Looming gas prices have prevented us from buying SUV’s or cars with big engines. Leave alone individuals, manufacturers are facing the heat with biggies like BMW and supercar weaver Ferrari, announcing their disinterest in releasing future models with bigger engines. A few days back, Mercedes-Benz in a shocking statement, said it will pull the plug and all of its cars manufactured from 2015 onwards will part ways once in for all with petrol stations retailing diesel and gasoline fuels.
Gas prices have shot up worldwide and tormented by the prevailing situation, an unemployed man in Germany torched his BMW in a public place.
The 30 year old man, whose name was withheld as no charges were filed against him, drove his 1995 BMW 3-Series in the morning hours to Frankfurt’s Convention center grounds, jumped out and torched the fuel-drenched car.
He justified his act by expressing that he couldn’t anymore afford the $9.40 per gallon of gas.
By the time the fire fighters arrived at the scene, the car had been charred completely. He might have been right according to his own self, but the law isn’t happy with this insane stunt in a public place. He could end up busting more of his bank balance paying the penalty or could find himself behind bars for violating German environmental laws if he was to be found guilty.
As always, we’ll keep a close track on the twists and turns set to happen in this interesting case.
Every week, we bring you pictures and videos of new cars taking a beating by inattentive drivers, buildings collapsing, drunken driving and sinking ships. Those incidents can be blamed on humans or mechanical failures but not this one.
A major hailstorm over the course of the last weekend harmed up to 30,000 brand new Volkswagen cars awaiting delivery to domestic and foreign customers. Little or nothing could be done by the staff at the VW assembly plant at Emden on the North Sea coast, as the number of vehicles were gigantic, and driving them or transporting them to a safe location was out of question.
Though VW declined to comment on the estimate of the damages, a German press report confirms it would be hundreds of million of dollars.
The affected vehicles will be put under the scanner and will be inspected closely by 100 VW staff members. By sending the vehicle through a special light tunnel, even the smallest of damages can be detected.
VW is insured against hail damages, so the manufacturer won’t be bothered much by this accident. Pain will only be felt by customers, who now have to wait for a longer time to drive home their new cars.
When the checkered flag dropped in front of the Finnish BMW factory rider Simo Kirssi at the finish line of the GCC-Race in the Sandpit of Tollwitz the whole team of BMW Motorrad Motorsport was overcome by a wave of relief. After the hard work of the last months they could celebrate a victory at the first race of the German Cross Country Championship which is the off road series with the most participants in Europe.
GCC 2008 Runde 1 TollwitzIt was hard work in Tollwitz for the 28 year (...)
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For all the tuning fans this might be some interesting news as the RDX Racedesign unveiled its aerodynamic kit for the little
Peugeot 206CC. The German tuner’s kit consists in: side sills, rear skirt, apertures for the exhaust system, grilles for air intakes in various versions but also Audi S6 daytime running lights, everything at a price of EUR 615,56. And of course, all the parts have TÜV-approval and they do not need to be registered
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The brand-new Buell 1125R delivered a stunning debut at the start of the German racing season on Easter Saturday, posting 2nd and 5th place finishes on Hockenheim’s demanding Grand Prix circuit.
Over the past 33 years, the 1000-km of Hockenheim has not only become the established prelude to the German motorcycle racing season, the traditional endurance race is also considered the most important German production-based racing event for motorcycles. This year, BMW and
KTM each supplied (...
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Abt has finally did it! The Abt R32 represents the ultimate compact car and together with this Volkswagen’s fastest Golf model. As you may suppose, the car is based on the Vw R32, powered by a 3.2 liter V6 engine capable of developing 250 hp. Although it is a powerful car the tuner still needed some power to achieve greater performances so with the help of an Abt compressor kit with supercharger, air cooling system and also a modified motor management system the vehicle received another 120 hp.
abt r32
With 370 hp the Golf is capable of sprinting from 0-100 km/h in just 4.8 seconds, with over 1.6 seconds faster than the „standard” R32. Also the top speed was increased from 250 km/h to 270 km/h.
Fitted with 19-inch wheels the car also received subtle bodykit modifications like the new side skirts, dual exhaust pipes and new sports suspension kit.
The diesel Cayenne has got all our attention. Mid-2009 was the launch date and the hype multiplied when rumors floated of a version with the V12 TDI found in the new Q7, was going to be offered. But No! Dreams will remain dreams.
The diesel avatar of the Cayenne SUV will be launched with the lighter 3.2 liter V6. There are a host of reasons like fuel economy, emissions, suitability and so on, which have prompted Porsche to make this move. But no worries. The V6 is said to produce around 300 hp with loads of torque which will make up for some of the disappointment. And lets agree on the fact that Porsche know more than you and me and we (majority of us) have always been fascinated and accept their products for what they are.
There is no point in making a car which houses an engine that measures to a size of an office cubicle but fails to get the all power it produces down on to the road. The engine is just one part of the whole equation and lets leave it Porsche to do what they want. All we need is the Porsche magic in it and nothing more. Regardless of all that, there will be a few unsatisfied people, the-more-power-madness-I-want category of customers whom I bet will be taken care by Gemballa or RENNtech immediately after the launch.
Germany’s automotive spearhead Diamler, have inked a pact with Japanese components maker IHI Charging Systems International (ICSI). The companies will come together and manufacture turbochargers for petrol and diesel engines.
The plant will be set up at Arnstadt in eastern Germany which will provide employment for 400 people. IHI Charging Systems International (ICSI) holds the majority stake in the deal.
Turbochargers are air pumps which force air into the inlet manifold at a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure. They capitalize on the wasted energy of the exhaust gases for their functioning and in turn increase the volumetric efficiency of the engine. This partnership will turn out to be very useful for Mercedes-Benz as their future turbos might be developed and manufactured in this facility at a lower cost.
Infineon Technologies AG will help BMW develop Engine management systems for future BMW M cars. The Engine management system receives feedback from various sensors located in the engine and meters fuel accordingly.
“We are proud of our cooperation with BMW M GmbH. Our TriCore microcontrollers deliver real-time performance as yet unmatched by any other microcontroller today,” said Jochen Hanebeck, senior vice president and head of the Microcontrollers unit at Infineon’s Automotive, Industrial and Multimarket business group.
The Munich based company offers semiconductor and system solutions for automotive, industrial and multimarket sectors. Infineon’s main task would be to integrate its microcontroller chips into the BMW’s ECU . Its will also provide the required technical support.
Both the companies remained tight lipped on the financial details of the deal. As emission norms are becoming stricter, engines will have to be designed and built to satisfy the regulations. And this has to be done without compromising on the other factors like fuel efficiency, power, torque etc. Incorporation of advanced electronics has helped in this area and holds greater responsibilities in the future.
The Mercedes-Benz C-Class has emerged the winner of Germany’s largest vote for the most popular car by a wide margin. Accordingly the motoring organization ADAC has presented its sought-after "Yellow Angel 2008" award to this Stuttgart-made public favorite.
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