Engine
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This is the face of the Lexus LF-Ch hybrid concept and it will probably come in colors other than baby poop metallic. This premium compact designed to compete with the Audi A3 and BMW 1-Series will have its public debut at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show. The concept is a dramatic departure from any current Lexus model, although the hood lines bear some resemblance to the IS. If the new vehicle hits the streets, it will face some speedy and fuel efficient competition. The aforementioned Audi achieves a combined 25 mpg rating with a 2.0 liter turbocharged "Fuel Stratified Injection" power...
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2011 Scion iQ To Go On Sale By End of Next Year
In March, when Toyota unveiled a concept version of the 2011 Scion iQ at the New York Auto Show, it said only that it was studying the idea of bringing the "micro-subcompact car" into the US. Now it looks like the iQ will arrive by September or October of 2010. That's a few months earlier than the...
John Voelcker -
Big Mileage Gains From Really, Really Small Engines
We keep saying that one of the ways all cars will get greener and more efficient is for their engines to get smaller and work harder. One of the first production examples of this is Ford's EcoBoost V6 engine, which delivers the power of a V8 with better gas mileage. Now a couple of experimental new...
John Voelcker -
Cute AND Clever: Chrysler's Coming Green Innovations
Chrysler's on the skids right now, no doubt about it. June sales plummeted 42 percent, and some consider its takeover by--errr, sorry, partnership with--Italy's Fiat to be the blind leading the lame. But Fiat is far from the company it was 20 years ago, when it folded its tents and snuck out of the...
John Voelcker -
Advanced Auto-Tech Loans Go To Tesla, Ford, and Nissan
US Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced the first three loans to be granted under the government's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program. The lucky winners, totaling $8 billion worth of low-interest loans from the US Department of Energy: Ford, Nissan, and Tesla. FORD Amount...
John Voelcker -
New Engine To Increase Efficiency Of GM's Future Hybrids
With Congress breathing down the automakers' necks, demanding more fuel efficient vehicles, it's no wonder GM is developing a new gas-sipping engine. Instead of using a spark plug to light the air-fuel mixture in a piston, the 'homogeneous charge compression ignition engine,' (HCCI) squeezes the...
Robert Scardino -
Maybe only previous diesel owners are eager to buy new clean diesels; if so, then Volkswagen will benefit the most
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Almost Here: 2010 Lincoln MKS With EcoBoost For High Performance, Higher Mileage
Ford will fit its powerful, fuel-efficient EcoBoost engine to the top model of the 2010 Lincoln MKS
John Voelcker -
California To Require Emissions Testing for Some Motorcycles
Motorcycles from 2000 and later will be tested every other year for compliance with emissions standards, starting in 2012
John Voelcker -
2009 Volkswagen Touareg TDI: VW Takes Its Diesels Upmarket
VW adds a third engine and its first diesel to its Touareg sport-utility, giving gobs of torque and EPA mileage of 17 mpg city / 25 mpg highway
John Voelcker -
30 Days of the 2010 Toyota Prius: Day 11, Engine and Electric Motors
Smaller, lighter, more powerful electric motor/generators and a larger gas engine give the 2010 Toyota Prius better performance AND better mileage
John Voelcker -
VW Plans Supercharged Hybrid Touareg
It's about time "supercharged" and "hybrid" are being used in the same sentence. Adding to an already full stable of gas and diesel engines, Volkswagen has announced that a supercharged hybrid Touareg is on the way. The new Touareg will employ a start-stop system to save gas when idle, regenerative...
Robert Scardino