Honda sells 1,00,000 diesel in india

Honda has sold more than one lakhcars powered by its 1.5-litre i-DTECdiesel engine in India, since its launch 16 months ago.

The company claims that its diesel models of the Amaze, the City and the recently launched Mobilio MPV have clocked over 90 crore kilometres cumulatively.

The 1.5 i-DTEC diesel engine, which is based on Honda’s Earth Dreams technology, was developed exclusively for India and its driving conditions. With an all-aluminium cylinder head joined to an open deck engine block, it is the lightest engine among engines with a similar torque configuration. Honda says the use of a lightweight crankshaft and a number of friction-reduction technologies helped reduce friction in the diesel engine to bring it down to petrol engine levels, enabling it to achieve greater cooling and fuel efficiency. Introduced in India, in April 2013 with the Amaze sedan, the 1.5 i-DTEC diesel motor was later introduced in the fourth-generation City in January 2014 and the Mobilio last month. The claimed fuel efficiency of this engine is 26kpl in the City, 25.8kpl in the Amaze and 24.5kpl in the Mobilio.

Before the i-DTEC engine’s launch a year back, Honda did not even have a history of oil-burners in India. Since then, the engine has turned the company’s fortunes and has been very positively accepted by the Indian market, which is remarkable. The i-DTEC unit has been successful thanks to its efficiency, drivability and decent power output. The only drawback, if any, has been the poor Noise Vibration Harshness (NVH) levels filtering into the cabin. Honda is working on progressively threading out this issue.

Jnaneswar Sen, senior VP (marketing & sales) said, “It (i-DTEC engine) has been well accepted in the country and is attracting new customers. The one lakh sales of i-DTEC-powered cars is a major milestone for us and we are really proud of this achievement.”

Lamborghini Huracán LP 620-2 Super Trofeo RWD Racer Revealed

Saurabh khatri

This is the all-new Huracán-based race car that starting from next year will compete in the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo one-make racing series, currently held in Asia, Europe and North America. The car is the 2015 Lamborghini Huracán LP 620-2 Super Trofeo, and as its name suggests its specifications are very different to those of the outgoing Gallardo LP 570-4 Super Trofeo—the biggest being the new car’s rear-wheel-drive configuration.

Yes, the Huracán Super Trofeo drives the rear wheels only, and it also has slightly more power than the road-going Huracán LP 610-4 on which it’s based. Both are powered by a naturally aspirated 5.2-liter V-10 but the race car is rated at 611 horsepower versus the 601 horses of the road car.

Lamborghini says the decision to switch to rear-wheel drive for the new season is to help accelerate the Super Trofeo drivers’ preparation for GT racing, perhaps hinting at a wider scope for the Italian marque’s motorsport future. Switching to rear-wheel drive has also allowed engineers to reduce the weight of the cars, which now tip the scales at just 2,800 pounds. That’s a saving of about 330 pounds compared to the weight of the road-going Huracán.

The new aerodynamics package also provides better efficiency as well as improved traction and downforce. Key components include a ten-position rear wing, front and rear diffusers as well as adjustable front air intakes. The tires are from Pirelli.

The Huracán Super Trofeo was developed by Lamborghini’s new motorsport division, Squadra Corse, together with Dallara. The two firms have close ties, with Dallara founder Giampaolo Dallara having worked for Lamborghini in the past, even helping with engineering for the legendary Miura supercar.

“The Huracán Super Trofeo is an all-new car built from scratch with a clear racing concept,” Lamborghini R&D boss Maurizio Reggiani says. “We believe the car will be as fun for fans to watch as it will be rewarding for our racers to drive.”

Note, even with the Huracán set to take over from the Gallardo in next year’s Super Trofeo series, teams that have already bought a Gallardo-based racer will still be able to compete in the new season. Lamborghini has confirmed that both the Gallardo and the Huracán will share the grid but will race in different classes.

The Huracán is also due to be developed into a GT3-spec car that will serve as a replacement for the present Gallardo GT3. The Gallardo GT3 competes primarily in the Blancpain Endurance Series, with one of the cars fielded by Lamborghini motorsport partner Reiter Engineering.

Lamborghini choose to debut its Huracán LP 620-2 Super Trofeo at this weekend’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, where also on show is a special Aventador LP 700-4 developed by Lamborghini’s personalization department Ad Personam.

2015 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 to Go Mid-Engine

Saurabh khatri

You've heard it all before, but here it is again: there is talk of a mid-engine Corvette in the pipeline. At Motor Trend report that the next Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, possibly named after Corvette “father” and engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov, will arrive with its own distinct platform that could birth a high-end line of mid-engine C8 Corvettes.

Ok, so it's true that wild theories of mid-engine Corvettes have swirled for decades. The word is that before General Motors went bankrupt, Bob Lutz and Tom Wallace, then chief engineer for the Corvette, were plotting a mid-engine layout for the C7 generation of the brand's iconic sports car before the plan was scrapped. Assuming General Motors dusted off those plans, things start to come into focus when you consider that Chevrolet just trademarked the name “Zora” for a potential future automobile. For some context, it was widely known that Zora was supportive of a mid-engine Corvette, and he helped create numerous concept vehicles which nearly came to fruition with the mid-engine V-8 Aerovette.


Motor Trend anticipates that the C7-generation, mid-engine Corvette ZR1 would arrive on its own platform, although it would be “doable...[but] freakishly expensive] to tool the current platform for mid-engine duty.” With two distinct platforms, the next step would be to create two separate lines of Corvette vehicles for the C8 generation—a base range with the current front-engine C7 Stingray platform at its core, and a high-end range populated by the mid-engine, Zora-badged Corvette ZR1.


The thinking is that the lower range of front-engine Corvettes would remain as a popular lower-priced American alternative to the Porsche 911, freeing up the mid-engine Zora Corvette ZR1 to tackle the Ferrari 458, Audi R8, Lamborghini Huracan, and McLaren 650S. Sound crazy? That's only the tip of the iceberg. Motor Trend also speculates that General Motors could spin-off a Zora Corvette ZR1 supercar into a more luxurious Cadillac supercar, reminiscent of the poor-selling Cadillac XLR which was based on the C5 Corvette (albeit in a much, much higher price bracket).


If you'd like to feast on some figures, rumors suggest that the Zora Corvette ZR1 would be endowed with an 800-hp+ version of the Z06's 650-hp supercharged LT4 V-8 engine. Expectedly, the range-topping Corvette wouldn't be for the faint-of-wallet—about $150,000-$200,000 for the mid-engine ZR1 and $50,000 more for the Cadillac variant.

Tesla Model S Gets Awesome “Infinite Mile” Warranty

Saurabh khatri

The American electric automaker has announced that the Tesla Model S drive unit warranty will now match the warranty of the battery pack, which is an eight year, infinite mile warranty. According to the announcement posted by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, there will be no limit on the number of owners during the warranty period either.

The warranty extension will apply to all current Model S owners and Musk believes in hindsight that this should have been the policy from the very beginning. He also acknowledged to Tesla investors that the change will have a moderately negative effect on Tesla’s earnings in the short term but believes it’s the right thing to do and is confident that it will work out well in the long term.

Rendering – Mercedes AMG-GT is the company’s most “beautiful” car ever made

Saurabh khatri

Seen here is an accurate rendering of the upcoming Mercedes AMG-GT sportscar. Autocar UK, which created the rendering, managed to get a sneak preview recently of the car’s exterior and interior design at Mercedes’s design center in Sindelfingen, Germany. The publication also spoke about the car to Gorden Wagener, Mercedes’s head of design.

According to Wagener, the AMG-GT’s design will mark a new chapter for Mercedes-Benz, and not simply be a successor to the SLS AMG. Unlike the SLS AMG, the AMG-GT will get conventional hinged doors, and feature fewer sharp edges. Dimensionally, it will be 2 cm shorter than the SLS and will have a shorter wheelbase as well.


Inside, the AMG-GT gets design inspiration from aviation and jet themes, according to the car’s interior designer Jan Kaul. To prove this point, some of the buttons are located on the roof of the car for a cockpit like feel. Other design elements include turbine-like AC vents and a center control panel designed like an aeroplane’s air duct. Wagener states that the AMG-GT is the “most beautiful car” ever to be made by the company.


The AMG-GT is expected to be revealed next month ahead of a public debut at the Paris Motor Show. An Indian launch should happen sometime in 2015 or could be the star attraction at the 2016 Auto Expo.


Competitors: Jaguar F-Type, Porsche 911, Audi R8
Expected Price in India: INR 1.5 – 2 crores, ex-Showroom
Launch date in Europe: End of 2014

2014 fiat punto evo. video review

http://youtu.be/SIqwqhEL8h4

Saurabh khatri

Discounts on hatchbacks this month

Saurabh khatri

With some new arrivals like the Fiat Punto Evo and Volkswagen Polo facelift in the hatchback segment last month, dealers are offering hefty discounts on outgoing models to clear out stocks.

Apart from that, there's also some other deals to be had on compact city runabouts this month. Here's a look.


Fiat dealers are offering an exchange or loyalty bonus of up to Rs 1 lakh on the outgoing Punto. If you're not trading in, you could settle for a Rs 70,000 cash benefit on the hatchback.


Volkswagen has adopted a similar strategy with the pre-facelift Polo and there's flat Rs 50,000 off on the outgoing model. There's also an exchange bonus of Rs 20,000 on offer.


There's also an attractive cash discount of up to Rs 40,000 on any variant of the Maruti Ritz. And if you exchange your existing Maruti car at the dealership, there's Rs 35,000 more to be saved.


Toyota dealers are offering 'Toyota Genuine' free accessories worth up to Rs 25,000 or Rs 20,000 off on the price tag of the Etios Liva hatchback.