Ariel Atom & The Bugatti Veyron : Marvels of Auto Engineering

What do you get when you bolt on an engine to some scaffolding and tyres? Before you get carried away, the answer is the Ariel Atom, a road legal track car that is capable of doing a 100 kmph in less than three seconds flat!

The brain child of Nick Smart for his student project back in 1996, the car has now seen three versions over the years with each one outrunning the last. The Ariel Atom (version one) started off with a two liter Honda engine and has grown up to become the Atom 3. I say grown up because the new Atom now comes with an added turbocharger- the secret behind its face distorting acceleration.   Although theoretically you can break any record you wish to if you make the engine as big as possible and the body as light as possible, the key to a good track car is handling.

If your car can stay on the track and trace any path that isn’t a straight line while going fast then you have a winner. Having been tested by Lotus, known for their cars with nippy handling, the Atom has enough grip to take bits of the track with it.

All this said and done it might seem pretty pointless to move any further as the mains story has been told, but the actual story lies in the newest model in Ariel’s lineup, the Atom V8. With a five liter motorcycle derived, eight cylinder engine pumping out 500 bhp, the Atom V8 is a force to be reckoned with.  What makes the Atom V8 so special is the level of technology that runs through it metaphorical veins. The gearbox can shift gears in 1/400ths of a second and you can preselect the next gear before changing them for even more speed.

The wheels are magnesium and the onboard computers can set the car up for each individual owner making it an engineering marvel.  The Atom V8 sadly, despite the power: weight ratio of 900 hp per ton, it is not the fastest accelerating car in the world. That title belongs to the Bugatti Veyron, an engineering marvel that holds the title of fastest production road car. Capable of hitting speeds exceeding 430 kmph, it has a 16 cylinder, eight liter engine with four turbochargers bolted on.

The Veyron is designed not only for speed. What sets it apart from the Atom V8 is the fact that the Veyron is a GT car or a Grand Tourer. Decked up with leather, aluminium and the best sound system in the world to name a few, the Veyron is truly a benchmark for engineering design.  Leaving technology aside, the unique thing that sets the Veyron apart is the cost of manufacture. Bugatti, a subsidiary of the Volkswagen group loses money on every Veyron sold. You may wonder what the point behind such lunacy is and the answer simply lies in the fact that to Ferdinand K. Piëch, the Chairman of VW felt that the Bugatti marquee must be returned to its past glory and the Veyron was his Everest.

The smallest fire truck ever

Gone are the days when even for the smallest of fires one would have to call the fire brigade because now a standard small automobile is being converted into the smallest fire truck ever!

The Nash Metropolitan modified to be a fire truck

Nash Metropolitan – a 1960’s sub-compact economy car was converted into a fire truck by Overland Amusements of Lexington, Massachusetts. Born in 1954, this was the car that introduced a new segment in the global automobile industry – ‘subcompact’. Creating mayhem in the sales charts in US and Canada, the Nash sold almost 95000 in the 9 years for which it was manufactured.                    

The car still continues to pull a lot of heads after Overland Amusements showed the world what it can possibly become. This is not the only conversion that the company has gone through with. The company was responsible for more of such modifications in the ‘50s and the ‘60s.

But maybe you shouldn’t get all excited and start getting eager to buy a Nash yourself just yet. As much of a replica this one is to an actual fire truck, it is not intended to work the functions of an actual fire brigade. 

If you are like Phoebe from the all famous television series Friends and want to compete with her ‘not for hire’ cab then this modified Nash Metropolitan will cost you $29,500 only.

Ferrari Set to Launch Products in India

Its official! Ferrari has inked a deal with the Shreyans Group, appointing the latter as the official importer of the 'Prancing Horse' in India.

It sure has been a long wait, but finally one of the most coveted brands from automotive history is making its official debut in India. Ferrari is finally here and for fans the news couldn't have been better.

The Shreyans Group, which incidentally are the importers of Porsche in India, have now been officially appointed at the official importer of Ferrari in India. The company will set up a separate Ferrari India office and will have Ferrari experienced professionals and dealers manage the show. The first Ferrari dealership will commence operations in Delhi by early spring and the second dealership, which is scheduled for Mumbai, will open in the second half of 2011.

Ferrari has been contemplating an entry in the Indian market for quite  a while and though they tested waters with a trip around India titled the "Magic Discovery Tour of India"a couple of years ago, it was a wait and watch game to see how the company would make its foray in the country. Ferrari is incidentally owned by the Fiat Group, and Fiat and Tata have tie-up, so in fact the ball was in anyone's court to usher in the Ferrari brand, however it seems that Ferrari has chosen the route of Porsche, Lamborghini, Bentley and Rolls-Royce, by appointing an exclusive dealer tie up with the Shreyans Group.

As far as the vehicles for the Indian market are considered, Ferarri will usher in the Ferrari California, 458 Italia,599 GTB Fiorano, as well as the recently launched Ferarri FF. Along with the cars, you can also expect to have a range of some of the best Ferrari merchandise also available at the dealer outlets.

The official pricing for India will be announced once the dealership in Delhi is up and running.

VGA camera in Hot Wheels

Hot Wheels gets its much needed upgradation from Mattel's new Hot Wheels Video Racer. Read on

I, in all totality envy the kids of today and their cool-tech toys; for what better they could ask for than having a camera that records all the adventure in their Hot Wheels. The Mattel's Hot Wheels Video Racer lets you record the racing action from the driver's perspective.

Hot Wheels will now come equipped with a tiny front-facing camera that has enough storage to record up to 12 minutes of video footage and what's more to it. Just like your digital cameras', the racing car will too have a small LCD screen on its belly for an instant play back.

Also, for you to enjoy it on a larger screen, all you need to do is simply attach an USB and view it on your laptop. There's even a custom video editor, which helps you to splice clips together and add your own soundtrack. Not just kids, but even adults can now enjoy and experience what it is like to go through lap after lap, not as a spectator but as a driver driving right from the inside of a car.

Budget 2011: BMW, Audi, Mercedes prices may zoom by over Rs 8 lakh

Playing a partypooper to the country's growing clout in the luxury car segment, a new provision in the Budget could well lead to a hefty hike, over Rs 8 lakh or more, in the prices of entryl evel cars of the companies like BMW, Audi and Mercedes

In what appears to be a bolt from the blue for the luxury carmakers, mainly from the German stable, a change in definition of completely knocked down (CKD) car is threatening to derail the softer import duty regime.

The provision, hidden in the memorandum explaining the provisions of the Finance Bill, has created panic among companies like Audi, BMW and Mercedes as they are scared that a jump in the prices of their India-assembled cars will hit demand.

“A definition for ‘ CKD unit’ of a vehicle, including two-wheelers, eligible for concessional import duty is being inserted to exclude from its purview such units containing a pre-assembled engine or gearbox or transmission mechanism or chassis where any of such parts or sub-assemblies is installed,” the Budget provision said.

In simple terms, this implies that auto companies that are doing CKD business in India with fully-imported pre-assembled critical parts like engines or gearbox or transmission cannot claim the lower 10% import duty on them as these will no longer be defined as CKDs. This would bring these vehicles on a par with fully-built units and thus slap a hefty 60% import duty on them, which would go up to 110% after the addition of counter-vailing duty, VAT and other local levies.

The models affected could be all entry-level luxury cars. From BMW, these would include the 3-Series and 5-Series sedans and the X1 SUV; from Mercedes the C- and E-Class sedans; and from Audi the A4 and A6 sedans and the Q5 SUV. Other companies who are having some CKD models will also be affected, and these include Toyota’s Fortuner, Volkswagen’s Jetta and Passat and Ford’s Endeavour.


The affected companies have approached the auto industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) for help. “A delegation of our representatives and Siam have visited the finance ministry to seek clarification on the matter,” an official with one of the luxury carmaker said.


While none of them are ready to speak on record at the moment, they say in private that business would be severely affected if the provision is enforced. “Sales will be hit as affordability goes down. This kind of a provision, if it is there to stay, will be negative for further investments,” said an official, requesting anonymity.


Sources said the German embassy has also been alerted on the matter and is actively looking into the issue. Comfortable prices of luxury cars and growing affluence in India have seen sales of luxury cars zoom. Companies like BMW, Mercedes and Audi have seen India emerge as one of their fastest-growing markets globally (over 70% growth), though volumes are still at a nascent stage.


The total market for luxury cars was about 18,000 units last year, and is expected to double in the next two-to-three years if the lower duty regime stays. “However, all the projections would go haywire in case the new provision is enforced,” an official said.

Budget 2011: Car sales surge in Feb on excise hike fears

Fear of excise hike in Budget and the economic growth kept car sales healthy in February despite a slew of negatives like rising interest rates and petrol price hike. Demand is expected to be headed for moderation in the coming months from its high levels earlier, fear industry players

Maruti, the country's top carmaker, led the charge as it reported a 20% growth in domestic volumes at 1.01 lakh units against 84,765 units in the same month last year. The company, that last month launched a diesel version of its SX4 sedan, said sales of its bread-and-butter small car portfolio was up 19% at 72,090 units.

Company officials, however,fear that the bumper demand may not hold up for long with interest rates on the rise and negative sentiments building up due to high inflation and petrol price hikes.

Hyundai had another month of subdued performance as its domestic volumes grew 5% at 32,629 units against 31,001 units in February last year. The company's sales were up by a small 2% in January. "Rising competition from upcoming companies like Ford and Volkswagen is expected to take some market share from dominant players like Maruti and Hyundai," analysts say.

But while being cautionary on the sales prospects in the coming months, most of the companies heaved a sigh of relief as the finance minister kept the excise duty unchanged at 10% in the Budget. Companies had said that they would not be able to hold on to prices in case the excise duty would go up in the Budget.

"It is a good thing that the FM decided to go in for consistency in policy. With the excise duty rates being retained , we will not be hiking prices, as of now," Mayank Pareek, managing executive officer (sales and marketing) of Maruti Suzuki, said.

Other companies like Hyundai, Honda, General Motors and Mahindra have also said that they would hold on to prices for now. However, companies say they may be forced to up prices in the coming months as rising cost of inputs was hurting margins. Both Maruti and Hero Honda saw a 20% drop in profits in the last quarter and say that prices would need to be moved up at some time to adjust to higher costs.

Experts warn that the industry may be headed for some course correction as negatives firm up. The higher cost of inputs may translate into higher vehicle prices in the coming time while expensive car financing will hit EMIs. And with fuel bills going up, at a time of high inflation, things could get a bit difficult for the industry.

"We may not see the 30% growth that was experienced last year," Pawan Goenka, head of Siam and president of Mahindra's automotive division said. New models are expected to keep the volumes charged up. Companies like Toyota , Honda, Ford and General Motors are lining up new models to get a bigger share of the domestic market.

New BMW i brand is born electric

New range of vehicles under the BMW i badge to focus on providing zero-emission, sustainable urban mobility - range to begin with BMW i3 and i8 cars

There are times when a carmaker innovates to such an extent that its current range of brands are not enough to accommodate a new product. At other times, a new brand just becomes the demand of the marketing and PR departments that needs to find new ways to sell their cars. In what seems to be a combination of both, Munich-based carmaker BMW has announced the launch of a new brand, one that will focus specifically on developing cars for low-emission urban transport.

The range will kick off with two new cars in 2013 – the BMW i3 and the BMW i8. We have already seen the i3 previously as Megacity Vehicle concept, and it will be the BMW Group’s first series-produced car for urban areas to be driven by electric power alone. The BMW i8, meanwhile, will be based on the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics concept study. Its plug-in hybrid drive blends the sporting ability of a high-performance machine with the fuel consumption and emissions of a small car.

What is special about both the cars though is the construction concept they are built around. Labelled as the LifeDrive architecture, the skeleton of the cars will be based on an aluminium chassis that houses the powertrain, and the passenger cell consists of high-strength but extremely lightweight carbon fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP).

The BMW Group has also said that it will significantly expand its range of mobility services over the years ahead under the i Brand, which will include vehicles and services developed since 2007 as part of project i, a BMW Group think tank exploring sustainable mobility solutions. To achieve this, a Venture Capital company was founded in New York City, BMW i Ventures, with an investment totalling up to 100 million US dollars.


Is someone thinking ‘smart’? About time, Munich, is what we think!