Already labeled “Best Concept” by AutoWeek Magazine upon its world debut at the Geneva auto show last March, the Saab 9-X BioHybrid has been voted “Specialty Concept Car of the Year” by a jury of 25 professional North American automotive journalists. The award ceremony took place at the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Michigan.
Now in its 7th rendition, the annual Concept Car of the Year Awards recognize those vehicles that are most likely to shape the future of the automobile industry. The winners were selected from 40 concept cars and 12 production preview vehicles that made their North American debut during the 2008 auto show season.
The 9-X BioHybrid is a vivid vision of what a future compact car from Saab could look like. It is designed to reflect the priorities of youthful customers who seek progressive looks, responsible performance and high-tech communications, all in a sporty, fun-to-drive package.
2008 Saab 9-X BioHybrid
>> read 
Take that GM. Toyota is one of the global leaders in the field of Automobiles. Their commitment to make fuel-efficient and clean engines has fetched them an award at the prestigious International Engine of the Year Awards this year.
But don’t assume it’s because of the Prius and veer away from the rest of this article. Toyota’s Polish-made, 1-litre three-cylinder 67bhp gasoline unit as found in the Toyota’s own Aygo, Yaris, Echo and Vitz and in the Citroën’s C1, Peugeot’s 107 and Subaru’s Justy came out successful but not without some tough competition.
In the sub-one litre category things couldn’t have been any better. The final contestants were Mitsubishi’s 84bhp 999cc three-cylinder turbo and Daimler’s 45bhp 799cc diesel unit, which is recognized as the world’s smallest direct injection diesel engine. Interestingly both those engines at present serve the Smart Fortwo city car.
But that didn’t bother our winner. The main reasons behind its success was its feather like weight, tipping the scales at 67 kg, it is no wonder this is the world’s lightest internal combustion engine.
The technology that goes into making such a light package isn’t rocket science. The use of a light weight material like aluminium to construct it helps achieve this feat. Aiding the cause futher is its extra-small cylinder bore-to-bore distance (wall thickness between bores is just 7mm), and the use of a light weight resin throttle body and fuel delivery pipe. The air intake system and engine cover is an integral piece, a design first for Toyota, a weight-saving initiative.
The panel was also impressed with its Variable Valve Timing system (VVT-i) technology, which holds responsibility for the smooth acceleration, a crucial factor that won this award for Toyota.
This engine is literally a fuel-sipper. 4L/100km on a combined cycle is as good as its gets, giving it another entry in the record books as one of the most fuel efficient engines in today’s cars. A figure of 109g/km of CO2 emissions speaks for itself and strengthens the point that this victory is a well deserved one.
The redesigned 2009 Acura TSX, a midsize luxury car, wins the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s TOP SAFETY PICK award. Winners afford superior overall crash protection among the vehicles in their classes. To qualify, a vehicle must earn the highest rating of good in the Institute’s front, side, and rear tests and be equipped with electronic stability control. The new TSX improved in the side test from acceptable to good and in the rear test from poor to good, compared with the previous model.
"Criteria to win are tough because TOP SAFETY PICK is intended to drive continued improvements such as top crash test ratings and rapid addition of electronic stability control, which is standard equipment on the TSX," says Institute president Adrian Lund. "Recognizing vehicles at the head of the class for safety helps consumers distinguish the best overall choices without having to sort through multiple test results."
2009 Acura TSX
>> read
Hamann, the great German tuner specialized in tuning high performance cars unveiled its latest masterpiece: the Porsche 911 Stallion. Based on the Porsche 911, the body kit of the car features a carbon fiber front lip spoiler, new side skirts, rear lip spoiler with integrated central exhaust system and a rear spoiler featuring new air intakes.
At the interior carbon fiber entry ledges are available together with new carbon insertions in the dashboard.
More details when the car will be officially unveiled!
There are award categories for cars with the best engine, best design and even security. Here’s another you can add to that list. The car with the best towing ability.
In this year’s Towcar awards, contestants were put through a series of challenges to ultimately decide which car was the best for camping trips that involved towing caravans. It not only included towing ability but practicality, driving ability otherwise, safety etc.
The evaluating panel were specialists in this field. It included industry experts, motoring journalists and caravanning enthusiasts who watched closely at the ability and performance of all cars.
The judges chose the XJ Diesel as the champion because: "Stability and ride comfort don’t always go together. Cars with rear suspension that’s firm almost to a fault in normal driving are often the most composed when towing. But the XJ combines unflappable stability with limousine comfort. The suspension’s alchemy was worth its weight in gold through the lane-change test. The XJ changed direction quickly, gripping hard and holding the intended line. However much the caravan slid behind it, the Jag wouldn’t budge. Data from the ATC shows how much G-force was generated in the van, but the smooth curve of the graph speaks volumes as to how undramatic the Jaguar made this manoeuvre."
The body of the Jaguar XJ is built out of Aluminium and notably in the past it played a special role as that of an armored vehicle, which demonstrated its rugged attribute. So if you are on the lookout for a vehicle to haul your caravan, we have an answer- Jaguar XJ diesel.
2008 Jaguar XJ Picture Gallery
Toyota’s proficient Land Cruiser SUV, has impressed everyone in the British Insurance Car Awards by clinching the top spot in the 4X4 category for security.
Characterized with ruggedness and comfort, the addition of the security aspect gives this Toyota a sense of completeness.
Bearing Toyota’s first ever V8 with common rail technology, the eighth generation Land Cruiser went on sale earlier this year. It produces 650 Nm torque and 286 hp, enough to keep your mud-plugging sessions entertaining and eventful, while having capabilities to munch endless miles on the motorway sans headaches thanks to its unmatched reliability.
So what does this award mean to the owner? If parked outside for the complete duration of the night, the owner can fully expect to see his Land Cruiser right there the next morning!
That’s exactly what Peter Roberts, Chief Executive of insurer funded research centre conveyed at the awards ceremony. He said “Many car thieves are just having to give up – thanks to the industry’s continued quest to drive down car crime.”
2008 Toyota Land Cruiser V8 Picture Gallery
Lexus is celebrating double success in the 2008 Fleet World Honours, winning the Security Award and, for the second year running, the Best Luxury Car title for the LS.
The Security Award reflects Lexus’s attention to detail in providing the highest levels of protection against theft of or from its vehicles, a commitment that is also recognised by high ratings from Thatcham, the UK insurance industry’s research body.
George Emmerson, chairman of the judging panel, said Lexus “does more than anyone else in the market” in terms of effective anti-theft provisions.
Retaining its Best Luxury Car title confirms the Lexus LS’s status as a flagship limousine that delivers exceptional comfort, refinement and technical brilliance, not least in the seamless performance of the hybrid power LS 600h.
Lexus LS600h
>> read 
Once again Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, has been successful in the International Engine of the Year Awards. With its 911 Turbo-Drive, the sports car manufacturer has underpinned its position in a field of high performance competitors, receiving the coveted “Best Performance Engine Award” for the first time. For ten years now, this prize has been awarded by the British specialist journal “Engine Technology International” for outstanding engine characteristics.
In 2007 Porsche was already successful in the three to four liter category. This year the 3.6 Liter 480 PS Boxer engine (530 PS in the GT2 version) even gained first place in the free capacity class, putting strong competitors like BMW, Ferrari, Nissan and Audi in the shade.
For the first time the 911 Turbo power unit features an exhaust gas turbocharger with variable turbine geometry (VTG) for efficient control of the exhaust gas flow throughout the entire range of engine speeds, guiding the flow of air in exactly the right direction and at the right angle to the turbine blades. This leads to a discernible improvement in flexibility and acceleration, particularly at low speeds.
In the Engine of the Year Awards, 65 renowned motoring journalists from more than 30 countries judge power engines in various different categories. As well as performance, fuel consumption, driving behavior and driving comfort, the use of future-oriented technologies is also taken into account.
This year the BMW Group Design team took up the time-honoured tradition of designing cars exclusively for the Concorso d’Eleganza and unveiled its BMW M1 Homage. This design study, inspired by the BMW M1 and BMW Turbo, embraces tradition and modernism to give an insight into BMW’s own vision of a historically inspired automotive future.
Voted "Best of Show" by the Jury to take the Trofeo BMW Group was the Ferrari 166 MM Berlinetta Touring from the year 1949. Count Giannino Marzotto had acquired the Ferrari 166 MM from Enzo Ferrari, which was then given an aerodynamic coupé body by Touring based on their trademark superleggera, or lightweight, construction method.
This model was exhibited at the 1950 Geneva Motor Show. The Ferrari was then equipped with a new V12 Colombo Type 195 engine and went on to win the 1950 Mille Miglia. In the late 1950s the Ferrari was deployed in small-scale racing events in the USA before being sold with its original 1949 engine to an American collector in 1965, who kept it until 2001. Its present owner, John Croul, acquired the car in 2003 and had it completely restored to its original condition.
>> read
Concorso d’Eleganza winners Picture Gallery
.
The all-new 2009 Subaru Forester has earned the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s, "2008 Top Safety Pick" award. To win this award, a vehicle must offer superior overall crash protection among the vehicles in their class. To qualify, a vehicle must earn the highest rating of good in the Institute’s front, side, and rear tests and be equipped with electronic stability control.
"We are delighted that once again, a Subaru vehicle is recognized as a "Top Safety Pick", said Tom Doll, executive vice president and CFO for Subaru of America. "This award speaks to the quality work our engineers put into equipping our cars with industry leading safety while still making them affordable with standard all-wheel drive."
Criteria to win is tough because the award is intended to drive continued safety improvements such as top crash test ratings and the rapid addition of electronic stability control, which is standard on the Forester.
2009 Subaru Forester Picture Gallery
>> read Pages: 
1 comment
Picture Gallery
RSS -
Webmaster free news |
Linux Administration