MOTORTREND, July 2008

The Anti-Godzilla: A sportster that’s everything Nissan’s mighty GTR is not

By Frank Markus

This year’s high-performance headlines are all about Nissan’s gigantus GTR, a two-ton nuke lobbed at Newton’s laws of physics. Meanwhile, way below the fold in mouse type we read that Lotus has quietly strengthened its longstanding alliance with fellow Brit, Sir Isaac, by introducing an Elise with Exige S power and 63 fewer pounds worth of “resistance to motion.”

Granted, a lightened Lotus is no newsflash, but there’s quite a bit more to this one than appears at first blush. For one thing, the engine is quite different from the Exige S’s. Both start off as Toyota 2ZZ-GE 1.8-liters, but you’ll note right off that there’s no intercooler and air scoop blocking the rear window of this one. Instead, an entirely new intake manifold by Magnuson incorporates an Eaton M45 Roots-type supercharger that blows a slight boost directly into the intake runners with no detour through a heat-exchanger. This setup shaves 17.6 pounds off the engine’s weight, at a cost of just two horsepower and 12 pound-feet from the Exige S motor’s output (leaving 218 and 153).
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International Herald Tribune - Published: July 27, 2008

By Eric Pfanner

PARIS: ‘I love Cartier,” writes Rockstar Mom. “Thanks for being so classic and timeless,” adds Emily. Sting just gazes out broodingly from his publicity photo.

On MySpace, Cartier has many friends like these - 3,761 of them, to be precise. Some of them are famous, others less so, but the jeweler is counting on them to spread the vibe through the social network and beyond.

Cartier’s presence on MySpace is the product of a recent agreement that makes it one of the first luxury brands to market itself in a big way on a mainstream social network.

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International Herald Tribune - Published: July 21, 2008

By Suzy Menkes

LONDON: It could be defined as a new “crystal palace” - and what more fitting place to install it than in another monument to Queen Victoria’s era, the edifice dedicated to herself and her husband? The mirage of glass and glitter that is the new jewelry gallery at the Victoria and Albert Museum is one of the must-do visits of the summer. There are even lines of eager visitors waiting to enter a space that is both redolent of history and startlingly modern, with its two-tier galleries joined by a glass spiral staircase.

But it is not just the transparent jewel box of an exhibition area, imaginatively designed by the architect Eva Jiricna, that has brought a gust of modernity to jewelry display. Nor is it the gems themselves, although they include, as well as historic pieces dating back 800 years, the work of 140 living designers. Contemporary art from the 20th century includes works made out of acrylic, papier-maché or knitted nylon.

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BUSINESSWEEK - The Associated Press  July 25, 2008, 6:05PM ET

By DAN STRUMPF

NEW YORK

Toyota Motor Corp. said Friday it is raising the U.S. suggested retail price of its Prius hybrid by $500 for the 2009 model.

The new price is a 2.2 percent increase over the current models. Prices will range from $22,000 for the standard Prius to $24,270 for a touring model, the company’s U.S. sales unit said.

Bill Kwong, spokesman for Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc., said the growing cost of commodities is the main reason behind the increases. He ticked off a list of commodities-based raw materials that have seen a price run-up in the last year.

“Almost everything is made out of petroleum,” he said. “Rubber, plastic, transportation (costs), glass, things like that.”

“We try to absorb the costs by making things more efficient and cutting back where we could, but we also don’t want to cheat the customer on the quality of the product,” he said.

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MOTORTREND - July 26th, 2008

Still edgy after all these years

By Todd Lassa

It’s not easy to replace flame surfacing, the Bangle butt, and iDrive with a new car that’s just as radical. Without appearing to try, BMW has pulled this off with equally controversial styling and potentially infuriating new technology. American luxury-car buyers will have the choice of just one version when it launches in November: the 750i, which means we get it only with the new 4.4L twin-turbo V-8, making 407 hp and 442 lb-ft in Euro trim. The engine first appeared in the X6, in which it is rated 400 hp and 450 lb-ft for the U.S. BMW says fuel efficiency is 1.8 percent better than the outgoing 750i, achieves ULEV2 and EU 5 emissions standards, and is the most efficient car in its class.

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BUSINESSWEEK - Marketing July 11, 2008, 12:29PM EST

The Milwaukee motorcycle mecca will showcase Harley-Davidson’s history, creating a shrine for bikers

by Matt Vella

Cue Steppenwolf’s Born to Be Wild. On July 12, famed American motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson (HOG) will kick-start its latest creation, throwing open the doors to a $75 million brand museum on Milwaukee’s South Side.

The Harley-Davidson Museum was designed and curated by New York’s Pentagram and is intended as a mecca for motorcyclists, housing artifacts such as the hogs owned by Elvis Presley and daredevil Evil Knievel as well as the company’s earliest and rarest models. Harley-Davidson, which has seen sales cool since a 2006 peak of nearly 350,000 bikes, hopes the shrine-like site will help maintain and develop the brand’s already devoted following and attract more than 300,000 visitors annually. “It’s simple. We hope to build and strengthen the bond with our riders,” says Stacey Schiesl, the museum’s director, of the institution’s mission.
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MOTORTREND - July 13th, 2008

By Andrew Strieber

There have been many imitators over the years, but when you’re in the market for a comfortable, everyday car that’s as equally at home canyon-carving at triple-digit speeds as it is taking the kids to school, the BMW 3 Series is hard to beat.

Introduced as a 2006 model, the fifth-generation of BMW’s iconic 3 Series sport sedan has continued this tradition — especially after receiving a much-needed horsepower upgrade the following year. But recently, the Munich automaker’s rivals have been catching up. Offerings from Mercedes, Infiniti, Cadillac, and Lexus now offer the 3 Series the stiffest competition it’s seen in some time.
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