Archive for the ‘Gasoline’ Category

Today Mercedes-Benz announces its European range of engines for the 2010 E-Class Coupe. U.S. offerings likely won't include four-cylinders or diesels (unless diesel popularity undergoes a sea change or fuel prices double). But significant changes to even the uplevel V-6 signals the greater power and efficiency that will make it to U.S. E-Class Coupes.

Probably the biggest news is the fitment of direct injection to Mercedes' 3.5-liter V-6. The current design uses traditional port fuel-injection, a technology that's quickly being abandoned by many luxury automakers (BMW, Audi, Cadillac) for the higher compression, higher efficiency, and...

Many have hailed Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Motors, for doing what seemed the impossible; designing, engineering, and building a incredibly cheap vehicle (approximately $2,000), The Tata Nano, which promises to both reduce traffic fatalities and extend the freedom of personal transportation to India's masses. But a growing number of environmentalists are sounding the alarm, claiming that Tata Motors has missed the mark to go a step further and introduce a petroleum-free vehicle or at least one that employs technology to seriously reduce CO2 emissions.

As a New York Times blog post explains, the sudden availability of an affordable car...

After seven years of waiting, Chevrolet dealers again have a weapon in the pony car wars. Today Chevrolet announces that the 2010 Camaro is officially on sale, set to do battle with Ford's refreshed 2010 Mustang and Dodge's Challenger, which is now available with a base V-6 and a six-speed manual for its HEMI V-8s.

Proving that this is the pony car for the times, the Camaro LS and LT feature GM's excellent high-feature 3.6-liter, direct-injected V-6 that manages 29 mpg on the highway. With gasoline cheap at least for the moment, and the V-6 spitting out just one less horsepower (304) than a 2000 model-year 5.7-liter V-8 Camaro Z28, it...