Main page | October 29, 2007 »

Backseat Driver: BMW has a winner d is for diesel

If you want more evidence of the increasing sophistication of Europe's new generation of diesel engines, check out Matt Rigby's review of the BMW 123d M Sport Coupe on autocar.co.uk.

He calls it a "hugely significant car" because of t"he 123d or, more specifically, the 201bhp twin-turbo turbodiesel under the bonnet."

"If that sounds like so much hyperbole, then consider a few key facts," he writes. "This is the most powerful four-pot turbodiesel you can buy, as well as being the only one equipped with twin turbos.

"But the killer point is that all this comes coupled with serious green credentials. So you get 295lb ft, 0-62mph in 7.0sec and a 148mph top speed at the same time as 54.7mpg and 138g/km of CO2."

By the by, I'll bet that g/km of CO2, or grams of CO2 emissions per kilometer, is a measure of pollution unknown to most of us in America.

But 138 g/km of CO2 is below the target level that the European motor industry reached with the European government in the mid-1990s to reduce average emissions from new cars.

Under that voluntary agreement, average emissions should fall to 140 g/km CO2 by 2008.

- Peter C.T. Elsworth

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 10:29 AM to BMW , Environment , Fuel economy | Permalink | Comments 1

Interlocks to Detect Drunken Drivers Still Years Off

In most states, some people convicted of drunken driving can start their cars only after blowing into a device attached to the vehicle that detects alcohol, shutting the car down if it does, according to the New York Times.
These alcohol interlocks are a bit clunky and very intrusive. But with improvements to the technology, where a simple touch of the steering wheel might measure a driver’s blood alcohol concentration level, advocates say every car, not just ones owned by those convicted of drunken driving, could some day be equipped with an interlock.

The advocates said that if the technological and privacy hurdles were overcome — which could take many years, if not decades — the interlocks could save thousands of lives a year.

“It’s better to prevent somebody from breaking the law, and maybe killing or injuring someone, than to arrest them after the fact and try to prevent them from doing that again,” said Anne McCartt, senior vice president for research at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 10:12 AM to Safety | Permalink | Comments 0

Toyota Loses Top Spot in Reliability Rankings

DETROIT —The magazine Consumer Reports says that “bug-ridden redesigns” caused Toyota Motor of Japan to drop unexpectedly to third, from first, in its annual vehicle reliability rankings released on Tuesday, according to the New York Times.

Consumer Reports removed high-end versions of three Toyota models — the Camry and Lexus GS sedans and the Tundra pickup truck — from its list of recommended vehicles and said it would stop recommending new or redesigned Toyota vehicles without data showing that past years’ versions were reliable.

It is the first time since the current format of the ratings began in 1996 that a version of the Camry, which is the best-selling car in the United States, has not been recommended

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 10:06 AM to Toyota | Permalink | Comments 0

Workers at big Chrysler plant to vote on contract

DETROIT — The United Auto Workers union faces its final challenge today as one of the largest Chrysler plants votes on whether to ratify a proposed contract with company, according to USA Today.

About 700 of the 4,000 workers at the Belvidere, Ill., assembly and stamping plant are temporary employees.

A key sticking point for many of the 45,000 workers in the USA who would be covered by the Chrysler contract is that it doesn't contain provisions to hire temporary workers as full-time employees.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 10:05 AM to Chrysler , Unions | Permalink | Comments 0

Oil hits new record above $92

LONDON - Oil rallied to a fresh record high above $92 a barrel on Friday as the dollar tumbled to a record low, Washington imposed new sanctions on Iran and gunmen shut more oil production in Nigeria, according to Reuters.

Oil's bullish momentum has pulled in increasing amounts of speculative investment and waves of technical buying have been triggered as U.S. oil pierced successive lines of resistance.

The price of crude oil is now closing in on its inflation-adjusted high of $101.70 seen over the course of April 1980, a year after the Iranian revolution and at the start of the Iran-Iraq war.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 10:00 AM to Crude oil market | Permalink | Comments 0