August 2014

Ford 'cobra head' diesel exhaust pipe helps engine breathe easier

(August 25, 2014) DEARBORN, Mich. — While some might hold their breath seeing the fearsome shape of a king cobra, Ford engineers discovered that designing the turbo exhaust outlet, or downpipe, of the 6.7-liter Power Stroke V8 diesel like a cobra head helps the engine breathe easier.  

Ford’s second-generation 6.7-liter Power Stroke V8 turbo diesel now boasts 440 horsepower, up from 400 horsepower, and 860 lb.-ft. of torque, up from 800 lb.-ft, across all Super Duty models from F-250 to F-450.

2014 Toyota 4Runner a hard act to follow — off road

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(August 25, 2014) Why in the name of all that is holy would Toyota make the 4Runner look like an outtake from Mitsubishi’s design studio? The aggressively… interesting… front end could only have been stolen from Mitsubishi’s Raider pickup, which itself was built on the Dodge Dakota platform.

Nissan announces no price increase for 2015 Frontier

(August 24, 2014) NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Nissan has announced U.S. pricing for the 2015 Nissan Frontier and 2015 Nissan Xterra, which are on sale now at Nissan dealers nationwide. Nissan has set the mid-sized pickup truck Frontier’s starting Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price remains unchanged at $17,990 (Frontier S King Cab 4x2 I4 5MT).

The base price of the Xterra SUV will go up $270 from $23,390 to $23,660.

Ford points to 10 'friendly features' to satisfy customers of the new F-150

(August 24, 2014) DEARBORN, Mich. — There are 10 features of the all-new 2015 Ford F-150 pickup that were designed to satisfy customers without them ever even noticing, according to Ford

 “If I do my job, the customer simply intuits that things are right — both inside and outside of his truck – without even having to think about it,” said Cary Diehl, Ford human factors engineer, who worked on the design and development of the all-new F-150.

Volvo leading industry with standard car connectivity, telematics

(August 23, 2014) ROCKLEIGH, N.J. — With consumers’ lives becoming ever-more connected, Volvo Cars of North America has introduced Sensus Connect, Volvo’s connected car platform, combined with the Volvo On Call telematics solution, and the Volvo On Call smartphone app.

As the first manufacturer to offer such a system as standard equipment across the entire model range, Volvo is carrying its approach to design and safety into the connected car era. Customers can experience the system on all 2015.5 Volvo models, which are available now at all U.S. Volvo dealers.

2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 most powerful in history with 650 horsepower

(August 23, 2014) DETROIT — The 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 — the most powerful and technologically advanced model in the iconic car’s 62-year history — will be offered at a suggested retail price of $78,995 while the convertible model will start at $83,995, Chevrolet announced today.

1921 Rolls-Royce to bring star power to Auburn Auction Park

(August 22, 2014) AUBURN, Ind. — A 1921 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Saloon used in the acclaimed HBO series, "Boardwalk Empire" will bring star power to the historic Auburn Auction Park next week as it crosses the block during Auctions America's annual Auburn Fall weekend, Aug. 27-31.

'56 Ford rusts away in retirement



Its work years long past, this rather bedraggled 1956 Ford F-300 lives in retirement beside a barn in North Carolina. Ford completely redesigned its lineup of trucks in 1953 and added "00" to the end of the existing monikers, thus the F-1 became the F-100, etc. One of the biggest changes was a new "full wrap windshield" extending over to the vertical door post.
(Photo by Ralph Gable)

Honda CR-Z Hybrid gets supercharged with HPD street performance

(August 21, 2014) TORRANCE, Calif. — Supercharged performance for the street is now available in the Honda CR-Z Sport Hybrid Coupe through a new dealer-installed Honda Performance Development (HPD) supercharger kit. Best known as Honda's North American racing company, HPD developed a full line of street performance accessories for the CR-Z and first revealed them at the 2013 SEMA Show.

With the debut of the supercharger kit this month, all of the HPD street performance components for the CR-Z are now available at Honda dealers in the United States.

Volvo's optimistic forecast: Sales to grow 10 percent in 2014

(August 21, 2014) Volvo Car Group expects sales for the full year to increase by close to 10 per cent in 2014 driven by steady growth in key markets and an improving product offer, according to Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief executive.

Samuelsson was speaking at the company’s first half results announcement in Stockholm where he reported an operating profit of SEK 1,21 billion ($169.4 million) for the first six months of 2014, with sales up 9.5 per cent to 229,013 and revenue of SEK 64,8 billion ($907 million).