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>Jalopnik Causes a Runaway Train of Thought

19 May

>Before I begin to write about the topic at hand, I’d like to address FPH’s apology to the readers on Saturday. The apology is a bit preemptive but due to various events and projects, the first of which was Kyle Swift’s wedding (Congratulations, buddy!), myself and fellow contributors will be busy with things outside of the blog and may post at a lower frequency for the next two weeks. I hope you won’t miss me too much. Actually no, I hope you miss me to death and can’t wait for me to be back.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about cars. So last week, a friend of mine sent me an IM telling me check out a comment from “wheatieboy” that was posted on a BMW 1M Coupe article written by Mike Spinelli of Jalopnik.

This is what my friend thought about the comment, “He’s like the loser that says let’s all stop trying.” There is merit to that. After all, mankind created the microwave, solid-fuel rockets,
the Concorde, the Eurostar, and the birthday cake. Yes, cake! Moreover, Bugatti gave us the 1,001 horsepower supercar that can be used everyday. Finally, according to Futurama, the future promises large pneumatic tubes that shoot humans across the city. None of this would ever be possible if the human race decided to stop trying. And in my friend’s ideal world, a bigger birthday cake is what every human being on Earth should always strive for.

His belief caused two thoughts to materialize. Let’s start with model bloat and something I call driver bloat (you’ll understand when you get to it). With every redesign for the next gen “game-changer,” every dimension is stretched just so. The car will provide a little more headroom, a little more legroom, a little more weight, a little more “style,” a little more kilowatts in the stereo, wheels that are a little larger, an extra gear in the new transmission, a little more power in the engine with a little more performance and a little more mpg. Oh, it’ll cost a little more too. Thanks to a whole decade of “a little”, the latest Accord is now anything but.

This isn’t exclusive to Japanese midsize sedans. The Germans have been waging their horsepower wars for many years too. BMW’s V8 E39 M5 was replaced by an incredible V10 along with what some considered one of the most technologically advanced engine computers and what others consider pure, undiluted, indescribable frustration. Benz’s 55 AMG engine was replaced by a supercharged 6.2 liter and another 6.5 liter. Audi uses the same V10 engine found in their sister company, Lamborghini, for its S6 and S8. Yet strangely, after all these years, top speeds are still electronically limited to 155 mph. What’s the point?

Wheatieboy’s comment addressed 0-60 times specifically, so let’s sum model bloat here by discussing two anomalies– the 2012 Nissan GTR and 2011 Porsche 911 Turbo S. These cars didn’t bloat incrementally, but catapulted themselves into the very fringe of what a car could do. Both these six cylinder twin turbo sports cars can blast through 0-60 in less than 3 seconds, and reliably clock in low 3s under almost any surface and temperature condition. They’re identical in horsepower, both all wheel drive, both have launch control, and both have a trick  transmission instead of a conventional manual.

But at what cost? The majority of my gripe involves all the digital interference. Ideally, everyone is a proper race car driver behind the wheel and all the aids allows us push the car that much more quickly and safely. However, the reality of it all is when engineers create a new traction control system that’s a little more responsive and AWD that’s a little more advanced with every new model, the result is “driver bloat.” Drivers get a little more lazy, a little more overconfident, and a little more showoffy with every new car they drive. Imagine that sort of driver bloat behind the wheel of a current BMW M5, iDrive infotainment system and all. Oh no.

The second thought came in the form of a question on evolution: why does the majority believe that incremental gains equal improvement in the first place? Does an increase in size or power guarantee a car to be better than its predecessor? Does evolution of the automobile mean that new cars should be made to be faster than old ones?

Evolution is often misused. Evolution doesn’t necessary mean enhanced, it’s simply the ability to adapt– to better suit itself to changes in the environment. The past decade has been a roller coaster for the automotive industry and from the volatility, we’ve been given everything from Escalades on DUBs to crossovers to Toyota Prii.

Large SUVs being the “it” thing five years ago went away to Cash for Clunkers just as quickly. Horsepower must now take a back seat to efficiency as car owners struggle to live within their means when gasoline is more expensive than ever. Let’s not forget about stricter CAFE standards either.

During a chat on the phone with Chin two days ago, I told him of my idea for this post and we inevitably asked ourselves what manufacturers should focus on for future vehicles. The answer is desperately obvious and it came to us the moment we formed the question. Weight will be the next big push in future automotive development across the board, no matter the body type. If a vehicle weighed less, then there’s less mass to carry, delivering better fuel consumption as well as quicker acceleration and deceleration. Safety is still without compromise and will even be enhanced with clever application of carbon fiber, magnesium, and boron steel. Hell, with less mass and less weight transfer and improved mechanical grip, a car will be nimble enough to minimize collision in the first place. Let’s also note that mechanical grip feedback is infinitely more honest to the driver than the artificial sensations of traction control.

These thoughts took a bit longer to convey than I expected and all of you deserve awards for reading this far… or at least deserve a conclusion. I guess my conclusion is, if there’s one at all, cars in the future can provide a little “more” if only they could just weigh a little less!

Happy thirsty Thursday day everybody!

>Autoblog Causes a Runaway Train of Thought

23 Jan

>

Infiniti Essence Concept

In the past week’s Autoblog, a bit of emphasis has been put upon a seldomly discussed niche— Japanese premium brands. Paul Eisenstein wrote an article on whether Honda has lost its footing, questioning Acura’s direction. Noah Joseph reports plans within Infiniti to anchor their line-up with both an entry-level and halo models.

For years, the Japanese premium brands have ambitiously competed with the Germans in the luxury car market. Focusing their strategies in the United States, Honda was first to introduce the Acura brand in 1986. Following suit, Lexus of Toyota and Infiniti of Nissan stepped onto the North American stage in 1989.

Since the year of inception, the only Japanese model to consistently challenge the finest from Europe is the Lexus LS series. After just 14 months from its debut, the LS already outsold competing models from Benz, BMW, and Jaguar. Then, for the next fifteen consecutive years in a row, the LS remained the top ranked vehicle in J.D. Power Associate’s Vehicle Dependability Study.

Looking back fifteen years ago, the ‘90s were a fantastic decade for American consumers that were in the market for a Japanese car. The trend for modifying Honda Civics, Preludes and Acura Integras had yet to peak. The NSX turned the supercar game on its ear. The Notorious B.I.G. rapped about how he drove a Lexus LX four and a half with bulletproof glass tints if he wanted some ass. But you know what’s really crazy? Ludacris only tweeted last Monday, “My 93 Acura Legend has 230,000 miles on it & still running strong. Still my favorite car out of every single one I’ve owned.” Check out Luda’s twitter page here.

Unfortunately, the Infiniti brand never garnered similar success. Initial Infiniti commercials did not provide images of the car itself so many Americans were not even familiar with what they were trying to sell. And, although Q was one of the better handling and more driver-centric vehicles in its class, its less luxuriously appointed interior and premium over an LS made it less desirable.

Strangely, when we fast forward 15 years and consider the brands now, it’s as though Acura and Infiniti had switched places.

Acura? Don’t stare too long… you might turn to stone.

The styling of the previous generation TL was Alfa Romeo inspiring, but they had to replace it with a new one; chubby with bucked tooth. Okay, fine. Jokes on its hideous design direction aside, I feel that Acura began to slip when the suits, unaware of how much brand equity was at risk upon the loss, decided to drop the names Legend and Integra. Acura’s mistake is literally fundamental; a marque is without a foundation if you abandon the first generation.

This was compounded with a lower than expected level of success from the Legend replacing 3.5RL, Acura’s lack of foresight to develop a V8 or introduce a rear wheel drive model to answer German rivals, and their inability to stun the masses with unique and attractive design—all of which Infiniti was able to deliver and all of which are prerequisites in the luxury brand category. Personally I’d like to add their inability to deliver a replacement to the NSX halo car as a factor as well.

This conveniently brings us to Infiniti. Its stylish and athletic G37, M56 and FX provide a new found identity for Infiniti as the Japanese premium sporting brand.

And now there are discussions for a new Infiniti halo model and a new entry level as well! This can be great! Allow me to share with you the halo car I’ve already had in mind. First, heavy styling influences from the Infiniti Essence Concept you saw at the top of the post. Secondly, AWD and shared high performance technology to cozy up an association with the R35 GTR. And third, a hybrid. Yes, I just went there.

As for the entry-level, I’m not exactly sure what I’d like to see here. It used to be straightforward when the Integra and the G20 were still around, but I can say with confidence that I do not see Infiniti introducing a hot hatchback. Nor do I see any compacts from Nissan’s stable that is worthy of rebadging and I’d rather not see a CVT transmission either. Fuel efficiency is great and all, but never at the expense of a sporty engine note. No one should suffer the drone of dirt devil vacuum cleaners every morning they commute to work.

We can’t forget Renault-Nissan’s participation with Mercedes Benz either. There’s a possibility that the halo Infiniti is an IPL, Infiniti Performance Line, with AMG power. But really, since when were halo cars not supposed to be built completely in-house with pride? Likewise, it’s also a possibility for Infiniti to introduce a sister B-Class for an entry level. Yet this is doubtful too, as the B was never sold in North America (At least not in the United States, anyone Canadian care to confirm?). But I’m fine, no B-class, thank you very much. Can we ask for an IPL 1 series M Coupe fighter instead?

Things are getting a bit tricky in the future. In light of the CAFE regulations for automakers to hit an average of 35 MPG, Danny Chin’s last post suggests the potential of the new BMW inline-4 and the different ways it can be implemented for present as well as future models. Moreover, BMW has confirmed its plans on a future fwd model.

Whatever it is Acura or Infiniti plans on doing, what’s certain is, of course, the inevitable automotive industry movement required to address CAFE. If Acura is going to do anything to revamp itself into the popular marque it once was, now is definitely the time to take advantage of the CAFE regulations and the trends in efficiency and smaller vehicles. Maybe Acura had foresight after all. Maybe what they needed all along were efficient FF platforms.

Oh crap, did this train of thought turn into a complete train wreck of tangents…

Here, have an emoticon. =___=

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