2011 Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon Walk-Around by Designer Clay Dean

New Toyota Yaris 5-door Hatchback Design Evaluation

By Cor Steenstra. Photography Chris Jones

Toyota added a five-door Liftback, to its popular, fuel-efficient Yaris subcompact model line for 2009. We had a chance to sample this Euro-style and came away impressed. Impressive was certainly the built quality and feel. It seemed a solid car, very different from what you expect in this category, certainly among its peers.

Our test car was equipped with the 1.5 liter 4 cylinder engine, which 106 BHP should be sufficient to propel this little vehicle with easy. Most likely due to precisely the built quality, it seemed under-powered. We really had to rev the engine to make it go round, but when we did it went very nicely indeed, always safe, easy to control within the cars limits.
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Jaguar XF Supercharged Design Evaluation

By Cor Steenstra with Photography by Chris Jones and Cor Steenstra The models in our extensive photo gallery are Grace Chavez from HBO’s Zane’s, and Jonathan Eng.

The Jaguar XF in both the Supercharged version that we drove, as well as it normally aspirated version, is a very high quality 4 door sedan with a semi-hatch/coupe like body style, very much in line with what Mercedes with the CLS, VW with the CC and Porsche with the Panamera are already producing or about to introduce. We found that the design immediately impresses on passers-by, which is quite a surprise since it does resemble the European larger hatchbacks in a way, but the way the design was executed here, there is definitely no mistaking here: This is a High-End, High Quality dynamic vehicle.

Fit and finish on both exterior and interior was of very high standard, and, as with the XK we drove earlier, the quality of the leather used in the interior and especially the way it was used on the dashboard is really impressive, with clean stitch lines and precise fit. The interior also made quite an impression with its novelty detailing, the air vents that are in hiding when either the airco is not switched on or the car is switched off, and the turn-knob gearshift that is also hiding flush when the ignition is switched off.

Interior space is excellent in the front, and comfortable in the back provided the occupants are not excessively tall. All round vision is very good, and the gadgets at the driver’s disposal for safer driving are plenty. The Supercharged version also was of course very quick on its feet, with enormous power in acceleration and very safe and comfortable drive at higher speeds. We never felt out of control once, which is a sharp contract to for instance our experience with the Lexus IS-F.

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Dodge Challenger Design Evaluation and Challenger SRT10 Concept

By Cor Steenstra with photography by Chris Jones
We have finally had a chance to drive the Dodge Challenger, in a V6 2009 guise, so we will be reporting to you about this, plus, we will show you dynamic footage of the Challenger SRT10 Concept.

In the 60’s Ford introduced the Mustang as the first of the “pony car” category, and subsequently competitors followed, and of course the pony cars grew in size and power and became the muscle cars at the end of the 60’s. Where the current Ford Mustang harks back to its Pony Car origins, the Dodge Challenger and the soon to come Chevrolet Camaro lean more towards the muscle car era.

The Challenger takes its design clues from it 60’s predecessor and is based on the excellent chassis Chrysler has been using heavily for its 300 and Dodge Charger variations, originating from its Daimler/Mercedes days. It is a good and solid chassis and as such provides solid underpinnings for this. Of course we all know there is the spectacular Hemi powered version, especially the SRT8, but with the fuel prices over the past half year and the economy in the slumb it is, we were kind of interested to see what value the V6 version would bring.

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The new SLR Stirling Moss: Pure excitement and driving pleasure

Mercedes-Benz and McLaren are adding the crowning glory to the model family of their highly successful SLR super sports car with a new, uncompromisingly spectacular car. There is neither a roof nor a windscreen to separate the driver and passenger from the outside world; they enjoy unadulterated high-speed excitement with all the attributes of a speedster. The new SLR Stirling Moss is also characterised by the most sophisticated technology and a breathtaking design which reinterprets the SLR legend. With 478 kW/650 hp the SLR Stirling Moss accelerates its V8 supercharged engine from standstill to 100 km/h in less than 3.5 seconds, and has a top speed of 350 km/h – no other series-production car is at the same time so open and so fast.

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Volvo Cars Presents First Pictures of New S60 Concept with Orrefors Crystal

Volvo Cars presents the first pictures of the new S60 Concept, which will be unveiled at the Detroit Motor Show in early January 2009. The production version of the new Volvo S60 will be available in 2010. This video includes exterior studio shots of the car plus shots of the crystal center stack being created at Orrefors’ workshop and interviews with designers.

Volvo Cars has engaged world-famous Swedish glass works Orrefors in the work with the company’s next concept car, which will be a first version of the next-generation Volvo S60. The joint creation, a floating center stack of hand-made Orrefors crystal, will be shown for the first time at the Detroit international motor show in January 2009.

A few days before Christmas, Volvo Cars treats the automotive world to an early unwrapping of a car that will shine bright in the streets for years to come. The Volvo S60 Concept gives the car world a glimpse of what the all-new Volvo S60 is going to look like when it arrives in 2010.
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Rinspeed “iChange” 1-2-3-seater with “trick-tail” debuts in Geneva

With the “iChange” the Swiss designers of Rinspeed present a “1-2-3-seater” powered by a 130kw-electric motor. The concept car’s striking body structure adapts via “electronic trick-tail” to the number of passengers: while the sporty and streamlined teardrop shape seats only the driver, two more passengers may join him once the car’s rear end has risen as if by magic. In the blink of an eye the full-blooded sports car turns into a compact sportsvan.

With the Rinspeed “iChange” the automotive jack-of-all-trades Frank M. Rinderknecht and his partners aim to provide thought-provoking impulses for the automobile industry: “Thinking about variability and the constantly changing energy demand, we have created an extremely flexible vehicle.” The result is a zero-emission car featuring both extremely low weight and aerodynamic drag, thus further reducing the power consumption.

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Photoshop Sketch Seminar By Nissan Designer Robert Lemmens

In Episode 61 Robert Lemmens, designer at Nissan’s European Design center in London, was willing to show us how he sketches using Adobe Photoshop.