Tag Archives: hybrid

Jaguar Set to Wow Goodwood Crowd with Surprise C-X75 Dynamic Debut

Jaguar C-X75
The Jaguar C-X75 is set to make a surprise public dynamic debut today at Goodwood Festival of Speed. The prototype hypercar, one of only five development and test cars in existence,  will make its public dynamic debut in the Michelin Supercar Run today along with a number of exciting new sporting cars from Jaguar: XJR, XFR-S, XKR-S GT and Jaguar Project 7; a unique design study based on the F-TYPE.

The Michelin Supercar hill run takes place twice daily throughout the Festival, starting today at approximately 13.00. The Jaguar C-X75 will only be available be in front of public eyes at these times, and will not be on static display at any other time throughout the Festival weekend.
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BMW I8 – Zaps the Nordschleife (Spyshots)

BMW I8 - VLN 2013 Season BMW Motorsport

Sometimes it’s time to leave the city. Escape the restrictions of everyday life. Yes you guessed it the flagship I8 is lapping the Nordschleife.

After successful initial testing of the vehicle concept, the decision for a series production vehicle was quickly made. The BMW i8 Concept is the next step in the evolution of the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept.

And now it looks like BMW I8 is looking close to completion, the I8’s plug-in hybrid concept combines the modified electric propulsion system from the BMW i3 Concept – fitted over its front axle – with a high-performance three cylinder combustion engine producing 164 kW/220 hp and 300 Nm (221 lb-ft) at the rear.
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Volkswagens XL1 – Production Prototype Spyshots

Voklswagon XL1 Spyshots
The production version of Volkswagens XL1 has been spotted during hot weather testing today and we are happy to show you some photos of the 313-mpg car.

Powering the XL1 is a compact 800 cc TDI two-cylinder common rail diesel engine developing 48 PS. It’s linked to an electric motor producing 27 PS, resulting in a total of 75 PS – a modest output yet more than enough when the low kerb weight (795 kg) of the vehicle is taken into account.
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BMW I8 – Is this the Worlds first Hybrid Game Changer?

BMW I8

We recently published some pictures of BMW’s upcoming hybrid sports car, the i8, testing up in the arctic circle.

With its 220bhp 221lb-ft (300Nm) three cylinder petrol engine sat directly over and powering the rear wheels, and a 129bhp 184lb-ft (250Nm) electric motor sat on top of and powering the front wheels, the i8 offers a combined output of nearly 350bhp and 405lb- ft (550Nm) of torque.

That’s power enough to propel the car to 62mph in under 5 seconds and onto a top speed of 155mph. All this, yet the i8 will do almost 100mpg and on a combined cycle puts out only 99grams of CO2 per km. This allows for Congestion Charge-free driving though London and negates the need to pay for a UK tax disk. You can even drive on just electric power for up to 22 miles from a full charge and BMW promise us a full charge will take only 2 hours at a standard power socket. These figures could make the i8 one of the most interesting new cars of the next few years.

I really do believe that the BMW i8 will be the first, real petrolhead’s everyday hybrid hero. Imagine; you can cruise around town for free, on electric power alone. You could then take a long drive to the country, at nearly 100mpg.

Then at the weekend, take advantage of the perfect 50/50 weight balance, low centre of gravity, and powerful hybrid power plant for a hugely rewarding ‘enthusiastic’ drive. It’s a 2+2 as well, so you’ll be able to squeeze a pair of short children in the back. Perfect.

This is a great new direction for hybrid power. BMW are showing that hybrid power isn’t just for miserly Honda Insights and Toyota Priuses (or is that Pri’i? Maybe just Prius?), it’s a system which can be used to make amazing sports cars more useful in the real world.

Ultimately it gives hope. We’ve been told for a long time now that the future will be full of hybrid or electric cars, and so far these cars have either been boring cars for those outwardly concerned about the environment, or electric cars which just don’t have the range to function in a world where you might decide you want to drive further than the local shops and back in any given 24 hour period.

BMW aren’t the only people looking into hybrid sports cars though, there’s also Audi with their e- Tron Spyder, and Porsche with their 918 Spyder. The Audi has a 296bhp 3 litre TDI V6 for the rear wheels, an 86bhp electric motor for the fronts, and a face only a blind mother could love.

The Porsche is achingly beautiful and powered by a 716 3.4 litre V8 Petrol engine at the back, and 218bhp electric set-up at the front. Unfortunately you wouldn’t choose either of these; the Audi is just too ugly, and the Porsche will be both sold out and too expensive.

In terms of design, the i8 looks brilliant. It will probably be dulled down slightly from the concept we are used to seeing now. Our spy photos of the camouflaged prototype seem to show that the production version will predictably loose the glass doors, and the windscreen will be of a more standard design. But the general shape looks similar and BMW seem have to retained the awesome rear/side floating spoiler.

BMW are saying that the i8 will be launched in 2014. They seem to be rather proud of it too, and aren’t afraid to spend money on advertising, paying big bucks for it to be featured in the recent Mission Impossible movie and even showing it in their mainstream brand adverts.

I think it’s going to be very special indeed, and you know what; if its good enough for Ethan Hunt, it’s good enough for me. Now, I just need to find the rumoured £100k its going to cost.

Source:- Richard Major

BMW I8 Production Prototype – Winter Test Spyshots

Here are the final Prototype spyshots of the production version of BMW new I8.

The car has been undergoing winter testing in the artic circle to test its reliability under the extreme cold and also testing some of the Bosch equipment on board.

This is the first time a production prototype has been spotted the previous spyshots was the Mule, which was based on the Vision Concept Car which was shown in Frankfurt in 2009.

The production version is remarkably close to the concept with only some changes. Biggest change seem to be the doors and the design of the rear lights. The rear lights featured here are just cammo and not the final design.

Its innovative plug-in hybrid concept combines the modified electric drive system from the BMW i3 Concept – fitted over its front axle – with a high-performance three-cylinder combustion engine producing 164 kW/220 hp and 300 Nm (221 lb-ft) at the rear.

Acceleration of 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in under five seconds combined with fuel consumption of under three litres per 100 kilometres (approx. 94 mpg) are figures currently beyond the capability of any vehicle powered by a combustion engine of comparable performance.

Jaguar C-X16 prototype testing at the Nurburgring

Jaguar Spyshots of the C-X16 Mule
C-x16

Here we have got the latest and clearest Spyshots of the C-X16 Mule which was revealed in Concept form in Frankfurt in 2011.

As you can see this is no ground up chassis which will be used in the final form but this shorter wheel based mule is testing the power train which will be ultimately mated to the production prototypes.

C-X16 is powered by an experimental hybrid powertrain that combines a new all-alloy 3.0 Litre V6 Supercharged engine with a performance-boosting electric motor inspired by Formula One’s Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS).

C-X16’s is constructed from an all aluminium body shell .

A unique combination of lightness, strength and torsional rigidity results in greater handling agility, faster acceleration, shorter braking distances and improved fuel economy in comparison to an equivalent steel-bodied car.

It is being billed as having 380hp along with 332 (lb ft) of torque mated to a 8 Speed Gearbox with integrated KERS.

0 to 60 will be achieved in a very respectable 4.4 and a top speed limited at 186mph and unbelievably a combined 41 mpg.

If Jaguar pull this car off with them specs they will be competing with the likes of Porsche Panamera and the Mighty M5.

2012 BMW F30 3-Series Spyshots

The 2012 F30 3-series sedan has been spotted sporting lighter Camouflage on the streets of Munich.

The 3-series is expected to be teased in concept form at the build up to the London Olympics, And will make its world debut at the 2012 Geneva motor show in March of 2012.

Expect engine options to include a full range of turbo engines. The 28i will likely be powered by the same N20 turbo 4-cylinder powering the X1 xDrive28i and the upcoming Z4 sDrive28i, and the F30 335i/340i will again be powered by a detuned variant of the M1 coupe power unit.

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Porsche GT3 R Hybrid V2 for the 2011 #nurburgring #n24

After the impressive lead the GT3 R Hybrid gaine in the 2010 and the following dissapointment of retirement from transmission failure, Porsche lines up with an even more efficient 911 GT3 R Hybrid

Porsche returns to the Nürburgring 24 hour race on 25 June with a further developed version of the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid. Priority of the development was given to the improvement of efficiency through the targeted optimisation of hybrid components, which also resulted in a 20 percent weight reduction. Version 2.0 of the 911 GT3 R Hybrid is intended to achieve the same lap times as its predecessor but with less fuel consumption.

The general layout of the hybrid was adopted from the 2010 model. A portal axle with two electric motors drives the front wheels and supplements the four-litre, depending on the balance of performance classification approximately 470 hp, six-cylinder boxer engine at the rear. The output of both electric motors has increased from 60 to 75 kilowatts each. For seconds at a time, pilots now have almost an additional 200 hp at their disposal with the 911 GT3 R Hybrid 2.0. Depending on the programming, this power is automatically activated through use of the throttle pedal. Moreover, pilots can manually call up this extra power, for instance when overtaking.

The electric flywheel accumulator, with its rotor spinning up to 40,000 rpm and retaining the energy mechanically as rotational energy, is now housed with the other hybrid components in a carbon fibre safety cell on the passenger’s side.

At first glance, the new GT3 R Hybrid is clearly distinguishable from the 2010 model. Thanks to the optimisation of the hybrid system’s high voltage components, the large louvres in front of the rear fenders were no longer necessary. This reduces drag and also lowers fuel consumption. All in all, the weight of the vehicle decreased from 1,350 to 1,300 kilograms.

“We’ve collected a great deal of information from our races on the Nürburgring, at the ALMS race at Road Atlanta in the USA, as well as from the ILMC race on China’s Zhuhai circuit, which was an invaluable help for the further development of our racing laboratory,” says Hartmut Kristen, head of Porsche motorsport. “The emphasis of our work was on improving efficiency. That means we want to keep the lap times consis-tent with 2010 but use less energy, hence less fuel. In this way, we support future developments of road-going, sporting hybrid vehicles.”

The cockpit of the 911 GT3 R Hybrid has also been completely revised. Most of the displays and controls have moved to the steering wheel. Drivers can operate the rest of the functions via backlit buttons now situated on the centre console. Priority was placed on the ergonomics and the clear layout for pilots – particularly in darkness.

The new 911 GT3 R Hybrid is a perfect example of the ‘Porsche Intelligent Perform-ance’ philosophy, a principle found in every Porsche: More power on less fuel, more efficiency and lower CO2 emissions – on the race track and on the road.