Volkswagen Jetta Clean Diesel 2008

I'm just clearing customs on my way home from Europe when my cell phone rings. It's Keith Price, our favorite Volkswagen product rep, calling. He's on his way to Ann Arbor in a 2004 Jetta, and he wants me to drive it. A 2004 Jetta? Keith is obviously up to no good, so I immediately agree to meet him.

He volunteers to rendezvous at my house, since I'm not going into the office, and I rush home. A few minutes after I get there, a blue Jetta pulls into my driveway and sits there, idling. I walk outside meet them - it's Keith and Norbert Krause, director of the Engineering and Environmental Office. They're both smiling.

A few seconds pass, and I realize they're smiling because I haven't figured out what's going on yet. I listen carefully, and I can just barely hear the faint clatter of a diesel. This particular car might be a few years old, but under the hood is something brand new: next year's 2.0-liter, sixteen-valve Clean Diesel.

The last Jetta TDI sold here was the 2006 model, which had a 1.9-liter four-cylinder with 100 hp that was rated at 30 mpg city, 38 highway. That's not bad mileage - and it was significantly better than the gas engines - but that diesel's technology is nearly ten years old.

Beginning early 2008, the Jetta will again be available with a diesel - a 2.0-liter unit that pumps out 140 horsepower and 235 lb-ft of torque - but this time, it comes with all new technology. (Incidentally, though it's the same displacement as the 2.0T FSI, the engines don't share any major components.)

The new engine's fuel injection system uses piezo injectors and operates at up to 1800 bar - that's a staggering 26,000 psi. The ultrahigh pressures help ensure that the diesel atomizes and combusts completely, maximizing power and minimizing pollution, smoke, and noise. Air is force-fed into the cylinders via a variable turbine geometry turbocharger that helps minimize turbo lag.

More importantly, the Clean Diesel is 50-state legal, meeting the ultra-strict BIN5 ULEV2 standards. It uses a selective catalytic reduction system that is maintenance-free for 120,000 miles, and no urea injection is needed. Despite the big bump in horsepower, the new engine produces a staggering 60 percent fewer emissions than the old 1.9-liter.

Source : www.automobilemag.com

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Technical Details 2008

Mitsubishi will launch the next generation Evolution this fall. While we know what the car will look like, details on its driveline have been a bit sketchy. To tide us over until the car is released, Mitsu has sent us a few morsels of information to savor regarding the transmission and AWD system of the super-sedan.

The Evolution will have new all-wheel drive system called S-AWC. Sound familiar? You may be thinking of Acura's SH-AWD, which works in much the same way. The Super All Wheel Control on the Mitsubishi regulates drive torque at each wheel by utilizing a number of related systems to keep tabs on driver input and how the vehicle is responding. S-AWC makes decisions on which wheel should be doing what based on input from the active center differential, the active yaw control, and the active stability control. All these active systems work together to micromanage each contact patch into submission, making even average drivers look like heroes on challenging roads.

Working with this drive system will be a new Twin Clutch SST (Sport Shift Transmission). This twin clutch setup is, of course, comparable to the lauded Volkswagen DSG transmission. Like DSG, the Twin Clutch SST uses one clutch for gears one, three, and five; the other is used for two, four, and six. Three shift modes will be available: one for regular around town stuff, a more spirited setting for quicker shifts and higher rev holding, and a maximum sport mode for the quickest shifts and most aggressive settings. A regular six-speed manual transmission will still be available to those who prefer to do it themselves.

Devil definitely drives a Porsche Cayman

If the devil wears Prada, he (she?) probably also drives a Porsche Cayman. After all, he's in the business of temptation, and slipping behind the wheel of this little demon, to set it flying down the highway like a bat out of hell, is hard to resist.

At $69,600, the Cayman is not inexpensive -- but you don't have to sell your soul to make it your own. By comparison, the Boxster convertible is $6,000 less and the "big brother" 911 is $31,100 more.

The Cayman follows a recent trend in the performance car market in producing a hardtop coupe out of an existing convertible. It follows the BMW Z4, the Corvette and the Viper along this path. The basis for the Cayman is the popular Boxster. Coupes are generally stiffer (in the Cayman's case it is almost twice as rigid as the Boxster), quieter and more secure than their open-top cousins. Introducing the Cayman let Porsche fill the gap between the Boxster and the 911 with very little added investment.

That means that underneath the reworked body skin of the Cayman repose the guts of the Boxster -- and that's a good thing. The 2.7-litre flat-six engine with variable valve timing remains in its mid-vehicle position. For people who like driving, this means that the vehicle mass is between the wheels, making for wicked handling.

If the devil's a purist, he may wince at using water to cool this powerplant. But he probably realizes that, with 245 horses propelling the pistons, a lot of heat is going to be produced. Zero to 100 km/h can be reached in 5.8 seconds. Keep your foot planted and Porsche says you can hit 256 km/h -- that'll take you to Hades in a hurry.

Power is an intoxicating feeling in the Cayman. It rewards early on and seemingly does not stop as long as you have your right foot depressed. Indeed, there is no need to stomp on the accelerator -- all you need to do is squeeze and the world goes rushing by. Beelzebub may not admit it openly but the five-speed transmission is a bit of heaven on earth; its feel is just perfect and the short throw is just right.

Water on the road can cool the desire for spirited driving very quickly. To keep the flames of passion going, the Cayman comes with enough three and four-letter acronyms to help keep drivers on this earth a while longer. They include PSM (Porsche stability management), ASR (anti-slip regulation), EDTC (engine drag torque control), ABD (active brake differential) and ABS-antilock braking system. They all helped as I tested the limits of the Porsche in the wet.

Handling is optimized by slightly wider rear tires and a suspension that allows for almost no body lean in the tightest of twisties. Even with such a performance-oriented set-up, road imperfections and pot-holes did not seem to affect the Cayman's composure. Variable-assist steering means that steering effort is perfect whether you are parallel parking or bombing along at high speed.

The interior is more down to earth. The seats offer good grip and bolstering in the right places -- and are forgiving, to a point, if you have a few extra inches around your trunk (too many helpings of devil's food cake, perhaps?). A tilt/telescoping steering wheel will be appreciated by taller drivers as it gives added clearance for the thighs. Headroom is more than generous, even for the long in torso. In keeping with past Porsches, the Cayman is very comfortable on long trips. Electronic wizardry is present but behind the thick-rimmed leather steering wheel, large, legible analog gauges take centre stage.

Source : www.canada.com

My other car is a Porsche!

It was almost an office bet — would the good people at Porsche let a bunch of scruffily-dressed journalists attempting to look like laidback people with money to burn in their pockets, test drive a car? “Nah,” said everyone, but we were more than game to try our luck. At best, we’d get to ride the car. At worst, we’d be thrown out, but at least we’d have seen the car up close.

So it was that two colleagues and I found ourselves gawping at the Porsche parked in the middle of the showroom. “First visit to a Porsche showroom?” asked the salesman, having sized us up as country bumpkins. We nodded and asked him for a test drive of the Cayenne SUV, keeping our fingers crossed all the while. Now was the time for him to ask us to leave, right? But no, he said we’d have to book a test drive two days in advance, and if it was inconvenient for us to come back, he'd arrange to send the car to our doorstep so we could drive it right there.

But we were adamant. We wanted a drive, we insisted, and could we take a closer look at the car we’d set our hearts on? The salesman didn’t seem to have a problem with that, and though we turned down the offer for tea/coffee (we were too busy checking out the car), he said there’d be no hassle should we want to sit in the car to experience it.

So sit in it we did, my heart thudding all the while just to look at the controls in front of my eyes.

But what about the ride? There were three versions of the Cayenne in the showroom, he explained, but one was out for a test drive, another didn’t carry insurance or registration so couldn’t be driven around — but he’d be happy to take us for a spin in the third one.

Which is how we found ourselves strapped in and on the road, with the sales consultant (so his card said) behind the steering — lucky fellow. We could hardly complain, not when he explained that “a Porsche customer knows what a Porsche is all about”. So, all right, he’d seen through us, but that didn’t prevent him responding patiently to our clearly eager questions about the car and the company. Or from inviting us back for a test drive, but this time after we’d made an appointment. I’m booking myself for one on Monday, hope the boss understands. Source : www.business-standard.com

Focus: It was meant to be a ‘good laugh’. But now with two dead no one is smiling

The £120,000 Porsche 911 Carrera, with a top speed of over 170mph, was cruising a few miles from the border between Macedonia and Albania. Behind the wheel was Cheshire-based property developer Nick Morley, 29, and next to him his entrepreneur friend Matthew McConville, 32.

The pair, who had left Athens that morning, were competing in a rally known as the Gumball 3000 and were running late. They had invitations to a gala dinner that evening, hosted by the prime minister of Albania in the presidential palace in Tirana.

They never made it. Around 6pm the Porsche slammed into a red Volkswagen Golf and both cars spun off the road and into a ditch. The VW driver, Vladimir Cepuljoski, 67, died near the scene and his wife Margarita died later in hospital.

The two Britons walked away badly shaken but unhurt.

How Wednesday’s accident happened remains contested. Locals say the Porsche was speeding along the wrong side of the road and that the two Britons left the scene. Morley and McConville insist they were cruising at a legal 40mph and that the VW pulled out of a T-junction into their path. They deny leaving the scene.

Either way, police arrested both men, at the Albanian border, and charged Morley with “heavy violation of traffic safety” and “failure to provide help to an injured person”. McConville was released on bail, but yesterday Morley remained in custody.

As the police set about establishing the truth, one thing that everyone agrees on is that the Gumball 3000 was an accident waiting to happen. Every May, jet-setters, trustafarians, royals, Middle Eastern movers and sheikhers and eccentrics of every stripe fuel up with testosterone and God knows what else to race their Porsches, Lamborghinis and Ferraris 3,000 miles across continents.

The rally is the go-faster creation of 34-year-old British former model and wannabe playboy Maximillion Cooper and is now being variously referred to as the “Dumball” and “Scumball” on the internet.

Competitors, supposedly vetted by Cooper, pay nearly £30,000 for the privilege of driving all day and partying all night. After each day behind the wheel there’s a swanky dinner, including hot’n’cold running babes. The race has a reputation for rock’n’roll style excess. Every year there is mangled metal, arrests, fines and trashed hotel rooms. Yet every year the drivers come back for more. Living dangerously is – they say – “a good laugh”.

No one is laughing now. As relatives of the Cepuljoskis grieved, Cooper cancelled the rest of this year’s race. A victory parade in central London, followed by a party with US hip-hop star Xzibit, Jamiroquai frontman Jay Kay and model Caprice, that was due to take place last night, was hastily cancelled.

The main sponsor, Adidas, which backed the race to the tune of £1m, pulled out on Friday and has cancelled all future sponsorship.

It’s the end of road for this year and what many are now asking is: is the Gumball party, and indeed the wider “petrol-head” phenomenon it stands for, over for good? CRITICS say the deaths prove that the very idea of braying speed freaks careering across continents like outlaws is so outdated and dangerous that it should be consigned to the history books and the old movies that inspired it. The Gumball is a homage to films such as the 1976 Gumball Rally and the 1981 Cannonball Run, starring Burt Reynolds.

The detractors are not just the usual battalion of health and safety nannies who object to a race in which competitors stick speeding tickets to their wind-screens as badges of honour.

Car manufacturers, usually happy to lend cars to celebrities taking part in races of almost any kind, refuse to loan cars to Gumballers. Silvia Pini, of Italian superbrand Maserati, says: “It’s just too risky. There are too many unknowns.”

Style and social commentators say the “toffs’ jolly” is also out of step with the socially responsible spirit of the age. Crawford Hollingworth, executive chairman of consumer analysts Henley Centre Headlight-Vision, says: “We live in an age where some things, such as buying a fancy car, have become a little too obvious and easy to decode. For the rich, giving back and making a difference to society is the new cool.

“Look at Bono or Warren Buffett. We envy the person who takes a year’s unpaid sabbatical to travel the world more than the one who buys a new Porsche.”

Even professional petrol-heads argue the Gumball should be scrapped. Michael Harvey, editor of BBC Top Gear magazine, Britain’s biggest-selling auto title, says: “The Gumball is a bunch of overprivileged, beautiful young things showing off in front of anyone bored enough to watch – or tragically, it turns out, get in their way. It’s elitist and silly.”

The Gumball is not the first road race to hit controversy of course: the Mille Miglia, which takes place next week from Brescia to Rome and back, was stopped in 1957 after a crash that killed two drivers and 11 spectators. But in less than a decade the Gumball has become the most notorious.

It began in 1999 when the well-connected Cooper invited his celebrity friends, including actors Jason Priestley and Billy Zane, and singer Dannii Minogue, to take part in a six-day trans-European road trip, a modern-day grand tour fuelled on parties.

The first race was incident-free. In the second, in which 85 cars left London and went to Spain, France, Italy and Germany, there were two accidents, a £6,000 fine for overtaking a police car, and a £10,000 bar bill. It was the third Gumball to Russia that got really crazy, with crashes, car-jack-ings and arrests.

By the time of the 2005 race from London to Morocco and back, the racers’ motto had become “Death or Glory” and bets on who would win had reached £1m. One German racer, Kim Schmitz, promised to give two of the hottest female drivers £500,000 each if they beat him. If he won, he got a threesome. He won.

The rally’s supporters praise its no-limits ethos and camaraderie. Regular Richie Warren,a 41-year-old Briton who owns underground record label Fuel, spoke about it last year in a way that now seems eerily prophetic. “You live on the edge,” he told Vanity Fair. “Yeah, someone might get killed. Some silly bastard . . . could go over on the wrong side of the road and total a f****** wife and children in their little car. It could happen .. . I couldn’t give a flying f***.”

Cooper claims he makes every effort to ensure participants stick to speed limits. But critics say his pleas fall on deaf ears. The wilder the Gumball has got, the faster it has grown.

Cooper was on his way to achieving his goal of making the race a mass-market brand. He recently launched dozens of spin-offs: Gumball clothing, records, TV and film. The race generates £10m a year and the spin-offs a larger figure. Advertising and marketing giant WPP valued the brand at £150m.

The cancellation of this year’s race means Cooper will lose money. Will he lose his business altogether? Some would love to see the back of him and are already doing their best to run him off the road. GERMAN police effectively banned the rally this year. Drivers were pulled over as they entered the country from Holland and forced to drive slowly on the autobahn – the one place where they could have legally driven at 200mph – behind a police escort.

Turkey refused the race access altogether. The Gumballers were forced to divert to Athens.

Cooper says he is shocked by Wednesday’s accident and insists he is doing everything he can to help the Cepuljoskis. He and his wife, Danish beauty Julie Brangstrup, flew to Skopje yesterday to pay their respects to the family.

Cooper told The Sunday Times last night: “This is the first time anything like this has happened in nine years.” That’s strictly true, but somewhat misleading. In Morocco two years ago a Lamborghini rammed a small car and injured the woman driver.

Cooper insists he wants to continue with next year’s race, which is due to begin in London and take in Moscow and North and South Korea before ending in Sydney.

“We bring amazing entertainment and enjoyment to drivers and to the people in the cities to which we go,” he said. “Whatever it takes to make it 100% safe, we will do, including having police escorts.”

Police escorts for would-be outlaws living a rock star life? Surely the millionaires and mad hatters who “go Gumball” would rather take the bus.

Source : www.timesonline.co.uk

Final push sees Toyota drivers in the top ten

TOYOTA will line up with two cars in the top ten of the starting grid for the Petronas Malaysian F1 Grand Prix after a strong qualifying session yesterday.
The three sessions were hard-fought but both Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher made it for the final shoot-out for the second consecutive race.
In the final shoot-out involving the ten fastest cars, Toyota brought new softer compound tyres in due to the threat of rain.
Trulli set the eighth fastest time just ahead of Schumacher at the end of the final qualifying session.
Trulli, who clocked 1:36.902 in the final session, was happy they were able to run the car in qualifying trim.
“I missed some running this morning due to an electrical problem but I still had a better balance than yesterday.
“Now we have to see how we can do tomorrow (today). I'm confident because I've always done good races here in Malaysia and the car has always performed better here than at some other circuits,” said the Italian.
His best memories in the Malaysian GP was achieved in 2005, where he finished second for Toyota.
It was also their first podium finish since they entered F1 in 2002. Schumacher finished fifth that year.
Schumacher and Trulli finished eighth and ninth respectively at Sepang last year.
Schumacher, who finished eighth in Melbourne last month, also echoed the same thing.
“Its good to get both cars into the top 10 again. This weekend has been relatively difficult for me because there has not been much grip out there and I've had a few balance problems.
“Thats why I've been struggling a bit but overall I'm happy. We've had no major problems and no reliability issues so we can look forward to tomorrow.

Audi Tradition at the Techno Classica 2007

At the 19th Techno Classica Essen show being held from 29 March - 1 April 2007, Audi Tradition is once again exhibiting in Hall 7 where its stand revolves around the brand's "75 Years of the Four Rings" anniversary. Audi Tradition has also chosen this international classic car show as the backdrop for the public unveiling of three recently restored and extremely rare motor sport cars – all from the pre-quattro era. Also present on the Audi stand again are the Audi museum mobile Ingolstadt, the August Horch Museum Zwickau and the Audi Club International (ACI) as the umbrella organisation of the Audi clubs and of all clubs of the predecessor brands.

The history of Audi is one of the most diverse in automotive history. In 1932, the four brands of Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer amalgamated to form Auto Union AG, with the symbol of the four rings as the company emblem. This merger made Auto Union Germany's second-largest car manufacturer in the 1930s. The wide-ranging brand portfolio that was synonymous with the four rings at that time is represented in Essen by the following exhibits: the exclusive Horch 670 Sport Cabriolet with 12-cylinder engine (120 bhp at 3200 rpm) from 1932, the nippy two-seater DKW F5 Roadster (20 bhp at 3500 rpm) from 1937, the sporty and elegant Wanderer W 25 K Roadster (85 bhp at 4000 rpm) from 1938, as well as a best-selling model from 1939, the Audi 920 Cabriolet with a 6-cylinder in-line engine (75 bhp at 3000 rpm). Rekindling memories of DKW's motorcycle glory days, meanwhile, is the DKW UL 700 sidecar combination from 1936: this was the year that this very combination won the German Championship, before going one better in 1937 and taking both the German and the European Championships.

At the 19th Techno Classica, Audi Tradition is showcasing three motor sport rarities from the time before Audi quattro turned rally sport on its head: the winner of the 1954 European Rally Championship, the "Rallye Monte Carlo" edition of the DKW 3=6 Sonderklasse F 91, the Audi 80 GLE Group 2 rally version from 1979, as well as the Audi 80 GLE, winner of the 1980 European Touring Car Championship.

In 1953, Auto Union GmbH premiered its new DKW 3=6 Sonderklasse F 91 model (34 bhp at 4000 rpm) at the Frankfurt Motor Show. With its three-cylinder two-stroke engine, the newcomer proved tremendously popular in Germany, with 72,600 being built in a variety of body types between 1953 and 1955. After a series of thrilling wins – including victory in its class at the Monte Carlo Rally – the car's debut motor sport season came to a sensational finale when ace DKW drivers Walter Schlüter, Gustav Menz and Heinz Meier made it a one-two-three for the DKW Sonderklasse in the 1954 "European Championship for Standard-production Touring Cars". The models that raced in the rallies of 1954 were broadly similar to the standard-production saloon, leaving little doubt as to this model's performance potential. Incidentally, the three-cylinder DKW Sonderklasse also enjoyed great success when it participated in Europe's most prestigious long-distance speed trial, the Mille Miglia, in 1954 and 1955, finishing as the fastest touring car in the sub-1000 cc category to take the "Coppa argento grandissima". The "Rallye Monte Carlo" edition that Audi Tradition is exhibiting in Essen was rebuilt by classic car specialists "Oldtimer Klassik" from Hradec Kralove in the Czech Republic, using original documents from the Auto Union's motor sport department.

In 1979, Audi competed in a total of 10 European and World Rally Championship races with the second generation of its Audi 80 GLE rally version. The 1600 cc engine under the bonnet of this front-wheel-drive car transmitted 160 bhp to the wheels at 7600 rpm and reached a top speed of 205 km/h. The rally version of the Audi 80 on show at the Techno Classica is a works car that Harald Demuth and Freddy Kottulinsky piloted in the European and World Rally Championship races. This forerunner of a glorious rally era was restored by sms engineering GmbH from Cadolzburg in Germany, the same company which worked together with Audi on its rally cars back in 1979.

Another Audi 80 that made a name for itself in the motor sport arena is making its public debut in Essen: this circuit version of the Audi 80 GLE from 1980 is the same as that driven by Hans Joachim Nowak and Willi Bergmeister in the European Touring Car Championship. The car is based on one of the original bodies that were specially built for motor racing at Audi's Ingolstadt plant. This contemporary witness to the formative years of motor sport at Audi has now been rebuilt by Astec GmbH from Forchheim in Germany. The 1600 cc engine with front-wheel drive developing 194 bhp at 7500 rpm was good for a top speed of 230 km/h. Although the Audi cars competing in the circuit events were raced exclusively by private drivers, the successful teams of Bergmeister/Nowak and Seikel/Trint were supported by Audi works. After finishing as runners-up in 1979, they emerged victorious in 1980 to give Audi its first ever European Touring Car Championship title.

For collectors of automotive rarities, the Audi Tradition team will also be offering a range of appealing lifestyle articles and exclusive model cars from the traditional brands of Audi, DKW, Horch, Wanderer, Auto Union and NSU. Visitors to this year's classic car show in Essen also have the opportunity to buy a limited-edition 1:87 scale model of the DKW 3=6 "Rallye Monte Carlo".

Attachment: the Audi Tradition list of events for 2007

The four rings of the Audi badge symbolise the brands Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer, which were later combined under the umbrella of Auto Union. Auto Union and NSU, which merged in 1969, made many significant contributions towards the development of the car. AUDI AG was formed from Audi NSU Auto Union AG in 1985.

Together with the two traditional companies Auto Union GmbH and NSU GmbH, Audi Tradition nurtures and presents the deep and diverse history of Audi. The Audi museum mobile at the Audi Forum Ingolstadt is open from Monday to Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Source : Audi

MAZDA UNVEILS HAKAZE CONCEPT AT GENEVA INTERNATIONAL MOTOR SHOW

Natural flow lines are all around us – wind blowing shapes in sand, wave forms seen from above – and are literally symbolic of movement itself. Mazda’s design and surface language for future Zoom-Zoom vehicles embraces this concept of natural flow, a new design language called Nagare ( pronounced na-ga-reh ). Developed by Mazda’s global design director, Laurens van den Acker, the word Nagare means “flow” and “the embodiment of movement” in Japanese. To apply this idea to car design, van den Acker and his team analyzed motion itself and how forces like wind and water move in nature.
The 2007 auto show season features four concepts from Mazda that express this new Nagare design concept. The first concept vehicle, also named Nagare, was shown at the Los Angeles International Auto Show, followed by the Ryuga ( pronounced ree-yoo-ga ), which debuted at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Now Mazda brings its Nagare “flow” concept to New York as its third all-new concept in the series, Hakaze ( pronounced hah-kah-zay ), makes its North American debut. Hakaze, which was designed at Mazda’s European Design Center near Frankfurt, Germany and recently made its world debut at the Geneva International Motor Show, is a compact crossover coupe with a roadster feel. It combines the best attributes of three traditional types of cars. Part of its roof is removable, which gives a feel similar to a roadster; it is agile and fun to drive like a compact hatchback, and it has a high hip point and interior functionality like a compact SUV. It expresses Nagare “flow” on the outside with sand-dune like surface iteration and combines these with shapes from machines that move through water or air. On the inside, it boasts “flowing” Nagare forms, natural surfaces and insightful functionality to meet the demands of adventurous lifestyles like kite-surfing.

"Nagare is expressed in the Mazda Hakaze, not only in the iteration on the side of the car, but also in a lot of the details,” says Peter Birtwhistle, Chief Designer, Mazda Motor Europe. “If you look at details like the execution of the wheel design, the spokes have a nice flow in terms of the way they move and the way they integrate into the tire design. The flow concept continues into the interior too, which is reminiscent of sand dunes. It has incredible movement, very much like blowing winds.”

The Compact Crossover Coupe with a Roadster Feel
In Japanese, the word Hakaze comes from “ha” for “leaf” and “kaze” which means “wind,” a fitting combination for a vehicle that looks like it is effortlessly cutting through the air while standing still. Mazda Hakaze has very compact proportions. At 174 inches, it is roughly the same length as the Mazda3 hatchback – which ensures agile, sporty handling – but is wider ( 74.4 inches, + 5.3 inches ), and taller ( 61.4 inches, + 3.7 inches ) with a high seating position, a very large glass area and large suspension travel, all attributes usually associated with a C-segment SUV.

This insightful package is clothed in a modernistic body work with no door handles and no mirrors ( exterior cameras replace these ) very compact proportions and flowing major feature lines and side textures that create a muscular and taught look. Mazda Hakaze has no B-pillar either and the rear two-thirds of the glass roof can be taken off in two parts and stored in a slide-out compartment in the rear bumper. Lowering the car’s four frameless windows then converts the concept into a fun to drive, four-seat coupe with a roadster feel.

The design team took inspiration from sports and outdoor activities in the wind or in the water, giving the sensation of being free. The team looked at sports like kite-surfing, flying, diving, driving personal watercraft or a motorcycle. They looked for shapes molded by natural elements – how the wind shapes the sand is a key element in the exterior design of the Hakaze.

At the front, Mazda pushed forward the design idea of the Mazda Sassou, which was presented at the 2005 Frankfurt Auto Show, with a large, five-point grille design that has chevron-shaped front indicators and headlights, to which they added Nagare flow lines. At the rear of the car, a unique illumination system is used with light flowing directly into the lower part of the rear window. The rear lights have flowing shapes integrated into the design, giving an appearance of a floating light.

Hakaze’s silhouette features Nagare flow lines at the front of the door panel, with a visual link to the front of the car created by a line falling over the top of the front wheel well and into the side panel. These are combined with a rising beltline extended into the hatchback door, a steeply angled windshield similar to Mazda’s CX-7 crossover SUV and a roof line that gives Hakaze a modern body shape that integrates the strong look of a Samurai sword when seen from the side.

All the Nagare flow lines combine to visualize movement by making it seem as if the wind itself has etched natural flow lines into the car’s surface. Even when parked, Hakaze looks as if it is moving, as if wind is blowing over the front wheel wells, down and along the side panels and across the bottom of the rear window.

Hakaze not only took its inspiration from Nagare natural flow, but also from technological objects like helicopters, speed boats and jetfighters. These are strongly related to flow and examples of human interface to fast movement through natural elements. The design team combined these kinds of forms with shapes directly moulded by flow in sand and water. Examples of this are Hakaze’s glass roof cockpit and its 20-inch wheel design. The wheels use a mixture of forms inspired by sand dunes and propeller shapes to express flow and movement –including extensions of the spoke design into the tire rubber bordering the wheel –and adds a three-dimensional depth to lend Mazda’s new show car a modern sophistication.

Nagare Surface Treatment Enhanced by “Flop” Technique
Hakaze’s exterior forms are combined with colors, materials and surface treatment that also express Nagare flow. A desert image is the source for its golden color, reminiscent of a desert at sunset.

“The exterior color was selected to support the surface language, its articulation and its texture, so that the whole surface impression is one of natural flow,” said Birtwhistle. “We want to have a feeling of sand, so if you look closer at the color, you see small particles like sand.”

The natural look to the exterior surface was further underscored by employing a “flop” technique in the color treatment of all panels that are bent at an angle to form two sections with a smooth edge between them. The paint used for such panels was designed to give the upper part of the panel a more transparent feel, which is created by a transparent layer over the color. Then the color “flops” over towards a darker impression below the edge, an effect achieved by additives to the paint and by a slightly different use of particles in the paint. The final effect is similar to a sand dune or a wave in sand, which is lighter above and darker below.

Mazda Hakaze – Kite-Surfing Practicality
Hakaze was designed to show how a possible future C-segment crossover would meet emerging lifestyles trends, and no other trend sport is as perfect a fit as kite-surfing, the latest big crossover sport. It is designed for typical surfer flexibility.

For instance, you can take the roof off in two parts and stow them in a slide-out compartment in the rear bumper. This makes Hakaze a perfect vehicle, not only for a cool roadster feel while driving, but also makes it a sun-filled place to relax on the beach between sessions. Also, the doors and hatch have no handles and are opened without a key. They use a “data shell,” which is a wireless, multi-functional device that the car recognizes, which unlocks the doors automatically. The driver then simply touches the surface where the handle would be, and the door moves outward away from the car by 30 degrees, and opens upward by 45 degrees. This is especially practical when lugging gear to the car.

A Natural Environment
The interior of the Hakaze is a triumph of form, texture and functionality. Its two large, pop-up doors are keyless, one-touch and give a wide opening into one of its four bucket seats. Once inside, Hakaze’s interior gives an intense open feeling, even with the roof up. The windscreen extends to behind the front occupants, creating an enormous viewing angle. The A-pillar dives into the instrument panel just in front of the door, making this feeling even stronger.

“Nagare is visible on the interior in the main surfaces, which are a combination of gently flowing volumes with edges that slowly fade away,” said Birtwhistle. “Inspiration was taken from a dune landscape with the technical parts, like the steering column, being pushed into the surface like a shell that is partly covered in sand on the beach. Also the textures follow this gentle flow of form in a natural manner. All this creates a sensual feeling for the interior and makes sitting in Hakaze like sitting in a natural environment.”

The interior design, and especially the instrument panel, is asymmetrical with a strong focus on the driver. The wrap-around cockpit features a long steering unit that gives a feeling of sportiness and depth. It has orange-lit meters on each side of the steering wheel and in the center of the steering column is an LCD screen with navigation information, images from the car’s rear view and side cameras and warning indicators, all of which give an enhanced feeling of control to the driver. The center of the steering wheel is fixed, only the rim and the lower arm can rotate.

There are also unique sliding controls to the right of the driver on the center console, which follow the three illuminated lines in the surface. These lines have a dune wave design to make it easy for the driver to slide their finger up or down along the surface. Doing so adjusts seat positions, heating, audio and multimedia devices, with light below the surface moving up or down with the finger. The wave strip furthest from the driver has the controls for the car’s hard disc drive multimedia system and an LCD screen that electrically rises up and out of the dashboard surface on the passenger side. This screen can be turned by hand so the driver can also see it when the car is parked.

Data can be transferred to and from the car’s computer with a personal “data shell,” which is a further development of the USB stick concept used on the Mazda Sassou design car.

The wireless device allows the driver to open the car simply by carrying it in their pocket, and also allows them to save personal driving settings and data from their home computer ( route, music, movies ). After getting in the car, the driver pushes the switch on the side of the “data shell” causing the connector to pop out. The device is them inserted in the center console and it automatically downloads the stored information using Bluetooth® technology and provides ignition. Once in place, the “data shell” also functions as the gear shift lever for the concept’s automatic gearbox.

Hakaze also has a wireless charging pad located in the glove box ( also using Bluetooth® ) to recharge the batteries of a mobile phone, PDA, camera or MP3 player. This insightful solution does away with annoying cables, and keeps the device out of view and safe while it recharges automatically.

All of Hakaze’s seats are mounted on the center tunnel and are electrically adjustable, sliding fore and aft. For more room in the back, the rear seats slide forward with their lower cushions under the front seats, which give ample space in the hatch for all kinds of gear necessary for a day at the beach. With the windows down and the top off, there is a true roadster feel wherever you happen to be sitting in the car.

Mazda Hakaze – Kite-Surfing Functionality
Kite-surfers are “wind chasers.” They get up in the morning, turn on their computer and search for the right wind conditions on the Internet for the best place to surf, call their friends, grab their gear and go. Hakaze meets the needs of such a lifestyle in several ways.

For example, part of Hakaze’s center tunnel in the back slides rearwards and out of the car, to which a kite-surfboard can be attached, slid back in and transported. On the inside is an Internet connection on the integrated LCD screen in front of the front passenger. A small digital camera is mounted in the LCD screen, which can be rotated to film the road or the people in the car. The idea is that you can film a nice surfing spot or the route to it, and then share it afterwards with your friends. The concept’s back seat also has a practical double floor construction on both sides of the center tunnel in the back, whose underside is made of rubber making it ideal for transporting wet and sandy items. And finally, most of the switches in the car are sensors that are under the surface, meaning there are no shut lines. This prevents water or sand from getting into the switches and makes cleaning the vehicle on the inside easier as well.

Interior Colors and Materials
“We want the interior to be a heightened touch experience full of natural-feeling surfaces – natural in the sense that you come to the car and you have one impression. When you look a second time, you see new things happening everywhere,” said Birtwhistle.

The color scheme on the inside of Hakaze was chosen to enhance the natural flow forms and to underscore the car’s kite-surfing functionality. They reflect the ocean, continuing the beach and dune theme, with the floor a dark brown, the trim, dashboard, doors and center panel a greenish beige, the four seats in a deep blue. This is combined with unique texturing of materials meant to enhance the Nagare flow strategy with natural feeling surfaces and patterns. Many of the concept’s interior materials are grained using new Flotek® technology, which can create different textures on a single surface. Before, materials had to be embossed using the same repeating patterns. With this new graining technology, the Color and Material’s team was able to make asymmetrical and creatively-patterned surfaces that mimic natural irregularities.

The floor, for instance, is made of soft, natural leather, great for bare feet just off the beach, embossed in a flow pattern with a patina of various textures and slight imperfections that give a natural feel compared to artificially homogeneous material like carpet. The dashboard also has a special grain over it that feels sandy in some places and has line texture in others, which enhances the flowing Nagare forms by making them not only look natural, but feel natural as well.

This touch experience also extends to the seats of Hakaze, which are made of smooth, high-tech leather with a surface coating to make them feel similar to the material used for wet suits, but with a higher quality. The driver’s seat is surrounded in a cocoon-like cockpit and continues the kite-surfer appeal with wet suit stitching and badging in orange Kanji script, while the other three seats have water droplets printed on them for a wet and wild look. The result of all these efforts is a very interactive, even sensual interior surfacing where passengers can discover new touch sensations every time they get into the car.

Ready for Off-road Fun
The Hakaze design concept has been conceived to be equipped with either a powerful DISI* gasoline engine or a diesel engine. The MZR 2.3-litre DISI gasoline engine is a high-performance turbocharged engine with direct injection that is coupled to Mazda’s active torque-split all-wheel drive transmission. This is Mazda’s latest MZR powertrain technology and is an ideal match to the adventurous and fun nature of Hakaze. It delivers high torque and power, 6-speed sport automatic transmission and beach-ready four-wheel drive traction.

Nagare Design - A New Expression of Movement
Last year Mazda wowed the show car world with a trilogy of design concepts that was talked about on three continents. From Europe’s Sassou show car with its unique Shoji design principle and hidden features, to Tokyo Motor Show’s Mazda Senku concept car, winner of the Grand Prix du Plus Beau Concept Car at the 21st Festival Automobile International in 2006 in Paris, to North America’s sports car study Mazda Kabura, winner of the Detroit Auto Show’s Aesthetic and Innovation Award – Mazda Motor Corporation wrote another chapter in its global reputation for eye-catching, Zoom-Zoom design.

“Nagare is the start of a new journey that will ultimately sow the seeds for an entirely new generation of Mazda vehicles. Nagare is about capturing motion, energy and beauty, and translating it into forms that people connect with and want to touch; it finds its inspiration in nature, and as such is an incredibly rich source for our designers,” described van den Acker, Design Division General Manager, Mazda Motor Corporation.

Its first expressions were the Nagare concept car presented last November at the LA Auto Show, and the Ryuga, which premiered at the Detroit Motor Show in January. Both Mazda concepts are an evolving expression of Zoom-Zoom, inspired by the movement of nature’s elements – Nagare’s original surface articulation was inspired by geological flow patterns, and Ryuga’s side body texture was inspired by Karesansui, or Japanese raked gardens. Since its initial debut, Nagare has also been updated to show how surface language can be inspired by the way water flows across the bottom of a slate-filled river. Each evokes energy and lightness, translated into a beautiful language of lines and forms that are powerful yet effortless, simple yet strikingly seductive.

Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., Mazda North American Operations oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States, Canada and Mexico through nearly 900 dealers. Operations in Canada are managed by Mazda Canada, Inc., located in Ontario, Canada, and in Mexico by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City.

Honda Releases Goldwing with Air Bag

Aki Tsukioka wreiting for JCN reported that Honda will release the Goldwing Motorcycle with air bag on May 31. The Goldwing air bag is designed to relieve injury due to crashes.

The shock sensor installed in the front fork area can detect the reduced speed (and does not require an additional front disk cover setup). The sensor then sends the information to a control unit where it calculates whether inflation of the air bag is necessary. The whole process takes about 0.15 seconds. The air bag also includes an alarm light, informing riders in case of an abnormality in the air bag system.

The air bag type Goldwing Motorcycle comes in the color of pearl gray white and is priced at 3,465,000 yen.