Time's up for McLaren's supercar

Gerry Malloy

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

If you've put off placing your order for that Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster you were planning to buy, you'd better hurry.

According to a report from England, production of the half-million-dollar supercar will cease next year, along with the Mercedes-McLaren partnership for building the car.

Rumours suggest that McLaren is planning to produce another supercar of its own in the facility now dedicated to the SLR.

Mini CUV to get AWD

If you wondered how the Mini brand was going to make a crossover vehicle that stayed true to its roots, then think Subaru Outback.

Mini announced the crossover plan last year, and if spy photos of test mules are to be believed, it will bear the same relationship to the regular Mini as the Outback does to the Legacy. In other words, it will be raised for increased ground clearance, and feature some cosmetic off-roading accoutrements that give it a more macho look.

The Crossman, as it is currently being called, will also have some form of four- or all-wheel-drive of course – probably some variant of BMW's state-of-the-science xDrive system, which will be the biggest departure from traditional Mini practice.

The CUV will be built in Austria by Magna Steyr, a division of the Canadian-based Magna corporation. It is scheduled for release in 2010.

BMW 7 Series set for Paris

BMW will launch its next-generation 7-Series sedans at the Paris auto show in September.

The new Seven will be slightly longer, with significant visual changes to both front and rear ends. Photos of camouflaged prototypes undergoing testing in Europe suggest a smoother, more formal look, devoid of the flamboyant "flame surfaces" and pronounced "Bangle butt" on the current model.

Inside, a new version of the company's infamous iDrive electronic control system is expected, with somewhat simplified controls more like those used by Audi and Mercedes-Benz. The current gear-selector switch on the steering column is also likely to be replaced with a more conventional console-mounted shifter.

Despite a focus on fuel frugality and reduced CO2 emissions, a V12 model will probably remain available as a flagship, in some markets at least, although a twin-turbo, inline six-cylinder diesel will probably be the engine of choice, in Europe at least.

No word at this point on whether it will be available here, although BMW will begin selling some diesels in North America this year.

Expect an eight-speed automatic transmission and probably all-wheel drive to be available.

GM tests Volt batteries

General Motors' engineers say they have developed a new computer algorithm to accelerate durability testing of the lithium-ion batteries needed for its plug-in electric Volt to be produced

GM says the new algorithm compresses the equivalent of 10 years of battery use into the tight timeframe required to get the Volt into production by late 2010.

Battery testing and load cycling runs around the clock in the company's test labs in Michigan and Germany.

"The challenge is predicting 10 years of battery life with just over two years of testing time," said Frank Weber, global vehicle chief engineer of the Chevrolet Volt and E-Flex systems.

Actual test vehicles will have to be used to account for the many in-use variables that cannot be accounted for in lab testing.

The Volt's T-shaped battery pack will fit into the centre tunnel and under the rear seats, and will become an integral part of the vehicle's structure.

The pack will be about 1.8 m long, with a mass of 170 kg. Keeping it cool is one of the challenges that must be addressed.

It also requires a wider tunnel between the seats than in conventional cars, which means it will be strictly a four-seater.

Aerodynamic tuning of the vehicle's exterior design is said to have reduced the car's drag coefficient by 30 per cent from the original concept.

Students win ad award

Queen's University students, Catherine Lee and Gregory Duggan, both from Vancouver, are the winners of Canada's Next Top Ad Exec award. And along with the title, a new Mitsubishi Lancer for each of them.

The competition, which was initiated by Mitsubishi Canada last year and is run by students from the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University, was open to undergraduate, MBA and business minor students across the country.

The finalists comprised 10 student teams from eight universities, each of which had to present their marketing plans for Mitsubishi Motors to a panel of marketing experts from industry and academia.

Renzo Mendoza from Brock University, also from Vancouver and the only finalist to enter the competition alone, took was awarded second place. Infield Marketing Group in Mississauga was so impressed with his work that he was offered an internship with the company.

Ford touts quality survey

According to a study commissioned by Ford, the quality of that company's vehicles now matches Honda's and Toyota's in terms of "things-gone-wrong" during the first three months of ownership.

The Global Quality Research System study for the first quarter of 2008 was conducted for Ford by the RDA Group of Bloomfield Hills, Mich. Previous studies by the group have corresponded closely to those conducted by J.D. Power, the results of which have not yet been released.

The RDA study shows Ford's domestic brands improved 8 per cent versus last year with a combined average of 1,284 things-gone-wrong per 1,000 vehicles during the first three months of ownership.

Although numerically higher than its Japanese competitors, this performance is statistically equivalent to the 1,250 things-gone-wrong level of Honda and Toyota, according to Ford.

Ford's improved vehicle quality is being highlighted in a new marketing campaign called "Drive One" that debuted this week.

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