| Each week, our German correspondent slices and dices the latest rumblings, news, and quick-hit driving impressions from the other side of the pond. His byline may say Jens Meiners, but we simply call him . . . the Continental. Audi took first place in this year's 24 hours of Le Mans with its R18 e-tron quattro, just ahead of the Toyota TS030 hybrid—but I hear that the Germans were on the verge of pulling out. A few weeks before the race, the organizing body, Automobil club de l'Ouest (ACO), dumped a bomb: The Toyota race cars would be allowed to fill up their tanks with a full three extra liters, which allowed them to go an extra lap before refueling. Altogether, the Audi diesel hybrids were allowed to fill up 58 liters, or 15.3 gallons—far less than the Toyota gasoline hybrid's 76 liters (20 gallons). Audi executives were livid, and canceling the brand's appearance in Le Mans was seriously discussed. On the podium, post-race, the ACO afforded itself another gaffe: The German flag was displayed upside down. Audi requested a correction of the embarrassing display, but the ACO said no. I suspect there are interesting talks going on behind the scenes now with Audi, and perhaps even with Porsche (also German, in case you forgot), given Audi's sister brand is planning to race an LMP1 prototype in Le Mans. Audi Teases Face-Lifted A8 The face-lifted Audi A8 will bow at the Frankfurt auto show in September, and Audi already is teasing us with the first chunks of information. It released a peek at the new LED Matrix headlights; in high-beam setting, 25 LEDs—grouped in clusters of five—can independently be switched on or off, or dimmed. Cars traveling ahead as well as oncoming traffic are spared from glare, but beyond those areas, the lights remain at maximum brightness. When equipped with the night vision system, the LED headlights mark pedestrians with three "blinks." And the lights bend slightly before a curve, courtesy of data from the navigation system. Equally interesting is the daytime running lights' new design signature; it is less angular and less aggressive than before, and it emanates a homogenous bar of light. The First Infiniti with a Benz Engine The partnership between Daimler and Renault-Nissan has so far been borne out in the technology transfer from Renault to Mercedes-Benz. The entry-level diesel engine in the A-class and B-class, the 1.5-liter OM607, is a Renault unit. And the somewhat unfortunate Citan commercial van is little more than a rebadged Renault Kangoo. Now technology is migrating the other way. In Europe, the entry-level engine for the Infiniti Q50 will be the award-winning Mercedes-Benz OM651, a four-cylinder turbodiesel with a 2.1 liters of displacement. But since that would sound a bit wimpy, Infiniti will call it the Q50 2.2 diesel. (Thanks, Infiniti, for clarifying that the Q50 is not powered by a 5-liter V-8.) Now pricing is out for the Q50 diesel: It costs €34,350, €3000 less than a Mercedes-Benz C-Class with the same engine and less equipment.
E.U. vs. Germany: Feud Over CO2 Emissions There is unhappiness in Europe as the German government torpedoed the E.U. Commission's target to lower CO2 emissions on new cars to 95 grams per kilometer, which works out to 65.6 mpg for diesels and 57.4 mpg for gas-powered cars. The regulation was supposed to take effect by 2020. Carmakers who wouldn't conform to the supposedly planet-saving regulation were supposed to pay up: A whopping 95 euros per gram per car beyond the target. A number of special provisions were part of the package. While 95 grams would be the industry standard, heavier cars were allowed to use more fuel. This ostensibly would discourage carmakers from spending money on light-weight technology. Funds will instead be diverted to make progress where it is cheaper: Powertrain technology. This is a sad move for those of us who are tired of the bulky monsters churned out by factories today. The E.U. was willing to have electric vehicles count double towards meeting the ambitious targets; the auto industry, however, demanded more. Companies are asking that electrics and hybrids count more heavily towards reaching the desired emissions average, dubbing their weight "supercredits." The demand is understandable, since they were somewhat tricked into diverting their R&D resources into electrics by vocal politicians. There also is "banking," a process in which companies can use averages below the 130 g/km target set for 2015 to count towards post-2020 figures. This part was struck out from the proposal. It was too much: The German government intervened to halt the proposal, which was supposed to be voted on by the E.U. parliament next week. Now Germany hopes to convince other E.U. member states to support less-brutal proposals. If Germany emerges victorious, the country will have to pay up in other political fields. The E.U. targets are far more rigid than the proposals in the U.S., China, or Japan.  from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com | |||
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