News Cars Update : Ferrari Recalls 2,600 Cars Worldwide Due To Faulty Airbags: Yes, It's Takata In Your Prancing Horse

Luxury car manufacturer Ferrari has issued a recall order for eight new models of its vehicles with price tags of $200,000 to over $1.4 million each due to the Takata airbags that are installed in them.

However, the recall order for the Ferrari vehicles is not due to the controversial defect of Takata airbags that are potentially fatal, which has resulted in a nationwide recall order of 34 million vehicles. The defective airbags can explode upon inflation, sending metal shrapnel into the cabin. This is a good thing for the car owners, as previous reports revealed that it could take months before the replacement airbag systems for cars suffering from such a defect can be provided.

The recall order issued by Ferrari is due to the improper installation of the Takata airbags, as they were installed in the vehicles at a wrong angle.

The wrongly installed airbags were discovered by Ferrari while tests were being done on the steering column of the 458 Italia, according to documents that were uploaded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The Italian luxury car maker, which is a unit of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, discovered that the leather skin that covers the module of the airbag systems were improperly glued, along with the cushions of the airbags being installed in a wrong angle.

The improper installation will cause the airbags to be deployed with a rotated orientation, which could result in injury for the passenger's vehicles.

"The issue is a possible production defect in a component inside the air bags," said Krista Florin, a spokeswoman for Ferrari. The company has now issued the recall order for the affected vehicles so that the airbag systems can be replaced, she added. The replacements will be done at no cost to the customer.

No injuries or deaths have resulted from the issue covered by the recall order, Ferrari stated in the documents that it filed with the NHTSA.

Worldwide, the recall order affects 2,600 Ferrari vehicles, according to Florin, with the vehicles that have the defective Takata airbags being the 458 Italia, the 458 Speciale, the 458 Speciale A, the 458 Spider, the FF, the California T, the F12 Berlinetta and even the $1.4 million LaFerrari.

Posted by Unknown Sunday, July 19, 2015

News Cars Update : Ford Celebrates Apollo Moon Landing With Special Edition Mustang

Ford has unveiled a one-off-a-kind Apollo Edition Mustang to celebrate one of America’s greatest technological achievements - the moon-bound Apollo space missions.

For the past eight years, Ford has donated a custom-buil,t aviation-themed Mustang to the Experimental Aviation Association (EAA) so they can auction to fund efforts like their Young Eagle program, which gives young people their first flights in airplanes.

This year that custom Mustang will be a 2015 GT dressed in a glossy pure white and pure black paint scheme with “USA” lettering, to tie it to NASA’s famous Apollo program

Aside from the neat paint job, custom body work and LED lighting, the car will also get a supercharger, side exit exhaust, performance brakes and suspension, and custom Forgiato wheels. The 5.0-litre V8 will be good for 627 horsepower.

Images :

 

 

Posted by Unknown Saturday, July 18, 2015

News Car Release Update : Proud to ‘Make In India': BMW Announces Brand New Prices Starting Rs 2.9 Million

Celebrating the 'Make in India' initiative, BMW India has announced brand new prices for the portfolio of locally produced cars.
 

BMW India has already strengthened its commitment to the Indian market by increasing the level of localization at BMW Plant Chennai up to 50 percent.

Philipp von Sahr, President, BMW Group India said, “The future belongs to India. If you want to benefit from the dynamics of the Indian market, you need to act today.

Following our approach ‘Production follows the market’, we have accelerated our localization program in India. We have created a win-win situation for our customers with a wide range of exclusively authentic luxury products and now equally attractive value proposition with ‘Make in India’.”

BMW Plant Chennai started operations on 29 March 2007. Since then, the BMW Group has strengthened its commitment to the Indian market and has continuously increased the number of its locally produced car models. Up to eight car models can be locally produced on two assembly lines at BMW Plant Chennai. Presently, the BMW 1 Series, the BMW 3 Series, the BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo, the BMW 5 Series, the BMW 7 Series, the BMW X1, the BMW X3 and the BMW X5 are locally produced at BMW Plant Chennai.

Some of the major auto components sourced for local production of cars at BMW Plant Chennai are: Engine and Transmission from Force Motors; Axles from ZF Hero Chassis; Door Panels and Wiring Harness from Draexlmaier India; Exhaust Systems from Tenneco Automotive India; Heating, Ventilating, Air-conditioning and Cooling Modules from Valeo India and Mahle Behr and Seats from Lear India.

Prices as of July 2015:

BMW 1 Series :

BMW 118d (Sport Line) – INR 2,950,000

BMW 3 Series :

BMW 320d (Prestige Edition) – INR 3,490,000

BMW 320d (Luxury Line Edition) – INR 3,890,000

BMW 320d (Sport Line Edition) – INR 3,890,000

BMW Gran Turismo :

BMW Gran Turismo (Sport Line) – INR 3,990,000

BMW Gran Turismo (Luxury Line) – INR 4,290,000

BMW 5 Series :

BMW 520d (Prestige Edition) – INR 4,490,000

BMW 520d (Prestige Plus Edition) – INR 4,790,000

BMW 520d (Luxury Line Edition) – INR 4,990,000

BMW 530d (M Sport) – INR 5,990,000

BMW 7 Series :

BMW 730Ld (Prestige) – INR 9,250,000

BMW 730Ld (Eminence) – INR 10,650,000

BMW 730Ld (Signature) – INR 12,520,000

BMW X1 :

BMW X1 sDrive20d (xLine) – INR 3,790,000

BMW X3 :

BMW X3 xDrive20d (Expedition) – INR 4,690,000

BMW X3 xDrive20d (xLine) – INR 5,190,000

BMW X3 xDrive30d (M Sport) – INR 5,990,000

BMW X5 :

BMW X5 xDrive30d (Expedition) – INR 6,590,000

BMW X5 xDrive30d (Design Pure Experience) – INR 6,990,000

BMW X5 xDrive30d (Design Pure Experience 7 Seater) – INR 7,290,000

Posted by Unknown Friday, July 10, 2015

News BMW Car Update : BMW Unveils Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Prototype Of i8

The German luxury carmaker BMW has unveiled the hydrogen fuel-cell prototype of its plug-in Hybrid supercar i8. The two-door, black matte finish saloon is powered by rear mounted hydrogen fuel-cell powerplant. It’s the same place, where the hybrid’s turbocharged 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol engine resides.

In order to maintain its weight, the car gets carbon-fibre construction with the aerodynamics package designed at the BMW’s wind tunnel in Munich. The front gets redesigned kidney grille, large air ducts and slimline headlamps.

Under the hood of BMW i8, power comes from the hydrogen which is stored in a cryogenic cylinder arrangement, with oxygen provided by cooling air. The hydrogen fuel powers the rear mounted electric motor with the maximum power output of 242bhp. And since hydrogen being the primary fuel, the only by-product is water- no harmful carbon monoxide or CO2 emissions. This whole arrangement is mounted along the centre line of the car.

The company has also tied up with Toyota to accelerate fuel cell research. Toyota recently has delivered the first unit of the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, Mirai, to the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. On a single tank of hydrogen, Mirai can travel up to 483 kms. The car refuels in less than five minutes and emits only water vapour. The compressed hydrogen gas is fed into the fuel cell stack where it combines with oxygen and moves through the fuel cell stack, creating a chemical reaction, thus producing electricity to power the 152 bhp electric motor driving the front wheels of the vehicle.

 

Posted by Unknown Monday, July 06, 2015

News Sports Car Update : Eco Mustang’s Is Ready To Go Now

While purists probably cringe at the thought of a four-cylinder aluminum engine in Ford’s classic Mustang, this coupe strikes the delicate balance between performance and fuel economy.

It is an exhilarating car to drive that performs quite admirably. It is indeed, a horse of a different color and it certainly holds its own.

This 310-horsepower coupe (10 horsepower more than its V-6 model) cruises with speed to spare, only without the throaty exhaust sound of its V-6 and V-8 predecessors. The 6-speed manual transmission is a thrill to drive and gets the Ecoboost engine to 60 mph in second gear.

Drivers of other inline four-cylinder engines may need to get used to the potential for oversteering when popping this rear-wheel-drive bad boy into second gear and punching the accelerator.

The gas mileage is 22 miles per gallon in the city and 31 on the highway, for an average of 26 mpg. The fuel cost savings versus the V-6 (17/28) and V-8 (15/25) is probably negated by the need for premium gasoline. But hey, it has Eco in its name so it’s good for the environment.

The Mustang’s newly revamped front and rear suspension coupled with the electronic stability control keeps this coupe calm even in evasive maneuvers. There’s also selectable-effort electric power-assisted steering, which takes some of the tension off its race car steering. Torque is transferred to its optionally equipped sleek 19-inch black-painted aluminum wheels.

The Mustang’s ebony colored Recaro seats are beautiful and comfortable. They’re generally worth the $1,595 up-charge, but it should be noted that they are fully manually adjusted and you’ll be missing out on the usually included heated and cooled seats. The back seats are comfy too, however not many passengers will enjoy climbing into the rear row of this four seater.


The gauge layout is simple, with classic rounded readouts for oil pressure, speed, RPMs and Ecoboost PSI. The GPS, like the rest seen in the Ford lineup so far, has an easy-to-use touchscreen that also controls the booming 390-watt Shaker Pro Audio System with a subwoofer in the trunk.

The test car sports a gorgeous deep green guard metallic paint job which is like a chameleon, looking black at some times and green at others. The front grille is black on black with Mustang ornament. It is equipped with pony projection, which casts a Mustang logo on the ground beneath the mirrors on the doors. The corners of the car are anchored with HID headlamps, and LED fog and tail lamps. Those features coupled with a dual bright-tipped exhaust enhances the distinguished look of this sports car.

The bottom line is that this Mustang delivers a great sports coupe experience with a little less giddy up.

Ford Mustang 2.3L i4 Coupe with Ecoboost
MSRP: $29,300
As Tested: $38,585
MPG: 22 city, 31 highway

Posted by Unknown Saturday, July 04, 2015