Vehicles: Page 195

Bumpers Abound

Alcan Inc. begins construction of a $4 million bumper-system facility in Novi, MI, that also will serve as the aluminum supplier's North American automotive headquarters. Construction of the 52,000-sq.-ft. (4,830-sq.-m) facility is under way, with the building slated for completion in October, equipment arriving in November and engineering, sales and administrative personnel relocating from Farmington

July 1, 2003

10 Best Engines 2003: Long-Term Introduction

It didn't take Ward's editors long to decide which of 2003's 10 Best Engines winners should be the subject of a year-long test: No engine launched for the '03 model year had the singular impact of the 5.7L Hemi Magnum V-8 from DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group. The all-new Hemi, as everyone now knows, borrows from the renowned Hemi V-8 of the 1950s and 1960s that burned rubber into the public consciousness

By Bill Visnic • July 1, 2003

A Definite Probably

Once and for all, will the U.S. use diesel engines in its passenger vehicles, and at least start to parallel Europe's breakneck acceptance of the once-derided diesel? Equally important, can auto makers exploit significant numbers of diesels in the U.S., given the regulatory and marketing challenges even the most passionate proponents admit diesels face? The answer according to participants at the

By Bill Visnic • July 1, 2003

JCI Minority Buy to Increase by $50M

No matter what happens with affirmative action programs in the U.S, interiors and battery supplier Johnson Controls Inc. will continue to accelerate its purchases from minority and women-owned businesses, says CEO John M. Barth. JCI expects to increase such purchases by $50 million this year. Two lawsuits challenging the University of Michigan's use of race as part of an admissions policy aimed at

July 1, 2003

ZF Expands North American Tech Center

ZF Friedrichshafen AG breaks ground on a 148,000-sq.-ft. (13,750-sq.-m) expansion of its North American Technical Center in Northville, MI. The expansion will make room for ZF and Sachs engineers to combine operations under one roof to speed component development. When the facility is complete in October 2004, it will mark the closure of the Sachs Technical Center in Troy, MI, and will house 500 employees.

June 1, 2003

Best Engines Long-Term Wrapup

When Ward's selected Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.'s signature VQ V-6 as one of its 10 Best Engines of 2002, the VQ became the only engine to win a Best Engines trophy every year since the award's inception in 1995. We didn't need confirmation the VQ remains the market's benchmark V-6, but a year with it powering Nissan's outstanding Infiniti G35 cemented the perception. First: scintillating performance.

By Bill Visnic • June 1, 2003

Hybrids a Bridge to Next-Gen EVs

The powerful California Air Resources Board was, at press time, preparing to deconstruct its long-held and highly controversial mandate requiring auto makers to sell zero-emitting electric vehicles in the state. But EVs apparently remain CARB's vision of the ultimate in personal transportation. Chief Deputy Executive Officer Tom Cackette says the agency sees today's hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs)

By Bob Brooks • May 1, 2003

Denso Ready for Piezo

Denso Corp. says it will produce diesel common-rail systems using piezo electric injectors in 2005. The next-generation fuel injection system is under development and a specific customer cannot yet be named, says Douglas Patton, senior vice president-engineering group of Denso International America Inc. Denso's competitor, Siemens VDO Automotive, pioneered the high-pressure, lightning-fast piezo electronic

By Christie Schweinsberg and Tom Murphy • April 1, 2003

Sparking Interest

For 13 years, Ed VanDyne has been trying to light a fire under the auto industry establishment. A SmartFire, to be precise. Finally, interest is heating up. The ignition system today has become a commodity, says VanDyne, president and CEO of Adrenaline Research Inc., developer of SmartFire plasma ignition control software. The design is 100 years old. Yes, it's been refined. But it's 100-year-old

By Eric Mayne • April 1, 2003

Diesel JV for VW, Siemens?

Siemens VDO Automotive AG is talking with Volkswagen AG about building a diesel engine plant together that would use Siemens' high-tech diesel injectors. The German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports the factory would involve a E500 million ($542 million) investment, with the German state of Saxony contributing as much as E150 million ($163 million). Siemens and VW confirm the talks

March 1, 2003

Abraham Pumps Up Hydrogen

Washington has solved the age-old chicken-and-egg riddle as it applies to fuel cell technology and an infrastructure for hydrogen delivery. Which should come first, the vehicle, or the system that supports it? Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham asks the Detroit Economic Club. Our answer is both. We've concluded that unless we work on parallel tracks, developing the vehicle and the infrastructure concurrently,

March 1, 2003

Look Ma, No Cam!

Electrohydraulic valve operation that eliminates camshafts and associated hardware is widely seen as the next big watershed in engine development. Lotus Engineering, a division of Lotus Cars Ltd. in Norfolk, U.K., now could be considered the industry leader in this field. The company says it has a system ready for production, a Tier One supplier to make it and a major OEM to buy it. Lotus is not ready,

By David Scott • March 1, 2003

Seeing, Being Seen

Valeo SA, one of Europe's top suppliers, has ambitious plans to consolidate its North American engineering facilities into a single that likely will be built within two years, the company says. The supplier now has five facilities scattered about metro Detroit employing 700 people. The locations include Livonia, Rochester Hills, Troy and Dearborn, and the facilities are dedicated to developing products

By Tom Murphy • Jan. 1, 2003

Toyota, Honda Lease First Fuel Cell Vehicles

IRVINE, CA Turning over the keys for two production fuel cell hybrid vehicles (FCHVs) to the chancellors of two universities here represents the launch of the hydrogen era for automobiles, says Jim Press, chief operating officer of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. On the same day, Honda Motor Co. Ltd. leases a production FCHV to the city of Los Angeles. In Japan, Honda and Toyota lease additional FCHVs

By Herb Shuldiner • Jan. 1, 2003

JCI’s New Laboratory

HOLLAND, MI Johnson Controls Inc. opens a new and improved Advanced Materials and Process Engineering (AMPE) lab at its technical center here. The facility began humbly in 1994 with a small room and two pieces of equipment and has evolved into a state-of-the-art, spacious laboratory packed with equipment capable of analyzing the performance and compatibility of materials used in vehicle interiors.

By Christie Schweinsberg • Jan. 1, 2003

Texaco Ovonic Bullish on Batteries

Texaco Ovonic Battery Systems sees a huge potential market for the same sort of automotive storage batteries that once were seen as a critical component for now-defunct EVs. In a word, that market is hybrids. President and Chief Operating Officer Thomas Neslage says in an interview that Troy, MI-based Texaco Ovonic a 50/50 joint venture between oil giant ChevronTexaco and ECD Ovonics, the company

Jan. 1, 2003

Yazaki Back at SAE

After withdrawing from the Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress and Exposition in January 2000, Yazaki North America Inc. announces at the Convergence electronics conference it will return as an exhibitor in 2003. It was great news for the SAE. Its World Congress has suffered a dramatic loss of major Tier 1 exhibitors and seen a fall-off in attendance from its traditional core audience of

By Drew Winter • Nov. 1, 2002

Details Get Attention

Your mother always told you it's what's inside that counts. After giving interiors short shrift for two or three decades, Detroit's Big 3 auto makers have come to the same conclusion. It's going to start becoming apparent as new '03 and '04 cars and trucks start rolling out next year, and new concept vehicles debut at major auto shows. U.S. interior design is entering a new, more opulent era. From

By Drew Winter • Nov. 1, 2002

Ion Charges Up Saturn

On a road winding through the ranch lands near Austin, TX, I surprise an armadillo slowly making its way across the asphalt. I tap the brake pedal and jerk the steering wheel of the new Saturn Ion. No thud is heard. Saturn's all-new smallest car responds adequately to driver imputs, as it should. If Ion flops the sedan hits dealerships this fall followed by the coupe early next year Saturn might be

By Brian Corbett • Nov. 1, 2002

Carbon Nanotubes Target Fuel Systems, Bumpers

Auto makers soon may expand the use of carbon nanotube-filled plastics from today's use in fuel lines to other fuel system parts, predicts Hyperion Catalysis International Inc., a Cambridge, MA-based advanced materials supplier. Patrick Collins, Hyperion marketing director, says auto makers are moving fuel system components from steel to plastics reinforced with carbon nanotubes to improve performance

By Brian Corbett • Oct. 1, 2002

GM’s Engines Going Modular

General Motors Corp. will offer more engine and transmission variants but fewer powertrain products in an effort to reduce costs while continuing to meet local demand for fuel economy, emissions and performance, a company executive says at a recent product seminar in Santa Barbara, CA. (GM's) gasoline engines over time are going to drop from 27 to 13, diesels from seven to four and transmissions from

By Brian Corbett • Oct. 1, 2002

Visteon Eyes Electric Supercharger

European auto makers are encouraging Visteon Corp. to develop an electrically powered supercharging system that will improve performance of small engines. The supercharger is needed because internal combustion engine/electric hybrids and the 42-volt systems that will power them for the most part remain just out of reach. Visteon engineers are working with customers on engine projects for 2005-2006

By William Diem • Oct. 1, 2002

AIAG Close on Data Swap

The different computer-generated product data systems used by auto makers and suppliers waste $1.4 billion annually in North America and $20 billion globally, says the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG). The non-profit automotive trade organization based in Southfield, MI, ran a pilot program in August using new technology that allows OEMs and suppliers to share previously incompatible which

By Christie Schweinsberg and Steve Smith • Oct. 1, 2002

The Bank Vault is Back

The cornerstone of the Mercedes-Benz sedan line just got bigger, curvier, and has a better-looking interior and rear end. And, thanks to some significant steering and suspension changes, it also delivers more of the bank-vault-on-wheels driving experience that once was one of Mercedes' most defining characteristics. In a nutshell, the new-generation '03 Mercedes E-Class eliminates the shortcomings

By Drew Winter • Oct. 1, 2002

Toolbox Time

Deep in the forgotten recesses of product development labs are secret chambers where unspeakable acts of torture are performed by enigmatic engineers, all in the name of progress. The places: dyno labs. The people: powertrain specialists. Tongues planted firmly in cheeks, these professionals cloak their vocations in mystery, linking successes and failures with supernatural forces only they can comprehend.

By Eric Mayne • Sept. 1, 2002