Mitsubishi say the Mirage is reality

The Mirage is real.

A new eco-car is on the horizon for Mitsubishi to join the Nissan March and the Honda Brio as inexpensive new cars. This new Mirage will be released at the Bangkok International Motor Show in March 2012.

The styling is reminiscent of the Mazda2, Ford Fiesta, Honda Brio, and the interior simple and uncluttered. Being a sub-500,000 baht vehicle, this is to be expected, but it still looks more attractive than the Nissan March, which stole a march on everyone (sorry about the pun) when it was released and had the marketplace to itself.

The engine, to be in line with the government’s eco-car rules, will be a 1.2 liter and fuel economy is around 20 km/l. The pundits are suggesting that Mitsubishi will also be offering the Mirage as an electric option with the iMiEV technology (Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle); however, this would not be until 2014.

Sadly, the Honda Brio should have been the class leader in the eco-cars, but the flooded Honda plant in November put an end to all that.

Ducati Riding Experience 2012

Knee down on the Ducati.

Ducati have become much more aggressive with its marketing strategies if late. Now with a dealership opened on Third Road, and some truly exciting motorcycles, the future looks rosy for the Italian manufacturer.

Ducati has now opened its books for the 2012 Ducati Riding Experience (DRE) events, an excellent riding courses suitable for all levels, from absolute beginner to race track specialist. Held at some of Italy’s most famous circuits and offering the expertise of highly qualified professional instructors, the courses provide a complete fleet of Ducatis on which to perfect riding skills or simply take the very first steps into motorcycling in complete safety.

2011 saw the introduction of the Troy Bayliss Academy and, by overwhelming demand, the three times World Champion and global racing icon returns for 2012 for his advanced track courses aboard the brand new 1199 Panigale S, Ducati’s new Superbike, which scooped the “Most Beautiful Bike of Show” award when it was unveiled at the Milan show in November 2011, is now awaited around the world and its use in both the DRE Master Racing course and the Troy Bayliss Academy means that DRE is sure to be sold out fast.

The DRE “Basic” course, held in the wide-open space of the circuit paddocks, uses the rider-friendly Monster 796 and is intended for those new to motorcycling, while DRE “Intermediate” courses are designed to improve existing road riding skills and enhance rider safety aboard the Hypermotard 796, Monster 1100 ABS and the Multistrada 1200.

Courses intended for more expert riders and designed to enhance track riding skills are offered in “Racing 1” and “Racing 2” aboard the Superbike 848EVO, while the “Troy Bayliss Academy” and “Master Racing” course, instructed by riders such as former 500cc World Champion, Marco Lucchinelli, using the new Ducati 1199 Panigale Superbike.

Lucchinelli and Troy Bayliss are supported by an experienced team of instructors working with technical supervisor, Dario Marchetti, while a full support staff ensure seamless and efficient organisation. DRE’s close collaboration with Federazione Motociclistica Italiana will also continue in 2012, ensuring constant upgrading and improvement of instruction protocols and maintaining Ducati’s high event standards.

Head in the clouds while on the move

Harman, global leading supplier of premium audio and infotainment systems, announced today that its Aha business unit has won new business with five premium car manufacturers to implement consumer services based on its cloud-based computing platform bringing a broad spectrum of rich internet content safely into vehicles.

According to market research company JD Power and Associates, new car sales should reach 17.2 million in the USA and Canada in 2013, and Aha’s five new partners should account for approximately 22 percent of that new car market. The initial Aha implementations will roll out in 2012, with additional vehicles added in future years.

The Aha platform is being integrated with systems manufactured by Harman as well as multiple other hardware manufacturers. The first OEM partnerships will be announced during the Consumer Electronics Show, to be held in Las Vegas on 9 January 2012.

Aha is Harman’s Silicon Valley-based business unit powering the Web-connected ‘fourth band’ of the radio dial, making Web content as easy to access as AM and FM channels. Owners of Aha-Ready vehicles will have instant access to thousands of free stations of Web-based content including music services, Internet radio, podcasts, live news, audio books, personalized traffic reports, Facebook and Twitter feeds, location-based services and more, through their factory-installed in-car infotainment systems.

The Aha Service is free of charge for customers and always up-to-date, thanks to its cloud-based technology platform which can easily keep up with rapid-changing web and content companies. Consumers bring Aha into their car and customize their stations and settings through Aha’s smartphone apps.

“Aha represents the next generation of automotive infotainment services,” explained Michael Mauser, Executive vice president and co-president, Infotainment and Lifestyle. “The Aha Platform enables our automotive OEM partners to offer their customers an unparalleled, ‘future proofed’ infotainment experience”, continued Mauser. “With its unique radio-based approach, the platform uniquely enables an intuitive experience for consumers and can be seamlessly integrated in the customized HMIs of the OEMs.”

Japan still humming and hawing

Honda EV-STER

The Tokyo Motor Show showed that the Japanese motor industry is still caught between the different fuels that are available. Electric is the most popular alternative energy, but hydrogen is still there, as are hybrids.

The Tokyo models were leaning heavily towards making EVs city cars with models such as the Toyota FT-EV III having a range of only 100 km. Rather better (but still not enough) was the Honda EV-STER which has a range of 160 km.

Toyota, the leader in the hybrids globally, showed another energy source with its hydrogen vehicle the Toyota FCV-R which has a reputed range of 700 km, though for hydrogen cars there’s a long way between hydrogen filling stations.

The stumbling blocks for the EV’s remains the range and the charging time. The biggest EV worry was in terms of driving range (66 percent), followed by convenience to refuel/recharge (60 percent) and purchase price (56 percent). The range expected by the majority was over 300 km between charges, with the charges expected to take less than two hours.

Toyota FCV-R

This recent study in Australia by the consulting firm Deloitte shows that fuel prices need to reach about B. 78 per liter before 71 percent of Australians would consider buying or leasing an EV.

Even more telling was the fact that 54 percent would be much less likely to consider an EV if a conventional internal combustion engined model of their choice averaged 4.7 L/100 km in fuel consumption (the economy expected of our eco-cars), while 76 percent said they would be less interested in EVs if economy from their preferred internal combustion engine vehicle was 3.0 L/100 km. These are fuel consumption figures that are attainable now.

The findings also showed that consumer expectations of EVs in terms of pricing, driving range and battery recharging times far exceed the first wave of EVs now available such as the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, Nissan Leaf and Renault Fluence ZE.

Deloitte automotive and manufacturing partner Damon Cantwell said “The results highlight that until electric vehicles address issues around charge convenience, range and vehicle cost, consumers will continue to focus more on (conventional) small to mid-size cars.”

New BMW 6 Series, ready to take on CLS, A7

BMW Gran coupe

Using the same name as the concept shown at the 2010 Beijing motor show, the four-door 6 Series Gran Coupe will join the two-door 6 Series Coupe and Convertible 6’s in the third quarter of 2012.

The Gran Coupe will be the Munich car-maker’s new flagship sedan - at least in terms of design and desirability - by offering more practicality than the existing 6 Series cars and sleeker styling than the 7 Series limousine.

To be officially unveiled at the Geneva motor show in March, the Gran Coupe is reported to be based on a stretched 5 Series platform with a 2968 mm wheelbase - 98 mm shorter than the short-wheelbase 7 Series (3070mm) but some 113 mm longer than the other 6 Series models.

The Gran Coupe is 102 mm longer than the 5 Series sedan and just 65 mm shorter than the 7 Series SWB.

Much of the Gran Coupe’s extra length benefits rear-seat passengers, who are presented with vastly more legroom and luxury appointments than those in the rear of either two-door 6 Series models, while all four seats are mounted higher for better visibility.

The 640i’s 3.0 liter straight-six diesel with twin-scroll turbo develops 235 kW of power at 5800 rpm and 450 Nm of torque between 1300 and 4500 rpm, returning EU fuel consumption of 7.7 to 7.9 liters per 100 km, and 0-100 km/h acceleration in 5.4.

All Gran Coupes come with an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission and a 250 km/h top speed, plus a host of fuel-saving functions including idle-stop, regenerative braking, on-demand ancillary components and an automatic grille shutter.

Like its 6 Series stablemates, the Gran Coupe will be fitted with Servotronic electric power steering, Dynamic Damper Control, Xenon headlights with LED daytime-running lights, LED fog-lights, 18 inch alloy wheels, Dakota leather trim, electric steering wheel adjustment and two-zone climate-control.

Optional BMW ConnectedDrive functions include BMW Parking Assistant, Collision Warning with braking function (in conjunction with Active Cruise Control), Lane Change Warning, Lane Departure Warning, Speed Limit Info, High-Beam Assistant, BMW Night Vision with pedestrian recognition, four-zone climate-control and new-generation BMW Head-Up Display.