Vehicles: Page 197

2002 Ward’s Ten Best Engines

Welcome to the eighth annual installment of the Ward's 10 Best Engines awards. Our list of the year's best engines remains the auto industry's only best of list to concentrate solely on the engine, what we consider to be any vehicle's single most important collection of components. In eight years, the 10 Best Engines competition has never lacked for controversial choices and dissent from losers and

By Bill Visnic • Jan. 1, 2002

Third-generation small-town dealer is NADA’s chairman-elect

For a Q & A with H. Carter Myers III concerning his thoughts on the automotive retail industry and his plans as NADA chairman click here. Were it not for his grandfather's vision of the future, this year's incoming NADA chairman might have been running a hardware store and sawing wood back in old Virginia. The story starts in 1924 when H. Carter Myers Sr. saw the future and it was in automobiles.

By Cliff Banks • Dec. 1, 2001

Denso Wins Common-Rail Diesel Work

Denso Corp. doesn't always get the headlines when it comes to common-rail diesel fuel injection, but the Japanese supplier was first to market with the technology, in a commercial vehicle in 1995. Denso's first passenger car application of common-rail came in 1999, two years after Robert Bosch GmbH. Since '99, Denso has won passenger car common-rail contracts with Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor

Dec. 1, 2001

EDS Launches New CAD/CAM/CAE unit

The former Unigraphics Solutions (UGS) and Structural Dynamics Research Corp. (SDRC) are being merged into a new business unit being launched by EDS Corp. in a move that company officials say should cause no upset to engineers and designers currently using the engineering software of the respective companies. In May, EDS announced its intent to acquire and merge SDRC which is Ford Motor Co.'s primary

By Compiled by the staff of: WARD'S ENGINE AND VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY UPDATE • Nov. 1, 2001

DSM Wants More Auto Business

With the auto industry getting more interested in using composites, DSM Engineering Plastics wants to dramatically grow its automotive business in North America during the first half of this decade. The Evansville, IN-based company is a player in various types of nylon, polyesters and polycarbonate, which are used in applications such as air bag canister holders and oil-level sensors. Our automotive

By Brian Corbett • Nov. 1, 2001

Saturn Vue has air-fuel module

General Motors Corp. gets a big assist from German supplier Kolbenschmidt Pierburg AG in manufacturing a key powertrain component for the new 2002 Saturn Vue, which goes on sale in the coming weeks. GM joint venture Fiat-GM Powertrain produces the 3L 54-degree V-6 engine for the Vue at its plant in Ellesmere Port, U.K., and it's an important engine because it powers the Saturn L-Series, Cadillac Catera,

By Tom Murphy • Nov. 1, 2001

Delphi Pleased with New Robots

VANDALIA, OH When Delphi Automotive Systems decided to move eight 1,500-ton injection molding machines to its Interior Systems plant here, the engineers had a few concerns. They knew the track record for the presses was less than stellar because the gantry-style robots that fed and extracted parts from them were unreliable. We looked at their downtime with the old robots, and we wanted to make improvements,

By Tom Murphy • Nov. 1, 2001

California eases electric vehicle mandate, but not enough for automakers

The California Air Resources Board once again scaled back its electric vehicle mandate for 2003, but that still may not be enough as far as automakers are concerned. CARB, in an apparent admission that battery technology remains too expensive and suffers from performance limitations, cut in half the 2003 requirement to 2% of light vehicle sales. It is at least the second time that CARB has backed

Oct. 11, 2001

Ducati Desmo engine developer dies

WAW regrets that it failed to acknowledge last July's passing of oft-overlooked motorcycle engine developer Fabio Taglioni, the engineer responsible for the adoption of desmodromic valve actuation for production motorcycle engines. The unique desmodromic design, one of Ducati's most enduring brand features, was first installed in a production Ducati in 1957. The system uses camshaft-actuated levers

By Compiled by the staff of: WARD'S ENGINE AND VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY UPDATE • Oct. 1, 2001

Keeping off the bleeding edge of information technology

CHARLOTTE, NC David Boatman had his work cut out for him two years ago when he became chief information officer at Sonic Automotive Inc., a dealership chain with 116 stores. Each of Sonic's dealerships had its own hardware and software contracts and there was no structure to support a multi-franchise corporation. There wasn't even an information technology department at the corporate level. There

By Tim Keenan • Oct. 1, 2001

Underhood Design

For most of the automobile's life, functionality has ruled the engine compartment. It has been a dark, greasy place only appreciated by mechanics and other assorted gear heads. To most traditionalists, the idea of introducing any sort of design or aesthetic sensibility to this area might be considered downright frivolous. When powertrain engineers toil long into the night, it's doubtful they're doing

By Drew Winter • Oct. 1, 2001

Back Seat Viewing

Rear-seat entertainment systems could see their take rate increase by 12% in the next five years, says Sharp Microelectronics of the Americas. Joel Pollack, Sharp's display business unit vice president, tells WAW the current take rate is 18% to 20%. But he predicts that total could reach 40% by 2006. It's very much price-dependent. Systems with video and gaming capabilities cost about $1,500. Mr.

By Compiled by the staff of: WARD'S AUTOMOTIVE REPORTS • Oct. 1, 2001

Covisint Partners With MatrixOne

Covisint LLC signs a deal with MatrixOne Inc. to provide program management software to the Internet portal. Covisint says it will have MatrixOne application software up and running within 60 days. MatrixOne says its software can cut product development time 30% to 40%. Customers will be able to use its software via Covisint without having any MatrixOne systems of their own. But to fully take advantage

Oct. 1, 2001

Diesel pitch begins

The passenger car diesel market may be almost non-existent in the U.S., but perhaps it just needs a little coaxing. Fuel injector giant Robert Bosch GmbH demonstrates that new-generation diesels are Good Clean Fun in a press event last month at its Flat Rock, MI, proving ground. The supplier wasn't alone. BMW AG, DaimlerChrysler AG, Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp. and Volkswagen AG provided 13

By Compiled by Senior Editor Tom Murphy [email protected] • Oct. 1, 2001

It’s Not Just Here, Brazil Outlaws Diesels

SAO PAULO Brazil is a key market for European carmakers and is particularly important for volume-leaders Volkswagen AG and Fiat Auto SpA. Along with newcomers Renault SA and PSA Peugeot Citroen, they held one-third of the passenger-car market in the year's first half. Brazil's 14 automakers together last year sold 1.6 million cars. European makes could do even better if they could offer diesel models

By Barbara McClellan • Sept. 1, 2001

SUPER DIESELS!

When you're hurtling down that autobahn at 130 mph (208 km/h), there's not much time to ponder the intricacies of automotive propulsion. You just know you're hauling and that concentration is advisable. But in the Volkswagen AG Golf GTI TDI 150, you're compelled to divert your attention from the road long enough to smile at this car's terrible little secret: It's powered by a diesel. A high-performance

By Bill Visnic • Sept. 1, 2001

Omron Makes Gains in North America

While many automotive suppliers are crying the blues and cutting back production and head counts, at least one relative newcomer to the North American market has yet to see any softening in demand. On the contrary, Omron Automotive Electronics Inc. (OAE), the North American unit of Japan's $5.7-billion Omron Corp., actually has seen a spurt in bookings that indicates major growth lies ahead. Established

By David C. Smith • Sept. 1, 2001

New-Generation Diesels Give Cast Iron a Boost

Cast iron once was the most fundamental building block of the automotive industry. It was a major reason why automotive entrepreneurs gravitated to Detroit at the turn of the 20th century. Before it was a production center for engine blocks and other auto parts, Detroit was famous for making cast-iron stoves. Now, 100 years later, few materials have fallen from grace in the automotive world like cast

By Drew Winter • Sept. 1, 2001

JCI enters fuel injector, controller market

Johnson Controls Inc.'s $435 million acquisition of the automotive electronics business of Sagem SA of France represents a major strategic move that takes JCI well beyond vehicle interiors and batteries. With Sagem, JCI will be a producer of fuel injectors and engine controllers, putting JCI in a market already saturated by Delphi Automotive Systems Corp., Robert Bosch GmbH, Siemens VDO Automotive

By Compiled by Senior Editor Tom Murphy [email protected] • Sept. 1, 2001

VW expands Polish engine plant

Volkswagen AG is investing $90 million to expand its Volkswagen Motor Polska Sp. z o.o. engine plant in Polkowice, Poland. The automaker is increasing the number of major components that are machined at the plant, which currently include cylinder heads and camshafts. Connecting rods, crankshafts and engine blocks are being added. Improvements include adding 39,000 sq. ft. (3,700 sq. m) to the existing

By Compiled by the staff of: WARD'S AUTOMOTIVE INTERNATIONAL • Sept. 1, 2001

Michigan pushes for fuel cell tech center

The Michigan Economic Development Corp. wants to open a technology center in the Detroit metro area to develop fuel cells and is considering initiatives to assist the Michigan auto industry. We haven't decided on a location at this point, says Mike Finney, vice president of Emerging Business Sectors for the Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC). We're essentially following up the results of the

By Compiled by the staff of: WARD'S ENGINE AND VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY UPDATE • Sept. 1, 2001

GM’s Engineering Software Supplier is Buying Ford’s

Consolidation shouldn't come as a surprise in a business that loves to boil down every word and phrase into an acronym. Unigraphics Systems now is officially UGS. Its major shareholder is Electronic Data Systems, better known as EDS. Structural Dynamics Research Corp. prefers to be known as SDRC. And now UGS is buying SDRC for $950 million in cash. The deal should be consummated later this year. Hopefully

By Drew Winter • Sept. 1, 2001

Team Player

Going up against Michael Jordan was no easy task, but neither was the training camp that Vinnie Johnson endured five years ago. It was just like the training camps of Mr. Johnson's younger days as a Detroit Pistons guard, and before that at Baylor University, where the Seattle Supersonics found him in 1979 and made him their first-round draft pick. Training camp in 1996 a year after his No. 15 jersey

By Tom Murphy • Sept. 1, 2001

ArvinMeritor Lands CV Job, Loses Hunt

ArvinMeritor Inc. wants to apply its passenger car exhaust expertise to the commercial vehicle market, where stricter emissions regulations will force new-generation diesels to be cleaner-burning. Exhaust after-treatment is minimal on existing heavy-duty Class 8 diesels, but soon they will need catalysts to treat carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen, as well as particulate filters.

Sept. 1, 2001

Oldtimers Join Hybrid Bandwagon

Bob Lutz isn't the only automotive oldtimer back in the saddle. Paice Corp., which has developed a new hybrid vehicle technology that's creating a buzz worldwide, has several well-known senior citizens involved. Two are former General Motors Corp. chief engineers: Ted Louckes, 71, Paice's chief operating officer, who gained a reputation as an engine engineer at Oldsmobile and capped a 40-year GM career

By David C. Smith • Sept. 1, 2001