Archive for March 2012

BMW New cars

BMW entered existence as a business entity following a restructuring of the Rapp Motorenwerke aircraft engine manufacturing firm in 1917. After the end of World War I in 1918, BMW was forced to cease aircraft engine production by the terms of the Versailles Armistice Treaty. The company consequently shifted to motorcycle production in 1923, once the restrictions of the treaty started to be lifted, followed by automobiles in 1928–29.

The first car which BMW successfully produced and the car which launched BMW on the road to automobile production was the Dixi, it was based on the Austin 7 and licensed from the Austin Motor Company in Birmingham, England.

The circular blue and white BMW logo or roundel evolved from the circular Rapp Motorenwerke company logo, from which the BMW company grew, combined with the blue and white colors of the flag of Bavaria. The logo has been portrayed as the movement of an aircraft propeller with the white blades cutting through a blue sky — first used in a BMW advertisement in 1929, twelve years after the roundel was created — but this is not the origin of the logo itself.

BMW's first significant aircraft engine was the BMW IIIa inline-six liquid-cooled engine of 1918, much preferred for its high-altitude performance. With German rearmament in the 1930s, the company again began producing aircraft engines for the Luftwaffe. Among its successful World War II engine designs were the BMW 132 and BMW 801 air-cooled radial engines, and the pioneering BMW 003 axial-flow turbojet, which powered the tiny, 1944-1945-era jet-powered "emergency fighter", the Heinkel He 162 Spatz. The BMW 003 jet engine was tested in the A-1b version of the world's first jet fighter, the Messerschmitt Me 262, but BMW engines failed on takeoff, a major setback for the jet fighter program until successful testing with Junkers engines.

By the year 1959, the automotive division of BMW was in financial difficulties and a shareholders meeting was held to decide whether to go into liquidation or find a way of carrying on. It was decided to carry on and to try to cash in on the current economy car boom enjoyed so successfully by some of Germany's ex-aircraft manufacturers such as Messerschmitt and Heinkel. The rights to manufacture the Italian Iso Isetta were bought; the tiny cars themselves were to be powered by a modified form of BMW's own motorcycle engine. This was moderately successful and helped the company get back on its feet. The controlling majority shareholder of the BMW Aktiengesellschaft since 1959 is the Quandt family, which owns about 46% of the stock. The rest is in public float.

BMW acquired the Hans Glas company based in Dingolfing, Germany, in 1966. It was reputed that the acquisition was mainly to gain access to Glas' development of the timing belt with an overhead camshaft in automotive applications. Glas vehicles were briefly badged as BMW until the company was fully absorbed.

In 1992, BMW acquired a large stake in California based industrial design studio DesignworksUSA, which they fully acquired in 1995. In 1994, BMW bought the British Rover Group (which at the time consisted of the Rover, Land Rover and MG brands as well as the rights to defunct brands including Austin and Morris), and owned it for six years. By 2000, Rover was incurring huge losses and BMW decided to sell the combine. The MG and Rover brands were sold to the Phoenix Consortium to form MG Rover, while Land Rover was taken over by Ford. BMW, meanwhile, retained the rights to build the new Mini, which was launched in 2001.

Chief designer Chris Bangle announced his departure from BMW in February 2009, after serving on the design team for nearly seventeen years. He was replaced by Adrian van Hooydonk, Bangle's former right hand man. Bangle was known for his radical designs such as the 2002 7-Series and the 2002 Z4. In July 2007, the production rights for Husqvarna Motorcycles was purchased by BMW for a reported 93 million euros. BMW Motorrad plans to continue operating Husqvarna Motorcycles as a separate enterprise. All development, sales and production activities, as well as the current workforce, have remained in place at its present location at Varese.
BMW
BMW
BMW
BMW

BMW

In 2006, the BMW group (including Mini and Rolls-Royce) produced 1,366,838 four-wheeled vehicles, which were manufactured in five countries. In 2010, it manufactured 1,481,253 four-wheeled vehicles and 112,271 motorcycles (under both the BMW and Husqvarna brands).

The BMW X3 (E83) was made by Magna Steyr, a subsidiary of Magna of Canada, in Graz, Austria under license from BMW until 2010. More than 45,973 were produced in 2009. Starting October 2010, the new BMW X3 (F25) is produced in BMW's plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, U.S.A. From September 2010, the plant is producing MINI Countryman.

It is reported that about 56% of BMW-brand vehicles produced are powered by petrol engines and the remaining 44% are powered by diesel engines. Of those petrol vehicles, about 27% are four-cylinder models and about nine percent are eight-cylinder models

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Audi Cars

The largest shareholder of Audi AG is Volkswagen AG, which holds over 99 percent of the share capital. Volkswagen AG includes the consolidated accounts of Audi AG in its own financial statements. In recent years, the possibility of Audi being spun off or otherwise divested by Volkswagen has been mooted.

From 2002 up to 2007, Audi headed the Audi Brand Group, the Volkswagen Group's automotive sub-division, consisted of Audi together with SEAT and Lamborghini, that was focused on more sporty values, with the marques' product vehicles and performance being under the higher responsibility of the Audi brand










Audi Cars Audi R8 Audi A4 Audi A8 Audi Q7 Reviews

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Mazda RX8 2012

Mazda RX8
Mazda RX8
Mazda RX8
Mazda RX8
Mazda RX8

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Mazda Furai 2012

The Furai ( Fūrai?), meaning "sound of the wind", is the fifth and last of the Mazda Nagare line of concept cars that have been made by Mazda since 2006. The chassis is based on the Courage Compétition C65 Le Mans Prototype that Mazda last used to compete in the American Le Mans Series, two seasons previously is designed to use E100 ethanol fuel, it is powered by a new generation 3-rotor wankel engine that puts out 450 brake horsepower (340 kW). The engine is developed and built by renowned rotary tuner, Racing Beat, who also built the car's rotary-shaped muffler canister.

The car bears the #55 number that of its 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans winning ancestor, the 787B. Unlike many concept cars, the Furai is fully functional and is currently being tested at various tracks. It has run at Laguna Seca and Buttonwillow.

Head designer, Laurens van den Acker, has stated in an interview with Top Gear magazine that there are possibilities of the Furai being used for racing in Le Mans, and he also has strong hopes that the car could be brought to the market
Mazda Furai
Mazda Furai
Mazda Furai
Mazda Furai
Mazda Furai

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Mazda Cars

New Mazda Nagare Concept Design, Say what you like, and the Mazda brand recognition is nearing one hundred per cent: when you look at any model of the company or there is not a single doubt in her tribal affiliation. One style, designed in the spirit of the concept of Nagare, when you create a Japanese inspired by nature, is felt even in a clumsy pickup BT-50. Now, as bolt from the sky, publicists have manifested a new press concept Shinari, which will be the prototype for all new models of the company. It turns out, Mazda may be quite different.
Mazda Cars
Mazda Cars
Mazda Cars
Mazda Cars
Mazda Cars
Mazda Cars
Mazda Cars
Mazda Cars
Mazda Cars
Mazda Cars

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The Super Future Cars

Future Cars
Conventional automobiles operate at about 15% efficiency. The rest of the energy is lost to engine and drive-train inefficiencies and idling. Therefore, the potential to improve fuel efficiency with advanced technologies is enormous.

Various technologies have been developed and utilized to increase the energy efficiency of conventional cars or supplement them, resulting in energy savings.

Regenerative braking technology saves and stores energy for future use or as back up power. When conventional brakes are used, 100% of the kinetic energy lost is converted to thermal energy, and dissipated in the form of heat. Regenerative braking recovers some of this energy to recharge the batteries in a hybrid vehicle.
BMW's Turbosteamer concept uses energy from the exhaust gases of the traditional Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) to power a steam engine which also contributes power to the automobile (Hanlon, 2005). This can increase energy efficiency by up to 15%.
Compressed air Hybrid is an engine made by researchers at Brunel University in Britain, which forces highly compressed air into the engine, which they claim reduces fuel consumption by 30%.
Utilization of waste heat from D.W. as useful mechanical energy through exhaust powered steam, stirling engines, thermal diodes, etc.
Using computational fluid dynamics in the design stage can produce vehicles which take significantly less energy to push through the air, a major consideration at highway speeds. The Volkswagen 1-litre car and Aptera 2 Series are examples of ultra-low-drag vehicles.

Future Cars
Future Cars
Future Cars
Future Cars
Future Cars
Future Cars
Future Cars
Future Cars
Future Cars

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2013 Fiat 500L

2013 Fiat 500L
2013 Fiat 500L
2013 Fiat 500L
2013 Fiat 500L
2013 Fiat 500L
2013 Fiat 500L
2013 Fiat 500L
2013 Fiat 500L
A new entry into the hotly contested multi-purpose vehicle market in Europe, the 500L is considerably bigger than its siblings, much in the same way the original, pioneering 1956 Fiat 600 Multipla was compared with the Seicento that spawned it.

The 500L is to the 500 what the Mini Countryman is to the Mini Cooper: a stretched, larger version of the donor car, yet based on the same platform. The 500L (L stands for Large) will be 23.4 inches longer, 6.0 inches wider, and 5.6 inches longer than the smaller 500 and 500C models. Speaking of Countryman, the 500L is within a couple of inches of that hatchback: the 500L is 1.3 inches longer, 0.3 inches narrower, and 3.9 inches taller than that car.

Underhood, there shouldn't be any surprises: Fiat claims that the car will feature its TwinAir twin-turbocharged two-cylinder engine, MultiAir four-cylinders, and a diesel when it goes on sale in Europe. It would seem likely that the American market 500L will only get the 1.4-liter MultiAir inline-four-cylinder engine from the 500, which produces 101 horsepower and 98 pound-feet of torque in that car. Considering that the 500L is designed to hold more people and things than the smaller car, we'd imagine there will be more power on tap, perhaps from a version that borrows the turbocharged I-4 from the 500 Abarth. That engine produces 160 horsepower and 170 pound-feet of torque.

With the new Fiat 500 representing the first vehicle from the Italian automaker to arrive on North American shores since 1982 (1985 if you count the Pininfarina 124 Spider), there’s definitely a chance the L model will make it here too, though with US Fiat sales so far having fallen short of estimates, it might be a while before you see the L in North American showrooms.

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