Monday, October 27, 2008

Paris Preview: Citroën C3 Picasso unveiled ahead of show


click above for more hi-res shots of Citroën's new C3 Picasso

It sounds as if Citroën sees it's new C3 Picasso as a rolling contradiction in terms. According to the automaker, it is compact and spacious and blends strength and comfort; quality and affordability; performance and economy; contemporary and retro design; square shapes and flowing curves and style and practicality. All right, we can give them style and practicality, which the peculiar C3 seems to offer in spades -- though the French people mover is stylish in the same way it's namesake's paintings are a beautiful, if not an acquired taste. After reading through Citroën's press release, pasted after the break, it sounds as if there are plenty of innovative storage options as well. We do like how the automaker revels in its own quirkiness and was able to make the cockpit seem so bright and airy with all that glass. Four engines will be offered, two gas and two diesel. Look for more when we visit Paris later this month.

Gallery: Citroen C3 Picasso

X Prize asks: "What's Your Crazy Green Idea?"


New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg at the official start of the Auto X Prize.

Sometimes, people on the green fringe are called some not-so-nice names, with "crazy" being one of the more mild. But, if you're the kind of greenie who revels in the wacky, perhaps you've got an idea you'd like to share with the world and you're sick of yelling it from the highway overpass. Right now would be a good time to get your idea out there, because the mainstream X Prize Foundation is looking for "Crazy Green Ideas" and is willing to pay $25,000 for them. Well, for one of them at least.

The X Prize Foundation, which is putting together the Progressive Auto X Prize, today announced a video contest called "What's Your Crazy Green Idea?" that has a $25,000 prize for "the best video proposing a new, world-changing X PRIZE in the field of Energy and the Environment." Use dreams to power Segways? Capture energy from people typing on a keyboard to power the computer? Harness the energy from unladen swallows or migrating coconuts? These are all fair game for the crazy idea contest. Whether they'll win - well, that's up to the X Prize folks.

The short version of the rules is that they need to be two-minutes long, posted to YouTube soon (winners will be announced in December) and must answer the following three questions:

1. What is the specific prize idea?
2. What is the Grand Challenge or world-wide problem that you are trying to solve?
3. How will this prize benefit humanity?

Subaru considers entry into World Touring Car Championship



Click for a hi-res gallery of the Subaru Impreza WRC2008

We're going to play this little game again. Close your eyes and think "rally". (Not picket lines and protest signs, but tail-sliding, dirt road heroics behind the wheel of turbocharged four-wheel-drive monsters.) Now what company comes to mind? If you're a sentimentalist you might be thinking Audi or Lancia, but anybody who hasn't been living in a cave for the last decade or so (with apologies to all our cave-dwelling readers) will almost invariably think of Subaru. Never mind that its WRC team hasn't been doing that well recently: pumped up Imprezas like the WRX and STI are nearly synonymous with rallying. But now reports indicate that Subaru is considering confusing us by entering to World Touring Car Championship.

The news is sparked by a forthcoming arrangement between the WRC and the WTCC that could see them adopting a common set of rules, not unlike the more practical Super 2000 formula that has both rally and touring car series. Now we're always encouraged by news of carmakers – especially ones with such well-established motorsport pedigrees – going racing, but we can't help but wonder if Subaru's venture onto paved tracks wouldn't confuse the message and dilute its hard-earned brand identity. Conversely, the oil-ification of the WTCC could give Subaru a chance to prove its mettle with its new diesel engines. Either way, execs from Fuji Heavy and Subaru Tecnica International are expected to visit the touring car championship when it visits Japan on October 24 to scope it out.

Just because we love you, our loyal readers, ever so much, here's a gallery of studio-quality, high-resolution images of Subaru's current rally contender.

Gallery: Subaru Impreza WRC2008

Honda reveals its plans for Paris


Click above to enlarge the new Honda Insight

The big news coming from Honda for the Paris Motor Show is the introduction of the Insight hybrid concept. We are glad that previous reports that the name would be changed were incorrect. For the rest of their booth, Honda has other things to show off as well, and we've pasted the official press release after the break. The next big debut is the Euro-market Honda Jazz, which is known in most of the rest of the world as the Fit. We tested the U.S. Sport version and you can read all about that here. Although everybody knows what the Jazz looks like, Honda will be trotting out the entire line, which includes 1.2, 1.4 and 1.4 i-SHIFT Automated Manual Transmission models.

Along with the Insight and Jazz, Honda will show off its newly-updated Civic hybrid for the first time. Drivers who want an automatic with their 2.2-liter diesel engine will get that option for the first time ever. Lastly, Honda will bring along its latest FCX Clarity and the CR-Z concept that we've all seen a million times already. Anything we left out? No? All righty then, there you have it.
Gallery: Paris 08: Honda Insight concept

Mercedes-Benz ConceptFASCINATION previews new E-Class


Click above to view high-res gallery of the Mercedes-Benz ConceptFASCINATION

When the doors open at the Paris Motor Show next month, Mercedes-Benz will be giving everyone a sneak peek of the new E-Class front-end styling. No, not in the form of the new E-Class itself, which will be unveiled at a later date, but in the ConceptFASCINATION, an attractive shooting brake concept based on the upcoming E-Class Coupe's architecture and featuring the new E's front-end styling.

Gone are the round headlamps we've become accustomed to. In their place are new "rhomboid" lamps that, on the show car at least, incorporate fiber-optic driving lights. The grille will likely be the same one seen on the new E Coupe, while we'd expect the sedan to have the traditional grille-and-hood-ornament combo instead. Power comes from Mercedes' new 2.2L, 204-horsepower BlueTEC (with AdBlue) 4-cylinder diesel, which will make its production debut this fall in the Euro-market C250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY Super Verbose Prime Edition sedan.

The ConceptFASCINATION's cargo area is covered in wood, and boasts such show-car goodies as a folding glass table that can be pulled rearward, a humidor, a chilled compartment (natch), and storage for binoculars and a camera. A pronounced rear fender arch lends some visual muscle to the whole affair. Hopefully, that's also a hint at what the inevitable E-Class wagon's rump is going to look like. As for the new front end, it's a lot better looking here than spy shots have led us to believe. We'll have much more next month from Paris. In the meantime, Mercedes' extensive press release is pasted after the jump.



Gallery: Mercedes-Benz ConceptFASCINATION

Paris Preview: Honda readies refreshed Civic Hybrid and i-DTEC gearbox


click above for more shots of the 2009 Honda Civic Hybrid

It's the impending debut of the all-new Prius-assaulting Insight hybrid that's got our hearts all aflutter over Honda's booth at the upcoming Paris Motor Show, but that's not all the automaker will be bringing with it to the City of Lights. Along with the new dedicated hybrid we'll see the latest version of its older and somewhat less interesting brother, the Civic Hybrid, that along with the rest of the Civic line for '09, gets a small bit of freshening for the new model year. We do like the looks of the new front-end, but besides that, there's not much to see here... and so we move along to the CR-Z hybrid coupe that Honda's been showing off since Tokyo. Big H's other stab at saving the world runs on hydrogen, the FCX Clarity. Despite the fact that nobody in Europe will be able to buy it, it'll be there with bells on.

Honda will also use the Paris Motor Show to introduce the Continent to its new-for-'09 Jazz, known to us Yanks as the Fit. Something else that should be of interest to the Europeans is Honda's first automatic gearbox for its ubiquitous 2.2-liter diesel engine, dubbed the i-DTEC, which rounds out the new stuff that Honda has to show in Paris.

BMW CEO confirms city car with electric option


From user omolody on Flickr.

We've heard consistent rumors since last year that BMW was considering entering the tiny car market with a new electric car. This entire time, BMW was to decide on the fate of the city EV by the end of the year, and it seems that they have. BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer has confirmed that the Bavarian automaker will indeed go smaller, though we are not so sure it will wear the blue and white badge. Rather, the new vehicle could wear the Isetta badge made popular on microcars from the past. "It'll be a car with a completely new look, with two engines available. One will be a very efficient combustion engine and the other will be a purely electric model," says Reithofer. Speculation is that the electric model will get over 200 miles per charge. We don't know what internal combustion engine is slated for the Isetta, but BMW has plenty of experience with small and efficient engines from its Motorrad division. We like the way this is going.

First Drive: 2008 Ford Focus ST (Euro-spec)


Click above for high-res gallery of the 2008 Ford Focus ST

Save the hot hatch for last. That's what we kept telling ourselves as we wandered the Belgian countryside looking for Ford's Lommel Proving Ground. As it turns out, the facility, located next to an air force base – restricted airspace, you know – is so secret, our hosts at Ford could hardly find it. So we had a little extra time to repeat the mantra: save the hot hatch for last.

On our way to Italy to drive the new Fiesta, we took a detour to Lommel to sample some of Ford's European C-segment offerings. A variety of vehicles, including one with the new dual-clutch gearbox, a Kuga crossover and the fire-breathing Focus ST, would be on hand for us to drive around the track. But we knew that if we gave into temptation and drove the ST first, the rest would seem sluggish by comparison, even though the vehicles aren't comparable. So did we resist the urge, or give into the little demon that's always whispering in our ears to go faster? Follow the jump and we just might tell you.

Gallery: First Drive: 2008 Ford Focus ST



Photos Copyright ©2008 Noah Joseph / Weblogs, Inc.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Steven Millen and his Ford GT ready to run in Dunlop Targa Rally


Click either image for a high-res gallery of the Stillen Ford GT

A little over two years ago we had the chance to spend some time at the track with Steve Millen and his race-prepped Ford GT before the team embarked on its fifth excursion to New Zealand to run in the Targa Rally.

Last year, the team wasn't able to compete due to health issues with a member of the Stillen consortium, but this year they're back and the orange GT is meaner than ever.

For the 2006 campaign, Stillen built up the Ford GT in a few months, equipping the mid-engine supercar with a performance exhaust, catalytic converter delete pipes, AP Racing front brakes, Penske shocks, a full cage and MOMO racing seats and harnesses. This year, they've tweaked the suspension, upgraded the brakes front and rear, added a set of Nordskog gauges and a GPS speedometer, along with pulling a few more ponies out of the supercharged 5.4-liter V8 and sending the additional grunt through an AP Racing clutch and a lower final drive ratio.

The Stillen Ford GT will battle it with everything from Evos to Porsches over 38 stages run on closed public roads, and according to Millen's navigator, they'll be providing updates throughout the race.

Check out the Stillen website for more, and be sure to peruse both our original gallery of the GT testing at Willow Springs and these latest images, courtesy of Stillen.



Gallery: Stillen Ford GT





Gallery: Stillen Ford GT '08 Prep

Custom-cool: Mad specials from Icon


Hideki Nakanuma's 2005 Honda CBR600RR. Insane stuff...

Pics: Icon, via Moto Flash

Found these customized sportsbikes on Moto Flash. Built by Icon, these machines look quite good – definitely a cut above your usual cut-chop-paint, bolt-on specials.

To start with, there’s the 2005 CBR600RR you see above. It’s been built for Hideki Nakanuma, one of the top stunt riders in Japan. Then there’s the 2005 ZX-10R below, which, apart from its claimed 188 horsepower (at the rear wheel!), also boasts of a 400 watt MTX hi-fi sound system. And just in case you wanted to watch a couple of videos while riding the bike, the ZX-10R has an 8-inch LCD screen, which also hooks up to the bike’s integrated rear-view camera…


2005 ZX-10R. 188bhp. 400 Watt sound system. 8-inch LCD. Integrated rear-view camera...

Up next is a 2001 Harley-Davidson Sportster 1200. Various plastic bits from KTM, a Buell headlamp, modified Buell USD fork, powder coated Excel wheels, JMC swingarm, flat-slide carb, modified Vance & Hines exhaust and… the list goes on. The finished result - below - looks well worth the trouble...


2001 Harley Sportster, with various bits from Buell and KTM

And for those who’d rather ride a scooter – albeit the maddest scooter you can find anywhere – there’s the 2002 Honda Reflex 250, below. Created in homage to the mega-scooters that roam the streets of Tokyo, the Reflex is fitted with a 600 watt MTX audio system, an extended swingarm quick-drop air suspension (front and rear), a special body kit and graphics that are… a bit over the top. According to the guys at Icon, ‘Yes, it's ridiculous. Yes, your buddies would cringe to see you riding it. And yes, it pulls high school chicks better than roofie-flavoured mojitos…’


Honda Reflex 250. Built in homage to the mega-scooters that roam the streets of Tokyo




Another Icon creation - a 2005 Fireblade. And a jacket to go with the bike...

And this is the Icon gang, with their bikes. As you can see below, this is one bunch that rides their bikes hard. All show and lots of go...