German gearbox specialist ZF unveiled an 8-speed automatic gearbox at the Vienna Motor Symposium back in 2007 but this was just the first of a raft of advanced technologies the company is planning for the coming years. The addition of these new features are claimed to be able to improve fuel-economy by 18% on gasoline-powered vehicles and 30% on hybrids, and we should be seeing the first of these technologies as early as the 2010 model year.
The information comes from ZF vice president of corporate research Harald Naunheimer, who spoke recently with Automotive News. He said pushing the improvements are lighter materials, more efficient electrical systems that replace heavier mechanical ones and transmissions with more gears.
It is a story that has been repeated many times: A car company is founded by a larger-than-life visionary with unconventional ideas. It goes on to create remarkable vehicles.
This story can have many different endings. Some of the plucky startups, like Ferrari and Honda, endure, and their cars become the stuff of legend. Many more – Bricklin and DeLorean, for example – drop out of sight before gaining a commercial foothold.
Among the failures is one of the most fascinating chapters of American automotive history, the story of Preston Tucker and his attempt to break into a market dominated by Detroit’s Big Three in the years …Â Details
Dune buggies? Where are all those dune buggies you used to see all over Southern California? Well, on July 11 of this year, over one hundred of them, with their drivers and passengers, were in the parking lot of B’s Back Yard Barbeque in Big Bear, California for a rare group photo. Why rare? Dune buggy owners are a hard group to pin down. Most of the time, they would rather be driving their cars on one of the rough, dusty roads that take them up and around the pine covered mountains that surround the Big Bear Lake. Getting all these cars and people together for a photograph was a major organizational triumph, and the Manx Dune Buggy Club was up to the task…Â Details & Pictures
