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AIR ENGINE coming soon!

Posted on August 26th, 2008 by roadrunner

What a wonderful technology! With air engine, the super cold air-condition can freeze you at 0′C to -15′C (32′F to 5′F).

It’s green enough to save the environment. Price? Some are planned to sell at about US$6,500, some are US$18,000, and some are EURO 3,500 - depends on brand and models.

My prediction of its first road kill: Toyota Prius, Honda Insight & Honda Civic Hybrid! Followed by electric cars, fuel cells and our conventional (spell: “outdated internal combustion”) engine. Who wants to be concerned of fuel price every day or pay for ultra expensive batteries for an electric vehicle? Not me

A few parties are working on air engine currently and some will start selling by Sept 2009.
Tata has it support from MDI of France to develop this stuff. I found a few videos on youtube…

Source: http://www.theautochannel.com

air car

CARS THAT RUN ON AIR ! ? COMING NEXT YEAR - GEM

Air Car by Guy Negre on BBC America

Air Car by Guy Negre on CNN

Tags: Air car, Air engine, Great cars, Hero, Uncategorized, breakthrough technology // 1 Comment »

Nissan X Trail FCV Nurburgring Record

Posted on July 23rd, 2008 by roadrunner

11 minutes 58 seconds and completely zero emissions on Nurburgring Ring - by a fuel cell vehicle. Now that’s a record!

Well, the first one is the fastest one…

It wins - but without any competitor! This is the first time a FCV has ever ran the ‘Ring. The driver says the wet course made the drive took half a minute longer. So, it won’t be surprising if there is a redo.

Source: zercustoms.com

Tags: Fuel Cell technology, Nissan X-Trial, Nürburgring Nordschleife, fastest FCV, fuel efficiency // 5 Comments »

New York gets Hybrid Taxis from Ford, GM, Nissan

Posted on July 23rd, 2008 by roadrunner

New York will get more hybrid caps - three hundred more, from Ford, GM and Nissan, according to WardsAuto.com .

This is beneficial both to environment and reducing expense of fuel. Annually each taxi owner can save up to thousands of dollars, and the industry can save more than a hundred millions dollars from the move.
Source: www.wardsAuto.com

(Author: Herb Shuldiner)

Toyota isn’t immune… will shut plant!

Posted on July 10th, 2008 by roadrunner

The fuel price hike hurts! The food price hurts! It’s quite an unfortunate situation worldwide.

And now, Toyota will shut its new pickup plant in San Antonio. The plant will close for three months starting this August. It’s a shocking move, consider the plant was just opened in late 2006.

picture by: http://images.fourwheeler.com

At $4 a gallon of gas price, the auto industry is struggling to match its production with the biggest change in consumer tastes in thirty years.

How bad is Toyota affected? I’m not sure. But I know it’s bad. Japanese don’t usually consider layoff or plant shutting. The latest news is, by next year Toyota’s Indiana truck and SUV plant will stop making the Tundra.

Source: http://blog.cleveland.com

NASCAR: No Champion!

Posted on July 10th, 2008 by roadrunner

NASCAR officials canceled Thursday night’s Sprint Cup series qualifying at Chicagoland Speedway.

The bad weather and heavy rain threaten the race safety. (Visit weather.com for the flood warning update) . The series points leader Kyle Busch on the pole position was not happy with his car’s performance during the practice and hopes for no rain on Friday’s practice.

Source: Associated Press

GM to unveil Volt soon

Posted on July 8th, 2008 by roadrunner

GM is rushing to ready Volt for its 100th birthday celebration on Sept 16.

Volt will change the world. Although it’s “the beginning of the beginning” for this auto chapter. The Volt marks one of the first attempts to adapt lithium-ion batteries for a car.

With an electric vehicle like Volt, GM can improve it’s image as Volt doesn’t produce pollutant as other vehicles do.

If GM beats Toyota Motor Corp to bring the first plug-in car to the marketplace, it will be the first car maker in the history that produce electric car in mass production… A dream that many car makers still chasing.

Source: Reuters

Pic: Autoblog.com

Tags: Chevy Volt, Future car, Great cars, Shaper, battery, battery technology, breakthrough technology, fuel efficiency // 5 Comments »

Camel or Mustang?

Posted on July 8th, 2008 by roadrunner

Camels Mustangs has become Iraqis’ favorite hot rods now!

Ashraf Khalil, Los Angeles Times staff writer just wrote an interesting article about hot rods in Iraqi, which heats up in Baghdad. Here, going fast can be more than just a thrill in a country where it seems easier to pick up a few RPG’s (rocket propelled grenade) than a 500 watt bass woofer.

Pic and source: LA Times

Auto Sales & Auto Mag

Posted on July 7th, 2008 by roadrunner

There is a close evident between the auto sales and auto magazines. Surprisingly, the auto mag needs the auto sales so much… more than I can imagine.

Auto mag bottom lines is not as good as they used to be. And it’s not the worst yet.

Big or small, almost all auto mags are hurt. Less ad, less pages, less revenue. Just wish the same for the gas prices too.
Source & pic by : Media Daily News

Tags: Uncategorized // 4 Comments »

Mark Martin Continues NASCAR Race

Posted on July 4th, 2008 by roadrunner

Mark Martin, 49, the veteran NASCAR driver will continue to race in NASCAR next year.

The well known driver is obviously glad about the decision. The plan is, he will join the other three star racers of Hendrick’s team. The lineup of Jimmie Johnson, the reigning series champion; Jeff Gordon, a four-time title winner; and Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR’s most popular driver.

Smells like the next year NASCAR race is fueled with high octane fluid!

Picture and source: LA Times.com

Tags: Uncategorized // 5 Comments »