Lambo Doors Are So Last Year: Disappearing Car Doors Are Fresh

Quiet is the new loud. You just spent 5 grand hooking up your Civic with lambo doors, only to realize, they’re not cool anymore. What you need now is a set of disappearing doors from Jatech. Word.

They’re actually pretty cool, and relatively simple. The door just rolls under and slides into a compartment under the car. They thing is, it’s totally electronic, so when your battery dies, you’ve got to break your window to get out. Still, I think with some minor modifications, like a manual open option, I bet we see this in a mainstream production car within the next 5-10 years at least.
Check out the video after the jump:

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U.S. car sales in the doldrums <strike>to infinity</strike> until 2012 and beyond

Filed under: Car Buying, Plants/Manufacturing, Earnings/Financials

There were about three million fewer cars sold in 2008 than 2007. Based on 2007's numbers, it would be the same as if Acura, Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Lexus, MINI, Porsche, and Saab all closed their doors in 2008. In terms of pure automotive carnage, that's not the kind of damage you can just buff out. And the predictions for the future agree on two points: it's going to get worse, and it won't return to what it was for years to come.

The only difference in the predictions of gloom is exactly how long things are going to stay depressed. Everyone agrees that the vertiginous sales drop in Q4 of 2008 is going to continue at least until the middle of 2009. Some, though, think that 2009 will "look a lot like 2008, but in reverse," with a slight sales rebound possible in the latter half. That prediction depends on the size of the proposed economic stimulus package, and whether it actually stimulates the economy. After all, banks received their own stimulus packages, yet getting a loan is as hard as ever.

Others say we are "entering a prolonged period of conservation." One analyst predicts that U.S. car sales won't see the north side of 15 million in annual sales until "2012 or later," while another said that we won't see 16 million annual sales again "for the forseeable future." Naturally, with such conservation comes other cuts, like R&D budgets and model facelifts, that could mean the cars on offer won't be as interesting or as cutting edge as before. While that could be looked at as a benefit, saving manufacturers the need to put new redesigned cars in showrooms every three years, the necessary auto industry infrastructure changes (plant closers, layoffs, etc.), the certain extinction of some companies, and the uncertain future are going to hurt.

[Source: IHT]

U.S. car sales in the doldrums to infinity until 2012 and beyond originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mechatronics: BMW Has Amazing Balls

Check out this mechatronic installation set up in BMW’s museum in Munich, Germany. It’s made up of 714 metal balls suspended on wire and hooked up to servos and rotors at the top so they appear to float around and undulate magically. The little orbs cycle through a whole series of abstractions and various BMW vehicle forms. Kinetic sculptures are awesome. It looks like I’m going to have to take a trip to Munich.

It’s definitely better to see it in action, so check out the video:

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The 2009 Ford Escape and Ford Escape Hybrid: Manlier Than The Prius, But Still Kind Of A Chick-Ride

For 2009, Ford has given the Escape, its sub-compact SUV, an eco-friendly overhaul [and has also provided some fairly comical marketing photos of the Escape as this rugged, off-road vehicle].

The conventional 2009 Escape models will be fully integrated with FFV [Flexible Fuel Vehicle] technology, allowing them to be powered by E85 ethanol fuel. Getting a power boost all across the board, both the Escape Hybrid and the base-trim Escape receive 2.5L, 4-cylinder in-line engines to replace their previous 2.3L I4’s, equaling an overall boost in horsepower from 153-hp to 171-hp. 

The upgrade in power can be directly attributed to the new intake variable cam timing found in the 2.5L engines, a feature which makes the 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid the first Atkinson cycle hybrid with variable-valve timing [a fact really only fully appreciated by the guys who read Popular Mechanics]. Not to be left out, a bigger 3.5L V6 engine, higher compression ratio and a new fuel-injection system provide a 30-hp power pump for the 2009 Ford Escape Limited, netting a total 230-hp over previous years’ 200-hp. Despite the performance modifications, Easy Fuel cap-less fueling technology as well as roll-resistant Michelin tires claim to increase EPA fuel efficiency on conventional Escape’s by 1mpg.

Bottom line: with Ford playing such an aggressive game of catch-up, it almost doesn’t seem fair for us to continue picking on the Toyota Prius. Almost.

2009 Ford Escape Hybrid
Base Price	$29,305 - $31,055
Vehicle Layout	Front gasoline/hybrid engine, FWD/4WD, 5-pass, 4-door SUV
Engines	2.5L/171-hp/ I4 Atkinson Cycle Engine and Electric Motor; 2.5L/171-hp/I4; 3.5L/230hp/ V6
Electric Motor [Hybrid Only]	Permanent Magnet AC synchronous motor/330V NiMH/94-hp[70 kW]
Transmissions	Electronically Controlled Continuously Variable; 5-sp manual; 6-sp automatic
Curb Weight	3792 lbs
Wheelbase	103.1 in
Length x Width x Height	174.7 in x 71.1 in x 70.2
Ground Clearance	8.6 in
EPA city/hwy Fuel Econ.	34/30 mpg [ECCV FWD]; 29/27 [ECCV 4WD]; 22/28 mpg [Manual FWD]; 18-20/24-26 mpg [Automatic FWD]; 17-19/22-24 mpg [Automatic 4WD]

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The 2009 Suzuki Equator - A Truck? Are They Serious?

Known for their motorcycles, Suzuki is making a move of questionable wisdom towards machinery on the other side of the towing hitch with a mid-size pick-up truck, the Suzuki Equator. 

Roughly equal in dimensions to the Nissan Frontier, the Equator will be offered with a 2.5-L V6 engine and either 4×2 or 4×4 drive. Standard features and specifications are forward-thinking but not particularly noteworthy in comparison to other automotive advancements; 152 or 261-horsepower (depending on the drivetrain), platinum-tipped sparked plugs, Induction Control System, electronic rear-locking differential, electronic brake force distribution, and speed-sensitive power rack-and-pinion steering. Entertainment options include an AM/FM/6CD Changer, XM radio, and an iPod auxiliary jack – run of the mill interior accessories for later model vehicles.

As a passenger vehicle, the Suzuki Equator is largely unremarkable. As a towing vehicle, however, the Equator posses an incredible amount of strength for such a relatively small truck - 6,300lb towing capacity and a max payload of 1, 837lbs. Although obviously adept at maximizing space and power, Suzuki’s biggest hurdle will be successfully maneuvering the Equator through the current energy crisis and subsequent decreasing popularity of trucks and SUV’s. Perhaps in anticipation of this challenge, Suzuki appears to have skimped on comfort and capitalized on function, creating the 2009 Equator solely with the “track day” in mind

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