Wednesday 7 September 2016
Bridgestone Is Developing a Brand-New Tire for the 1992 Jaguar XJ220
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Jaguar is preparing to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the XJ220 next year, a car that was briefly the fastest in the world with a top speed of 217 mph. Now, to honor the anniversary and to help keep these high-speed collectibles on the road, parts-supplier Don Law is partnering with Bridgestone to develop new tires for the XJ220.
Only 275 of the cars were built, more than the originally announced 220 (the projected top speed in mph) but fewer than a later target of 350 units (the actual top speed in km/h). Those 275 cars have now become valuable collectibles, and most of the owners know that if they want to keep them on the road, they have to turn to Don Law Racing in the UK. Don Law is an expert Jaguar shop and has become essentially the world headquarters for any and all XJ220 replacement parts. If you need XJ220 bits and pieces, you call Don Law. Bridgestone, meanwhile, was the original supplier of tires for the project.
While it’s a small market, it’s also an important tire to develop. Tires that would work on the XJ220 went out of production years ago, so it’s hard for owners to get the correct size for their cars if they want to keep driving them. Bridgestone is working with the original engineers, original test driver, and pre-production chassis 004 to develop the new 255/45 ZR17 fronts and 345/35 ZR 18 rear tires. The partners aim to have the new, modern tires available for the anniversary in 2017.
While the original concept shown in 1988 was an all-wheel drive car with a naturally-aspirated V12, Jaguar looked at the Porsche 959 and Ferrari F40 and, working in partnership with Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) instead put it into production four years later as a rear-wheel drive car with a twin-turbo V6. Some potential buyers backed out when the price went up, perhaps also disappointed that the car didn’t have a V-12 or that it fell just short of the targeted 220-mph top speed. Or at least those reasons were among the excuses given when the economy went into a recession just as the cars were going into production.
The Jaguar hasn’t kept pace with its contemporary supercars from Stuttgart and Maranello on the collector market; while 959s and F40s fetch over $1.0-million, a 1993 XJ220 sold at RM Sotheby’s 2015 Monterey auction for $462,000 while a museum-stored example from 1994, the last model year, traded hands in June for $357,500. After sitting in a museum for years on end, it could probably stand a fresh set of tires before it can demonstrate its potential.
A version of this story originally appeared on Road & Track.
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202-mph Spur: New Flying Spur W12 S Is Fastest Bentley Sedan Ever
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The all-new 2017 Bentley Flying Spur W12 S represents the absolute tip of the Flying Spur iceberg thanks to a modest 10-hp bump that assists in taking the “entry level” Bentley to a claimed top speed of 202 mph. This makes it 2 mph faster than the run-of-the-mill, W-12–powered Flying Spur and grants it standing as the fastest ever four-door produced by the team in Crewe.
Like its more mundane sibling, the Flying Spur W12 S relies on a 6.0-liter twin-turbocharged W-12 engine to channel its muscle to all four wheels. Bentley predicts its new alpha dog, producing a healthy 626 horsepower and 605 lb-ft of torque, will rocket to 60 mph in 4.2 seconds. Adding to the W12 S’s sportier character is a retuned suspension that Bentley says improves the car’s handling without sacrificing the creamy ride quality that its customers expect.
Meanwhile, special bodywork incorporates design cues found on the 190-mph Flying Spur V8 S, letting the world know this isn’t any normal Flying Spur. In order to make sure passersby don’t confuse a much pricier W12 S with its lesser V8 S stablemate, Bentley coats its top-of-the-line model’s exterior brightwork in gloss-black paint. Tinted front and rear lamps, as well as C-pillar-mounted W12 S badging and trim-specific seven-spoke, 21-inch wheels further differentiate the model.
Likewise, Bentley has spruced up the W12 S’s insides, adding knurled paddle shifters behind a three-spoke steering wheel, black engine-turned trim, and a two-tone leather interior. In case you forget which Flying Spur model you’re entering, Bentley also includes W12 S stitching in the headrests as well as W12 S kickplates. Options include carbon-fiber interior trim, carbon-ceramic disc brakes, and five-spoke, 21-inch wheels, not to mention an all-but-inevitable list of pricey bespoke features that will surely be available to customers.
Bentley has yet to release pricing for the 2017 Flying Spur W12 S, but it’ll surely cost more than the $228,025 non-S W12 model. The company said customer deliveries will begin before the calendar year turns over.
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Phone to Throne: Land Rover Shows Remote Control Power Seats
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September 7, 2016 at 3:28 pm by Clifford Atiyeh | Photography by the manufacturer
Land Rover’s 2017 Discovery is still so new that it’s only being shown in camouflage until the official reveal at the upcoming Paris auto show, but we know its power-folding seats can be operated by remote control. Our modern fascination with remote control hasn’t faded since the debut of Zenith’s Space Command wireless television remote in the 1950s, which sent ultrasonic sound waves from vibrating aluminum rods to a vacuum-tube receiver, and this latest application of operation-from-afar looks every bit as complex, if tailored to our always-connected age.
Land Rover’s InControl Remote smartphone app will be able to raise or lower the Disco’s second- and third-row seats from almost anywhere in the world. This requires untold lines of new software code to let Land Rover’s server receive commands from a cell phone, verify the user, and send the authorized signal over a second cellular network to the vehicle’s modem, at which point the vehicle’s CAN bus must interpret the command and direct it to the proper ECU which, in turn, must then activate multiple electric motors. See how easy that was?
At this point, no other automaker offers wireless seat control, least of all by way of the owner’s phone. We see huge potential in this technology as a means by which siblings can prank one another while they’re strapped in the car and, um, well, to help your spouse load a new TV into the family truckster even though you’re on a business trip five time zones away. For Land Rover owners, it’ll be another functionality for the app beyond remote start, climate control, door locking, and vehicle tracking.
In case you’re not skydiving toward your car while fussing with an app—as Land Rover demonstrated is possible for no apparent reason—the Discovery also lets the owner raise and lower the seats from the vehicle’s infotainment screen or by pressing traditional switches located both in the cargo area and on the C-pillar behind the doors. Even the headrests automatically power up and down as needed. Progress.
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Mercedes Vision Van Concept Has Rooftop Drones to Handle the Deliveries
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Mercedes-Benz doesn’t want you to think of its business of building and selling commercial vans as a boring, unglamorous corner of its auto-manufacturing empire—albeit one that saw revenue (that old-fashioned metric of business success) increase by 19 percent in the first half of the year, to €6.256 billion. Instead, it wants you to see its vans as a futuristic business platform solution, part of the internet of things. And so it created the Vision Van concept, an all-electric van that’s so forward-thinking it comes with its own drones!
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September 7, 2016 at 10:16 am by Joe Lorio | Photography by Joe Lorio and the Manufacturer
Mercedes-Benz doesn’t want you to think of its business of building and selling commercial vans as a boring, unglamorous corner of its auto-manufacturing empire—albeit one that saw revenue (that old-fashioned metric of business success) increase by 19 percent in the first half of the year, to €6.256 billion. Instead, it wants you to see its vans as a futuristic business platform solution, part of the internet of things. And so it created the Vision Van concept, an all-electric van that’s so forward-thinking it comes with its own drones!
The Vision Van is part of the company’s “adVANce” initiative (get it?) that will see its motorized metal boxes evolve into integral cogs in the intelligent, connected, smart-delivery system that the future demands. As part of the effort, the company claims to be working on technology that will allow vehicles in the field to continually report their location and the status of the parcels on board, and to receive change instructions from a centralized home base. The company also is exploring changes to its current sales/leasing business model, with a possible move into vehicle-sharing and/or short-term, as-needed rentals.
As for the Vision Van itself, its vast acreage of silver, bulbous sheetmetal is punctuated by futuristic design cues such as blue accent lighting along the lower body, LED headlights, and a light-up grille that displays a world-map motif, among various other patterns. Under the rounded skin is a 75-kWh electric drive unit said to provide a range of 50 to 168 miles “depending on application.” There is no driver’s door, so folks must enter via the portal on the right side or the giant hatch at the back. The concept also features shelving units inside that slide out the back for easy loading. Most important, though, are the two roof-mounted “integrated delivery drones,” which envision a future when the UPS guy won’t have to trudge up to your house to drop your Amazon Pantry box onto your doorstep, but rather can just pull up to the curb and send it out via drone. Less human interaction for both the delivery driver and the consumer—a win-win for everyone.
As much as Daimler wants to make commercial vans exciting and cool for business types, we’re still drawn to the idea of the van as a vehicle of leisure. We’d use the roof-mounted drone for fetching more beer.
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Tuesday 6 September 2016
Dodge Releasing AWD, Widebody Challenger Hellcat and AWD Non-Hellfeline Challenger
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When future product timelines are pushed back, fall back to Hellcatting all of the things. That’s exactly what Dodge is doing, according to Automotive News, as it moves to introduce yet another 707-hp Hellcat-V-8–powered model to its lineup next year: A wide-body, all-wheel-drive Challenger Hellcat dubbed the Challenger ADR. Dodge also will introduce, for the first time, an all-wheel-drive non-SRT Challenger. These should pique consumer interest until the automaker’s delayed next-generation vehicles, including the replacements for the Charger sedan and Challenger coupe, arrive around 2018.
Challenger ADR
What is significant about the all-wheel-drive Challenger ADR is that both the Challenger and Charger Hellcat models have been rear-drive-only since their introduction in 2014. The ADR will not, however, be the first Hellcat-powered product to be gifted with all-wheel drive; the forthcoming, long-anticipated Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk has been guaranteed to have the feature since we started reporting on it years ago.
Needless to say, all-wheel-drive should help the Challenger ADR use its powerful engine to better effect when launching from a standstill, and we anticipate it will be slightly quicker to 60 mph and through the quarter-mile than a rear-drive Hellcat as a result. The ADR’s wider bodywork should allow Dodge’s engineers to fit the Challenger with wider tires for some extra grip through corners, a sore spot in the regular Hellcat’s dynamic envelope traceable to its narrow 275-section tires dictated by the Challenger’s limited wheel-well space. As for what the ADR might look like, we’d look no further than the GT AWD concept Dodge debuted at the 2015 SEMA aftermarket show in Las Vegas. We assume the Challenger ADR will share beefed-up all-wheel-drive components with the Jeep Grand Cherokee Hellcat, since all-wheel-drive systems optimized for 707-hp engines aren’t terribly common.
Challenger GT AWD
But wait, there’s more! Dodge will also spread the all-wheel-drive love to its non-SRT Challenger for the first time, with a new GT AWD model. If adding all-wheel-drive to the Challenger so late in its life cycle—it and the Charger will be replaced with new models that share platforms with Alfa Romeo’s new Giulia in 2018—seems like a lot of work for only a short period, it probably isn’t that big a deal. Neither all-wheel-drive Challenger model seems to pose much in the way of technical hurdles for Dodge’s engineers, since the Challenger shares its platform with the Charger sedan that has offered all-wheel-drive on its non-SRT models since it was introduced in 2006. All-wheel drive also plays a large role in sales of the Charger Pursuit police package, too.
Given how popular Dodge’s 707-hp Hellcat twins have been, spreading some of the magic to an additional model, not to mention one that might find equal appeal for its enhanced traction and spicier performance, seems worth doing, even if only for a year or two. (And there’s no telling if the Challenger and Chargers’ replacements might be delayed even further, extending this run of all-wheel-drive cars.) There’s no mention of whether Dodge has any plans to spin off an all-wheel-drive Charger Hellcat, which surely would appeal to more practical-minded buyers of 707-hp muscle sedans, but it seems feasible. Dodge limited all-wheel-drive availability to V-6 models in 2015, dropping it from the option list for V-8 models because so few customers wanted to pay the extra cost of both the engine upgrade and the AWD system. The 707-hp mill, though, makes its own argument for using all four wheels to put power to the ground. Hellcat all of the things, indeed.
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2018 BMW 5-series Prototype Drive: Fine-Tuning the New 5
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Last spring, BMW invited us to drive the new-for-2018 5-series sedan in what was described as “early-development” form. That’s code for European-spec cars cloaked in camouflage inside and out, with a chassis still using interim calibrations. This experience turned out to be a brain-picking session. Before key settings were finalized for production—scheduled to begin before […]from Car and Driver BlogCar and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/2bRh8C1
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Kia Details New In-House Eight-Speed Automatic Transmission for Front-Drive Applications
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Kia announced its all-new eight-speed automatic transmission, designed for front-drive, transverse-engine applications, when it debuted the 2017 Cadenza sedan. However, the transmission was only mentioned in passing—the focus, of course, was on the Cadenza’s overall newness—but we now know more as Kia has offered a deeper look at the eight-speed.
Set to replace the old Cadenza’s six-speed first, the eight-speed is entirely Kia’s. That tidbit is worth a mention given that most manufacturers are turning to eight-plus-speed transmissions designed by ZF, Aisin, and the like. In any case—pun intended—the eight-speed gearbox occupies roughly the same space as the six-speed it replaces, and it’s also 7.7 pounds lighter.
Per Kia, the new transmission has an additional clutch and a fourth planetary gearset (bringing it in line with the number of gearsets used by the ubiquitous ZF nine-speed auto), and benefits from a 34-percent-broader ratio spread between first and top gear as compared with the six-speed. It also uses what Kia describes as the smallest oil pump in its production-transmission class to reduce parasitic losses on the engine, improving fuel economy. A reduced number of control valves and a direct control valve body with solenoid control over the clutches are claimed to return quicker shifts and a “more direct mechanical link to the engine,” which we assume means a more positive feel to the engine–transmission combination. Ditto the eight-speed’s torque converter, which uses a multi-disc design (the six-speed had a single disc) and features an expanded lock-up range, also for a more direct feel and improved fuel economy.
It isn’t yet clear whether the transmission can support a driveshaft to a rear axle for all-wheel-drive applications, but given how Kia says the eight-speed will supplant its old six-speed in “a number of mid-sized and larger front-wheel drive models,” one would expect so.
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Bang a Gong, Camion! Nissan’s Micra-Carrying Titan XD Race Hauler
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Nissan Canada turned a Titan XD into a racing support vehicle, built to carry a Micra Cup car to and from the track. By way of explanation, let’s take a hard left turn into the filmography of Rick Moranis, shall we? Imagine if Bob McKenzie had been hit by Wayne Szalinski’s shrink ray, leaving his brother Doug to carry him around, lest he be gobbled up by Audrey II. In this instance, the carnivorous plant is obviously a stand-in for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. With our obligatory Great White North reference out of the way, let’s have a look at the meat of this double-backed beast.
To celebrate the end of the second season of Canada’s Micra Cup series while illustrating the meaty musculature of the Titan XD, Nissan’s north-of-the-border operation commissioned the duo you see here. Officially (and sensibly) called the Titan Hauler XD, the pickup was retrofitted for duty by Quebec’s Motosports in Action (MIA), which built the hydraulically actuated, Micra-lifting aluminum sled. MIA also reinforced the bed, which Nissan claims nearly doubles the Titan XD’s 2091-pound payload rating.
The truck, emblazoned with the French tagline “Le Titan des Camions,” made its debut at the last Micra Cup race of the year, which took place at Mosport in Ontario this past weekend. Presumably, the crowds were mesmerized by its mechanical watusi. If you missed it, just watch the clip below.
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Monday 5 September 2016
Now Free with Purchase of V! Cadillac Offers Performance Customers Track Instruction
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Cadillac’s been serious about playing up the track-ready aspects of the ATS-V and CTS-V—they are indeed quite track-ready—and now they’re taking it a step further, throwing in a two-day track program at the V-Performance Academy at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch for those who pony up the dosh for a new 2017 V car.
While students who shell out the money to attend the school without buying a car get their choice of CTS-V or ATS-V to wheel, those who are attending on the new-purchase plan are limited to the same model they bought. Either way, the new owner gets travel from McCarran Airport in Las Vegas, two nights of lodging in the condos at the track, three square meals, and, of course, the instruction. A night out in bumpin’ Pahrump, however, comes at their own expense.
Track instruction includes skidpad, slalom, and steering exercises, as well as time on Cadillac’s particular configuration of Spring Mountain’s multilayout course. If two days in Vegas is time prohibitive and you’re closer to COTA or Lime Rock, Cadillac’s also offering its touring V-Performance Lab, a one-day school, at those locations this fall. The Connecticut classes are October 20–22, while the Austin event is slated for November 18–20. But let’s face it, you want the two-day shebang in Nevada.
While the price of the course is included in the price of the car, airfare to Las Vegas is not. But hey, they’ve got slot machines in the airport. You’re practically guaranteed to win back the cost of your flight.
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Friday 2 September 2016
Meet the G that Cost Me: 2017 Genesis G90 to Start at $69,050
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With its flagship G90 looming large on the horizon, Genesis has announced the financial layout required, and the spread is actually pretty narrow, with just $4100 separating a V-6 turbo RWD model from a V-8–powered AWD example.
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With its flagship G90 looming large on the horizon, Genesis has announced the financial layout required, and the spread is actually pretty narrow, with just $4100 separating a V-6 turbo RWD model from a V-8–powered AWD example.
As we’ve noted elsewhere, the G90 comes very highly equipped, without a ton of extraneous available options to clog up the Monroney. A 365-hp, twin-turbo V-6 3.3T Premium with rear-wheel drive starts at $69,050. Opt to send some of the six’s 376 lb-ft of torque to the front wheels and you’ll shell out another $2500.
Step up to the G90 5.0 Ultimate, and you get Hyundai’s 420 horsepower, 383, lb.-ft naturally-aspirated V8, which starts at $70,450, while an AWD V8 model will once again command a $2500 premium, bringing the tally to $73,150. These numbers clearly compare quite favorably with those of the established full-size luxury guard, including the Audi A8 ($83,450 to start with a supercharged V-6), the BMW 7-series ($82,495 with its turbocharged inline-six), and the Mercedes-Benz S-class ($97,525 with its base turbo V-8).
The G90 hits showroom floors at the end of September.
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2017 Shelby GTE: A Mustang with Stripes and a Bit More Power
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While the Shelby badge usually brings to mind the hottest, highest-performing factory-built Mustangs, Shelby American also turns out its own variations on Ford’s pony car. Here’s the latest: the 2017 Shelby GTE, a lightly modded Mustang that gains about two dozen horsepower.
The “E” in GTE stands for “enhanced,” and it does indeed receive mild enhancements. In 5.0-liter V-8 guise, it puts out 456 horsepower, 21 more than stock; turbocharged four-cylinder models make 335 horses, a gain of 25.
The power increases come in part from the Ford Performance catalog, with V-8 models getting the factory-approved Power Pack; EcoBoost models, in contrast, get a Shelby-specific engine tune. GTEs also get the Ford Performance Handling Pack and cat-back exhaust as well as Ford Performance 19-inch wheels wrapped in tires of Shelby’s choosing.
Stripes and badges? Hell yeah. GTE-specific hoods, grilles, rocker panels, and rear spoilers distinguish this upgraded model, along with a GT350-spec chin spoiler. Badges on the dashboard, head restraints, door sills, floor mats, engine cover, grille, decklid, and C-pillar all proclaim the car’s Shelby-ness to the world, as do the traditional racing stripes and sill stripes.
Shelby American, which was started by Carroll Shelby, also builds continuation Cobras alongside pumped-up machines like the Super Snake and Shelby-ized Raptor muscle trucks. So think of the GTE as the foundation of your tuning fantasies—cruise through the Shelby American catalog, and you’ll find V-8 supercharger kits promising more than 750 horsepower and all the track-ready drivetrain and chassis upgrades you could ever want.
While the basic Shelby GTE is essentially a Shelby GT-H that you don’t have to rent from Hertz, it has the all-important Shelby badge and a place in the Shelby Registry (alongside Cobras both of original and continuation provenance), and it’s a good platform to start modding to your heart’s content. Pricing has yet to be announced.
This story originally appeared on Road & Track via AR Revista.
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Will Mercedes Put Its Formula 1 Engine in an AMG Hypercar?
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September 2, 2016 at 2:53 pm by Mike Duff | Photography by Daniel Roland/Getty Images
Never let it be said there there’s no competition for the loose change of adrenaline-hooked billionaires who make Tony Stark seem more like Montgomery Burns. Add another to the next wave of somewhere-beyond-hypercars The first of these we told you about is the AM-RB-001 that’s being jointly developed by Aston Martin and Red Bull Racing. In its more extreme track-only guise that car will, F1 designer Adrian Newey assures us, deliver similar levels of performance to an LMP1 race car. Now reports from the UK suggest that Mercedes is also working on a similar project, with a road-going car that will be powered by the same turbocharged V-6 engine that propels the company’s Formula 1 race car.
This all sounds far fetched to us, as it probably does to you, but evo claims that a source within the Mercedes F1 team has confirmed the existence of the road-car project. The UK-based magazine says the vehicle will use a hybrid-assisted version of the Formula 1 car’s turbocharged V6 engine, one that will deliver a total output somewhere in the region between 1000 and 1500 horsepower.
That’s a big region. Certainly, the Mercedes-AMG powerplant would have to make huge horsepower to approach the RB-001’s claimed power-to-weight figure. The bigger question is how something as high-strung as a Formula 1 engine can be made suitable for road use. The finished car, according to evo‘s report, is likely to get a second turbocharger to aid low-rpm response. The electric side of its powertrain supposedly will use a pair of 160-hp electric motors, one to drive each front wheel.
There’s no word on price, although we can be assured it will run well into seven figures—the Aston Martin/Red Bull program is expected to wear a $3-million pricetag. The published report says that the Mercedes-AMG hypercar-plus car will be launched to coincide with AMG’s 50th anniversary, which is next year. We will bring you more details if and when Mercedes deigns to communicate them.
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Win Diesel: 2017 Jaguar XF Arrives with Diesel, Price Cuts, and EPA Estimates
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September 2, 2016 at 1:04 pm by Clifford Atiyeh | Photography by Michael Simari
Outside of Volkswagen dealerships, the stock of new diesel offerings in the marketplace appears to be growing. As it promised, Jaguar has just released two of its first-ever diesel cars for the U.S., the compact 2017 XE and this mid-size 2017 XF.
The XF 20d shares the Jaguar-designed Ingenium 2.0-liter turbo-diesel inline-four with the XE (and, still to come, the F-Pace SUV) that churns out 180 horsepower and 318 lb-ft of torque. But just as we were befuddled by the XE’s four- and six-cylinder gasoline engines delivering identical fuel-economy estimates, we’re similarly puzzled over near matching EPA numbers for the XE and XF diesels. The XF 20d gets EPA ratings of 31 mpg in the city and 42 mpg on the highway (1 mpg lower in the city versus the XE 20d) and 30/40 mpg with all-wheel drive (exactly the same as the XE). While both cars share an eight-speed automatic, we’d have expected some greater distance between the two, considering that the XE is considerably smaller and lighter.
However, the XF’s mid-tier status in the Jaguar lineup is reflected by a significantly higher price. At $48,445, the diesel is now the cheapest XF, at $4450 less than the previous base 2016 model with the 3.0-liter supercharged V-6. Unlike the diesel XE, which carries a $1500 premium over its gasoline siblings, Jaguar discounts the diesel XF across all 2017 trim levels ($3040 below the base 35t and $2350 below the Premium, Prestige, and R-Sport).
For 2017, prices on the gasoline V-6 models don’t move much. A new base 35t starts at $51,485 with less standard equipment than the 2016 35t Premium. All other gasoline XF trims, including the 380-hp S, carry the same sticker prices as the 2016 models, from $52,895 for the rear-wheel-drive 35t Premium to $66,695 for the all-wheel-drive S. All-wheel drive is a $3000 option offered on all engines and trims. For those keeping tabs on fuel economy, the V-6 models earn EPA city/highway ratings of 20/29 mpg (RWD) or 20/28 mpg (AWD).
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Oh the Bachmanity! You Can Rent Erlich Bachman’s Aviato Ford Escape
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September 2, 2016 at 11:22 am by Greg Fink | Photography by Turo
Visionary. Game changer. Expert negotiator. These are terms that have rarely, if ever, been used to describe Erlich Bachman of the HBO show Silicon Valley—except by Erlich himself, of course. But now the founder of Aviato—”the social media aggregation and management software for commercial airlines“—majority stakeholder of Pied Piper, and onetime partner of the failed venture capital firm Bachmanity is adding an additional revenue stream to his books: Turo.
The peer-to-peer car-sharing network allows vehicle owners to rent their car or truck out to private individuals, and it’s currently offering Bachman’s famed 2006 Ford Escape acquired in the early days of Aviato. Fresh from the body shop after a run-in with a robotic deer, the Aviato Escape features a fuel efficient gasoline-electric hybrid powertrain and all-wheel drive, as well as luxuries that include “leather seats that cradle your buttocks like the firm grasp of a loving mother” and a “six-CD Navigation GPS radio with four-inch display and ergonomic joystick-button selector that will make you feel like a god among men.”
For the low sum of $49 per day, individuals located in or visiting San Francisco can take advantage of this unique vehicle. That price also includes pickup from and dropoff to San Francisco International Airport (although probably not by Bachman himself), as well as unlimited mileage. Bachman made the shrewd business decision to ban smoking of all kinds within the Aviato Escape, lest a fine of $250 be charged to the renter.
One day, we may see Erlich Bachman in the same light as the late Peter Gregory—after all, this is Silicon Valley, a place where Harvard nerds and college dropouts alike can thrive. To quote Bachman, sometimes “we need to do what any animal in nature does when it’s cornered: act erratically and blindly lash out at everything around us.” It strikes us that there are few better places to do so than from the driver’s seat of the Aviato Escape.
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Volkswagen Won’t Attempt to Regain Diesel Leadership In U.S.; Many TDI Models May Never Return
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The big diesel initiative that once saw more than one in five Volkswagens sold in America wearing the TDI label has now kicked the bucket, shuffled off this mortal coil, run down the curtain, and joined the choir invisible. Volkswagen’s new North American operations chief says the company’s push to establish clean, affordable diesel powertrains as its green technology solution is over. That may come as little surprise to most observers in the wake of the emissions scandal, but initially the company was suggesting diesel was merely stunned and would come around. It listed 2016 models of the Golf, Jetta, and Passat with TDI engines in its catalog but under stop-sale, pending EPA approval of a technology solution that would bring their emissions of nitrogen oxides into regulatory compliance.
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The big diesel initiative that once saw more than one in five Volkswagens sold in America wearing the TDI label has now kicked the bucket, shuffled off this mortal coil, run down the curtain, and joined the choir invisible. Volkswagen’s new North American operations chief says the company’s push to establish clean, affordable diesel powertrains as its green technology solution is over. That may come as little surprise to most observers in the wake of the emissions scandal, but initially the company was suggesting diesel was merely stunned and would come around. It listed 2016 models of the Golf, Jetta, and Passat with TDI engines in its catalog but under stop-sale, pending EPA approval of a technology solution that would bring their emissions of nitrogen oxides into regulatory compliance.
Now we have it from the top. Hinrich J. Woebcken, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, told us that “I wish to make clear that the push for diesel for the brand is done” in North America. In an interview following our drive of the company’s upcoming mid-size SUV in Chattanooga, Woebcken said, “We don’t foresee that the strength of diesel will come back for this market.” He spoke in answer to our question regarding when he expected certification of 2017-model TDI engines, and said he wanted to make clear that he was speaking only for the VW brand on this continent, suggesting diesel may still play a large role for the company’s other brands and in other markets. Woebcken has headed up VW’s reorganized North American operations since April 1, when he succeeded the first executive appointed to that position, Winfried Vahland, who had resigned only two months after his appointment last fall.
Once Volkswagen gets regulatory approval of its proposed fix for its polluting four-cylinder turbo-diesel engines, now anticipated by mid-October, it was expected to apply that same technology to new TDI models. In reality, the taint of the scandal, together with the likely cost of the technology needed to ensure full compliance, probably spells an end to compression-ignition in mass market VWs, though it may survive in niche applications. “We will still offer diesel in specific products and packages where it seems appropriate,” Woebcken said, “but we are looking to a future of electric mobility.”
“Because of upcoming regulations, the diesel would have seen a limited future, regardless” of the scandal, he added. So maybe there will be a TDI offered in the premium-priced Touareg SUV, but if a diesel goes into that new, as-yet-unnamed three-row SUV being built in Chattanooga, they’ll be in models built for export. He didn’t say so in as many words, but implied we’ve seen the last North American diesel models of the Golf, Jetta, Beetle, and probably Passat.
Although Woebcken spoke forcefully of envisioning a near future in which hybrid and electric car sales outnumber those of internal-combustion models, his company’s pivot toward electrification isn’t entirely market driven. Regulators, particularly those from California and other states that follow its lead on emissions rules, have argued successfully that the court-ordered settlement of the emissions violations include a corporate commitment to sales of large numbers of electric vehicles.
Before even thinking about certifying new diesel cars for sale here, Woebcken said, the company’s priority is to resolve the ongoing emissions violation case in a way that sets the stage to restore the company’s reputation with consumers, dealers, and regulators alike. “Our first priority is to implement the TDI fix. We want to do it professionally using the buyback/fix option in a very German, engineered way. We are still in the approval process, and preparing the dealers. First and foremost is to solve this at a high satisfaction level, fix it, and go on from there.”
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