Automobile Thread

[View2saintmartin]

I realize autos are increasingly regarded as environmentally corrupt and passé. But they are a major fact of life planet-wide and are the fastest growing segment of transport, especially with China and India's new middle classes going car-crazy.

So let's discuss them in all their myriad forms. The industry is in a crazy flux and nobody is quite sure where it will lead. Full Hybrid, mild hybrid, fuel cell, electric, hydrogen and biofuel combustion, we haven't seen this since the debates of external combustion (steam) vs. internal combustion at the turn of the last century!

________________________________________________________________

I'll start with something sexy to get everyone's attention. No hybrid, this is the replacement for what has become the industry standard of exotic sports cars, the Ferrari 430. The F430 has been Ferrari's bread and butter since 2004, and before that it was the 308 of 1975, made famous on tv by Magnum PI. It's a simple formula of two seats with a mid-engine V-8. Over the years what has changed is technology, engine displacement, performance and weight (in the ever loftier spheres). What hasn't changed is fuel economy. Ferrari is no longer immune to drinking fuel like champagne so the replacement is the F458.


(1984 F308GTB)


(1989 F328GTB)


(1990 F348)


(1995 F355)


(2002 F360M)


(2007 F430)


2010 F458






Leaked patent application drawings show Ferrari pursuing a unique hybrid drivetrain system that would utilize its electric motor and a gasoline engine seperately, each to drive one axle. The electric motors would be powered by regenerative braking, much as in the Formula One KERS installation.

Yep, that's right. The new standard of exotics will probably be offered with hybrid technology.

Weird. Or maybe I'm just really old.

[View2saintmartin]

Fisker Karma plug-in series hybrid sports sedan with a solar roof....on sale now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisker_Karma
http://karma.fiskerautomotive.com/

[View2saintmartin]

The Zero-Emission Sedan of the Future. A Reality Today.
In California at least where Honda have leased out a few hundred of the FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel cell sedans. The exhaust is water.

http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/

[View2saintmartin]

How about the MINI E?
http://www.miniusa.com/minie-usa/



I suspect you guys get the point of all this, so lets hear it.

[Dac150]

I don’t like the direction the new Ferrari designs are going.

[Strange Meat]

Originally Posted by View2gowanus

Fisker Karma plug-in series hybrid sports sedan with a solar roof....on sale now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisker_Karma
http://karma.fiskerautomotive.com/

Looks fast. Goes slow.

[BrandonJXN]

I can win this thread. As I don't just post fast cars. I give something for everyone. **Warning..lots of large pics**

2010 Suzuki Kizashi




2010 Acura ZDX




Kia Forte Koup




2010 Cadillac SRX




2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost




2010 Jaguar XJ




2010 GMC Terrian

[/img]



2010 Kia Sorento




2010 Bentley Contiental Supersports




2009 Nissan Cube and Cube Krom




2011 Chevy Spark




2010 Ford F-150 Harley-Davidson




2010 Ford Taurus SHO

[View2saintmartin]

Originally Posted by Snodrifter

Looks fast. Goes slow.

Nope. The Fisker Karma does 0-60 mph in 5.8 seconds and has a top speed of 125. The top speed may be 30mph less than your average Merc or Bimmer top saloon, but still is fast enough for most enthusiasts. Certainly it's quite a leap for an electric sedan given we are in the infant stages. Oh, and it gets the equivalent of 70 to 100 mpg compared to a traditional internal combustion vehicle.

[View2saintmartin]

I can win this thread. As I don't just post fast cars. I give something for everyone. **Warning..lots of large pics**

Great pics, but this thread is not about just pretty pics, it's about how the automobile is changing. How about some information along with the photos?

[View2saintmartin]

Aston Martin Cygnet:


This is a rather odd brand engineering effort being developed by A/M to help their average fleet mileage meet upcoming EU laws. They now sell too many cars to be exempt unlike Rolls-Royce (owned by BMW and thus bundled with fleet average) and Bentley (owned by Volkswagen).

It is nothing more than a rebodied Toyota IQ, coming to the US in a few months as a Scion:



The US version will compete with the Smart, but will have more space and power. While the Smart is rear-engined and RWD, the IQ is front-engined, fwd and gets better mpg due to a more sophisticated engine and aerodynamics.







http://consumerguideauto.howstuffwor...-toyota-iq.htm

[Strange Meat]

Originally Posted by View2gowanus

Nope. The Fisker Karma does 0-60 mph in 5.8 seconds and has a top speed of 125. The top speed may be 30mph less than your average Merc or Bimmer top saloon, but still is fast enough for most enthusiasts. Certainly it's quite a leap for an electric sedan given we are in the infant stages. Oh, and it gets the equivalent of 70 to 100 mpg compared to a traditional internal combustion vehicle.

Yeah, and maybe it's just me, but a roughly 6 second 0-60 ain't all that fast. WRXs can beat that.

Though, definite props for the technology.

[View2saintmartin]

^I think it's just you. How many cars can do 0-60 in under six? Not that many, and only two are electric (Tesla and Fisker). Virtually all that can do it under five are priced near or well over 100k, not to mention under four.

The Tesla (completely electric) does 0-60 in 3.8secs. And with the massive torque associated with an electric motor it actually out-performs the Lotus Elise chassis it's based on!



http://www.teslamotors.com/

[View2saintmartin]

Speaking of Tesla, they have a new all-electric sedan set to debut, the Model S:



http://www.teslamotors.com/models/index.php

[sznter]

My sister's planning to buy the new Audi A5 Sportback as soon as it arrives in Finland. She's got a good taste

[BrandonJXN]

Originally Posted by View2gowanus

Great pics, but this thread is not about just pretty pics, it's about how the automobile is changing. How about some information along with the photos?

Uhh..they're all cars and they go fast.

And FoMoCo may have finally found the niche. We're getting the Euro Focus next year. And they actually have plans for Lincoln and Mercury

From AutoBlog

If The Blue Oval boys intend to keep buyers filing into Lincoln and Mercury showrooms over the next few years, each brand's product portfolios are going to need a bit more than a simple nick-and-tuck to compete with the best from around the world. To that end, expect Lincoln to continue making the switch from large, rear-wheel drive SUVs and old-tech luxury barges to smaller, more nimble premium models akin to the next-gen Focus-based compact Concept C that was introduced earlier this year at the Detroit Auto Show. Around the same time, the very last Lincoln Town Car will roll ingloriously down the assembly line, replaced as it's already been in most buyer's minds by the newer MKS.

Don't expect to see a replacement for the aging Lincoln Navigator SUV any time soon, but joining the MKX and MKT mid-size crossovers may well be a new compact 'ute based on the underpinnings of the next-gen Ford Escape, Mercury Mariner and Ford Kuga (for Europe, at least). Speaking of Ford's interplanetary brand, it's reportedly finally confirmed Mercury has a future products in the pipeline. Starting small – which seems to be a definite theme for Mercury and Lincoln – Mercury should get its own version of the next Focus, probably as a 2012 model.

A year later in 2013, the Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln MKZ are all scheduled to get a new front-drive mid-size platform that will thankfully share its guts with the European Ford Mondeo. The Mercury Mariner and Ford Escape twins along with the expected Lincoln crossover should show up late in 2011. Finally, the body-on-frame Grand Marquis and Mountaineer will make the long, cold walk to the automotive graveyard within the next few years. Somehow, we doubt many will miss their absence.

[detmsp]

Originally Posted by View2gowanus

Fisker Karma plug-in series hybrid sports sedan with a solar roof....on sale now.

if by "on sale now" you mean they'll take your money, but you'll get a car god knows when.... then yes, yes it is on sale.

[detmsp]

Originally Posted by ThreeHundred

Uhh..they're all cars and they go fast.

And FoMoCo may have finally found the niche. We're getting the Euro Focus next year. And they actually have plans for Lincoln and Mercury

From AutoBlog

haha plans for mercury? the only "plans" mentioned in your quote are plans to eliminate 40% of mercury's models!

[BrandonJXN]

^This is what we call downsizing. Addition by subtraction.

[detmsp]

Originally Posted by View2gowanus

^I think it's just you. How many cars can do 0-60 in under six? Not that many, and only two are electric (Tesla and Fisker). Virtually all that can do it under five are priced near or well over 100k, not to mention under four.

The Tesla (completely electric) does 0-60 in 3.8secs. And with the massive torque associated with an electric motor it actually out-performs the Lotus Elise chassis it's based on!

whoa there buddy! out performs the elise? in a drag race yes. on the track? not so much. the acceleration of the tesla is pretty awesome due to the instant torque of an electric motor, but those heavy batteries really put a damper on the driving dynamics. the elise will smoke a tesla around corners.... i guess it all depends on what's most important to you. personally, i'd rather have a car with less acceleration with better handling.

[detmsp]

Originally Posted by ThreeHundred

^This is what we call downsizing. Addition by subtraction.

well your quote failed to mention the sable is also getting the boot. so that's now 60% of the brand gone. mercury becomes the milan and the mariner. hardly seems like it's worth keeping an entire brand around for 2 vehicles.