Licence plate á la Bond

Apparently, in California car license plates might go digital. Yes, it seems the old metal plates with paint may be replaced by a screen showing ads and other messages while the car is stationary, parked or standing at a red light or something.

This might actually be the 21st century version of the revolving license plate made famous by James Bond and his Aston Martin in the movie Goldfinger. If these plates ever make it to Europe, I can assure you I will get myself one and hack it, so I can go into stealth mode by the push of a button when passing speed cameras and road tolls.

Rest assured, it will be hacked. For the good of mankind.

Renault Fluence Z.E - close but no cigar

I'm not a fan of French cars, to say the least, but Renault have actually managed to impress me a bit with their huge investments in electric cars that are actually usable for normally sized people who may also be carrying some luggage. One of these is apparently set to hit the market as soon as next year, and it's called the Renault Fluence Z.E.

This is a 4,75 meters long, 4-door sedan, so you should be able to fit your entire family in there. Of course there's always a downside... The range of the car is a mere 160 kilometers, and that's under perfect conditions. In other words this is a pure commuter- or city-car, completely useless for any kind of road-trip. What I don't get is why Renault didn't think to include a range extender in this car, making it a serious contender to the upcoming Opel Ampera/Chevrolet Volt? This is close, Renault, but no cigar.

Photo: Automotorblog.com

Audi A4 2.0 TFSI flexifuel

Finally an Audi A4 that runs on ethanol (E85) and comes with an optional Quattro four wheel drive. So what do I have to complain about? Well, first of all the E85 version doesn't come with any automatic transmission option, which is a bummer. Although the start-stop system is nice, and should bring you under 10 l/100km in E85 consumption (6.6 l/100km on petrol), making the A4 flexifuel the best E85 option out there. Quattro will add another 0,5 liters or so.

What's really annoying though is that some genius decided to fit the car with the 180 hp 2.0 TFSI engine instead of the brilliant 211 hp version!!! What the f*ck? The fuel consumption is the exact same on these two engines, so there would be absolutely no disadvantages going with the most powerful of them.

In short, if you get the 180 hp E85 version instead of the 211 hp version you're losing:
- 1 second on the 0-100 km/h run (8.1 seconds instead of 7.1!)
- 22 km/h top speed (228 km/h versus 250 km/h)
- 30 Nm of torque (320 versus 350)

And you gain absolutely nothing. Why oh why, Audi??? I want an A4 Avant 2.0 TFSI 211 hp E85 Quattro with a DSG transmission, thank you so much.

Photo: proforged

How to park your SUV

Have a look at this moron trying to park his X5. I love how he stops and ponders for a while ("what the heck did I just do"), or perhaps just looking for any witnesses ("if I see any I'll run them over"), before getting the hell out of there.



Found this one at VG.no

Here are a couple of other impressive SUV parking vids:

Oh my...

Now this is something out of the ordinary. California-based company Singer Vehicle Design have taken a classic Porsche 911 and turned it into a beast by fitting it with a modified 993-engine producing 425 hp and 461 nm torque and lots of carbon. The result? A racing orange retro 911 that weighs only 1088 kgs and will do 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds!

My mouth is watering...

More pictures of this hottie can be found here. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find the price tag yet.

These are the cars we want to buy

Finally there is hope for the future of plugin-hybrids and electric cars. Gone are those ridiculous plastic boxes with four wheels that you wouldn't be caught dead in - if you could fit in them at all, that is. We're finally seeing cars that are actually functional, and even good looking to a certain degree, running (mainly) on electricity.

Volvo has recently announced a new, roomy family saloon (a V60?) with plugin-hybrid technology to be on the market in 2012, and Mitsubishi have presented their PX-MiEV concept, which is a smaller, plugin-hybrid version of the Mitsubishi Outlander. No info yet on whether it will go into mass production or not, but still: These are the cars we want to buy, that will let us combine a family life with a low- or no-emission car.

Electricity = fun

Wow, perhaps there is hope after all, that an electric future can also be a fun future.

Saab + automatic transmission is still cr*p

It seems there won't be an automatic transmission with technology from this millennium in the upcoming Saab 9-5 either. I appreciate that Saab might not have the biggest budget for research and development these days, but come on, this is ridiculous:


Facsimile, Dinside.no

Saab + automatic transmission = sh*t

I had a look at the specifications for the new Saab 9-3X, and imagine my surprise when I realized the following two things:

1. There is no automatic transmission option for the Biopower version, even though it is the exact same engine as the regular 2.0T.

2. The automatic transmission available in the 2.0T is so poor that I can't believe Saab has the guts to put this on the market in 2009.

Basically, choosing the automatic transmission will make the top speed 10 km/h lower, it will make the 0-100 exercise over 1 second slower, and it will make the fuel consumption a staggering 2 l/100 km higher!!! My God, how is this even possible in this day and age?


Facsimile: Saab.no

Kia Sorento Hybrid

Wow, those green car news just keep coming, and they're finally getting my attention as well, as they are practical and with an appealing design.

The last one out is the Kia Sorento Hybrid, what will hopefully be a proper 4wd car, and with an expected CO2-emission of around 119 g/km. Now that's stunning. Of course it remains to be seen how accurate this number is. For instance, the new Lexus RX450h promises CO2-emissions of 148 g/km, but that has proven to be all but easy to achieve...

Photo: green.autoblog.com

Bugatti runs on alcohol

Speaking of the environment, if you've got a few millions to spend on a car, and would prefer to leave a smaller environmental footprint, how about a Bugatti Galibier, a multi-million, W16 beast running on E85?

Audi A4 Clean Diesel

Forget about those slow, boring "eco-cars" for a minute. I've said it before, environmentally friendly cars don't necessarily need to be boring: Audi has just revealed the new A4 3.0 TDI Clean Diesel, featuring some fancy schmancy catalytic converter that keeps down the emission of those nasty little particles.

This baby will do 0-100 km/h in only 6.2 seconds, numbers worthy a sports car. And the best part? The fuel consumption is only 0,67 liters/km combined. Nothing less than impressive, if you ask me.

Suck on that Volkswagen and Volvo!

Photo: Raptor Alpha

Backwards into the future

Green cars are very fashionable at the moment, and all car manufacturers with a bit of self respect are struggling to deliver cars that employ some sort of technology to keep that Co2 emission down.

Unfortunately some manufacturers seem willing to sacrifice every little bit of fun in order to achieve this. Volvo is one example of this, with their DRIVe models, that are powered by tiny diesel engines barely able to get the cars up to motorway speed, not to mention how long it takes them to get there... Another ugly example are the new Bluemotion models from Volkswagen. A VW Passat with a 105 hp diesel engine? Oh, VW, no!

Not since the mid 80's have I seen cars move this slowly from 0-100 km/h, and I wish I would never have to see it again. The Passat clocks in at an embarrassing 12,5 seconds, and the Volvo V70 at an astonishingly slow 13,5 seconds! I would have been sound asleep after those 13,5 seconds of trying to get the piece of junk moving.

I'm sorry, but there are clearly better ways to keep the Co2 down, even on combustion engines powered by fossile fuel, and preferably while keeping the fun up. BMW have demonstrated this with their "EfficientDynamics", and Saab have proven that downsizing doesn't have to mean boring. Plus, let's not forget there are other fuels out there that are waiting to be used by car manufacturers: E85, biogas, electricity...

Driving environmentally friendly does not have to be ridiculously boring!

Tesla Model S - a revolution

Tesla is preparing to launch their all-electric family sedan, the Model S, in late 2011. Contrary to the extremely expensive Tesla Roadster sports car, this car is actually very affordable, with a base price of USD 50.000. So, how about those specifications?

• 260 kilometer range during first year of production, extended to 480 kilometers on later models.
• 45 minute "QuickCharge" time.
• 0-96 km/h in only 5.6 seconds!
• Plus it looks really good.

I'll take one of those, thanks.



Have a look here for pictures of the car.

Pajero renewed

Mitsubishi Pajero, or Montero as it is labelled in Spanish-speaking countries (without going into details on why...) will get a long overdue diesel engine upgrade in the 2010 year models coming to your dealer soon.

Instead of the pretty slow and fuel inefficient 3,2 liter 170hp engine Mitsubishi have increased the horsepower to 200 and decreased the fuel consumption, from 10.6 l/100km to 9,6 l/100km, breaking that psychologically important 10 l barrier! Finally the Pajero is catching up to its peers, the Nissan Patrol and Toyota Landcruiser, in terms of fuel efficiency. And in terms of power, not to mention value for money, it looks like it's going to give them a really hard time.