E-Class wagon, off-road flair
The Sleuth sees a trend in taller tall wagons developing, and also sees Mercedes-Benz cashing in on this burgeoning movement. The automaker recently revealed the E-Class All-Terrain, a name that seems to have been created by a product planner who has more than a passing familiarity with his thesaurus (a similar Audi vehicle is called the A4 Allroad). The All-Terrain is essentially an E-Class wagon with more travel in the air suspension system for increased ground clearance. It also has different stability control and skid control systems, protective underbody skid plates and offroad-capable tires. A four-cylinder turbodiesel is standard on European versions, but a more robust gasoline powerplant is likely for North America. M-B has yet to confirm its arrival, but since Audi, Volvo and Subaru already sell similar hiked-up wagons here, the Spy Guy figures that’s a foregone conclusion.
Your dream of owning an iconic Porsche racing car could become reality: The Sleuth has word that a British startup company called Project 917 is planning to build copies of the Porsche 917, one of the most famous racing models the automaker ever produced. Various 917s were driven in competition from 1969 through 1971, racking up an impressive number of podium finishes. A couple of 917s were also featured in the Steve McQueen racing movie Le Mans. The track-only replicas will reportedly look exactly like the originals, except they will be powered by existing six-cylinder Porsche engines instead of the 12-cylinder engines. A crowdfunding campaign to help launch Project 917 is in the works.
The Supra looks, well, super: From the disguised images of Toyota’s Supra revival, the Sleuth can’t wait for the unmasking to occur. That likely won’t be for at least another year, but in the meantime, speculation runs rampant concerning the upcoming sports coupe. Best guesses from the Spy Guy’s sources have the car arriving with a twin-turbo inline six-cylinder engine with some 450-plus horsepower. Others claim that that’s simply a starting-point engine and that an optional plug-in hybrid version will place even more power into the hands (or right foot) of owners. Whatever powerplant (s) the car winds up with, BMW will be tagging along as well, since the related Z5 roadster is expected to launch about a year after the Supra.
The next-generation engine might soon be upon us: It’s called HCCI (for homogenous charge compression ignition) and the Sleuth’s contacts are telling him that it might become the next Big Thing in gasoline powerplants. Without getting overly technical, HCCI works somewhat like a diesel engine it that it uses piston compression inside each cylinder to cause combustion instead using a spark plug to ignite the air-fuel mixture. The unique way in which the air-fuel mixture combusts reportedly results in lower combustion temperatures, which in turn leads to improved fuel efficiency and lower emissions. Nissan, which is currently working on engine development, is still fixing some of the bugs, but the future for this technology appears promising.
Looking into Ford’s crystal ball: The Spymaster found few surprises in Ford’s announced product plans for the next five to 10 years. As you might expect, the automaker will double-down on autonomous-vehicle development and believes that by 2030, at least 30 per cent of annual sales will come from self-drivers. Additionally, Ford expects that by the same year, at least 50 per cent of its production will be comprised of electric vehicles. Closer in, Ford is planning for more performance cars and trucks for the simple reason they sell like hotcakes. There will be more tall wagons for the near term, and longer if current trends continue. However, to grow its passenger-car business, Ford will simplify the ordering process by grouping or even reducing options and will shift more car production to Mexico.
Approval for autonomous vehicles is inching closer: The U.S. Department of Transportation has proposed regulations for self-driving vehicles. It covers such areas as design, safety, ethical issues and security against hacking. The proposals are seen as an important first step to eventual approval for such vehicles.