XJ-S

Volkswagen Concept C

Interessanti le considerazioni sul design e sull'influenza che ha in termini di successo commerciale, sulle apparenti difficoltà della nuova Serie 5, sul confronto tra X3 e X5. Fatte per il mercato USA, sono comunque valide per quello europeo.

Un'interessante articolo di AutoWeek sugli ultimi modelli BMW e sulle potenziali sovrapposizioni con i modelli esistenti.

Pare si chiamerà "Dune"...

Ecco una foto a maggior risoluzione di quella già vista.

Il comunicato BMW non precisava la cilindrata del nuovo motore, ma sembrava implicito che fosse uguale a quella dell'attuale 3 litri turbodiesel, ovvero 2993 cm^3. Quattroruote di marzo, forse tratta in inganno dalla sigla 535d, afferma che la cilindrata è di 3,5 litri.

Cosa se ne fa un neopatentato di una Tempra SW?!

L'ultima Renault Alpine mi piaceva moltissimo, all'epoca...

Hot Volvo Blows Cover The roof is definitely coming off at Volvo. Not only is the Swedish company set to unveil its C50 convertible later this year, but it also has Porsche in its sights with a top-secret Boxster rival that will arrive in showrooms in 2005. Auto Express has exclusive details of the hot newcomer, which will make its public debut only four months after the eagerly anticipated compact cabriolet. The latter car will be the Swedish star of this autumn's Paris Motor Show. The C50 - which Volvo says will be designed and produced by Italian styling house Pininfarina - is based on Ford's Focus C1 platform and features front-wheel drive and an electric folding roof. Priced below £20,000, the four-seat model will rival newcomers such as the drop-top Renault Mégane and Peugeot 307 CC, and will complete the firm's small car line-up, following the launch of the S40 and V50. The new roadster, however, is tipped to be an all-out two-seat driver's machine, priced from £30,000 and expected to produce 300bhp from a turbocharged 2.5-litre engine. It will also be the first rear-wheel-drive Volvo since the Eighties. Although the firm is staying tight-lipped about the project, the convertible could make its debut at 2005's Detroit Motor Show, serving as a flagship for the fledgling R performance brand. The car was revealed to top brass in Spain earlier this month alongside a finished C50 prototype. Its aggressive look, penned by a Pininfarina team led by Volvo design chief Peter Horbury, is said to herald a new styling direction for the company. However, the bold shoulder line and radiator grille of the V70, S60 and recently introduced S40 and V50 remains. Meanwhile, Volvo is recalling 10,000 cars due to a problem with steering ball joints which could affect handling on S60, V70 and S80 models built during 2003. The firm is contacting owners. (Fonte: AutoExpress)

AutoWeek Q&A with Ferrari and Maserati design director Frank Stephenson As design director for Ferrari and Maserati, Frank Stephenson freely admits he has one of the world’s best jobs. He elaborated during his appearance at the 11th Annual AutoWeek Design Forum sponsored by Johnson Controls during the Detroit auto show in January: AW: How would you say that your design experience is different now than it was when you were first starting out? STEPHENSON: The design world has always changed, even before I started it was a whole ‘nother world. It’s like everything, it evolves. The process when I started was, strictly speaking about design, was always that we did clay models, we did hand sketches, we basically took the points off a clay model and then applied the surfaces on the clay model. Now what we’re trying to do is come to the market a lot quicker with the car. What has evolved is almost doing everything electronically, if you can, and if you have to go back and manually adjust something, you do it. It’s gone from the manual age to the computer age. So now we basically design on a computer and we create the cars on a computer and we do a lot of the evaluations on computer. It all happens quicker, and in a certain respect it is maybe even better, because you can always try something and if it doesn’t work, you can go back a step. When we did a sketch and we tried a different color and it didn’t work, we threw away six hours of work and started over again. AW: What inspires you? STEPHENSON: Designers are all of different breeds. There are some guys who like to innovate and there’s other guys who like to recall the past. There are other guys who don’t want to push forward, they want to go retro. It’s just basically what you think as a designer is the right way to go. For me, personally—and I’m just lucky enough to have the same philosophy as the company I’m with—my approach to most of my design projects is always to keep a link to the past into the future. Don’t forget the past but still innovate. For my sense, it’s more about evolutionary design. It’s a natural process. Everything evolves: humanity, animals, orchids, everything. It’s always an evolutionary process. Erratic mutations whenever there’s an emergency—that’s not a good sign. AW: What are some qualities that you would say are essential in a car designer? STEPHENSON: Never be satisfied. Never ask for permission, just ask for forgiveness. Extremely emotional, passionate people, are the good ones—very into what they’re doing. And basically it’s not a job, you live it 24 hours a day. Sunday afternoons I’m walking down some street in some exotic or different town and I’m influenced by the littlest things. And I try, maybe, if it pleases me or makes me feel good, to use that in some sort of way in design. AW: How does the F1 program influence the work you do? STEPHENSON: Well it does influence because I’m almost obligated to use it. Because if I want to innovate, I have to look at what’s the newest, most modern technology and that always comes from the racing side, because there, the budgets are a bit higher. They’re constantly experimenting on what the best aerodynamic aids are, how to reduce the weight of materials, the best handling and suspension, the best gearbox, the best electronics available, so that for me is where I get a lot of ideas from. On the other hand you have to be very sensual. You have to have a feeling for form because you have to sell that design. AW: What are the most iconic cars in the Ferrari-Maserati Group and some characteristics that they share? STEPHENSON: First of all, the exotic-ness. We try to make every Ferrari and Maserati iconic. We got pretty lucky or it was just a bunch of creme de la creme guys working together and it happened to them that way. There’s a whole lot of myth in the Ferraris and Maseratis—a whole lot of that special aura or whatever you’d call it. It was probably a lot due to very passionate people building very exclusive cars and using their hearts more than their heads. That’s always going to create a special kind of product. (Fonte: AutoWeek)

Preferisco la 130 Coupè.

Altra notizia interessante, insieme al probabile utilizzo dei motori a 6 cilindri in linea della Volvo. Volvo che, a quanto pare, utilizzerà un V8 Yamaha sulla XC90.

Queste immagini sono spazzatura. Io non avrei aperto un topic per linkarle, abbassano il livello del forum.

Se continua questa politica, temo che un giorno ci sarà una Ka re-badged Jaguar... In ogni caso, sembra che il progetto F-Type, più volte accantonato, possa in questo modo ricevere il via libero definitivo, e questa per me è una notizia positiva.

BMW 535d È pronto un nuovo motore diesel ad alte prestazioni per la BMW Serie 5. Ieri è stata resa nota la gamma di versioni della nuova Serie 5 Touring destinata al mercato britannico, ed accanto alle note 525i, 545i, 525d e 530d è presente la 535d. Il motore è derivato dall’esistente 3 litri 6 cilindri in linea, ma usa un doppio turbocompressore per erogare la potenza di 200 kW (272 CV) e la coppia massima di 560 Nm a 2000 giri al minuto, con 500 Nm già disponibili a 1500 giri. La sovralimentazione mediante due turbocompressori riduce il turbo-lag ed aumenta la disponibilità di potenza agli alti regimi. Il regime massimo di utilizzo del motore raggiunge i 4800 giri al minuto. Lo scatto da 0 a 100 km/h della nuova 535d avviene in 6,6 secondi. Il nuovo motore rispetta la normativa antinquinamento Euro 4. In passato si era parlato di un 6 cilindri biturbo a benzina, che avrebbe dovuto erogare 380 CV, ma il nuovo biturbodiesel rappresenta una sorpresa. Tra le altre cose, la presentazione del nuovo motore dovrebbe significare che non vedremo una 540d con l’attuale 3,9 litri V8, che eroga “solo” 190 kW.

Big Cat Thinking Small With New Golf Rival Jaguar's German rivals will be having kittens when they hear the news: the Big Cat is planning a rival for the VW Golf and BMW's new 1-Series. Auto Express has also uncovered the Coventry firm's decision to replace the X-Type with a more sporting rear-drive car to go head-to-head with the BMW 3-Series and Mercedes C-Class, plus a roadster to take on the Z4 and SLK. According to a senior Jaguar source, the company is working hard to bring the RD-6 concept to life as a small car which will place Big Cat ownership within easier reach. "The RD-6 was a huge hint at Jaguar building a compact," said our insider. The firm has recognised there is an expanding 'compact premium' market, which is being pioneered by the 1-Series, Saab's 9-2X Subaru Impreza clone and the new Golf V6. To take these models on, Jaguar has given up its policy of using Ford platforms, and its future vehicles will utilise purpose-built chassis components instead. "There won't be any more transverse-engined Jaguars," revealed our source, acknowledging criticism of the current X-Type, which uses a transversely mounted motor and, on cheaper models, front-wheel drive. Fans have long believed that the company's cars should be exclusively rear-wheel drive. And it's also thought a 4x4 version of the family drivetrain is being planned. However, the firm must develop an all-new steel chassis to underpin the RD-6, meaning the model is not expected to arrive until 2006. Engineers have already earmarked the powerplants they want, though, including a version of sister company Volvo's familiar straight-six, which will be built in the UK from 2005. But it won't be worth designing the complex new chassis for only one model, even if it is set to be Jaguar's biggest seller. Which is why insiders say the RD-6 platform will also be used for the X-Type replacement, due in late 2006. Even more exciting is that this chassis is the right size to spin off an affordable roadster project. With a rear-drive platform and new engine line-up at Jaguar's disposal, our insider said 'it seems inevitable' that the F-Type performance car, revealed at the Detroit Motor Show in 2000, will be put back into the company's business plan. (Fonte: AutoExpress)

La nuova Serie 5 Touring non mi piace proprio. Rimpiango la E39, ed anche la E34...