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Tuesday, February 28, 2017
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2018 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Spied with Tweaks
A 2018 Mercedes-Benz C-Class prototype was spied recently with light camouflage treatments over the front and rear ends of the sedan, with the front end seeming to be getting most of the attention for this light refresh.
The bumper is still completely masked to hide the latest aerodynamic flourishes and fog light updates while the grille shutters of the black Benz are closed due to the obvious extreme cold temperature testing, but our spy managed to snap a few close-ups of the new multi-beam LED headlight kit.
Instead of the units seen on last year’s C- E-, and S-Class models, this version gets two additional vertical LED high beams in the far corners of the light assembly. The system uses four control units to calculate the ideal light pattern 100 times a second, according to Mercedes-Benz.
When adaptive high beam assist plus is used, the main beam helps illuminate the road with better precision and distribution of bright light while cornering on twisty roads without blinding oncoming traffic.
The two new LEDs seen in the recent spy shots could be infrared LED spotlights that may also assist in the night view assist mode that helps detect people and animals that may be unseen by the driver under low light conditions.
Around back, the adaptive brake lights are still masked substantially, but we can also see that they remain mostly unchanged in size and dimension.
The adaptive lights warn other vehicles by flashing rapidly in the event the driver has to stop suddenly from speeds above 30 mph or during emergency braking.
Overall, the C-Class largely remains the same, at least from the outside, and the latest tweets will have to placate owners until an all-new C-Class sedan breaks cover in 2019 or so.
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Ferrari Illegally Resets Odometers, Lawsuit Alleges
Last August, Ferrari salesman Robert “Bud” Root filed a lawsuit against a former client, Steven McMillan, after Root claimed McMillan made comments which caused him to lose his job at Ferrari of Palm Beach in Florida. Root has since returned to his position, but not before alleging that McMillan had requested Ferrari to roll back the mileage showing on his LaFerrari’s odometer to zero, thereby increasing the car’s value and committing fraud. Furthermore, Root’s suit alleges this is a common practice among Ferrari’s more well-respected and well-connected clients and their new, digital odometer equipped cars.
From the suit: “It was eventually uncovered that the conduct … which resulted in [Root’s] firing and the public disgracing of [Root] was a false statement from [McMillan] that Plaintiff had been a knowing and intentional participant in an illegal scheme to alter an odometer in violation of state and federal law … ”
The suit further alleges, “In or about the summer of 2015, [Root] learned from another Ferrari Palm Beach employee that the manufacturer of Ferrari cars has a device which enables a Ferrari factory-trained mechanic to reset the odometer on certain Ferraris to zero. The existence of the device is almost completely unknown among the worldwide community of Ferrari “super-car” owners. The two-fold reason for this is clear. … A secret reset of an odometer by even a few hundred miles can enhance the value of a Ferrari by a seven-figure amount. Were it to become common knowledge that a device exists which can alter Ferrari odometers without detection, the huge Ferrari re-sale market would be thrown into turmoil, as true value of pre-owned Ferraris on which the reset device operates, would be called into question.”
Rolling back a vehicle’s odometer is a violation of state and federal laws. Root alleges that after informing McMillan of the supposed odometer “defeat device” so that McMillan would be cautious of used, low-mileage cars, McMillan instead used the information to make an “off-books cash payment to one of Ferrari of Palm Beach’s mechanics to use the reset device to reset the odometer on [McMillan’s] 2015 Ferrari LaFerrari to zero.”
The reference to this supposed “off-books cash payment” directed to an individual mechanic and not to Ferrari corporate would appear to not tie Ferrari to the scheme, even though the lawsuit alleges that only Ferrari-trained technicians know about the “defeat device” — implying that Ferrari shows them how to roll back odometers.
When reached for comment, a Ferrari representative stated, “We do not comment on litigation between a dealer and its employees. This litigation involves third parties with respect to Ferrari North America and the litigation does not involve Ferrari. Ferrari reserves the right to take all appropriate action against any party that has adversely affected its rights.”
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New Renault Alpine A110 Production Car to Debut at 2017 Geneva...
New Renault Alpine A110 Production Car to Debut at 2017 Geneva Motor Show http://ift.tt/2lw3Kc9
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New Renault Alpine A110 Production Car to Debut at 2017 Geneva Motor Show
A new version of the Renault Alpine A110 will break ground at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show. It looks nearly identical to the Alpine Vision concept we saw at last year’s Monte Carlo Rally.
The mid-engine coupe, which is powered by a turbocharged four-cylinder engine, recalls the Alpine A110 Berlinette that was built from the early 1960s to the late 1970s by the French company using Renault engines and parts.
“Its name is A110, reflecting the timeless principles of compact size, lightweight, and agility that made the success of the ‘Berlinette,” according to Alpine’s brief release statement.
Alpine’s A110 sports a full aluminum platform and upper body for optimum weight saving and agility we are also told.
The new Alpine recalls the thin hood ridgeline and quad headlights of the original. Also recognizable to fans of the rally racer is the L-shaped line that runs along the door to the rear wheel.
Alpine has been taking $2,000 deposits for the “Premiere Edition” of 1,955 vehicles for several months now. The retro styled car is available in blue, white, and black; Alpine claims the car can hit 0-62 mph in 4.5 seconds. It sells for about $62,000, depending on recent currency rates.
Alpine is expected to start deliveries of the A110 toward the end of the year in continental Europe, then Japan and the U.K. in 2018. Alpine says it will be available in 13 countries, but there are no plans to bring it to the U.S. at this time.
More details about the two-seater will be revealed on March 7 at the Geneva Motor Show.
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Roborace Debuts Autonomous Robocar
If you’re tired of watching real, live people drive race cars, you won’t have to suffer much longer. Roborace revealed its Robocar autonomous racer today at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. We’ve seen renderings of the wild, driverless race car before, but this is the first time it’s been shown in the sheetmetal.
The vehicle, with its cockpitless design, looks a lot like the computer-generated images we first saw last year. The Robocar was penned by Roborace chief designer Daniel Simon, who’s also responsible for the designs in the movies “Tron: Legacy” and “Oblivion.” That helps explain the Robocar’s futuristic look.
In addition to showing a real-life Robocar, Roborace also dropped some of its specs. The race car weighs roughly 2,150 pounds, which sounds light, but is about 600 pounds heavier than a Formula 1 car with the driver. The Robocar is 189 inches long and 79 inches wide, which makes it just a bit longer and wider than a Le Mans prototype. Powering the car are four 300-kW electric motors backed by a 540-kW battery. That setup will propel the race car to a top speed of just under 200 mph.
The brains behind all that capability is the Nvidia Drive PX 2 supercomputer, which has artificial intelligence capable of running 24 trillion operations a second. Serving as Robocar’s eyes and ears are five lidar and two radar arrays, 18 ultrasonic sensors, two optical speed sensors, six AI cameras, and a GNSS positioning system. All that tech gives the car 360-degree awareness, and gives the AI the data needed to make decisions.
Roborace will be a spec series in that all of the hardware is mandated. The software, however, will be left to the teams to develop. It’ll be up to the engineers to come up with the programming and algorithms that will take their car to the head of the pack.
Roborace will eventually serve as the support series for Formula E. It already ran a demonstration with two of its DevBot development cars earlier this year in Spain, and later in 2017 it will run two Robocars simultaneously on track. There’s still no word on when we’ll see some actual robot-to-robot competition, but count on it being sometime after the 2016/2017 Formula E season.
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Four Seasons 2016 Land Rover Discovery Sport HSE LUX Wrap-Up...
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Monday, February 27, 2017
Pininfarina H600 Concept Gears Up for 2017 Geneva Motor Show...
Pininfarina H600 Concept Gears Up for 2017 Geneva Motor Show http://ift.tt/2mE7gBv
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ABT Sportsline Brings 20% More Dynamism to 2018 Audi S5
Even though it has only been a few months since the unveiling of the new 2018 Audi S5, German tuner ABT is already releasing the company’s first go-faster kit for the upcoming sedan, cabriolet, and sportback. While it doesn’t take the conservative Audi to RS levels, it definitely adds to the car’s already dynamic architecture.
The standard 2018 Audi S5 is powered by a twin-turbocharged V-6 engine making 354 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque coupled to an eight-speed automatic gearbox and the company’s signature Quattro all-wheel drive. ABT’s Sportsline upgrade boils down to revised ECU calibrations and a freer flowing exhaust that allows the engine to breathe better. This amounts to a 71 hp and 36 lb-ft increase in performance, a 20 percent increase.
Per ABT, the Sportsline, even with the extra power, isn’t “overloading” the Audi’s engine, leading us to infer that ABT will likely be offering even greater increases in horsepower and torque in the near future. For those concerned about voiding their factory warranty, ABT’s Sportsline upgrade includes a two-year, 125,000-mile one.
Finishing the S5 Sportsline is a set of ABT’s rims, available in a host of colors and size options for customers to choose from.
Now, the bad news: ABT’s 2018 Audi S5 Sportsline package isn’t available in the United States. According to ABT, the Sportsline will only be available in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Italy, and Poland. However, ABT does offer other options outside of those countries through specific distributors, so there is some hope that the U.S. will see it in the future.
Speaking about the Sportsline, ABT’s Managing Director, Hans-Jurgen Abt, said, “ABT vehicles are not only quality at the highest level, but also offer extensive possibilities for individualization. Only this way we can continue to exceed high expectations.”
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Additional Volvo XC60 Teasers Released Ahead of Geneva Show...
Additional Volvo XC60 Teasers Released Ahead of Geneva Show Debut http://ift.tt/2lPap2h
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Additional Volvo XC60 Teasers Released Ahead of Geneva Show Debut
Volvo continues to tease its upcoming XC60 crossover on social media, giving us three more looks at the vehicle before it’s fully revealed on March 7 in Geneva. Two teasers give us a better look at the XC60’s front end, while the other teases its rear for the first time.
We’ve already seen a shadowy image of the front end, but this one is slightly better lit to reveal more of the grille shape. Unsurprisingly, that grille resembles the one seen on the XC90, S90, and V90. We again get a glimpse of the headlight with its characteristic “Thor’s Hammer” design element. Unlike its SPA platform-mates, the XC60 features headlights that taper inward to allow the handle of the hammer to connect with the grille. A close-up on the grille reveals a camera beneath the Volvo badge, likely used for Pilot Assist semi-autonomous features.
The next teaser shows off the XC60’s taillight design. Just like Volvo’s other models that sport a D-pillar, the XC60’s taillights are mostly vertically oriented. The lamps appear most similar to those on the V90 wagon, in that they spread out across the liftgate to form an “L” shape.
The XC60 will likely continue to offer a choice of four-cylinder engines, ranging from a turbocharged 2.0-liter I-4 to a turbocharged and supercharged 2.0-liter. A plug-in hybrid drivetrain is also possible, and a diesel will be offered in Europe. We’ll have to wait until Volvo drops more teasers or reveals the crossover in full to learn more about what it will look like. The Swedish automaker will live-stream the unveiling of the next XC60 from its Geneva press conference on March 7. Watch it here and stay tuned for more details live from the Geneva show floor.
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