Behold the four-cylinder VW Tiguan.
(Credit: Volkswagen)The summer driving season has come and gone--just in time for us to give our undivided attention to the Frankfurt auto show.
On the home turf of BMW, Audi and Volkswagen, the 62nd International Motor Show is playing host this week to carmakers from around the world. They've promised to bring scads of new rides, from the green to the lean to the turbocharged driving machine.
Consider these, for starters: Ferrari's 430 Scuderia has classic sports car lines, Nissan's Mixim packs a pair of electric motors, Volvo's ReCharge is a plug-in hybrid and Ford is trotting out names like Econetic and Kugo.
To see those models and more, click here: "Photos: Cleaning up at the Frankfurt Auto Show."
To see CNET Car Tech's coverage from the 2007 Frankfurt auto show, click here.
The future of electric propulsion...
(Credit: CNET Networks)We're not convinced about the wisdom of this one. GM is using this week's Frankfurt auto show to reiterate its commitment to alternative fuel cars with the unveiling of the Opel Flextreme, a concept plug-in car that builds on the buzz of the E-Flex drive train from the Chevy Volt. The car itself relies on a series hybrid drive train, which combines a lithium-ion powered-electric motor with a biodiesel combustion engine that is used solely for running the electric motor when the battery's charge runs out.
...or the past?
(Credit: CNET Networks)However, as blue-sky as the vehicle's power train may be (lithium-ion batteries have a long way to go before they're ready for production vehicles), that is not the main cause of our concern. What troubles us is the fact that the GM has integrated two Segways into the back of the Flextreme--presumably to highlight its electric-mobility message. Now, we're no marketing mavens, but we suspect that a company trying to promote a fledgling technology would try to avoid association with a device that ended up falling--commercially and physically--flat on its face.
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Audi)
Audi revealed photos of its zaftig RS 6 Avant to the press on Wednesday as a teaser to the official reveal at the Frankfurt auto show next week.
The car will have a 5.2 liter V10 engine with FSI direct injection and twin turbochargers capable of 580 horsepower. (That's a lot of power.) The car can go from 0-60 mph in 4.6 seconds.
"It is the most powerful model in the current Audi range...with the exception of pure racing cars like the Le Mans-winning Audi R10 TDI," Audi said in a statement.
It should be available for purchase in mid-2008. This follows Audi's release of info on its A4 with bling LED daylights last week, which will also debut at Frankfurt.
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Audi)
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Audi)
Click the image to access the gallery.
It's showtime again in the auto world--that time of the year when manufacturers trot out their latest fleets of new models and wacky concepts. In preparation for the forthcoming Frankfurt auto show, Nissan this week unveiled details of its Mixim electric concept car. According to Nissan, the Mixim (which is unlikely to make it to production) is aimed at young, Web-savvy, digital-age drivers with a penchant for gaming. Check out our photo gallery here.
Audi has released photos and some spec info on its new A4, which will officially debut at the 2008 Frankfurt auto show in September.
Most notable to tech enthusiasts may be the optional xenon headlights that include 14 . These are "daytime driving lights," aka LED bling, for your car. Audi refers to them as "wings." I think they look more like eyelashes. You can see what they look liked turned on below.
As for the goodies for the driver who's into automation, the new A4 will include lane departure warning, blind spot detection and adaptive cruise control.
The A4 also has a an electro-mechanical parking/emergency brake button in lieu of a parking brake lever. With more room in that area, Audi offers an armrest with two 12-Volt power sockets beneath it as an extra. A new radio-operated key can store car settings, lock and unlock the car, and start the ignition with a button push.
Audi A4 in Silver with LED headlights
(Credit: Audi)
Audi A4 Interior
(Credit: Audi)The car will come with five different engine options, including a turbo-charged diesel, in keeping with Audi's efforts to turn its Le Mans win into diesel cash. The A4's gas engine will also come in a turbo-charged version.
Audi A4
(Credit: Audi)The transmissions available include a six-speed manual, an automatic and a multitronic continuously variable. You can also choose whether you want the A4 in front-wheel drive or Audi's "quattro" permanent all-wheel drive.
Audi A4
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Click the image to see the full gallery.
Jaguar is going to use next month's Frankfurt auto show to officially unveil its 2009 XF midsize sedan, but images and specs on the latest Big Cat were released today. Based on the Jaguar C-XF concept that we saw in Detroit earlier this year, the XF comes with four engine choices, including a supercharged V-8, as well as some advanced cabin and drive-train technology. Check out our gallery of the '09 Jaguar XF here.
Prius beware
(Credit: Just Auto)We're just a couple of weeks away from the first major auto show of the new season, and the buzz around concept cars and new model launches is already in full swing. According to Just Auto, GM is planning to use the Frankfurt show to unveil a concept hybrid version of its compact Opel Corsa. The Corsa Hybrid concept will make use of the same belt-alternator starter system that we've seen recently in the Saturn Vue Green Line and the Saturn Aura Green Line. Unlike the production Saturn models--but similar to the much-hyped Chevy Volt--the Corsa Hybrid will feature a lithium ion battery pack. With its diesel engine and hybrid drivetrain, the Corsa Hybrid is expected to get more than 60 mpg.
Source: Just Auto
Ford Verve concept
(Credit: Ford Motor)The Ford Verve concept car was unveiled at a press conference in Hanau, Germany, on Thursday.
As goes the automakers' dance with the media, come car season, Ford distributed photos and a bland release to the press, while saving for the official unveiling at the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show any possibly juicy details of how this thing might actually run.
The car is an example of how the company now has an eye toward small cars, and it will be the first of three cars that Ford plans to reveal this season in Europe, Asia and North America. The "rich colors and distinctive materials" of the Ford Verve concept car were "inspired by the world of fashion and cosmetics," Ford said in a statement.
We've seen plenty of cars with lush interiors and fashion-forward design inspiration, but cosmetics? Is Ford looking at the many misplaced efforts in the tech industry to attract what it thinks the average female consumer is looking for?
The cat eye headlights do seem a bit much. Ford might as well make it Legally Blond pink and write "Wanted: Female youth market" on the windshield.
At least no one's voting for these concept cars on the Internet.
Ford Verve concept car
(Credit: Ford Motor)
The F500 debuted at the 2003 Tokyo auto show.
(Credit: Mercedes-Benz)Over dinner on Tuesday night, Geoff Day, director of corporate communications for Mercedes-Benz, hinted at many major announcements for the upcoming Frankfurt auto show. His big promise: Mercedes-Benz will introduce 19 cars in 15 minutes. These won't all be new cars, with probably a mix of concepts and updates, but Mercedes-Benz intends to make a big splash this year. We expect to see some sort of hybrid in the mix, although we couldn't pin him down on the details. The most firm information we got was the previously leaked F700 concept, rumored to be a big luxury car, which will feature the DiesOtto engine.
The F700 draws its name, and possibly some details, from the F500 concept launched at the 2003 Tokyo auto show. The F500 showed off a hybrid diesel powertrain, which hasn't made it into a production car, and a night vision system, which we saw in the 2007 CL550. Although no other details on the F700 are available, Mercedes-Benz has released full information about the DiesOtto engine. This engine, in its current incarnation, is a 1.8-liter four-cylinder that works like a diesel but burns gasoline. It uses spark plugs to get the burn cycle started, then switches them off, relying on compression for light and medium loads. Mercedes-Benz makes some dramatic claims for the engine's efficiency. This engine is supposed to produce 238 horsepower and 295 ft-lbs of torque, numbers that no four-cylinder gas engine of this displacement currently achieves. Even better, the engine would get 39.2 miles per gallon while producing low nitrogen oxide emissions. Impressive numbers, and even more impressive when you consider this mileage is supposed to be achieved when the engine is pushing a car the size of an S-class.
CNET Car Tech will be reporting from the 2007 Frankfurt auto show starting September 12.
Mitsubishi will show off the Concept-cX at the 2007 Frankfurt auto show.
(Credit: Mitsubishi)Mitsubishi fulfills our love of concept cars with its just-announced Concept-cX, to be officially unveiled at the upcoming Frankfurt auto show. This concept car is designed as a crossover (although the Mitsubishi Outlander covers that ground pretty well). As a crossover, Concept-cX will have an SUV-like body, but an engine, chassis, and suspension designed for the road. The press release mentions a turbocharged 1.8-liter clean diesel engine that complies with the new Euro 5 emissions standard, appropriate for a car that will be shown at a European auto show. Other tech notes we like about this car are the electronically controlled all-wheel drive and the double-clutch transmission, Mitsubishi's new Twin Clutch SST that will appear in the next Evo. On the green side, Mitsubishi touts cabin plastics made from plant resins, as opposed to oil. Mitsubishi only released a sketch of the Concept-cX, so we will have to wait for the Frankfurt auto show to see it up close and personal.
