Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Rear Wheel Drive Chevrolet Impala

2009 Chevy Impala Concept - (GM Future Cars)
The all-new 2009 Chevy Impala is under development now. We could very well expect the new 2009 Chevrolet Impala Concept soon. The best thing about this next flagship sedan will be that for the first time in many years Chevrolet Impala is going to be built on rear wheel drive platform - Zeta. It will also share the design cues from the much-awaited future Camaro. Other features expected are

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Thursday, January 11, 2007

The Future Car by Bugatti

Dubbed as "The most expensive, most powerful and fastest street-legal production car in the world", the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 can go well over 250 mph (400+ kmph). This airplane on wheels can go from zero to sixty in 2.5 seconds and a base price tag of 1,000,000 Euros ($ 1,300,000.00). Full production started last September 2005; this car is built by Bugatti Automobiles SAS, which happens to be a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG. The car is named after Pierre Veyron, the 1939 Le Mans champion who raced for the original Bugatti firm.

The development of the vehicle started with the EB 18/3 "Veyron" concept car back in 1999 designed be Hartmut Warkuss of Volkswagen. The appearance of the concept car is very similar to the final production car but sported a W18 engine and three banks of six cylinders instead of the W16 engine. At the 2001 Geneva Motor Show, former VW chairman, Ferdinand Piëch announced the production of Veyron but will be using W16 engine that promised a top speed of 250 mph. Development continued throughout 2001 and the production was pushed back by delays and setbacks on the design. This is mainly due to the difficulty of keeping a car stable at high-speed. One Veyron prototype crashed and another spun out while being demonstrated publicly in Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca. By 2003, Piëch retired as chairman of Volkswagen and was replaced by Bernd Pischetsrieder, who sent the Veyron project back to the drawing board to resolve the major issues. Bugatti later announced that the car would be officially called Bugatti Veyron 16.4.

Under the hood, the Veyron 16.4 features a W16 engine with 4 banks of 4 cylinders. The engine looks like two V8 engines merged into one. The engine is equipped with 4 turbochargers and displaces 8.0 L with a square 86 x 86 mm bore and stroke. It also uses a dual-clutch DSG computer-controlled manual transmission and 7 gear ratios using shifter paddles behind the steering wheel that makes an 8ms shift time possible. It can also be driven by full automatic transmission. The Veyron runs at full-time all-wheel drive that was developed by Haldex and uses special Michelin run-flat tires designed specifically for the Veyron. The wheelbase measures at 2.7 meters while the length is 4.4 meters and width at almost 2 meters (1.99 meters) and 1.2 meters in height. The engine comes with 3 radiators for its cooling system, another one exclusively for the air-to-liquid intercoolers, 2 for the air conditioning, 1 for the transmission oil, 1 for the engine oil and 1 for the hydraulic oil used by the spoilers with a total of 10 radiators simultaneously operating for the Veyron 16.4.

The Veyron 16.4 is the quickest production car to reach 62 mph with an estimated time of 2.5 seconds. As a matter of fact, Veyron's 0-200 mph time is quicker than McLaren F1's 120-200 mph time. Thus making it the quickest-accelerating production car up to date. Because of this, the Veyron 16.4 also consumes more fuel than any other production car. At full throttle, the Veyron can empty its 100 L fuel tank in just 12.5 minutes.

Michael Russell
Your Independent Sports Car guide.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Russell

GM Reveals The Fully Charged Chevrolet Volta

Motor City reveals green intentions IT Week - London,UK... runaway success of the hybrid gas-electric powered Toyota Prius, General Motors (GM) this week unveiled its own hybrid concept car, the Chevrolet Volta. ...

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Friday, January 05, 2007

Volvo XC60: A Look At The Future

A couple more nights to go and the Detroit automotive show, which is much known as the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), would already be polishing off the last details and then opening its doors to the public. And with this grand event, Volvo Cars would also be sending out one of the newest vehicles in their range. And it is not just a restyle vehicle holding Volvo V70 parts, mind you.

The new Volvo vehicle is the Volvo XC60 and it is a concept vehicle. According to its creator, this vehicle would be the kind of transportation that the future would be having. In fact, this concept vehicle is going to be the basis for a new production vehicle sometime soon. This Volvo XC60 concept vehicle would soon be joining the ranks of the Volvo XC70 and the Volvo XC90 in the Volvo line of all wheel drive and cross country vehicles. Uniquely, the Volvo XC60 concept would be coming as a combination of both the all wheel drive feature and the sportiness and charm of a coupe.

People who are up to much adventure would certainly be loving this vehicle. In fact, the Volvo XC60 has been created and will be marketed so as to be able to target those people who love design, value, brand, as well as the latest automotive innovations and high technology features.
Steve Mattin is Volvo's design director and he describes the Volvo XC60 concept vehicle as, "The XC60 Concept features a number of innovations that indicate how our cars will look in a few years time. It is time to once and for all forget about boxy Volvos. Instead, we will make our Scandinavian design heritage more emotional and radiant by adding sculptured, exciting shapes and innovative features." He also does continue by saying, "With more expressive and emotive shapes, if you can recognize a Volvo from fifty meters today, I want to get to the point where you will instant spot a Volvo from twice that distance in the future."

On the outside, you can expect the Volvo XC60 concept vehicle to be holding twenty inch wheels as well as scuff plates made of aluminum. Just the kind of look that the future will be having.

About the Author
As a former news correspondent for an auto-related websites, Kevin has gathered extensive knowledge and experience in the automotive industry. This 34 year old father of three from Pennsylvania is a genuine car lover.

Thursday, January 04, 2007

The new Jaguar XF

Jaguar XF Concept (C-XF) pictures leak By Gunnar Helliesen The new Jaguar XF, set to replace the S-Type in 2008, will debut in concept form at the Detroit Auto Show in January. The new car is already all over the ‘net though, as Car and Driver apparently jumped the gun on their February ...

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Lincoln MKR Concept, Unleashed

This week's North American International Auto Show in Detroit has something exquisite to offer - all-new Lincoln MKR, a four-door four-seater coupe concept. Said vehicle hold the key to the future of automaker's design. The automaker likened the model to "a train of an elegant gown."
According to Peter Horbury, Ford's head of design for the Americas, Lincoln designers will choose from these seven defining Lincoln characteristics to create a family resemblance among the brand's vehicles. Sometimes, designers will use three of the magic seven elements. Sometimes they will use five. Or more. Or less. The 415-horsepower, rear-drive Lincoln MKR show car uses all seven of 'em.

Lincoln MKR shares the D2C platform with Ford Mustang. TwinForce engine family is introduced in the car. The engine is a 3.5L engine twin-turbo, direct-injection gasoline V6, which is also capable of running on bioethanol. It produces 415 horsepower and 400 pound-feet if torque.

"The Lincoln MKR Concept is sophisticated and modern, resembling an athlete -- extremely strong and fit but looks elegant in a tuxedo," said Horbury. "This concept is the ultimate expression of elegant simplicity consistent with the world's best Lincolns, and this new design language will lead us forward in the growing premium segment."

The 7 magnificent design features of MKR are: 1. clean and uncluttered body surfaces; 2. dynamic beltline; 3. surface running parallel to the beltline; 4. a twin-port "bow-wave" front grille inspired by the 1941 Continental Cabriolet; 5. stunning headlamps; 6. a substantial C-pillar that smoothly transitions into the roof; and 7. a pronounced roof rail.

The concept car is also equipped with Lincoln independent rear suspension mated to MacPherson struts. With regards, the interior of the car, the concept made use of environmentally-friendly and renewable materials that include cashmere leather, mohair carpet, oak instrument panel and seat cushion. THX-II is also featured in the car. Said feature is the trade name for hi-fi sound system reproduction that is recommended for theaters, car audio systems, gaming consoles, and more.

The next flagship sedan of Lincoln is the production version of MKS, which uses upgraded Lincoln LS 2002 parts. It will make its debut in 2008. The flagship sedan is greatly influenced by the MKR concept.

About the Author
Pamela Hewitt is marketing consultant of a successful auto body shop in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This 39 year old is also a prolific writer, contributing automotive related articles to various publications. She is also an offroad enthusiast.