Porsche has announced that it will enter the 911 GT3R Hybrid race car in the famed Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta on October 2nd. Porsche feels sufficiently confident with the hybrids fuel economy and performance gains that they are interesting in campaigning in the Petit Le Mans, and the ALMS series, should their...
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All aboard the speculation train! The rumors surrounding Mazda’s new RX-7 don’t stop coming, and with the demise of the RX-8, its a safe bet that Mazda will follow up their quirky four-door sports car with something more conventional. Mazda is allegedly targeting the VW Scirocco as a rival for the new car, to be...
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General Motors is throwing its weight behind the Chevrolet Volt’s battery system by offering an 8-year, 100,000 mile warranty on the battery pack. Many potential consumers have expressed reservations about the longevity and durability of electric vehicle batteries, which can be extremely expensive to replace and are a relatively new technology that hasn’t seen widespread...
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Toyota is planning to create a hybrid version of every model in its lineup by 2020, utilizing the same architecture as the Prius’ groundbreaking hybrid system. Toyota plans to produce more than 1 million hybrid systems in this year alone, and its reliability and cost advantages mean that Toyota is reluctant to make any radical...
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Inside Line was awarded a plug-in hybrid version of the Toyota Prius, well in advance of official production, and after reaching the 500 mile mark, some observations have begun to surface about Toyota’s newest hope for green motoring. The plug-in Prius delivers about 62 mpg combined, an impressive figure, but according to Autoblog Green, something...
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Maserati, we hardly knew ye. The one time car of gentlemen, scoundrels and masochists (Maserati is a synonym for “unreliable” in many thesauri) has become positively mainstream, with all kinds of celebrities and nouveau riche types snapping up the GranTurismo and Quattroporte as an alternative to the usual German offerings. Maserati CEO Harald Wester told...
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Lexus is recalling their 2010 Lexus HS250h hybrids because of the possibility of an excess amount of fuel leaking out of the back in the event of a rear end crash. Readers might recall another famous case of fuel leaking during a rear end crash, and with Toyota’s recent spate of quality problems, you can...
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The Honda CR-Z hybrid sports car will slot it at just under $20,000, with a base price of $19,200, not including a $750 destination charge. The EX model with Bluetooth, a leather wrapped steering wheel and and 36-watt stereo will take you to$20,760, while an in-dash navigation unit tops you out at $22,560. The CR-Z...
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A Nissan GTR powered by something other than a traditional gasoline engine will arrive in the future, but tree-huggers looking to go fast will have to wait a while. Kazutoshi Mizuno, chief engineer of the R35 GTR admitted that the car will have to move to switch to alternative fuels, but that’s far as as...
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Posting identical numbers to its sister car, the Ford Fusion Hybrid, the Lincoln MKZ has garnered an identical EPA rating of 41 mpg in the city and 36 mpg on the highway. This might be a snooze to some, but the MKZ Hybrid bests its nearest rival, the Lexus HS250h, by 6 mpg in the...
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We’ve heard of people swapping Mazda rotary engines into older Miatas, but if reports out of Japan are to be believed, the next MX-5, due out in 2012, will come standard with an all new, super efficient rotary engine – as well as a hybrid system. 7Tune is reporting that an article in the Japanese...
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Ford announced today that five of their vehicles have been selected as Top Safety Picks By The IIHS, boosting their total to 11 vehicles. The 2010 Ford Flex and Fusion, Lincoln MKZ and MKT and the Mercury Milan all scored the highest possible ratings in the IIHS’s front, side and rear impact tests as well...
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The Automotive Leasing Guide is what the auto industry uses to determine residual values for leased vehicles. It’s a pretty important guideline, and when the ALG speaks, people listen. So the ALG’s prediction of gasoline at $4.13 a gallon by 2013 has some pretty big ramifications for consumers and their vehicle choices. Naturally, the ALG...
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Much like student government elections, it’s hard to put much stock in things like numbers of web hits or Facebook fans, but people will talk about them anyways. The newest bit of gossip in the ongoing Chevrolet Volt versus Nissan Leaf rivalry concerns who is winning the web war, with the aforementioned statistics being the...
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A new 400-horsepower sports car is in the works at BMW, but if you ask executives at the German car company, they’ll tell you that the most promising new product is at the other end of the spectrum. Speaking at a meeting in London, Ian Robertson a BMW board member told Inside Line that they...
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Let’s get ready to ruuuuuuuummmmbbble. Reports from various blogs say that the Nissan Leaf will tip the scales at 3,500 pounds, the same as its arch rival, the Chevrolet Volt. While the Volt is a plug-in hybrid, with a gas engine and battery pack, the Leaf is a true electric car, with no internal combustion...
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Daimler, parent company of Mercedes-Benz and BYD, China’s fastest growing car company, established a joint venture to develop electric cars in China. Based in the industrial city of Shenzen, the two companies respective experience with electric cars complements one another. BYD is experienced with battery and drivetrain systems, while Daimler will bring their knowledge of...
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Porsche‘s 918 Spyder is set to contest the 24 Hours of Nurburgring in 2011, making it the second hybrid Porsche to compete in the grueling endurance race, with the 911 GT3R Hybrid being the first. The 918 Spyder made its debut at the Geneva Auto Show in March, and boasts (theoretical) numbers like 718 horsepower,...
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Mercedes-Benz‘ awesome SLS supercar isn’t even out yet, but the company is already getting a smaller variant ready, with a more modest powertrain that its big brother. The new car will reportedly use a 3.5L V6 with, surprise surprise, a hybrid system. Rather than being a typical “mild hybrid”, the baby SLS will use two...
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Nissan‘s Datsun 240Z broke ground in the early 1970’s by offering bulletproof reliability and the performance of a Jaguar E-Type for a third of the cost. The next generation Z-car could be similarly important by mating a hybrid drivetrain into a serious performance car, if reports coming out of Japan are accurate. While the reports...
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Land Rover is apparently working on a front drive SUV, as part of a push for smaller vehicles that produce fewer emissions. Autocar is reporting that the vehicle will be known as the Compact Range Rover, a smaller addition to the lineup that should emit significantly less CO2 than the current Range, without having to...
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When you’re at the top of the automotive food chain, you are free to say what you want with impunity. Bugatti CEO Thomas Bscher’s remark “we don’t want rappers” was the reigning outrageous statement , but now, Ferrari head honco Amadeo Felisa has taken the title, laying down the law on hybrids, the “green” trend and...
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Lexus‘ HS250h hybrid sedan is having trouble meeting sales targets, due to the strength of the Prius as well as demand for the HS250h in Japan. Lexus is on track to sell about 14,000 HS250h hybrids this year, well below the projections of 20-22,000. So far just 4529 HS250h’s have been sold. In an interview...
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It seems like we’re going crazy with Honda‘s new CR-Z, showing off Mugen’s initial release, TEIN’s CR-Z and Spoon Sports’ rendition of the popular hybrid in Japan. There’s absolutely no denying the popularity of tuning and customizing hybrids in Japan, and the trend is slowly catching on in North America. It will be mighty interesting...
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