We're on site here at VIRginia International Speedway for the very first race of the inaugural Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup and qualifying has just concluded. VIR is a gorgeous natural terrain road course in the hills along the border between Virginia and North Carolina and it offers plenty of great vantage points. During the thirty minute session 29 of the 30 drivers posted valid qualifying times with a 4 second spread from first to last. Twenty-three year old Josh Hurley of Cooper City FL came out on the top of the timing sheet with a best lap 2:14.301 (Yes I know that's not Hurley's Oakley sponsored car in the photo, but I didn't manage to catch one of Hurley. These cars are seriously fun to watch on the track and anyone who remembers watching the early 80s GTIs cornering on three wheels will feel right at home with the Jettas as they hike up the inside rear on tight turns. Like their big brothers the Audi R10s the Jettas are remarkably quiet as they circulate the track. The race cars have the same exhaust system that will be on the production Jetta TDI that launches this summer including the NOx trap and particulate filter. You can check out a video clip after the jump.
Gallery: VIR Jetta TDI Cup qualifying
Our travel and lodging for this media event was provided by the manufacturer.
In case you haven't noticed, Volkswagen of American has a new spokesbug in their commercials. A couple of weeks ago, the German brand started running a series of ads featuring a black fifties era Beetle as the host of a talk show with the likes of Heidi Klum and German pop idol David Hasselhof as guests. The latest edition features the Bug in a debate with Napster creator Shawn Fanning about the relative merits of free music and clean diesel. Fanning makes it clear that since clean diesel is legal (in all fifty states) it is definitely cooler than free music. The Beetle seems unconvinced. We're waiting patiently for our crack at one of the Jetta TDIs that are due to start arriving stateside in June so we can make our own judgment. The real question may of course be, why can't we have both? While you ponder that check out the video after the jump.
After browsing through some of your comments on the post we did about the latest GM Volt developments, we came across a link to a very interesting video thats causing a stir right now. Filmed and narrated Jeff Gilbert, a radio reporter for Detroit's WWJ (950 on your AM dial), it a offers a rare glimpse behind the curtain into the electric lab and wind tunnel at the GM Technical Center. In addition to action shots of aerodynamics testing, we see the battery packs and a Chevy Malibu being transformed into a Volt powertrain mule. That we see any of it at all is remarkable, seeing as there was a strict no-cameras policy in effect for this media visit. Hats off to Gilbert for having the juice to get himself a waiver.
Above all else, it's the aerodynamic testing that gets our attention. It featured a one-third-size Volt with the actual final production styling (pictured above). The concept version that we've all seen required extensive changes because its drag coefficient was as good backwards as forwards, and so it seems this is the design GM has decided on.
Follow the jump to watch the video and see a still shot of the Volt's front end. Thanks to Tim for the heads-up!
At Geneva Motor Show earlier this month Alfa Romeo introduced their new mini-car, the Mi.To. Now they've released a cool video showing that just because a car is small and economical, it doesn't mean that fun has to be left behind. Back in my former life before I started writing full-time, I was a controls engineer developing software for ABS, traction and stability control systems. That required spending many winter weeks and months in snowy northern climes like Sault Ste. Marie and Arvidsjaur, Sweden. This particular video takes me back to those days of blasting around on frozen lakes in Sweden. The smaller cars, like Opel Astras, were usually the preferred vehicles for their toss-ability. It looks like the even smaller Mi.To again proves you don't need big power to have fun. Check out the video after the jump.
The British tend to do things a little differently from the rest of us. They drive on the other side of the road with the steering wheel on the other side of the car (yes, I know they aren't the only country to do that, but work with me here). They often drink their beer without first chilling it. They eat steak and kidney pie (which if you've never tried it, is actually quite good!) and they came up with adding a second story to their buses. Now that Mitsubishi has launched the i mini-car in UK market, Smart has some new competition. The i is very much like a Smart ForTwo in layout and looks but with the addition of a second row seat and two extra doors. To see if the Smart could still compete, the crew at Fifth Gear (the other British car show) decided to create a four seater Smart. While the crew at Top Gear might have sliced the front end off two cars and welded them together nose to nose, the Fifth Gear team took a more distinctly British approach... the double-decker Smart. The beauty of the plan is that it maintains the Smart's perpendicular parking capability. When it comes to acceleration however ... not so much. And then there is the moose test. Check it all out after the jump.
Can a small device double or triple your car's gas mileage? ABC News/Good Morning America did a report (see video below the fold) on high gas prices and they found an inventor who claims his Mileage Master can perform that feat. As I detailed in the Mythbusters article on fuel economy devices, some of those amazing fuel saving technologies you hear about are in fact real but are based on known technology. The Mileage Master, by Fred Crane, from descriptions in the report, sounds like regular old cylinder deactivation.
Cylinder Deactivation is something car companies are using right now to increase mpg numbers. Retrofit kits for older cars are also available. However, the cost of retrofitting an older car with cylinder deactivation may not pay for the savings in fuel. Did Crane get improvements from 20 to 42 even 60 miles per gallon? I don't doubt he saw improvements but I think there would have to be a lot of deactivation going on to get significant improvement in fuel economy, plus, turning off cylinders means losing power.
The reporter should have asked Crane about the impact on the car's horsepower, 0-60 time, etc. when using the device. Also, does using the Mileage Master void your warranty? Can you even use this device in modern cars?
The ABC report also talks with a guy running his car on used vegetable oil and Wright electric car but they don't get into too much detail about the problems, like taxes you have to pay on used oil.
Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche is bullish on the adoption of diesel in the United States. At the ECO:nomics conference, Zetsche told the Wall Street Journal that Daimler is very happy with its diesel accomplishments over the last two years (see video below the fold). According to Zetsche, in the states where they are currently available, Daimler's diesel SUVs are showing twenty percent take rates and diesel cars are showing twelve percent take rates. Zetsche is confident Daimler will see the same share when diesel is offered in all 50 states. While very popular in Europe (where around half the cars are oil burners), diesel has yet to take hold in America, where only 3.5 percent of new car sales are diesels.
In the video, Zetsche was also asked about the public's unwillingness to pay for higher fuel economy. Zetsche said he thinks the public is only willing to pay for fuel saving technology that can be paid back in a short time, three to four years at the most. On the economy, Zetsche said the slowdown has not had much impact on Daimler's business so far. This means that Daimler customers are not jumping on the subway, at least not the ones that sell real estate, he joked.
At the New York Auto Show, Toyota U.S. General Manager Bob Carter spoke with Bloomberg about high fuel prices and the full-size truck market (see video below the fold). Carter said "we are not immune to what the current market conditions are and many full-size truck owners are delaying their purchases, waiting to see exactly where the market is going to go in fuel prices." Not to worry, Carter said, because "we may sell a few less Tundras but we will transfer that reduction in sales to our more fuel efficient models like the Prius and the hybrids." Can Toyota hybrids make up for a decrease Tundra sales? It's unclear. Toyota has predicted that they will sell fewer hybrids this year than last year and Prius sales are already showing declines. It's not totally clear on how Carter predicts hybrids will make up for slowing Tundra sales when Toyota is also predicting its hybrid sales will decrease.
One thing we are really looking forward to at the New York Auto Show is the official start of the Auto X-Prize, a contest to build a 100 MPGe car with a multi-million dollar prize. At the Detroit Auto Show, the X-Prize people and some of the teams had car models on display (see video below the fold).
We know that MDI's Air Car will be there. We are looking forward to seeing the other X-Prize teams (like Illuminati Motor Works) and we really want to see the Air Car in person. The compressed air powered car is out in less than a year, with a range and price that is just unbelievable. Below the fold is the most recent video I could find of the Air Car, which includes a mention of the investment from Tata which should make a release in a year's time possible.
When we get to talk to the Air Car representatives on Thursday, top of our list of questions is the re-charge (re-flate?) time. According to the video below the fold, the several-minute recharge time we heard about is only from dedicated air stations. Recharging at home with a generator will take 3-4 hours. The video below the fold also includes lots of information about the Air Car like the price and odd middle driver seating. Stay tuned for much more from us at the New York Auto Show.
Shai Agassi, founder and CEO of Project Better Place, gave an amazing speech at a New Democrat Network meeting recently. Want to know how Agassi's idea for electric cars got $200 million -- the "largest seed round of any venture in history?" Then you have to check out his speech below the fold which tells the history of the company, makes a case for electric cars and details his company's future plans.
The 25 minute video flies by thanks to Agassi's charm and humor. Project Better Place begins testing this year and it plans to have hundreds of cars on the road a year later. Agassi refers to renewable energy sources as "virtual oil fields" and talks of feeding power to the grid as a backup power source for a country. The speech ends with him predicting that by 2020, more new cars will be electric. If that prediction comes true, he will have likely played a significant role.
Gallery: Project Better Place Renault Nissan Signs Deal
Green concepts car and announcements have dominated every single major car show - except for Chicago - for the last year or more. Autoweek thinks that's about to change in New York. "The New York auto show will have an old-fashioned flavor. Instead of a long list of world debuts for hybrids and other gasoline-saving technologies, the show will concentrate on redesigns," writes Autoweek. While green pickings do look a little slim for the New York show and the last few major cars shows have show some cracks in the green, I have to disagree with Autoweek because there should be lots of green news at the New York Auto Show.
First, the New York show has the official start of the Auto X-Prize which will include news of the exact purse and the sponsors. A few of the teams will be there and the press is sure to eat that up. We certainly will. Second, Toyota might have more details about their hybrid plans. Rumors are floating around that the iQ, a mini to be released this year, might be a plug-in hybrid. Third and finally, a new focus on power and the economy should not exclude green technology. In fact, green tech is the perfect solution for more power and saving money.
I guess we will know in a week when the New York Auto Show begins Wednesday. Check out several videos below the fold about green cars at recent car shows.
America's super car company Saleen is showing a little green. Autoblog reports Saleen's S5S Raptor, which debuts at the New York Auto Show this week, will run on ethanol and have a lightweight aluminum body. We only have an air brushed picture (above) to show you for now but will post pictures and more info on this 200 MPH beauty when we get to New York. The Raptor is a good example that petrolheads like Saleen (see video below the fold) can be green too.
Ethanol and aluminum technologies are green and, importantly, accepted by the super car community. Ethanol has lower energy and gets lower mileage than gasoline but a car can be tweaked to take advantage of the higher octane in ethanol to get more horse power. Use of lightweight aluminum saves fuel and it allows for higher speeds which is why sport car companies like Lotus, Ferrari and Tesla are using aluminum today.
We are still looking for a good, green reason why a car would need to go 200 MPH, though.
At the ECO:nomics conference (March 12-14), GM chairman Bob Lutz was asked about his global warming is a "crock of sh*t" statement. In the video (which you can watch below the fold), Lutz was asked why he said it and if GM investors and customers should care that he said it. Lutz did not answer the why but he explained there are a "whole bunch of motivations for doing what we are doing." These motivations may include climate change, energy independence and conservation but the common denominator is wanting to get away from oil as a primary source of energy.
Lutz was also asked will people pay for higher fuel economy? Lutz said if we see a rise in gasoline prices to European levels ($8-$9 a gallon) people will start valuing high fuel economy numbers but right now it's just a small, altruistic segment of the population. Lutz continued, saying he finds it troubling that all of this green tech adds six or seven thousand dollars to the price of the car. Lutz thinks the technological path to 35 MPG CAFE is clear; the business way, on the other hand, is covered in fog because there are no free lunches.
The unexpected stars of this year's Geneva Motor Show were small cars. I expected hybrids or electrics to really make news but small cars stole the show. One of those small car stars was the Toyota iQ which will be released in half a year or so. How did Toyota do that? I think they had some help from Daihatsu, a car company Toyota bought a 51 percent stake in 1999 and one of Japan's most prolific maker of small cars. Daihatsu made the UFE (ultra fuel economy) III concept in the picture above (see it in a video below the fold) and first shown in 2001. The UFE III's drag coefficient is .168, it get gets 169 miles per gallon and it's a hybrid.
GM will probably beat Toyota on the hybrid front on shear numbers alone. GM's mild or Two Mode hybrids, according to GM's own marketing, will make SUVs as fuel efficient as small cars. Do you see an open market? Daihatsu was the first company in Japan to release a mini hybrid. There is some talk the iQ might even be a plug-in hybrid. Will Toyota release the first mini hybrid this year? However Toyota decides to leverage their Daihatsu subsidiary, if the UFC III concept is any indication, it's sure to be interesting.
BergToys has a great idea for a human-powered children's toy: Moov. The concept is your basic kid's big-wheel or push scooter but the parts of the toy are interchangeable and they allow a child to make several different kinds of vehicles. The creativity of the child is also opened up because they can create vehicles not in the manual. How about a unicycle? Hey BergToys, make one for us bigger kids because I wouldn't mind transforming my mountain bike into a scooter or a recumbent three wheeler. Want one for junior? The website says "We are doing our utmost to complete it a.s.a.p." Can't wait! In the meantime, check out the video of the Moov below the fold.
Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche is bullish on the adoption of diesel in the United States. At the ECO:nomics conference, Zetsche told the Wall Street Journal that Daimler is very happy with its diesel accomplishments over the last two years (see video below the fold). According to Zetsche, in the states where they are currently available, Daimler's diesel SUVs are showing twenty percent take rates and diesel cars are showing twelve percent take rates. Zetsche is confident Daimler will see the same share when diesel is offered in all 50 states. While very popular in Europe (where around half the cars are oil burners), diesel has yet to take hold in America, where only 
One thing we are really looking forward to at 
