Honda has started working on the real prototypes of their next-generation Civic (for the European market), and we caught the very first one testing close to their European development center in Germany.
Porsche 911 GT3R Hybrid to run at Petit Le Mans
As expected, Porsche announced today in New York that the 911 GT3R hybrid will be coming to North America later this year to race in the Petit Le Mans (PLM). When the new flywheel hybrid race car was first announced this past spring, Porsche told us that it would make a decision about running in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) after evaluating the new car’s performance during its early races in Europe. After coming within two hours of winning the 24 Hours of Nurburgring in May, it was clear that the 25-percent fuel economy boost and extra power was more than enough to make up for the added weight of the hybrid drive.
The Meteoric Rise and Catastrophic Fall of the PT Cruiser
On Friday, the very last Chrysler PT Cruiser rolled off the assembly line in Mexico. To say that the last PT Cruiser marked the end of an icon would be a total understatement. The retro model’s life began a decade ago and was an instant hit, helping Chrysler rack up sales as high as 144,717 units in 2001 alone. A decade later, the PT Cruiser is very much a like a time capsule; having undergone only minor changes since its introduction, it has become a relic of everything that went wrong with Chrysler.
General Motors announces 8-year/100,000-mile warranty for Chevy Volt battery
During a media briefing at its Brownstown Township, MI battery plant this afternoon, General Motors Vice Chairman Tom Stephens announced that the lithium ion battery pack for the 2011 Chevrolet Volt would be warranted for eight years or 100,000 miles. Since the beginning of the program, it has been General Motors‘ intention to develop the battery pack to last for the life of the vehicle.
Bill Gates invests in opposing-piston engine [Video]
EcoMotors International, a firm that is researching and developing unique opposed piston-opposed cylinder engine technology, or Opoc, has recently received a financial boost from Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and investor Vinod Khosla.
Drivers At Fault In So-Called Sudden Acceleration Toyotas, NHTSA Says
Despite ominous news reports of cars careening out of control, there’s no substitute for data. And now it looks like many reported cases of so-called “sudden acceleration” in Toyotas are actually due to driver error.
Top 10: Car Repairs You Shouldn’t Pay For
Like many guys, we work hard so we can play harder, and we often resort to paying others our hard-earned money to take care of simple, trivial things that we convince ourselves we just don’t have the time to do. Rather than brew a cup of joe at home, we spend hundreds of dollars a year for the privilege of drinking regular black coffee out of a fancy paper cup. We pay a man in a bathroom to squirt our hands with soap and hand us a paper towel. And what’s worse, we throw thousands of dollars at mechanics to tackle car repairs that are no more complex than loosening a couple of bolts.
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2011 Chevrolet Corvette Is A ‘Rocket’
First off, the whole “America was once awesome, but now it needs a kick in the pants” theme is fun–even if not entirely original–but we’d like to see fewer rockets and more Corvettes. The ZR1, after all, is a limited-volume, rather expensive sample of the lineup. The Grand Sport, Coupe, and Z06 deserve some time here.
Toyota Planning 20% Production Reduction As Hybrid Subsidies Subside
Hybrid cars are selling like hot cakes in America, Europe, and Japan, thanks in large part to generous government subsidies and tax cuts. That is why there are so many Toyota Prius’ on the road today (though the tax breaks for those cars have long since expired in America). While demand seems to have kept up here in America, in Japan Toyota is expecting a different story.
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