Tuesday, 7 April 2015

Rolls-Royce SUV Mule Looks Absolutely Ridiculous

Rolls-Royce SUV Mule Looks Absolutely Ridiculous

Rolls-Royce SUV Mule Looks Absolutely Ridiculous

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Rolls-Royce has revealed a rather odd test mule for its upcoming SUV.

The British automaker has released photos of the first test mule for Project Cullinan, the brand's upcoming SUV, or as they say it, a "high-sided, all-terrain motor car." The mule seen in the photos is a based on a shortened Phantom Series II body and has been put together to develop a new all-wheel drive suspension setup. No explanation of the massive rear spoiler was offered.

SEE ALSO: Rolls-Royce SUV Development Confirmed

While the test mule paints an accurate picture as to the size of the upcoming SUV, Rolls says that the styling of the mule is not related to the final vehicle in any way.

The first tests will study the car's on-road behavior and will take place around the world on a multitude of driving surfaces. Rolls will spend equal time off-road as well, to ensure the car has the hallmark "magic-carpet" ride when the wheels leave the pavement.

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2016 Chevy Camaro Spied Close Up

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The upcoming redesigned 2016 Chevy Camaro has been spied testing once again. 

These latest spy photos show the car close up, giving us a good view of some of the design details. The headlight and taillight design is clearly visible along with the new grille and lower air dam, all of which carry sharper lines than the current car.

The new Camaro will be built on the Alpha rear-wheel drive platform that underpins both the Cadillac ATS and CTS. Both a 3.6-liter V6 and 6.2-liter V8 will still be available with the new Camaro, though a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine is expected to join the lineup to help fight the EcoBoost Mustang.

SEE ALSO: 2016 Chevy Camaro Details Released

"We kept the cornering confidence and control that make the Gen 5 Camaro 1LE so fun to drive, and added a greater sense of agility," said Al Oppenheiser, Camaro chief engineer. "The new Camaro brakes harder, flicks into corners more quickly, and drives out of the corner faster. We expect it will set the benchmark in the segment and give many sports cars a challenge."

Chevy has already confirmed that the new Camaro will lose roughly 200 lbs compared to the current car, putting the curb weight of the lightest version at around 3,500 lbs.

The unveiling of the new Camaro will take place on May.16 at Detroit's Belle Isle.

 Discuss this story at our 6th Generation Camaro Forum

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Mercedes, Nissan Jointly Developing Midsize Pickup

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Mercedes and Nissan have officially announced a jointly developed midsize pickup truck. 

The partnership will result in an all-new Nissan NP300 Navara and a Mercedes-Benz pickup truck, both of which will target Europe, Australia, South Africa and Latin America.

Mercedes USA CEO Steve Cannon recently said that the Mercedes truck could find its way to the U.S., but its not a sure thing. The company is currently investigating whether or not the small truck would sell in the states and will make its decision before year end.

SEE ALSO: Mercedes Pickup Under Consideration for US

The Mercedes pickup will share its architecture with the Nissan, but the brand points out that it will be engineered by Daimler and carry all of the characteristics of a Mercedes product. The truck will be built by Nissan at its Renault plant in Cordoba, Argentina for Latin America and in Barcelona, Spain for other world markets.

Production of both trucks will begin sometime before 2020.

Discuss this story at our Mercedes-Benz Forum 

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Self-Driving Hyundais Could be here by 2020

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While Toyota and Nissan are both scrambling to introduce lower-cost safety systems in mainstream models, Hyundai is pushing advanced assistance systems and aims to have a new autonomous driving feature ready by the year 2020.

Like its Japanese rivals this South Korean car maker is focusing on the low-end of its lineup by offering some appealing safety tech in its compact Elantra model. The car, which is available as a sedan, coupe and hatchback will gain advanced features later this year.

SEE ALSO: Testing an Almost Self-Driving BMW

Beyond this high-volume proliferation Hyundai will also introduce a new lane-keeping cruise control system in its pricier vehicles. This latest generation of the technology will work at any speed unlike the one it currently offers, which only functions at velocities greater than 37 MPH.

Even further out on the horizon, Hyundai is hard at work on a traffic-jam assist feature. It would modulate acceleration, braking and steering at low speeds without any driver input. As appealing as this technology sounds for frazzled commuters it's still in development. Don't look for it to hit the market for at least two years. A major reason for the delay is the cost of the system's laser scanner.

[Source: Automotive News]

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NHTSA Investigating Ford Recall Fix

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating the effectiveness of a Ford recall. 

In May of 2014, Ford recalled about one million Escape and Mercury Mariner SUVs over a power steering issue and now customers are complaining that the fix wasn't enough. The issue has to do with the the torque sensor failing to communicate with the power steering control module (PSCM), resulting in loss of power steering.

SEE ALSO: Ford Recalling 1.1M SUVs over Power Steering Loss

Ford had its dealers inspect the PSCM, which was replaced, along with the torque sensor, if certain trouble codes were being thrown. If no code came up, dealers updated the PSCM software to make sure that the communication issue was solved.

NHTSA is now investigating a petition that suggests that the recall was not thorough enough. It alleges that "the software update itself may in fact cause further issues with the affected vehicle's power steering, causing it to fail, and ultimately requiring replacement of the torque sensor or entire steering column."

Discuss this story at our Ford Escape Forum

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Nissan Makes Auto Braking Standard in Japan

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Nissan is pushing for safer driving at all price points.

Starting this fall the automaker will offer standard automatic braking on all of its volume-selling cars sold in the Japan. This change begins with the hybrid X-Trail SUV they just revealed; it's slated to go on sale in the middle of next month with a base price around $24,000. The company is looking for a sales advantage anywhere it can and drivers in developing markets are starting to take notice of safety features like these, so Nissan wants to be ahead of the pack.

SEE ALSO: See Around Corners While Driving with Dynamic eHorizon

Toyota announced a similar safety scheme last week. The capital T will make automatic braking and lane-keep assist either standard or optional in almost all of its vehicle offerings by the close of 2017. This applies to models sold in North America and Europe as well as Japan.

Naturally, automatic braking and other pre-crash features are becoming quite popular in markets around the world, though they're typically only found in higher-end vehicles. Right now Nissan is focusing on its home market and it's unclear when these advanced safety features will make their way around the globe.

[Source: Automotive News]

 Discuss this story at our Nissan Forum

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