Seen at SEMA !

Well it’s that time of year, When Christmas comes early in the world of the automobile, Sema is the annual specialty equipment market association which is taking place at the Las Vegas convention center, it’s a dream for those that love to modify their cars, and a nightmare for people such as myself that belive that having good taste is not something that everybody is born with.
In all fairness there are some pretty cool things to see, the Automakers will use this event to take the wraps off of some of their concept vehicles, while you don’t really get a good look at what is really to come it’s at the very least entertaining.
Toyota will be there with a modified F j Cruiser, and Ford will have a really pimped out Expedition that is sure to make some 13 year old boy cry for one.
If you haven’t been able to tell by now, I’m not a fan of these kind of things, it somehow gives people license to display just how much bad taste they have, and then of course their joined by other people with bad taste and before you know it, nobody realizes that the emperor has no clothes.
But then again this is Las Vegas and you really don’t have to have good taste to be there.

Just Money....

Joe

More Diesel Tech From Honda

This Autoworld Honda Motor Co., Ltd., today announced it has developed a next-generation diesel
engine that reduces exhaust gas emissions to a level equal to a gasoline engine.
Honda's next-generation diesel engine employs a revolutionary NOx catalytic converter that enables a great reduction in NOx emissions sufficient to meet stringent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Tier II Bin 5 emissions requirements (based on Honda's internal calculations). This catalytic converter
features the world's first innovative system using the reductive reaction of
ammonia generated within the catalytic converter to "detoxify" nitrogen oxide
(NOx) by turning it into harmless nitrogen (N2).The new catalytic converter
utilizes a two-layer structure: one layer adsorbs NOx from the exhaust gas and
converts a portion of it into ammonia, while the other layer adsorbs the
resulting ammonia, and uses it later in a reaction that converts the remaining
NOx in the exhaust into nitrogen (N2). Ammonia is a highly effective reagent for
reducing NOx into N2 in an oxygen-rich, lean-burn atmosphere. This ability to
generate and store ammonia within the catalytic converter has enabled Honda to
create a compact, lightweight NOx reduction system for diesel engines. The
system also features enhanced NOx reduction performance at 200-300oC, the main
temperature range of diesel engines.Honda designed the catalytic converter for
use with its 2.2 i-CTDi diesel engine, which has earned widespread praise for
quiet, clean operation and dynamic performance since its introduction in 2003 on
the European Accord model.By further advancing combustion control, the 2.2
i-CTDi delivers cleaner exhaust to the NOx catalytic converter. Honda achieved
this by optimizing the combustion chamber configuration, reducing fuel injection
time with a 2,000-bar common rail injection system and boosting the efficiency
of the EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) system. Thanks to these improvements,
Honda has reduced the amount of NOx and soot normally found in engine exhaust,
while increasing power output.Along with developing superior technology for
cleaning exhaust gas, Honda plans to address other technical challenges in
developing clean diesel engines, such as handling diesel fuels with different
cetane numbers and meeting U.S. On-Board Diagnostic System requirements. Honda
plans to introduce its next-generation diesel engine in the U.S. within three
years.Gasoline engines presently employ three-way catalytic converters that
offer NOx reduction rates as high as 99 percent, but this performance is
possible only at the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio. In the oxygen-rich
environment of a lean-burn diesel engine, three-way catalytic converters only
reduce NOx levels by approximately 10 percent. Honda's new catalytic converter
efficiently reduces NOx in a lean-burn atmosphere, enabling diesel engines to
rival gasoline engines in cleanliness. The compact system is also easy to
install in passenger vehicles.

It always helps when new engine technology begins to make its way out of the experimental faze into the production side of things, but I would like to see some of this in Hondas entry level cars such as the Civic, I think the time is ripe for the automakers to try another assault on the diesel market in north America.
It hasn’t worked in the past, and it seem like the only car maker to try is Volkswagen but people today may be more willing to accept diesels than in the past.
But they won’t know unless it’s put out in the market and advertised.

Joe.

New S-Type coming

Here are the latest spy photos on the possible upcoming Jaguar S-type, first impressions look positive on where
Jaguar may be taking it’s midsize BMW 5 series competitor, it looks like the Ford subsidiary is moving ahead with plans to completely remake
It’s image by abandoning most of the traditional Jaguar styling cues and moving the cars more into the mainstream to attract customers
Who have so far shied away for the Coventry England automaker.
While many traditional Jaguar fans may lament this move, this hopefully will attract more buyers to the fray, with ford under pressure
To turn things around, jaguar doesn’t have the luxury of being coddled while it tries to find its way and become profitable, most likely
The top execs have been told to produce or jaguar must go on the block. This is no guarantee against a sale of course, but a Jaguar with
Improving sales numbers would make for a good sales pitch to a potential suitor.
In the end I believe the best situation for Jaguar would be to stay with ford, usually when companies buy smaller manufacturers like this
The lack of synergies becomes obvious early on, and a company will stick around long enough to sell its accusation and make a profit, but Ford has held on to Jaguar For a very long time witch tells me that they were more interested in simply owning and maintaining this Historical luxury auto maker.
But even in this instance a good business case must be made, and even Jaguar can’t escape the harsh light of sensible business economics, so now the clock is ticking for Jaguar and the next year will be a harbinger of who will be the owners of the auto’s with the cat on the bonnet .
J.

Way Forward Part Deu on it's way

This in Automotive News....

DETROIT -- A better version of Ford Motor Co.'s Way Forward restructuring plan
is on its way, new CEO Alan Mulally said last week."We are going to continue to
look for opportunities to improve that plan," Mulally said in an interview with
Automotive News after Ford reported a $5.80 billion loss for the third quarter.
The two areas that most need enhancement are the product plan and manufacturing
productivity, Mulally said. Of the product plan, he said: "It is what it is
today. But with the shifts in customer demand, we know we're going to end up
with changes to that plan across the entire portfolio." On the production side,
Ford needs to do more to improve quality and the number of models that can be
made at its assembly plants, he said. Mulally didn't rule out the possibility of
more plants being closed beyond the 16 already announced.

This is certainly something that I’ve been advocating for some time from Ford, all the catchy names and Flashy commercials won’t help you unless you change the public’s
Opinion about your product. And Ford has focused too much on one and not enough on the other.
As I’ve said before, now is the time for Ford to Really change the fundamental way they do things, and with Mulally at the helm, it seems this may be finally happening.

J

Dodge has the Nitro, you bring the Bling

Inside line has a thorough review of the new Dodge Nitro, while the Nitro looks like a winner, on paper it’s less than Impressive, not surprising given the origins of the engine and chassis. The Nitro seems to go against the Automotive trends in the industry of making car based SUV’s.
I prefer the best of both worlds, the ride height and site lines of a SUV and the ride and handling of a unit body and car suspension based crossover.
I can already see Nitro’s with Twenty inch Gold rims and spinners, Don’t laugh, the aftermarket industry love trucks like this.
Read the Full article here

Ford's new Edge & Potential

Inside line has it's first full review of the new Ford Edge and the Verdict is....

Forget what you know about Ford?Although its cabin furnishings are a little disappointing, the 2007 Ford Edge offers a complete package otherwise. Ample
power, agile handling, a quiet ride, lots of room, a full set of side airbags — it's all here. Basically, this is the same approach Ford took with the current-Generation Explorer, applied to a more refined car-based design.
Yet, the company is counting on the Edge to fight political battles its
traditional SUVs could never
win.

Suv's like the Edge Are the Future as Nissan and others have proven, and it's great to see Ford enter the market with such a competative Vehicle right from the start.With the Edge and other redesigns comming this can Ford the ability to turn things around.

Now the only thing than coud derail what looks like a promising start for Ford in this segment is the Quality and reliability .

Ford has to get this right.

Joe

New Volkswagen Eios

Volkswagen is set to release its new Eios convertible this month, the automotive press seems to be giving the car the thumbs up, but with some reservations,
The car is based on the Jetta and Golf Chassis, not a bad thing, and seems to be a competent handler.
The standard engine is the 1.8 liter turbocharged 4 cylinder engine that produces 200 hundred horsepower and 207 pound feet of Torque, I still have reservations
About the choice of this engine, simply because the Eios is a heavy car at a bit over 3500 lbs, this little convertible is not a Miata.
But the biggest problem I believe the Eios will bring with it is the price, starting at around $28.000 U.S., this is not an inexpensive car and will face serious
Competition from the likes of the Pontiac G6 and Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder .
I think the Eios will be well received by its potential owners but feel that like some other VW models is coming in at too high a price point, Volkswagen's
Business model seems to be to price the cars into the entry level luxury range and hopefully your customer base will buy into this model and pony up the cash .

I’m not knocking VW’s model lineup, there are a lot of wonderful qualities about the state of Volkswagen today, but today’s market is saturated with well
Conceived and built cars for substantially less, there was a time just a few years ago when Volkswagen was the equivalent of a German Toyota or Chevy, and Audi did the heavy lifting as the premium mark to compete with the likes of BMW or Mercedes, but it seems that Volkswagen has decided to widen that model to Include the VW brand. And that’s where I believe they have to think again.

Joe