A Winter Drive

One of our sponsors, Onboard.tv sent us this video of a winter rally in Quebec that shows off their new HD-1 camera.  Click on their logo on the right to find out more.  BTW this is a full 1080p video, so it make take a couple moments to load.

RoundAboutShow #22 The “From Bad To Worse” Episode

There’s this car company–you may have heard of it–but it’s having a really bad week, heck, couple of weeks. No, it’s not one of the automakers crawling from the wreckage that is the smoldering city of Detroit. Actually, it’s that one that all the magazines tell you is the sure buy. First things went bad for them, but lo and behold, they have gotten worse and worse. So, in solidarity we’re going to stand by their side and bring you, dear listener, the ‘From Bad to Worse’ episode.

It was bad when the Pontiac Solstice was sent to the old folks home to retire, it’s worse now that it’s been bastardized as an ugly, ugly EV. And, when you attempt to right an overturned semi, remember to put the parking brake on. Speaking of out-of-control trucks, we smell a new anti-porn law coming to a state near you. Plus we’ve got another installment of In the Garage as Zach gets a turn behind the wheel of the Buick LaCrosse and it’s everyone’s favorite gameshow, The Price is CORRECT!

 
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Autoline After Hours Jamie Allison, Dir., Ford North America Motorsports

As the racing season gets ready to begin, the After Hours crew thought it would be appropriate to welcome the new director of Ford North America Motorsports on the show. Jamie Allison has worked for the Ford Motor Co. for 22 years in engineering, marketing, as well as Ford racing, but this month he was named to the top spot. We’re eager to ask him what he thinks NASCAR needs to do to become more technologically relevant to the auto industry. Also, how can racing help sell the new reality of premium small cars in America? John McElroy will be here for the discussion as well as David Welch of BusinessWeek and Bloomberg and Peter De Lorenzo, the Autoextremist.

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New Jaguar XJ – The Designer Overview (with video)

Our friend Joe Simpson of The Movement Design Bureau in London sent us a note that he had spent some time with the designers of the new Jaguar XJ.  This is a great read and the videos are a good insight into some of the thoughts from the designers involved in sculpting both the interior and the exterior.  We are reposting this with their permission

 

The cat’s eye – new XJ features slim, elongated headlights reminiscent of the C-XF

Light

Pity Jaguar. More specifically, pity Jaguar’s design team. Working for one of the most evocative, well-loved car brands in the world, with a rich history of producing sporting, luxury – but most of all beautiful – cars, might seem like a dream job. Yet when every man and his dog has an opinion on what a Jaguar is, and should be, it’s a tricky task. But after the years of retro style mis-adventures (the X-Type and S-Type), Jaguar is returning to form. But while most commentators seem settled on the view that modern Jags are the equal of the German triumvirate for ride, handling, performance and quality; styling and design are somewhat thornier issues.

The last XJ – the best car in its class in many areas – was still more Bexhill Pavilionthan White Cube in the style stakes. It was a shame, because this mis-matched terribly with the car underneath – one that was constructed largely out of aluminium, and out-rode, out-handled, and out-MPG’d most of the German opposition. Come the XF, Jag went modern, but then whispers about it being Lexus-like and even not Jaguar enough reared their ugly heads. The company can’t seem to win.

The XJ is the final chapter in repositioning the company in terms of design, completing a job that started with the XK, and continued with the XF. It’s also the most daring, and the most shocking piece of design of the three. No one’s been criticising Jaguar for overt-retro style references this time around. Mark came away from the Saatchi gallery launch in the summer highly impressed. And last week, I got an exclusive two hours with the car and its lead exterior and interior designers, Adam Hatton and Mark Phillips – see the two videos below the photo. 

The XJ, with interior design manager Mark Phillips (left) and exterior design manager Adam Hatton (right)

XJ designers

Watch Adam Hatton talk through the exterior design of the Jag XJ in the video below

Watch Mark Phillips talk through the interior deisgn of the Jag XJ in the video below

The car they – and the rest of Jaguar’s team – have conceived, is now altogether more befitting of the car’s high-tech, light-weight aluminium structure than its predecessor. It looks and feels modern – yet slightly quirky – in a way that sits well with Jaguar’s aspirations to be a dynamic, modern, but still quintessentially British sporting luxury brand.

The video interviews reveal a more in-depth, detailed overview of the design, as told by the designers.  Watch and see whether you think they’ve succeeded – we’d be interested to hear your comments. I’m not going to pass judgement on the design until I’ve seen the cars on the road and driven one. Only then will I be able to make up my mind on this car’s two most contentious elements – that blacked-out pillar, and the fully virtual TFT instrument display. Many will have already made up their minds on these aspects based on the pictures – in which there’s a heaviness around the rear three quarters, and over the wheel arches, that feels a tad un-Jaguar-like. Equally, many will dismiss the virtual screen, saying it’ll never match the classiness of a well detailed set of ‘real’ dials. Those doubters may be proved right. 

How my EOS 400D sees the XJ’s virtual instrument panel

Dials

Yet in the flesh, there’s a presence to the XJ that sucks you in. No, that rear-pillar doesn’t truly work when the car’s static, but this car grows on you, and keeps you attention by asking you questions. For all the Citroen C6 / Maserati Quattroporte references made post its summer launch, the cars that the XJ reminded me of most, after a few hours in its presence, were the Audi A5 and A7 Sportbacks. Maybe that sounds like damning with faint praise, but it’s meant more in relation to a sense of modernity – than style or surfacing – and as a compliment.

It’s a different, modern piece of work the XJ, and undoubtedly brave in a class that is probably the most conservative of all automotive segments. Yet in many ways it makes sense. It’s less clear than ever who the luxury car customer actually is. The sector has been shrinking faster than most, and is under great pressure for image and environmental reasons.

Rather than simply aping the S-class/A8 model, Jaguar’s done something different – and positioned this car slightly apart from that market, doing something that fits both with the brand, and the high-tech, green construction method. Whether this will prove to be a smart move, only time will tell. But that Jaguar has the confidence to do this at all, tells you all you need to know about the spring-in-the-step of this grand old marque as it prepares to celebrate its 75 birthday.

A Lap Of Daytona During Grand Sham Week

A friend of ours from Twitter Jameson Riley and his brother AJ Riley were down in Daytona this past weekend racing in one of the support classes for the 24 Hours of Daytona.  They were having a great weekend and were running near the top of the ST class in the Continental Tires series Fresh From Florida 200 when they were taken out.

What we have today is an in car video of a qualifying lap in their RX8 with Jameson at the wheel, enjoy!

RoundAboutShow #21 The “Drunk” Episode

Every week like brand-new 21-year-olds we hit up the clubs and dive bars of the internet to celebrate our freedom.  Before blacking out in a stranger’s rose bushes, we might find a few interesting things to talk about, or even a cohesive, Zen-like theme.  On the road to incapacitation we’ll ride in a Sidecar through Manhattan to grab a Long Island Iced Tea.  But we’ll have to watch out for Irish Car Bombs, relations between Black Russians and White Russians have been on the rocks.  If we can dodge the hail of 9 mms and avoid ending up like JFK, we might be able to get some Old Fashioned advice from Three Wise Men.  Thank GOD birthdays – and podcasts – only come once in a Blue Moon.  What starts out like Sex on the Beach, ends like an apocalypse with Four Horsemen.

It’s like they say, you only turn 21 once, so join us as we celebrate with a bad decision or two. A New Hampshire woman racks up three DWIs in one week. Australian scientists come up with fabric technology that will resist vomit smell. And, we wake up next to an Iranian diesel and wonder what else we did last night. Plus we’ve got another installment of AutoGadget and Zach Bowman finally gets back into the press fleet with In the Garage.

 
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Autoline After Hours with ME!!!!

The Autoline crew is back from the Washington Auto Show just in time for another great discussion on Autoline After Hours. We’ll be talking about all the big news of the week: Ford’s huge profits, Toyota’s giant recall and Big Ed Whitacre’s takeover as permanent CEO of General Motors. This week we’re joined by our friend, Eric Trytko, the blogger and podcaster behind the website Rumblestrip.net. We’ll also be joined by David Welch of BusinessWeek and Bloomberg News and Mr. Autoextremist himself, Peter De Lorenzo.

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RoundAboutShow #19 NAIAS Post Mortem

Well, the North American International Auto Show–otherwise known as the Detroit Auto Show–has made all the news it’s going to make for this year. It was a rocky year for the Motor City, and in a way, it really showed at Cobo Hall in Detroit. The digs might have been better than last year (Chrysler was a series of unadorned cars on beige carpet in 2009), but the product reveals were notably less exciting. With the patient on the slab, we called in the best team of doctors we know … our … selves. Well, anyway, we’re here with the official RoAb postmortem of NAIAS.

Is the new Cadillac XTS worthy of being the luxury brand’s new flagship? Does the Volkswagen NCC bring anything new and exciting to the German marque? Will the Honda CR-Z finally be a hybrid that’s fun to drive? We debate all these and more. Plus we’ve got another installment of our new Meet Your Roadmates segment, a Stupid Car Trick and the triumphant return of the long lost Psy-car-logy.

Play RoundAbout Episode 19

 
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