The global economic and enviromental down-turn has put a big dent on a sports car makers. This is to be seen in many automakers like Porsche, and Aston Martin. As we saw earlier this year, Aston have teased their new city car - Cygent Concept, which is basically a re-badged Toyota iQ. Well, the falling British company says that this concept has plans to go into real production!
Automotive News has reports that Aston Martin have already started producing test-mules of the tiny Cygent city car, and it will be on sale next year. Aston Martin says that their Cygent “will offer customers a distinctive, intelligent and exclusive solution for urban travel in style and luxury” and is “based on the critically acclaimed Toyota iQ with a Euro NCAP 5-star safety package.”
Toyota will be shipping assembled iQ units to Aston’s Gaydon, England plant. Aston will then upgrade the interior and exterior while leaving the mechanicals alone (1.3L, 100 hp, and FWD). Aston Martin say that the Cygent will be sold to customers who already own Aston, but want a practical everyday commuter. Which is why the Cygent will cost around $32,000, or double the price of a Toyota iQ.
Introduction: Cops always demand rigid, capable, and yet cheap rear-wheel-drive, full-size sedans. That's exactly the reason why police departments - worldwide - have been buying Ford Crown Victorias for over a decade now. Lately though, new comers like the Dodge Charger Police car have been around, but yet couldn't offer what the Victoria does best. However, Chevrolet want to come into play, and here's their new offering - the 2011 Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle. Police department all around the U.S. will be getting Caprice PPVs in mid 2010.
Design:
Yes, the Caprice is back! Wait, GM said that this all-new Caprice is currently sold only to police departments, but they are considering a retail production edition if impressions are good. This new Caprice is actually so new, that now, it's not American at all! The 2011 Caprice Police is actually a rebadged Holden Statesman, which is actually a stretched long-wheel-base version of the Holden Commodore, which has the original Zeta-platform, that the Pontiac G8, and Chevrolet Lumina aslo have. For your information, this Caprice Police Patrol is exactly the same Chevrolet Caprice being sold in the Middle East. So it looks like a G8 - all the muscular fenders, the aggressive headlights, the quality interior, and sport-bucket seats. This police car looks way more "bad-ass" than the old-school Victoria does.
Powertrain:
Of course, the main feature behind this Caprice PPV, that it has the rear-drive Zeta-platform, which underpins the new 2010 Camaro, the Cadillac CTS, and the surely, the beloved G8. So with that platform, the Caprice PPV should drive like a sports-sedan. A police car has to have a responsive, yet an efficient V8 engine. For the Caprice, it gets the Australian-built 'L98' 6.0L V8, with 355 hp and 384 lb-ft of torque, plus an Active Fuel Management, which can cut cylinders when they aren't needed. Connected to a smooth-shifting 6-speed automatic, the Caprice PPV will hit 60 mph in under 6 seconds, which is certainly way faster than the Crown Vic police car. To make it more capable and reliable at high speeds, GM adds some police specific upgrades, like a high-output alternator, engine oil, transmission and power steering coolers, 18-inch steel wheels with bolt-on center caps, larger four-wheel disc brakes with heavy-duty brake pads, heavy-duty suspension components, police-calibrated stability control system.
It's been a real while, since the Ford Mustang has gotten a real refresh, specially under the hood. Yes, it just had its styling rechange for 2010, but under that power-dome hood, it's still basically the same as the last generation, and the generation before that as well. Even the mighty tuners at Shelby, have gotten a bit lazy lately. The new 2010 Shelby GT500 is surely one tough muscle car, but Shelby only added a couple of modifications to add some extra horsepowers.
Sources say that along with the new 5.0L Coyote V8 in the 2011 Mustang GT, Shelby engineers are throwing away the 540 hp iron-block supercharged 5.4L V8, in-favor of a new twin-turbocharged version of the Coyote, called Road Runner.The new Road Runner V8 engine is expected to produce around 600 hp. However, moving to a twin-turbo system, is a big and risky step to Shelby. After all, GT500-fanatics always adored the supercharger whine! Nonetheless, 600 horses on a Mustang will surely be fantastic.
Ford announced that it will reveal the whole in-line of 2011 Mustang engines, at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November. For truth-waiters, LA Show is less than a month away, so stay tuned.
Celebrating their 50th anniversary, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) wanted to showcase what 50 years has done to car safety. They've exactly done that, by a crash-test. Though this is not the usual crash-test.
The folks at IIHS have decided to head-crash a modern 2009 Chevrolet Malibu, into a vintage 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air. So 50 years seperate these two cars. The results were eye-opening from the video (watch below). Both cars were going the same speed, making the impact the same, on both driver sides. However, with Malibu's new "H frame" structual body shell, the chassis wasn't colapsed, and therefore, the driver and the passengers would walk out in this situation. The Bel Air on the other hand, doesn't have any type of modern body frame (just tough metal), the whole chassis and shell was altered. And you can clearly see, that the front of that Malibu actually entered into the Bel Air's cabin, making the driver's and passenger's situation terrible and outright life-threatening.
In essence, this video was done to show everyone - who still believes that old cars are safer - the truth about new modern car safety.
No matter how ready you are expected to hear bad news, it'll always be a shock. Back last summer, when General Motors was crying for some extra cash, it was reported that their Saturn barnd will be sold to Penske Automotive Group. While that was certainly good news, Penske and GM went through a lot of discussion sessions about the supply, maintinance, and labor.
Well after months of discussion, Penske announced that it's mostly worried on future supply of vehicles, and therefore their negotiations with GM about the purchase of Saturn have been canceled. “Since announcing its discussions with GM on June 5, 2009, the company has been in the due diligence process to determine the feasibility of developing an independent distribution model for Saturn-branded products and service parts in the United States, including the sourcing of vehicles from GM and other potential suppliers,” Penske said in a statement. “The company had negotiated a definitive agreement with GM to source vehicles on a contract-manufactured basis for a period of time.”
On GM's side, CEO Fritz Henderson announced that the Saturn brand will be "winding down" the brand, until Saturn finds a new owner. “This is very disappointing news and comes after months of hard work by hundreds of dedicated employees and Saturn retailers who tried to make the new Saturn a reality,” GM CEO Fritz Henderson said in a statement. However, Henderson also stated that customers can still buy Saturn vehicles in dealers, and owners can still have their vehicles serviced. GM is determinded that no jobs will be lost, even after the death of Saturn.
Source : [Penske Automotive Group, General Motors]
Introduction: These are dark days in the pick-up truck segment, as automakers are ditching big engines, wide-track tires, and tough suspension; in-favor for small eco-friendly engines that don't offer enough power, road-comfort tires that lack grip, and messy suspension that can't be shakened to off-road. So trucks these days are more to go to the shops, rather than a clear-off desert or a mountainy forest. However, there's one big exception: Ford. Ford has proved with their new F-150 Raptor SVT, that there's still hope in tough truck market. Well, to complete the circle, Ford has finally dropped official pictures and info on the all-new 2011 Ford Super Duty.
Design:
With a name like Super Duty, Ford's designers weren't going to come-up with something soft. Therefore, the style of the Super Duty is very bulky and tough. Just take a look at the face; the grille and headlights are largest units on any truck, ever! At first glance, they do look a bit odd, but it's something you'd get used to by the time. At back, it's gets classic F-150 styling. After all, this is a highly durable truck, so the styling needs to be technical. Inside, it's get more tech, as it features a 4.2 inch infotainment screen located on the center of the gauge cluster. The screen provides specific truck specifications, such as Trailer Brake Control and Tow Haul. Plus, the Super Duty offers feature comforts like a somewhat luxury truck - top noch leather seats, wood-trim on the dashboard and on the door handles, a 110-volt power inverter, and some-nicely large cup-holders with an open glove-box.
Drive-train:
2011 Super Duty is arriving in days where a big-block engine, is not environmentally acceptable; but Ford engineers seem not to care. As the new Super Duty will feature a petrol-powered Boss 6.2L V8, which makes around 400 hp. The optional engine is the all-new Scorpion 6.7L turbocharged diesel V8, which power is also around 400 hp, but torque will be cracking at over 600 lb-ft of torque. Despite the big sizes, Ford claim that fuel-economy has improved over the outgoing model. These engines are connected through a 6-speed TorqShift automatic, with manual shift controls. The chassis is available with either rear-wheel-drive, and four-wheel-driver. When opt for the four-wheel-drive, the Super Duty gets an Electronic Locking Differential, and Live Drive PTO (Power Take Off) feature. Live Drive PTO allows the engine to power auxiliary equipment like snow plows, cement mixers and tow truck lifts directly through the transmission. With that considered, the 2011 Ford Super Duty truck, should offer world-class truck driving in all truck aspects.
Introduction: Writing about main-stream mid-size family sedans is actually easy, and that's simply because they are all nearly identical. The Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, and even the new Chevrolet Malibu are all somewhat copies of each other. Hyundai was doing the same trick with their Sonata. Now though, with Hyundai aiming on luxury brands, like what they have done in their new Genesis, the all-new 2011 Sonata gets a new character, but still quite sensible underneath.
Exterior Design: You like it, right? Yes, that is the new 2011 Hyundai Sonata, and it finally looks appealing! Whereas in the older days, a Sonata was a copy of an Accord, the new Sonata with its new "fluidic scupture" style theme, it's now more like a Volkswagen Passat CC. The 4-door coupe roof-line is straight out of the CC, and the headlights and taillights are stretched like in the CC. We have to say; trying to compete with Volkswagen in design is actually not such a bad thing.
Interior Design:
With the interior, Hyundai also raised the bar for their quality, and wanting to aim of those with Lexus and Infiniti. This is clearly evident in the center navigation screen, which seems taken off from the Infiniti G37. On the other hand, the whole design of the interior, does have a Lexus look to it. Again, it's great that Hyundai are raising the standards for main-stream front-wheel-drive mid-size family sedans, and we hope the interior actually feels as good as it looks. Drivetrain: Hyundai engineers want to be clever about the powertrain. They don't want those coupish-looks, and the luxury-state interior, to be "spoiled" off by a big gas-guzzling engine, because that's not what customers want nowadays. In its home market and Europe, the 2011 Sonata will have a 2.0L 4-cylinder base engine. The rest of us, will be the 2.4L Theta II GDI petrol engine, which will develop around 180 hp. Hyundai didn't announce the V6 version of this Sonata, but they claim they're working on it. All engine are hatched to a 6-speed automatic transmission, with Vehicle Dynamic Control, Hill-start Assist Control. and Brake Assist System come as standard.
Pricing: As Hyundai is launching the new 2011 Sonata in Korea, prices start at 21.3 million Won to 25.95 million Won ($17,600 to $21,450 U.S.D). Hyundai said that it expected to sell 450,000 units annually in all markets.
It's episode 5 of Ford's '10 Unleashed program, where Mustang enthusiats share their "Mustang experience" with the internet world. This is where you see the difference on how people express their passion about cars, and about the Mustang in particular. So, some does that with big shiny wheels, others do it with a loud custom exhaust, and for Daniel Velarde, it's all about tattooing!
24-year-old Daniel Velarde has been a long Mustang fanatic, and always dreamed of his custom 2010 Mustang GT. Also, Velarde wanted to show his love of the Mustang, by tattooing the Mustang horse on his body. The trick here, that his 2010 'Stang got the same tattoo job.
So why does he deserve all this? This was done due to his submitted essay, discribing his "Mustang experience". The chance for you to win is still avalible; just head to 2010mustang.com, and submit a '250 words or less' essay, and maybe you can be featured in the next episode of '10 Unleashed.
Watch '10 Unleashed, episode 5 - Mustang Body Ink in the embedded videos below. To watch previous episodes, click here and here.
As we marked one year since the creation of this blog, it's actually time to refresh it with a new design. So here it is, in an all-new fashion. To be brutally honest, we are not truly experts in web-design; so, we chose a nice and simple Blogger template. As you can see, we now went for a white background design, which actaully makes reading somewhat easier than colored backgrounds. We would also like to note, that many new Motor Gears features are soon to come; just hang on.
Please help us by telling what you think of the new design in the comments section.
After we featured the biggies from Frankfurt like Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, and Volkswagen, it's time to see what some other automakers showed at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. Here goes:
- 2010 Saab 9-5 Sedan: While this is an all-new Saab, it's in fact, the last Saab that will ever to come-out of General Motors, as Koenigsegg now has full control and ownership of Saab. The 9-5's exterior styling has been inspired by the Aero X concept car while the windshield and roof are reminiscent of the classic 900 model. Inside, Saab owners will feel right at home with the traditional, driver-focused cockpit that features an aircraft-inspired head-up information display. Beneath that body, lives GM's Epsilon II platform, that is shared with the Opel Insignia, and Buick LaCrosse, though the 9-5 actually has a longer wheel-base. Engines vary from diesel and petrol, though the 2010 9-5 is best with the new twin-turbocharged 2.8L V6 making 300 hp, mated to a 6-speed automatic and Haldex all-wheel drive system.
- 2010 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado: For all who live in the Middle East, know that there are two versions of the Toyota Land Cruiser; there's the original Land Cruiser, and the slightly-smaller Land Cruiser Prado. The Prado has remained since 2002 unchanged, so this 2010 is getting Toyota's latest make-up in design, and drive-trains. As usual, Toyota has gone for a massaging routine as opposed to brute force for the exterior. A reshaped front fascia and new tail-lights, make the Prado look very close to the Land Cruiser. This third-generation Toyota Prado will get Toyota's new engines. Base model should get a 2.7L 4-cylinder engine, and up-scale model will get a more powerful 4.0L V6. In the Middle East, the Pardo is already on sale, with prices going around 130,000 Saudi Riyals ($34,930 U.S.D).
That's all what Frankfurt has showed us. The Motor Show was great! We would like to appologize lastly for our somewhat late coverage; we had a lot of technical issues. Lastly, down below, is a full-on picture gallery of the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, provided by NetCarShow.com
- 2010 Alfa Romeo MiTo Quadrifoglio Verde 1.4 MultiAir: This is not the production 
- 2010 Aston Martin Rapide: It's finally, in its final production form - the 2010 Aston Martin Rapide. As Aston have promised, the 2010 Rapide looks like the concept we saw back in 2006. So, is still looks like a 4-door DB9, which is actually a good thing. This Rapide is not just a looker though; it's a full-on sports-sedan. Therefore, it packs a hand-built 470 hp and 443 lb-ft of torque 6.0L V12, and it has a 750 liters of luggage space when the seats are folded. While the driver has a 6-speed Touchtronic transmission tp play with, the rear-seats are offered with indiviual tv screens. In essence, this is a pure Aston supercar, that will easily handle a family roadtrip; just like that new 
-2010 Brabus E V12: For anyone who haven't heard of Brabus, they are those crazy German tuning company, specialized for cranking-up Mercedes', and can tune-up a C-Class up to 730 hp! This time around, Brabus got their hands on the 
- 2009 Bugatti Galibier Concept: We saw the teasers, heard the rumors, and even got some speculation renders; but non prepare this: the highly-anticipated 4-door Bugatti Galibier Concept. Though it says that it's a concept, the production version is come very soon, with the same platform, and same engine. Key features to the design, are the chrome door and front-fender panels, and 8 exhaust pipes out back. Inside, it offers 4 seats, with total luxury, wood-inserted dashboard and center console, and a LCD navigation system. The platform features all-wheel-drive, specially developed ceramic brakes and a new suspension design enable the agile, always-sure handling of a saloon of this size. The engine originally comes from the legendary Veryon, so an 8.0L W16 engine; but, instead of turbocharging, the Galibier Concept gets a two stage supercharger. No officials numbers yet, but Bugatti said that this will be the fastest production 4-door sedan in the automotive world, with a top sped of 217 mph.
- 2009 Citroen REVOLTe Concept: This is another Citroen that also aims on retro styling, and modern technology. This REVOLTe Concept is heavily inspired by the iconic 1979 Citroen 2CV, which is sort of the first real eco-friendly car. So coming to the exterior design, the whole shape is reminiscent to the 2CV, but in a very modern design (sort of like the new Dodge Challenger). Like the original 2CV, the REVOLTe Concept is being showcased as a pure enviromental compact-city car. So it's got a new plug-in hybrid drivetrain, which basically can be setup on normal hybrid-drive, or run in all-electric ZEV (Zero Emission Vehicle) mode. No info yet on whether the REVOLTe Concept comes to production, but we might see something close in the near future.
- 2009 Fiat 695 Abarth Tributo Ferrari: This Fiat 5
- 2011 Ford C-MAX: While this may look like somewhat 
- 2009 Hyundai ix-Metro Concept: Hyundai's new Global Design Team have created a concept study, which like all new concepts, is a showcase to enviromently-friendly compacts. Hyundai say that the ix-Metro offers all the practicality, robustness and versatility of a CUV in a stylishly sophisticated package. However, with a 1.0L 3-cylinder engine, this gets outstanding fuel-mileage, and yet the whole cars weighs 950 kilograms, so it can be nippy as well. To benefit most space out of this small comapct, the GDT have adopted a conventional 'suicide door' configuration. ix-Metro is just a concept study, and it's to be kept as a study; so, no production here.
- 2010 Lamborghini Reventon Roadster: It's a convertible Lambor
- 2009 Lexus LF-Ch Concept: Lexus is trying to aim their new product
2011 McLaren MP4-12C: This is a moment we have all been waiting for; an all-new McLaren. However, even McLaren say, that this MP4-12C won't 
- 2011 Peugeot RCZ: When Peugeot showcased the 308 RC Z Concept back in 2007, it wasn't taken so seriously. However now, it's here, in-full production, and it doesn't seem altered from that concept we all liked. The new RCZ coupe lives-up strong as a coupe, as it features aggressive face, wide wheel-arches, and the famous bubble roof. Peugeot mostly used the word "passion" when designing this car from inside-and-out. Even the interior looks so supercar-like, as the feeling inside is tight and only has 2-seats. However, all these impressions are not so with the drivetrain. Peugeot say that while this looks wonderful, it shouldn't be spoiled with a dangerous engine or a hard-edge driving characteristics. So, the RCZ is actually powered by a turbocharged 1.6L engine, making 200 hp, and transferring power to an all-wheel-drive chassis. Therefore, it can be easily be driven like any car on the road, and yet look one of the most exclusive. RCZ should be in European markets in mid 2010.
- 2009 Renault Fluence ZE Concept: This is not is just any Renault Fluence. This Fluence may have the concept name for now, but it is expected that the new ZE Concept will follow the Fluence's range of petrol and diesel engines soon. So what is the ZE really? You guessed it; an all-electric drive version! Renault chose the Fluence platform, as it's their benchmark mid-size sedan. Therefore, it gets all the family business done, and yet features the electric moveability. For the electric-drive, Renault have used the commonly-used Lithium-ion battery-pack, which produces 95 hp and 166 lb-ft of torque. Driving-range is allowed for 100 miles, and recharging takes roughly 4 hours, but 80% of the battery is recharged within 20 minutes only. If Renault can really transfer this technology onto the real Fluennce, and with a resnoable price, we think it can be a hit.
- 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost: The production version of the 
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