Toyota iQ to be donor for Aston Martin's £20k Cygnet city car (革新的なコミューターコンセプトカー アストンマーティンが放つ「Cygnet」)

This isn’t a joke, but a concept for Aston Martin’s new £20k city car. Called the Cygnet, it’s a tiny Toyota iQ-based commuter car redesigned inside and out, and will be sold to existing and future Aston owners from the end of 2010.

The Cygnet concept does actually look like an Aston Martin

Well, an Aston city car. The Cygnet is much more than a badge and stickers special edition – the concept features a redesigned front end with the trademark Aston grille, a vented bonnet, plus air intakes around the iQ’s lights, all of which help to differentiate the concept from its donor car. There are also new door skins and Aston’s famous pop-out door handles, plus revisions to the rear.

Aston won’t be drawn into revealing details of the Cygnet’s interior, but promises the changes inside will be even more extreme that the tweaks outside.

And when can I have one?

Not until the back end of 2010, when Aston reckons it’ll have the project ready. In the meantime it still needs to finalise the styling, especially inside, and figure out exactly how it’s going to make the car. At the moment the company is planning to buy iQs from Toyota, then change them at its Gaydon HQ, but it still needs to decide the details, including what engine/gearbox combination it’s going to sell.

Let’s get this straight – can I buy an Aston Martin Cygnet instead of a Mini?

Not unless you already own a ‘proper’ Aston. Aston reckons around 50% of its customers also own a city car like a Smart for their day-to-day transportation needs, and wants to capitalise on that market.

Rather than have its customers pootle around in £10k city cars, Aston is designing a unique and exclusive city car, so the Cygnet will be offered to all existing Aston owners, and anyone in the future who orders a DB9, DBS, Vantage, Rapide, or even the One-77.

Where did the idea come from?

Aston CEO Dr Ulrich Bez, of course. ‘Now is the right time for Aston Martin to take this first bold step to embark on this special project,’ said Dr Bez. ‘This concept - akin to an exclusive tender to a luxury yacht - will allow us to apply Aston Martin design language, craftsmanship and brand values to a completely new segment of the market.’

‘Much work is still required, but I am confident that this project could become reality in the not too distant future. The offering of a Cygnet with a DBS, DB9 or Vantage is a unique combination of opposites and a novel transport solution allowing intelligent and sensitive mobility on an exclusive and innovative level.’

The tie-up with Toyota came after a chance meeting at a Nurburgring 24hr race. Akio Toyoda, recently announced as Toyota’s new boss, was racing at the ‘Ring and his team was sharing a garage with the Aston works team. Bez and Toyoda became friends, and the pair have helped form the project.

Source: Car magazine

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Text in Japanese

ゲイドン、2009 年 6 月29 日、月曜 アストンマーティンは新しいラグジュアリーコミューターコンセプトを開発しました。「Cygnet (シグネット)」と呼ばれるこのコンセプトカーは、流行と贅沢さが求められる都会での移動手段として開発された、個性ある知的でエクスクルーシブな車です。

このコンセプトカーはアストンマーティンのトレードマークに則ったデザインを持つ、非常に高い評価を得ているトヨタ iQ をベースとしたコミューターで、ユーロ NCAP の 5 つ星をクリアーする安全性も備えています。

「Cygnet」コンセプトは独創的で環境に優しい高い燃費効率を誇る、小さくても存在感のある車で、さらにラグジュアリーなアストンマーティン独自のプレステージ性も与えられています。

　

このコンセプトカーは、高級でニッチな技術力で世界をリードするアストンマーティンと、品質と信頼性において世界をリードするメーカーであるトヨタのコラボレーションモデルです。両社はメーカーとしての規模は全く違いますが、車に対する強い情熱によって支えられる卓越した技術力とイノベーションで構築されている信念を共有しています。

アストンマーティンのウルリッヒ・ベッツ最高経営責任者（CEO）は次のように話しています：「アストンマーティンにとって、今こそこの特別なプロジェクトへ向けて思い切った行動を取る時です。 このプロジェクトは成長を遂げた実力のあるトヨタの協力、そして iQ が持つ知的なデザインおよびシティーコミューターとして完璧なパッケージによって実現します。」

「まだ多くの仕事が残されていますが、私はこのプロジェクトが遠くない時期に実現するものと確信しております。このコンセプトは、豪華ヨットを作る時のようなエクスクルーシブな提案に近いと言えるでしょう。そしてこのコンセプトによってアストンマーティンのデザイン、クラフトマンシップ、ブランドバリューを全く新しいセグメントへ導入させることができるのです。」

.

「Cygnetと DBS、DB9 そしてVantageは対照的な独自のラインナップです。また『Cygnet』という新しい移動手段によって高級感があり革新的、かつ知的でセンシティブなモビリティーが誕生します。」

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Toyota Prius (2009) hybrid CAR review

The Toyota Prius is arguably the most important car launch of the year. It was the Prius that introduced hybrid motoring to early adopters back in 1997, and now, with its third generation, Toyota is aiming to make it a more appealing mainstream proposition without diluting any of the stuff that made the car so special in the first place. So, it should be less of a compromise, while still offering the feelgood factor of cutting edge, planet-saving tech. That’s the idea, anyway.

How does the new Toyota Prius appeal to a more mainstream audience?

Toyota has tried to make the Prius more refined, more spacious, more dynamically engaging and, perhaps more importantly with all those Bluemotion and Efficient Dynamics cars snapping at its heels, more fuel efficient and less polluting too. So power and torque lifts from the second-gen’s 112bhp to 134bhp thanks to a new 1.8-litre engine (up from 1.5-litres), fuel economy increases to 72.4mpg (from 55.4mpg) and C02 falls from 120g/km to a get-into-London-for-free 89g/km compared with the model it replaces.

Dimensions remain similar, but there’s more rear legroom because of carefully sculpted seat backs, and a little more headroom because the highest point of that trademark sloping roof is now slightly further back. The boot is also a little larger thanks to a smaller, better-integrated battery under the boot floor.

First impressions?

The re-style is spot on – unmistakeably Prius to keep those loyal fans happy, but more visually exciting too with its creased shoulder line and rakish headlights. Thank Toyota’s European design studio for that.

Inside, it’s a nice place to be. The interior manages to balance the futuristic concept car feel you’d expect from a technologically advanced car with a large helping of real-world usability. The seats are comfy, the dash simple and easy to use, the colours light and airy, visibility excellent. It’s also incredibly spacious in here for both front and rear seat passengers, and a sense of relaxation pervades.

How does it feel on the road?

It’s good. With a full battery charge (if you’ve been on the open road and are just heading into town, for instance), you can press the EV button and the Prius will operate on its electric battery alone at speeds of up to 50kph (31mph) for as long as 2km. And that’s no marketing spin – we wafted silently around Stockholm and cruised through 50kph-limited built-up areas in the countryside on electric power alone.

That’s a key advantage the Prius (a series/parallel hybrid, meaning it can both combine its power sources and use them independently) holds over the less expensive Honda Insight – a parallel hybrid (i.e. battery and petrol power always operate in tandem) that can never run emissions-free unless it’s at a complete standstill.

Sure, if you spend a lot of time in town you’ll rarely have enough charge to run in EV mode alone, but we found the regular mode did a good job of shutting down the petrol engine at a standstill, under deceleration and at very low speeds.

How about out of town?

Clearly you’ll use petrol power a lot of the time, but at speeds of up to 70kph (44mph) it is possible to be regularly running on electric power. Think of a busy British A-road and it’s easy to see how often that could come into play. And when the power sources do switch, it’s actually quite hard to spot the difference between the engine turning on and off, just a very light kick from beneath you giving the game away.

What about these dynamic improvements, then?

Don’t go getting too excited about that. The Prius is best described as fine rather than fun. It’s inoffensive to drive and doesn’t feel out of its depth beyond the city limits. The CVT transmission does make that trademark thrash when you demand extra mph on a motorway slip road, but it’s more subdued than it is in the Honda Insight because of improved noise insulation and because the engine’s more capable and thus needs working less hard than it does in the 1.3-litre Insight.

Verdict

While we need to spend longer with the Prius to see if it really does drink so little fuel, it does seem that Toyota has hit the nail on the head. The Prius isn’t a compromise suitable only for early adopters, and it doesn’t just make sense in town. It’s a good all-round car that just happens to be packed with cutting-edge tech.

Source: Car magazine

Lexus RX450h (2009) CAR review

The new Lexus RX450h boasts some figures so staggering that even if you’re a diehard opponent of hybrids, crossovers, and particularly cars like this that combine the two, you’re going to have to take notice. Compared to the car it replaces, power is up 10% to 295bhp, but fuel economy improves by 23% to 44.8mpg and CO2 emissions fall from 198g/km to 148g/km. That’s Focus RS power, with better economy and emissions than a Focus 1.4. Is the Lexus RX450h too good to be true?

How does the new Lexus RX450h do it?

The 3.5-litre V6 makes 246bhp on its own and two electric motors add the rest. One is solely responsible for powering the rear axle, and together they can propel the RX silently and unaided for up to two miles with the batteries fully charged by the regenerative brakes.

You might not believe that hybrids can replicate their test figures in real use, but it’s inarguable that Lexus has cut consumption and emissions by a quarter on the same test. Adopting the Atkinson cycle is the main reason, but some other clever engine-management tricks to allow the RX to slip into full EV mode earlier.

Is the RX450h like a Focus RS to drive?

No. The integration of petrol and electric drive is utterly seamless, as you’d expect. Acceleration is impressive at 7.8sec for the 62mph dash, particularly when you learn of the RX450h's chubby 2205kg kerb weight, and there’s a sonorous if muted exhaust note. But there’s just no pleasure to be had from driving this car quickly.

The electric steering lacks any feel, the RX rolls heavily (that active rear anti-roll bar is an option) and you can feel the stability control working to contain the RX’s natural tendency to heavy understeer. Better to drive it as virtually all owners will; at a pace that won’t spill the Starbucks. Then it’s fine: great isolation from poor surfaces, but the usual Lexus tendency to stumble more over bigger intrusions.

Does the RX450h sport the usual luxurious Lexus cabin?

Yes – it’s magnificently made, if crazily arrayed. The big news is the arrival of the Remote Touch mouse-like controller for the main display screen, which fits your hand beautifully but works less impressively when you’re wobbling over bad surfaces.

Just about everything else is top of the class though; the sat-nav, the Mark Levinson audio, the storage provided and the materials used. And there’s an endless kit list, most of it standard, including a nearside camera, a head-up display and LED headlamps.

Not great to drive, some doubt the figures – should I buy a new RX?

If you’re a company car driver the figures – accurate or not – put the RX450h in the 14% tax bracket and will save you thousands each year in benefit-in-kind deductions over equivalent diesel SUVs. It will also be cheaper to tax and is congestion charge exempt, for now.

Whether you believe Lexus’s claims on the fuel saving all drivers will get – £3870 compared to a Merc ML320CDi over three years, they say – depends on your view on those figures. But for most buyers, the fact that the RX450h puts the usual Lexus qualities into an SUV-lite package with the immunity from public hatred that comes with that hybrid badge will be enough.

Source: Car magazine

Honda Insight (2009) petrol-electric hybrid CAR review

That’s no Honda Insight hybrid car. Where are the Ford T-Bird wheel skirts? You’re thinking of the original petrol-electric Honda Insight from the late 1990s. This is Insight hybrid Mk2. It’s still a petrol-electric hybrid but instead of two seats, this one’s got room for five. It’s meant to be a mainstream green car, a hybrid that will appeal to people who’ve never had a green car before. Looks like a Toyota Prius, doesn’t it?

Yes, it does seem to reinforce the notion that hybrid cars all have to look the same with a gently tapering rear and Kamm tail. But as Honda points out, it also shares its shape with the FCX Clarity fuel cell car and can trace its style cues to the original Honda CRX coupe of 1984.

So it’s a hybrid, but what sort of hybrid is it? Can I plug it into the mains?

You’re not alone in being confused. You can’t plug the Insight into the mains, although a plug-in version may follow. And nor does the electric motor fully decouple from the engine as it does in the Prius. The Insight can be moved using battery power alone but the engine still turns. It doesn’t fire though, a separate circular cam lobe coming into play as on the VTEC cars which opens the valves fractionally, allowing the engine to spin freely.

But does it deliver the goods?

If you mean fuel consumption, the Insight achieves 64mpg (but only 61mpg in heavier ES trim) on the combined cycle and emits 101g/km of CO2.

While admirably clean, critics argue that’s barely better than a modern turbodiesel can manage. True, but Honda claims that the Insight excels not on the EU test route, but on the road – a bold claim given our real-world experience with the Prius has highlighted the poor real world economy of hybrids.

The new Honda Insight 2009 also emits very few other nasty particles such as NOx that diesels spew out in vast quantities. Then factor in the extra cost of a litre of diesel and the Insight’s advantage becomes clearer…

So what's it like to drive?

Surprisingly normal, which is exactly what Honda was trying to achieve. It’s certainly more fun to drive than the Prius (although a new Prius will be on sale soon) thanks to tighter body control and better, more feelsome steering.

The Insight’s ride quality is mostly good and the transition between engine-on and engine-off modes is impressively refined. But up the pace and the experience becomes less agreeable. The 1.3-litre engine delivers 88bhp and the electric motor another 14bhp enabling the Insight to reach 62mph in 11.5sec, but the mandatory CVT gearbox forces the engine to wail away painfully when overtaking or climbing steep hills.

The steering is a little slow, requiring more arm work than the Ford Focus Honda claims is a key rival. The Ford is simply more fun for the enthusiast driver, but the Honda entertains in different ways.

Such as?

Well, driving slowly has never been such fun as it is in the Insight. Your challenge is to keep the light behind the speedo display a nice healthy green – which you do by using little throttle and driving smoothly. If it’s blue-green the polar ice caps are receding and if it’s plain blue, we’re all doomed.

Another display gives you a rating in plants (of the garden sort). Five plants means you’re driving as economically as possible. It’s all a bit cheesy and I started as a sceptic, but found it so addictive that I just didn’t care. I actually found myself sitting patiently behind a truck at 40mph because I knew that any move to overtake would have pruned my shrubbery right back.

Does the new Honda Insight cut it as a family car?

The biggest problem is interior room. The boot is actually bigger than a Focus’s but the sloping roofline means rear passenger room is tight. You actually have to duck your head down slightly to see clearly out of the rear window. Front space is better and the dash design fresh and fun although the hard cabin plastics are miles behind a Golf’s in terms of quality.

So how much is it?

Honda hasn’t confirmed prices but says it will be the cheapest hybrid on sale. Our sources suggest a base price of around £15k for the SE (air-con, 15in alloys) and maybe £16,500 for the cruise control, heated seats and bigger rims that come with the ES trim. That would make it substantially cheaper than the larger Prius, which aligns itself more closely with the Civic hybrid.

Verdict

Technically, the new Honda Insight is no marvel. At its core is an evolution of the drivetrain fitted in the original Insight 10 years ago. It’s well equipped but cramped, and not as much fun to drive or as well built as a Golf. And until the prices are announced we can’t be clear about it as a value proposition.

But the latest Insight does feel more mainstream than the curio Prius, it will be affordable and it will help get green virgins into an eco car and make them think about how much their driving style could be modified to lessen the negative impact of their driving on the planet. And that is why the Insight is one of this year’s most crucial cars.

Source: CAR magazine

Crunch watch - Week 50: the economic crisis and the auto industry

Here is this week's follow up of the economic crisis in the auto industry by CAR:

Saturday 13 December 2008
• Bush administration looks to tap the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Programme (Tarp) to provide a bridging loan to see the American car makers alive over Christmas. 'The Treasury will probably follow the model it used in the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rescue, imposing conditions in the form of a contract with the companies receiving government aid. There is no limit to how sweeping these conditions could be.'
• UK Government poised to announce measures to help Britain's car makers; Vauxhall offers Ellesmere Port workers a nine-month sabbatical on 30% pay
• Republican senator John Dingell on the Senate vote: 'Last night, some Southern senators kicked American workers in the gut. Senators from states where the international automakers do considerable business unpatriotically blocked the bill.'

Friday 12 December 2008
• US Senate vetoes auto industry bail-out. GM and Chrysler now facing bankruptcy. Shares in auto makers fall sharply around the globe; Nissan, Honda and Toyota dip by 10% as Japan’s Nikkei index opens
• Major stumbling block is the UAW who are refusing to agree to lower wages in 2009 to match non-unionised workers in foreign-owned implant factories in the South
• GM and Chrylser now desperate for the combined $11 billion they need to stay solvent until 2009
• 43 Democrats, 10 Republicans back the bail-out bill – seven short of the required number
• GM issued a statement last night: ‘We are deeply disappointed that agreement could not be reached tonight in the Senate despite the best bipartisan efforts. We will assess all of our options to continue our restructuring and to obtain the means to weather the current economic crisis’

Thursday 11 December 2008
• Sweden announces a $3.4 billion support package for its car makers, including credit guarantees, emergency loans and research funds. But the government rules out state ownership of Saab or Volvo, both of which are for sale
• US House of Representatives finally votes and approves an aid package worth $14 billion to the American auto industry. The House passed the bill by 237-170
• Details of bill are as previously reported: money is to be made available to GM and Chrysler and – potentially if their funding becomes rockier – Ford. Independent, Bush-appointed car tsar to oversee fund distribution and assist with restructuring. Government to become major shareholder in the Big Three. However, the bail-out could be delayed as it faces opposition in the Senate
• Strict conditions imposed on aid package: turnaround plans must prove they can repay debt, meet tough emissions targets, plan 'advanced technology vehicles', hit 'a positive net present value', and 'rationalise costs, capitalisation, and capacity with respect to the manufacturing workforce, suppliers and dealerships'. Plan to be finalised by end of March 2009
• 'Approval of an auto industry loan package will not save the domestic automakers, but it will give the Detroit Three a chance to save themselves'
• Carlos Ghosn to become chairman of Renault in May 2009. Many believe he is already spread too thin, but it's common in French companies to have joint CEO/chairmen
• Ferrari categorically denies reports on a UK website that it's cutting 300 jobs.

Wednesday 10 December 2008
• The White House and Congressional Democrats have agreed a $15 billion aid package, which will provide short-term loans to GM and Chrysler to stave off bankruptcy until March. The proposal will force the car makers to answer to a presidentially appointed car tsar (who will have powers to withhold further loans if the pace of change is unsatisfactory) and make the government their biggest shareholder. Although agreed in principle, the bill still has to be fully ratified
• Electric car maker Tesla is asking for $350 million government loan; four-door Tesla will be delayed without it
• Chrysler's deal with Chery to build small car is off

Tuesday 9 December 2008
• 'The $15 billion lifeline the Bush administration [will give] GM and Chrsler will do no more than buy the two car makers a little time'
• Ford discusses Volvo sale to China Changan, Chinese newspaper reports
• Volkswagen is first German maker to ask government for banking guarantees
• Draft bill is leaked: exact sum of initial bail-out estimated at $15 billion, car tsar to be appointed, Big Three must drop their lobbying against Californian emissions regs, final and full rescue details must be prepared by 31 March 2009
• The White House has given a 'cool' reaction to the Democrats' plan for a $15 billion bail-out package
• Pressure mounts on GM chief exec since 2000, Rick Wagoner, to step down – even though he has stripped $9 billion of costs from The General under his watch

Monday 8 December 2008
• Interim measures to save GM and Chrysler expected today; car tsar to be appointed
• UK government refuses to bail out UK car makers, Lord Mandelson says
• President-elect Barack Obama tells NBC: 'Millions of people, directly or indirectly, are reliant on that industry, and so I don't think it's an option to simply allow it to collapse'
• Component supplier Wagon Automotive has plunged into administration, putting 500 UK jobs at risk
• Ferrari sales crash to just 92 in November; Maranello will announce 300 job cuts this week
• US Congress bail-out would mean strict government control – including rewriting contracts and possible mergers
• Although November was bleak (every single manufacturer posted a year-on-year drop), there are some bright spots in year-to-date sales. Audi, Chevrolet, Dodge, Hummer, Jaguar, Kia, Nissan, Smart and Volvo are all up

Source: Car magazine UK

Crunch watch - Week 49: the economic crisis and the auto industry

Here is this week's follow up of the economic crisis in the auto industry by CAR:

"Sunday 7 December 2008

• Big Three given breathing space with intermediate $17 billion aid package to be announced this week
• Jaguar and Land Rover are fast-tracking dealer launches in India through parent company Tata
• 4500 jobs at risk as UK component supplier Wagon Automotive on brink of collapse

Saturday 6 December 2008
• Oil prices slump to four-year low of $40 a barrel
• Honda has three credible offers for F1 team
• Chrysler appoints bankruptcy expert Jones Day lawyers

Friday 5 December 2008

• Audi announces it won't have an official factory entry in the 2009 American Le Mans Series, instead focussing on DTM, the R8 LMS and testing its new R15 sports car ahead of the Le Mans 24hrs
• Honda shocks the F1 community by announcing plans to pull out. 800 jobs at risk at Northamptonshire, UK racing HQ unless buyer is found

• Big Three admit they will accept government control in return for aid. Rescue package could now total $125 billion. Chrysler chief exec Bob Nardelli admits he would merge with GM if forced to. GM chief Rik Wagoner says bankruptcy 'is not our plan'
• 'It's not the Big Three. It's 4 million jobs,' says Rev Jesse Jackson

Thursday 4 December 2008
• 'The situation is indeed dire – one need only examine November's sales data or Detroit's truck-heavy line-ups, not to mention their tattered balance sheets and bloated compensation structures to concur. But that does not warrant subsidised loans that would, in the end, amount to a wealth transfer from taxpayers to the executives and unions of a shrinking industry'
• President elect Barack Obama says the Big Three's appeal for $34 billion aid will be taken 'more seriously' by Congress
• GM is talking to 'other auto makers and large engineering houses' to sell Saab
• SMMT confirms CAR's story from earlier in the week: UK car sales have slipped by 37% in November, bringing year-to-date figure down by 11% compared with 2007. Private market has crashed by 45%
• America's UAW union agrees to suspend the Jobs Bank programme (that pays laid-off staff most of their wage) and delay retiree healthcare payments during the crisis
• Five VW board members pocketed €25 million by selling shares during the price spike in October

Wednesday 3 December 2008
• GM plans to sell Saab as well as Hummer, shrink Pontiac and sell or close Saturn, it told Congress. Its wide-ranging survival package will cut US dealers from 6450 to around 4700 – and it needs $4 billion in federal aid by the end of the month
• Chrysler LLC asks Congress for a $7 billion bridging loan (see video below). 'Chrysler Financial is in need of immediate liquidity support,' it admits. Cash reserves will fall to $2.5bn by the year end – yet its expenditure in the first quarter of 2009 is forecast to be $11.6bn
• Porsche USA suffered a 46% sales slump in November
• UK business secretary Peter Mandelson lobbies GM to build Chevy Volt in UK
• Sales of electric cars in Britain have slumped by 58% in the first ten months. Just 156 were sold and electric car distrubutor Nice Car Company (purveyor of the Aixam Mega) has plunged into administration

Tuesday 2 December 2008
• Ford publishes details of rescue plan submitted to Congress: it plans to reach profitability by 2011, launch electric cars by 2011 and vows to sell off its corporate jets
• Indian manufacturing giant Tata has had its credit rating dropped two levels to B1, as it asks members of the Indian public for cash investment
• CAR understands that the UK car market is likely to be down by 37% in November when new-car registration figures are announced later this week, with private sales – to real buyers – crashing by 45%
• American car sales are likely to have slumped by 25% last month – the 17th drop in the past year and a half, while sales in Korea and Japan slump by 30%
• The US Senate Banking Committee bail-out meeting has moved from today to Thursday 4 December; GM, Ford and Chrysler have until today to resubmit their turnaround plans, after the first request was rejected by politicians on 20 November
• UK car accessories firm Halfords is cutting 250 jobs at its 450 stores and HQ. Yesterday's announcement at Ford of a strategic review of its Volvo subsidiary was designed to boost the Blue Oval's chances of winning US state aid

Monday 1 December 2008
• It's been rumoured for months, but Ford finally goes public and announces it is looking to sell Volvo to improve its balance sheet
• Aston Martin to cut 600 jobs from its 1850-strong workforce, as sales stutter
• UK Government likely to announce motor industry aid 'within weeks' after meeting with industry, including Toyota, GM, Nissan, Rolls-Royce, Leyland Trucks and Aston Martin. Sector requests liquidity aid for dealers' financing arms and bridging loans. Meanwhile, GM Europe appoints Jones Lang LaSalle to arrange sale and leaseback of sites to raise €200 million
• American auto makers prepare for tomorrow's deadline to present rescue plans to Congress – after last month's bid was refused"

Source: Car magazine UK

How green is the new Honda Insight?

The production version of the Insight is inevitably watered down from the Insight concept car but remains an intriguing piece of industrial design. The big question though is how green it is. CAR has reveiled the following information:

"This thing packs everything Honda knows about saving fuel into a car. The Insight will use the latest iteration of Honda’s IMA electric drive system mated to nickel metal hydride batteries. It’s interesting that both Honda and Toyota are shying away from the much lauded lithium ion tech at this stage, saying they are not advanced enough for full-scale production.

Honda has spent a lot of time shrinking and simplifying its hybrid system – to save money and valuable space. It is mated to a 1.4-litre i-VTEC petrol engine from the Jazz, but with a bespoke head that’s optimised for economy. The Insight is a full hybrid, capable of running at up to 31mph on electric power alone. Honda has not yet issued any economy or emissions claims, but sources have indicated to us that around 65mpg and 100g/km of CO2 are likely figures."

Source: Car magazine UK

Crunch watch: the economic crisis and the auto industry

Car magazine has published a very nice follow up of the economic crisis in the auto industry, which is being updated regularly.

Click here to visit

There is also a link on the sidebar ("Industry News by CAR" below the Photo Galleries)

Nissan 370Z CAR review

Nissan's Zed car is back and that new 370Z moniker indicates a bigger 3.7-litre V6 – up from the old car's 3.5 and lifted from the Infiniti G37. Yet thanks to the extensive use of aluminium throughout, the new 370Z weighs exactly the same as the current 350Z. Time to find out if this make the new Nissan 370Z as good as a Porsche Cayman. Read on for CAR's first drive.

So the Nissan 370Z has been working out? More power, same weight and subtly different looks...

Nice of you to notice. Check out those swollen rear arches and pinched waist. The current 350Z never looked quite right – the rear end was a mess and the flanks lacked definition – but the 370Z answers almost every aesthetic criticism while still retaining the distinctive look of the Zed we’ve loved since 2003.

It’s not just cosmetic stuff either. The wheelbase is 100mm shorter than before to improve agility and the doors, bootlid and bonnet are fashioned from aluminium to peg the kerbweight at 1480kg, exactly what the old car weighed. Nissan reckoned this was needed to offset a 100kg increase resulting from meeting more stringent crash standards.

But it’s the same car underneath?

It’s the same in spirit, but the components are different. The platform is new – albeit one adapted from the old car’s – and also underpins the latest Infiniti saloons, coupes and convertibles.

The Nissan and Infinitis share the V6 engine too, which displaces 3.7 litres, up from 3.5 litres, hence the extra 20 in the name. It kicks out 331bhp, up from 309bhp and 269lb ft of torque, delivering said steeds to the limited slip-equipped rear axle via a six-speed manual gearbox or new seven-speed automatic. Other markets have had auto versions before, but this is the first time Brits have been offered a two-pedal version.

Limited slip diff, 331bhp, rear-wheel drive: the thing's probably never in a straight line, is it?

That’s not true. The 350Z had this same reputation but it’s as undeserved now as it was then. In fact it’s predominantly an understeerer with strong traction and you have to be really trying to get the tail to step out. At least that’s what it’s like in the dry. We didn’t drive it in the wet – but we’d imagine the standard-fit electronic stability control system more than earns its keep.

I heard Nissan’s benchmark for this project was the Porsche Cayman. Is the 370Z that good?

Nissan did indeed target the Porsche Cayman, though what they were trying to match was the sense of excitement rather than its steering feel or lap times in particular. They feel very different to drive and, predictably, the Porsche is substantially the better of the two. It’s significantly lighter and feels it, and it also steers more satisfyingly.

But the 370Z is still seriously good fun, and much more complete than its 350Z predecessor. Body control is much improved, something you particularly notice over mid-corner bumps, the meaty, communicative steering feels sharper and the turn-in more immediate. The engine feels subtly more athletic too, as it should given Nissan claims the 0-60mph figure has dropped by 0.3sec to 5.4sec.

We didn’t have the opportunity to drive the auto but the hefty, precise feel of the manual gearchange is so good we can’t imagine choosing anything else. Particularly now that Nissan has added Rev Synchro Control. This simple but brilliant feature automatically blips the throttle when you make a downchange, perfectly imitating a heel-and-toe shift. If you’d prefer to do it yourself you can, but it works very well and will help drivers who can’t heel-and-toe feel like heroes, as well as improving their smoothness around town.

No room for the kids in the new 370Z, I suppose?

Sorry, this is a proper sports car. But it’s not totally impractical. The new shell is much stiffer so the engineers were able to relocate the brace bar that crucified the old car’s luggage space to a less obtrusive spot behind the rear seats. There’s still no load cover though, so valuables remain in full view.

But the cabin quality is much improved. The dash plastics are of noticeably better quality, the hooded instruments are more handsome and you no longer slide out of the leather seats when you tick the cow box because the seat centres come covered in grippy suede. There’s still no reach adjustment for the steering wheel, unfortunately.

Verdict

It’s not a radical overhaul of the 350Z, but then it didn’t need one. Instead it’s a sympathetic update that’s resulted in a car that’s better to look at, better built and subtly better to drive. Only the more expensive but beautifully tactile Porsche Cayman could persuade us to spend our £30k coupe pot elsewhere.

Source: Car magazine UK