Max Auto Updates - 05/05/2010

Chrysler 'sticky pedal'



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U.S. safety regulators have opened an investigation to review a potential sticky accelerator pedal problem in Chrysler Group LLC's 2007 model-year Dodge Caliber cars.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a document posted on its website that five consumers reported that the accelerator pedal became stuck and would not return to the idle position when released.

Elkhart, Indiana-based supplier CTS Corp made the pedals involved in the Chrysler investigation. CTS is also the supplier of pedals involved in Toyota Motor Corp's January recall of more than 2 million vehicles.

Chrysler said its own review has found that consumer complaints were limited to about 10 000 Calibers built during a five-week window in March and April 2006. The NHTSA probe covers some 161 000 Dodge Calibers built for the 2007 model year.

No accidents

Chrysler and NHTSA said they were not aware of any accidents, injuries or property damage related to the issue.

"It appears to be a supplier manufacturing concern, which is mechanical in nature and not a design or electronic issue," Chrysler said in a statement.

The automaker also said the vehicle is equipped with a brake override system, which allows the engine controller to reduce power and stop the car when both the brake and the accelerator are depressed.

CTS representatives were not immediately available to comment.

Concerning cars sold in South Africa, Chrysler SA head of marketing and corporate affairs Guy Franken said: "If it transpires that any Dodge Caliber units built during March through April of 2006 were imported into South Africa, we will address the issue at dealer level once such units have been identified and the findings of the NHTSA investigation are published."

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Vehicle sales race ahead

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The remarkably strong growth in new vehicle sales during the first quarter of 2010 continued during the month of April, with aggregate industry sales at 35 763 units registering an improvement of 36% compared to the 26 288 vehicles sold during the corresponding month in 2009, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) reported on Tuesday. It said however that the improvement should be viewed in relation to the low sales registered this time last year due to the impact of the global financial and economic crisis at the time. "Nevertheless, the growth momentum in new vehicle sales improved further during April, 2010 with the year to date improvement running at 22.2% compared to the first quarter 2010 growth rate of 18,7%. Aggregate export sales also registered strong growth," Naamsa said. Overall, out of the total Naamsa reported industry sales of 30 462 vehicles, 85.7% or 26 037 units represented dealer/retail sales, 7% represented sales to the car rental industry, 4,2% represented industry corporate fleet sales and 3.1% sales to government. Aggregate industry new car sales during April, 2010 had again exceeded expectations and at 23 606 reflected a massive improvement of 6 843 units or 40.8% compared to the 16 763 new cars sold during April, 2009. Despite the number of public and school holidays during April, 2010 the new car market had performed well with the selling rate of new cars per day remaining relatively robust. Sales of industry new light commercial vehicles, bakkies and minibuses at 10 572 units during April, 2010 reflected an improvement of 2 558 units or 31.9% compared to the 8 014 units of the corresponding month last year. Sales of vehicles in the medium and heavy truck segments of the industry reflected a mixed performance and at 529 units and 1 056 units, respectively, had recorded a decline of 165 units or a fall 23.8% in the case of medium commercials, and a gain of 239 units or 29.3% in the case of heavy trucks and buses – compared to the corresponding month last year. Exports of South African produced vehicles during April 2010 at 17 592 vehicles had registered a gain of 5 989 units or an improvement of 51.6% compared to the 11 603 vehicles exported during April last year. The revival in demand internationally for South African produced motor vehicles would support industry export sales going forward. Naamsa said the outlook for domestic sales for 2010 remained relatively positive and could gain momentum as economic activity levels improved further. The domestic market should receive support from further improvement in business confidence and consumer sentiment as well as lower inflation and the benefits of interest rate reductions. Export sales were expected to show further improvement over the balance of the year. The automotive market in South Africa was at an early stage of what probably represented a sustainable recovery and industry sales projections had recently been revised upwards to reflect growth in aggregate sales for calendar 2010 of around 14%.

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Volkswagen Polo R version due in 2012



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Well, now that VW has an R division its not likely they're going to leave it to just the Golf R and Scirocco R models.

According to Autocar, VW will be producing an R version of the Polo for 2012. It will be powered by a 1.6 liter turbocharged petrol/gasoline engine producing around 156 kW. Unlike the Golf R, though, it will not be an all-wheel drive since the Polo's current PQ25 platform does not allow for it.

At the Geneva auto show this past March, VW introduced the upcoming Polo GTI which features a twincharged 1.4 liter TSI engine with 132 kW and 249 Nm of torque coupled to VW Group's 7-speed DSG transmission.

The Polo GTI is slated to go on sale this summer in Europe.

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R750 billion for transport 'master plan'

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A three quarters of a trillion rand transport master plan, which includes linking Johannesburg to Durban and Polokwane via rapid train networks, was presented to Parliament by the transport department on Tuesday.

The plan's project manager, Lanfranc Situma, told the portfolio committee for transport, that the department needed urgent approval from MPs so that the Cabinet-initiated National Transport Master Plan (Natmap) could "get moving".

"We are not saying we are going to build a train tomorrow. We are saying we want to have to prepare a project document that will be able complete for funding," Situma said.

Natmap transport planning consultant Paul Lombard recommended to the committee that studies be done on whether it was feasible to extend the Gautrain project to the Durban-Johannesburg and Pretoria-Polokwane lines.

R750 billion projected

"We must ask if can we afford it and how affordable will it be to passengers and the government," Lombard said.

He recommended the immediate institution of a rail infrastructure-owning entity, similar to Acsa, that would "eventually absorb" the country's entire network and "allow existing freight and passenger agencies to operate on the network".

The plan, which includes expanding the port of Saldhana, doubling the Huguenot tunnel outside Paarl and expanding the port of Cape Town as other vital projects, would cost roughly R750 billion should it be launched today, financial project manager, Themba September, told Sapa.

He said part of the plan was to form partnerships with the private sector to help fund the project and lower the burden to taxpayers.

"Overall, between now and 2050, the cost of the project will be around R750 billion," he said.

"We would hope to fund a large part of the project through private public partnerships. We would like to find the right ratio of ownership between the private and public sector."

Start date unknown

September could not speculate on a start date for the project, but said it was important that South Africa "wasn't caught napping".

"Someone at some point has to make a hard, cold decision on this," he said.

Situma told the MPs that South Africa could qualify for foreign funding for the rail project as it had voluntarily agreed to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 46%.

"If you build a railway or a train, you are going to be cutting down the emissions from the road because there will be less vehicles emitting carbon on the roads.

"Because of that, we will qualify for funding which other people are getting. That money is readily available."

The Natmap was initiated by Cabinet in 2007 to develop and establish a multimodal, transportation system to meet South Africa's transport needs up to 2050.

It was drawn up through the transport department by consulting engineering company SSI Engineering and environmental consultants Africon and Ingerop South Africa. It cost R64 million.

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Nissan, Ford, Chrysler lead U.S. sales gain of 20%

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Automobile sales in the U.S. market bounced back resoundingly last month with Ford, Nissan and Chrysler posting the biggest gains.

Vehicle retail sales were up 20 percent in the United States for the month of April. Industry sales totaled 982,302 units for the month, up from 819,692 for April of last year. That figure means a seasonally adjusted rate of 11.5 million unit sales for the year - an encouraging indicator but still well below the more than 16 million unit highs seen in the middle of the last decade.

Ford saw its sales rise 25 percent, with a sharp increase (42 percent) in its F-Series pickup truck range and a 41 percent jump for its Escape SUV. Chrysler also had a 25 percent increase in sales, the first time it has seen a double-digit gain in five years. Nissan had one of the highest gains in the industry with a 35 percent jump.

But the benefits of higher sales were had by almost all automakers - with Subaru boosting sales by a whopping 48 percent and VW Group (including Audi) experiencing a much needed bump of 39 percent.

Even Toyota, plagued recently by recall problems and a federal fine for not reporting them on time, saw a rise in sales of 24 percent - driven by incentives the automaker has had to provide customers in order to maintain its market share.

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1 million electric cars by 2020 - Germany

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The German federal government has pledged to put 1 million electric vehicles on the country's roads by the year 2020.

Germany's chancellor Angel Merkel met with many top executives from the country's automobile industry in Berlin on Monday to kick off the National Development Plan for Electric Mobility. At the event, VW presented its 2013 Golf blue-e-motion, an all-electric version of Europe's most successful model.

The goal to put 1 million electric cars on the road by the end of the decade was established as a policy last August by the Chancellor's office.

Merkel is pushing the transportation and energy industries in Germany to come up with sustainable technologies which will make the country less dependent on CO2 emitting carbon-based petroleum.

Norbert Reithofer, chief executive of BMW AG, said at the event that Germany was poised to become a world leader in renewable energy technology but that there had to be a concerted effort.

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

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Apple iPad gets solid dash mount

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Tuning outfit Scosche has developed a new dashboard mounting system for owners of the Apple iPad. Called the iKit, the first version was developed as part of a series of upgrades for the Subaru Impreza STI.

The iKit is installed at the top of the dash replacing the double DIN stereo unit. The iPad then connects to a platform that locks into a ball joint that sticks out of the dashboard installation.

It includes an audio and USB jack that connects to the iPad's 30-pin port to charge the iPad while sending the audio through the in-car system. Perhaps a second-generation version of the kit would allow the audio to be transmitted digitally to the stereo, instead of through the analogue 3.5mm cable jack.

Still, it is a start, and one of what will likely be many iPad car mounts to be produced by aftermarket suppliers.

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Nowack tunes MINI Cooper S and JCW up to 191kW



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German tuner Nowack Motors has a tuning program for the Mini Cooper S and the Cooper S JCW to heat things up a little.

The tuning packages, the N210, N230 and N260, are labeled for the horsepower upgrading they represent.

To take the Mini Cooper S's 1.6 liter direct-injection turbocharged power plant up to 155 kW the tuning house gets by with a little ECU tinkering and a free-flow air filer. To bump things to 169 kW Nowack needs to remaps the ECU and also adds a stainless-steel exhaust system.

For the range-topping 191 kW, Nowack does much of the above while adding high-performance sport camshafts, an in-house downpipe, and a flow-optimised cylinderhead. Intake flow is also optimized and comes with a performance air filter.

Nowack Motors offers suspension upgrading too for the Cooper S and Cooper S JCW which includes its own sport springs and a complete coilover suspension.

The tuner also makes available a set of 18-inch light alloy wheels wrapped in 225/40 R18 performance tires.

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TechArt Launch new Porsche 911 Turbo Tuning Kit

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TechArt has unveiled two new performance packages for the Porsche 911 Turbo (997.5).

The first package, dubbed the TA 097/T1, consists of a revised ECU and a high-flow air filter. Thanks to these modifications, the 3.8-liter engine produces 419 kW - an increase of 51 kW. This allows the car to accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 3.2 seconds, before topping out at 324 km/h.

The TA 097/T2 package features a sport air filter, new manifolds, a custom exhaust, and a reprogrammed ECU. Output climbs to 456 kW and 820 Nm of torque, which enables the 911 to rocket from 0-100 km/h in 2.9 seconds and 0-200 km/h in a further 6.4 seconds. The top speed is 333 km/h.