Tag Archives: Cars

Cars With Direct Injection – 2011

  By jason | October 12, 2011 - 12:40 pm |
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Back in 2008, when Direct Injection was relatively new technology I compiled a list of cars that featured it in their engines. Fast forward to 2011 and many cars use this. Winding Road compiled a complete list of all cars (in the USA) that feature this tech:

Audi

2.0-liter, turbocharged inline-4. Applications: A3, A4, A5, A6, Q5, TT, TTS
2.0-liter turbo-diesel inline-4. Applications: A3 TDI
3.0-liter supercharged V-6. Applications: S4, S5, A6, A7, Q7
3.0-liter turbo-diesel V-6. Applications: Q7 TDI
3.2-liter V-6. Applications: Q5
4.2-liter V-8. Applications: S5, RS5, A8, A8L, R8
5.2-liter V-10. Applications: R8
6.3-liter W-12. Applications: A8L

BMW
3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-6. Applications: 135i, I Series M Coupe, 335is, 535i, X3, X5, Z4
3.0-liter turbo-diesel inline-6. Applications: 335d, X5
4.4-liter turbocharged V-8. Applications: 550i, 550iGT, 650i, 750i, X5, X5M, X6, X6M (also upcoming M5)
6.0-liter turbocharged V-12. Applications: 760Li

Fisker
2.0-liter turbocharged inline-4 (sourced from GM). Applications: Karma

Ferrari
4.3-liter V-8. Applications: California
4.5-liter V-8. Applications: 458 Italia, SA Aperta
6.3-liter V-12. Applications: FF

Ford/Lincoln
2.0-liter “EcoBoost” turbocharged inline-4. Applications: Edge, MKX, Explorer, Focus ST (upcoming, 2012)
3.5-liter “EcoBoost” turbocharged V-6. Applications: Taurus SHO/MKS, Flex/MKT, F-150

General Motors
2.0-liter turbocharged inline-4. Applications: Buick Regal, Buick Regal GS
2.4-liter inline-4. Applications: Buick Verano, Buick Regal, Buick LaCrosse, Chevrolet Malibu, Chevrolet Equinox, GMC Terrain
3.0-liter V-6. Applications: Chevrolet Equinox, Cadillac CTS
3.6-liter V-6. Applications: Chevrolet Camaro, Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia, Buick LaCrosse, Buick Enclave, Cadillac CTS, Cadillac SRX

Hyundai
1.6-liter inline-4. Applications: Accent, Veloster
2.0-liter turbocharged inline-4. Applications: Sonata, Genesis Coupe
2.4-liter inline-4. Applications: Sonata, Tucson, Santa Fe
3.8-liter V-6. Applications: Genesis
5.0-liter V-8. Applications: Genesis R-Spec, Equus

Jaguar
5.0-liter V-8. Applications: XF, XJ, XK
5.0-liter supercharged V-8. Applications: XF, XFR, XJ, XJ Supersport, XK, XKR

Kia
1.6-liter inline-4. Applications: Rio, Soul
2.0-liter turbocharged inline-4. Applications: Optima, Sportage
2.4-liter inline-4. Applications: Optima, Sportage, Sorento

Lamborghini
5.2-liter V-10. Applications: Gallardo

Land Rover
2.0-liter turbocharged inline-4. Applications: Range Rover Evoque
5.0-liter V-8. Applications: LR4, Range Rover
5.0-liter supercharged V-8. Applications: Range Rover Sport

Lexus
2.5-liter V-6. Applications: IS250
3.5-liter V-6. Applications: IS350, GS350, GS450H
4.6-liter V-8. Applications: LS460
5.0-liter V-8. Applications: IS-F, LS600h

Mazda
2.3-liter turbocharged inline-4. Applications: Mazdaspeed3, CX-7

Mercedes
1.8-liter turbocharged inline-4. Applications: C250, SLK250,
3.0-liter turbo-diesel V-6. Applications: E350 BlueTec, S350 BlueTec, GL350 BlueTec, ML350 BlueTec, R350 BlueTec, Sprinter
3.5-liter V-6. Applications: C350, E350, SLK350, ML350, R350
4.6-liter turbocharged V-8. Applications: CL550, CLS550, E550, S550
5.5-liter turbocharged V-8. Applications: CL63 AMG, CLS63 AMG, E63 AMG, S63 AMG, SLK55 AMG

Mini
1.6-liter turbocharged inline-4. Applications: Cooper S, Cooper JCW, Clubman Cooper S, Clubman Cooper JCW, Coupe Cooper S, Coupe Cooper JCW, Countryman Cooper S

Nissan
1.6-liter turbocharged inline-4. Applications: Juke

Porsche
3.0-liter supercharged V-6. Applications: Panamera Hybrid, Cayenne Hybrid
2.9-liter flat-6. Applications: Boxter, Cayman
3.4-liter flat-6. Applications: Boxter, Cayman
3.6-liter flat-6. Applications: 911
3.6-liter V-6. Applications: Panamera, Cayenne
3.8-liter flat-6. Applications: 911
3.8-liter turbocharged flat-6. Applications: 911
4.8-liter V-8. Applications: Panamera, Cayenne
4.8-liter turbocharged V-8. Applications: Panamera, Cayenne

Rolls Royce
6.7-liter V-12. Applications: Ghost, Phantom

Saab
2.0-liter turbocharged inline-4. Applications: 9-3, 9-5

Volkswagen
2.0-liter turbocharged inline-4. Applications: Golf GTI, Golf R, Jetta GLI, Beetle, EOS, CC, Tiguan
2.0-liter turbo-diesel inline-4. Applications: Golf TDI, Jetta TDI, Jetta TDI Sportwagon, Beetle TDI (upcoming, 2012), Passat TDI
3.0-liter turbo-diesel V-6. Applications: Taureg TDI
3.0-liter supercharged V-6. Applications: Touareg Hybrid
3.6-liter V-6. Applications: CC, Passat, Taureg

Canada’s Cheapest Cars

  By jason | September 5, 2011 - 3:00 am |
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Autos.ca featured the cheapest new cars you can buy although they do warn that the base models are often unavailable, and exist only to get you into the showroom:

Model
Base price
Automatic
Auto and air
Nissan Versa
$11,798
$13,798
$15,098
Ford Fiesta
$12,999
$14,249
$17,249
Hyundai Accent
$13,199
$14,399
$16,199
Chevrolet Aveo5
$13,995
$15,145
$16,295
Toyota Yaris
$13,995
$14,995
$18,075

Another Year, Another Post On Winter Tires

  By jason | November 1, 2010 - 8:00 am |
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I can’t summarize better what Inside Line posted about winter tires. Some of my old posts are below, but the Inside Line article is the most up-to-date.

In case you still feel you don’t need winter tires, at a minimum walk around your car and test the tire pressure for all four of your tires. As the temperature drops, the pressure in  your tires will drop as well – usually far below recommended tire pressure. Better to do this now before it gets all snowy and wet outside. While you’re at it, check your oil level.

Will Plug-In Hybrids Fail In Toronto?

  By jason | January 5, 2010 - 10:24 pm |
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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.

Direct Injection Engines

  By jason | August 20, 2009 - 5:23 pm |
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Last year I published a list of cars with direct injection, looks like Winding Road beat me to it and published a an updated list. I love direct injection engines because it’s one of those technologies that defy the fuel economy/horsepower tradeoff. Direct injection engines have better fuel economy and higher performance.

Their complete list is on their website and it’s amazing how large this list is. Just a few years ago, only Audi produced cars with this technology, now almost every brand is represented.

25 Most Useful Car Technologies

  By jason | August 4, 2009 - 6:05 pm |
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Jalopnik lists the 25 most useful car technologies and I tend to agree with all of them, save one:

  • Rain-X (there is Rain-X wiper fluid now, which refreshes the treatment when you use power washers)
  • Airbags
  • Anti-lock Brakes
  • Traction and Stability Control
  • Muffler Valves
  • Clean Diesel
  • SynchroRev Match (found on the Nissan 370z)
  • iPod/iPhone integration
  • Variable valve timing, event and lift systems
  • Radar/Laser detectors (illegal in Ontario)
  • Heated Seats (my last car didn’t have these)
  • Lightweight materials (carbon fiber)
  • Crumple zones
  • Stop/Start Engines
  • Satellite Weather and Traffic Reports (I don’t think any of these systems work in Canada)
  • Pushbutton locking differentials
  • Turbocharging (woohoo!)
  • LED lights
  • Torque vectoring differentials
  • Direct Fuel Injection
  • Real power outlets
  • Folding hard tops
  • Hood scoops (wtf?)
  • Adaptive headlights
  • Regenerative Braking

I’m not sure about hood scoops, but the rest of the list is pretty cool. Recently I bought a new car, and it was nice to have features that my old car didn’t have, like adaptive lights, turbocharged direct-injection engine, heated seats and iPhone integration. Technology is wonderful.

Made in USA

  By jason | June 22, 2009 - 6:40 pm |
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The New York Times created an interactive map that shows what cars are Made in the USA. Fortunately, they also list models made in Canada and Mexico, seperately. For the cars made in the US, they list where then engines and transmissions come from, because many plants only do final assembly in the States.

If you are taking advantage of the strong Canadian dollar. By buying a car made in the USA, Canada or Mexico, you will save yourself paying duty at the border. There’s even some BMW’s, Mercedes and VW’s made in the USA now.

Support your local economy by buying cars made in Canada. I’ve listed them below:

  • Acura MDX
  • Chevrolet Camaro
  • Chevrolet Impala
  • Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid
  • Chrysler 300
  • Chrysler Town & Country
  • Dodge Challenger
  • Dodge Charger
  • Dodge Grand Caravan
  • Ford Crown Victoria
  • Ford Edge
  • Ford Flex
  • GMC Sierra Hybrid
  • Lexus RX 350
  • Lincoln MKX
  • Lincoln Town Car
  • Mercury Grand Marquis
  • Pontiac G6
  • Toyota Corolla
  • Toyota Matrix
  • Toyota RAV4
  • Suzuki XL7
  • Honda Civic sedan and coupe
  • Honda Civic Si
  • Volkswagen Routan