mazda 3 2010

The powertrains combine Mazda’s typical Zoom-Zoom driving experience with excellent environmental performance to provide exhilarating driving. They transmit just the right amount of G force that perfectly matches the vehicle’s actual acceleration. This provides the driver with a more refined experience of oneness with the car. The new engine line up has been tailored for European customers and now includes the newly developed MZR-CD 2.2-litre turbo diesel engine, carried over from the all-new Mazda 6, in addition to the MZR-1.6-litre and 2.0-litre gasoline engines and the MZ-CD 1.6-litre turbo diesel. It is a high-performance clean diesel engine with top class output, fuel economy and quietness. The MZR-CD 2.2-litre turbo diesel engine will be offered in two variants: a high power version with a maximum torque of 400 Nm/1,800-3,000 rpm and a maximum output of 136 kW (185 PS)/3500 rpm, and a standard power version with a maximum torque of 360 Nm/1,800-2,600 rpm and a maximum output of 110 kW (150 PS)/3500 rpm. Both versions have outstanding clean emissions performance, comply with the Euro Stage 5 regulations and feature a Mazda developed unique Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) technology for more efficient regeneration. Fuel economy is also greatly improved by 7 to 10 percent compared to the MZR-CD 2.0-litre engine equipped in the existing model, attaining 5.4 l/100 km for the standard power version and 5.6 l/100 km for the high power version.

The Good

1) Looks different from the same category.
2) Fine handling.
3) Well-finished cabin.

The Bad

1) Too firm ride.
2) Some road noise infiltrates cabin.

Recommended

• February 7, 2010 — Jaguar green-lights the C-Type sportscar, nixes the XJ coupe (0)
• October 18, 2009 — Thinking of Buying a Jaguar E-Type (XKE) – Then Why Not Hire One First? (0)
• March 7, 2010 — Jaguar X-type days numbered? (0)
• December 13, 2009 — List of hybrid vehicles (0)
• October 26, 2009 — Jaguar S Type Was Planned to Take on BMW 5 Series, Audi A6 Along With Mercedes E Class (0)

Vintage racing and roadster enthusiasts know Jaguar as a great performance car, an identity rightfully manifested in the beautiful XKE and D-Type.

Most Americans seem to think of them as unreliable and a generally sub-Mercedes luxury car…

…and pretty much nobody has heard of the XJ220 or XJR-15.

Come on guys… it was in Need For Speed 2?

Car companies live and die by their image and identity.  So what the hell is Jaguars?

It’s my feeling that this lack of brand-consistency is a big part of why Jaguar is sucking butt through a garden hose right now.  That, and the fact that they’re associated with Land Rover can’t help.

Let’s take it back to the 1950’s, 60’s, and even the 70’s.  Jaguar was building striking cars with lots of power, and lots of style.  They were cool.  Guys who drove them were cool.  The thunderous roar of a Jag V-12 was more effective than Viagra at doing… what I’m told that does.

This is what cool looked like in 1956

Two decades later, Jag was still money.

Even the treacherous 80’s weren’t nearly as bad to Jaguar as they were to many other automakers.  The XJ220 supercar came out, which may have suffered from the same interior blandness as its contemporary supercars but looked pretty damn sexy from every other angle.  The XJ6 sedan was elegant, if rusty… and the XJS is not one of my favorites, but I have friends who say it’s a design you learn to love.  And I have to admit it’s probably the cheapest car you can buy used today that’ll pull 150 MPH out of the box.

Jag survives… 1985

Then the 90’s hit, and they hit hard.

The E-Type was long gone, nobody bought any XJ220s, and the once decent-looking XJS and XJ6 got some seriously offensive headlamps that only a mother could love.  If she was blind.

And don’t try to tell me the XK8 doesn’t suck, cause it does.  A weak V8, oddly too-large wheels, and a dinky transmission helped it give convertibles a bad name.  The early 2000’s weren’t much of an improvement.  The S-Type tried and failed and rekindle that old-school “classic British” vibe, and the X-Type was a station wagon that would fit in the cargo area of its competitors (Volvo, Merc, ect.).  At least the XJS went away and the XJ6 was returned to its original round-faced splendor.

Jag knew it was in trouble.  And I’ve got to hand it to them for making a valiant comeback effort.

Enter, the XK.

Sexy, F1-style paddle shifters, a supercharged “R” variant, and did I mention sexy?  Chicks could mistake it for an Aston Martin, which would of course be awesome for the guy behind the heated steering wheel (I loved the heated steering wheel also).

The XK was just what Jaguar needed to bring its old moniker of “Grace, Pace and Space” back.  It’s a fantastic car that lets you feel like you’re in a real European GT for a whole lot less money than an Aston or Ferrari.

But, Jag’s determination to shake their slow, stodgy and unreliable image didn’t stop with a great coupe.  They brought in a sedan to match.

The XF pushed it even further.  Way cooler than the little buttboxes it replaces (S-Type and X-Type) the XF is a pretty little sedan that looks fine parked next to a fabulous XK.  Sadly, I haven’t had the opportunity to experience it, but Top Gear seemed to approve and that’s good enough for me.

Now, the new XJ completes the Jaguar refacing- it’s modern, quick, wide-mouthed and (I’m told) a pleasure to drive.  Otherwise worded as- nothing at all like the old XJ.

And for highly privileged journalists such as myself, Jaguar has launched a new PR website called “Interactive Jaguar.”  Go ahead, take a look here.

Looks like the old cat is poised to pounce on BMW and Mercedes as the sport-luxury leaders in the eyes of the consumer.

When the S-Type was new, I breathed a sigh of dismay and wrote off Jaguar.  But after seeing and driving the XK I really would love to see Jaguar succeed.

So good luck chaps, and watch your back Mercedes.

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• December 20, 2009 — How to Get the Best Custom Dashboard Covers for Your Jaguar (0)
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Jaguar XF 2009

The Jaguar XF 3.0 litre V6 luxury executive car, retained its award-winning crown at the WhatCar? Awards held in London last week after winning ‘Best Executive Car’ for 2009. The jaguar is a deserving winner and with its new greener engines, style and pace, driving this car is always a special occasion.

Geoff Cousins, Managing Director of Jaguar Cars in the UK, said: “It is fantastic news for XF to win this esteemed Whatcar? Award for the second time….It has been a resounding success since launch and despite the current challenging economic conditions; Jaguar has made great progress in 2008.

What with the launch of the greatly anticipated XFR and the new XF Diesel S – both cars set new benchmarks in terms of performance, economy and efficiency which is great news for the consumer. What is also great news is that the new Model XF and XFR are available to order now at around £32,000 with first customer deliveries beginning in March.

As recently announced Jaguar has a new 275PS high-performance XF Diesel S for 2010 Model Year featuring Jaguar’s new AJ-V6D Gen III S 3.0-litre diesel engine that reaches 0-60mph in just 5.9 seconds. It has a combined Fuel Economy of 42.0mpg which is 12 percent better than the acclaimed 2.7-litre V6 diesel engine and emits a 10 percent reduction in CO2.

The new XFR is powered by the all-new supercharged V8 with acceleration from 0-60mph in a mere 4.7 seconds making it the ultimate Jaguar sport saloon. Its distinguished unique exterior and interior design features includes revised bumpers and lower front air intakes, sill extensions, bonnet louvres and grilles, four tailpipes, a boot-lid spoiler, unique seats and stunning 20-inch alloy wheels.

Since the launch this executive XF has won more than 30 commendations from respected UK publications, including Top Gear, CAR magazine and The Sun motoring, thus proving again that it is a deserving winner, so contact your Jaguar dealer today to get the best deal for your new XF.

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• January 3, 2010 — The Jaguar floor mats (0)
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• February 21, 2010 — 2010 Lexus RX 350 Testimonial and Review. (0)
• October 26, 2009 — Jaguar S Type Was Planned to Take on BMW 5 Series, Audi A6 Along With Mercedes E Class (0)
• April 5, 2010 — Jaguar… still cool? (0)

The Detroit News

“They could create a legacy like PCBs,” Gearhart said of the flame retardant BDE, referring to a now-banned toxic chemical that found its way up the food chain. “They have all the lineage of that type of environmental disaster. We think the writing is on the wall. The smart people within the auto industry know that.”

The Ecology Center cited Ford subsidiary Volvo Car Corp. as an industry leader in following a policy to reduce flame-retardant chemicals as concern has grown in Europe. Volvo and other well-performing companies prove the feasibility of providing safer alternatives, Gearhart said.

After the report, Volvo issued a statement touting its models’ “best interior air quality.” The test scores were the result of a conscious company policy to reduce interior emissions and improve air filtering, the company said.

Go, Volvo! The report does not state, however, that playing Volvo’s preferred musical instrument, the hooterglaven, makes one look like a dork. Or, in Swedish, a dorkenborken.

Slideshow From Forbes
Forbes reports: Best- And Worst-Selling Cars By Company. Forbes likes slideshows. We like slideshows. We prefer slideshows of Claire, but we will settle for slideshows of cars. And Morena. We’re not looking at this article for real facts since

In many ways the title of this article is a misnomer because for many makers the “worst” sellers are simply the cars with the lowest sales volumes and often the highest prices.

It would have been more interesting if the article/slideshow was about winners and losers in regards to sales expectations. Why didn’t we do that ourselves, if we’re so smart? You think we’re smart? We love you!

Volvo Updates S80 to S80!
Autoblog reports: Holy Geneva! 2007 Volvo S80 revealed in advance of Swiss debut. Autoblog says, based on its looks, this car couldn’t be anything but a Volvo. We don’t think so. We don’t know what it looks like to us, but Volvo doesn’t spring to mind. Anyway, we’re all bummed because Volvo went the big V-8 route and… Volvo goes from best interior air quality to big ol’ V-8–havin’ fatty o’fatfat.

Jaguar: No Jaguar For You!
Leftlane News reports: Jaguar shoots for “refinement and rarity” over volume. Now this is something. If Jaguar turns it around with better interiors (design and materials) and then makes them harder to come by… they might be on to something. We wrote the same thing recently so, you know it’s brilliant.

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• August 19, 2009 — Jaguar C-XF (0)

Mazda RX-7

2011 Mazda RX-7

The expected on-sale date of the new-generation rotary car is 2010 to 2011.

Behind closed doors, far from the public’s eye, an anonymous source at Mazda revealed to one of our spies in Japan that there will be another rotary-engine car coming from the Hiroshima-based company. It’s still early, but a team is being assembled as you read this to produce such a car. The basis for the future car — we have yet to confirm if it will be called the RX-7 — is the 16X rotary engine, unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show last year. The 16X is an all-new Wankel — an evolution of the Renesis 13B powerplant in the RX-8 — with a revised eccentric shaft designed to produce more low-end torque. While Mazda hasn’t published horsepower figures yet, we hear it’s in the neighborhood of 200–250 bhp.

Because of the increase in torque, there probably won’t be a turbocharged version of the 16X, at least not in the beginning. But our source went on to say that Mazda is still experimenting with forced induction. So, our first glimpse of the 16X will not be in a pure high-performance sports car like the last RX-7, discontinued more than a decade ago in the U.S., but rather something along the lines of the original RX-7 — an affordable, user-friendly sports car that was nimble and fun to drive.

Does this mean that the RX-8’s days are numbered? Probably so. It’s hard to imagine a small company like Mazda with two rotary cars in its lineup. It’s also hard to imagine such a company having two 2-seat sports cars unless its name happens to be Lamborghini or Lotus

With the MX-5 firmly established in Mazda’s lineup, the new rotary-powered car will most likely be a 2+2 with distinct sports-car styling. That it will be built on an extended MX-5 platform is a given, which means it will share the dimensions and proportions of the Kabura concept car. Expect upper-and-lower A-arm suspension systems at both ends, as well as a low curb weight, something south of the 3000-lb. mark.

The expected on-sale date of the new-generation rotary car is 2010 to 2011, according to our source. Price? It’s still too early to say, but Mazda’s aim is to bring it in under $30,000.

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