one not so obvious way VW has really got its work cut out – and that's load capacity.
This old truck pictured above had four people sat on the front seat and, unusually, four head rests.
That means that one of the much rarer double cabs is potentially an eight-seater.
It's hard to see how you'd manage that in an Amarok.
Automotive virtual reality has finally arrived
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.
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?
Progress is easy to miss, especially in a Passat
I spent my Christmas break in a VW Passat Bluemotion, complete with the new 104bhp 1.6-litre VW Group commonrail turbodiesel engine.
Volkswagen Passat S 1.6 TDI Bluemotion first drive
There is nothing headline-grabbing about this car. It does not have a fuel cell, solar panels or an electric motor anywhere under its decidedly bland exterior, and it is not made entirely out of recycled potato and hemp.
It is a normal family saloon with a low-powered turbodiesel engine under the bonnet. But it took me and the other half to see family in Koburg, Germany for New Year in perfect comfort whilst easily achieving over 800 miles to each 70-litres of fuel.
That still means we fell short of the claimed 62.8mpg combined figure, but we did manage mid-50mpg for much of the trip and there was no compromise in the overall capability of the car. It was quiet, spacious and pleasant to be in. And it was cheaper and more convenient overall than catching a plane and picking up a rental special at the other end.
Of course, the Passat Bluemotion is exactly as dull as it sounds, and clearly this is a way to make the most of what’s left of finite fossil fuels (and motorists’ over-stretched wallets) rather than the answer to all our renewable fuel needs.
But I think the car industry deserves more credit for making such a constant and rapid move towards better use of resources. That there are many similarly efficient models around, including excellent efforts from Mercedes, BMW, Ford, Kia and Audi among others only goes to prove that progress really is global.
So in the midst of all the frenzied efforts going into producing tomorrow’s planet-saving, blue-sky technologies, let’s take a moment and remember that we’re not doing so badly with the stuff that you can buy today. Well done, chaps. Now carry on.
