Archive for March 15th, 2010

Officially Official: Dyson-Mazda-Lola to run biobutanol blend in 2010 ALMS

Filed under: Emerging Technologies, Ethanol, Mazda, Racing

As expected, the Dyson Racing Team, MazdaSpeed and BP announced today that the Lola-Mazda cars will be running on a new blend of biobutanol and ethanol for the 2010 American Le Mans Series Season. The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), which handles the technical regulations for ALMS, put out a technical bulletin last week announcing that iBE20 had been approved for use in LMP-class cars this year. The Dyson team ran one of its two cars unclassified as a test during the last two races of the 2009 season.

iBE20 was developed by a partnership between BP and Dupont and is a blend of 20 percent biobutanol and 80 percent ethanol. The butanol is currently being produced from corn and sugarcane, but BP is developing processes to produce it from cellulosic feedstocks.

50,000 a Day: Toyota Recall Campaign Shifts into Overdrive

“In only a few days our dealers have reinforced the accelerator pedal on more than 220,000 vehicles and are now running at a pace of more than 50,000 units a day,” said Bob Carter, this morning, from the Toyota stand at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show.

And he should know: Carter is Toyota Motor Sales, USA Group Vice President and General Manager — a certifiable big cheese at the company and the latest exec to publicly prostrate himself at the court of media and, more importantly, consumer, opinion.

“I know that many customers have been very concerned and rightfully so. Some customers are upset and that’s also understandable. We deeply regret the concern these events have caused,” said Carter.

“Nothing is more important to Toyota than the safety and reliability of our vehicles and right now we are completely focused on fixing the vehicles affected by recent recalls,” a sentiment Carter reiterated several times during his introduction of the refreshed 2011 Avalon.

In addition Carter addressed the most recent recall involving the 2010 Toyota Prius and Lexus HS250h, highlighting what the company calls “inconsistent brake feel” of the anti-lock brake system (ABS) and its remedies for models already on the road and currently in production. The priority is clearly on the higher profile and considerably larger volume Prius. Carter said that running changes made to the Prius production line last month have addressed the ABS response time for new vehicles. As for the ones already sold, Carter said notification letters are going out to Prius owners this week and that dealers have already begun implementing software updates to improve ABS response. HS250h owners will be notified in the coming weeks and similar production line changes for the Lexus will take place later this month.

Read more…

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Study: Hyundai customer loyalty upends Toyota, Honda, takes #1

Filed under: Car Buying, Honda, Hyundai, Toyota

It’s no secret that Hyundai has been enjoying a healthy dose of praise lately, especially with fresh new products like the Genesis, Tucson and Sonata garnering a lot of media attention. But it isn’t just the press that thinks Hyundai is on a roll – Kelley Blue Book now reports that the automaker now holds the Number One spot in brand loyalty, with 56.3 percent of Hyundai owners looking within the brand for new car purchases. Honda continues to hold the second place rank at 55.8 percent, and Toyota, in light of its recent recall woes, is down 4.4 percentage points to 53.3 percent, putting it in the third place spot.

Furthermore, the Sonata is now KBB‘s fifth most-researched new vehicle, mostly due to the hype surrounding the stylish new 2011 model. The only vehicles ahead of it on the list are perennial mainstays, such as the Honda Civic, Accord, CR-V and Toyota Camry.

KBB market analysts believe that Hyundai should continue to promote its attractive new products, competitive price points and great warranty program in order to keep the momentum going (duh). These analysts also suggest that domestic automakers (Ford and GM, specifically) will prove to be Hyundai’s biggest competition in the near future, as these brands are set to roll out a host of new products to win over consumers. Follow the jump to read the full details in KBB‘s press release.

Out With A Bang: Hummer dealer giving away free shotgun with every new vehicle purchase

Filed under: Car Buying, SUV, Hummer, Military, Off-Road

You’ve heard of art imitating life? Well how about life imitating war? That’s another story entirely, but not so far fetched when it comes to the Hummer. The sport-’ute that met the public eye during Operation Desert Storm has all but completely gone through its entire life cycle in the intervening years: first as a military-only vehicle, the original model became available to the public, then GM bought the rights and started churning out pickup-based H2s and H3s, the U.S. armed forces went back Iraq, the original H1 was discontinued and now GM is preparing to wind down the brand entirely. But not before one last pistol-shootin’ hoorah, courtesy of the one dealership that arguably sees the truck for what it is more than any other: Lynch Hummer.

The St. Louis-area franchise made headlines last year when they started filling their emptying showroom with gun racks, selling firearms to make up for dwindling sales in the gigantic SUVs. Now the dealership is connecting the dots with a one-of-a-kind promotion: Buy a Hummer, get a free shotgun.

The Browning Citori White Lightning is worth $2,000, and one will be given away with each purchase of a new Hummer. Fortunately, the same legal measures apply to the promotion as they would to anyone buying a new firearm, but if you’re looking for a one-stop shop to jump-start your own private militia, Lynch Hummer is clearly the place. Details in the press release after the jump.

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Toyota agrees with NHTSA investigation of runaway Prius, but not calling Sykes a liar

Filed under: Hybrid, Government/Legal, Recalls, Hatchback, Toyota

Toyota walked a fine line this afternoon when it revealed that its own two-day investigation of last week’s runaway Prius near San Diego, CA had reached the same conclusion as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s investigation. That is, the brakes on Jim Sykes’ 2008 Toyota Prius should have been able to stop the car. Toyota did not, however, go so far as to call Sykes a liar.

The investigation determined that the front brake pads were worn so far down from overheating that the rotors were scraping the pads’ metal backings. According to investigators, this could have only happened if the brake pedal were applied lightly (less than 50% or so) for an extended period of time, not pressed firmly to the floor as Sykes claimed he was doing. Only by “dragging” the brakes lightly could they become so overheated and worn, as firmly pressing the brake pedal while the car is accelerating would engage the brake override system that cuts engine power.

Though asked repeatedly if they had concluded that Sykes was lying, representatives for Toyota insisted that was not their judgment to make and they could only say that the investigation’s findings were not consistent with the scenario that Sykes describes.

Follow the jump for Toyota’s official statement in which it details all eight points of its findings.

[Source: Toyota] Read more…

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Rs 50,000 discount offered on Logan

When most of the auto makers in India are increasing the prices of their models, dealers of Mahindra Renault is offering Rs 50,000 discount on Logan. The discount is offered on both diesel and petrol variants and is valid till the end of this month.

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Faster Downloads: Exotic Racing Series DLC coming to NFS Shift [w/video]

Filed under: Videos, Toys/Games

Playstation3 gamers: If you were disappointed that only XBox 360 players got the Ferrari DLC package for Need for Speed SHIFT, take heart, because the next one’s got your name on it, too. The Exotic Racing Series pack is being released by EA for both platforms (though not for PC, PSP or mobile platforms) on March 18, with some of the most alluring machinery this side of Maranello.

Included in the downloadable content package are the McLaren MP4-12C and SLR Stirling Moss, the Alfa 8C Competizione and Maserati GranTurismo S, BMW M1 Procar, Gumpert Apollo and Acura NSX. The DLC costs $10 (or equivalent points) on either XBox Live or PlayStation Network, and also includes an array of new events and track layouts. Video and press release after the jump, screen shots in the gallery below. Thanks for the tip, Andrey!

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