Universal Air Conditioning Ha11094c Discharge Line on 2040-parts.com

Car makers to be forced to disclaim ‘Official’ economy figures

We’ve banged on for a long time about the futility of official economy figures, especially as car makers get better and better at ‘gaming’ the official economy tests to produce the results they want. Much of the impetus to create the best headline economy figure for a car is driven by taxation, with car makers well aware that the better the official economy results are, the lower their CO2 will be (CO2 isn’t tested for – it’s just extrapolated from the official mpg) and the more appealing the car will be to buyers, particularly fleet buyers. But a ruling by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) against Audi could at least see car makers having to admit in their adverts that the ‘official’ economy figure bears no relation to what owners can expect to achieve in the real world.

Detroit 3 set pace as March sales advance

UPDATED-U.S. light-vehicle sales -- led by strong pickup and crossover demand at Detroit's automakers -- rose 3 percent to 1.45 million units last month, slightly below forecasts but a positive signal the spring selling season is off to a solid start. It was the industry's best month since 1.48 million light vehicles were sold in August 2007.

Ferrari 4×4 Hybrid system on the drawing board

One of the drawings Ferrari has submitted to the European Patent Office for a 4x4 Hybrid System [ad#ad-1] Actually, the headline is quite literal. It would appear that Ferrari is working on four wheel drive hybrid propulsion systems after plans submitted to the European Patent Office were uncovered by Autocar. It’s been known for some time that Ferrari has been working on Hybrid and 4WD systems, but these drawings show that Ferrari is in fact looking at a simpler system designed more to aid handling than to benefit the environment.