I was talking to some of my buddies over at Warren today, and was waxing poetic about the Chinese Riviera and SAAB 9-4x BioPower concepts. I couldn't help but gush over there - the Riviera is everything the Chrysler Imperial concept of 2006 was trying to be, and the 9-4x is so completely different than anything I've ever seen in an SUV that I can't help but swoon. Toss the CTS coupe on the stack and you've got some serious design firepower from the company that used to be known for hard plastics on the outside of Pontiac Azteks.
VPB hears (from the Theta program itself) that the T-E Caddy is confirmed with a CTS-styled interior. No comments have been made on the viability of the 9-4x interior, but we doubt it will make it to production as-is. We hope the honeycomb vents stay - I've been personally buttering up everyone I know on Theta about them. I fear the acrylic dash will be toast - too hard to keep scratch-free, and probably just too hard to make anyway. The ski rack thingy is a major plus, too. SAABs have generally had interesting load floor fittings, and this continues the trend.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Geely is HI FUN
Geely Motors returned to NAIAS as noted below, and with some interesting new technology. They have managed to get the TPMS system to talk to the ABS system and slow the car in the event of a tire failure. They call it the "blowout monitoring and braking system" or BMBS.
Now, we at VPB wonder if this has anything to do with cheap Chinese tyres, or if it's because Chinese Explorer knock-offs roll just as badly as American ones do when the tyres are not maintained, or if the roads over there are just so darn bad there is no reason to build a 50K mile treadwear tyre.
There's something going on that's more interesting to me. No one in the US has put much effort into a system like this so far, because blowouts are a relatively rare occurence over here. Tyres fail now and then, but they only rarely cause fatal accidents. The Explorer/Firestone issue was defined by improper inflation, not by a badly designed tyre. USDOT and NHTSA standards for tyre manufacture are extremely high and so long as tyres meet them and are used in a manner that the manufacturer considers safe, they hold up until punctured or they just wear out.
With that in mind, I can see the programming of this type of interlocked system being a few bits of code away from ripping off. Geely is making a big splash of it this year - will Ford, GM, and company be far behind with their own systems? How closely will they tread on Geely's "intellectual" property? I put intellectual in quotes because China has a poor track record for observing international patent rules. In other words, which will be the first of the automakers to "steal" Chinese technology, and what will be the result?
Now, we at VPB wonder if this has anything to do with cheap Chinese tyres, or if it's because Chinese Explorer knock-offs roll just as badly as American ones do when the tyres are not maintained, or if the roads over there are just so darn bad there is no reason to build a 50K mile treadwear tyre.
There's something going on that's more interesting to me. No one in the US has put much effort into a system like this so far, because blowouts are a relatively rare occurence over here. Tyres fail now and then, but they only rarely cause fatal accidents. The Explorer/Firestone issue was defined by improper inflation, not by a badly designed tyre. USDOT and NHTSA standards for tyre manufacture are extremely high and so long as tyres meet them and are used in a manner that the manufacturer considers safe, they hold up until punctured or they just wear out.
With that in mind, I can see the programming of this type of interlocked system being a few bits of code away from ripping off. Geely is making a big splash of it this year - will Ford, GM, and company be far behind with their own systems? How closely will they tread on Geely's "intellectual" property? I put intellectual in quotes because China has a poor track record for observing international patent rules. In other words, which will be the first of the automakers to "steal" Chinese technology, and what will be the result?
Monday, January 14, 2008
Straight from da hood...
..it's the Ford Funk Master Flex Flex Fuel Flex! Ok, I stole that from Queen Jean, but no kidding around, why bother with a FMF edition Expedition when the Flex is waiting there for masterful funkification?
And why, oh why, in this world of super-custom paint jobs and overnight ride pimping, does the FMF edition Expy have taped-on pinstripes? What are the people at Ford thinking? Two-tone is a factory process right now. I could see a single tone stripe rolled on, but this is a three-tone over a two tone paint. Why not run the black and red striping and lay on the yellow later? Why not paint the thing properly to begin with? The interior is already crazy painted. Do some justice to the outside, too, Ford.
Seriously, the inside is hysterical. It comes with four sets of headphones. Which is good, because I needed a rope to get out of it.
And why, oh why, in this world of super-custom paint jobs and overnight ride pimping, does the FMF edition Expy have taped-on pinstripes? What are the people at Ford thinking? Two-tone is a factory process right now. I could see a single tone stripe rolled on, but this is a three-tone over a two tone paint. Why not run the black and red striping and lay on the yellow later? Why not paint the thing properly to begin with? The interior is already crazy painted. Do some justice to the outside, too, Ford.
Seriously, the inside is hysterical. It comes with four sets of headphones. Which is good, because I needed a rope to get out of it.
NAIAS 2008
I'm live at the NAIAS 2008 (courtesy of neuwerks media) and it's game time! Please check out the galleries at Neuwerks for our pictures, videos, and podcasts!
The Passat CC was the star at VW this year. A new, upmarket car with even more bells and whistles and the best seats VW has produced in 20 years. The bucketness of these seats is amazing. I can see the Alcantara versions being in high demand among the enthusiast crowd. I'm tempted to see if I can shoehorn them into my Passat. I have the Alcantara waiting for them....
I'd be remiss if I didn't comment right away on the Ford Verve - it's a pretty and small 3dr that was showed in a lovely magenta metallic. The interior was detailed.... OMG WTF am I talking about!?! The plate on it may as well have come out and said "Vagisil". I'm of course for cars marketed to women, but this is ridiculous. This is a great little coupe/hatch that's perfect for hopping around and going out on the town. What's with the over-the-top girlieness of the plate on it? If you want to make it girlie, paint it pink and put Barbie in it. There's only so much Disney princess I can take in a car. The princess factor should never be more significant than the car factor. Fact.
Now over to the ZR-1. I love it! It's old school sexy in a 2-seater with serious balls to match. My favorite part of the display was a full spaceframe with drivetrain that GM upended and labeled for the technically challenged among us. All of GM's iron was accessibly displayed and it grows easier on the eyes every year.
The Beat, Trax, and Groove concepts from Chevy show their intention in the kei-size micro car market. Each offers a stylish small package with a variety of options.
I took the Suzuki X-Head to task over on CarDomain, and with good humor. It's so outright silly that it could only come from a company that does most of its marketing to motocrossers.
The Nissan GT-R made an appearance yesterday and my God, is it huge. Keep in mind that I drive a station wagon, and not one of those wanna-be 5dr ones. I drive a huge, hulking station wagon. The GT-R seems as big as my wagon. At some point, performance suffers from size. Driving experience certainly does. It is beautiful, though. I rarely like Nissan's styling directions, but this time, they have pulled some elegant retro (rear end treatment) and sharp new school lines together to make a sharp automobile. I just don't really plan to drive it - too darn big.
I'll put some more buzz up tonight after I get through another day on the floor. My feet were killing me last night. No more 3" heels for me this week!
The Passat CC was the star at VW this year. A new, upmarket car with even more bells and whistles and the best seats VW has produced in 20 years. The bucketness of these seats is amazing. I can see the Alcantara versions being in high demand among the enthusiast crowd. I'm tempted to see if I can shoehorn them into my Passat. I have the Alcantara waiting for them....
I'd be remiss if I didn't comment right away on the Ford Verve - it's a pretty and small 3dr that was showed in a lovely magenta metallic. The interior was detailed.... OMG WTF am I talking about!?! The plate on it may as well have come out and said "Vagisil". I'm of course for cars marketed to women, but this is ridiculous. This is a great little coupe/hatch that's perfect for hopping around and going out on the town. What's with the over-the-top girlieness of the plate on it? If you want to make it girlie, paint it pink and put Barbie in it. There's only so much Disney princess I can take in a car. The princess factor should never be more significant than the car factor. Fact.
Now over to the ZR-1. I love it! It's old school sexy in a 2-seater with serious balls to match. My favorite part of the display was a full spaceframe with drivetrain that GM upended and labeled for the technically challenged among us. All of GM's iron was accessibly displayed and it grows easier on the eyes every year.
The Beat, Trax, and Groove concepts from Chevy show their intention in the kei-size micro car market. Each offers a stylish small package with a variety of options.
I took the Suzuki X-Head to task over on CarDomain, and with good humor. It's so outright silly that it could only come from a company that does most of its marketing to motocrossers.
The Nissan GT-R made an appearance yesterday and my God, is it huge. Keep in mind that I drive a station wagon, and not one of those wanna-be 5dr ones. I drive a huge, hulking station wagon. The GT-R seems as big as my wagon. At some point, performance suffers from size. Driving experience certainly does. It is beautiful, though. I rarely like Nissan's styling directions, but this time, they have pulled some elegant retro (rear end treatment) and sharp new school lines together to make a sharp automobile. I just don't really plan to drive it - too darn big.
I'll put some more buzz up tonight after I get through another day on the floor. My feet were killing me last night. No more 3" heels for me this week!
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