Design Study for a Modern Day Renault Alpine Sports Coupe

Auto Advance | Design Study for a Modern Day Renault Alpine Sports Coupe | An affordable, rear-wheel drive sports coupe from Renault  bearing the historic Alpine moniker has been in the cards for years but the French carmaker has yet to launch a modern day successor to the last model to carry the Alpine name, the A610 from the mid 1990s.

After production of the A610 ended, Renault used the Alpine factory in Dieppe to manufacture the street-legal RenaultSport Spider, a lightweight two-seater model with a rear mid-engine layout built from 1995 to 1997, which was the French firm’s last bespoke sports car.

Over the years, we have seen many independent designers creating concept studies for a new Alpine coupe, the most recent being the one you see pictured above, which is the work of David Cardoso.

Here is what David told Carscoop about his design: “I made a modern interpretation of the Renault Alpine A110. Like the original Alpine, this concept has a rear engine and a stretched silhouette. The rear is inspired by the Dezir Concept while the front has influences of the Nepta Concept. Could be a direct competitor (or ally since Nissan is in the Renault group) for the Nissan 370Z.” Auto Advance

Tata Pixel, a Four-Seater City Car Concept

Tata, the Indian maker of the Nano, made its way to Geneva with a new concept city car called the Pixel. At just over three meters in lengths, Tata claims the Pixel is "the most package efficient four-seater in the world," being able to "comfortably accommodate four adults".
The design of the car is very similar to that of the Pininfarina Nido, but there's no official mention of the two companies collaborating on the Pixel project. The highlight of the Tata city car concept is the Zero Turn system, which enables maneuvering and parking in tight spaces. An Infinitely Variable Transmission (IVT) assists rotation of the outer rear wheel forwards and the inner rear wheel backwards during low-speed maneuvers, with the result being a turning circle radius of just 2.6 meters.
For the same reason of limited parking space, the Pixel's doors open upwards, a feature present on the Pininfarina Nido as well. Another intelligent system used by the Pixel is called “My Tata Connect”, through which the driver can control key functions of the car using only his smartphone or tablet PC.
The Pixel is powered by a 1.2-liter three-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine, mounted in the rear, just like the Nido (although Tata doesn't mention if it's rear-wheel-drive as the Pininfarina car). The Indian car maker claims the Pixel returns an average fuel consumption of 3.4 liters/100 km (69 US mpg) and CO2 emissions of just 89 g/km, thanks to the use of stop-start technology, low rolling-resistance tires and optimized aerodynamic drag.
Tata official said the concept could spawn a production model for Europe in the near future.
"Tata Motors holds true to its belief that there is an opportunity in Europe for a city car, which is optimal in space, manoeuvrability and environment-friendliness," said ex-Opel boss and current CEO of Tata Motors. "The Tata Pixel is a reflection of Tata Motors' idea of what such a car should be."

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Mini Rocketman Concept takes off ahead of Geneva debut

Auto Advance | Mini Rocketman Concept takes off ahead of Geneva debut | Mini's latest production car – the Countryman  – may be the automaker's largest offering to date, but now the brand known for its pint-sized fighters is returning to its roots with its latest concept. But this isn't a preview of the next-generation Cooper – oh no, no, no – it's the Rocketman (cue Elton John). At just over 11 feet long, the bug-eyed little hatch is slightly shorter than a base Cooper hardtop and uses a unique three-plus-one interior seating arrangement. It isn't gonna be a long, long time before we see the Rocketman in person, either – the concept makes its official debut at the Geneva Motor Show next week.

In creating the Rocketman, Mini's main focus was to keep its petite body as light as possible. A carbon spaceframe makes up the main construction, and things like weight-saving wheels with an enclosed surface structure reduce drag to improve fuel economy. Speaking of economy, Mini says that the Rocketman is powered by "a drive system which combines further enhanced sprinting ability with average fuel consumption of just three liters per 100 kilometers (94 miles per gallon Imperial)" – about 78 mpg on the U.S. cycle. We don't have details about what exactly powers the Mini concept, but we'd bet our bottom dollar that there's some electrification involved.

The doors themselves are another bit of notable engineering. Upon opening, the doors pivot outwards complete with their sills, making ingress and egress to both the front and rear seats a breeze. From there, passengers are greeted with a three-plus-one seating concept, meaning that instead of a connectional bench seat in the rear, there is an individual chair behind the passenger seat. Behind the driver is a smaller seat where the backrest can be folded down to act as a storage surface. The interior is full of nifty, concept-spec LED lighting, and the latest in infotainment, including the auotmaker's Mini Connected system with three-dimensional graphics and a steering wheel-mounted joystick for easy operation.

Mini's Rocketman concept previews the future of small, urban mobility from the brand. Auto Advance

BMW Vision Connected Drive Roadster Concept

We now seem to live in a world where it is more important to check Facebook updates and check who's tweeting who than it is to drive. You have seen it, you may have possibly done it and the car industry wants to introduce the fun and productivity of Mobile social networking to our daily drive.

It makes actually some sense, why leave all our best means of communication and keeping in touch at home? This is where BMW's Vision ConnectedDrive roadster steps in. BMW is keeping silent about whether the Vision CD will ever make its way onto the market as the focus of the car is simply to showcase their new take on Mobile Communication and new style language.
First off the new design is cleaner, more aggressive and features a return to the angry style, shark-esque style front end. The Vision CD is a stylized modern roadster designed under supervision of BMW's new head of design, Adrian von Hooydonk. The interior on the other hand is far more impressive. The two person cockpit incorporates a completely customizable gauge cluster, an enhanced Head-Up Display that delivers a three-dimensional display of driving and communication information. This 3D HUD apparently provides "an optical fusion of the actual view of the road ahead with virtual content." There is an information device for the passenger also.
So what does this all mean? Well simply put, the car provides a "Connected Driving Experience".
Sensors in the rear and front lights monitor traffic flow, the vehicle monitors the driving environment and can communicate to other future Vision CD vehicles. The passenger can surf the Internet and tweet how awesome their car is compared to other cars in front and behind them while the driver has his portable devices connected and read by the vehicle. It reads the drivers calendar and notes and suggests ways of efficiently getting to his or her appointments and meetings in the shortest amount of time via the satellite navigation.
So the possibility of driving home checking who liked your BMW related status and ordering some pizza for collection on your route home. Then selecting a film to watch when you get home just got a little closer to reality. The Vision ConnectedDrive roadster shows the future of linking our online world with our driving world while also previewing a new design language possibly making its way towards your future Beemer.
It's only a matter of time before you can Jailbreak your car to do anything. The possibilities are endless!
 

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