Archive for the ‘aerodynamics’ Category

Sometimes you just have to gape in awe at the, ummmmm, remarkable things people do to their cars.

Or as our friend (and occasional fellow car writer) Sean Bugg puts it: What did that BMW ever do to you?

Yep, it's a biplane wing on the truncated trunk of an otherwise perfectly innocent BMW Z4. No doubt it adds hundreds of pounds of crucial downforce on the rear wheels at freeway speeds.

God, we love America: land of the free, and home of the truly, utterly tasteless. Rock on, dude.

[BuggBlog]

“The (current) Ridgeline was the right thing to do at the time,” said Dave Marek, chief designer and senior manager of the automotive styling group at Honda Research and Development. “But now that the truck market is a moving target, our opportunity is to make it more fuel-efficient -- aerodynamic and lighter -- but still retain the core value it has, which is the inside space and usage in the back.”

The 2009 Honda Ridgeline, which we drove recently and appreciated for its nimble manners and smart packaging, is actually down one mpg in highway ratings next to Chevrolet's full-frame, 650-lb. heavier Silverado XFE, which scores 15/21 by the...

Following on its Paris Motor Show intro of a trio of highly efficient diesels dubbed DRIVe, Volvo adds more technology, one engine, and four models to the DRIVe portfolio. The point of these 1.6- and 2.4-liter diesel fuel sippers is economy and exceedingly low CO2 emissions; the smallest vehicle in this lineup earns about 60 mpg (converted to U.S. EPA numbers) while the biggest and heaviest SUV version gets 39 mpg by the same yardstick.

The funky C30 hatch, S40 sedan, and V50 wagon earn higher mpg this time around by virtue of a new engine stop/start system that yields four to five percent economy improvements in mixed use and up to an...