Vehicles: Page 202

Automotive Insight: Back to the Drawing Board

Nearly eight years ago the Big Three, the U.S. government and the National Laboratories banded together to change the auto industry as we know it. With much fanfare they announced their ambitious goal to triple the fuel economy of the typical five-passenger family sedan to 80 miles per gallon (3L/100 km).The Clinton White House quickly equated the effort with the Apollo moon-shot program, while auto

By John McElroy • March 1, 2000

Tech & Trends: Honda: New High-Tech Engines Coming

DETROIT - Honda Motor Co. Ltd. President and CEO Hiroyuki Yoshino says at last month's North American International Auto Show that the company is in the process of changing its entire automotive engine range to produce a new generation of ultra-low emissions engines.The new low-emissions engines will, at least at first, be only 4-cyl. engines in the 2L range, thus the technology likely won't figure

By Bill Visnic • Feb. 1, 2000

Chicken Soup for the Suspension

You've heard of the book Chicken Soup for the Soul. It espouses fundamental upgrades to one's lifestyle and philosophy that enhance spiritual well-being.Extend that idea to what Tenneco Automotive is seeking with its new Monroe Reflex shock absorbers: an elemental "fix" for suspension engineers' most vexing problem, the traditional damping-calibration tradeoff between firm, sporty handling and genuine

By Bill Visnic • Feb. 1, 2000

10 Best Engines 2000

It certainly looks like a new technological era is approaching check, a production hybrid-electric vehicle (HEV) was barely nudged out of a place on this year's Ward's 10 Best Engines list.To be eligible for the annual review, an engine must be in a regular production vehicle available in the U.S. with a base price of less than $50,000. Six Ward's editors "nominate" engines they believe stand out

By Bill Visnic • Feb. 1, 2000

New Wheels: North American International Auto Show 2000

DETROIT - Maybe some of the press embarked for the first international auto show of the new century expecting to see sleek fuel-efficient transportation modules fit for a new automotive era.That contingent was only partially disappointed.The rest of the media got precisely what it expected: hulking truck and sport/utility vehicle (SUV) concepts - and the hedge-bet middle ground, the crossover vehicles

By Bill Visnic • Feb. 1, 2000

10 Best Engines 2000 At-a-Glance

Audi AG 1.8L turbocharged I-4 150 hp, 155 lb.-ft. (A4)* Always entertaining, particularly with a manual.* Power's too meager for entry luxury.= Should perk up the Golf/Jetta, though.Audi AG 2.7L twin-turbo DOHC V-6 250 hp, 258 lb.-ft. (A62.7T)* Eye-opening torque, heroic acceleration.* Thrummy in the upper speed ranges.= Better than the 300-hp V-8. Storming.Acura 3.2L VTEC SOHC V-6 225 hp, 216 lb.-ft.

By Bill Visnic • Jan. 1, 2000

Auto Talk: Delphi Gets Lucas, No. 2 Diesel Injection Supplier

Robert Bosch GmbH may dominate the diesel fuel-injection market in Europe, but it faces a formidable No. 2 competitor in Delphi Automotive Systems after its purchase of TRW Inc.'s Lucas Diesel Systems for $871 million.The acquisition is an ideal fit for Delphi, which gets $1.1 billion in new business with customers other than former parent General Motors Corp. Delphi also gets a guaranteed place in

By WARD'S AUTO WORLD STAFF • Jan. 1, 2000

The 10 Best Engines of the 20th Century

It took a century for automotive engines to mature from cantankerous contraptions to the smooth, reliable machinery that currently enables our mobility. The following honor roll celebrates the 10 best - those engines that motored far beyond the call of duty to advance the internal-combustion cause.Ford Motor Co. Model T Inline-4 (1909) After eight lackluster designs, Henry Ford finally hit paydirt

By Don Sherman • Jan. 1, 2000

That Warm Fuzzy Feeling

It wasn't that long ago when a seat was just a seat. German cars had seats that were rock hard, and those in American cars were puffy overstuffed couches. Everybody else was somewhere in-between, and that was the limit of seating variety.Now there are heated seats, ventilated seats, air-conditioned seats. There are seats that give you a massage, and knead your sore back. Coming soon are seats that

By Drew Winter and Rebecca Wall • Jan. 1, 2000

NADA’S Orlando fling filled with firsts

There will be a lot of "firsts" at the 83rd annual NADA Convention and Expo-sition Jan. 22-25 in Orlando, FL. Record attendance is predicted.As NADA's first convention in Orlando, the show also will be the first of the new century and millennium.Backing up the business side of the convention will be more than 91,000 hotel rooms, approximately 3,800 restaurants and 80 attractions for adults and children.The

By Maynard M. Gordon • Dec. 1, 1999

Auto Talk: Bosch to Supply Cockpit Modules

Yet another player will enter the crowded but growing market for fully assembled cockpit modules. Robert Bosch GmbH will apply its electronic expertise to the complex task that automakers are asking suppliers to fulfill.The German supplier has landed a contract to supply its first cockpit module for a high-volume moderately priced European vehicle in 2003. Company executives would not identify the

By WARD'S AUTO WORLD STAFF • Dec. 1, 1999

New F&I product covers excessive wear and tear on leased vehicles

Does this scenario sound all too irritatingly familiar?A dealership customer turns his vehicle in at the end of the lease. There's excess wear and use. The dealership charges the customer extra for that. It's a legitimate charge, but the customer gets miffed - and takes his future business elsewhere.It can be a cost of doing business, but it's a hassle that can be avoided with a new program launched

Nov. 1, 1999

Ready to Explode!

Twenty years ago, the advent of an electronics boom was evident to many people in the auto industry.There were predictions, later fulfilled, of route-guidance systems, sophisticated on-board vehicle diagnostics, electronically controlled cleaner-burning engines, intelligent highways and seats that can be programmed, like a computer, to remember a driver's preferred seating position.It's nice to see

By Tom Murphy • Nov. 1, 1999

Siemens to launch common-rail for passenger car diesel market

After nearly a decade of work, Siemens Automotive says it will be the first supplier to begin volume production of piezohydraulic injectors, opening the door to the second generation of common-rail diesel injection for passenger cars.A Western European customer will be the first to receive the new high-pressure injection system, by the end of next year, followed soon after by a second major vehicle

By Tom Murphy • Nov. 1, 1999

A New Market in Europe

Almost invariably, buyers who have the most to spend for new vehicles are the first to get the latest gadgets - the electric windows and sunroofs of the 1970s, the antilock brakes and air bags of the 1980s, the heated seats and dual climate controls of the 1990s.But once in a while, a technology comes along that belongs to the masses, one that actually makes more sense on the everyday car - driven

By Tom Murphy • Oct. 1, 1999

War of Words Heats Up--Steel vs. aluminum arguments get shrill

The benefits of steel vs. aluminum used to be discussed deep in the bowels of automotive engineering departments. A few engineers and manufacturing experts would deliver articulate and occasionally impassioned speeches arguing one point or another, and then upper management quietly made a decision.Now the battle has grown far shriller, replete with press releases and news conferences.And with good

By Drew Winter • Oct. 1, 1999

Best of Both Worlds-- AVL developing variable-compression engine

A VL List GmbH Chairman and Chief Executive Helmut List believes his highly specialized company's engineers have an answer to the ever-growing gap between what Europeans and U.S. customers want from an engine: an advanced new engine design that combines the best attributes of diesel and gasoline engines. Mr. List calls the new engine concept the "Fully Flexible Internal Combustion Engine."Mr. List

By Bill Visnic • Sept. 1, 1999

FOLKS TAKE TEST DRIVE, KIDS GO TO BASEBALL CAMP

For the third consecutive year, Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. and Chevrolet teamed up to stage a series of August baseball camps in Oakland, Tampa and Detroit to teach children about the game of baseball and the game of life."Dealers can send kids to camp," says Silverado Brand Manager Rick Scheidt. "They've got a direct link. Regional marketing managers can help dealers take advantage

By Tim Keenan • Sept. 1, 1999

It’s Getting Easier to be Green--Automakers set higher targets for recycling

Why would you want to put used stuff in my car?" Al Cullum asked his son Terry one night at the dinner table. The younger Mr. Cullum, then working on the interior team of the '92 Cadillac Seville, had just told his father about the perfect resin they had found for the car's headliner: recycled PET from pop bottles.Mr. Cullum's children thought it was fantastic. "It's almost a generational thing,"

By Trevor Boyer • Sept. 1, 1999

Exide Intros New Spiral-Wound Battery

Exide Corp. unveils the Orbital Select, a premium lead-acid battery that claims to give more starting power and longer life. Exide Chief Executive Robert A. Lutz is calling it "the Dodge Viper of car batteries."The new 12V battery uses tightly rolled, spiral instead of flat, plates placed into six cylindrical cells, giving it enhanced vibration resistance. And the electrolyte is not free-floating,

By Trevor Boyer • July 1, 1999

The Music of Sound --Exhaust analysis goes scientific

Despite all the science that is applied to engineering vehicle systems, the realm of automotive exhaust remains an area that lacks true methodology - not so much how it works but breaking down the sound that resonates from the tailpipe.Anyone with a keen ear can identify sounds they like and dislike, but quantifying what exactly creates those sounds and how they can be controlled and tweaked is something

By Tom Murphy • July 1, 1999

1999 Ten Best Engines: Mercedes-Benz 3.2L SOHC V-6

Mercedes-Benz 3.2L SOHC V-6 What's not to like here? Although Mercedes' first-ever V-6 offers its utmost of 215 hp at a relatively high 5,500 rpm, this engine's urging 233 lbs.-ft. (316 Nm) dollop of torque peaks at just 3,000 rpm, making it a surprisingly energetic motivator for the ML320 sport/utility vehicle (SUV).The ML hits the scales at the 4,387-lb. (1,990-kg) mark, and several office doubting-Thomas

By Bill Visnic • June 1, 1999

Ferrari Finds Future in Aluminum

TURIN - The technology leap represented by Ferrari's new 360 Modena isn't restricted only to Maranello's latest wonder car.Push hard and you'll get Luca di Montezemolo, Ferrari Automobili SpA's suave president, to admit that aluminum is the future for Ferrari's other production road cars.The successors to the two front-engine V-12 models - the 456M GT and 550 Maranello - are currently under development.

By Peter Robinson • June 1, 1999

BMW, Delphi Partner on Fuel Cells--This new system runs on regular pump gas

These days, if it's not a merger, it's a joint venture. The latest in- stance concerns BMW AG, not as a target for takeover as was rumored earlier this year, but as a party forging ties with mega-supplier Delphi Automotive Systems. The companies are pushing to develop an entirely new type of fuel cell that they claim can run on pump gasoline.The companies call it a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell, or SOFC,

By NATALIE NEFF • June 1, 1999

1999 Ten Best Engines: Nissan VQ 3L DOHC V-6

Nissan VQ 3L DOHC V-6 A year with WAW's long-term Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. Maxima and its outstanding "VQ" 3L DOHC V-6 has passed as quickly as with any long-termer we can remember.The VQ is a five-consecutive-year Ten Best Engines winner. How did it do after rolling through a year of cold starts and searing summer days?In a word: fabulously.Since April 1998, the WAW staff has managed to rack up almost

By Neff, Natalie • June 1, 1999