Rolls-Royce Ghost Mysore Honors Indian Sultan

Rolls-Royce Ghost Mysore Honors Indian Sultan
Cooper Tire WM-SA2 Review
NHTSA Calls for Stricter Recall Laws
Feds Squeeze Takata with $14K Daily Fine
2016 Acura NSX to Offer Customization Program
Chevy Silverado WT Adds Black Out Package

Posted:

Rolls-Royce has revealed yet another limited-production special edition model.

Based on the Ghost Extended Wheelbase, the new Mysore Collection will consist of just three units, each one built to celebrate India's Tipu Sultan. A two-tone blue and silver paint finish featuring stylized feathers is found on the special editions,while the interior will use light-colored wood along with white leather and blue carpets.

Thanks to the Tipu Saltan's nickname, the Tiger of Mysore, the car also gets special tiger emblems on the headrests. In Arabic, Mysore refers to wealth and power.

All three of the Mysore collection cars will be sold in Abu Dhabi.

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Cooper Tire WM-SA2 Review

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Late last year, the United States Department of Commerce imposed a tariff on Chinese manufactured tires that ranges from 15 to 18 percent.

This new tariff is in addition to the already existing 4 percent tariff and more tariffs could be levied in the future. Tires that once cost $60 could now be $73. This is having a huge effect on the tire industry as most manufacturers, big or small, currently have factories in China.

That includes many American manufacturers like Cooper Tire. But rather than be worried, Cooper sees these new tariffs as an opportunity. Beside its plants in China, Cooper has tariff-free manufacturing facilities in Europe, North America and other regions in Asia. This is opening the door for a new wave of affordable tires to inundate the market. Tires like the WM-SA2.

Low Price, Direct from Europe

The WM-SA2 is part of Copper's WeatherMaster line-up of winter tires. Manufactured in the United Kingdom, the SA2 is a studless performance touring winter tire intended for coupes and sportier sedans. With the smallest fitment starting around $62, the WM-SA2 is a value-driven tire that Cooper claims will deliver a lot of performance for the money.

The WM-SA2 is a high performance winter tire, not a dedicated snow tire. It's meant for people who live in cold-climate metro areas with daily, traffic-filled commutes. Place where it does snow quite often and temperatures spend most of the winter below freezing, but the roads are fairly well maintained by an army of snow-removal equipment. Although the WM-SA2 can handle four-inches of snow without issue, it really excels at slush, ice and dry road conditions.

Designed for Messy, Cold Weather

As is the case with the majority of winter tires, the WM-SA2 is equipped with hundreds of grippy sipes, arranged in traction blocks. Sipes are the squiggly lines cut into a tires tread that work like mini-squeegees to wipe snow and slush away from the tire while providing optimal grip on icy surfaces.

The center rib of the WM-SA2 is nearly solid, minus a multitude of thin sipes. This provides a constant contact patch to the road for improved dry weather handling and better steering feel. Of course the tire is full of silica, the magic ingredient that allows the tire to remain flexible at low temperatures without sacrificing overall tread wear.

Ice Drifting…

For Science

To see how well the WM-SA2 performs, we were invited to an unconventional test outside of Montreal, Quebec. Instead of a street drive or snowy parking lot slalom that usually occurs on tire tests, we drove around a large ice covered skidpad. That might sound like a lot of play and no work, but the ability to induce and control a slide on ice reflects how well a tire performs when conditions turn slippery.

The cars we were using are 2014 BMW 320i xDrives. One was equipped with the Cooper Tire WM-SA2 while the other was wearing Continental Contiwintercontact TS 830 winter tires.

Immediately it was apparent that the Cooper had more grip on the ice. Starting a slide took much more effort and higher speeds as the SA2s refused to lose traction. The 320i fitted with the Continental tires would drift around the oval much slower than the Bimmer with WM-SA2 tires. Although this is more fun while doing some reckless stunt driving, it doesn't translate well to real world conditions where a patch of ice can sneak up suddenly and unexpectedly.

The Cooper WM-SA2s were always looking for grip, in the snow-ice mix. They behaved great and had enough grip to prevent drifting when it wasn't wanted compared to the other tires that always wanted to let the car pitch sideways.

Fast Facts:

Available for wheels 15- to 18-inches in diameter
Priced from $61.00 per tire
Available in 20 sizes
Ice and slush performance winter tire

The Verdict:

The WM-SA2 is available in 20 sizes for wheels ranging from 15- to 18-inches in diameter. According to Cooper, 26 percent of drivers in the USA snow-belt use winter tires. If you're one of these buyers and you need a good tire at an affordable price, thanks to the new tariff law, the WM-SA2 may be a perfect fit.

LOVE IT

Affordable price
Great ice performance

LEAVE IT

Snow performance
Limited sizes

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NHTSA Calls for Stricter Recall Laws

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) wants to put a stop to rental car agencies and used car lots allowing the public to drive unsafe vehicles.

NHTSA is once again calling on congress to pass legislation that would make it illegal for rental car agencies and used car dealers to sell or rent recalled vehicles that have not been repaired. Current laws only make it mandatory for new cars to be repaired before sale, allowing rental agencies and used car dealers to sell or rent potentially unsafe cars.

"Every vehicle under an open safety recall should be repaired as soon as possible," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx (pictured above). "Requiring rental car agencies and used car dealers to fix defective vehicles before renting is a common-sense solution that would make our roads safer. Safety advocates and the rental car industry have taken a stand for safety, and we need Congress to do so as well."

Before renting or buying a used car, consumers can check for open recalls using NHTSA's online VIN scanner.

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Feds Squeeze Takata with $14K Daily Fine

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is levying fines against airbag manufacturer Takata over failure to fully cooperate with an investigation.

NHTSA will fine Takata $14,000 per day for every day that the Japanese company refuses to fully cooperate with the agency's demands. In late 2014, NHTSA requested documentation and other material related to its investigation into Takata's defective airbags. Without going into details, NHTSA says that Takata has not been cooperative.

"Safety is a shared responsibility and Takata's failure to fully cooperate with our investigation is unacceptable and will not be tolerated," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. "For each day that Takata fails to fully cooperate with our demands, we will hit them with another fine. But, it's not enough. I am asking Congress to pass the GROW AMERICA Act which would provide the tools and resources needed to change the culture of safety for bad actors like Takata."

Takata has forced the recall of about 24 million vehicles worldwide due to airbag inflators that can deploy with too much force, causing metal fragments to shoot at the passengers. NHTSA is currently investigating whether or not the company actively tried to cover up this safety defect.

A former engineer who worked for Takata has already come forward and said that he warned the company that using ammonium nitrate to inflate its airbags would result in serious failures.

Six deaths in Honda vehicles have all been attributed to this airbag malfunction.

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2016 Acura NSX to Offer Customization Program

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Acura's low-volume hybrid sports car will eschew its brand's typical simple packaging strategy when it arrives later this year.

Acura typically offers a handful of preset trim and equipment packages that limit the level of customization its customers can specify, but that won't be the case with the NSX. Acura senior vice president and general manager Mike Accavitti told Edmunds.com that Acura plans to offer more factory installed options on the NSX than it has with any car ever before.

Accavitti didn't elaborate on the options that will be available, but said customers will be able to choose between carbon fiber materials and aluminum. Acura plans to launch its car configurator web site to allow customers and curious enthusiasts to virtually customize the NSX along with announcing pricing this summer.

The 2016 NSX uses a longitudinally mounted V6 and three electric motors to make a total of "at least" 550 hp distributed between all four wheels via a hybrid all-wheel drive system. Rather than aiming for all-out performance to compete with top-end exotics, Acura says it engineered the new NSX to be an accessible exotic that its customers will want to drive every day.

[Source: Edmunds]

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Chevy Silverado WT Adds Black Out Package

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Chevrolet is adding a dose of style to its base-model pickup truck.

The Silverado 1500 Work Truck is now available with the $1,595 Black Out package, bringing the total cost for the truck up to $28,895 including destination.

For that price, buyers will get a regular- or double-cab Silverado WT complete with 20" aluminum wheels finished in black, P275/55R20 all-season blackwall tires, deep tinted glass and black Chevy bowties.

Of course, the only paint option available for the truck is black.

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Car Reviews

Friday, 20 February 2015