meCar.com.au

BRUCE NEWTON

General Motors executive says solar flares are responsible for climate change, not car emissions or CO2.

Senior General Motors executive Bob Lutz has slammed scientists and environmentalists, saying global warming has little to do with humans and more to do with solar flares and sunspots.

The self-confessed petrolhead and man who proudly claims to be a progenitor of the Chevrolet Volt electric car (due in Australia in 2012) still scoffs at global warming.

Lutz, who in 2008 memorably described global warming as a “crock of shit”, once again aired his views while meeting with a group of Australian journalists at the Detroit motor show last week.

“I am not going to give a speech on this because everytime I do I get in trouble,” Lutz said, then immediately began explaining his views.

“All I ever say is look at the data, look at the empirical evidence. Look at what they said 10 years ago what would happen with rising ocean levels, it hasn’t happened.

“Those of you who have watched the Al Gore ‘Inconvenient Truth’ movie saw his hands over the Gulf of Mexico and all this boiling hot water. ‘You think Hurricane Katrina is bad you haven’t seen anything yet, we are going to have all these horrible hurricanes every year’. We haven’t had one, Katrina was six years ago and we have yet to have the next hurricane.”

Instead of CO2-driven global warming, Lutz embraces the theory that the planet is actually cooling because of lower solar flare and sun-spot activity.

“It has got nothing to do with CO2, it’s got everything to do with solar activity, and when the solar flares stopped and the sun has been unusually quiet almost to the point of worrying people, then global temperatures go down.”

So why is Lutz such a strong proponent of the Volt and the electrification of the automobile? Peak oil is the answer.

Lutz argues that continued dependence on oil as demand inevitably increases will simply exacerbate boom and bust economic cycles.

That’s especially the case as Chinese car sales grow. In 20 years he estimates the China market will equal the rest of the world combined.

“At that point we have to have alternative drive systems, which to me have to be electric,” Lutz said.

JEZ SPINKS

Biggest Mini yet. Five engine choices. FWD standard. AWD optional. $45,000-plus price tags.

Mini has released official pictures and details of its new Countryman softroader following the leak on the internet yesterday of a handful of brochure shots.

The Countryman becomes the fourth Mini variant, joining the hatch, cabriolet and Clubman, and will go on sale in Europe later this year before reaching Australia in early 2011.

The biggest version yet of the iconic British car is likely to start at about the $40,000 mark locally. The four-metre-plus Countryman features an elevated ride height and a chunkier body style to give it the requisite off-roader looks, though the Countryman will be front-wheel drive as standard.

Mini’s new all-wheel-drive system – called All4 – will be available as an option, and it utilises an electro-hydraulic differential to split torque between the front and rear wheels. Mini says 50 per cent of the engine’s torque is distributed to the rear wheels in normal driving, with up to 100 per cent possible in difficult traction situations.

Five engines will be offered, two of which will be diesel. They will range in power from 66kW for the Mini One D Countryman to 135kW for the Cooper S version. The Cooper S’s 1.6-litre petrol engine also now combines turbocharging with direct injection and fully variable valve management.

Transmission choices will be a six-speed manual or optional six-speed auto.

The Countryman’s interior follows the styling theme set by current Minis, though offers a rail storage system that runs from the front to rear of the cabin. Occupants can attach items such as sunglass holders, cupholders and mobiles to the rail.

Four seats come as standard, with a three-seat bench available as a no-cost option.

The Countryman is guaranteed to be Mini’s most practical vehicle yet. It’s the first Mini with four side doors, while the single-piece tailgate opens up to access a 350-litre boot that expands to 1170 litres with the rear seats folded down.

Mini has also copied the VW Golf’s clever badge release lever for opening its tailgate.

Inevitably, there will be a large range options, which will include premium audio, sat nave, Bluetooth, panoramic sunroof, adaptive headlights, bigger alloy wheels up to 19-inches in size, and a 10mm-lower sports suspension.

The Countryman will also be the first Mini to be built outside the United Kingdom, with Austrian company Magna Steyr looking after production because of a lack of space at Mini’s Oxford plant.

Mini’s line-up will expand to six models in 2011 when the company’s new Coupe and Roadster models go into production.

An Australian-designed concept car will star on the GM stand in Detroit.

An Australian-designed concept car will be the star of the General Motors stand at this year’s Detroit motor show.

At its first hometown motor show since emerging from bankruptcy, GM will unveil a concept mini-car built at Holden’s design centre in Melbourne.

While christened the Chevrolet Aveo RS for Detroit and wearing the famous Chevy bow-tie, the production version will head to Australia as the new generation Holden Barina.

The official photography of the one-off Aveo RS gives away the Australian link. The concept Aveo and the production car that will follow were both shaped by Holden designer Ondrej Koromhaz. He led the design program in Korea for the Aveo in 2006-07 and the RS in Melbourne in 2009. Anyone familiar with the Melbourne skyline will recognise the background to the exterior shots taken on the roof of Holden’s corporate headquarters at Fishermens Bend.

In recent years Holden has designed and/or built several concept cars for major motor shows on behalf of other GM divisions.

The Aveo RS will be revealed in the metal on Monday afternoon Detroit time. Holden boss Alan Batey is expected to confirm then that the car is coming to Australia as the new Barina in 2011. He is also expected to announce the even smaller Spark is headed our way this year.

In preview information, GM has only confirmed the five-door Aveo concept car is longer, wider and more spacious than the current Barina, which is built in Korea by GM-Daewoo and based on the old Daewoo Kalos.

This car created controversy when it first went on-sale in Australia in 2006 because of its poor two-star rating in independent NCAP crash test rating. Engineering improvements lifted that to a four star result in 2008. That still didn’t allay criticism of the car’s quality and driving behaviour, which is a step back from the previous generation Barina, the European-sourced Opel Corsa.

Sales of the current Barina have been strong because of its low pricing, undercutting better offerings such as the Mazda2, Ford Fiesta and Toyota Yaris. Meanwhile, the Spark is a new venture for Holden, aimed at the Suzuki Alto in the emerging micro-car class.

There is no official forecast from GM of an NCAP star rating for either Aveo/Barina or Spark, the latter the replacement for another old Daewoo model, the Matiz. However, as per Holden policy, expect both to come fitted with standard stability control and six airbags.

Holden’s versions of the new Barina and the Spark will be built by GM Daewoo in Korea, which is GM’s designated small car development ‘homeroom’.

GM’s Detroit emphasis on small cars is indicative of just how important they have become to the survival of the now government-owned car company, as well as its struggling compatriots, Ford, and Fiat-owned Chrysler Group. In 2009 the recession-hit US market fell to its lowest level since 1982. Only manufacturers such as Hyundai with a broad range of cheap, small cars held up in the carnage. GM’s share fell by 30 per cent.

The Aveo concept – which is said to closely mirror the look of the production car once you strip away its hot hatch-inspired 19-inch wheels and body adornments – is powered by a 1.4-litre turbocharged direct injection petrol engine.

The 103kW/200Nm four-cylinder engine is mated with a six-speed manual transmission in the show car. Like the Spark, the Aveo’s underpinnings are based on GM’s latest Gamma II mini-car architecture.

This engine already features in the US version of the Cruze small car and is expected to replace the ageing 1.8-litre petrol engine in the Australian Cruze later this year, possibly coinciding with the launch of the locally-designed and built hatchback version.

The mainstream Barina is likely to arrive with a naturally-aspirated four-cylinder engine around 1.5-litres, reserving the turbo for an RS if it makes it into production. The Spark is expected to be powered by a 1.2-litre four-cylinder engine.

Styling features of the Aveo concept include an aggressive face, headlights and tail-lights inspired by motorcycle design, rear doorhandles that disappear into the rear pillar and ‘Boracy Blue’ paint finish for the body and brake callipers. Inside the Boracy Blue theme continues in the trim materials while motorcycle design also inspires the instrument meter.

JEZ SPINKS

Behind the wheel of the Ford Taurus SHO that could share its twin-turbo V6 and all-wheel-drive underpinnings with future versions of the Falcon.

The previous day’s snow blizzard has subsided for a sunny but still chilly morning in Detroit, an apt meteorological metaphor for an American car industry hoping it has emerged from the worst of an economic onslaught.

And the outlook is currently brightest for Ford – the only US car maker not to have sought a multi-billion-dollar financial bail-out from the United States Government – as our media group assembles at its icy proving ground for a test drive of the company’s latest drivetrains.

There are hybrid and hydrogen prototypes among the fleet at our disposal, but it’s a production car that is of most interest to Drive.

The Taurus SHO is a high-performance version of Ford’s large car for North America, and it’s powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.5-litre V6 that could eventually find its way into the engine bay of the company’s Australian large car, the Falcon.

The V6 is the debut of Ford’s new range of ‘Ecoboost’ engines that combine direct injection, turbocharging and downsizing with the main purpose of replacing a naturally aspirated engine of a bigger displacement – while improving economy but retaining similar performance.

It’s based on the 3.5-litre Duratec engine that was set to be fitted to the Falcon (and Territory) from mid year before the company determined that it could tweak the ageing locally built 4.0-litre inline six-cylinder for Euro IV emissions compliance that comes into effect in Australia from July 1st.

Euro V compliance with even stricter emissions limits, however, could be introduced as early as 2012, and Ford Australia admits it’s already investigating whether it has already reached the limits of the ‘Barra’ engine’s environmental compatibility.

If it has, then Ford will need a replacement for both versions of its ‘Barra’ V6 – in 195kW normally aspirated form and 270kW turbocharged form (310kW in FPV models).

While the front-drive Taurus’s 3.5-litre Duratec – or a new 227kW/379Nm V6 unveiled in the Mustang recently – could replace the regular inline six, the SHO’s Ecoboost V6 would make a natural swap for cars such as the Falcon XR6 Turbo, though it could also be seen as the replacement for the Falcon’s current V8 if Ford Australia confirms strong rumours that it will ditch the XR8 nameplate and make V8 engines exclusive to Ford Performance Vehicles models.

The flagship Taurus’s engine produces a fraction more power, with 272kW (produced at 5500rpm), though there is a torque deficit – 474Nm compared with the 533Nm produced by the XR6 Turbo.

Peak torque, though, is delivered across a vast rev range, from a low 1500rpm all the way to 5250rpm – just before peak torque kicks in.

The aluminium V6 feels as driveable as it sounds on paper, even if our drive of the Taurus SHO was restricted to just a couple of laps around Ford’s proving ground circuit. Turbo lag barely registers, and progress through the broad power range is smooth and accompanied by a meaty engine note.

There’s also sufficient muscle to push you back into your seat under meaningful acceleration, though the engine feels less performance focused than the XR6 Turbo’s wonderfully energetic six-cylinder.

The SHO accelerates from 0-100km/h in about six seconds, though the Taurus’s hefty 2100kg kerb weight inevitably has a detrimental effect on performance. The Falcon is a comparative lightweight at about 1700kg-plus.

Ford claims the Ecoboost V6 is up to 25 per cent more economical than rival V8 engines, though the SHO’s two-tonne mass doesn’t help official fuel consumption of 20mpg – a figure that is virtually line-ball with the XR6 Turbo’s 11.7L/100km when converted.

A better result would be expected for the comparatively lightweight Falcon (from 1700kg upwards), though the local Ford may one day share the Taurus SHO’s heavier all-wheel-drive system.

Ford is still refusing to confirm whether the next-generation Falcon will retain rear-wheel-drive, as speculation intensifies that the Australian large car will be forced to share its underpinnings with the front-drive/all-wheel-drive Taurus as part of the blue oval’s One Ford strategy.

The One Ford program is designed to reduce costs by simplifying the company’s product offerings by creating a single platform or model for multiple markets. The Fiesta city car and third-generation Focus (revealed imminently at the 2010 Detroit motor show) are the first two examples of the new strategy.

Of course, one Ecoboost engine is already confirmed for local Fords – a new 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder that will join the Falcon line-up from 2011.

The engine will contradict other Ecoboost engines designed to take the place of larger-capacity normally aspirated engines.

Rather than replacing the locally built 4.0-litre inline six-cylinder, the new four-cylinder Falcon will be introduced mainly to appeal to fleets and governments seeking a more fuel efficient homegrown car, as well as slowing the number of buyers who are snubbing large cars for more economical small cars.