Indian City Cat -- car that can run 125 miles on comressed air!

The world’s first commercial compressed air-powered vehicle is rolling towards the production line. The Air Car, developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy Nègre, will be built by India’s largest automaker, Tata Motors.

The Air Car uses compressed air to push its engine’s pistons. It is anticipated that approximately 6000 Air Cars will be cruising the streets of India by 2008. If the manufacturers have no surprises up their exhaust pipes the car will be practical and reasonably priced. The CityCat model will clock out at 68 mph with a driving range of 125 miles.
Refueling is simple and will only take a few minutes. That is, if you live nearby a gas station with custom air compressor units. The cost of a fill up is approximately $2.00. If a driver doesn't have access to a compressor station, they will be able to plug into the electrical grid and use the car’s built-in compressor to refill the tank in about 4 hours.
The compressed air technology is basically just a way of storing electrical energy without the need for costly, heavy, and occasionally toxic batteries. So, in a sense, this is an electric car. It just doesn't have an electric motor.
But don't let anyone tell you this is an "emissions free" vehicle. Sure, the only thing coming out of the tailpipe is air. But, chances are, fossil fuels were burned to create the electricity. In India, that mostly means coal. But the carbon emissions per mile of these things still far outdoes any gasoline car on the market.
Unfortunately, the streets of North America may never see the Air Car, though; it's light-weight, glued-together fiberglass construction might not do so well in our crash tests. However, that does not mean the Air car is confined to the sub-continent. Nègre has signed deals to bring its design to 12 more countries, including Germany, Israel and South Africa.
And this isn't the last we'll hear of the technology. The folks making the Air Car are already working on a hybrid version that would use an on-board, gasoline-powered compressor to refill the air tanks when they run low. Negre says that technology could easily squeeze a cross country trip out of one tank of gasoline.

Via: Popular Mechanics

The Ultimate GTI in every way -- VW Golf GTI W12 650

There's fast and then there's uber fast. The 200hp Volkswagen GTI is pretty peppy in its own right, but the German carmaker was far from satisfied. Thus, they created the Golf GTI W12 650 concept vehicle at Worthersee 2007 in Austria. They're saying that this is "the ultimate GTI in every way", with its 0-62mph time of just 3.7 seconds.

Keep the pedal to the metal and this rabbit on steroids will keep going and going until it tops out at around 325 km/h (201mph).
They don't plan on selling through their dealerships -- it's "a pure show car" -- but it surely shows what the company is capable of. I guess having both Lamborghini and Porsche backing you up goes a long way, because this pocket rocket produces 650 horsepower (hence its namesake) and over 530 lbs-ft of torque. This is thanks to the monster 6.0L biturbo W12 it's got mounted behind the front seats. It's also 100% rear-wheel-drive.
But it's not just the engine that's different. It's lower and wider than the stock GTI, it's got a bunch of new intakes and a redesigned C-pillar, and they've designed the carbon fiber roof so that it can act "as a giant diffuser that funnels air under the smaller spoiler at its trailing edge." This was so that they could avoid the installation of a massive wing out the back.

Toyota's Prius will get it's own brand

Automobile Magazine reported today that Toyota is considering creating another brand, named after its successful Prius to better market its hybrid cars.
After the 2011 model year, Toyota hybrids will no longer be sold under the Toyota nameplate, but instead under the Prius brand, the report said.

The Prius line of cars will be markedly different from their Toyota counterparts with unique sheet metal and hybrid powertrains. The Prius line will offer three different models which have been internally dubbed Prius A, Prius B and Prius C, ranging from Yaris to Camry in size. The Prius A will be introduced in 2009, "B" will be introduced in 2010 and the "C" will launched in 2011.
The exterior of the new Prius cars won't be as controversial as the first and second generation Prius, but Toyota forsees difficulty in providing a spacious interior and trunk space because of the size of the battery packs, meaning designs will have to be somewhat unconventional.

BMW develops @787 VIP Business Jet@

BMW is a name synonymous with luxury and performance and now the german automaker has decided to venture into aircraft designing.

At the Hamburg Aircraft Interior Expo, BMW group DesignworksUSA unveiled concept drawings of an ultra-luxury 787 Business Jet.

The design was approached with a fictitious Russian client in his mid-thirties who "spends a significant amount of time traveling across the globe and needs an aircraft that function as a second home." The plane comes with white leather lounge chairs, full bar, burgundy accent pillows, luxury bedrooms, artwork and glass areas to keep an eye on your rides parked in the garage.

Hyundai RWD Coupe Powered by a V8 below $30k!

In recent years, Korea has made a lot of headway in all sorts of industries. Samsung is on a perpetual quest to create the world's slimmest cell phone and LG has kept things sexy with the Chocolate and Shine. A similar trend has been occuring in the automotive world: Hyundai and Kia have been growing very quickly these past few years, and if this rumor holds up, they're surely make some crazy waves in the industry.

According to Winding Road, Hyundai is reportedly working on a rear-wheel-drive coupe based on the same BH platform as the Genesis sedan concept. And it'll be powered by a super beefy V8 (Tau), good for over 300 horsepower. There may also be a 3.8L V6 version, but both cars will likely come with a manu-matic transmission, rather than a true manual.
It's unclear whether Hyundai plans on keeping the price down (the V6 Genesis will be priced below $30k) to compete against the Ford Mustang, or whether they'll move it upscale to compete against the upcoming Infiniti G37.
On a side note, the BH platform will also underly a long-wheelbase Genesis Plus and a similarly-styled Kia.