– BMW’s hydrogen strategy is starting to take shape. The company has been working on hydrogen-powered cars since 1984, but for a long time the focus remained on the internal combustion engine. The efforts, first shown in a 7-series in the mid 1980s, culminated in 2006 in the V-12-powered Hydrogen 7. Now the company has switched to a different tack. – – While those early vehicles were fun to drive,
– Eight automakers posted record June sales as the industry totaled nearly 8.5 million cars through the mid-year, a four-percent jump over 2014. At this rate, WardsAuto predicts total sales of 17.1 million cars for 2015, or 600,000 more than last year. Here’s what’s hot and cold this summer. – – Hyundai and Kia Have Record First Halves – – Hyundai and Kia don’t act like underdogs anymore. Between them,
– Ford is recalling 433,000 2015 Focus, Escape, and C-Max vehicles to replace faulty body-control modules, which can prevent the engine from turning off in response to the ignition switch. – The recall affects cars with the conventional, keyed ignition switch as well as those with the keyless, push-button version. The production dates of the affected vehicles are:-• Focus models built at the Wayne, Michigan, assembly plant from June 17,
-Huh? Yep, that’s the condensed version of what a BMW spokesman conveyed when discussing why the brand is adding all-wheel drive to pretty much every car in its lineup, from the big 7-series all the way down to the second-smallest of U.S. Bimmers, the 2-series coupe and its 10Best-winning M235i derivative. With the rise of crossovers, families now often own at least one all-wheel-drive vehicle, so demand for AWD has
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– C/D: So, how’s it going? – C/D: My mind is clear and focused, my heart is full and healthy, and, best of all, my circulation is excellent. And when I go to New York, I can eat in the Hearst cafeteria. They’ve got pudding. READ MORE ›› –
– Well, sure, I remember the Car and Driver 60th-anniversary party. It was 2015, I’d recently started as a columnist, and facial hair was all the rage (on men, believe it or not). There was a big to-do in what was then called New York City. Somebody said to me, “Hey, what if you’re still writing a column 60 years from now, at the 120th anniversary?” And I said, “Mhghgh righhhghgh!”
-From the outside, it’s easy to dislike the Bentley Continental GT3-R. It’s nearly $150,000 more expensive than a base Conti GT V-8. It’s the high-performance model but makes 34 fewer horsepower than the W-12–powered Speed. It’s the “lightweight” version, but it weighs 4937 pounds. READ MORE ›› –
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So, the 2015 Honda Civic Type R is an absolute barnstormer, a 306-hp hot hatch that obliterated the Nürburgring lap record for front-drive vehicles with a 7:50.6 blast in a preproduction example. The bad news is, we won’t get it here in the U.S. But the heart of every European-market Type R will beat to the tune of the Star Spangled Banner: Honda will build the 2.0-liter direct-injected turbo VTEC