Hey, Your Top Automobile News for 04 August

Your Daily Automobile updates From Around The World [img] [img]( [The Automobile News]( [Why the Audi A6 is Autocar India’s Luxury Sedan of the Year]( THE NEW AUDI A6: THE POWER OF SOPHISTICATION For the last two decades, there has been an unbroken tradition in the Indian automotive industry. It revolves around the country’s most coveted auto awards, which separate the best from the rest each year. We are, of course, talking about the Autocar India Awards. Ever since it was instituted 20 years ago, these awards have been eagerly awaited each year, and 2020 was no different. Like with every year, several cars lined up and revved their engines at the starting line. But very few actually made the cut. It’s not as if the ones that lost out were inferior in any way, it’s just that some cars deserve to be celebrated more than others. One of them was the Audi A6 – Autocar India’s Luxury Sedan of the Year. The business of luxury is a tough, uncompromising one and we will come to that in a bit. But first, let’s take a look at what Audi A6 had to go through in order to be recognised as a benchmark among luxury automobiles in India. There are many reasons why the Autocar India Awards are so valued, and one of them is objectivity. Like with every pocket of excellence that was celebrated this year, the Audi A6, too, was judged on the basis of cold numbers and incontrovertible facts. It was evaluated by India’s most celebrated automotive jury, which comprises of Autocar India editor Hormazd Sorabjee, Autocar Show editor Renuka Kirpalani, Autocar India deputy editor Shapur Kotwal, automobile historian Manvendra Singh of Barwani, ace rally driver Gaurav Gill and ex-F1 racing driver Narain Karthikeyan. The Audi A6 was put through a series of exacting tests and evaluated on a range of parameters that covered the whole gamut, from Design and Styling to Driving Pleasure and Ownership experience. The competition for the Luxury Sedan of the Year crown was formidable, but in the end the Audi A6 came out on top. To know why, read on. THE NEW AUDI A6: THE PHILOSOPHY OF LUXURY Very few companies venture into the business of automotive luxury. It is an unforgiving terrain, as many across the ages have discovered. It’s not just about an obsessive attention to detail or a relentless pursuit of perfection that makes a luxury automobile stand out. As important is the fact that luxury is as much about how we feel about how it’s made. Audi has the formula down pat, though. It has, after all, been at the forefront of the luxury automotive game for decades. It knows how to alloy the finest materials with the best of automotive technology, and deliver a finished product that provides a soulstirring experience in more ways than one. The new eighth-generation Audi A6 is a fine example of the Ingolstadt-based carmaker’s capabilities. Design With Purpose Audi has always led the way when it comes to sophisticated design, and the new Audi A6 takes the game a step further. With a tasteful mélange of taut surfaces, assertive lines and striking edges, the design language of the Audi A6 announces its sophistication, sporty elegance, and high-tech capabilities. The new Audi A6 is both, longer and wider than its predecessor, but it has an equally attractive stance and balanced proportions. The Audi A6’s taut elegance is, among others, achieved through the roof line that tapers into the flat C-pillars, and that characteristic also echoes its Quattro genes. The car’s short trunk lid ends in a curved, separating edge for optimised aerodynamics. Inside: Intuition And Innovation Great design can be a transformative experience, and that impact is not just restricted to the exterior design of an automobile. The Audi A6’s minimalist, clean design philosophy aids in elevating the experience inside the spacious cabin and helps focus on what’s important: the road ahead or, if you are at the back, the next corporate acquisition. Aiding the building of this serene space are tasteful touches of art-leather, rich trims, open-pore wood veneer and brushed aluminium. There’s also a parallel theme at play inside the Audi A6’s cabin, and that is the ‘future’. So, you have a futuristic-looking steering wheel, Virtual Cockpit digital dials, a wireless phone charger under the centre armrest, and a stand-out Bang & Olufsen premium sound system. Audi’s dual-touchscreen is another compelling highlight. Encased in a brushed-metal and piano-black frame, the system delivers tactile and acoustic feedback and intelligent text input. Also on the menu is natural language voice control with onboard and online search. The Joy Of Movement The Audi A6 is powered by a 45 TFSI engine. The 2.0-litre motor develops 245hp and 370Nm of torque, and is mated to a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox. These are impressive numbers, and, as with all Audis, the motor is incredibly refined. And silent. Power build-up is smooth and yet quick, and the gearbox is quick to respond to driver inputs. The Drive Select driving modes the Audi A6 is equipped with yank the driving experience up by several notches. Not surprisingly, the Audi A6 excels both, in town and on the highway, and its new heavy-duty suspension has a huge part to play in making it the all-rounder it is. The Audi A6 has good ground clearance – weekend explorers, take note – and can comfortably navigate the most vicious of speed bumps and undulations. The suspension is brilliantly calibrated and achieves a perfect balance: it’s neither too firm or soft. Drivers of all persuasions will also note that the Audi A6’s ride quality and bump absorption is top notch, and those attributes are achieved thanks to the car’s tall-profile tyres. At the end of the day, what you get is smooth ride comfort and unshakable stability with enhanced sportiness. [Read more…]( [Read Full Story]( ------------------ [Two-tone car paint makes a comeback, with Nissan, Hyundai among automakers reviving 50s-era styling for SUVs]( If you think you’ve been seeing a lot of white, silver, gray or black cars on the road lately, you’re not wrong. More than 3 in 4 vehicles sold today in North America are one of those four monochromatic “colors,” if you can call them that. But the period of rather subdued colors might be coming to an end. Automakers have introduced more than half a dozen SUVs in the past two years with two-tone paint options, as they seek to differentiate their vehicles from each other and capitalize on new technology. Two-tone paint options usually carry a premium of a few hundred dollars. In a move that could bring two-tone paint into the mainstream, Nissan announced in June that it will offer two-tone paint options on the redesigned 2021 Nissan Rogue SUV, one of the most popular vehicles in America. The company previously tried it out on the smaller Kicks crossover. According to Nissan, about 25% of customers picked the two-tone option on the niche Kicks, whose options included a “monarch orange” roof on a “gun metallic” gray body and a “fresh powder” white roof on a “deep blue pearl” body. Small cars are being discontinued:Why GM, Ford, Toyota have given up on subcompact cars 2021 Ford Bronco revealed:Revived SUV boasts features to make Jeep SUV owners envious Jovan Ramirez, 34, a small-business owner from West Chazy, New York, recently drove a white-on-blue Nissan Kicks that was loaned to his girlfriend while she was getting maintenance done on a Nissan Versa. “I ended up loving the color of the vehicle and it really set it apart,” he said. When he went to trade in his Subaru Outback shortly thereafter, he had his sights set on a two-tone model and ended up buying the same Kicks he had tried out. “I just wasn’t interested in anything else because everything was single-toned,” Ramirez said. “Every vehicle looked plain.” Seeking to capitalize on the appeal of the double color, Hyundai recently introduced two-tone paint on the Hyundai Venue and Kona crossovers, while Hyundai sibling brand Kia is offering it on the Kia Seltos. General Motors also plans to offer two-tone paint on the Chevrolet Trailblazer. Others that have offered two-tone options in recent years include Land Rover’s Range Rover and BMW’s Mini Cooper. Two-tone paint harks back to what some automotive enthusiasts consider the heyday of automotive design in the 1950s, when vehicles like GM’s Corvette and Chevrolet Bel Air often featured multiple colors. Automakers that have resurrected two-tone paint aren’t necessarily making a nostalgia play. Rather, their bid to mainstream two-tone styling reflects the latest chapter in a feverish competition among brands to distinguish their SUVs from each other. “Anything that brings back two tones is awesome, and it clearly is about differentiating in ways that have become harder and harder to do,” said Dan Albert, author of “Are We There Yet?: The American Automobile Past, Present, and Driverless.” The move toward two-tone exterior paint – which usually involves a different color roof and possibly a splash of color below the fender, on side mirrors or around lights – reflects the auto industry’s attempt to capitalize on the era of product personalization. On the Hyundai Kona, for example, you can get “sonic silver” with a black roof, “pulse red” with a black roof or “surf blue” with a dark gray roof. Each option costs $300. Automakers are “trying to give consumers something that they’re a little bit more excited about and connect with and feel like expresses their personality,” said Stephanie Brinley, principal automotive analyst at research firm IHS Markit. Black, white and gray It certainly marks a sudden shift, considering that cars have gradually been drained of color over the course of the 21st century. In North America, 76% of 2019 model-year vehicles were sold in silver or gray, (32%), white (25%) or black (19%), according to paint supplier PPG. The most popular choices from the rest of the color palette were blue (10%), red (9%) and “natural” (3%). In 2002, the earliest year in which precise data is available, fewer than half of vehicles (48%) were silver, gray, white or black, while 14% were red, 13% were blue, 13% were natural and 8% were green. At times in the 1990s, red and green were each the most popular color, said Nancy Lockhart, global director of color for paint supplier Axalta, who called herself a “chroma pusher” because she likes “beautiful, bright colors.” To be sure, vehicle colors have improved in quality and appearance, with automakers offering a wide range of monochromatic variants, often with a sparkling flair. Gone are the days of what industry insiders have called “refrigerator white.” For example, the recently revealed 2021 Ford Bronco SUV will be offered in colors such as “shadow black,” “cactus gray,” “carbonized gray,” “iconic silver” and “oxford white.” But two-tone options are a “massive trend” due to customers’ interest in personalizing their vehicles, said Nicole Fonseca, senior design manager for Nissan. The hues will also be made available on Nissan’s recently introduced electric crossover, the Nissan Ariya, which will arrive next year. “It gives a lot of character” to the vehicle, Fonseca said. “Most of the customers select colors they’re most safe with, but we’re trying to get them to see this can be fun and expressive.” [Read more…]( [Read Full Story]( ------------------ [These Cars Only Look Good From The Front]( Taste may be subjective, but the further your eyes stray from the front bumper, the uglier these 10 cars will become. I’ve written a lot about car design lately, and though I am by no means a designer, I do find it to be one of the more important aspects of a car’s overall appeal and something that is easy and enjoyable to discuss. We can all agree that dual-clutch transmissions are incredibly fast, EVs have almost infinite performance potential if battery tech could keep up, and the A90 Toyota Supra needs a manual transmission, but it’s impossible for us car enthusiasts to agree on whether or not a car’s design works for us. However, there are some designs that are so bad that we can come to a consensus on the matter and generally agree that they’re irredeemably bad, like the Pontiac Aztec or the 2019 Chevy Camaro facelift. This list won’t cover truly hideous cars, but we will take a look at some cars that look good from a front view but the design falls apart beyond the front wheels. 10 Third-Generation Subaru WRX/STI Sedan Hold onto your flat-brim hats. I didn’t say the third-gen WRX /STI is a bad car, just that it’s an ugly one. From the front end, it looks bulky and purposeful – how you’d want a rally-inspired sports sedan to look, but from there backwards, the design sort of falls apart. The rear 3/4 view is particularly bad, with a squared-off trunk design and a strange roofline. The hatchback model is the one to buy if you’d prefer your Subaru to be easier on the eyes. 9 BMW E36 318ti Compact Until recently, BMW has offered a compact, rear-wheel drive, 2-door hatchback in its lineup, though we didn’t always get them in North America. Overseas, you’d recognize this car’s descendants in the 1-series hatch. But by then, BMW figured out how to make the concept look good, something it didn’t take the time to do with the E36 generation of the 318ti Compact. The rear looks cut-off and shortened abruptly, yet the front-end proportions are the same as the longer-bodied sedan, making it look like a German AMC Gremlin. I can hear the angry mobs forming over that one already… 8 Ford Mustang Mach E Speaking of angry mobs, may I present what has to be one of the most controversial cars in recent memory. I think the real problem with the Mach E is its name: people don’t necessarily reject electric performance, but they don’t want to see the Mustang name diluted by a crossover model, regardless of its powertrain. It doesn’t help that the Mach E’s design falls apart beyond the rather sharp-looking front end, tapering off in a generic “CUV coupe” shape with ugly plastic cladding and an oddly-proportioned tailgate. 7 Hyundai Genesis Coupe When this car launched back in 2009, the Top Gear trio observed that the window line down the side looks as though the designer sneezed while he was drawing up the car, but kept the resulting dip in the rear window. It doesn’t work for me, and even though Hyundai updated the Genesis with the fantastic front end you see above, the rest of the car just looks bulky and a little strange, all goofy window lines considered. But, window lines be damned, the Genesis Coupe is one of the most fun RWD cars you can buy for cheap. 6 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe I think some really interesting designs and cool features went completely overlooked in a lot of 80s and 90s corporate-coupes because most of them didn’t look like much and they weren’t very exciting to drive. The 1987 Ford Thunderbird Coupe, on the other hand, solved both of those problems by having a striking front end (by the standards of the time), a lively 2.3l turbocharged 4-cylinder engine, and even the option of a 5-speed stick. However, beyond the sweet aerodynamic grille, the rest of the car was a bit frumpy and bland, and the Turbo Coupe, unfortunately, didn’t stick around for very long. [Read more…]( [Read Full Story]( ------------------ [fb](  [tw]( ------------------ You received this email because you operate or create content for a website/service and based on your website it seemed like this could be important information to you and your users. Want to change how you receive these emails? [Update your preferences]( or [Unsubscribe](