Rendering – 2011 Renault Megane III

By Kaustubh Shinde

The Hot hatch just got hotter! And better! The French auto magazine Autoplus is reporting renderings of the 2011 Renault Megane III. The Renault Megane was easily one of the best looking hot hatch in its segment due to its French connection. And from the pic, it is very clear that the new Megane’s design language is very impressive and is heavily inspired by the DeZir concept.

Under the bonnet we are expecting business as usual. It should be powered by 1.4-litre, 1.6-litre and 2-litre petrol engines and 1.5-litre and 2-litre diesel engine. It should be available in 3-door and 5 door versions with prices ranging from € 15,000 up to about € 30,000.

Source – Autoten

BYD accepts that it won’t be World No 1 in 2025

By Mahir Majid

Back in 2008, when the world was in serious economic crisis, Chinese automaker BYD had announced that it will be the leading auto manufacturer in terms of sales by 2015 in China and by 2025 in the world.

Now these are some really tall claims looking at the 5 year old company whose product line-up consists of about a dozen cars not more than a generation old and most of whose designing cues are imported (actually pirated is the right word) from neighboring countries. And companies like GM, Ford have gone bust trying to pursue that dream for almost a century.

Initially the company had doubling sales figures for the past 5 years and their 445,000 units sales for the year of 2009 made them believe that they could attain the 1 million mark by 2010. Eight months down the fact is that they have hardly reached 1/3rd of the projected target. When asked about these outlandish claims the company’s spokesman said that the company was a “little” overconfident regarding the sales targets.

Based on their above calculations they came to a conclusion that by 2015 they would be China’s largest auto manufacturers and in another 10 years they would lead the world market. To be able to make such conclusions you either have to be an 11 year old or in need of some serious help. And Warren Buffett holding 10% stake at BYD is not helping either and so is the Joint venture with Daimler to develop electric vehicles, as the company spokesman blamed the company’s lack of ability to expand its capacity on the weather.

There are other issues plaguing BYD to meet its tall claims as well. One of them being that 7 of the BYD factories are built on land purchased illegally whose verdict is due by the end of this month. The dealer pullouts in major cities are another cause of dropping sales figures.

Zeroshift invents technology for EVs to go Clutchless

Zeroshift, a UK based transmission company has made a significant breakthrough that could change the way we drive electric vehicles. They have developed a clutchless multi speed gearbox that uses dampers inside the gear hubs along with the electronic control of the motor for changing gears. This is a seamless operation.

There is no interruption whatsoever in torque allowing the motor to run at a higher efficiency, which in turn extends the range and battery life by as much as 10%. The electronic control of the electric motor is used to match shaft speeds and an integrated passive damper system within the drive hub that can isolate vibrations. With sealed pockets of silicone fluid and mechanical compression springs, the shifts are virtually unnoticeable to occupants.

Now the concept is being developed using Zeroshift’s proprietary gear-shifting system. This could allow electric vehicle motors to be downsized and keep them running for longer at medium loads and speeds with peak efficiency of 95%.

It is also believed that the improved efficiency could extend battery life. Improving the motor efficiency uses less of the energy stored for a journey, which eases the discharge-recharge cycles and cuts recharge time. This means that the cars can go on running for a longer duration.

Source – Green Car Website

US Military to get a flying combat car

The race to build a flying vehicle just got a bit more interesting. The Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has proceeded ahead with their decision of making a flying military vehicle. They have selected 2 companies to go ahead with the development of their machine known as the TX-a fully automated four-person vehicle that can drive like a car and then take off and fly like an aircraft to avoid roadside bombs.

Lockheed Martin and AAI Corp., a unit of Textron Systems, are currently in negotiations with DARPA for the first stage of this project. DARPA has not announced the official winners yet. Many defense companies are in the race of making this revolutionary product.

DARPA officials had initially said they weren’t interested in a traditional rotary-wing aircraft, though they might consider a vehicle if the rotor was shrouded. But they have gone ahead and approved a rotor based aircraft for 1 of the 2 winning submissions.

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We can’t find an appropriate title for this story

By Mahir Majid

Good News!

If you have just put some cheap LED’s around your headlights and possibly around all the vents on your front end (I mean the car’s) to make it look like an Audi and are running out of more creative Ideas to express your creative side, somebody has just come to your rescue by inventing Carlashes which go around your car’s headlight like eyelashes around an eye.

These easy to install plastic carlashes use 3m double sided tape to stick onto the underside of the bonnet or on top of the headlights irrespective of the shape of your headlight.

When the LED angel lights were invented. There were a lot of people who thought it would be cool to put some of these strips in some of the most ridiculous places like the car’s grill or make an entire car emblem out of LEDs.

Now, we were just thinking that what if people started putting these on other ridiculous parts on the car like say the tail lights or the rear license plates. In that case we would suggest the makers to provide the optional curly look.

Check out Carlashes to learn more.

Yet Another Rendering of the VW Golf 7

We have already got you numerous scoops on the VW Golf 7, including certain renderings & now there is yet another rendering for your eyes. This latest artist’s impression of the new Golf has the front of the recently unveiled avatar of the VW Jetta.

The trademark VW grille seen on the new Polo along with striking looking headlamps exactly like the new Jetta can be seen on this rendering. The new Golf apart from the styling changes will get a host of new technology packed in as we reported earlier.

It will have a hybrid powertrain. A 1.5-liter diesel engine will be coupled to a motor and L-Ion batteries helping the Golf return a mind-boggling gas mileage of 113mpg. With electric-only range of 48km (30 miles), this will be one of the most fuel economical hatchbacks from VW.

HCCI engine will also find its first application on the 2012 Golf. HCCI engine is a petrol engine which behaves like a diesel engine, depending on compression solely to operate in certain conditions. VW’s new 7-speed DSG will make its way on to the new Golf as well.

The car will hit Europe in 2012.

Source – Calango Design

Spied – Chevrolet Orlando partially camouflaged in China

The Chevrolet Orlando test mules have been doing rounds at numerous locations across the globe. This 7 seater MPV based on the same platform as the Cruze sedan is focused primarily at the European market.

Through the 300 series platform underpins the Orlando, its length has been expanded to 2,760mm. The Cruze’s 2.0L 150bhp diesel engine will be carried over and reports claim a plugin hybrid will follow soon. There will also be petrol engines on offer, a 1.6-liter and 1.8-liter/turbocharged are expected to do the job.

The spy pictures suggest that the car doesn’t look as striking as the concept did when it was first showcased at the 2008 Paris Motor show.

The car will not be sold in the American Market, but it is expected to make its European Debut in the second half of 2011.

Chevrolet Orlando spied in China

Spyshot Source – auto.163.com

How the Range Rover could have looked

We’re thankful to Woody Thompson for showing us a sketch of what looks like a clay mock-up of a Range Rover from the recent past. This clay model should have been made during the time when Land Rover was owned by Ford Motor Company.

If you compare the image of the clay model to how modern Range Rover turned out to look, you’ll see the front fascia has come out the way most of us like. The clay model suggest Ford was trying to adjust the authentic Range Rover front end with bits and pieces from Ford pickups and SUVs.

There is no official word on whether this clay model was created by Ford or Range Rover during the development of the SUV, but for those who aren’t fans of the Range Rover grille, it could have been a lot worse!

Source – Woody Thompson

Hyundai i10 Football Edition sells for 5005 Pounds!

The Hyundai i10 football car designed by famous car artist Andy Saunders has been sold in an auction by ebay for a price of 5005 pounds.

This car was used for publicity during the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa. Created by car artist Andy Saunders – a hugely talented car modifier, the car features a grass bodywork with the same theme carried inside, huge goal posts fixed onto the A pillars & a giant football on the roof.

The car is based on the standard i10 with a 1.2 liter engine & the buyer got it for 500 pounds less than what an i10 costs. He also has the benefit of a 5 year/ Unlimited Mileage warranty on the car.

The car was also featured in Jeremy Clarkson’s documentary ‘Duel’. The money raised by the auction will go to charity.

Rendering – 2012 Mazda 2

Best car magazine in Japan has speculated that the next generation Mazda 2 hatchback will arrive on the global scene in 2012.

Mazda will use the Nagare Design theme on the 2012 Mazda 2. There will be revolutionary changes to its design, however, Autoten adds.

The 2012 Mazda 2 will get the new series of ‘Sky’ direct-injection petrol and diesel engines. One of the engines could be the 1.3-liter four-cylinder DI engine.

Also arriving with the new line-up of engines is the ‘Sky-Drive’ six-speed automatic transmission. Regenerative braking technology, Mazda’s ‘i-stop’ system and many other technologically advanced gadgetry will be present on the 2012 Mazda 2. The vehicle is also expected to weigh much lesser.

Source – Autoten