Ralph Hanson, Author
Articles
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BMW has been selling diesel vehicles in Europe since 1983 and today, 67% of its sales there are oil-burners. The acceptance of this type of engine has been increasing in the US market, and with the... -
Nissan unleashes the Altima CoupeNissan has introduced its new Altima Coupe to the motoring press at the L.A. Auto Show and joins the Altima Hybrid and sedan under Nissan’s most popular nameplate in the US. The new coupe will go on sale midway through next year as a 2008 model. The car should stand out against its sedan...
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Your new BMW may soon accept credit cardsYou’re driving along one day and you hear your favorite song on the radio. You then press a button and the car automatically detects what song is playing, connects to an online music store and requests to purchase it. You insert your credit card into a small slot on your dash and the song is...
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Future plans of BentleyBentley is enjoying its greatest success in decades thanks namely to its Continental range of cars. Less than five years ago Bentley’s annual output didn’t even reach 1000 cars, but today, the company is looking at delivering up to 9000 models. Engineers are now looking at the next line...
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Volkswagen reveals the Tiguan ConceptVolkswagen has unveiled its compact 4x4, the Concept Tiguan, at the Los Angeles Auto Show, and has confirmed that the first production versions will be hitting showrooms by the end of 2007. The drawn out gestation of the Tiguan, including the poll of 350,000 readers of magazines of the AutoBild...
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Lamborghini's future product plansLamborghini has been turning a profit in recent years, but it doesn’t mean that the company will be splashing out on expanding its lineup anytime soon. Instead, the supercar maker will focus on replacing its core models first, but the company’s chief, Stephan Winkelmann, has hinted that...
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Fabrizio Giugiaro of Italy’s Italdesign studio fell in love with the new Mustang when he first laid eyes upon it. He was so taken with its classic styling and muscular appearance that he... -
eBay Watch: 1970 Lamborghini MIURA "S"A very rare Lamborghini MIURA “S” has turned up for sale on eBay with only 14,244 miles on the clock despite it being a 1970 model. Everything about the car is factory original including its Giallo yellow paint and blue leather interior. Only 140 S edition Miuras were ever made, so this...
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Electric Nissans coming in three yearsNissan has fallen behind its main Japanese rivals in the technology stakes, and to make up for lost ground the company is rumored to be developing electric powered cars that will hit the markets in three years. Reuters reports that Nissan will also develop a range of gas-electric hybrid cars by...
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Russian billionaire crashes EnzoAnother Ferrari Enzo has been involved in a serious accident, this time in the French city of Nice. The story of the crash was first reported in local newspaper Nice-Matin, which confirmed that the driver of the supercar was Russian born billionaire Suleyman Kerimov. The car, which was traveling at...
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Spy Shots: More of the BMW M3An almost production ready version of the upcoming M3 coupe was caught recently, and shows us almost completely what the new car will look like. Unlike previous test mules, this one had a factory paint-job, new 18in M-spec alloys and color-coded bumpers. Though disguised under heavy black tape, we...
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Sporty SEATs get DSG treatmentSeat will release its Leon FR and Altea FR with the option of parent company Volkswagen’s Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG), which will be exclusive to these two models. The cost of the transmission will add about $1,700 to the price tag of each car and for the extra cash you get a shaving of just...
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The second X5 to be stolen from soccer star David Beckham in Madrid has apparently been recovered in Macedonia. A local TV station claims that the car was used by a pair of Bulgarians working in a... -
Toyota to develop diesel hybrid by 2010Toyota will utilize its new found partnership with Isuzu to release its first ever diesel hybrid vehicle by 2010. Diesel engines by themselves already offer extremely frugal motoring, and when combined with an electric motor will offer even better mileage rates in addition to reduced emission...
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Video: BMW Hydrogen 7 tech details
BMW has started seeding Hydrogen 7's to celebs all around the world so they can get a first hand trial of one of the fuel technologies that will power future cars. They're planning to place hydrogen fueling stations near the drivers' locations to ease the process of using the car on a daily basis...
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Imports top annual car safety survey in the USForeign vehicles have taken top honors in a survey of the safest 2007 models for the US, which was conducted by an influential insurance industry group. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety group mandated that all entrants must be equipped with stability control systems, a move that saw the...
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DCX negotiating low-cost importOfficials from DaimlerChrysler have confirmed that the company is in talks with other carmakers, including China’s Chery Automobile, over a possible deal to supply small cars sourced from China or other low-cost producers to the US. Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda also told reporters at the Beijing...
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Video: Demonstration of Alfa Romeo's Q2 system
Here’s an interesting video of one of Alfa Romeo’s engineers behind the wheel of the GT coupe outlining the way its Q2 differential works and how it affects the car’s on road dynamics. The video includes ghost frames of a car without the Q2 versus a car equipped with the...
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Lotus’ engineering division will be involved in the development of a new range of cars from China’s Jinhua Young-man Auto Company (Youngman). The UK firm will provide Youngman with... -
2006 Beijing Auto Exhibition galleryThe biennial Beijing Automotive Exhibition is on again for 2006, with a host of international automakers vying to show off their cars to the booming Chinese market. China has the world's second-largest car market after the US, with 7 million new vehicle sales a year. It’s little wonder that...
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BMW Hydrogen 7 not as clean as claimed?As reported in an article from Germany’s Der Spiegel, BMW’s Hydrogen 7 consumes almost 50L of the clean fuel to drive just 100km/h. When you factor in that hydrogen is in scarce supply and producing it requires vast amounts of electrical-energy, then the Hydrogen 7 is not as...
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Top Gear ”professional” crashes LamboAnother staff member from the BBC’s Top Gear program has had a high-speed crash, this time spinning out a Lamborghini Murcielago. The UK’s Mirror reports that the driver, described as “a professional” spun the car out on the show’s test track at a rain-soaked runway in...
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VW, Audi and BMW to offer BLUETEC diesels in USDaimlerChrysler was the first to the market with the innovative clean diesel system, but now it appears that the other major German carmakers will be launching their own BLUETEC range of vehicles. Volkswagen and its subsidiary Audi will be making an official announcement later this month at the LA...
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Mosler delivers first street-legal MT900SFlorida based supercar manufacturer Mosler Automotive has delivered its first street-legal MT900S to a noted Californian film maker. Until now, all versions of the MT900S have been configured and sold for use in motorsport. Left Lane News reports that company founder Warren Mosler stated that the...
Ralph Hanson