CNet has taken the 2011 Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid for a spin. Watch their video below. Speaking of the hybrid high-end SUV, it comes without a spare tyre. All it has in lieu of a spare tyre is a tyre glue and an electronic pump, which maybe a good idea for other car makers to emulate. Don’t you think so?
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I grew up with this statement hammered into my brain: that there is no way an automatic car can stall. You drive any automatic car and you can rest assured that it won’t fail on you as far as stalling is concerned.
So, I find to my amazement when the Kia Sportage SUV, a 2000 model, which we bought two years ago at a bargain, began its regular stalling several months later. It stalled just like that, without any provocation whatsoever, like for instance when I was reversing the car or when it was running at a slow speed.
Kia Sportage
First, it would jerk and then everything would become quiet and the steering wheel became stiff.
At first the stalling was rare, like once in a month, then it became regular, on a weekly basis, and early this year it was worse that it had become dangerous to drive the car. So I bought it to a workshop but they told me it was better if the problem was diagnosed by Kia. I went to a Kia service centre and told them the problem. Two days later I was told that the car needs several items replaced, namely the pressure hose, idler speed sensor, valve cover gasket and immobiliser. Yes, I said, get those parts and make the car run again.
At time this entry is written, I’m still waiting for the parts to be installed or to be ordered. The last time I check, all these items, except for the immobiliser, were “on their way” to the service centre and should be arriving soon. Let’s just hope they can do it this week.
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A single tyre, abandoned in the desert, inexplicably comes to life in a new movie called “Rubber” and coming to the cinema on April Fool’s day this year. You may think a tyre coming to life is cute but this is not an ordinary radial because its intention is to kill.
The tyre’s first victim is a crow. See the trailer below:
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Land Rover is set to unveiled the Range Rover Autobiography Ultimate Edition at the 81st Geneva Motor Show, early next month. Land Rover says the car will be “the most luxurious Range Rover ever debuts at Geneva Motor Show.”
How luxurious? Here’s how: according to the press release from Land Rover: it is hand-finished, has first-class-style accommodation “never before seen in a Range Rover,” with Apple iPads as standard in the rear cabin, features hand-crafted finest soft feel leathers and machined aluminium detailing, has super yacht inspired teak loadspace floor, two stand alone electric rear seats enhance space and comfort for the rear passengers …
iPads in the backseats
Range Rover Autobiography Ultimate Edition
Enough said. Read the press release below: [click to continue…]
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To my fellow countrymen wishing to buy this car, you can dream on because Ford is unlikely to bring this car to our region anytime soon. However, in countries where the Explorer is marketed, buckle up and read and watch some of the reviews posted on the 2011 Ford Explorer XLT.
Among the latest to have reviewed this SUV is CNet [see the video below] in which something is said about the navigation panel:
Up next is AutoGuide.com, which sounds much more positive than CNet does:
Other 2011 Ford Explorer XLT Reviews are also available at Consumer Guide Automative and The Truth About Cars.
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The design of the all new Ford Ranger, unveiled in Australia recently, confirms what many had suspected about a possible shift in the workhorse’s appearance. Sleek and urban, the new Ranger resembles little the “squarish” design of its predecessors.
Ford aerodynamics
Being square isn’t necessarily bad, it just that, it’s square.
Announced under the “T6″ codename, the truck comes in 2.2-litre, 2.5-litre and 3.2-litre variants. The 2.2 (110 kW and 375 Nm of torque) and 3.2(147 kW and 470 Nm of torque) are powered by Ford’s all new Duratorq TDCi Diesel engine while the 2.5 (122 kW) uses the Ford Duratec I4 petrol engine.
It will be sold in about 180 markets around the globe, giving other truck makers plenty to lose sleep about.
The two video footage below provides an insight into the designing of the new truck.
Here’s an excerpt of Ford’s press release about the new Ranger:
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Google’s driverless car has been voted TIME’s 50 Best Inventions of 2010. The car, based on the Toyota Prius, drove with only occasional human interventions a distance of 230,000km without any accident. That’s about five times of driving around the world.
There’s only one minor accident during the journey but that was not because of the car’s fault; it’s just that someone had just rammed into its rear while the car was stopping at a traffic ligit.
According to Wikipedia, the car utilises a system that combines information from Google Street View with artificial intelligence software as well as input from video cameras inside the car, a LIDAR sensor on top of the vehicle, radar sensors on the front of the vehicle and a position sensor attached to one of the rear wheels that helps locate the car’s position on the map.
Here’s a complete list of TIME’s 50 Best Inventions of 2010.
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Toyota and Tesla Motor are poised to introduce an all-electric version of the popular RAV4 compact SUV in November at the Los Angeles Motor Show in November, reports said. The car will be one of six hybrid cars Toyota will announce next year.
No mention was made on what hybrid models Toyota will be releasing but Reuters predicted that a RAV4 hybrid will be among them.
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Back in Borneo in the old days, Jeep, pronounced “gee-eep” by the native people, was the noun for almost all things automobiles, whatever automobile was available in Borneo then. You could be on an old Land Rover, the one with the spare tyre mounted on the hood, a popular vehicle in Borneo back then, but you would still be on a gee-eep to them.
For instance, a man might ask his friend, “How do you plan to go the market today” and it was not uncommon to hear a reply like this, “I think, I may take the buffalo or maybe I shall just wait for a gee-eep to come by.”
The name Jeep sticks until this day in some parts of South-east Asia, and people are still calling a certain type of vehicles gee-eep. Gee…
But that is beside the point. So, how is the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee doing? Can the iconic brand name put back order into its maker’s tumultuous years? The 2011 Grand Cherokee Jeep, announced in May, broke what was then a long-drawn out silence — in terms of vehicle announcement, that was — from Chrysler.
If you are curious about the SUV, curious no more as some lucky souls have test-driven the beauty and come back with their reports. One of them is Autoblog. It is a very comprehensive review indeed, in the usual style of Autoblog. We won’t be spoiling their finding, so be sure to check the review yourself. There is, however, a mention about “a little life” on some hills at the end of the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee test drive report and review.
2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee
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CrunchGear’s David Freeman has test-driven the new Audi R8 V8 Spyder and prepared a report about his experience with the supercar.
It is not your typical test-drive report but for someone who confesses to writing typically about USB drives, his write-up is pleasantly entertaining; makes you wonder how would a car review writer writes if he is to report about USB drives.
In the report Freeman talks about his experience behind the wheel and the technology that makes the R8 V10 Spyder a R8 V10 Spyder. Read the Audi R8 V10 Spyder mini review here. Other reviews and test drive reports of the R8 V10 Spyder: Audi R8 V10 overall verdict, Audi R8 V10 review.
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