Car
The leading Japanese car manufacturers have said that the Prius doesn’t cause as much harm to the environment as a sheep. For the moment we will have to trust that the Toyota team were brave enough to come into close enough contact with the sheep’s rear end that rigorous tests could be performed.
Whether or not the hybrid’s produces less harmful emissions than the farm animal, it is important to factor in the pollution caused by manufacturing the vehicle. Eco-warriors will also point out that the mineral mining and smelting needed to create the large Prius batteries will have a significant environmental impact.
Toyota will be quite happy to hear that there advert has caused such conjecture. The humorous promotion is expected to prove successful in raising the brand’s worldwide profile, and perhaps encouraging people to invest in their very own green car.
The Japanese company are growing increasingly reliant upon sales of the Prius, in order to offset decreasing sales of their other offerings. The amount of sales on a raw volume basis dropped by a whopping 5.5% during December, while annual sales have decreased slightly over the last year. Fortunately for Toyota, sales of the hybrid shot up by 14.2% during December.
Bob Carter, Group Vice President for Toyota U.S. Sales is extremely confident in the eco-friendly motor. He said, ‘we will end the decade with Prius being the number one nameplate in the industry’.
In order for Mr Carter’s dreams to come to fruition the Prius will have to beat off stiff competition from General Motors’ Volt plug-in Sedan and the Nissan Leaf. There has already been a vast amount of consumer interest in both of these vehicles.
Mike Michels, representative of Toyota, revealed that the company will showcase a bigger wagon-type Prius at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit this month. It is hoped that more people will turn their back on their old conventional motors once they catch a glimpse of this impressive new vehicle.
Professional skateboarder Bob Burnqist says that he is ‘looking forward to a bigger car without compromising the sustainability factor’, in a promotional video for the new Prius.
People keen on doing their bit for the environment will be excited at the prospect of seeing ‘a wide array of exhibitors featuring the latest in environmental technologies for automotive and lifestyle’, according to Barron Meade, Chairman of the 2011 NAIAS.
http://www.longlife.co.uk/blog/index.php/tag/eco-friendly-cars/
The world’s most popular roadster, the Mazda MX-5, achieved a new record this week when production passed 900,000 units on the 4th February.
This milestone was achieved 21 years and 10 months after mass production of the first-generation MX-5 started in April 1989.
Back in 2000, the Mazda MX-5 was first recognized by the Guinness World Records as the world’s “Best selling two-seater sportscar” when production reached 531,890 units in May. Since then, the record has been updated by Guinness when production passed 700,000 and 800,000 units. Mazda is currently reapplying to Guinness World Records to have the record updated to acknowledge production of the 900,000th vehicle.
Today, the Mazda MX-5 continues to be the most popular Roadster in the UK. As UK sales account for over 10 per cent of global sales and 40 percent of European sales, so we can safely say that us Brits have taken Mazda’s roadster to our hearts.
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Known lately for its sleepy, leaping cats, Jaguar has taken its fangs off the nightstand and stuck them back in. The sporty “R” designation gets pinned to the tail of the pretty and still-pretty-new $52,000 XF, the mid-size sedan below the big XJ. The result: 510 tech-infused horsepower and a price hike to $80,000. The driving sophistication is high, and some test numbers we managed to quickly extract during the
introduction are 10 degrees north of wow: 4.3 seconds to 60 mph, a quarter-mile pierced in 12.7 seconds at 115 mph. The M5 flinches.
Jaguar likes to talk about root icons such as the shark-finned Le Mans D-types and the blaze of XK120 headlights on the rain-swept Italian roads of the Mille Miglia. Ah, cracking good stuff—buried under a manure pile of more recent mediocrity. Arriving in late June, the 2010 XFR, like the aluminum-bodied XKR coupe, which also receives the supercharged, 5.0-liter direct-injection V-8, is a solid start at redemption.
Jaguar calls its smooth new roar maker the AJ-V8 R Gen III. The head bolts and valve tappets of the 5.0 are all that carry over from the previous 4.2-liter (which remains the XF’s base U.S. engine; a naturally aspirated, 385-hp 5.0-liter is in the middle model; the supercharged 4.2 is gone). The more compact aluminum block and heads are new, as is the eerily whine-free Eaton Gen 6 supercharger also found in the
. The injector takes the spark plug’s usual position at top center, spraying down into a cupped piston that partially reflects the charge back toward the plug, just to the injector’s side. Minimized emissions and better volumetric efficiency—which means power—are the motivation, says Jag.
Downstream, Jaguar redesigned the steel rear subframe and spread wider the differential mounts in anticipation of 461 pound-feet of torque. A name-brand transmission favored by BMW is locked and loaded. In sport mode or under manual paddle control, the ZF six-speed ticks off nearly instant upshifts with barely a stutter.
Cementing the traction is an electronic differential that shuttles between open and full lock by varying electric motor torque on a ball-ramp assembly that squeezes clutch plates. Besides the big muscle, extra-sticky launch traction gets the credit for the XFR’s blazing quarter-miles.
The spring rates stiffen by a third, and with Bilstein electronically varying shocks and larger anti-roll bars, the body is locked in rigid horizontalness through the switchbacks. Does Jaguar suddenly best BMW’s best?
With its 20-inch wheels, the
is a hot number, its squarer jaw and extra mesh-screened ducts setting it apart. The progressive throttle tune is a triumph, and the grip from fat, Y-rated Dunlop SportMaxx tires makes it reliable. However, old thinking remains in the insulated steering and a nervous stability control. An intermediate “Trac DSC” mode allows more wiggle and screech, but it cuts in early and takes too long to butt out again. Drivers can shut it off, but any safety net goes with it.
M5 owners blog about such stuff. Do Jaguar buyers care? Jaguar needs the XFR to be unimpeachable—it’s tantalizingly close—if it hopes to leap to the next page.
Article source: http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/car/09q2/2010_jaguar_xfr-short_take_road_test