2012 Ford Fiesta ST with 180PS Turbo Engine Makes its Production Debut, U.S. Version Likely
"background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" title
DC Design Avanti is India’s First Sports Car, will Enter Production in 2013
type='html'>
The Italian automotive industry is renowned not only for supercar-making companies like Ferrariand Lamborghini, but also for its carrozzerias likePininfarina and Bertone, which design and engineer cars for other automakers as well as manufacture their own limited production models.
The Indian automotive industry, on the other hand, is best known as the country that manufactures the world’s cheapest car, the Tata Nano, which may or may not lose the title to theBajaj RE60.
While Italy is safe for now (…), India will soon have its own sport car thanks to DC Design’s Avanti that was launched at the 2012 New Delhi Auto Expo.
Founded by former GM designer Dilip Chhabria, DC Design is mostly known for its one-off prototypes. The Avanti, however, is a production ready sports car that will be manufactured at the company’s brand new plant at Talagon near its existing Prune facilities.
“Every country which has written its name in the pantheon of automobile manufacturing has invariably distinguished itself with sports cars by its own nationals and I thought that India rightly needs to be in this exclusive club”, said Chhabria. “The design is completely our very own as is the engineering and also the production process. Type approval and on-road tests would follow soon”.
Chhabria added that DC Design plans to manufacture 300 units of the Avanti in 2013-2014 and, if all goes well, increase annual production to four figures.
As its creator admits, India’s first supercar “doesn’t reinvent the wheel” as far as its conception and manufacturing process is concerned.
Like all small-volume manufacturers, DC Design will use parts from various carmakers, especially in the powertrain and suspension depaetments.
The prototype that was unveiled at the 2012 Auto Expo is constructed around a lightweight but rigid spaceframe chassis. It features unequal-length wishbones and coil over shock absorbers on both axles, 19-inch wheels with 255/35 front and 295/30 rear tires and 330 mm ventilated disc brakes with AP Racing calipers.
It is powered by a mid-mounted 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder EcoBoost engine sourced from Ford and tuned to deliver 240HP and 366Nm (270 lb-ft) of torque. Thanks to its compliance with Euro 5 emissions regulations it can also be exported, while a slight change in the engine mapping will make it compatible with the oncoming Euro 6 regulation.
Power is transmitted to the rear wheels via a Ford-sourced six-speed manual gearbox, while the Avanti will also be optionally available with a dual-clutch PowerShift transmission.
Although 240HP combined with a dry kerb weight of 1,562 kg (3,443 pounds) isn’t exactly supercar territory, the Avanti will be priced at a reasonable Rs 30 lakh, or around US$56,000 at the current exchange rates.
Later on, it may also be offered with a turbocharged Honda V6, which with an output of around 400HP should seriously improve performance (and, presumably, increase the price accordingly).
Live photo credits: Motorbeam
The Italian automotive industry is renowned not only for supercar-making companies like Ferrariand Lamborghini, but also for its carrozzerias likePininfarina and Bertone, which design and engineer cars for other automakers as well as manufacture their own limited production models.
The Indian automotive industry, on the other hand, is best known as the country that manufactures the world’s cheapest car, the Tata Nano, which may or may not lose the title to theBajaj RE60.
While Italy is safe for now (…), India will soon have its own sport car thanks to DC Design’s Avanti that was launched at the 2012 New Delhi Auto Expo.Founded by former GM designer Dilip Chhabria, DC Design is mostly known for its one-off prototypes. The Avanti, however, is a production ready sports car that will be manufactured at the company’s brand new plant at Talagon near its existing Prune facilities.
“Every country which has written its name in the pantheon of automobile manufacturing has invariably distinguished itself with sports cars by its own nationals and I thought that India rightly needs to be in this exclusive club”, said Chhabria. “The design is completely our very own as is the engineering and also the production process. Type approval and on-road tests would follow soon”.
Chhabria added that DC Design plans to manufacture 300 units of the Avanti in 2013-2014 and, if all goes well, increase annual production to four figures.
As its creator admits, India’s first supercar “doesn’t reinvent the wheel” as far as its conception and manufacturing process is concerned.
Like all small-volume manufacturers, DC Design will use parts from various carmakers, especially in the powertrain and suspension depaetments.
The prototype that was unveiled at the 2012 Auto Expo is constructed around a lightweight but rigid spaceframe chassis. It features unequal-length wishbones and coil over shock absorbers on both axles, 19-inch wheels with 255/35 front and 295/30 rear tires and 330 mm ventilated disc brakes with AP Racing calipers.
It is powered by a mid-mounted 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder EcoBoost engine sourced from Ford and tuned to deliver 240HP and 366Nm (270 lb-ft) of torque. Thanks to its compliance with Euro 5 emissions regulations it can also be exported, while a slight change in the engine mapping will make it compatible with the oncoming Euro 6 regulation.
Power is transmitted to the rear wheels via a Ford-sourced six-speed manual gearbox, while the Avanti will also be optionally available with a dual-clutch PowerShift transmission.
Although 240HP combined with a dry kerb weight of 1,562 kg (3,443 pounds) isn’t exactly supercar territory, the Avanti will be priced at a reasonable Rs 30 lakh, or around US$56,000 at the current exchange rates.
Later on, it may also be offered with a turbocharged Honda V6, which with an output of around 400HP should seriously improve performance (and, presumably, increase the price accordingly).
Live photo credits: Motorbeam
2013 Scion FR-S: This is the Final Production Version and it goes on Sale Next Spring [Updated]
type='html'>
The third chapter of what has turned out to be a very long saga came to an end tonight with the official presentation of the new 2013 Scion FR-S, which follows the Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZintroductions at the Tokyo Motor Show earlier today.
The name Scion chose for the North American version of the Toyota 86 stands for Front-engine, Rear-wheel drive, Sport. The 2+2 coupe is the fifth model to join the Scion family and will go on sale in the United States and Canada in the spring of 2012.
“Serving as a laboratory for Toyota, Scion is always experimenting with new things,” said Jack Hollis, Scion vice president. “The brand is iconic with the xB, adrenalized by the tC, and groundbreaking with the iQ. The FR-S will no doubt serve as the halo car, expanding Scion into a new dimension of driving performance," he added.
When Scion impressed us with the sleek concept version of the FR-S at the New York Auto Show back in April, we had some slight hope that Toyota's youth brand would follow a different road applying the same styling treatment to the production model.
Sadly, as you can see for yourselves, this didn’t happen with the FR-S being an identical twin to the Toyota 86. Makes you wonder why Scion even bothered showing us a different concept in New York in the first place…
Under the Toyota 86 body you'll find the same mechanical hardware and layout you've obviously heard and read about so many times, including the Subaru-sourced 2.0-liter horizontally opposed engine with Toyota’s D-4S injection system that incorporates both direct and port injection.
The naturally-aspirated flat four churns out 200 ponies and 151 pound-feet of torque, and is linked to either a six-speed manual or a six-speed automatic transmission driving the rear wheels.
The FR-S will be offered with 17-inch alloy wheels and ventilated disc brakes on all four corners as standard.
At least in base trim, it appears that the FR-S won't come with the "Start" button nor the cool aviation-style rocker switches under the a/c controls featured on the JDM Toyota 86 as well as the European Toyota GT 86 and the Subaru BRZ
We'll no doubt hear and see more on the FR-S in the coming days/weeks, so stay tuned.
By John Halas
The third chapter of what has turned out to be a very long saga came to an end tonight with the official presentation of the new 2013 Scion FR-S, which follows the Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZintroductions at the Tokyo Motor Show earlier today.
The name Scion chose for the North American version of the Toyota 86 stands for Front-engine, Rear-wheel drive, Sport. The 2+2 coupe is the fifth model to join the Scion family and will go on sale in the United States and Canada in the spring of 2012.
“Serving as a laboratory for Toyota, Scion is always experimenting with new things,” said Jack Hollis, Scion vice president. “The brand is iconic with the xB, adrenalized by the tC, and groundbreaking with the iQ. The FR-S will no doubt serve as the halo car, expanding Scion into a new dimension of driving performance," he added.When Scion impressed us with the sleek concept version of the FR-S at the New York Auto Show back in April, we had some slight hope that Toyota's youth brand would follow a different road applying the same styling treatment to the production model.
Sadly, as you can see for yourselves, this didn’t happen with the FR-S being an identical twin to the Toyota 86. Makes you wonder why Scion even bothered showing us a different concept in New York in the first place…
Under the Toyota 86 body you'll find the same mechanical hardware and layout you've obviously heard and read about so many times, including the Subaru-sourced 2.0-liter horizontally opposed engine with Toyota’s D-4S injection system that incorporates both direct and port injection.
The naturally-aspirated flat four churns out 200 ponies and 151 pound-feet of torque, and is linked to either a six-speed manual or a six-speed automatic transmission driving the rear wheels.
The FR-S will be offered with 17-inch alloy wheels and ventilated disc brakes on all four corners as standard.
At least in base trim, it appears that the FR-S won't come with the "Start" button nor the cool aviation-style rocker switches under the a/c controls featured on the JDM Toyota 86 as well as the European Toyota GT 86 and the Subaru BRZ
We'll no doubt hear and see more on the FR-S in the coming days/weeks, so stay tuned.
By John Halas
Kaydol:
Kayıtlar (Atom)
