Autos News

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Although rumors have been circulating for month’s, Car and Driver is reporting that a soft-top Scion FR-S is coming in early 2014. The only surprise is that a convertible FR-S is not going to be in showrooms sooner than late next year or early 2014. Tetsuya Tada, Toyota lead developer for the 86 project, has told the car was designed from the start to be both a coupe and a convertible, and so it’s been planned all along.

The Scion FR-S which was developed in partnership with the Subaru BRZ, and the Toyota GT 86 which is sold overseas, are well priced, and just what sports car enthusiasts have been asking for. The Subaru BRZ has been selling so well that demand has been pushing prices at dealerships higher and deliveries have been pushed into 2013. When you give buyers what they want, they’ll respond by opening up their wallets.

The Scion FR-S convertible must be also be a good seller for Toyota. What could be better than a reasonably priced, sporty, rear-wheel-drive sports car with the top down. There aren’t a lot to choose from in this segment other than the Ford Mustang and the Mazda MX-5. The expenditure of building a brand new release platform must be prove profitcapable for Toyota, and keep everyone happy.

When Akio Toyoda, who is the president of Toyota, took over the reins a few years ago, Toyoda asked himself, “where is the passion in our lineup?, I want to build a sports car.” Toyoda was instrumental in developing the Toyota GT 86 that will be sold across the globe, the Scion FR-S and the recent launch of the LFA supercar. So it will be no surprise that he would also be behind the development of the Scion FR-S rag-top. The fun is definitely back at Toyota and it looks like they are not done yet building sports cars. A brand new release 400 horseStrength Toyota Supra successor is also told to be in the works.

Car and Driver predicts that the brand new release Scion FR-S convertible will have a back seat and at least be considered a four-seater. The addition of a folding mechanism for the roof would mean trunk space would be minimal. Look for the same 2.0-liter, 200-horseStrength naturally aspirated boxer four to bring over with a choice of six-velocity transmissions in either manual or automatic configurations. But don’t look for a turbo anytime soon.

Reports say the FR-S convertible must be be arriving in showrooms sometime late in 2013 or early 2014, with a sticker price a few thousand more than the coupe’s $25,000 MSRP. C & D also says that Toyota may be considering other models basing a small four-door sedan and larger coupe off the brand new release platform. Although nothing has been confirmed by Toyota yet.

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Back in February, Nissan invited fans to participate in what it’s calling “Project 370Z.” In an effort to highlight the numerous options availcapable on the brand new release 2013 Nissan 370Z, Nissan is giving fans the opportunity to create a project Z in which they get to choose how the car is put together.

Via Nissan’s Facebook Performance page, Nissan will start with a fresh 2013 370Z that will be built by fans in three upgrade phases: Strength, handling/brakes, interior and exterior. Each phase will start by fans posting comments on the page, and then they’ll get to vote on the upgrades and accessories. Those with the most fan support will be chosen for each phase as Nissan builds the unique car.

The build will be based on the updated 2013 370Z, which features brand new release LED daytime running lights, revised bumpers, and other upgrades for the brand new release model. The Project 370Z has been divided into three separate build phases, and Nissan will release a video of each phase over the coming weeks. Nissan is well underway with the crowd-sourced project 370Z, and Nissan has crafted the first video documenting the first step of the project. For this first stage, 370Z fans were capable to choose the Strengthtrain, turbocharger kit, exhaust modifications, and suspension and brake setup.

For the first phase of the build, fans chose a GReddy twin turbo kit, which must be pump up horseStrength on the 3.7-liter V-6 to around 500. The stock Z engine gets 332 horseStrength, so the twin-turbo kit will make a big difference in performance. Nissan technicians in the clip, dismantle the front of the sports car, yank the engine and bolt on the aftermarket goodies that fans have chosen.

Fans wisely chose to use a GReddy Ti-C catback exhaust that will help the 500 horseStrength engine breathe easier, and the exhaust pipes go on next. Nissan is also installing a KW suspension setup and bigger brakes from StopTech to handle the extra stopping Strength needed on the project car.

Nissan will document the full build before unveiled the car in May during ZDayz 2012 in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. Nissan promises the car will also be made availcapable to other enthusiast events such as ZCON 2012 and SEMA.

Stay tuned for Stage Two, which outlines the design changes voted by fans for the exterior of the Project 370 Z.

Check out the phase one video below.

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The Jaguar F-Type will enter the world as a brand new release, smaller option based on the C-X16 concept that debuted in 2011 in Frankfurt. The company stated that the F-Type would feature a unique version of a brand new release supercharged V6 engine family, packing 380 horseStrength in this application but torque was left to be a mystery. This 380 blown V6 engine will likely make the brand new release F-Type plenty of fun to drive while also affording good fuel economy but in the modern age of the sports car…you need more than 380 horseStrength to keep up with the Joneses. Luckily, Car and Driver has confirmed that there will be a V8 engine option coming – although there is no indication as to when that will happen.

The brand new release Jaguar F-Type is expected to hit the market in the middle of 2013 as a 2014 model year convertible with a coupe version following later that year; also presumably as a 2014 model year vehicle. When the first convertibles hit, they will pack the brand new release supercharged 3.0L V6 with 380 horseStrength and it is expected that this engine will also be the sole option for the F-Type Coupe that arrives later in 2013. However, when the 2015 model year of the Jaguar F-Type rolls around sometime in 2014 – few things would make for a more exciting model year addition than a higher horseStrength V8 engine for the compact convertible and coupe.

It is totally unknown as to which V8 engine will show up in the future Jaguar F-Type but if they were to use a current V8 engine configuration, the company has a variety of supercharged 5.0L engines making various amounts of Strength that would make for a fine premium engine in the brand new release F-Type. First of all, there is the supercharged 5.0L AJ-V8 Gen III engine that offers 470 horseStrength and 424lb-ft of torque or the supercharged 5.0L AJ-V8 Gen III R that packs 510 horseStrength and 461lb-ft of torque. Needless to say, either of those engines would surely make the brand new release F-Type a serious contender in the world of European exotics. However, for those who want even more performance perhaps Jaguar will use the supercharged 5.0L V8 from the XKR-S will serve as the high end engine for the F-Type – offering drivers somewhere in the range of 550 horseStrength and 502lb-ft of torque. If the F-Type got this engine, it would likely be as part of a high performance and high priced R package…although that is merely speculation.

Finally, there is a chance that in the two to three years between now and when the V8-Strengthed Jaguar F-Type hits the market that the company will have come up with a brand new release V8 engine. While this brand new release engine would likely offer similar Strength to those supercharged 5.0L mills used in the current Jaguar lineup – it would likely use brand new release technology to offer better fuel economy for its application in the future F-Type.

Again, it could be almost two years before we see the existence of a Jaguar F-Type with a V8 engine but when it arrives – there is a good chance that it will pack well over the 380hp offered by the supercharged V6 that will be standard at the launch of the F-Type in 2013.

Source: Car and Driver

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A few years ago Aptera was one of the darling companies in the EV Revolution. A three wheeled vehicle that looked more like a wingless airplane than a car, the Aptera had a loyal rabid fan-base who lined up with deposits and waited for their amazing looking electric vehicle to be designed and built. Unfortunately the years turned to anger and betrayal, and eventually Aptera folded. brand new releases is circulating of a rebirth of Aptera at the hands of a brand new release company, Zaptera. That company has partnered with the Zhejang Jonway Group for manufacturing, with final assembly to occur in the U.S., and sales to begin in early 2013.

Aptera was a startup company based in San Diego. The company had developed an intriguing three wheeled electric “car” (technically, it’s a motorcycle because it has 3 wheels) with fantastic aerodynamics for amazing efficiency. Big claims were made about a long driving range and high miles-per-gallon-equivalent fuel efficiency. The other core feature of the Aptera was the use of modern composite materials, both for light weight and strength. A large fan base developed around the company, eagerly waiting for the start of production. However it took way too long for the company to develop the Aptera into a production vehicle, the rabid fan base turned angry, and last winter the company abruptly died.

Zaptera is a brand brand new release company which has bought up all rights to Aptera, from tooling and equipment, to designs, and patents. The company intends to get into the electric vehicle business, beginning with rebirthing the vehicle previously known as the Aptera SRO1. The Zaptera was discovered at the Beijing Auto Show, in the Jonway booth, a fact which seems to have gone unnoticed until today. Additionally the Zhejiang Jonway website shows a few pictures of the vehicle on the show floor, surrounded by booth babes. Manufacturing of car bodies will be handled by the Chinese automaker, Zhejiang Jonway Group, and if all goes according to plan the company expects to have 2000 Zaptera’s for sale in early 2013.

Is Zaptera associated with ZAP? ZAP is an electric vehicle manufacturer, based in Santa Rosa CA, with a long and troubled history, and is the designer of the ZAP Alias, another three wheeled electric vehicle. The early reporting on this development claimed it was ZAP Jonway which had bought the rights to the Aptera. If true that would make ZAP Jonway associated with the production of two different three wheeled electric vehicles, the Zaptera and the Alias. To confuse matters, the name, Zaptera, seems like a name one would chose for a company associated with ZAP. Another connection is that ZAP has partnered with ZAP Jonway, and Zaptera has partnered with Zhejiang Jonway. None of that is true, however. Rick Deringer of Zaptera explained in a phone call that there is zero connection between Zaptera and ZAP. In choosing the manufacturing partner, Deringer says he went directly to parent corporation in the Jonway group, while ZAP Jonway is just one of that group’s subsidiaries.

The pictures on the Zhejiang Jonway website show the Aptera SRO1 variant, the one which famously flunked the Progressive X-Prize contest due to handling problems and a door that flung open. Deringer explained that Aptera made many design changes after the contest events, and the vehicle Zaptera will manufacture will contain those changes.

Because Aptera had finished design work on the vehicle, Zaptera intends to go straight into manufacturing, as evidenced by the projected early 2013 delivery date. The company intends to use the same electric drive train choices, including an air cooled battery pack from A123 Systems, and an electric motor from Remy.

Among the assets Zaptera acquired is the list of people who had expressed interest or had placed deposits on the Aptera. Zaptera intends to reach out to those people for their initial customer pool. While a lot of ill-will was developed over the years towards Aptera, this may be a shrewd move because those people are already pre-sold on the Aptera concept even if they’re angry towards Aptera-the-company. The former-Aptera customers will be offered special deals on the relaunched Zaptera.

Another asset Zaptera acquired is the four-wheel vehicle Aptera had designed while trying to get the Dept of Energy loan approval. Zaptera is not interested in pursuing that vehicle at this time. In part this is because the three wheeled vehicle can be brought to market more quickly. Legally it is classified as a motorcycle, and therefore requires much less testing and regulatory before going to manufacturing and sales. However Zaptera does envision branching out into producing a full line of vehicles, under a strategy of focusing on vehicles to fill specific niches. During the phone call Deringer talked about electric trucks such as postal trucks or food trucks as one potential niche market.

The zaptera.com website must be have a reservation form and other information availcapable by the end of May 2012.

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The word for luxury car in Chinese is pronounced “Byoo-wick.” That is a word that Infiniti understands but hopes to soon redefine. General Motors and the European brands are doing so much business in China that it is starting to have a major impact on their strategy. For example, it is widely believed that the reason Buick survived GM’s demise a few years back, but Pontiac did not, is that Buick was well known as a brand in China. General Motors is on track to sell almost 3 million vehicles in China this year and Buick is leading the way. One of its top selling models, the Buick Excell, sold 57,000 units – In March. In fact, Buick outsold Cadillac handily as Cadillac sold under 3,000 cars total in March, nearly all of those being the SRX crossover. This sales dynamic has Infiniti realizing that there is an opportunity for the brand to jump in with both feet now and become established rather than concede the high-end luxury market to GM’s Cadillac division.

Long Wheelebase M
To do this Infiniti has designed a car specifically for China based on a stretched wheelbase M series sedan. The long-wheelbase M was unveiled at the Beijing Auto Show. Although the electric car Infiniti EMERG-E got all the attention, it is the stretch-M that is the real potential volume leader for Infiniti in China. Francois Bancon, Deputy Division General Manager for Infiniti China, says “What is special is that we make the car longer, the wheelbase is longer. You have this kind of impressive roominess, limousine roominess, which is a major requirement in China.”

Dealers Expanding
Cars are not the main problem Infiniti has in China right now however. Even if it had exactly the cars that the Chines consumer wanted there are few places for them to go to buy one. Like Cadillac, who is hoping to double dealerships in China from about 60 to about 120 this year, Infiniti is planning to blossom its dealer network as well. Infiniti hopes to increase the 25 dealerships it had last year to about 90 by the end of this year with that growth continuing to 128 by 2015.

Proving that Infiniti is quite serious about China, it is moving its headquarters there. Carlos Ghosn, Nissan’s CEO, will visit the brand new release HQ next month to make the opening official.

If ever one needed proof that the automobile market is indeed global, a Brazilian born Frenchman of Lebanese heritage, heading up a Japanese car company, will open its brand new release headquarters in a former British colony, now governed by China.

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