Use This Blog

BMW has just announced an upgraded version of its 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder diesel engine. The new version retains the same displacement, yet output for the European spec version is increased from 286 horsepower and 428 lb-ft of torque to 306 hp and 442 lb-ft. At the same time, fuel consumption and CO2 emissions are reduced by four percent compared to the previous version.

BMW has updated the fuel injection system to its latest generation common rail system. That means the injector pressure has been bumped from 1,600 BAR (23,000 psi) to 2,000 BAR (29,000 psi), allowing for even more precise metering of the fuel flow. The dual stage turbocharger system is now also more efficient. Since BMW only just introduced a version of the previous engine with U.S. legal after-treatment systems in late 2008, it seems unlikely that the U.S. will receive the upgrades in the near future.

Say what you will about the styling of the Porsche Panamera, the company’s merchandising division cranks out some seriously lust-worthy designs. Some of them have nothing to do with their automotive namesake, but here’s an instance of Porsche Design working in concert with the automobile division to give drivers something a little more handy than a baseball cap or polo shirt. Okay, so the Panamera Collection includes plenty of those too, along with watches, coats and kids clothing, but it also includes a set of intriguing fitted luggage for the four-door sports car from Zuffenhausen.

ooking for a spectacularly useless way to waste some time? Online car configurators are one of our favorites. You can sit for an hour or more playing with different color combinations and options on a car you’re never going to buy, and have absolutely nothing to show for it when you’re done. The most alluring are the configurators for the most exclusive European exotica, but typically automakers don’t launch these until the car’s on the market, or at least has been unveiled in production form. Rolls-Royce, however, has evidently decided to jump the (nickel-plated, mother-of-pearl-handled) gun in putting online a configurator for the 200EX, the concept car that previewed the upcoming Ghost model at the Geneva show this past March.

Labeled the “visualizer”, the utility is available for all your distracting, time-wasting needs on the 200EX mini-site. There you can play around with different color and trim choices inside and out, right down to the “silver satin bonnet”. Enjoy, but don’t come complaining to us when you haven’t gotten any work do

Few cars have been as long in the making as the upcoming “grand Bentley.” The long-awaited replacement to the Arnage is tipped to debut sometime this summer – possibly at Pebble Beach in August – but the stoic British automaker is intent on teasing us with little video clips every step along the way. (About nine of them in all if you look at the dedicated website.) Unfortunately, if these first two clips are any indication, the teasers will hardly be showing us anything new, just some hoity-toity piano music and fountain pen-scribed statements about what the brand is meant to stand for accompanied by the same shot of the new model’s front bonnet. Follow the jump to see for yourself.

To keep the good times rolling, team Bimmer is again expanding the 1-Series lineup for 2010. Two new models, the Lifestyle and Sport models, will offer RWD performance in a three- or five-door package beginning this September. The Lifestyle model offers special edition Marrakesh Brown Metallic paint, unique brown body color interior components, chrome-tipped exhaust and 17-inch light aluminum rims. The Sport model includes the M Sports Package, with a sports tuned suspension, unique dual spoke aluminum rims, stainless steel pedals, and an M steering wheel and gearshift lever.

On the engine front, a pair of 2.0-liter engines find their way under the bonnet of a 1-Series. The petrol engine utilizes direct injection tech and packs 170 ponies to go along with 155 lb-ft. With the gas-powered 2.0-liter engine, the 1-Series can hit 60 in 7.8 seconds, and it carries a top speed of 149 mph.

The diesel variant packs 143 hp and 221 lb-ft, helping to propel the 118d to 60 in nine seconds. The story of merit is fuel economy and CO2 emissions, where where it achieves 4.5 liters/100 kilometers (about 52 mpg US) and a CO2 emission rating of 119 grams per kilometer. Hit the jump for more info from BMW’s painfully

As Chinese media outlets continue to voice derision over GM’s agreement to sell its unwanted HUMMER division to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co., there are real questions as to whether or not the Chinese government will even approve of the purchase.

State-run media outlet Xinhua News Agency has suggested that Tengzhong’s interest in HUMMER may be little more than a publicity stunt, saying, “It couldn’t achieve this result (of raising its profile) even if it spent $100 million on advertising.” Commenting on Tengzhong’s deal to purchase HUMMER, China’s Minister of Commerce Chen Deming said:

We hope Chinese companies learn more about international market rules and development trends in their industries and make prudent investments.

e annals of automotive history are full of great interior fabrics, especially from American automakers during the 1970s and early ’80s. While our tastes in seating surfaces may have changed over the years, those colorful prints and durable fabrics still have lots of life left in them – at least according to Kim White, who offers a full line of handbags sewn up from vintage automotive fabrics starting from $95.

According to White, these handbags “have a widespread appeal, from trendy teens to stylish grandmothers and every woman in between,” and they certainly good to our eyes, especially the killer Camaro Special Edition ($225 incl. tax and shipping to Continental U.S.). Concerned that a slew of bums have quite literally ridden around on your brand new handbag for the last few decades? Fret not. Says the company’s website:

Kim White uses dead stock never-used textiles intended for use in American automobiles: cars, trucks and vans. She fortuitously unearthed an entire warehouse of automotive fabric, which may be the last existing stock anywhere in the US, and she is the sole owner of these amazing textiles.

President Obama has taken pen to paper and signed off on Cash-for-Clunkers, a law that could help the auto industry shake its year-long funk. The Transportation Department now has 30 days to determine the rules and regulations for Cash-for-Clunkers, placing the start of the program at the end of July.

The law as it was signed will give the power to decide which vehicles will be eligible for the program to the dealers. The dealers will also be in charge of scrapping the older vehicles, which must be less than 25 years old to be eligible for federal funds. Clunker-eligible cars must be also owned for at least one year to qualify for the program. Those eligible for Cash-for-Clunkers will receive up to $4,500 towards the purchase of a new, more fuel efficient vehicle. To get the full $4,500, those new cars must be at least 10 mpg more fuel efficient than the older model they replace, and trucks must be 5 mpg more efficient. Among the details of the law still being worked out is a plan to ensure that dealers are, in fact, scrapping the vehicles and not reselling them.

orsche invited us to Germany to be one of the first to drive its all-new Panamera, the company’s first four-door sedan. We spent three days assailing the Bavarian Alps, streaking across the German Autobahn, and meandering through picturesque Alpine towns. We touched 170 mph at one point and sat stagnant in city traffic during another. What were Porsche’s objectives with this new sedan? How does it drive? Who’s going to buy it? And, most importantly, does the Panamera deserve to wear the coveted Porsche crest? Find out after the jump.

he technicians and engineers at General Motors’ Pre-Production operations center at the Warren, MI Tech Center have been hard at work for the last several weeks finishing up the first of about 75 integration prototypes of the Chevy Volt. They worked so hard, in fact, that the first car was completed a week ahead of schedule. These are the first actual running prototypes and include pretty much all of the production-intent hardware in a production body shell. As is typical of these integration prototypes, items like the light clusters aren’t quite done yet. The intended bulbs are included in a flat black plastic cluster with the proper arrangement but the covers and internal sculpting are missing.

Chief engineer Andrew Farah took IVER #1 (that’s Integration Vehicle Engineering Release #1) out for a brief drive after it was completed and checked out and, according to the video after the jump, everything worked smoothly. While the car looks pretty much like the Volt that was unveiled last September, if you look carefully you will notice one difference. From the original concept to the styling buck we have seen for the last nine months, the charge port was always hidden under the trim piece just ahead of the driver’s side mirror. There is now a flap looking much like a gas cover just below that on the fender