Latest
News
29 Jun,
2008
|
Audi new engines
|
Audi's
powertrain division becomes very active in promoting its new
development recently. Here comes the information of two new engines:
EA888
2.0 TFSI Valvelift
This engine debuts in the A4 and A5. Compare to the outgoing 2.0 TFSI,
it produces more power and especially torque while reducing fuel
consumption (see below table), too good to be believed ! Based on the
new generation EA888 family (started from 1.8TFSI engine), it gets a
stronger and lighter block and stronger internals to cope with higher
power. Also new is Audi's Valvelift system which accounts for 5%
improvement of fuel economy alone. This is the third Audi engine
employing Valvelift, after 3.2 and 2.8 V6. Note that the EA888 2.0 TSI
engine employed by Volkswagen Scirocco does not have Valvelift.
|
New 2.0 TFSI
|
Old 2.0 TSFI
|
Type
|
Inline-4
|
Inline-4
|
Valvetrain
|
DOHC 4V, Valvelift
|
DOHC 4V
|
Fuel system
|
Direct injection
|
Direct injection |
Capacity
|
1984 cc
|
1984 cc
|
Power
|
211 hp / 4300-6200 rpm |
200 hp / 5100 rpm |
Torque
|
258 lbft / 1500-4200 rpm |
206 lbft / 1800-5000 rpm |
Fuel consumption in A4
|
42.8 mpg
|
36.7 mpg
|
3.0
TFSI V6 supercharged
This engine is a response to BMW's 3.0 twin-turbo straight-six. Audi
conducted a lot of researches and concluded that a supercharger is
better overall than a twin-turbo system (something I do not agree, see
the comparison table below), so it installed an Eaton supercharger into
the V-valley and added two water-to-air intercoolers to produce the 3.0
TFSI engine. Oddly, the "T" in its name should have stood for
Turbocharging, but for marketing reasons Audi does not want to brand it
as "SFSI". The 290 horsepower engine will make its debut in A6. Later
on, a tuned version with about 350 hp will serve the new S4, replacing
its thirsty 4.2-liter V8.
Like the recent Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, the Eaton supercharger used in
the Audi V6 employs 4-lobes rotors to achieve higher efficiency. The
uninspiring supercharger noise is dealt with extensive noise
insulation, so expect the engine is completely covered with ugly
plastic.
|
Audi 3.0 TFSI
|
BMW N54 3.0 Bi-turbo
|
Type
|
V6, 90-degree, supercharger |
Inline-6, twin-turbo. |
Valvetrain
|
DOHC 4V, intake VVT |
DOHC 4V, dual-VVT |
Fuel system
|
Direct injection
|
Direct injection |
Capacity
|
2995 cc |
2979 cc |
Compression ratio
|
10.5:1 |
10.2:1 |
Max boost
|
0.8 bar |
0.4 bar |
Power
|
290 hp / 5000 rpm
|
306 hp / 5800 rpm
|
Torque
|
310 lbft / 2500-4850 rpm
|
295 lbft / 1300-5000 rpm
|
Max rev
|
6500 rpm
|
7000 rpm
|
Weight
|
189 kg
|
190 kg
|
|
28 Jun,
2008
|
Corvette ZR1 set new Nurburgring
record !!!
|

Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 has broken the production car Nurburgring lap
record today. In standard production form and driven by GM's test
driver Jim Mero, it lapped the Nordschleife in 7 minutes 26.4 seconds,
nearly 3 seconds faster than Nissan GT-R did two months ago and even
faster than the all-time production car record of 7 min 27.82 sec set
by Pagani Zonda F Clubsport.
However, the slim margin is probably not enough to defend its title for
long. For sure, the forthcoming Nissan GT-R V-spec will strike back
strongly. If Pagani is serious to try again with Zonda F Clubsport or
Zonda R, it could even break the 7 min 20 sec barrier. Remember, last
time it set the old record only in a warm-up lap before mechanical
problems halted the test. If those supercar manufacturers have the time
and money like Nissan, GM or Porsche to run their cars in Nurburgring
as if in their backyards, they could have easily topped the mass
production sports cars.
Here's
an update of our record table:
|
Lap time
|
Price (UK)
|
Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
|
7:26 |
est £85,000 |
Pagani Zonda F Clubsport
|
7:27 |
£390,000 |
Porsche Carrera GT
|
7:28 |
£330,000 |
| Nissan GT-R |
7:29 |
£55,000 |
Porsche 997 GT2
|
7:32 |
£130,000 |
| Koenigsegg CCR |
7:34 |
£415,000 |
| Mercedes McLaren SLR 722 |
7:38 |
£340,000 |
| Porsche 997 Turbo |
7:40 |
£100,000 |
| Porsche 997 GT3 |
7:42 |
£80,000 |
| Chevrolet Corvette Z06 |
7:43 |
£62,000 |
| Lambo Gallardo Superleggera |
7:46 |
£150,000 |
| Ferrari 599 GTB |
7:47 |
£200,000 |
| Lambo Murcielago LP640 |
7:47 |
£200,000 |
|
26 Jun,
2008
|
Boxster production to transfer to
Austria
|
As you
might know, Porsche Boxster has been building in Finland by Valmet for
many years. The exact figure is 200,000 units since 1997. Porsche
always considers its limited space and highly talented people in
Zuffenhausen should be used to produce the higher value 911, so in the
future this will continue... except that Magna Steyr of Austria will
replace Valmet as its OEM when the latter's contract expired in 2011,
as Porsche announced today.
Magna Steyr is the European operation of Canadian component supplier
group Magna. Its assembly plant in Graz, Austria has been producing a
lot of vehicles on behalf of car makers, such as Mercedes G-class
offroader, BMW X3 and many Chrysler and Jeep models for European
market. However, it will lose the contract of BMW X3 as BMW plans to
take its production back to in-house, while Chrysler is also likely to
stop employing it when its current European lineup is replaced.
Therefore Magna Steyr will need to find replacement to fill its excess
capacity. So far it has secured the contracts of Aston Martin Rapide
and Mini SUV. The new contract from Porsche Boxster could fuel another
20,000 units a year.
According to Porsche, Magna Steyr is chosen not only because of its low
bidding price but also because it offers development services that
Valmet failed to provide (remember, it engineered X3 for BMW). Will
this mean the future Boxster successors or variants will be developed
in Austria instead of Germany ? I hope not. Another reason Porsche
picked Magna is because it is already a supplier to its cabriolet and
Targa roof systems, as Magna group bought the previous Car Top Systems
(originally a joint venture between Mercedes and Porsche) in 2005.
|
25 Jun,
2008
|
Porsche 911 Carrera 4 and 4S also
unveiled
|

Last week if you visited the official micro-site of
Porsche 911 Carrera, you might notice there were two other anonymous
911 models covered by cloth. Now one of them has been revealed - the
4-wheel-drive 911 Carrera 4 and Carrera 4S. (Guess what is the third
model ? Targa ?)
Headline is the new 4WD system which send power to the front wheels by
means of an electronically controlled multi-plate clutch instead of the
previous viscous-coupling, which was a passive and pure mechanical
device. However, this is not much of a surprise to me, because the new
4WD system has been adopted to the 911 Turbo, sooner or later it has to
replace the outdated viscous-coupling in Carrera models.

The control system of the 4WD hardware now integrates with ASR traction
control and EBD electronic brake differential and form what the company
called PTM Porsche Traction Management. By the way, these days Porsche
prefers to call everything Porsche blah blah blah, for instance, PSM,
PASM and PDK.
As before, the Carrera 4 and Carrera 4S are 4WD versions of Carrera and
Carrera S respectively, so they are benefited by the new direct
injection engines and PDK gearbox. Also same as the last generation,
they have a rear bodywork 44mm wider than the rear-drive models in
order to accommodate wider rear tires (295/35ZR18 for C4 and 305/30ZR18
for C4S). This, together with the 4WD hardware, adds some 55 kilograms
to the kerb weight.
|
25 Jun,
2008
|
Volvo cuts people and probably for
sale
|
Today Volvo
has announced a large-scale staff reduction as a response to its loss,
which amounted to US$150 million during the first quarter, and the
expected downturn of world economy. Some 2000 staffs, including 600
workers at its main assembly plant in Torslanda, Sweden, have received
notice of redundancy.
On the other hand, there is report that Ford is talking with a Chinese
car maker, probably SAIC, about selling Volvo. Although Ford always
deny its intention to sell Volvo, its top official said it planned to
make Volvo more exclusive and share less components with Ford. In my
understanding, this means it is preparing to decouple Volvo from its
main operation, which will be easier to sell. The only question is when
and to whom.
|
25 Jun,
2008
|
Alfa Romeo MiTo GTA
|
Alfa Romeo
has revealed that the GTA version of MiTo will go on sale in January
2009. It will features some very strong specifications - engine will be
a 1750cc (classic designation for Alfa) unit with direct injection,
turbocharger, variable valve timing and a new Valvetronic-style
throttleless variable valve lift system called "Multiair". It will
produce as much as 230 horsepower and drive the front wheels via a
Getrag double-clutch gearbox. Adaptive damping will be offered as
standard.
|
25 Jun,
2008
|
Ferrari California - more photos
|
Here's more
photos of Ferrari's new California, including some interior shots.










|
24 Jun,
2008
|
Maserati Quattroporte facelift and S
|

Maserati has released information for its facelifted Quattroporte
range. Outside, you can see it gets a more classical interpretation of
the grille like GranTurismo, new LED headlights and taillights and
restyled bumpers. The regular Quattroporte is still powered by the
400hp 4.2-liter V8, but like its two-door sister, now a Quattroporte S
model is available with the newer 4.7-liter V8. It pumps out 430hp
here, or 10hp less than GranTurismo S. Unlike the latter, it continues
to mate with the ZF 6-speed automatic transmission to provide the
refinement that a luxury sedan requires.

|
17 Jun,
2008
|
Subaru Exiga
|

You may see it as the MPV version of Impreza. Although Exiga is a full
size larger - 4740mm long (+325mm), 1775mm wide (+35mm), 1660mm tall
(+185mm) and has a 2750mm wheelbase (+130mm) - and it seats 7 people,
it is derived from the new Impreza platform. This means a strut-type
suspension up front and a subframe-mounted double-wishbones suspension
at the rear.
The basic engine is Impreza's naturally aspirated 2-liter boxer,
producing the same 148 horsepower, drives the front wheels or all
wheels through a good old 4-speed automatic gearbox. 2.0GT model
employs a detuned version of Impreza WRX's (S-GT) 2-liter turbocharged
boxer, producing 225 horses and 240 lb-ft of torque. It drives all four
wheels through a 5-speed automatic.

The interior shares the same ugly and low grade plastic dashboard with
Impreza, disappointingly. But the seats are new. Three rows are
arranged in theater style. The two outside seats of the middle row can
slide back and forth and fold their seatbacks in one action to aid
access to the cramped third row. Of course, when not in use the third
row may fold flat to place luggage.
As the new Forester has been turned from a dynamic estate into a SUV,
its original market space is partially filled with Exiga. However, the
Exiga is neither as versatile as other MPVs on the market nor as
dynamically competent as the previous Forester. Whether it can convince
buyers remains to be seen.
|
11 Jun,
2008
|
AutoZine comment: BMW GINA concept
|

You might have already heard about the new BMW GINA Light Visionary
concept, whose skin is amazingly made of flexible fabric so that it can
change shape like Transformers. You want a more muscular shape ? No
problem, press a button and the electro-hydraulic metal wire frames
will move to change the shape of the elastic fabric skin. You want more
downforce at high speed ? No problem, the wire frame at the tail will
raise to grow a larger rear spoiler from the fabric surface. Wanna
enter the cockpit ? Again, the door opens together with the fabric
skin, although the wrinkles around the door hinge look odd. Even more
playful is when you switch its headlights on and off, because the GINA
will look like blinking its eyes. As Chris Bangle said, GINA represents
a philosophy of thinking flexible and acting flexible. Watch the introduction
movie from BMW's web site and you will be hard to disagree.

Whenever a new concept car arrives, I always ask myself what new ideas
it brings to the world. Traditional Italian design houses used to bring
in innovative style and packaging through concept cars. Mercedes-Benz
and Japanese car makers used to showcase their new generation
technology. Most car makers today use their concept cars to preview the
styling theme of their forthcoming production cars. But what about GINA
? What does its fabric skin bring us ?

Can the fabric skin provide the necessary durability expected for the
entire life of the car ? It is said to be water resistant, but is it
resistant to extreme temperatures ? UV ? Pollutants ? Color degradation
? Scratch proof ? Mud ? Heavy rain ? Ice balls ? Engine /
exhaust heat ? Flame retardant ? How to facilitate noise insulation
when the skin is flexible ?
A more serious issue is safety. How to maintain aerodynamic stability
at high speed ? I suppose air flow at 150 mph-plus could easily distort
the body shape. This could make the GINA very unstable at speed.

Interestingly, the idea of fabric skin came from Chris Bangle rather
than the R&D department of BMW. Bangle actually ruled out the
production prospect of fabric skin, and the company spent no time to
explain this technology.
The biggest idea of GINA is its flexible fabric skin concept, but
unfortunately, it has no production future. So what is the purpose of
this car ? To demonstrate a flexible way of thinking and a flexible way
of acting ? Beautiful words alone cannot move me. Ditto the fancy
movies and music.
Now Mr. Bangle, we are waiting for your next concept car made of toilet
paper, and your wonderful presentation, of course.

Remark:
There are reports saying the GINA concept was designed in 2001 and is
shown to public just now. However, I doubt this very much. If you
compare the styling details of GINA with the 2001 BMW X Coupe concept,
you will find the former is much more modern, and its double-kidney
grille is closer to the latest interpretation.
|
11 Jun,
2008
|
Bentley Continental Flying Spur Speed
|

Following Continental GT Speed, Bentley is also introducing a Speed
model of Continental Flying Spur using the same engine. The twin-turbo
6.0 W12 is boosted to 610 hp and 553 lb-ft of torque. In the sedan, top
speed is 200 mph (Wow !), while 0-60 and 0-100 mph take 4.4 seconds and
10.5 seconds respectively. This mean it is faster than Mercedes S65 AMG
in top speed (because that car is regulated at 155 mph) but slower in
acceleration (due to its 300 kg extra weight and less torque).
Outside, the Continental Flying Spur Speed has a different grille,
bumper intakes and exhaust pipes to distinguish from the standard
car. Firmer suspensions, retuned power steering and 20-inch
Pirelli P-Zero tires are adopted to take on the higher performance.
|
7 Jun,
2008
|
Pagani Zonda Cinque
|

It is known that sometime ago a Hong Kong customer wanted to purchase a
Pagani Zonda R, but he found this car was only legal on race tracks.
Upon this request, Pagani decided to build a road legal version. Only 5
cars will be built, each has been presold at an astonishing € 800,000
excluding tax. This is Zonda Cinque.

As it is derived from Zonda R, Zonda Cinque has massive air splitters,
skirts, rear wing, diffusers and flat undertray. Also, the racing car's
roof-mounted air intake is carried over. Dry weight is 1210 kg, a
further 20 kg down from Zonda F (which is currently the fastest
road-going Zonda), thanks to the use of a lighter material called
carbon-titanium fiber for the monocoque body. Besides, suspensions
employ components made of magnesium and titanium. On the other hand,
the 7.3-liter AMG V12 produces 678 horsepower and 575 lb-ft of torque,
76hp more than Zonda F and 28hp more than Zonda F Club Sport, although
the racing Zonda R produces even more at 750hp. Transmission is a
6-speed sequential box made by Cima. Performance figure is over 217 mph
and 0-60mph in 3.3 sec.
|
7 Jun,
2008
|
911 Carrera is facelifted !
|

Surprise ! Today Porsche suddenly unveiled the facelifted 911 Carrera
models ! This consist of Carrera, Carrera S and their Cabriolet
versions.
The current 997 generation was born in 2004, so it is time for a
mid-life facelift and improvement. Externally, the new 997 continues
Porsche's tradition of evolutionary design. There are no big changes,
only small details differ from the old car, most notably are the
enlarged front intakes, new LED day time driving lights, new shape LED
rear lights, new door mirrors and wheel design. There is no big changes
to the dimensions and hard points position as well. However, the base
model Carrera now looks almost the same as Carrera S (apart from
twin-exhaust against quad-exhaust), which explains why its coefficient
of aerodynamic drag increases slightly from 0.28 to 0.29, or the same
as Carrera S.

Making the headline are two changes: direct injection engine and PDK
double-clutch gearbox.
To increase power and reduce fuel consumption / emission, Porsche
finally adopts direct fuel injection in the boxer engine. This also
allows compression ratio to increase to 12.5:1. The 3.6-liter engine in
Carrera produces 345hp, 20hp more than before. The 3.8-liter engine in
Carrera S produces 385hp, 30hp up. Simultaneously, fuel consumption and
emission are reduced considerably. See the table below for a clear
comparison between the new and old cars.

|
New 911 Carrera
|
Old 911 Carrera
|
Drag coefficient
|
0.29
|
0.28
|
| Engine capacity |
3614 cc
|
3596 cc
|
| Compression |
12.5:1
|
11.3:1
|
| Power |
345 hp / 6500 rpm
|
325 hp / 6800 rpm
|
| Torque |
288 lbft / 4400 rpm
|
273 lbft / 4250 rpm
|
Gearbox
|
6M ( 7-spd PDK )
|
6M
|
Weight (DIN)
|
1415 kg ( 1430 kg )
|
1395 kg
|
Top speed
|
180 mph ( 178 mph )
|
177 mph
|
0-60 mph
|
4.7 sec ( 4.5 sec )
|
4.8 sec
|
Fuel consumption
|
29.4 mpg ( 29.4 mpg )
|
25.6 mpg
|
CO2 emission
|
225 g/km ( 225 g/km )
|
266 g/km
|
|
New 911 Carrera S
|
Old 911 Carrera S
|
Drag coefficient
|
0.29
|
0.29
|
| Engine capacity |
3800 cc
|
3824 cc
|
| Compression |
12.5:1
|
11.8:1
|
| Power |
385 hp / 6500 rpm
|
355 hp / 6600 rpm
|
| Torque |
310 lbft / 4400 rpm
|
295 lbft / 4600 rpm
|
Gearbox
|
6M ( 7-spd PDK )
|
6M
|
Weight (DIN)
|
1425 kg ( 1455 kg )
|
1420 kg
|
Top speed
|
188 mph ( 186 mph )
|
182 mph
|
0-60 mph
|
4.5 sec ( 4.3 sec )
|
4.6 sec
|
Fuel consumption
|
27.4 mpg ( 27.7 mpg )
|
24.6 mpg
|
CO2 emission
|
242 g/km ( 240 g/km )
|
277 g/km
|
Note that the slightly different engine capacities imply that bore and
stroke have been altered. Besides, Porsche said the new engines have
lighter construction and lower friction. However, Variocam Plus is
retained.

Another big change is the introduction of a 7-speed double-clutch
sequential gearbox beside the standard 6-speed manual. As seen from the
figures, the so-called PDK (Porsche-Doppelkupplung) box cuts 0.2
seconds from 0-60 mph acceleration, thanks to its fast and smooth
gearchange. However, this improvement is not brought by the additional
gear, because the 7th gear is actually an overdrive to enhance fuel
economy in highway cruising. This mean top speed is reached at 6th.
With the introduction of PDK, the outdated 5-speed Tiptronic finally
comes to retirement.
Relatively light changes have been made to the chassis. The springs,
dampers and PASM adaptive damping have been mildly retuned. Bigger
brakes (330mm all round) are adopted to Carrera.

An optional
"Sport Chrono Plus" package has been introduced. It adds a digital and
analogue timer to the dash top for hardcore drivers to measure lap time
on racing circuit. Another important function it brings is a launch
control, which could cut 0.2 seconds from 0-60 mph. That means a
Carrera S with PDK and Sport Chrono Plus needs only 4.1 seconds to do
so. Besides, the package provides a Sport mode button to set the
sharpest throttle response, heaviest steering, fastest PDK gearchange,
stiffest adaptive damping and higher threshold for the PSM stability
management system.
In the cabin, the environment is unchanged except some upgrades to
equipment, such as a LCD touch screen audio control system, Bluetooth
connectivity and USB / i-Pod ports.
The facelift is of course a good news to the fans of European sports
cars, but it will take more than that to beat Nissan Skyline GT-R.
Note for photos: the
white car shown here is 911 Carrera, while blue car is 911 Carrera S.
|
6 Jun,
2008
|
New Lancia Delta unveiled
|

Lancia has been quiet for a long time. We saw its new Delta in
near-production concept form nearly 2 years ago. Now photos and press
release of the production car are finally available.

As we already
know, the new Delta is derived from the same platform as Fiat Bravo,
but its wheelbase has been stretched from 2.6 to 2.7 meters for more
interior volume. A very long front overhang (which accommodates a
prominent radiator grille) takes its overall length further to 4.5
meters. The car is also wide (1.8m) and tall (1.5m). These dimensions
make the 5-door hatchback a crossover between C-segment (Golf class)
and D-segment (Mondeo class).

Designed inhouse, the new Delta looks very special. In profile it looks
like a sporty crossover between hatchback and SUV, while many elegant
features indicate a premium car. One of its main features is a full
length smoked glass roof which covers 80% area of the ceiling. The
resultant two-tone color scheme can be seen in the white car pictured
here. Other pictures show a black Delta without the two-tone color
effect.

Benefited by the extra wheelbase, height and width, the cabin of new
Delta seems to be pretty spacious. Lancia claims its rear passenger
room is the best in its segment (although it might refer to C-segment),
thanks to a sliding rear seat. The dashboard architecture is obviously
shared with Bravo, which is a compromise to the upper class Lancia.
Similarly, the Bravo platform is not designed for a premium car, and it
is quite outdated now (it was derived from Stilo). Therefore I don’t
expect the Delta to be a driver’s car like the original. Anyway, Lancia
will equip it with electronic adaptive damping and advanced traction /
stability control to deliver a safe and refined ride. It will also be
available with a self parking system like Toyota Prius and Lexus LS600h.

In the powertrain department, the Delta seems quite competitive. There
are 3 engines available at launch – 120hp and 150hp 1.4 Turbo petrol
(see Bravo and Grande Punto) and 120hp 1.6 Multijet turbo diesel (now
Euro 5 compliance). Next year will join another 3 engines as range
toppers – 165hp 2.0 Multijet turbo diesel, 190hp 1.9 Multijet 2-stage
twin-turbo diesel and 200hp 1.8 direct-injection turbo petrol with
dual-VVT. Three
transmissions are available: 6-speed manual, 6-speed automated manual
and 6-speed automatic. (For technical spec see here)


|
4 Jun, 2008
|
| Industry News |
Ford F-series
truck lost top spot in USA !
No matter how hard AutoZine criticized SUVs, Ford F-series pickup still
topped USA sales chart in every month for the past 17 years. However,
the higher and higher fuel price starts changing the situation. In the
past few months we saw sales of SUVs and trucks in North America
dropped significantly while some fuel-saving econo cars recorded sales
increase. In May, Ford F-150 finally lost its top spot in the sales
chart. Recorded only 43,000 units sales, it was beaten by 4 Japanese
cars – Honda Civic (53,300 units), Toyota’s new Corolla (52,800 units),
Toyota Camry (51,300 units) and Honda Accord (43,700 units). In
particular, Honda Civic set its own record sales in the month.
< F-150: a rare SUV picture in
AutoZine
However, the situation is not at all bad to Ford. The same trend of
shifting towards small cars also benefits Ford Focus, whose sales rose
by 53% year-to-year to 32,600 units in May. Since the launch of the
facelifted Focus, its sales has been surprisingly strong. Now Ford
plans to build 280,000 units of the car this year, up from 190,000
units last year. This could compensates a small portion of the loss in
truck sales.
7-speed S-Tronic
to Audi S5
Until now Volkswagen group’s dual-clutch gearbox (DSG, S-Tronic or blah
blah blah) has been paired to transverse engines only. Therefore the
longitudinal-engined Audis (from A4 up) still rely on either
Multitronic CVT or Tiptronic automatic gearbox. Now Audi has developed
a 7-speed S-Tronic dual-clutch transmission for its
longitudinal-engined models. This is going to make debut in S5. The box
can handle up to 550 Nm (406 lb-ft) of torque, thus is applicable to
all its normally aspirated V8 and V10 models, though not W12 or the
twin-turbo V10 of RS6.
|
2 Jun,
2008 (updated on 7 Jun, 2008)
|
Nissan Teana renewed
|

Nissan has renewed its Teana in home market. Following sister car
Altima and Maxima, the Teana has also adopted the newer D-platform,
with a stronger chassis and better insulation. However, its exterior
design is unmistakably Teana, being an evolution of the old car.
Like-wise, the interior continues to employ a design theme modeling a
Japanese living room, with soft pads, light colors and plenty of woods.
It wants to make occupants feel at home. The car now measures 4850 mm
in length (+80mm), 1795mm in width (+30mm), 1475mm in height (same) and
2775mm in wheelbase (same, also equals to Altima and Maxima's).

There are 3 engines on offer: VQ35DE has its power increased by 21 hp
to a total of 252 hp. VQ25DE replaces the old VQ23DE and produces 185
hp instead of 173 hp. 4-wheel drive version employs a compulsory
QR25DE, which is a long-stroke 4-cylinder that produces 167 hp. All
engines mate with Xtronic CVT.


More photos updated:




|
2 Jun, 2008
|
| Industry News |
Jaguar and Land
Rover went to Tata
Ford and Tata have just completed the transaction of Jaguar and Land
Rover, from now on the two British luxury brands belong to Tata of
India. Good luck !
|
|