Monthly Archives June 2014

In this section, we will examine the rear wheel braking system.

Similar to the front wheel, one factor that affects the location of the brake caliper is the geometry design of the car’s rear suspension.

For some cars, there are control arm that connects to the rear part of the wheel hub, which takes up places that can fit the brake, therefore the brake caliper must be located in front of the rear wheel axle. For example the Lexus GS350 with rear wheel steering option, the control arm is located behind the wheel hub, therefore the brake must be placed on the other side.

For some other cars, the rear suspension control arms are in front of the wheel axle, therefore the bra...

Today IIHS released its BMW 2-series crash testing results and the corresponding rating.

Generally speaking the 2-series got a Top Safety Pick Plus result, which is because it achieved “Good” results in all testing categories, including the small overlap front test, which is shown in the below image (released by IIHS). From the photo you can see the 2-seires has very good safety cage strength to handle the frontal impact energy: there is no excessive deformation around the A pillar area.

However, we also found some weak points in the BMW 2-series, from the crash test.

1...

2015 will be the last model year for the current generation of Camaro. For the next generation, which starts at 2016, the Camaro will be build on the GM Alpha platform which the current Cadillac CTS is also using.

By using the new platform, it is expected that the 2016 Camaro will lose several hundred pounds of weight when compared to the current generation. For your reference, the 2015 Camaro with V6 engine has a curb weight of 3700lb+, which makes it almost as heavy as some mid-size RWD luxury sedans.

But the biggest news is that the 2016 Camaro will offer a 2.0L 4-cylinder turbocharged engine...

It has been almost 2 months since we report the news of the BMW M2. Many things happened during the past months, for example the upcoming Audi RS3 was estimated to offer around 400hp.

It looks like BMW is following up the competition, and adjusted the engine power range. The latest news says the BMW M2 will have 374 – 395 hp, and the energy will comes from a modified version of the 3.0L turbo 6-cylinder N55 engine. Please note that this is just and estimation and it is not officially confirmed by BMW at this moment.

Today Toyota announced their sales plan for their hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, the Toyota FCV.

Hydrogen fuel cell is a new kind of energy source that powers the electric motor. It accelerates exactly the same way as other electric cars; the difference is when you refuel, the FCV just need 3 to 5 minutes to fill up the hydrogen tank, so you do not need to wait half an hour or several hour to recharge, which is required for other pure battery-powered electric cars such as the Tesla Model S.

According to Toyota, the FCV can go for 300 miles on a single fill-up (as mentioned above, it only takes 3 – 5 minutes)...