Um, so, a conference. I don’t do conferences, because usually there are doctors or scientists or vacuum-cleaner salesmen attending them, but this week I am — Bloomberg’s Cars and Fuel Briefing in Los Angeles, on December 1, 2009. It’s in conjunction with the LA Auto Show. I’ll be moderating a discussion with the CEO of Edmunds, Jeremy Anwyl. We’ll be talking about cars of the future and what it will take for consumers to go to electric and hybrid cars (read: the cost differential). I’ve got a Jason H. Harper bio and everything. So official. So… geeky. I almost want to punch myself.
Oh, and in the garage (the LA garage, I suppose): The Audi A5 2.0 with manual transmission.
Taking the Mercedes-Benz S400 out to Delaware this weekend. A “mild” hybrid, it should run about $90,000 and get around 28 mpg… we’ll see!
Big guns: The Bentley Supersports is massively fast
Review by Jason H. Harper
Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) — The elite are in trouble. Those exotic carmakers who produce fewer than 10,000 cars a year are looking at future fuel regulations and are realizing they need a plan. Fast.
Coming up with an alternative-fuel powertrain is a big leap, especially since it’s harder than ever to move $200,000 cars right now.
So it is with Bentley, the once-English brand now owned by Volkswagen Group. Its best-selling models are the souped-up Speed models of its Continental GT coupe and convertible. Now, the follow-up is the uber-alpha-zoom-zoom model, the $273,000 Continental Supersports, which hits 60 in 3.7 seconds and has a top speed of 204 mph.
Best throw a bone to the environmentalists, though, no matter how small or lame. So the Supersports is flex-fuel capable, meaning it can also burn bio-fuel that comes from renewable sources like corn and sugar cane, versus just the high-octane stuff at the pump. Problem solved.
Well, not quite.
E85 biofuel is exceedingly rare outside of the Midwest — owing to smaller corn supplies and local politics — and I can’t imagine Amex Black cardholders demanding it at their local stations. Anyway, you won’t be able to buy one of those flex- fuel vehicles in the U.S. for quite some time — just the regular old petrol-burning version.
Big Wheel: The Supersports carves up the road
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Bigger, Badder, Faster: The R8 gets two more impressive cylinders
Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) — If you’re a carmaker, it’s a heck of a lot easier to get publicity out of a new model than one already in your stable. Incremental excellence isn’t nearly as sexy as the thrill of the new.
When a great car gets noticeably better, though, somebody really should take notice, because it means money is going to the engineering department and not just TV ads.
I was reminded of this recently after stepping out of two updated cars from Audi. The latest iterations of the R8 supercar and S4 sport sedan had better handling and were faster and more enjoyable than last time I spun around in them. And I’d liked them plenty before.
Among European carmakers, Audi was always more of a character actor than action hero or brassy starlet. It showed up on time and remembered its lines, but seemed content to let Brad-Pitt BMW and Meryl-Streep Mercedes-Benz take center stage.
Only this decade have the company’s cars become brasher and brighter, most notably with the 2007 release of the $115,000 R8. This was Audi’s Clive Owen: A mid-engine two-seater with sex appeal, style, plus genuine comfort and sporting chops.
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