Porsche 1995-1998 Mahle Oil Filter Oc-229 on 2040-parts.com

Nissan Qazana: how the production car will look

By Ben Pulman Motor Industry 18 March 2009 12:45 Nissan’s Qazana might seem like an out-there concept, but Nissan Design Europe’s vice president Alfonso Albaisa has told CAR Online that it'll keep many of the show car's cues when it goes into production at the company's Sunderland plant in the summer of 2010. For the full story of the new Qazana, check out the new issue of CAR Magazine out next week. But here's an abridged version of what to expect of the new crossover from the north...

CCS/GM E-Flex project

Cadillac V-Flex Evan Mai Evan Mai presented the Cadillac V-Flex, a mid-engine electric race car that uses GM's E-Flex platform in a new configuration and advances Cadillac's art & science design language.  The race inspired proportion and layout of the V-Flex draws heavily from Le Mans prototype and F1 cars. Power would come from an electric motor with a range extending internal combustion engine. The Li-ion battery placed in the bottom center of the vehicle could be swapped from underneath the car during pit stops. Aluminum heat sinks in the rear efficiently dissipate heat away from the motor and battery while performing as a rear spoiler.  The front grille serves to communicate the Cadillac design philosophy and also serves as a functional aerodynamic enhancement.

Car makers to be forced to disclaim ‘Official’ economy figures

We’ve banged on for a long time about the futility of official economy figures, especially as car makers get better and better at ‘gaming’ the official economy tests to produce the results they want. Much of the impetus to create the best headline economy figure for a car is driven by taxation, with car makers well aware that the better the official economy results are, the lower their CO2 will be (CO2 isn’t tested for – it’s just extrapolated from the official mpg) and the more appealing the car will be to buyers, particularly fleet buyers. But a ruling by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) against Audi could at least see car makers having to admit in their adverts that the ‘official’ economy figure bears no relation to what owners can expect to achieve in the real world.