Minggu, 30 Januari 2011

Euro NCAP's best performing cars of 2010

Euro NCAP recently announced the five best performing cars of 2010. These vehicles achieved a high overall score and attained the coveted five star rating.

The top achievers by category are:

  • Executive category: BMW 5 Series
  • Small Family category: Alfa Romeo Giulietta
  • Supermini category: Honda CR-Z
  • Small off-road 4×4 category: Kia Sportage
  • Small MPV category: Toyota Verso
Last year, Euro NCAP crash tested twenty nine vehicles, 65% of which reached the five star rating, compared to 90% in 2009. This decrease is attributed to the fact that the Euro NCAP’s criteria to reach a five stars are now tougher. 

The  poorest results of 2010 were the Citroen Nemo with three stars and by the Landwind CV9 which received only two stars.


Check out the full list of cars tested in 2010 on the Euro NCAP website.

Sabtu, 29 Januari 2011

The Peugeot BB1 concept


A complete rethink of the car by Peugeot. The BB1 concept is an electric car which carries 4 people and designed so that it is only 2.5 metres long - smaller than the Smart ForTwo and Toyota iQ. The car made its debut at the Frankfurt International Motor show.


Instead of a steering wheel, the car has handle bars and no pedals on the floor. Similar to a bike, the accelerator and brake levers are on the handles.



Check out the video:

Sabtu, 15 Januari 2011

New Honda Civic concepts

Honda unveiled the ninth-generation Civic concepts at the North American International Auto Show in in Detroit, Michigan.



This two new cars are the Civic Si Concept coupe and the Civic Concept sedan. They will come as hybrid and natural-gas variants. The new Civic hybrid will feature a lithium ion battery cell, the first ever for a Honda hybrid.


Rabu, 12 Januari 2011

A Green Car Featured in London Science Museum

Countless people have taken a peep at the transport of the future after a new hydrogen fuel-cell powered car proved to be the star of the show at London’s Science Museum this winter.

The new car built by manufacturer, Riversimple has been on display in the museum’s new gallery "atmosphere.... exploring climate science". It is thought that the two-seater vehicle could be on British roads within two years.


Hugo Spowers, the founder of Riversimple said: “Many of the most iconic pieces of machinery in our island’s history are in the Science Museum and this is a tremendous honour for us. The new industrial revolution, in which we move from fossil fuel dependency to a sustainable economy, is underway and we are proud that our contribution has been recognised.”

The cars which have a top speed of 50 miles per hour and can go 200 miles on one tank of hydrogen, were first road tested in 2010. It is hoped that they will officially be on British roads by 2012.

The car, which weighs about 350kg, can recapture its own motion energy when braking, providing 80% of the power needed for acceleration. The only waste produced by the car is a few drops of water.

As part of plans to create a sustainable vehicle for use in cities Riversimple, which has so far spent £3 million developing the technology and the car, will lease the vehicles rather than sell them.

Drivers will pay approximately £200 a month and then 15p a mile as part of a business model similar to a mobile phone contract.
Riversimple hopes that by 2015 it will have manufactured a four-seater version of the car which can be used safely on long journeys. By 2020, it plans to have tens of thousands of the cars of British roads.

Green cars are capturing the public's interest in a large scale. Another way to reduce your carbon footprint is to consider buying a used car. Compared to a new car, it has a much lower footprint of grey energy. Even though producing new cars has become much more efficient these days, it still consumes huge amounts of resources.

Minggu, 09 Januari 2011

The new Citroen DS3 Racing

Check out the new sporty hatch from Citroen - the DS3 Racing. Based on the DS3 DSport, the car is powered by a BMW-PSA

204bhp 1.6-litre turbo petrol engine, front wheel drive with a six-speed manual box. The car goes from 0-62mph in 6.5 seconds and has a top speed of 146mph.

Apparently there are only 200 cars available for consumers in the UK. The car costs £23,100 which makes it more costlier than a MINI Cooper JCW.


The car is available in two colour schemes: one with Obsidian black body with sport orange roof and another with a polar white body and carbon grey roof. Which one do you like?