Future Models - BMW 2007 1 Series

BMW gives 1 Series a subtle makeover

More space: BMW has worked to improve interior packaging.

No three-door model coming, but revised 1 Series hatch improves the breed

BMW has lifted performance of its facelifted five-door 1 Series, which will arrive here in June.BMW Australia spokesman, Toni Andreevski, said although direct injection engines were now surfacing in 5 and 1 Series models in Europe, Australia would continue with improved versions of its silky Valvetronic engines.

"Obviously we will eventually get direct injection but Europe is pushing for it more," he said.

BMW also released images of the 1 Series three-door but Mr Andreevski has confirmed Australia will not get this car as the expected volumes would be too low.

BMW is working on expanding the 1 Series family with a convertible and coupe version, which are likely to be sold here, possibly as early as next year.

With refreshed exterior and interior styling, increases in power and reductions in fuel consumption and a new-generation four-cylinder diesel engine the 1 Series five-door should maintain its price-point when it goes on sale.

The upgraded 1 Series also gains higher-quality materials and with additional storage options.

Visually there are new bumpers, with a cleaner air intake at the front and revised tail-lights.

Below left: Three-door 1 Series will not be seen on Australian roads.

A new 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel leads a host of performance improvements and fuel consumption reductions.

The second-generation common-rail diesel engine with aluminum crankcase in the new 120d develops 125kW, an increase of 10kW over the former engine.

Peak torque is up by 24Nm to 340Nm and the new BMW 120d accelerates from zero to 100 km/h in just 7.8 seconds, against the previous model’s 8.5 seconds.

Despite the performance gains, combined fuel consumption for the new 120d is down to 6.1L/100km. It was previously 6.6L/100km.

The four-cylinder Valvetronic engines in the 118i and 120i models produce an additional 5kW, taking their respective maximum outputs to 100kW and 115kW .

BMW 120i models equipped with the standard six-speed manual gearbox also benefit from a quicker acceleration time of 7.6 seconds, compared to the previous model.

The optional six-speed automatic transmission (standard on the 120d) comes with new converter technology featuring an integrated torsion damper reducing energy losses and ensuring even shorter reaction and gearshift times.

Modest fuel economy gains have also been made in all automatic models.

The 118i and 130i Sport automatic models both reduce fuel consumption by 0.2 litres to achieve 7.6L/100km and 9.2L/100km respectively on the combined cycle.

The corresponding figure for the 120i automatic is a fuel consumption reduction of 0.3 litres to 7.6L/100km, while the 120d has improved by 0.5 litres to 6.1L/100km.

Exterior paint finishes include new colours in Montego Blue and Patagonia Green and newly styled alloy wheels will be available for the 118i, 120i and 120d models.

A daytime running lights function, provided by corona rings in the double round headlights, are incorporated in the bi-xenon headlight package, which is also available as an option.

Unique to its segment, the 1 Series can be specified with adaptive headlights, which provide for optimum illumination on winding roads.

The brake lights now also operate at two levels of brightness depending on brake pressure.

Since its launch in October 2004 the 1 Series has proved a popular choice with buyers keen to enter the BMW club with more than 4600 sold locally. Buyers generally opt for the upper-spec cars with only 70 1 Series being the entry $34,900 116i.

More than 200,000 1 Series’ have been sold worldwide.

Brisbane show: BMW’s premium One

Two-door 1 Series: 135i Sport arrives in May, priced at $71,400.

BMW prices its new baby coupe from $54,400, and adds no-cost Z4 limited-editions

BMW has announced a $54,400 starting price for its new 1 Series Coupe, which made its Australian debut appearance at the Brisbane motor show opening on Friday and arrives in showrooms in May.

The price, which applies to the entry-level 125i with six-speed manual transmission, makes the least-expensive 1 Series Coupe $3400 more expensive than the base 3 Series sedan, the 320i manual ($51,000).

While the 125i will be powered by a new version of BMW’s 3.0-litre Valvetronic inline six-cylinder engine, which has been detuned to 160kW/270Nm (instead of the correctly named 130i hatchback’s 195kW/315Nm iteration), the hero of the 1 Series Coupe range will be the 135i Sport, which also arrives in May and comes with the 335i’s acclaimed twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre straight six.

With 225kW and 400Nm of torque available (the latter between 1300rpm and 5000rpm), the manual 135i Sport manual sprints to 100km/h in a claimed 5.3 seconds and is priced at $71,400 – more than $33,000 less than the cheapest 3 Series fitted with the same engine, the 335i sedan. The manual 125i coupe completes the sprint in 6.4 seconds.

A six-speed Steptronic automatic transmission adds $2800 to the price of both variants. Full Australian specifications for the 1 Series Coupe are yet to be revealed. 

Meantime, BMW has also announced two no-cost limited-edition packages for its Z4 convertible and coupe models, which went on sale here in 2003 and 2006 respectively.

Dubbed Z4 Edition Exclusive and Z4 Edition Sport, the two trim packages are available at no extra cost on the Z4 2.5si and 3.0si convertible and the Z4 3.0si coupe.

Both packs come with BMW Individual leather upholstery, BMW Individual trim and standard metallic paint, while the Edition Sport adds an M Sport steering wheel and M Sport seats, trimmed in BMW Individual Bi-colour New England leather. The Sport also offers a number of interior colour combinations: Estoril Blue Dark/Anthracite/Black, Phoenix Yellow/Anthracite/Black, Silverstone/Anthracite/Black and Imola Red/Anthracite/Black.

Outside, the Edition Sport offers a choice between Titanium Silver, Black Sapphire, Montego Blue, Space Grey and the previously unreleased Carbon Black paint colours.

The Edition Exclusive comes with BMW Individual upholstery in full soft Nappa leather in combinations including Champagne/Black, Caramel/Black, Amarone/Black and Syrah Blue/Black. Inside, a choice of BMW Individual leather or BMW Individual Piano finish trim strips is available, along with standard floor mats with Individual leather binding.

BMW 1 Series Coupe range pricing:
125i	$54,400
125i (a)	$57,200
135i Sport	$71,400
135i Sport (a)	$74,200

BMW Z4 range pricing:
2.5si Roadster	$78,200
2.5si Roadster (a)	$80,800
3.0si Coupe	$88,100
3.0si Coupe (a)	$90,700
3.0si Roadster	$91,400
3.0si Roadster (a)	$94,000

More public funding wanted for Ford Australia R&D

Growth vision: Ford's head of product development for Asia-Pacific, Australian Trevor Worthington, outlines his bold plans for the company’s local design and engineering division.

Ford Australia R&D needs an even playing field to “make hay while the sun shines”

FORD’S head of product development for the Asia-Pacific Trevor Worthington says the Blue Oval’s Australian research and design facilities can function without additional government funding, but could struggle to grow and thrive without more access to the public purse.

This is particularly important, Mr Worthington said, because now is precisely the time when the company’s 1100-strong local workforce is primed to take on extra work and “make hay while the sun shines”, particularly when competing for work against China and India where domestic product development remains “nowhere near” Australia’s capabilities.

Mr Worthington’s comments on the state of Ford’s Melbourne-based R&D centre came a week after the company filed a submission to the Productivity Commission hinting that Australian taxpayers would need to dip back into their pockets to ensure the future of its intellectual division beyond the end of manufacturing here in 2016.

The Broadmeadows-based design and engineering centre, and other facilities including its research and development centre in Geelong and proving ground at Lara, supports about 1100 staff. The company claims to have invested $1.9 billion in Australia (on top of extra federal and state funding), including $200 million of its own money in product development during 2012 alone.

Notable global projects beyond the Australian-market Falcon and Territory include the T6 Ranger ute, its Everest SUV spin-off, the Indian-market Figo and the Chinese-market Escort concept.

“There’s all sorts of government assistance given across all different markets, and all we’re asking is to be on a level playing field here,” Mr Worthington told GoAuto this week while on a flying visit to Sydney for the global unveiling the new-generation Mustang sportscar.

“Our designers and engineers here are as good as any I’ve seen in the world, but if we’re competing against engineering centres that have got assistance then we’re potentially not going to garner the work I think we deserve to get.”

Mr Worthington is well-placed to make the call on Ford’s local facilities: before embarking on an upward trajectory through Ford’s Asian divisions, he served as vice-president of product development for Australia, and led development of the critically acclaimed Territory SUV.

When asked if Ford’s Productivity Commission submission was an admittance that its R&D future hung on additional public funding, Mr Worthington came out swinging. “Absolutely categorically not”, he said.

“We’ve made a huge investment in R&D in Australia and put our money where our mouth is, but at the end of the day we’re competing against global product development centres that have various levels of government support. All were suggesting is we want be on an even playing field … and that we aren’t disadvantaged.”

Mr Worthington said the real question wasn’t whether the local R&D centre could survive without more help – “I think it can operate absolutely” – but whether it could grow beyond its current position and leverage the decades of experience it had in unique product development.

“It’s a question of how do you make it thrive and grow,” he said. “We just don’ t want it to be in the background. We want it to be a robust centre; we want to invest in the design and proving ground facilities. We want to more than fulfil our capabilities, we want to grow and broaden our expertise because that’s what everyone else is doing.

“We need to take on the best people, invest in the best tools, and the rates (at which) we cost people – with where the Australian dollar is – and (despite) all the disadvantages we face with time zones, that people look to our facility as being efficient and delivering the productive outcomes they look for.”

Mr Worthington echoed statements he made to GoAuto while in India earlier this year, that Ford’s Melbourne-based operations had the potential to take on more staff: “I would probably say the Australian workforce is going to grow, not by a lot, but it really comes down to the particular piece of the cycle we’re in, in terms of the work we pick up,” he said.

The context in which all this is occurring was particularly poignant, said Mr Worthington, because despite their respective rapid growth, rival centres in both China and India still lack precisely what Ford’s Australian division has in spades: long-term experience.

“We have an expertise that they just don’t have,” he said. “Platforms, suspension, engines; we have a very broad capability I’m sure at some point they will get, but right now they’re nowhere near it.

“What we need to do is make hay while the sun shines, and be as efficient as we can be. That will help us protect ourselves when other companies that dream about having the capabilities we have, are there.

“Having lived in China, I think their ability to do that is probably further away than they think, because it takes a long time. You’ve got to have teams that have gone through that cycle a number of times.”

When asked about Ford Australia’s clear delineation between the viability of making and designing things locally – its production lines will stop in 2016, but R&D will carry on – Mr Worthington said he hoped the Blue Oval, and others, could continue to make tertiary industries work here.

“If we can’t make the intellectual part of the industry work, regardless of whether its truck, car or plane design, if we can’t make that work in Australia, what are we left with?” he said.

“We have to make it work. We have great education facilities, a young and vibrant workforce with a sparkle in the eye like every other place, but the task for us is to give them the opportunities.”

Bentley sheds half its volume in two years

Top level: The Bentley Mulsanne will rival the Rolls-Royce Phantom.

Bentley sales will drop to 5000 in 2009, but senior executive tips a rebound

BENTLEY has shed half its global volume in two years, but a senior executive says the future is bright.

The British brand’s global sales will come in at about 5000 cars this year, representing a dramatic decline from its bumper year of 2007 in which it sold 10,000 cars.

Bentley Motors regional director Geoff Dowding told GoAuto that the company was expecting sales to recover, but was not banking on it.

“According to our estimates, 2010 is going to be much better than 2009, but one has to be sensible, the business is being very sensible with its budgets, forecasts and predictions,” he said.

“We are basing ourselves on a worst case rather than best case. Recovery will be slow. You can’t accelerate out of a recession in the way that we would all like to, you have to be responsible about it.”

Bentley sold 7000 cars in 2008 before the worst of the global financial crisis hit this year. Mr Dowding said Bentley sales in western markets, including the US and Europe dropped by almost 50 per cent this year, but it was a different story in emerging markets such as China and the Middle East.

Left: Rolls-Royce Phantom.

“We will do more cars in China than we did last year, it is growing at a tremendous rate, and our sales in the Middle East will remain steady,” he said.

“They are our emerging markets and they are underpinning a lot of what we do at the moment,” he said.

Bentley revealed its new flagship, the Mulsanne, which will replace the ageing Arnage at the top of the brand’s model tree, at September’s Frankfurt motor show.

Mr Dowding said that revealing its new Rolls-Royce Phantom rival in the middle of a global downturn was no bad thing.

“It did us no harm to launch it now,” he said.

Mr Dowding said the new model demonstrated Bentley was committed to investing in new product.

Besides, he said, the economic climate would likely have improved before the new car was launched.

“The car will not hit the markets until the end of next year, by which time, everyone is predicting there will be an economic recovery,” he said.

Mr Dowding said new vehicles, including the Mulsanne, would help the economy recover.

“Producing new product is often the way in which you climb out of that because people say ‘I like that, I’ll have it’, and away you go.”

Mr Dowding said no one really knew what was going to happen with the global economy, but said the signs were positive.

“All the indicators that you look at, trends in the last three, four, five months in terms of overall market sales, new products, forecasting experts, the feel factors, other indicators within economies be it interest rates, be it house prices, be it stock markets and so on, you put all of those in a little pot and that all indicates that many industries will be in line for economic recovery,” he said.

“There is nothing to suggest today that it will get any worse.”

However, Mr Dowding doesn’t expect Bentley to have another 2007 any time soon.

“Will it return to the levels, for us for example of 2007? In the short term, no, we don’t think it will.”

But he said Bentley, owned by the massive Volkswagen Group, was now lean enough that it did not need to produce that many cars.

“2007 was a great year, in terms of product life cycle everything was at its peak, economically the world was at its strongest. We ended up with a volume that we never took for granted. 10,000 cars was never the business plan,” he said.

“Are we looking for 10,000 cars again? No, we are not.”

Bentley is looking to a series of performance models to help keep its sales moving along.

It has developed a series of GT Speed versions of its Continental and Flying Spur and has just introduced the Continental Supersports, the fastest ever Bentley, which Mr Dowding was in Australia to launch last week.

Hardly Ideal but Just About Perfect 

I'd thought I'd driven a true purists' sports car before, having 

Now there's a brand logo we haven't seen here in quite some time... (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press)

piloted everything from Mazda's pesky little MX-5 Miata to Ferrari's superbly crafted F430, and most everything in between on the street and around race tracks, but while each has been wonderful in its own way, nothing could have prepared me for the ultra-light Elise. 

In North America, anyway, nothing as inherently visceral exists. No car connects as intuitively to its driver, or relates as much information about what it is doing and what it's about to do. Certainly Mazda's little roadster is minimalist compared to an everyday midsize family hauler, and Porsche's Boxster is about as much fun as any open-top luxury sportster can get, but believe me when I tell you that even the agile Porsche feels like it's wearing lead boots when put side-by-side with the Elise. 

You can't see it, but all seven Elises are actually anchored to the ground to prevent them from being blown away by the wind. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian auto press

 only makes sense, after all, what with a Boxster weighing in some 400 to 700 kilos (900 to 1,500 lbs) greater, depending on trim level, its factor in that the Elise comes equipped with an engine more powerful than even the top-line Mini Cooper S, by 22 horsepower no less, and it's easy to understand why a car with only 190-horsepower feels like a Ferrari at takeoff. 

Few cars can manage a sub-5-second sprint to 100 km/h (4.9s to be exact), much thanks to its thorough use of aluminum, blatantly exposed inside the cabin, and rigid composite body panels - even the exterior paint has been scrutinized to make sure its not adding excessive weight. Actually, I've never been around a team of engineers so obsessed with weight reduction (no doubt we journalists should be so concerned). Need to know the weight of the right front fender, each individual seat, the gas cap... they can tell you. Fortunately their somewhat disturbing preoccupation has resulted in a car that can transform Toyota's peaky little 1.8-litre four, with a rather thin torque curve maximized at 6,800 rpm to 138 lb-ft, into a blistering performer.
suspension is more taxed and engine needs to put out a lot more power to achieve the same levels of performance. The Elise, on the other hand, weighs only 900 kilos (1,984 pounds) in base trim, which in perspective is only 140 kg (309 lbs) more than the smallest car currently being sold in Canada, the smart fortwo, and 245 kilograms (540 pounds) less than a base Mini Cooper, the smallest car available in Canada before the smart came along. Then 

Not only does it shift the Elise, the high-revving engine creates a rather joyous sound. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press)

be fair, this 190-horsepower mill, that features a Lotus engineered engine management system, is a fabulous little beast. At around 6,200 rpm it wakes up as if juiced by a hidden can of nitrous, forward momentum persisting as it whips into a frenzied 7,800 rpm maelstrom to deliver peak power. I kept it up over 6K most of the day, the power instantly on tap and mellifluous whine zapping the synapses to my brain, a barrage of nervous impulses force fed from one neuron to another, with what seemed like constant electric stimuli - OK, I spent much of my early adulthood strapped to Japanese sport bikes, so the sound of a high-spirited small displacement engine is beyond intoxicating to me.

The Great Lotus

What do the all-new Lotus Evora and Toyota RAV4 have in common? The engine, that’s what! In the case of the former, the 3.5-litre V6 sits right behind the passenger quarters and elevates the Great Lotus to the ranks of the Porsche Cayman in terms of muscle and refinement.

The 2010 Lotus Evora is a true GT car in the mold of its direct rival, the Porsche Cayman. (Photo: Matthieu Lambert/Auto123.com)

The addition of this model to the British brand’s lineup is major news. After all, the last time Lotus introduced a new car was way back in 1995, when Italy’s Romano Artioli, head of Bugatti, operated under Lotus wings. The Elise, a cute and nimblelittle roadster, was actually named after his daughter Elisa… and in accordance with the company’s tradition of selling cars that start with an "E."

Over the years, and under new stewardship (Malaysian automaker Proton purchased Lotus in 1996), the Elise gave birth to a plethora of variants, both for the road and the track, as well as two very interesting evolutions: the Exige and Europa S two-seaters. 

GT character

The 2010 Lotus Evora is light-years ahead of the Elise. That was the goal, mind you — the folks in Hethel, England, are striving to diversify and expand their portfolio in order to widen the customer base. 

Consequently, they’re now banking on comfort and luxury to attract buyers. The interior of the Evora can comfortably sit two large adults for hours, which contrasts heavily with the cramped Elise and those shells called sports seats. You don’t have to be a contortionist to take place in the Evora… well, maybe just a bit. Still, once you’ve found your way inside, you can feel the seats wrapping your entire body like a wetsuit. I love it! 

By the way, the Evora is Lotus’ first 2+2 car since the angular Elite and Excel of the 1970s and 1980s. The small bench seat in the back is available at a ridiculously-low price, so I’m willing to bet that most customers will take it.

Of course, Lotus does not want to fool anybody and acknowledges that this bench is designed for children. No fully-grown human being would tolerate that much discomfort. The Isofix system for child seat explicitly suggests the type of occupant that should be sitting there, anyway.

Inside, the highly-supportive buckets can comfortably sit two large adults. (Photo: Matthieu Lambert/Auto123.com)

2011 Lotus Evora S First Impressions

A real road and track car Weight is the enemy. For the last 60 years, the Lotus brand has developed and engineered a succession of sports cars with weight reduction in mind. Or, if you prefer, an abstinence of weight. The Evora is the daily driver in the brand’s line-up. (Photo: Philippe Champoux/Auto123.com) The Elise and Exige are rolling proof that you don’t need a gazillion horsepower to enjoy blistering and performance and handling. What these cars lack in straight-line speed, they make up for in cornering abilities along with the intense sensation of driving a pure sports car. The Evora, however, is the daily driver in the brand’s line-up. It doesn’t have the go-kart feel of an Exige, but offers ride comfort when you’re not on a closed circuit. If you don’t ever bring it to a track, however, you’d really be missing something. The car’s uneven weight distribution (39% front, 61% rear) is deceiving; one might expect excessive oversteer, but it isn’t the case. The Evora corners flat, hangs on, scrubs its outside front wheel and remains joyfully controllable and poised. The brilliant handling can be explained in part by the Evora’s design underneath. Lotus claims its chassis could be the most technologically advanced in the world in regards to niche cars. To the lightweight aluminum centre tub is bonded front and rear subframes, and the result is a very stiff structure. With no chassis flex, Lotus engineers are free to develop suspension components that emphasize handling and ride quality instead of hiding an imperfect platform. Forward motion in each Evora comes from a transverse, mid-mounted 3.5-litre V6, which Lotus isn’t ashamed of admitting that it is sourced from Toyota; after all, they build reliable engines, don’t they? The English manufacturer slaps on its ownengine management and exhaust systems, making sure it doesn’t sound like a Venza at wide-open throttle. Each Evora comes from a transverse, mid-mounted 3.5-litre V6. (Photo: Philippe Champoux/Auto123.com)