2012 Dodge Dart Previewed: Return Of The Phoenix For Australia?

The Dodge Dart is back.The small sedan hasn't been seen in American showrooms since the 70s, but Chrysler is bringing it back with a muscly new look and Alfa Romeo underpinnings.
Teased here in a handful of close-up images ahead of next month's Detroit Auto Show, the new Dart borrows styling elements from across the Dodge range, including the new family grille design and the Charger-inspired back-end.

Chrysler says the new Dart will utilise technology borrowed from its friends at Fiat, including the Alfa Romeo Giulietta's underpinnings, a selection of turbocharged MultiAir petrol engines and a six-speed dual-clutch transmission.
According to Fiat and Chrysler boss Sergio Marchionne, the combination of its MultiAir technology and the six-speed auto will give the Dart a low fuel consumption figure of 5.8 l/100km on the combined cycle.
ZF's new nine-speed automatic will also join the range later on - news which marks one of the first confirmed applications of the new transmission in a production car.

Australia

Will we see the new Dart on our roads?
The Australian market has had to live without the Chrysler Group's more exciting models - the Challenger, Charger and Viper in particular - but with plans to increase global sales, Fiat may push for a more impressive line-up for its Australian customers.
The Dart has a history in Australia, where it was originally offered in the form of the Dodge Phoenix, while a version of the car was latter offered as the Chrysler Valiant.
The all-new Dart may share little with its forebears, but it could prove a welcome offering in Australia's strong-selling small and medium car segments.

 

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Mazda Gets Loopy With New Capacitor-Based KERS

Mazda has laid claim to developing the first capacitor-based regenerative braking system for a passenger vehicle, dubbed i-ELOOP - intelligent Energy Loop.
The technology has shown up in racing cars before (see Toyota's Supra HV-R), but Mazda's project marks its first appearance in a regular passenger car.
The system works like a regular regenerative braking system, but the energy is stored in a capacitor rather than the more common battery arrangement.
The i-ELOOP system is made up of a 12-24V variable voltage alternator, a low-resistance electric double-layer capacitor and a DC/DC converter.
Like most systems, i-ELOOP recovers kinetic energy as the vehicle is decelerating, which the alternator uses to generate electricity that is then sent to the capacitor.
The stored energy is used to power the vehicle's climate control, audio system and other electrical features. The system will also charge the vehicle's battery when necessary.

Mazda says the advantage to using a capacitor its ability to be charged and discharged rapidly, and, compared to batteries, a stronger resistance to deterioration.
The big win for the driver however is that because the system does not use a dedicated motor or battery to operate and is therefore using less power, the vehicle's fuel economy is improved by "approximately" 10 percent.
The system is designed to work alongside Mazda's i-stop idle-stop technology, allowing the engine to remain switched off for longer periods.
Mazda has yet to announce production plans for the technology, but expect i-ELOOP to appear in the next-generation Mazda6 or Mazda3.

• Mazda news and reviews

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Ford Australia Archive Opens In Melbourne

Ford Australia has opened a new document archive at its Melbourne headquarters this week, marking the carmaker's fourth such facility in the world. The other three are in the US, Germany and the UK.
The local archive hosts documents, photos and brochures from the company's 86 year history in Australia. Many of the documents were collected by the late Adrian Ryan, the Public Affairs worker to whom the centre is dedicated.
Described as a passionate car man, Ryan worked in Ford Australia's Public Affairs office for 15 years, coming from roles with Repco and the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce.
After 40 years in the Australian car industry, Ryan passed away in 2009.
Speaking at the opening of the Ford Australia Archive, President and CEO Bob Graziano said that Ryan could often be found rummaging through dumpsters to recover items tossed away by the carmaker's staff.

“Adrian was instrumental in ensuring that not only did we collect the material but that we stored it appropriately too. He did his absolute best to keep the pressure on Ford, right until his last months, to find a proper location to store the archives," Graziano said.
“We believe he would be quite chuffed to see the archives treated with the respect they deserve.”

Graziano also gave a nod to employee Les Drayton, responsible for putting together many of the Archive's precious items.

"Les not only collected photos, documents and books, he was also instrumental in ensuring we did not lose some of our unique vehicles, which are now on display at the Ford Discovery Centre in Geelong,” Graziano said.

The Archive will function as a centralised historical information centre for the carmaker's local operations, and while it will not be open to the general public, a few lucky outsiders will get to take a peek from time to time.

"As resources permit, the archives team will also be able to serve individuals outside the company who have an interest in our history, including vehicle enthusiasts, the media, authors, video/film producers and a wide range of researchers, scholars and students,” Graziano said.

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Jaguar XF Sportbrake Wagon Spied

Jaguar's rumoured XF wagon is a rumour no longer, as these first photos of the carmaker's upcoming 'Sportbrake' reveal.
Whether the final model will wear the Sportbrake name is unclear, but its intentions are clear: combine the sleek lines of the traditional 'shooting brake' style with the familiar tapered roof of most 'sportwagons', and you've got yourself a Sportbrake.
The combination means that while the Sportbrake will help to maintain the XF's sports-focused styling, the car will also offer the practicality and capacious rear space of a proper wagon.
Although this is the first time the XF wagon has been spied on public roads, the minimal camouflage and production-ready rear-end suggests that the car's unveiling is not far away. March's Geneva Motor Show is a likely candidate.
The introduction of the Sportbrake will give the XF a much-needed rival for the wagon variants of its competitors, including the BMW 5 Series, the Audi A6 and the Mercedes-Benz E-Class.
The wagon will be especially welcome in Australia, where the XF's 441 sales so far in 2011 trail the E-Class (1177), the 5 Series (1109) and the A6 (590).

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New BMW M3 In Sedan Form Only, M4 Coupe Coming: Report

The current Coupe variant might be the last time you see the M3 name on a two-door, according to reports out of Europe this week.
Following reports earlier this year that BMW will shift its coupe and cabriolet models to an even-numbered badge (2 Series, 4 Series), Britain's Autocar is reporting that the next M duo will be the M3 Sedan and a new M4 Coupe.

While a new Coupe has yet to arrive - in either 3 or 4 Series guise - the recent unveiling of the 2012 3 Series sedan means that a four-door debut for the next M car could occur in the coming year.
The regular 4 Series Coupe and Cabriolet, built on the same platform as the new 3 Series, are expected to arrive in 2014. The M4 Coupe will supposedly debut in the following six months.
The differences will reportedly go beyond bodystyle and badges, with the M4 expected to be the more hardcore, performance-focused half of the M3 Sedan and M4 Coupe pair.
Both models are expected to utilise a twin-turbo six-cylinder engine, retiring the current 309kW V8 mill and boosting output to around 335kW.

Pictured above: the 2012 3 Series M Sport package.

 
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Mercedes-Benz Bringing Back The Straight Six: Report

More than a decade since the last example in its line-up was retired, Mercedes-Benz is reportedly developing new petrol and diesel straight-six engines.
Mercophiles will remember the carmaker's long history of straight-six powerplants. However, with the phasing out in 1997 of the M104 engine in favour of the M112 V6, rival BMW has become the better-known Euro brand for the straight-six design.
Now, according to Britain's Car magazine, Mercedes is understood to be planning a mid-decade debut for its new straight-six engines, including single- and twin-turbo versions.
The report adds that the arrival of the straight-six engines will signal the end of Mercedes' V6 offerings.
An unnamed source also pointed to a run of turbocharged 4.0 litre V8 engines to replace the larger units - although it is unclear if the still very-new 5.5 litre and 4.6 litre V8 engines will remain on duty.
An entry-level four-cylinder engine for "most" of the brand's large cars is also expected.
With a 2015 debut expected for most of these engines, it's likely that the upcoming 'MLC' SUV will be among the first cars to feature the new powerplants.

Nissan Juke-R Concept Revealed, 358kW On Tap

 Nissan has pulled back the covers on its mental Juke-R concept in Spain this week, and this is the first photo of the GT-R powered crossover.

As reported earlier here at TMR, the R version of the off-the-wall Juke compact SUV is driven by the GT-R's twin-turbo 3.8 litre twin-turbo V6.
In GT-R form, the big turbo six produces 390kW and 612Nm of torque. For the Juke-R, Nissan's engineers have pulled power back to a still impressive 358kW - a good deal more thrust than its normal 1.6 litre engine.
Nissan says it will build two examples of the turbocharged all-wheel-drive Juke-R, one in left-hand-drive and one for the right.

Click here for all the details on the Juke-R concept.

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Lotus dismisses Lexus: Will use homegrown 4.8L V8 for Esprit

Lotus is on the verge of tackling the supercar market with their very own high-powered V8 engine fitted underneath the hood of the future Esprit. The British company has been working on this 4.8L V8 engine at its headquarters in Hethel, Norfolk where engineers have achieved 570 HP at around 9000rpm and 398 lb-ft of torque at a bit higher than 3000rpm.

But that’s not where the story ends. Lotus Chief Technical Officer, Wolf Zimmermann, says this engine can reach up to 630 HP at 9,400 rpm and 424 lb-ft of torque between 5,500 and 6,000rpm. The V8 weighs in at about 375 lbs, which is about 176 lbs lighter than the original 5.0L V8 Lotus was going to borrow from Lexus. The Lexus engine ended up being too heavy so Lotus engineers took to the drawing table to create their own modular engine. This engine will be matched up with a forged aluminum wishbone suspension and electro-hydraulic power steering. The vehicle will be made entirely of aluminum with hopes of not surpassing 3,220 lbs.

Lotus CEO, Dany Bahar, thinks the future Esprit will be a new icon. He states, "There’s a fine balance in acknowledging the greatness of the past while rapidly leaping forward to the future and ensuring that this car not only does the name Esprit justice but also the Lotus brand.

"I think we’ve managed to find the balance. The design is aggressive. You have to see it to appreciate how low and wide the proportions are, but it still retains a level of dignity, of class and, most of all, exclusivity."

2012 Chevrolet Corvette Carlisle Blue Grand Sport Concept

With the growing number of customized Camaros showing up at the 2011 SEMA Auto Show, it’s nice to see that Chevrolet hasn’t forgotten about their non-muscle sports car. The Corvette will be making its stand in Vegas with the Carlisle Blue Grand Sport Concept, created as a celebration of 30 years of "Corvettes at Carlisle," one of the largest annual Corvette events in North America.

The Carlisle Blue Grand Sport Concept is painted in a very cool Carlisle Blue exterior with exquisite Pearl White full-length racing stripes. This color combination is highlighted with Silver-painted Torque 2 wheels. The Corvette also benefited from carbon fiber front splitter and rockers, a full-width rear spoiler, and a Grand Sport style hood blanket. For the interior, Chevrolet has opted for Ebony/Titanium leather with blue stitching, a new Bose Premium Audio with nine speakers, a USB port and audio jack with iPod integration on the touch screen, and racing pedals.

Performance wasn’t forgotten either. Chevrolet also hooked up the celebratory model with a dual-mode exhaust and Magnetic Selective Ride Control to go with the standard 6.2 Liter 430-hp LS3 V8 engine.

Only a few images were released of the elegant Carlisle Blue Grand Sport Concept, but we’ll make sure to snap a few of our own when we get to the 2011 SEMA Auto Show next week!