Interesting CAFE Implication

Part of the new proposed CAFE rules is that they will be applied on a scale that varies with a vehicle's "footprint", which is defined as its wheelbase x track. Vehicles with larger footprints will be allowed to have lower fuel economy than vehicles with smaller footprints; this is a way to (sort of) account for vehicle size. The NHTSA decided to use a sort of s-shaped curve called a constrained logistic curve, to map the footprint to the fuel economy target.

For cars, here is the proposed set of curves for 2011-2015 (copied from here, the NHTSA Notice For Proposed Rulemaking, p. 278). To get some idea of what this curve does to actual vehicles, I calculated the footprint of four vehicles and put them on the chart.























I think a possible side effect of this regulatory pressure could be that carmakers will increase the wheelbase and track of their vehicles, particularly vehicles with poor inherent fuel economy such as sports cars.

For example, if the BMW added added about 1.5" to its track and 2" to the wheelbase of the 328, it would go from a footprint of 44.8 ft^2 to 47 ft^2, and therefore from a 2015 CAFE requirement of about 37MPG to about 33MPG, or about a 10% reduction.

Shocking news for the black London cab

In 2009, the TX4E will join its diesel counterparts on the roads of London.

Black cab maker Manganese Bronze will work with British commercial electric vehicle maker Smith Electric Vehicles to develop the TX4E, which is said to have a range of 100 miles and top speed of 50mph. It will use lithium ion batteries and, claims Manganese Bronze, will cost around 4p per mile to run.

Pricing is yet to be announced but it will cost more than the usual TX4 which starts from £28,000 which will put some cab drivers off.

A conventional TX4 is exempt from emissions-based charging such as London's congestion charge, despite the automatic model emitting more than the 225g/km limit above which drivers must pay £25 to enter central London.

Dodge Journey to launch in China (CN)

Chrysler LLC will introduce 2 new vehicles to the Chinese market. First will be the Jeep Wrangler and secondly will be the Dodge Journey. The Journey will join the Dodge line-up in 2009 alongside the Caliber, Avenger and Caravan. Locally, the new crossover will be known as the JCUV.

The JCUV will open up a new market segment to Dodge in China and straight away claim best-in-class power, torque and safety features. The crossover seats 5+2 with plenty of storage space.

“This product offensive, together with an expanded and strengthened dealer network, is allowing us to continue our sustainable profitable growth in this critical market for our Company,” said Phil Murtaugh, Chief Executive Officer – Asia Operations. Four of the Chrysler Group cars are built in China, namely the Chrysler 300C and Sebring by BeijingBenz-DaimlerChrysler Automotive and the Chrysler Grand Voyager and Dodge Caravan are produced at Southeast Motor in Fuzhou.

Related link:

New Car: 2009 Dodge Journey

Matzah!

A little somethin' for my peeps.

Matzah! | Funny Jokes at JibJab

2010 Taurus Spy Photo

This photo is making the rounds on the net as a purported spy shot of the 2010 Taurus redesign.
Assuming it is, this a sharp looking car, and portends for a much livelier Ford in the future. From this view it looks like very little sheet metal is carry-over from the current Five Hundred/Taurus, although the pronounced arch of the roof line is still there.

It also signals that the tightly packed vertical grilles with large amounts of chrome are going away, and that Ford will go more towards its European design style, which is not a bad thing.
I do see a bit of Honda in the front end, and also, and maybe some Lexus. The shape is sharp, but somewhat generic. One good thing about the current 3-bar chrome grille that Ford is using is that it is a unique design.

It is amazing, to compare the 2010 with the 2008, how bland the 2008 looks.

Update: Someone pointed out to me, that this is probably not a concept car, but is probably a clay styling model. That is, a life size model of a proposed design made from clay and painted to look like a car. One hint is the "glass", which is painted glossy black. Also notice what appears to be another clay model, still clay colored, in the distance.

The point is, this car may be nothing more than a proposal by one group of designers, competing with other proposals. The final car may look very much like this, or it may look not much like it at all!

The next Taurus? (Courtesy of Edmunds.com)
















The Current Taurus


















The Ford (Europe) Mondeo



















Honda Accord


















Lexus IS

















Styling dead end? The Interceptor concept

Tasting 3.5 Year Old Budweiser

So Passover is coming up and my wife says to me, "Are you finally going to get rid of the old cans of Budweiser you keep saving for beer-can chicken? They must be stale by now". As I am sure you know, beer is chametz, and as such, must be consumed, destroyed, or sold to a non-Jew before Passover.

In the past, I had "sold" the Budweiser ceremonially by putting it in with our other non-discarded grain products. I could never drink the stuff, being a certified Beer Snob, and somehow I kept forgetting to use it to make beer-can chicken. Every time I needed beer for chicken, I reached for whatever I was drinking at the time.

So, as a zymurgilogical* experiment, I decided to crack open and consume one of my Budweiser cans, which according to the handy "born-on date" stamp, was 3.5 years old. It had been stored on the floor of my basement, in a plastic crate, at a near constant temperature of about 70 degrees.

Here are my observations:

The pour:
Fizzy, lots of head. Good straw color, perfectly clear. Fierce bubble formation (dirty glass?)
Nose:
Hardly any smell at all. Slight notes of rice. Surprisingly, no metallic odor.
Taste:
Hardly any. The good news is that the can did not impart any noticeable flavor to the beer (I think the cans are plastic coated these days). Any trace of hops that was in the original beer, which would have been very little, is now completely gone. The stuff tasted just a little bit more beer-like than Zima. There is a hint of malt, some sweet rice, and a bunch of carbonation. Lots of mouth fizz.
Finish:
Slight rice sweetness. Very little aftertaste.

Overall, I was surprised and pleased with the results of my experiment, and I can offer this conclusion: if you don't like beer that tastes too much like beer, cellar some Bud for a few years to take the edge off. Serve cold, with a slice of lemon.

The other can was used to make beer-bread.

*Zymurgy is the science of beer.

Chery to export 3 models down-under (AU)

Chery is now invading the Australian market with 3 new models. The vehicles won't be imported directly by Chery but Ateco, the exclusive importer for Ferrari, Citroen, Peugeot, FIAT, Alfa Romeo and Maserati for Australia. The deal has been three years in the making, with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in November 2005.

Sales figures stand at 261,000 in China last year with 120,00 exports. Chery is set to introduce 38 new vehicles within the next 5 years. The QQ (Chevrolet Matiz clone), QQ6 (Chevrolet Matiz sedan) and the Tiggo SUV (2nd generation Toyota RAV4) will arrive this year.

Chery started producing cars back in 1999, in August 2007 they built their millionth car. Chery has a production capacity of 650,000 units and plans to lift that number up to 1 million annually.
“We believe that China represents the future as a source of automotive products which makes this association with Chery a very exciting development for Ateco,” Mr Neville Crichton, Ateco Governing Director had said.

So that got me thinking, will Chery come over into the UK anytime soon despite them testing their cars here? Another thing I forgot to mention, they were right-hand-drive cars.

Hyundai i800 on sale in June (UK)

Updated: 24/04/08

Forget about the popular Volkswagen Caravelle, if you want value for money, then this is just your type of MPV.

The Hyundai i800 (H-1 in oversea markets) is a 8 seater minivan and will go on sale in the UK with a starting price tag of £17,000 rising to £20,000, so expect to see value for money. High grades will see a satellite navigation system, leather seats, parking sensors, ICE for rear passengers and multi-zone air conditioning.

Under the hood will be a 2.5-litre turbodiesel engine developing around 168bhp and 289lb ft of torque. Expect a 5.1 metre mono-cab commercial variant called the i50M later on in the year.

Dear readers, please excuse my hiatus. During the last 16 days, the PC I’m using has become unresponsive. Please bear with me as I’m sorting out the problem

Thank you