Car News Articles

With a 5 percent yearly sales gain over 2007, Subaru is having a good year. What better way to enter the 2009 model year than with updates to one of its top sellers, the Impreza, and one of its worst, Tribeca.

With its standard boxer engine and symmetrical all-wheel drive, the Impreza has enthusiasts on its side. For 2009, the Impreza is available in 2.5i, WRX, 2.5GT, Outback Sport and WRX STI trim levels.

All Imprezas get rear disc brakes and a standard electronic stability system. The new 2.5GT has a 244-horsepower, turbocharged 2.5-liter boxer engine with a standard automatic transmission, a power moonroof and automatic climate control.

The WRX gets a 41-hp bump, now at 265 hp. The Outback Sport and WRX STI are relatively unchanged.

It seems the blog subject has changed somewhat from Pedestrian Safety to motorcycle safety. Anyway, on that last point, i do not agree with the comments made by E=mc2 - “I believe a simple roll bar. side impact bar and lap belt system could be designed in a way that have mimimal to no impact on the bikes performance, but the safety improvement would enormous.”

Now im not a motorcycle rider, but i see the suggestions as being potentially more dangerous. A roll bar ?… i’ve not seen a bike roll as such, the tend to drop onto their sides. A side impact bar ?… either dropped onto their side or hit side-on by another vehicle the potential is there to trap the riders leg/s. Lap belt ?… I’ve seen a number of bike accidents (admittedly bike races on TV), but i always see the bike travelling a lot further than the rider. To have the rider strapped onto the bike by way of lap belt or trapped by way of side impact bars to me would create way more horrific injuries to the riders than they are already subject to..
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“What about when you buy a car? Do you take pedestrian safety into consideration, or is it the furthest thing from your mind? Perhaps we have a social responsibility to buy pedestrian-safe cars given, as Scruby points out, the population is getting older and more inclined to walk in front of our cars.”

Pedestrian safe cars - in my opinion there isnt such a thing. Your car can have the latest in everything imaginable, but at some point in time, a pedestrian will be killed - a 1 tonne (or more) vehicle versus 50 - 100 kilo person.. bottom line we as pedestrians (and we all are at some stage of the day) need to take more care and be accountable for our own actions - regardless of age.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Peugeot’s sleek concept marks a new design direction.

This sleek four-door, four-seater concept is the first glimpse of Peugeot’s new 608 luxury sedan.

After the lacklustre response by buyers to the 607 here and in some European markets, the French carmaker has rethought the design direction of the big sedan.

It will be unveiled as the RC concept at the Paris Motor Show in October.

Peugeot has such prestige Germans as the Mercedes-Benz CLS in its sights.

The RC’s unique selling point will be Peugeot’s latest hybrid fuel technology.

Peugeot Automobiles Australia spokesman Mathew McAuley says the hybrid powertrain is the direction in which Peugeot is going.

McAuley says he also believes there is room in the local line-up for a big luxury sedan despite the lacklustre sales of the 607.

However, he could not confirm if Australia would get such a car.

“We’ll have to wait and see,” he says.

Peugeot has sold 293 607s here since 2001 and sales have never really sparkled.

Last year 25 were sold and so far this year only 12 buyers have put a $73,500 3.0-litre V6 into their garages.

The RC concept is the work of Peugeot’s new design boss, Jerome Gallix.

It follows a stream of RC show cars, including the RC Spade and RC Diamond concepts from 2002, and the super-sleek rear-engined V12 turbo-diesel 908 RC that was unveiled in 2006.

Like the previous RCs, the latest version has glamorous looks but the hybrid powertrain is a first for an RC concept.

Peugeot describes the concept as a working laboratory that brings together several stylistic, engineering and technological ideas in a single vehicle.

The car is designed to provide a high level of efficiency in performance and environmental impact.

Peugeot has not yet released engine details, but says the hybrid powertrain develops 233kW and emits only 109 g/km of CO2 when on the combined fuel cycle, or zero CO2 when used only in electric mode.

Gallix has made the trademark Peugeot grille and headlights more aggressive in keeping with the car’s sleek profile.

When the 608 does go into production it is widely expected to be built off the same platform as the Citroen C5 and feature a similar line-up of turbodiesel and petrol engines.

However, there is speculation it could also use C6 underpinnings.

The 608 is expected to be launched with a choice of 2.0 and 2.2-litre four-cylinder HDi diesels. Flagship variants will be available with a 2.7-litre V6 oil-burner, an engine shared with Land Rover and Jaguar.

The car is expected to go on sale in Europe late next year, the hybrid powertrain later.

- Herald Sun

This might have no chance to enter production, but is a very impressive design study. Called 2010 Europa i6, the concept is inspired by classic Lotus cars, Europa and Elite.

Is is supposed to be a rear wheel drive car powered by a 2.0L inline 6, both supercharger and intercooler. It would hit a top speed of 165 mph and make the 0 to 60 mph sprint in less than 7 seconds.

It would be nice to see Lotus getting inspiration from this one!

While on a recent trip to San Diego to ride some dirtbikes, we decided to check out some the sights that the city had to offer. Of course, being the car-obsessed nerds individuals that we are, it didn’t take too long for us to end up at the San Diego Automobile Museum. Tomorrow, we’ll bring you the best of what we saw on two wheels, but today is devoted to the cars. From some of the earliest four-wheelers (and three-wheelers) right on through to some Italian exotics from the ’60s, ’70s and ’90s, there was plenty there to keep our interest. Our favorite has to be the rear-engined Tucker from 1948 — very cool. We’ve assembled a gallery of pics below and have captioned them where appropriate. Enjoy!