Quattro was made famous by Audi over ten years ago. After using it to dominate motorsports, they incorporated versions of it into its road cars, culminating with the torsen-based system found on the Audi A4. The system has changed gradually over the years, moving from a 50:50 torque split to a rear-biased 40:60. Torque vectoring was added in with the debut of the S4 sedan last year. Now at the Geneva Auto Salon, Audi debuted it’s new Quattro system that uses a new center differential. This is significant because Audi stayed with the Torsen center diff from 1996 all the way until this year. Whether this new diff gets put into the regular series of cars or remains an RS-exclusive remains to be seen.
The new center diff is explained in the video below, and also goes over the torque vectoring concept. The RS5 and S4 both come with torque vectoring, and is also seen on the new 2010 Porsche Carrera Turbo.
BMW just announced changes to their 3-series coupe lineup. Starting with the 2011 model year, and available in march, the new 335i comes with the new N55 engine. This engine differs from the old N54 engine by using a single twin scroll turbocharger and adding Valvetronic variable intake control. Output remains at the original 335i levels – 300hp and 300 ft-lbs of torque. Many internal and external elements have been updated in this mid-cycle refresh of the three-series – new front and rear lights featuring new LED’s, redesign front and rear fascias and side skirts complete the new look. On the interior, many of the updates received in last year’s sedan refresh are seen in the coupes.
Even more exciting, is the announcement of a brand new model, the 335is. The 335is has an upgraded version of the original N54 powerplant. Still feature twin turbos, the engine now puts out 320hp and 332ft-lbs of torque. An overboost function allows the engine to generate 370ft-lbs for a short period of time. Along with the manual six-speed transmission, the 335is has an optional 7-speed, dual-clutch gearbox like the M3. To handle the extra power and boost, there is an additional radiator, oil cooling pan and stronger engine mounts.
Setting the 335is apart visually from the 335i, it gets M-sport features including M-sport aerodynamics, M steering wheel, sport seats, anthracite headliner, M door sills, M driver’s footrest, M gearshift knob, and stainless steel sport pedal.
At the Toronto Auto Show, the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada chose the Volkswagen Golf GTI was chosen as car of the year. The a The full list of winners is below:
CANADIAN CAR OF THE YEAR Volkswagen Golf GTI
CANADIAN UTILITY VEHICLE OF THE YEAR Subaru Outback
Best New Small Car (under $21,000) Mazda3
Best New Small Car (over $21,000) Mazda3 Sport
Best New Family Car (under $30,000) Volkswagen Golf Wagon TDI
Best New Family Car (over $30,000) Ford Taurus
Best New Luxury Car (over $50,000) BMW 335d Sedan
Best New Prestige Car Porsche Panamera
Best New Sports / Performance Car (under $50,000) Volkswagen Golf GTI
Best New Sports / Performance Car (over $50,000) Audi S4
Best New Convertible Audi S5 Cabriolet
Best New SUV / CUV (under $35,000) Subaru Outback
Best New SUV / CUV ($35,000 – $60,000) Volkswagen Touareg TDI Clean Diesel
If you love cars, you have to know your tires. The Michelin Pilot Sport 2 (PS2) have been the benchmark high performance tire for several years now. The new Pilot Sport 3 was announced on January 1st. Not much info is available yet, even on Michelin’s website, but some info was found on Event Tire’s website including this diagram comparing it to the PS2.
No sizing or pricing availability for North America yet, but expect a few to start with with more sizes available as the year runs on. Pricing will be high.
January 14 Update: I got this email response from Michelin when I inquired about the PS3:
The Pilot Sport 3 is a very new tire for the US. They produce it in Europe
and it is going to be original equipment for such vehicles as the 2011 Audi
and Mercedes Benz.
Currently there is only very limited availability on 2 sizes which are
255/40zr18 99Y and 285/35zr18 101Y.
The Pilot Sport 3 is an ultra high performance summer tire that gives
exceptional traction in curves and very short stopping distance on wet
roads. It offers precise steering and very low rolling resistance for
outstanding energy efficiency and mileage.
At the end of this year (yes, 2010) the Chevrolet Volt will be available for sale. This hybrid is different than all the others made by the major car companies – it can run on it’s battery only, and charge while parked with an electrical outlet. Toyota is rumored to be developing a plug-in Prius and Mercedes just announced a plug-in S400 concept. However, can a car like this succeed in Toronto?
Toronto is a very urban city. It has many, many high rises and multiple-unit dwellings where the garages are shared among all the residents. Most apartments and condos have few, if any, available electrical outlets for use by residents. How will these people charge their cars? This affects people at work too – have you considered how you can plug in your car at your office parking lot?
Toronto’s older neighborhoods lack garages. In fact in my neighborhood there is only street parking available for residents and most of the downtown core is like that. Will you run a 100-200ft power cable to your car overnight?
I’m curious how this will all play out. Plug-in hybrids or electric-only vehicles will be pretty efficient, and don’t produce much carbon. It might do good in the lawn-and-garage suburbs but it will be hard to tell how well they can sell in the urban areas.
Possible solutions are incentives for multi-dwelling buildings to implement charging technology in their garages. Having charging stations in public lots. Inexpensive home-based charging centers. It will be interesting how the private and public sectors deal with the charging issue.
Autoblog did a test of all-season tires on an all-wheel drive car, the Subaru Legacy. They found that even with the all-wheel drive system, the all-seasons tires did not perform well in the snow at all. This result is made worse because many drivers with AWD feel safe to drive at speeds equal to dry conditions. One needs to note that all-wheel drive does nothing to help braking, and does little to help turning in low-grip conditions. This should be noticed by SUV drivers – who I find to the be worst offenders when it comes to not choosing winter tires.
I’m still a huge fan of most all-wheel drive systems, just pair them with good winter tires should the weather dictate their use.
In the 2009 model year, Porsche introduced a dual-clutch transmission across it’s sports car range (Boxster, Cayman, Carrera). Canadian Driver has a good technical overview of Porsche’s implementation of this technology, unique because it has a tall 7th gear available to lower fuel consumption.
I’m a big fan of dual clutch transmissions, one of the few technologies out recently that both save fuel and offer higher performance. Prior to 2009, other cars have had it ranging from supersports cars like the Nissan GTR, to basic commuter cars like the VW Golf.
Entries (RSS)