Monthly Archives: May 2007
- May 31, 2007
- BMW releases new M Sport package for X5
BMW has unveiled its new M Sport package for all members of the X5 range, giving the SAVs a sportier look and feel inside and out. A new bodykit gives the X5 a more aggressive appearance, with updated fascias, flared fenders, black low-profile roof rails, and a choice of different 19″ and 20″ wheels.
Inside, electrically-adjustable [...]
- May 31, 2007
- Um… we want these: 60 years of Ferrari race posters
Man, these sure would look good in the TV room. Galleria Ferrari is exhibiting collector Sergio Cassano’s eye-popping collection of Ferrari racing posters all summer. The posters reflect a variety of artistic styles from a number of different artists, and all of them have a common theme: Ferrari is the featured marque in each one.
That’s [...]
- May 31, 2007
- Ford steals a page from mobile phones for Mondeo’s HMI
In-car user interface systems run the gamut in terms of usability. BMW’s iDrive (which we’ve found to be alternately wonderful and maddening) and Audi’s slicker, easier-to-use MMI are two of the most well-known. Devising an interface that makes it easy to control multiple systems is no easy task, but Ford thinks it’s found a sweet [...]
- May 31, 2007
- Ford steals a page from mobile phones for Mondeo’s HMI
We still remember being extremely excited about the 200 HP, 2.5L V6 in the SVT Contour, so every time the think of FWD family sedans approaching 300 HP, we shake our heads in amazement. And if an Altima can have 275hp, then what the heck do automakers do with exotic sports cars? Easy, crank up [...]
- May 31, 2007
- Ford denies discussing sale of Volvo
Earlier this month we brought you a rumor that BMW was in talks with Ford to buy Volvo. Then just this week the rumor popped up again, in a Swedish newspaper. Now Ford comes out to officially quash the story, saying, “Ford Motor Company is not in discussions with BMW or any other company regarding [...]
- May 31, 2007
- VIDEO: Step inside BMW’s F1 wind tunnel
Fun though it may be, racing is still an applied science. Perhaps this is most evident in the tech heavy F1 cars. BMW uses a very trick wind tunnel to test their Sauber F1 car in virtually all dynamic conditions to ensure that the aerodynamics give the desired result.
This video has a bit of a [...]
- May 31, 2007
- IIHS crashes convertibles too! Saab 9-3, Volvo C70 earn top ratings
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) just wrapped up its own version of a clinical demolition derby on some of the newest drop tops around, and when the airbag dust settled, the Saab 9-3 and the Volvo C70 earned the Institute’s Top Safety Pick award.
Both vehicles scored “good” in front, side and rear crashes, [...]
- May 29, 2007
- BMW buying Volvo rumour circulates again
Earlier this month, Autocar reported that BMW had expressed significant interest in buying the Volvo brand from Ford Motor Company early in 2007. The report claimed BMW had gone so far as to request financial data about the Swedish automaker.
Yesterday, the Swedish newspaper Goteborgs Posten threw another logo on this rumor’s fire by reporting that [...]
- May 29, 2007
- Rumor Mill: New Supra details emerge
Toyota’s next-generation Supra is veiled in mystery, but we tend to take seriously any news coming from Winding Road’s Peter Nunn because, well, he actually lives in Japan and hears the hometown gossip. According to Nunn, rumor has it that the next-gen Supra’s design will be inspired by the FT-HS Concept, which we kinda sort [...]
- May 29, 2007
- UK: Mazda MX-5 achieves Icon status
To celebrate the fact that the Mazda MX-5 accounts for a quarter of all new sports car purchases in the United Kingdom, the automaker has unveiled a new special edition paint and trim package dubbed “Icon.” The Icon can be had with either the 1.8L engine mated to a 5-speed manual or the sprightlier 2.0L [...]
