Filed under: Spy Photos, Coupe, Europe, Japan, Nissan

Just when we thought the softer-riding Nissan GT-R SpecM had disappeared for good, the car shows up at the Nurburgring for a little abuse. The crew from Auto Motor und Sport managed to lay their hands on a lengthy video of a few barely-cloaked examples of the car scooting around Green Hell, and everyone’s best guess is that the vehicles are a peek at what we can expect out of the Nissan 2011 supercar lineup. As you likely recall, the SpecM is designed to be a more comfortable interpretation of the company’s no-holds barred bruiser. The suspension is tuned more for the street than busting around your favorite road course, and the interior is supposedly swaddled in more high-grade materials.

Judging from what we see in the video, we’re guessing that the new SpecM will wear aero additions borrowed from the mighty Spec-V, along with wheels swiped from the same car. Hit the jump to see the flick for yourself.

[Source: Auto Motor und Sport via Carscoop]

Continue reading Spy Video: Nissan GT-R SpecM gets wrung out at the ‘Ring

Spy Video: Nissan GT-R SpecM gets wrung out at the ‘Ring originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Bad engine in your auto ? Car problems ? What are the basic tests & tools employed by your mechanic & what can ( for the most part go wrong ) ? Get your charge card out of your wallet.

A compression test can be very useful in pinpointing bad valves, worn piston rings / cylinders and / or leaky head gaskets. If you follow a regular and ongoing maintenance schedule , your vehicle should be ready for long and short trips at any time. For extended trips however it is a good idea to make a few special checks – the carburetor). Next in line the ” compression test” may help your neighborhood garage mechanic or technician at your local auto dealership service department spot overall low readings & levels of motor compression, leaky head gaskets, late ignition timing, a restricted or partially impeded or plugged exhaust system, sticky valves, burned or damaged valves , or lastly even “worn” valve guides.

In the case of diesel engines – such as VW diesel motor, the Volkswagen diesel develops much higher compression than a gasoline engine variety setup. The typical gas engine will run satisfactorily with cranking compression as low 90 psi whereas the VW Diesel should withstand pressures in the ranges of 400 to 500 pounds per square inch to raise the temperatures high enough to ignite diesel fuel to power up the engine. Some services need to be done only once or twice a year. If you drive under conditions and cover from 10 to 12 twelve thousand ( 10,000 – 12,000) miles a year. These are often called “seasonal checks”, and many of them are somewhat unnecessary because of varying weather conditions in different parts of the country. Some may be essential in colder climates such as Northern Minnesota or Alberta Canada, yet not essential or required in the southern US states. Yet this simple test can inform even a backyard mechanic a fair bit about the state & condition of your car’s engine & whether it is worth dropping a lot or any cash & service time into it.

Weekly checks
With the car stationary and engine cold check the following weekly
1)engine oil level
2)battery fluid level
3)radiator coolant level
4)windshield water reservoir
5)power steering reservoir fluid
6)tire pressures
7)tires for cuts and tire wear patterns
8)brake pedal action
9)fan bolts and cooling system hoses ? Blue smoke in the exhaust indicates oil is being burned due to worn pistons, broken piston rings, a cracked piston or worn valve guides. Car oil varies from four quarts to seven. The owner’s manual and markings on the dipstick will inform you how much oil that your auto requires and needs. The thickness of an oil ( also called or referred to as its viscosity). The standard procedure by the society of Auto Engineers (SAE), is to number the oils according to viscosities. Generally the higher the number , the thicker the oil. All numbers are preceded by the letters SAE, the abbreviation for the accepted professional and trade society that sets “the standard” employed. If the number is followed by the letter “W” , the thickness was measured at zero degrees (0), if no letter follows then it was done at 210 degrees F. It can be generally held & diagnosed that if the condition of waste oil smoke is not accompanied by any unusual engine noises or overall loss of power , that the most likely cause is worn valve guides.

No doubt about it. In today’s modern world of 2010 , most people are dependent on their vehicle – be it car, truck or SUV for basic transportation & transporting them to and from their job or place of employment for their basic income. Basic and simple checks should be done each and every day. If however you skip a day , be sure to add this list to your list of weekly checks. Check 1) lights
2) horn
3)windshield wiper operation
4)outside rearview mirrors
5)Front windshield cleanliness
6)rear windshield cleanliness
7)side windows cleanliness
8)tires – visual check.

About the Author

Terry S. Vostor Fort McMurray Alberta Auto Dealer Trois Riviere Car Carrier

Article Source: Content for Reprint

Filed under: Sedan, Hatchback, Chevrolet, GM, Nissan, Electric

Proving once again the old adage that there’s more than one way to skin a cat battery, Chevrolet and Nissan have each designed new eco-friendly vehicles that are set to go head-to-head for sales supremacy starting at the end of this year. Though both automakers arrive at the same basic anti-gasoline (at least to a large extent) result, the Volt and the Leaf differ in more ways than they are alike.

We’ll start with the drivetrain. While the Volt and Leaf are both technically electric cars, Chevrolet’s solution to the range problem includes the addition of a small gasoline-fueled engine capable of recharging the Volt’s onboard battery pack. There’s enough battery capacity to travel at least 40 miles before the generator kicks in, but there’s no limit to the range after the engine takes over.

Nissan’s Leaf, on the other hand, has a somewhat larger battery that the automaker claims will allow for 100 miles of range per charge. After that, there is simply no more forward progress to be had until the Leaf is plugged into an outlet for a few hours – at least. But if going 100-percent gasoline free is your goal, this is your ride.

And then we have the body styles and shapes. Both cars spent plenty of time in the wind tunnel, with extremely different results. The Volt sports a more traditional sedan-like shape and offers seating for four. The Leaf, on the other hand, has a bit of an out-there look to its basic hatchback design and boasts seating for five.

Pricing too is a bit divergent. Nissan has affixed a $32,780 sticker to its electric car, before federal or state incentives. That price will drop to the mid-$20s when a $7,500 tax credit is applied. The General is making its Volt a bit more dear with a $41,000 asking price that drops to $33,500 after the credit. Interestingly, both automakers will offer leases for $350 per month for 36 months.

So, the big question is: Which electric car do you think is the better buy? Make yourself heard in our (totally unscientific) poll below.

View Poll

Poll: Chevrolet Volt takes on Nissan Leaf originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: SUV, Safety, Crossover, Ford, Design/Style

In creating the 2011 Explorer, Ford engineers and designers had an enormously difficult task set before them. Ford’s President of the Americas, Mark Fields, described the job as “Reinventing the SUV for the 21st century.” Despite the near complete collapse of the traditional mid-to-large SUV market over the last several years, Ford still sees a substantial market for the capabilities of these boxy behemoths. Customers just don’t want the traditional downsides that accompany these body-on-frame ‘utes – specifically, their higher fuel consumption and poor ride and handling.

Since its debut some 20 years ago, the Explorer has sold over six million units, four million of which are still traversing the world’s roads. Through much of the late-1990s and early part of the last decade, the Explorer was Ford’s second-best-selling vehicle behind its F-Series pickups, regularly selling 400,000 units a year. Fast-forward to 2009, and that volume had plummeted to just over 52,000. Even so, Ford believes it still has an opportunity. According to the automaker’s vice president of global marketing, Jim Farley, each year, at least 140,000 Explorer owners come back to Blue Oval dealerships looking to purchase new vehicles. And obviously, they just aren’t buying Explorers.

When word got out that Ford was developing a new unibody Explorer off the same platform architecture that underpins the Taurus and Flex – not to mention the Lincoln MKS and MKT – many people wondered why Dearborn had elected to develop yet another crossover, especially since the Taurus X/Freestyle had just been killed due to slow sales. This predicament was not lost on Ford’s product planners, and their four-wheeled response is a new Explorer that remains squarely targeted at traditional SUV buyers – shoppers that Ford sees as a distinct group from most crossover intenders. Long ago, Jeep proved with the Cherokee and Grand Cherokee that a unibody chassis isn’t necessarily an impediment to building a fully capable off-roader, and Ford appears to have taken that lesson to heart, along with targeting big improvements in fuel economy and driving dynamics. Follow the jump to find out if they succeeded.

Continue reading 2011 Ford Explorer unveiled, tries crossing over on road to redemption

2011 Ford Explorer unveiled, tries crossing over on road to redemption originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Motorsports, Performance, Europe, Videos, Hatchback, Ford, Racing

Our collective blogging heart goes out to Mikko Hirvonen. It’s a shame to see a driver with galaxies worth of talent constantly banished to the lower rungs of the podium by the likes of Sebastien Loeb. Perpetually optimistic, the Finnish hoon seems to be a rarity among the racing driver species. Even in the face of repeated defeat, the guy typically keeps his cool and hopes for the best. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s content to sit back and watch Citroën continue to dominate the WRC and Hirvonen has been beating the life out of his Focus RS racer in preparation for the upcoming Finland Rally.

Fortunately for us, a video of the testing action has made its way to the YouTubes, complete with plenty of shots of the mean Blue Oval in defiance of the laws of gravity. At some point, if we’re very lucky, we just might figure out how the guy manages to get that hatch to pivot mid-air. Click past the jump to waste a little time in the best way possible.

[Source: YouTube via WebRidesTV]

Continue reading Video: Mikko Hirvonen tests WRC Ford Focus, enters low orbit

Video: Mikko Hirvonen tests WRC Ford Focus, enters low orbit originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Hybrid, Sedan, Lincoln, Luxury

Lincoln has dropped a bit of a surprise with the pricing of the 2011 Lincoln MKZ hybrid. Unlike most other hybrid vehicles, there will be no price premium compared to the cheapest conventional model. The MKZ hybrid, with its 2.5-liter four cylinder hybrid powertrain, will start at $35,180 including destination and delivery. That’s the same price as the front-wheel drive 3.5-liter V6-powered model.

For those keeping track, that puts the price at about $350 under the base Lexus HS 250h, which would seem to be its main competitor. Further, its 41 miles per gallon in the city is 6 mpg better than the Lexus – which, of course, is supposed to be the whole point of a hybrid vehicle. Add in arguably more attractive styling and the new Lincoln hybrid may well find itself with quite a following in the marketplace. Check out all the details in the press release after the break.

[Source: Lincoln]

Continue reading 2011 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid priced equal to V6 at $35,180

2011 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid priced equal to V6 at $35,180 originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Videos, Mercedes-Benz, UK, Luxury

David Coulthard was called to the Isle of Man to pilot an SLS AMG for a scene in a 3-D film. To ensure that DC could strut the coupe’s stuff, some of the island’s roads were closed to the public. That meant a place with no speed limits also had no traffic. And that meant Fifth Gear’s Tiff Needell felt the need to join DC and take the wheel himself. His goal: beat David’s top speed of 160 miles per hour. The sound of him making the effort alone is worth following the jump for the video.

[Source: Fifth Gear]

Continue reading Video: Fifth Gear joins David Coulthard on the Isle of Man with Benz’s SLS AMG

Video: Fifth Gear joins David Coulthard on the Isle of Man with Benz’s SLS AMG originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Auctions, Racing

Bidding is over and this gem is gone, but it’s a worthy look at history nonetheless. Czech company Avia, now a truck builder known as Ashok Leyland, built two-stroke, two-cylinder cars in the fifties that were converted to racers. Czech driver Miroslav Jurca got hold of one in 1956 and turned it into this: the 750 Mk III. The aluminum and magnesium alloy skin sits over a steel tube chassis, within which lurks a 750cc, four-stroke BMW engine.

A surprising amount of tech also lives under that revised bodywork, including a fully-independent front suspension with unequal-length A-arms, coil springs, telescopic hydraulic shocks and torsion bars; an independent rear suspension with coil springs and hydraulic-telescopic shocks; a transaxle gearbox and lightweight alloy-magnesium rack and pinion steering. You can have a detailed look at this interesting car it in the photo gallery below.

[Source: eBay Motors]

eBay Find of the Day: Czech out the 1956 Avia 750 MKIII streamliner originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 17 Jul 2010 20:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

 Here's a matchup I thought I'd never see: Toyota and Tesla Motors. Toyota is a conservative money maker that likes to develop technology in-house. It has quite a nice hybrid program that the company developed while making billions selling cars and trucks. The Japanese giant shuns controversy. Yet the company is teaming up with tiny Tesla, a company that has lost $246 million on $148 million in revenue since 2007. Tesla Chairman and CEO Elon Musk is very un-Toyota, finding controversy like a moth to a light bulb. In the past, he has been in litigation with a former Tesla CEO, a past design firm he hired and has a rather public divorce going on. So what does Toyota see in Tesla?
Toyota's brain trust thinks that maybe, just maybe, Tesla might be onto something. Tesla's lithium ion battery pack strings together 6,831 cylindrical cells that are typically used for laptops. Major carmakers like General Motors and Nissan use prismatic cells, which are usually flat, resembling a thick notebook. They are larger than Tesla's cells, therefore the battery pack doesn't need as many of them. There are fewer connectors and less chance of a breakdown, says Jim Hall, principal of consulting firm 2953 Analytics. Tesla's advantage is that there is an entire computer industry out there using those small cells, so the capital costs are lower. If Tesla's battery is durable in the long run, it could be an option for carmakers.
So Toyota wants to get Tesla's battery and electric drive technology, hook it up in to a couple of Rav4 SUVs and put it through some rigorous testing. The sports car buffs who drive Tesla roadsters may give the car a thrashing on the highway, but not many people drive a $109,000 two-seater in bad weather or every day. Toyota wants to test the battery pack out and see how durable it is and how simple it would be to produce, Chairman Akio Toyoda told reporters in a round table session last week. "Tesla's battery should fail, but it doesn't," Hall says. "Toyota wants to understand why it hasn't failed." Despite its troubles, Toyota has $43.3 billion in cash. Consider its $50 million investment in Tesla as a venture capital investment. Many of those don't pan out.

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, SUV, Videos, Porsche, Luxury

According to the Porsche, the 4,784-pound, 500-horsepower Porsche Cayenne Turbo gets from zero to sixty in 4.4 seconds. The 3,219-pound, 385-hp 911 Carrera 4S with PDK takes 4.3 seconds to run the same distance. With such remarkably close acceleration times, Autocar wanted to see if the Cayenne Turbo could hang with the 911 around Millbrook’s 1.39-kilometer Outer Handling Circuit. The answer: A lot better than expected. Follow the jump to watch Steve Sutcliffe run both Porsches ragged. Top tip, Steve!

[Source: Autocar]

Continue reading Video: Autocar pits Porsche 911 4S against Cayenne Turbo… who wins?

Video: Autocar pits Porsche 911 4S against Cayenne Turbo… who wins? originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments