crazy about automobiles

If you’re looking to make a splash with your next car, consider an all-new 2011 model. Many of the most exciting 2011s are already on dealer lots or readily available for pre-order. Since these are brand new or redesigned from the ground up, chances are most people have never seen them before. Plus, manufacturers are already offering incentives on most of these models to get the buzz going and get people into showrooms.

Big, boring and slow. That's the formula for teenage drivers, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a nonprofit that analyzes auto safety and driving issues.
"The vehicle choice for teens is especially crucial because of their higher risk of getting into a crash," said Russ Rader, the institute's spokesman.

Trying to shed a record of deadly accidents, Southern California's Metrolink system will take a leap forward on safety this week when it unveils the nation's first commuter train cars designed to better protect riders and crews with crash-absorbing, collapsible impact zones.
Akin to the crushable bumpers added to automobiles in the 1970s, the 117 high-tech cars, costing a total of $230 million, are the product of years of federal research and a fast-tracked development push by the region's rail service after a horrific accident five years ago in Glendale.

1. Hybrid and electric power trains
2. Small city cars
3. Personal electronics integration

  

For more cars pics go to this site:

More Car Pics

CALTON,Calif (AP)-Southern California's Metrolink  is showing off new crash-resistant train cars that will replace most of its older cars.


The cars, which feature "crush zone" technology to absorb impact in a crash, were unveiled Monday at Metrolink's maintenance facility in Colton.

The commuter rail service began considering using the technology after a 2005 crash in suburban Glendale that killed 11 people.

Another crash in 2008 in the San Fernando Valley killed 25 people and unleashed a second wave of concern about Metrolink safety.

Metrolink hopes to have 117 cars ready by next year.

The $229 million fleet is being built by Rotem, a division of Hyundai, in South Korea.

BERLIN – German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top executives of the country's main carmakers and energy companies are meeting in Berlin to launch a new initiative to develop electric vehicles.


The so-called "national platform for electric mobility" being started Monday comes after Merkel pledged to have one million electric vehicles on the road within the next decade.

Merkel says there needs to be greater independence from natural resources. She is pushing sustainable technologies that will help limit the effects of climate change.

BMW AG's chief executive Norbert Reithofer says Germany is well positioned to become a technology leader in that market.

He says: "To make this happen, our leaders in politics and industry have to be pulling in the same direction."

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory will probe working batteries with new tools.



Gasoline beat out electricity as the prime power source for cars in the early 1900s. The problem was the battery. Electric cars are trying to make a comeback in the early 2000s. The problem is the battery.

Sure, batteries have gotten a lot better. Electric cars are here--but they are very expensive, like the Tesla Roadster, and they have a limited driving range, like the coming Nissan ( NSANY - news - people ) Leaf, which aims to last 100 miles before recharge. If batteries' improvements are compared with, say, the improvement in transistors, it looks like batteries have gone nowhere, fast.

TOKYO: For all the feel-good rhetoric about electric cars, the inconvenient truth is that drivers remain sceptical of battery technology that can carry them only 160 kilometres at a time.
However, an entrepreneurial venture to introduce a network of battery switching stations, introduced on a trial basis in Tokyo yesterday and due for Australia next year, may allay those doubts for some.
The pilot program between the Silicon Valley company Better Place and Nihon Kotsu, Tokyo's largest taxi company, is the first test of the technology before it is introduced in Israel and Denmark next year.

EXPECTED PRICE

The BMW X1 (above) and 5 Series GT (below) are on display at the BMW stand at the Auto Expo in Delhi. Both vehicles will soon be available in India...
BMW had range of new vehicles lined up for the Indian market, which it displayed at the currently ongoing Auto Expo in Delhi. First up is the new X1 ‘baby SUV,’ which will be launched in India by the end of this year. The vehicle will imported in the form of CKD kits and assembled at BMW’s plant near Chennai.

 
The Audi A7 Sportback Concept and the R8 supercar are on display at the Auto Expo in Delhi...








Audi had its all-new, brilliantly styled A7 Sportback Concept on display at the Auto Expo. Powered by a 3.0-litre diesel V6, this vehicle will be launched in India sometime in 2011.

.

 
Apart from the regular Eeco, Maruti Suzuki also unveiled an electric version of this MPV...



Maruti Suzuki has pulled off an old-wine-in-a-new-bottle trick with its “new” MPV, the Eeco, which is essentially a revamped Versa. Launched at the ongoing Auto Expo in Delhi, the Maruti Suzuki Eeco comes with a new 1.2-litre, 73bhp petrol engine (in place of the older 1.3-litre engine), 5- and 7-seater options, air-conditioning and dual-tone interiors. Claimed fuel efficiency is 15.1km/l and ex-showroom prices for the vehicle are Rs 2.59 lakh (standard five-seater), Rs 2.89 lakh (airconditioned five-seater) and Rs 2.71 lakh (standard seven-seater).

 

Hyundai showed a battery-powered electric version of its i10 hatchback, at the ongoing Auto Expo in Delhi. Fitted with lithium-polymer batteries, the i10 Electric has a range of 160km on one full charge, and a top speed of 130km/h. And while a full charge takes about five hours, the i10’s batteries can be 85% charged in just 15 minutes in ‘quick charge’ mode. However, while the i10 Electric will go into limited production this year for its home market (South Korea), HMIL has not announced any plans of introducing this car in India.

The new Volkswagen Polo prepares to do battle in the small car segment in India...






Volkswagen today unveiled its much awaited hatchback – the new Polo – at the 2010 Auto Expo in Delhi. The company also showcased the Race Polo for the Volkswagen Polo Cup, which will commence in India with the inaugural race event in June this year.

The Maruti Suzuki Concept RIII, unveiled at the 2010 Auto Expo in Delhi...


Maruti Suzuki unveiled this futuristic looking MPV concept - the RIII - at the Auto Expo in Delhi. We're quite sure this will be toned down quite a bit before it actually goes into production, which we suppose will happen by 2011-12. As a stylish, spacious people-carrier, this MPV should easily be able to get the better of the Toyota Innova and Mahindra Xylo etc.

 
The Tata Aria CUV (above) and Venture MPV (below) were unveiled at the Auto Expo in Delhi...








Tata Motors has unveiled its all-new crossover, Aria, and 8-seater MPV, Venture, at the ongoing 2010 Auto Expo in Delhi. The company also showcases the Magic Iris, a four-seater public transportation vehicle.