Articles by Kurt Ernst

The Lexus IS F currently sits atop the Japanese luxury brand’s performance offerings,

“His job was simple: deliver a car. But in the desert, nothing is simple.” And with those catchy phrases, Jaguar manages (quite nicely, we might add) to suck you into Desire, an upcoming short film by Ridley Scott Associates that makes us want the 2014 Jaguar F-Type more than we already do. Piecing the plot together from earlier teasers, Desire is the ageless boy-meets-mysterious-girl-and-heavily-armed-drug-lord story, set in the “middle of a lawless desert.” Damian Lewis plays the ever-composed delivery driver, Sidney Clark, while Shannyn Sossamon portrays the mysterious woman on the run. All is not as it appears, and when asked “Who are you,” Lewis delivers what may be the film’s best line. “Like I said, I do deliveries,” Lewis quips in a flat voice, clearly after proving that his skills extend far beyond handing over a set of keys. For that brief, fleeting second, the Sidney Clark character manages to come across as cooler than James Bond, which makes us want to see the film that much more. Look for Lana Del Rey’s song of the same name to feature in the film as well, which will really centre around screen time for the Jaguar F-Type. Like the car, we sincerely hope the video lives up to the hype surrounding it. www.motorauthority.com

No automaker in the world has done as good a job of both innovating and marketing safety features as Volvo. The brand originally known for building safe and reliable cars has branched out to target roadside animals and pedestrians in its safety net, and now that list includes bicyclists, too. An offshoot of Volvo’s Pedestrian Detection system, first launched in 2010, the new Pedestrian and Cyclist Detection system includes full auto brake capabilities. Advancements in software, including faster vision processing, now allow the system to cover what Volvo is describing as “certain” cyclist situations. Since Volvo’s detection system is forward-looking, it can react to cyclists moving in the same direction as the car, assuming the differential in speed is not substantial. When it senses that a collision is imminent, the system delivers a warning to the driver and automatically brakes to avoid or minimize an accident. In Europe, roughly 50-percent of cyclist fatalities are caused by impacts with motor vehicles. Volvo’s system, which relies on data from both a radar unit and a camera, allows for accurate object recognition at the farthest possible distances, potentially enabling a significant reduction in collisions between automobile and bicyclists. Ultimately, Volvo’s goal is to make cars crash-proof, which is a mission shared by virtually every automaker working on autonomous technology. Though it may be farther off than Volvo’s target date of 2020, every advancement in safety gets the automaker one step closer to its target. Look for Volvo to roll out the Pedestrian and Cyclist Detection system on its V40, S60, V60, XC60, V70, XC70 and S80 models, beginning in the second quarter of 2013. www.motorauthority.com  

Alpina has a history of making BMW models go faster, with perhaps a bit more focus on luxury and a bit less emphasis on motorsports than BMW’s M Division.One of these models is the 3-Series-based B3, which has traditionally served up more performance and luxury than BMW offers from its mainstay model (M3 variants excluded).In previous form, based on the E90 platform, the Alpina B3 delivered 290 kilowatts from BMW’s N55 twin-turbo in-line six engine. An even faster version, the Alpina B3 GT3, produced 300 kilowatts from the same engine.At this week’s Geneva Motor Show, Alpina is poised to introduce an all-new B3 model, based on the F30 3-Series platform. The new car, seen in the teaser images above, will produce a claimed 301 kilowatts and 600 Newton metres of torque, which is good enough for a 0-100km/h time of 4.2 seconds and a top speed of 304km/h.The 2013 Alpina B3 will also include an eight-speed Sport-Automatic transmission, an adaptive Alpina Sport Suspension and the iconic 20-inch Alpina Classic Wheels.www.motorauthority.com 

If you live in the city, chances are good you don’t use your high beams much for night driving, since you’re rarely in an environment where they can be employed without distracting other drivers. If you live in the country, on the other hand, high beams provide a welcome margin of safety for driving at night, making it easier to spot roadside hazards, unpredictable animals and even approaching traffic signs. Self-dimming high beam systems have been on the market for a few years now, but such systems can be slow to react as you approach traffic, or as oncoming traffic approaches you. Since they merely switch from high beam to low beam in high-traffic-density situations, they fail to provide the same illumination as your brights would. Volvo thinks it has a better idea, and it’s poised to launch what it’s calling a “renewed Active High Beam Control” system. Elegant in its design, Active High Beam Control relies on a windshield-mounted camera (also used for Volvo’s auto-braking system) to detect cars in the potential path of your brights. When a car is detected, only the portion of the high beam that would be distracting is shaded out, providing the driver with optimal illumination under all circumstances. Volvo claims the system is accurate enough to frame the car ahead with just a 1.5-degree margin. Active High Beam Control varies the amount of shading via a headlight-mounted cylinder incorporating metal deflectors. It’s sensitive enough to work with both cars and motorcycles, and it’s designed to function at speeds as low as 15 km/h. The system will be an available option on European S60, V60 and XC60 models beginning this spring, however there is no word yet on when they will pass regulations for Australia and appear here. www.motorauthority.com  

The strange and curious case of The New York Times versus Tesla just won’t seem to go away. What was supposed to be a tech piece on Tesla’s new Supercharger fast-charging stations, written by NYT reporter John Broder, turned into fuel for the range-anxiety bonfire when the electric Model S sedan reportedly left Broder stranded. Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk quickly fired back, denying that the facts were as Broder had presented them. The Tesla CEO soon backed up his allegation with data logs from the drive, showing that all was not as the reporter had written. Ultimately, neither side backed down, although an editor from The New York Times did admit that Broder’s data (scrawled in a leather-bound notebook) couldn’t match the accuracy of Tesla’s data (compiled in lurid detail by computer). In the end, both sides seemed to agree to disagree. At least until Monday, when Musk put a price on the damage done by The New York Times article.  Bloomberg quotes Musk as saying, “It probably affected us to the tune of tens of millions, to the order of $100 million.” By Monday, Tesla’s stock had dropped around 12-percent in value since The New York Times article ran. On February 8, a share was priced at $39.24, but by yesterday afternoon this had dropped to $34.38, reducing Tesla’s market capitalisation by an estimated $553 million according to Bloomberg. Musk also believes the article cost his company “a few hundred” Model S orders, which won’t help the electric automaker reach its stated goal of 20,000 sales in 2013. Each Tesla Model S delivered results in average incremental sales of two more cars, so a loss of 200 sales is a potential loss of 600 total sales. Musk still predicts that Tesla will be profitable in the first quarter of 2013, so in the grand scheme of things perhaps The New York Times article wasn’t that damaging after all. For better or for worse, it’s kept the Tesla brand in the spotlight since February 8. www.motorauthority.com  

The Mercedes-Benz CLA45 AMG will make its official, in-the-flesh debut at this year’s New York Auto Show, but the car is also being teased in a new video game called Driveclub, set to launch for the new Sony PS4 later this year. Driveclub is a new racing game developed specifically for the PS4 by Evolution Studios, which promises it will deliver a visceral feel with highly-connected gameplay. Unlike other racing sims, Driveclub is meant to be played in real clubs, encouraging cooperative gameplay with teammates. The real CLA45 AMG promises to deliver a visceral driving experience as well, generating an impressive 265 kilowatts and 450 newton meters of torque from its turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine. That makes the AMG-developed unit the most powerful four-cylinder engine in series production today, and explains why the CLA45 AMG will come with standard 4Matic all-wheel drive. The Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG, which uses the same engine and drivetrain, will also appear in Driveclub. Coincidentally, the A45 AMG will make its official debut in March as well, at the Geneva Motor Show. We’ll bring you coverage of the A45 AMG reveal from Geneva, as well as coverage of the CLA45 AMG introduction from New York.  

Spanish supercar constructor GTA Motor, now known as Spania GTA, has a passion for the Geneva Motor Show. In 2011, the firm displayed its Spano supercar concept, and it followed up by showing off the production-ready version of the Spano at Geneva in 2012. Now that the 618 kilowatt, 1347 kg Spano is in production, rumour has it that Spania GTA is working on a pair of new Spano models. Based on reports in De Telegraaf’s Autovisie, the firm is said to be building a higher-output Spano R and a topless Spano Spyder. Details are scarce, but the Spano R is rumoured to produce around 882 kilowatts from its 8.3-litre supercharged V-10, which should be good enough for a top speed in excess of 349 km/h. We’re not sure how much time the Spano R will shave off the base model’s 2.9 second run from 0-100 km/h, since we suspect traction is already a limiting factor. Its price, when produced, will surely exceed the Spano’s 570,000 euro ($733,453 AUD) window sticker. We assume the open-air Spano Spyder will be based on the specifications of the standard model, not the R model. Given the engineering required to turn a coupe into a convertible, we’d say that the Spano R will likely see the light of day before the Spano Spyder. The firm claims that Spano customer deliveries will begin later this year (though, oddly, it made the same claim at last year’s Geneva Motor Show). There’s no reported time to market for the Spano R or the Spano Spyder, but it’s safe to assume that both are still a few years off. We’ll bring you news on any new Spania GTA products as part of our 2013 Geneva Motor Show coverage. www.motorauthority.com    

The universal truth, according to German automakers, is this: the world needs more crossovers and SUVs, as these deliver a high seating position for better visibility, as well as a more rugged image. Whether you agree or disagree with this position, Bloomberg says that Audi will increase its number of crossover offerings by 2020, in order to more effectively compete with market leader BMW. Audi is hardly alone in upping its segment offerings, as BMW globally offers the X1, X3 and X5 SUVs, as well as the X4 and X6 crossovers. To its G, GL, GLK and M Class SUVs and crossovers, Mercedes has added a new GLA compact model. Audi offers the Q3, Q5 and Q7 crossovers, but over the next few years, expect to see Audi launch the Q2 (based on its Crosslane concept), the Q4 and the Q6 crossovers as well. To increase the appeal of its crossovers, Audi is developing higher-performance models to match those available from rival brands. An SQ5 is already out, and Audi has just announced an RS Q3 crossover that will debut in Geneva next month. Ultimately, the question becomes how many SUV models are too many? While every luxury brand wants to gain incremental market share, profitability is usually determined by sales volume. It’s one thing to offer a unique product for each buyer, but it’s something else entirely to turn a profit on each product sold. www.motorauthority.com  

Given the fact that automakers worldwide are faced with ever-tightening fuel economy and emission regulations, upsizing a new engine hardly seems like a prudent thing to do. Rolls-Royce, however, hasn’t earned its sterling reputation by being prudent; it’s earned it by being exceptional.Rolls-Royce is reportedly unhappy that both its point-of-entry Ghost and range-topping Phantom models use V12 engines. A 9.0-litre V16 was shown in the 2004 100EX concept, but the plus-sized engine never made it to production. As Car Magazine tells us, Rolls-Royce may be working on a plan to change that.Rumour has it that the Goodwood brand is working on a new roadster, to be powered by an all-new V16 engine. The car would likely be based on the next-generation Phantom’s aluminium spaceframe platform, and won’t be market-ready before 2017 (at the earliest), as the next Phantom isn’t expected until 2016.Expect the new Rolls-Royce roadster to carry a traditional long-hood and short-rear-deck design. Unlike the current Phantom Drophead Coupe convertible, the new open-air model will be sportier in nature, accommodating two passengers (in utmost luxury, of course) instead of four.To justify production of the V16 engine, we’d be surprised if it didn’t find its way into the next-generation Phantom models as well. That would help Rolls-Royce further differentiate Ghost models (including the upcoming Wraith) from higher-end Phantom models.Rolls Royce is reportedly considering an SUV as well, to counter the on-again, off-again (and now on-again) SUV from rival luxury brand Bentley. Expect Rolls-Royce to take a wait-and-see approach here; if Bentley is successful with its own off-roader, expect to see a similar offering from Goodwood in the not-too-distant future.www.motorauthority.com