Recent Comments:
VIDEO: God's ringtone is a V10-powered Audi R8 {Autoblog}
May 14th 2008 8:40PM does sound nice.
But I think there are lots of different setups that sound nice.
the R8 is a fantastic looking car, as well. AWD, Mid-engined, V8 or V10 powered, and looks like a jet.
only thing better would be if it looked like the V12 TDI LeMans concept.
Does car color correlate with personal confidence? {Autoblog}
May 14th 2008 8:26PM agreed.
I choose a car color by what color I like looking at a car in.
Reds and Blues are my favorite. Silver and Black are sometimes nice to look at, but get tired over time, and black hides details, which can be useful, or detracting.
My car is red, and although I can get worked up a bit, it takes a lot of input to do so and usually is my response to a breakdown of reason, and otherwise I am usually calm and stoic when other people are running around panicking.
My wife, who also has a red car, and red hair, is much more prone to emotional reactions. But she likes red cars. Her NB Miata looks fantastic in classic red.
I think car color only indicates social traits in people who don't take their personal taste very seriously, and allow their personality to dictate their sense of taste, rather than picking colors and designs on design merits, so the correlation doesn't always hold up.
VIDEO: Driving the Mazda Furai concept at Buttonwillow {Autoblog}
May 14th 2008 8:16PM I believe it is merely a styling exercise based on an existing mid-engined race chassis.
I don't think it is supposed to directly portend a street car, like the LF-A Lexus.
I think this is a proof-of-concept, and a buzz-generator for Mazda's new design language.
I think we'll see styling drawn from this on future mazda products. I certainly hope so.
VIDEO: Driving the Mazda Furai concept at Buttonwillow {Autoblog}
May 14th 2008 8:09PM The surface development on the Furai is FAN-TASTIC.
ALL of the little lines and sweeps are a bit busy, but in a good way, where your eyes are always finding new curves and new angles.
The wheels alone are something I badly want.
As a design language, this needs to be on the street.
Mazda is the Zoom Zoom company with the soul of a sports car in everything they make...
Yet they don't make a hard-roof sports car. They make a convertible sports car, and a 4-door 4-seat sporty coupe-sedan something... Both good cars.
But they don't have an RX7 any longer, front or rear-mid engined.
if any car screams for a production version, it is the Furai, and if that production car were to fit into Mazda's lineup, it would be in the RX7 (or RX6 if they don't want to bind themselves to their own legend too much)
The Kabura was nearly there, too, as a coupe version of the Miata.
Kabura, being the first arrow into battle, might be a little late. But the car should exist.
MX6 for I4 and DISI/turbo I4, with the mazdaspeed moniker. RX6 for the rotary. Easy would be front engine, rear drive, like the Miata and RX8. More interesting would be a boxster/cayman competitor or undercutter with a mid-engine chassis variant, especially with a rotary.
With a rotary's thin torque, but wide rev range and feather light rev resistance, seems like a natural pairing to a dual-clutch automated manual transmission with 6 to 8 gears. (VW/Audi has 6, GT-R has 8 gears, IIRC), especially as a rear-mounted transaxle.
Where is Mazda on this?... build us a fantastic sports car, the way we know Mazda can.
The style is shown on Furai in spades. It could be toned down and still look miles ahead of anything else.
We know that Mazda has the suspension savvy, and they have rotary, piston, and turbocharged engines already on deck...
And they have a light-weight RWD stiff chassis under the NC Miata and RX8. A few tweaks, and a body change, to slot between the hard-roof 4-seat RX8, and the soft-roof 2-seat Miata.
Rendered Speculation: Nissan 370Z previewed in presentation {Autoblog}
May 14th 2008 1:13PM ummmm
Like the GT-R?
can you say redundant?
can you say redundant?
Subaru Outback wears its boxer diesel engine on the outside {Autoblog}
May 14th 2008 12:34PM Indeed, all I have read, aside from Clarkson, have said that the Subaru diesel is a gem of a diesel.
I do agree with Clarkson, somewhat. I as well am a Turbo "petrol" Legacy owner. I wouldn't let a diesel get anywhere near it. Diesel and the STI badge should remain diametrically opposed.
But for an SUV/mini-truck utilitarian vehicle, it sounds good.
And knowing Subaru, and seeing other diesels get results from tuning, there is probably a whole slew of power left on the table with that engine. A tune, and propane injection could possibly double or triple the torque output, if the engine components are as good as Subarus almost always are.
Subaru Outback wears its boxer diesel engine on the outside {Autoblog}
May 14th 2008 11:56AM That is what I have been thinking, but rather a used Subaru Baja small truck.
Subaru under-cut it's baja so much that it didn't tow, was an old chassis with hacked-on bed, and didn't sell.
If they had "trucked it up" a bit, maybe make it look more like the front of a forester, rather than a car/outback...
But a diesel, with Subaru's mechanical symmetric AWD setup makes a TON of sense in a vehicle like that. A small convertible/coverable truck bed behind 4 seats, in a mini-truck format. (like a 5/8 scale Avalanche or H2 SUT, or a smaller honda ridgeline, but as an AWD turbo diesel Subaru.)
I would even suggest a folding mid-gate arrangement, with the rearward side doors be sliding, like smaller version of van doors. I hate getting trapped while loading or unloading cargo items, between front and rear side doors in parking spaces, with either forward or reverse-opening rearward doors. Sliding doors usually have more un-shrouded approaches, and wider openings than conventional hinged doors. If they could figure out how to do it with integrating the B-pillar into the sliding door, that would be even better.
With proper brakes, transaxle/diff oil cooling, robust suspension, and a 5000/500 class III tow capability... that could be a fantastic little unibody truck.
And based on the new big Forester, although re-styled as a specific model, not just a bed hacked onto a Forester, and not based on a previous, outmoded chassis, body and interior, as the Baja was. Nothing like keeping an old chassis alive for just one barely-saleable vehicle, while the rest of the line had moved on...
The reclaimed Veggie-diesel idea occurred to me as well... especially with a vehicle that can be used to go get the veggie oil stock.
Rendered Speculation: Nissan 370Z previewed in presentation {Autoblog}
May 14th 2008 11:11AM Not feeling the L-shaped headlights...
but who the heck notices that, with a completely ugly roofline.
That is the most hideous thing I have seen in a while.
Lamborghini working on certified pre-owned program {Autoblog}
May 13th 2008 11:44PM not strictly on-topic, but those wheels are gorgeous.
The close up shows that they actually are cast with voids even close to the bolt circle, which most cast or forged spoke-look wheels don't have.
When reverse lights aren't enough. Our Lady of the Trunk {Autoblog}
May 13th 2008 4:04PM maybe prius owners need these to avoid backing over reckless kids on bikes.
Just a thought.
