There is something about the word “JOY”. I just like it! In different contexts and combinations it has always been very special to me. It started in the shape of “Rejoice!” and then it turned into “adi4joy” and lately into “BH-04-JOY”. I just hope it will continue to change into something like the tag line of the following great commercial – “JOY IS BMW”.
N-JOY!
Hello,
After a long week of walking and smiling at Interbike I jumped on a plane and flew to Washington D.C. for a women’s only group ride. Even though all the little anodized trinkets, and 11 pound race bikes were exciting to look at, these group rides are way more fun because I love getting women involved in the sport and helping them grow. I want to say thanks to Conte’s and Specialized for organizing this event, it was a great success. Check out their website, or visit their shop if you are in the area.
Cheers
Reba
Be honest for a minute, the new Ford Fiesta looks great doesn’t it? So does the new KA for that matter. And the new mondeo. As a matter of fact, most new cars are starting to look, well, pretty damn good. I was having a nose around Vauxhall’s new Insignia the other day, and I just couldn’t get over the amount of luxury that is now affordable to the average man. For just a few thousand of your pounds you get a decent engine, in petrol of course, and a river of leather so voluptuous it’s a serious concern that the seats might swallow you whole. And that’s even before you get onto the looks of it. Cameron Diaz bathing in a pool of syrup doesn’t even come close. The simple fact is that throughout all of the new models currently on sale, there isn’t really a minger among them. And that, frankly, is just plain wrong.
Think about what this will mean for the supercar market? I’ve just entered something called the Sir William Lyons Award, it recognises one person each year as the best young motoring journalist, so as competitions go, it’s pretty big. Now here’s the thing. For this competition I had to write two articles, and for one of them I had to answer a question as to how the recent economic and environmental crisis will affect cars in the future. I chose to focus on the supercar market, as I reckon that’s where the biggest changes will be seen. I said that trying to make a green supercar, which, by the way, is something BMW is working on with its new Z10, is ridiculous. Supercars are supposed to encompass three simple rules. They must be powerful, they must be expensive, but overall, they must be stunning to look at. I said that supercars are supposed to bend the rules, because they give us something to aspire to. So, I ask you, if all the normal production cars look so great, what’s going to happen to supercars?
You could argue, quite rightly in fact, that there’s no reason why normal cars shouldn’t look good. There’s no reason at all why your normal daily runabout can’t have the aesthetics of Jennifer Aniston’s bottom. But what is the supercar market going to think? They’re going to have to go at least one better, and I’m sorry, but there has to be a limit to how beautiful an object can be. So if all the production models are so stunning, does that mean that The Aston’s and Lambo’s of today are going to have to take a back seat on the shelves? Are they going to be bullied in the playground for having weird doors and swollen wheel arches?
Here’s a home truth for you. Normal cars are supposed to be ugly. They’re supposed to be just a little bit too long, and just a little bit too nasty on the inside. Because that’s what makes the car market work. You start in some nasty hatchback, and then you see a decent saloon, and you think “ooohh, I’d like one of those,” so you save up and after a few years, you buy one. And then that saloon starts to age, and bits of it fall off, so you get something like a BMW or Mercedes. And that sets you in good stead for the next decade or so. But then you want a Porsche or something similar. You see what I mean? We need a ladder of beauty in motoring, because it gives us something to aim for. Small boys won’t want to have pictures of Fiesta’s and Vectra’s on their bedroom walls. They want Ferrari’s and Caterham’s. Something that has some balls about it.
So really, this is a plea to the likes of Ford and Vauxhall. Please, stop making good looking cars, because the supercars can’t take it. Porsche is too old to change now, they’re stuck in their ways. Lamborghini have no money left, so they’re stuck with making the Reventon for a while. And Aston? Well, they were found crying in the toilets the other day. So seriously, calm down. Nobody likes a bully you know…
Terra Carros
A comissão julgadora do prêmio “Carro do Ano na Europa 2010” (Car of the Year 2010), divulgou nesta quarta-feira (23) os 33 candidatos à disputa. Participam da premiação somente automóveis lançados entre novembro de 2008 e agosto deste ano, por isso a ausência dos lançamentos do Salão de Frankfurt. A fabricante com mais representes no concurso é a Toyota, que disputa o troféu com cinco novidades.
Escolhidos os modelos, as publicações responsáveis pelas análises de dirigibilidade, preço, inovação, segurança e eficiência selecionaram apenas sete veículos para a fase final, que acontece no dia dois de novembro. O vencedor será revelado em 30 de novembro.
O campeão da edição passada do prêmio foi o Opel Insignia, tendo desbancado concorrentes de peso, como Fiat 500, Nissan GT-R e Skoda Superb. Confira abaixo a lista oficial com todos os indicados a premiação deste ano e comece a fazer suas apostas:
BMW Serie 5 GT
BMW X1
BMW Z4
Chevrolet Cruze
Citroën C3 Picasso
Ford Ka
Honda Insight
Hyundai i20
Hyundai ix55
Kia Sorento
Kia Soul
Land Rover Discovery 4
Lexus RX450h
Mazda3
Mercedes Clase E
Mitsubishi Colt
Nissan 370Z
Nissan Cube
Opel/Vauxhall Astra
Peugeot 3008
Peugeot 5008
Porsche Panamera
Renault Scénic/Grand Scénic
SEAT Exeo
Skoda Yeti
Subaru Legacy/Outback
Suzuki Alto/Nissan Pixo
Toyota Avensis
Toyota iQ
Toyota Prius
Toyota Urban Cruiser
Toyota Verso
Volkswagen Polo
Fonte: Terra Carros/Thiago Vinholes | www.carroonline.terra.com.br
Autofabrikanten hebben de grootste moeite zich te blijven onderscheiden van de rest. Een gemiddelde auto onderscheidt zichzelf tegenwoordig in weinig manieren van vergelijkbare modellen van de concurrent. Dit heb ik uiteengezet in mijn vorige weblog. De grenzen in veiligheid, bouwkwaliteit en driving experience beginnen te vervagen.
Ik was daarom erg benieuwd wat ik kon verwachten van de IAA. Welk automerk zou erin slagen modellen op de markt te brengen die zich duidelijk kunnen onderscheiden van de rest en op welke manier? Ik ben er over uit. Enorme presentaties van de verschillende merken in indrukwekkende settings zorgden voor een spectaculaire show.
Elk merk hamerde vooral op één ding: milieuvriendelijk. Laag verbruik en een lage uitstoot, beter voor het milieu en voor je portemonnee. Maar ook daarin weten ze zich niet meer te onderscheiden. Je komt om in de groene en blauwe marketinglabels die aan de verschillende modellen gehangen worden. Het enige wat echt nog overblijft in onderscheid blijft naar mijn mening design, met rijkwaliteit even buiten zicht gelaten.
Het merk dat zichzelf weer helemaal heeft gevonden is Citroën. Die nieuwe DS3 is echt een geweldig leuke auto, zit ontzettend degelijk in elkaar en ik voorzie dat het een enorme verkooptopper gaat worden, maar enkel als de prijs ook goed is. Het ziet er in ieder geval naar uit dat de Mini en de 500 het moeilijk gaan krijgen.
Dan is er nog een merk die zich goed weet te onderscheiden van de rest. De auto’s zijn nog niet te koop, maar wanneer ze op de markt komen voorzie ik dat de CEO’s en hollywoodsterren massaal voor de deur staan. Er staan zelfs al 1500 orders geregistreerd. Dit merk is Fisker. Fisker is het eerste merk dat naar mijn mening goede techniek combineert met een waanzinnig mooi design, premium gevoel, hoge prestaties en mooie prijzen. De Fisker Karma is een ontzettend mooie auto en ik kan niet wachten om daar een keer in te kunnen sturen. Het enige waar ik mijn twijfels bij heb is het geluid dat de auto gaat produceren. Volgens Fisker zit het wel goed, maar een auto die een digitaal geluid produceert, alleen om het veilig te maken voor blinden, is toch wel een beetje… apart.
Dan Saab. De nieuwe 9-5 is naar mijn mening erg mooi, een beetje eigenzinnig, met een flinke knipoog naar de 9000. Maar het gevaar is dat mensen het misschien een beetje een saaie auto gaan vinden. Persoonlijk heb ik een zwak voor Saab gekregen nadat ik een tijd een 9000 gehad heb. De techniek liegt er niet om, met de veiligheid zal het ook wel snor zitten en de prestaties zijn erg indrukwekkend. Downsizing van de motoren is helemaal hot en Saab heeft dit goed begrepen.
Tenslotte nog kort iets over de concept cars op de beurs. Mercedes had er een paar leuke staan, maar ze maakten op mij maar weinig indruk. De concept die afgeleid was van de eerste motorwagen van Mercedes was gaaf, maar ik zie er niets in terug wat ooit op de weg zal komen. BMW heeft een gave conceptcar gebouwd met extreme vormen. Als de techniek en het design in de toekomstige modellen terugkomt, is de toekomst van BMW zeker gesteld. Citroën zou ik ook aanraden de lijnen uit haar GT concept door te voeren naar de modellen, wat een gave bak zeg! Maar er was één merk waarbij ik me moest inhouden niet te lachen: Renault. De techniek zal vast en zeker goed zijn en in de toekomst misschien betaalbaar. Maar ik kan me niet voorstellen dat deze bolvormige ontwerpen ooit het grote publiek zullen aanspreken. Ja, futuristisch is het wel. Maar mooi is anders.
Conclusie: de merken hebben hun kans gehad en sommige merken hebben deze goed weten te grijpen. Ik zie uit naar 2010, wanneer de meeste nieuwe modellen op de weg te zien zullen zijn en ik mijn best ga doen zo veel mogelijk te besturen.
Foto’s volgen snel.
When you see a man cruise by in his $65,000 BMW 550i, what do you assume about him?
Kiplinger’s Magazine editor Knight Kiplinger posed this question to a group of high school students. Their answer? “He’s rich.”
And a man who drives by in a ten-year-old Chevy? “He’s struggling.”
The BMW, however, is probably leased (perhaps for three years, no money down), so we can infer only that the driver earns enough to handle a $1,131 monthly lease payment. We know nothing about his net worth, which may be great … or may be almost nonexistent.
And the man in the old Impala? Maybe he is struggling financially, but there’s another possibility: His income is just as great as that of the dude in the Bimmer, but he’s not saddled with a lease payment — and he’s investing the money in mutual funds that are growing at 10% a year.
The message in all this: The biggest barrier to becoming rich is living like you’re rich before you are. Why? Because all that discretionary spending — the chic apartment, frequent travel and restaurant meals, consumer electronics, fancy clothes and cars — crowds out the saving that will enable you to be rich someday.”
From my previous post we can see that the Swedes can engineer a Hot Rod out of Swede parts this post will prove their genius. V10 Power in a E30 M3? Oh believe it. The Swedes with their eye for tuning and their wide open spaces to run in stuck an M-Division S85 V10 in an E30 M3 and the results look nothing short of devastating. To prove the big power they stacked this said E30 M3 up against a current E92 M3 on a runway. Check out the video for the result…..Oh sweet indeed
Courtesy of Autoblog via Youtube and M5Board
Well-Done apresenta um novo modelo LED compatível com a maioria do vehículos CAN BUS do mercado.
http://www.welldone-portugal.com/index.php?id=verproducto&producto=35
Graças a este novo modelo não é necessário acrescentar resistência e fazer alterações para a instalação original
São totalmente Plug & Play.
Feitos de High Power LEDs em um bloco de alumínio para dissipação de calor
Seu preço é de 19 € / par.
Resultado:
Audi TT mk2
Audi A3 8P
Golf V (Halógena vs LED)
En la tarde de ayer, el equipo segoviano de enduro, SEGO EXTREM, partió hacia tierras catalanas, en concreto hacía Calaf, provincia de Barcelona, donde mañana día 20 de Septiembre se disputará la 5ª prueba puntuable para el Campeonato de España de Enduro 2009 con la organización de Amics Moto Valls de Torruella .
La expedición segoviana formada por Fernando Blanco, Javier Condado y David Cordobés, salen con la aspiración fundamental de retomar la competición tras el parón estival y con las miras puestas en la preparación que los tres pilotos segovianos están realizando de cara a la cita internacional que disputarán el mes que viene en tierras portuguesas, los ISDE 2009.
Un total de algo más de 200 inscritos, retomarán el campeonato nacional, tras la última prueba celebrada en Becerreá, allá por el mes de Mayo, donde destaca la participación del piloto Iván Cervantes recientemente ganador del mundial de Enduro, Juha Salminen y Daniel Gilbert del equipo oficial del Mundial de BMW junto a los componentes del equipo oficial que España presentará en la prueba internacional de los ISDE 2009.
El campeonato nacional así retoma la competición en la prueba de este fin de semana en Calaf (Barcelona) con la 1er Enduro Villa de Calaf y la finalizará el fin de semana que viene en Totana (Murcia).
Javier Condado recorriendo un tramo
CLASIFICACION PROVISIONAL SENIOR B 2T CAMPEONATO ESPAÑA ENDURO
1º Xavier León Solé MC SITGES
12º Fernando Blanco Encinas SEGO EXTREM
22º Javier Condado Carretero SEGO EXTREM
31º David Cordobés Pozanco SEGO EXTREM
Baja la clasificación provisional en PDF: Pincha aquí
DOCUMENTOS DE INTERES DE LA CARRERA
Reglamento
Horario de Carrera
Plano de Situación
Plano del Recorrido
Horario de Verificación de Pilotos Prioritarios
Información Club
Lista de inscritos con dorsales
Mapa de Calaf
Recorrido Enduro de Calaf
Más Info: http://www.clubamvt.cat/
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Revista Motor Segovia
This commercial bothers me every time I see it.
Watch it, then I will share my irritation with you:
See the lightbulb the guy is holding? It’s one of those abominations-of-environmental-insanity-dogooderism-gone-wrong compact flourescents. I HATE those bulbs. The light sucks, you can’t dim them, they flicker when they come on and take a few minutes to come up to full strength. I hate them.
So, the thing that bothers me about this commercial? Did you see how fast and perfectly the lights in the ceiling went on? Just like a buttload of my beloved incandescents. They turn on all the way right away and give off REALLY pleasant light. There is no way that’s a ceiling full of stupid CFs.
I looked at the bulbs and they seem to be the basic shape of the blasted and satanic CF bulbs, but I’m telling you, they came on too fast and not a one of them flickered. They were NOT CF’s.
Soon the king of lighting, my beloved incandescents will be discontinued. And those stupid idiots wasted a ton of them on that stupid green commercial. Arrrrgh!
The UK is trailing behind other European countries in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars – ranking just 16th out of 25 in a survey by campaign group Transport & Environment. The survey shows that many European countries including France, Italy and Denmark are cutting CO2 emissions faster than the UK. At the Frankfurt motor show this week a number of new low carbon cars were launched and the industry is being led by BMW who achieved a 10.2% cut in average emissions from its cars from 2007 levels due mostly to efficiency measures introduced across it’s entire range of cars. By 2015 all European car manufacturers will be required to ensure their average emission is less that 130g/km CO2, and laying down a marker Toyota have said that their new ‘plug in’ version of the hybrid Prius will reduce CO2 emissions from the current 89g/km CO2 to under 60g/km CO2 – and will allow owners to charge up their cars electric power source at home. Other manufacturers introducing new cars included Renault with an electric saloon, The Fluence Zero, a hybrid RCZ from Puegeot and a new hi performance car from Audi – the e-Tron.
A few weeks ago three of us decided to hop on the bikes on Sunday afternoon and ride to points unknown. I suggested highway 231 and it took us out of Nashville all the way to the Tennessee/Alabama border… providing some great scenery along the way. The pic above was taken on a break just at the state line. The three of them are checking out my map to figure out how we were to get home.
As you can tell from the pic below… this is a diverse group. An Electra Glide, Fatboy, VStrom and some kind of a naked BMW. Nope… no brand prejudice here!
The last pic was taken on the way back in a little town called Wartrace, Tennessee. They have this old time looking gas station set up there so we had to get a shot.
Another great ride with good friends… and a few roads I had never traveled before… love it!
Continuando con la tecnologia, esta este bote navegador de la BMW que la verdad es un concepto demasiado inovador para algo que se deba utilizar en las calles, sin embargo son de esas cosas que la gente con feria y que amen los botes o barcos deberian tener o se comprarian. A lo mejor si este tuviera alguna diferente tipo de fuente de energia, ya sea eolica o algo por el estilo para poder ir salvando al planeta tierra, seria algo mas impresionante. A lo mejor a los diseñadores industriales de nuestro equipo son los que puedan criticar esto para ver que que opinan ellos.
BMW
A BMW anunciou nesta terça-feira (15) a venda de seu time de Fórmula 1. O comprador é o banco suíço Qadbak, que assumirá a infraestrutura da fábrica da empresa, na Suíça, e todo o corpo técnico da empresa. A marca alemã já havia anunciado sua retirada da categoria, devido à crise mundial e ao baixo rendimento da equipe nesta temporada.
Com a negociação, a Sauber, que desejava voltar à F1, perdeu o posto. No entanto, a empresa pode voltar à categoria com uma ajuda da FIA, com a aprovação de novas regras – e de um novo lugar na Fórmula 1. Quem assumirá o espaço deixado pela BMW é a Lotus.
A Qadbak Sauber informa ter interesse em manter a equipe na categoria para a temporada 2010 e espera alinhar seus monopostos no grid do ano que vem.
It looks like Peter Sauber will have to wait a bit longer to see if he can save his team.
Today’s announcement from the FIA confirms that there will be a Lotus Cosworth on the grid for 2010, but contrary to my suggestion that it would be based around BMW Sauber, the team will be a new start-up based at the Racing Technologies Norfolk facility and with Mike Gascoyne as the Technical Director. This is a huge blow to the BMW Sauber operation. The FIA stated that they were impressed with the BMW proposal, but uncertainty over ownership meant that they would not get the 13th place. The FIA has, however given them a potential 14th place on the grid ie they are first in the queue if Toyota or Renault pull out and also if they get the teams to agree to a 14 team grid. Given Ferrari Chairman Luca de Montezemolo’s comments on wanting to have three cars per team (presumably in order to keep their many contracted drivers occupied!) it seems unlikely that FOTA would support this.
O utilitário-esportivo X5 completa dez anos de mercado neste ano. Por isso, o modelo ganhou uma versão especial, comemorativa, batizada 10th Anniversary. A marca bávara informa que a novidade chega com alto nível de equipamentos, preços na casa dos 60 mil euros e produção limitada a apenas 2 mil unidades para todo o mundo.
Como diferencias, a nova edição do X5 traz pintura metalizada, barras no teto, revestimento interno em em napa e detalhes na cor “preto piano”. Há também teto solar panorâmico e um logotipo identificando a versão. O motor é o mesmo da versão xDrive35d, de 286 cv e transmissão automática.
GALERIA
Well, not quite …
But it did rain hard and long yesterday afternoon. I wanted to take some pictures near Central World but I was confined to the walkway between Chit Lom and Siam Skytrain Stations.
There was a sales exhibition of BMW cars in Central World. The prices of new cars here are amazing.
This is the first BMW 1-Series I have seen in Thailand. Special offer: 3,299,000 Baht. Approximately 67,000 Euro or 97,000 US Dollars.
Thai BMW Price Sticker
Here’s the sticker to prove it.
With Steve Stricker’s victory last weekend at Deutsche Bank Classic, he has made the Player of the year award at least somewhat of a two man race. I had him at a very close 3rd on my original list, and while Yang’s PGA Championship win was impressive, Stricker’s win last weekend gave him a boost into second behind Tiger as he took the lead on the FedEx leaderboard, and pulled out a come from behind win against a top notch field. If he somehow pulls out of the playoffs holding the FedEx Cup, it may be tough to not give him the POY award.
I find the FedEx Cup has made a drastic improvement in the way I and fans pay attention to the golf after the last major is over. It’s made the POY award worth debating in the final weeks. It’s made the best in the world keep playing in tournaments that aren’t from their sponsors. In years past the top players would pack their bags, and head into the offseason not caring about the last couple months and playing in maybe one or two of the tournaments. The Playoffs have been great for the game and the fans!
Stricker’s bid in the BMW didn’t exactly start the way he hoped as he was one over through the first round Thursday, but there is no cut so he’s not out of it by any means at six back with three to go. Stricker has won back to back comeback player of the year awards, and was probed about winning it for a third straight year after his win on Labor Day “I think I’m over that now.” He was also asked about winning the POY award and laughed, noting that he’d have to do something impressive to overtake the obvious leader (Tiger). To trump Tiger’s five wins, Stricker will have to pull out a FedEx Cup Championship, and possibly win one of the two remaining tournaments. I think either of the two scenarios would give the voters much to weigh on. Golf is one of the rare sports that lets the players have a say in the POY award, and I have a feeling they will weigh heavily what happens these last couple weeks!
Hey guys, this is Leigh Roto from the Risky Devil street drifting crew in Chicago. I’m the driver of the light blue JZA70 Toyota Supra Turbo that you may have seen in the photos from All Star Bash Weekend.
Not many people know this, but I work at a BMW shop called WSTO. We bought this BMW 135i back in September and I LOVE it. It’s not the most extreme build, but for a streetable daily driver it hauls balls and I think it looks dope. Continue reading and view more photos at MotorMavens.
Addio, grande BMW Sauber F1!
Come certamente avrete saputo la BMW Sauber verrà sciolta alla fine della stagione e BMW non correrà piu’ in formula 1. Di conseguenza tutto il materiale Lifetstyle e Abbigliamento relativo al Team BMW Sauber F1 viene liquidato e non piu’ rimpiazzato. Per cui, se desiderate ugualmente indossare capi di alta qualità con il marchio BMW vi proponiamo tutta la gamma dal catalogo BMW Sauber F1 2009 con il
40% di scontoL’offerta è riservata agli iscritti al Club Agustoni (se non ne fai ancora parte puoi registrarti gratuitamente qui) per cui consultate il catalogo online, dopo aver scelto i capi di vostro gradimento compilate questo formulario di richiesta, noi controlleremo la disponibilità della merce e vi ricontatteremo. Vi ricordiamo che una volta esauriti, i capi non verranno piu’ prodotti quindi affrettatevi, ci hanno già informato che qualche pezzo è terminato.
Non lasciatevi perdere questa ottima occasione di risparmio e allo stesso tempo di indossare capi di alto livello.
Dal Team Ricambi del Garage Rolando Agustoni SA
Terra Carros
A BMW informou que lançará uma série limitada de 100 unidades do M6 no Salão de Frankfurt (17 a 27 de setembro). Segundo a empresa, o modelo chamado M6 Competition terá como principal atrativo o excelente desempenho somado à exclusividade da Série.
Os amortecedores, molas e barras estabilizadoras foram recalibrados e ficaram mais duros, além de rebaixar o modelo em 12 mm na dianteira e 10 mm na traseira. A programação do diferencial eletrônico foi alterada para oferecer melhor tração ao modelo tanto em acelerações e frenagens quanto em curvas. O M6 também conta com novos pneus mais aderentes.
O modelo também conta com duas opções de revestimento interior exclusivas da série: uma de couro nas cores preta e cinza e outra também de couro com dois tons de cinza e um tom de preto.
Dados de desempenho do modelo e valor da versão só serão revelados no evento.
Fonte: Terra Carros/Márcio Murta | www.carroonline.terra.com.br
Many people have tried to answer this. But, here lies the answer. It is normally an opinion, but seeing as my opinion is the only one that matters, I must be right in having the answer.
First, how do you define what makes a car cool. Firstly, any aspirations to being a playboy or drug dealer rule the car out. So thats Mercedes, Ferrari and Maserati’s out, as well as all the luxury SUV’s. Anything that requires you to explain your car to a member of the opposite sex also rules it out; so there go Porsches, Nobles and Caterhams. Anything with a date on it, or making it “Retro” kills it. No Mini’s, Beetles or Jaguars.
A car should not embarrass you in any way. Either by getting you wet, like in a Morgan, stuck, like an Alfa, or causing you to lose your dignity, like climbing out of a Lamborghini. Finally, a car should not make you a character of any sort. No Aston Martin bond cars, Mini Italian job style, Mustang “Bullet” hero’s or muscle cars from any 1970’s TV shows.
This has narrowed down the list somewhat. We are left with cars which are practical, have a small amount of heritage, are not stupid in any way and, because I decided, must hold at least 4 of your friends, with all body parts in the car. So, Fiat? Nope. Too unreliable. Toyota is too soulless, and Ford just harks after its mustang heritage. Audi’s are now owned by the cocks who used to drive BMW’s. Peugots are just daft. Renault is for boring people who like safe things, same story with Volvo. All Korean cars are out, because they are just divisions of their parent companies.
Which leads me to the only brand left with both soul and practicality. This brand has the one thing that almost every other brand lacks. The only other car on the entire planet which comes close to this car is the Mazda MX-5. This brand is honest. It has a clear mission and it shows through in its cars. This can only be one brand. Honda. Their mission statement sums up the entire principle: “Maintaining a global viewpoint, we are dedicated to supplying products of the highest quality, yet at a reasonable price for worldwide customer satisfaction.” Basically, they want to make high technology cars at reasonable prices. How simple is that?
Look at the Civic Type-R, S2000 and the old NSX. All super clever cars. So simple. How often have you met an uncool person in a Honda? Hardly ever. Look at their boring cars even. The Accord is a brilliant brilliant car in every way. If you want a 4 door saloon that does everything, and you buy something else, you are mental. The Jazz is the same for little cars. Brilliant!
So I hope you agree with this. If you don’t, you are wrong and need to change your mind to suit the facts, which are connected with my mindset.
Matt
This morning, as it turns out, I am ill. No, really, I am. Having just been diagnosed with the worst case of Man Flu ever recorded, I wasn’t going to post today. But then, something caught my attention. Something that warranted crawling out from beneath my illness cocoon, and speaking to the world. The car industry has been a bit quiet lately. No really exciting stuff has been unveiled in a while, probably because most of the manufacturers are still searching around the back of the sofa for some spare change. But it seems that things have gone a bit dry on the creative front. It seems as if the designers have just put down their pencils and gone to sleep. At least, that’s what I thought. Because, if the latest designs from BMW are to be believed, they have in fact been quite busy.
Their business comes in the form of two completely new cars. And for once, both of them seem too good to be true. BMW has long described themselves as providing “the ultimate driving machine” and if I’m honest, I could never really tell why. Most BMW’s simply look like “another car” on the road. It may well be a good car, but at BMW they’ve never put too much emphasis on the looks department, having completely cocked up the 3 series the manufacturer seemed to be applying facelifts where they weren’t needed, until even the celebrity models of the M division weren’t safe from “forced improvement”. Well hey; they are German. But now, both these designs look absolutely stunning, and the word on the street is that BMW will actually start making them in the near future. So, let’s take a look, shall we?
Now be honest, that looks great doesn’t it. This is the new Z10, BMW’s first attempt at making a proper supercar. But, I hear you ponder, in this economic climate why do we need another supercar? Well, that’s a good point. Which is why BMW have flung themselves into the deep end, and are making this supercar as green as it can be. Using something called Efficient Dynamics; they’re attempting to create the world’s first economical supercar. Think about what an achievement that would be, about what that would mean for the worlds supercar industry. And I reckon that if the project is successful, other manufacturers would follow suit. Can you imagine a green Ferrari, or a new Zonda that manages 3,000,000 mpg? Well, if this thing works, that might be a lot closer than you think. Of course, this being a supercar, its probably going to be fitted with lashings of carbon fibre to keep the weight down. But still, if it ends up looking as good as this, you can sign me up for one right away.
So far then, team BMW are really strutting their stuff. You’d be forgiven for thinking that things couldn’t get much better over in Germany. But, trust me, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!
See what I mean? Let me introduce you to the vision. BMW’s coolest concept car to date. Its just been showcased over at the Frankfurt motor show, where it drew huge crowds over to the BMW stand. And you can see why. That design is frankly biblical, with those gull wing doors nicked from a Lamborghini, and those tyres, sitting like a layer of dust over the wheels. This is what modern car design is all about, taking a boring BMW and making it more exciting that Keira Knightly and Emma Watson having a mud wrestling match.
And don’t think that the vision is all pretty eyes and shapely curves either. Because this pretty boy has the power to match. This futuristic sports coupe has a whopping 356bhp, producing 800nm of torque off the line. And all of that coming from a three cylinder turbodiesel engine, supported by two electric motors. So not only does it look godly, and go like the clappers. It also has the potential to be green as well.
So there we are then, the boys over at BMW have certainly been busy. And it proves that even though the world is, economically at least, up a creek without a paddle, the worlds car manufacturers aren’t ready to bail out just yet. Hopefully this will encourage the world’s car designers to pick up their pencils and give us some new stuff.
Now then, having told you all about these two new cars, I’m off to drink my weight in Lemsip, and consume a dangerous amount of paracetamol before spending an inordinate amount of time in bed. Goodnight.
Plictisit de vremea de afara si de faptul ca nu aveam ceva mai bun de facut am decis sa scriu despre autoritatile romane si de reactiile acestora fata de “romanii” din Italia. In primul rand nu inteleg de ce acestea recunosc ca tiganii sunt romani desi toata lumea stie asta si nu iau masuri. Dar stiuatia e alta cand un tigan in Italia omoara, violeaza sau mai stiu eu ce iau apoi se aude..vai saracii romani ca sunt batuti in strada..asta se intampla numai din vina guvernului de cacat din Rromania. Pai futuva-n gura de indieni nespalati ce ma voi sunteti romani? Sunt persoane care se duc acolo crezand ca fac un ban cinstit si se chinuie pentru a il obtine. Dar acestia sunt diferiti fata de tiganii de acolo pe care autoritatile romanesti tot ca romani ii recunoaste. Da, ma refer la cei care se duc la furat sau mai stiu eu ce si vin apoi in tara cu BMW sau pula mea cu vre-o taraba de masina la 1000 euro. Aia care cand se intorc se dau jmekeri ca pula mea…sa va iau mortii in pula baaaa!!!! Ar trebuii sa va omoare pe toti ca sa ajungem si noi civilizati.
Cam atat..prea multa plictiseala..plm
Siguiendo la misma línea que en estos días, os voy a hablar de otra novedad para el Salón Internacional del Automóvil de Frankfurt. Pero hoy vamos a dejar a un lado el mundo real. Vamos a introducirnos en un sueño, un sueño al alcance de muy pocos. Pese a que se trata de un Rolls-Royce más humilde que el Phantom, no deja de ser un vehículo con el que muchos de nosotros soñamos, y que hace que nos levantemos con la almohada llena de babas alguna que otra mañana. El nombre de la bestia, Rolls-Royce Ghost.
Con este modelo, la firma inglesa del grupo BMW tratará de reducir la edad media de sus potenciales clientes. La fórmula del éxito consiste en un vehículo con unas líneas más modernas y un tamaño inferior. Pese a ello, no se trata de un coche pequeño, puesto que mide 5,4 metros de largo y 1,94 metros de ancho.
El pequeño de la factoría de Goodwood tampoco se quedará corto en prestaciones. Montará un propulsor de 6,6 litros de gasolina, que desarrolla una potencia de 563 cv y ofrece un par de 780 Nm a partir de tan sólo 1.500 revoluciones por minuto. Estas características le permiten acelerar de 0 a 100 kilómetros por hora en 4,7 segundos. Su velocidad máxima está limitada a 248 km/h.
Con este modelo, Rolls-Royce pretende hacer frente a la crisis, que le ha hecho pasar de casi 500 ventas en la primera mitad de 2008 a 330 en el mismo tiempo de 2009. Este vehículo llegará al mercado europeo a finales de 2009, y para ello Rolls ha tenido que construir una nueva línea de producción en su factoría de Goodwood.
Respecto al precio, como buen Rolls-Royce, seguirá estando al alcance de pocos bolsillos. El coste del Phantom, sin impuestos, se sitúa en 213.000 euros. Con impuestos se encarece bastante, ascendiendo la cuenta a 280.000 euros. Así que de momento tendrá que seguir siendo un vehículo que esté presente en los sueños, al menos para mí.
Rolls-Royce Ghost. Fuente: http://www.alquiler-coches.tv/imagenes/rolls-royce-ghost-front-angle-588x401.jpg
Fuente> El Mundo
We are watching the paradigm of the motorcycle word shift lightning fast. It wasn’t to long ago that when you say superbike people thought of Japanese bikes, that’s all changed. The push of course is sales, nascar use to be a sales tool for the American auto makers but it lost touch with that and has become a kit car series, each car is essentially like every other one on the track with a different body to set it apart but not World Superbike racing.
Who is crashing the Japanese makers party? everyone it seems. The Italians have long been ultra competetive in the 1000cc Superbike races but their prices left them out of the reach of most bikers. Now Ducatis and Aprilias have close to price parity with their Japenese competitors. And a new development, BMW and KTM have decided to get in on the act and they both make incredible machines at prices that aren’t to bad.
BMW has just shown us the new SS 1000RR and its a game changer for the brand that has been known for comfort, durability and holding value. Now with the 1000RR they have a bike that’s as cheap as the Japanese liter bikes but outperforms them and Carry’s the cache of the BMW name. KTM has the RC8 and its just as spectacular, though a bit more than the BMW its a bike to behold.
So you have the Germans and the Italians closing in on the Japanese and we the consumers will enjoy the benefits. The intangible that I believe the German and Italian Bikes have is that they become classics, where as most Japanese bikes just become old Japanese bikes. If I buy a BMW or an Aprilia and have it for 10 years it will be a legend, a collectible, that cannot be said for most Japanese bikes that will end up as old used bikes.
Yep the world of Bikes is changing again, much as it did in the 60s when the Brit bikes faded from glory (Triumph is back and making great bikes and Norton is suppose to be back and we will keep and eye on this) then in the 80s Suzuki changed the rules with the first GSXR, in the 90s Ducati got its mojo and became the king of the bike builders. Now its 2009 and Germany and Italy and set to take huge clumps of market share from the Japanese.
Keep an eye on the World Superbike championships things are about to change and on Monday people will be visiting German and Italian bike dealers.
