Autoblog

Where there's smoke, there's fire. And while most wouldn't think of a miniscule European van as hot, PSA's Peugeot brand has its day in the sun with its new Partner vans, unveiled together with its sister-company Citroen's new Berlingo.

The new Partner is virtually identical to its partner, the Berlingo, but is distinguished by some unique features and sheetmetal. The passenger version is labeled the Partner Tepee and gets a multi-function roof called "Zenith". It's also available with a pseudo-off-road package called the Partner Tepee Outdoor. The outgoing version, on the market since 1996, continues on as the entry-level Partner Origin (like the Berlingo First). And, of course, there's a utilitarian version set up for light commercial use with a 1.8-meter long cargo floor that can be extended to 3 meters by dropping the Multi-Flex passenger seats, which gives the Partner LCV an additional 400 liters (14 cubic feet) of cargo space on top of the 3,300-liter (116 cubic-foot) conventional capacity.

[Source: Peugeot]

click above image for more views of the NASA Chariot rover

Any good article about space exploration starts with "when I was a kid...". So, when I was a kid, my older brother was working on his college thesis. He cooperated with NASA on designing various devices for use in space, the basic premise being that few of the things we take for granted here on Earth would work in a zero-gravity environment. Everything needed for use in space needs to be redesigned.

Recently Goodyear and NASA announced a collaboration in developing a special non-pneumatic tire to be used by vehicles on the Moon, and potentially, on Mars, in support of a 2004 presidential mandate to further exploration on the celestial bodies. This isn't the first time Goodyear has collaborated with NASA to develop special moon-tires, having spent over ten years developing a piano-wire-mesh tire for the Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle in the 1960s. However, the new Chariot vehicle (pictured above) is expected to support ten times more weight and travel 100 times longer than the Apollo, so Goodyear's Akron Technical Center and NASA's Glenn Research Center are developing a stronger version by testing and re-testing the Apollo's wheel and tire set-up to determine where they break down. Better here than out there, because as big a pain as it is to change a tire down here, imagine mounting a spare in space.

The researchers expect to demonstrate the Chariot, with its special tires, a year from now at the Johnson Space Center in Texas, after which, they say, the findings could be applied towards the development of new tires for use here on Earth.

[Source: Goodyear]

Like a family of cockroaches living behind your kitchen cabinets, some rumors just won't die. No matter how ridiculous, they just won't go away. And so we waste our cyber-space reassuring our loyal readership of that they're nothing more than smoke and mirrors.

Here we're talking about the prospect of a sport-utility vehicle from Ferrari. We've seen different renderings and projections, and although we're not sold, apparently some people still think it could happen. Leave it to the Dutch, then, to get it right from the source. Holland's automotive magazine AutoWeek spoke with Ferrari's general manager Amadeo Felisa, who firmly denied that the company is developing – or even considering – an SUV. And we'll take him at his word, even if we have our doubts when they continue to refute the development of an entry-level model.

On that front, in lieu of the usual mantra that the company is not building a successor to the Dino, Felisa specified that Ferrari was not developing a six-cylinder model, which doesn't rule out the possibility of a new model to slot in below the F430 with any other type of powertrain configuration... say, a V8 for example.

[Source: AutoWeek.nl via Motor Authority]

Click on the image above to view in high resolution

The new Tiguan cute-ute factored big into Volkswagen's press conference at this year's LA show. And no wonder, as Vee-Dub is hoping its new small sport-ute sells big, especially in the all-important US market, and especially in California where nobody needs a truck yet everybody has one (and parks it next to their Prius).

Volkswagen of America revealed that Tiguan is priced to sell with a starting MSRP of just $22,490. With just two sport-utes in its lineup, that gives VW a huge price-point spread that stretches all the way up to $68,320 for the bigger Touareg 2 with the jumbo-jet-pulling V10 TDI.

Volkswagen is evidently hoping that the Tiguan will become the Golf of the sport-ute market after it hits US dealers this coming summer. Check out our gallery of the US-spec Tiguan below, and VW's official press release after the jump.

[Source: Volkswagen]

There are some rumors circulating the web that could very well be true, and some you just hope are true. This, however, doesn't fall into either category. The speculation is over a possible Ferrari sport-utility vehicle, and we're not buying.

Our friends at World Car Fans, with which we'll part company on this, call it the Ferrari F599 FS 599 Fuoristrada, and project an unveiling at the 2010 Geneva show. They've even gone so far as to predict its weight (2.2 tons dry), engine (a variation on the 599 GTB's, itself derived from the Enzo) and output (over 600 HP), wheel and tire sizes (22" and 315), four-wheel-drive system (2/3 rearward bias), performance (0-60 in under five, top end around 180mph) and price (over €250k). Those are pretty specific forecasts, but WCF says they have it on good authority.

Never mind that an array of Ferrari execs have repeatedly refuted any such speculation - they've also been saying that about the "Dino" and we've just stopped listening by now - but it would make little sense for the racing-team-turned-sportscar-maker that, a couple of one-offs notwithstanding, has never made anything with more than two doors, let alone five. Sure, Lamborghini made a truck once, but then again that company started out building tractors. And never mind that Porsche has the Cayenne... numbers aside, Ferrari's not about to sell out its customer base with an SUV. (That's what excessive merchandizing is for.) For a company like Ferrari that trades on its heritage and Formula One dominance, a sport-ute would have no connection to either.

[Source: World Car Fans]

The Italians are known for making great sports cars, touring cars, supercars, even little itty-bitty cars. Sport-utes, not so much. Lamborghini's monster LM002 notwithstanding, the last time few times Fiat tried its hand at SUVs, it came up with the Sedici (a slightly taller than normal compact car built in partnership with Suzuki) and the Oltre concept (some sort of twisted cross between a Hummer and an Apple store). But with crossovers continuing to sell big, despite the impediments of fuel prices and an increasingly enviro-conscious market, the mafia legitimate business association of the Italian auto industry can hardly afford to sit it out. So they'll try, try again.

The next up to bat is the production version of the CX-Over, expected to hit the market in 2010. Sources indicate an overall length of about 4.5 meters, potential for hybrid powertrain options (though more likely a range of the company's highly-efficient diesels), available AWD and a body style fitting somewhere between a minivan and a sport-ute. The Fiat version is expected to sell in the €22k-30k range in Europe, and is expected to spawn an additional version from sister brand Alfa Romeo.

[Source: Info Motori]

The Range Rover has long held the high ground in the luxury off-road segment, holding its own quite honorably against the constant onslaught of latecoming rivals from mainstream luxury carmakers.

It might have a more difficult time of it, though, if the other Double-R of British luxury automobiles were to join the fight. This jacked-up Silver Shadow shouldn't leave Land Rover's range-topper with much to worry about, though.

[Source: Automobiles De Luxe]

click above image to view more pics of the 2007 Ford Expedition EL

Ford's new Expedition EL has to follow in some huge footsteps – or, perhaps more appropriately, tire tracks. The stretched-wheelbase SUV not only has to do battle with GM's Suburban and Yukon XL duo (long the sales leaders in the extended-wheelbase segment), but it also has to live up to the reputation of the Excursion. That monstrous predecessor never sold in large numbers, but it built a loyal following that remains to this day (if you doubt this, just try to find a bargain on a low-mileage example with the Powerstroke diesel).

Since Ford's previous attempt at building a cargo conveyance and people mover on the Super Duty platform didn't appeal to the average mass-market buyer, this go-around utilizes the far more civilized Expedition platform – and its independent front and rear suspension – as a starting point. Will this move create a kinder, gentler mastodon of metal? We put one through the paces for a week to learn more.

Pop quiz: if you're driving an H2 and you see a sign forbidding vehicles above 6,000 pounds to use a street, do you avoid that street? Neither does anyone else. In a sarcastic, meandering article touching on carbon dioxide, gasoline, SUV-haters, municipal codes, and testosterone, the LA Times looks at the genesis of road weight restrictions and how SUV's trample on them.

The California Motor Vehicle Code has all sorts of byzantine rules applicable to different kinds of trucks and what roads they can use. Certain roads and bridges are explicitly off limits to vehicles weighing more than three tons. But those rules were made when nobody expected the random businessman, housewife, or athlete to be driving a vehicle weighing more than three tons just for the heck of it. (FYI, a half-ton Suburban weighs more than 7,000 pounds before the first soccer mom gets in.)

But in spite of the proverbial legal limbo, a city spokesman said the rule applies, in general, to "business and commercial trucks." Even better, he was backed up by a pickup-truck-driving LAPD officer who let everyone off the hook by saying "We are not going to cite somebody for driving an SUV down the street." Roll on, ladies and gentlemen, roll on.

Thanks for the tip, Stedwoo!

[Source: LA Times]

America has become the Land of the Crossover, and if Alfa Romeo wants to succeed here when it returns to the US market in 2009, it will need a CUV with which to combat the competition. Fortunately, last November Alfa revealed that it will be launching just such a vehicle to coincide with the Italian marque's sailing the ocean blue.

Called the CXover, Alfa's crossover will feature styling closely modeled after the Kamal concept unveiled at the 2003 Geneva Motor Show. Combining coupe-like styling with SUV proportions, surfacing reports suggest that the CXover will be offered in a three-door configuration in addition to conventional five-door bodystyles. This illustration (click through to Motor Authority to see the whole thing) gives a pretty good preview of what the former could look like.

Based on the platform from the 159 and upcoming 169 sedans, the CXover will offer – in foreign markets, at least – a range of engines including a 2.2-liter inline-four, a five-cylinder turbodiesel and, to top off the range, the 3.2L 24v V6 co-developed with GM, only tuned in-house for 250 horsepower and a distinctively Alfa Romeo exhaust note. All-wheel-drive is expected to come as an option over standard front-drive. Alfa confirmed the vehicle will measure 4.6 meters in length, with versions selling for €28,000-45,000. Styling promises to be as awe-inducing as Alfa's dramatic 159 and Brera, and if the driving dynamics are better, the venerated Italian marque just might have a winner on its hands for its grand re-emergence in the American market.

[Source: Motor Authority]