Pagani set to release Zonda replacement this year

In a recent announcement by Pagani company founder, Horacio Pagani, the company are set to release a replacement for there insanely quick Zonda supercar by the end of 2010.

The Argentine boss and self confessed 'petrol head' announced to the media that the new car called the C9, will be powered by a 690bhp version of Mercedes' 6.0-litre V12 AMG engine.

And by no means is this car going to be a carbon copy of the origional Zonda R. Pagani stated that the completely re-designed Zonda replacement will be underpinned by a carbon-titanium chassis and will feature 3770 new parts. Expect this car to be both fast, and expensive, with only 40 planned for production each year were guessing the price tag will likely be around the £785,000 mark.

The current Zonda R screams in at just 0-62mph in 2.7 seconds and keeps going all the way up to 217mph, therefore we can assume the new C9 will be even faster, fast enough that just the thought of it could easily make your eyes bleed.

We're looking forward to seeing the new supercar thunder around the Top Gear test track some time later in the year. Further information can be found at the company's website, http://www.paganiautomobili.it/.

The Capri is back!!

Ford's secret plans for a Focus Coupé aka, Capri!

We kid you not, the Capri is back, as a hot hatch! Due for its debut sometime in 2010 and rumoured to be in production by 2012, the new Capri is a three-door version of the highly popular Ford Focus.

As you can see from the pictures it's a mix of Fords latest design themes with the trademark twin grilles at the front, large lower air intakes and bold LED, Mondeo-style headlamps complete the new Capri's striking appearance. However, you can still see some subtle styling clearly taken from the original Capri, notably the heavy back end, trademark C-shaped rear windows and thick pillars.

The new Capri will boast a wide range of options when it comes to choosing the powerplant to attract a wide range of customers including a fuel efficient 140bhp 4-cylinder, a sporty 250bhp 5-cylinder, or a smaller, more efficient 2.0-liter EcoBoost engine. This would make the Capri a worthy opponent for VW's revived Scirocco and will also be priced at a competitive £17000.

We were all very excited to learn of this new release here at V e r o o o m and we certainly look forward to taking one for a spin as soon as it gets released on the UK market.

A cleaner, cheaper, environmentally friendly, more efficient car engine. Are Biofuels the future for the automotive industry? Part two, Bioethanol.

20th January 2010

There are many ways we can cut down on the amount of fuel our cars use these days. As simple a thing as changing your heavy steel wheels for alloy wheels, upgrading you tyres to energy efficient tyres and keeping your vehicle well maintained with regular servicing can dramatically decrease your annual fuel costs however, can we cut down even further and in doing so even help cut down on our carbon footprint? Well, the answer is yes! And it's not nearly as difficult as you would think.

With rapidly increasing fuel costs across the UK and throughout the world most of us really are starting to feel the pinch when it comes to filling our cars up these days. This coupled with increasing pressure from the government and environmental agencies to combat Co2 emissions, could biofuels be the future for the automotive industry?

Let's take a quick peek at the advantages, disadvantages and cost of some of the alternative fuels available to us today. And hopefully answer a few burning questions about the viability of alternative fuels on a practical level as we head into the most green focussed decade in nearly 3 century's of the modern auto mobile.

NB: If you car runs on diesel then skip to part 1, Biodiesel.

What is bioethanol?

Bioethanol is liquid ethanol produced from various common crops including but not limited to sugar cane in Brazil, corn in the US and wheat and barley in Europe and the UK. It is produced by a process of conversion of feedstock crop into fermentable sugars through enzyme amylases. Yeast is then added to ferment the resulting sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide.

Compatability

Although bioethanol is very similar in properties to petrol, if is often mixed with petrol as a low percentage blend; E10 contains 10% ethanol and 90% petrol, E15 contains 15% ethanol and 85% petrol etc. However, it is possible to run cars effectively with a far higher ratio blend of ethanol such as E85 (85% ethanol and 15% petrol) with a few small modifications to the vehicle, the fitting of a larger fuel tank and adjustment of the ignition timing.

It is also possible to run a vehicle of 100% ethanol however, most Bioethanol mixes retain at least a small amount of petrol. This is because ethanol is more difficult to vaporise than petrol, particularly in cold weather thus making it difficult to start a car with 100% ethanol in cold weather conditions.

Bioethanol is on the increase as a fuelling alternative in the form of flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs). FFVs are designed to run on straight petrol or an ethanol/petrol blend of up to 85%ethanol (E85). Except for a few engine and fuel system modifications they are identical to petrol-only counterparts.

FFVs have been produced since the 1980s, and dozens of models are currently available from a variety of manufacturers including Ford, Volvo and Saab.

FFVs experience no loss in performance when operating on E85 however, since a litre of ethanol contains less energy than a gallon of petrol, FFVs typically get about 20-30% fewer miles per gallon when fuelled with E85 and up to 50% fewer on 100% (E100) ethanol.

What are the advantages of bioethanol?

The biggest advantage of running your car on bioethanol is environmental with some studies suggesting that lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by up to 90% with bioethanol in comparison to petrol. This is of however best case scenario based on using sugar cane as the crop and the actual figures vary between crops used ranging from 7.5% to 70% for corn ethanol predominantly produced in the US.

Another advantage would be taxation, in the UK road tax payable on FFVs that can use high percentage blends is lower than for conventional petrol cars by around £10.

Due to economies of scale, commercially produced bioethanol tends to have higher production costs than petrol. These are partly offset by tax benefits as the UK government has reduced fuel duty on bioethanol for the next three years by 20p/litre (to stimulate production).

Despite this, the retail fuel price of bioethanol can be higher than conventional petrol - the exact price depending on whether the bioethanol is a pure or blended formulation.

What are the disadvantages of bioethanol?

There are some concerns over the use of bioethanol as a long-term alternative to petrol. These include:

• Biodiversity – The sheer amount of arable land required to grow bioethanol crops could see some natural habitats destroyed, including rainforests.
• The food versus fuel debate – Due to the lucrative prices of bioethanol there is concern that some farmers may sacrifice food crops in favour of biofuel production, which could potentially increase food prices around the world.
• Carbon emissions – There is also debate over the carbon neutrality of bioethanol when all elements in the production process are taken into account including the cost of changing the land use of an area, transportation and the burning of the crop, a process which usually requires large quantities of fossil fuels.
• Compatibility – Most older vehicles are limited to a maximum of around 5% bioethanol and 95% petrol.
• Fuel Economy - Huge decrease in fuel economy with bioethanol (typically around 20% but can be as much as 50% with 100% ethanol) compared to petrol.

Can I run my car on bioethanol?

Well, that depends on the rate of bioethanol you're after. A normal engine can handle up to 5% bioethanol and 95% petrol easily but for higher ratio ethanol mixes a specific flexi-fuel engine will be needed to cope with larger intakes of bioethanol.

This twinned with the fact that finding bioethanol is still difficult in the UK as there are very few filling stations that sell high percentage bioethanol makes it an even less viable option.

Final Thought

Our advice would be if you want a cheaper, greener, better smelling car buy a diesel and convert it to run on Waste Vegetable Oil, for now at least!

Further reading

Part 1, Biodiesel

Further information from HM Revenue & Customs can be found here

A cleaner, cheaper, environmentally friendly, more efficient car engine. Are Biofuels the future for the automotive industry? Part one, Biodiesel.

19th January 2010

There are many ways we can cut down on the amount of fuel our cars use these days. As simple a thing as changing your heavy steel wheels for alloy wheels, upgrading you tyres to energy efficient tyres and keeping your vehicle well maintained with regular servicing can dramatically decrease your annual fuel costs however, can we cut down even further and in doing so even help cut down on our carbon footprint? Well, the answer is yes! And it's not nearly as difficult as you would think.

With rapidly increasing fuel costs across the UK and throughout the world most of us really are starting to feel the pinch when it comes to filling our cars up these days. This coupled with increasing pressure from the government and environmental agencies to combat Co2 emissions, could biofuels be the future for the automotive industry?

Let's take a quick peek at the advantages, disadvantages and cost of some of the alternative fuels available to us today. And hopefully answer a few burning questions about the viability of alternative fuels on a practical level as we head into the most green focussed decade in nearly 3 century's of the modern auto mobile.

NB: If you car runs on petrol then skip to part 2, Bioethanol.

Biodiesel and Vegetable Oil, what's the difference?

The main difference between true biodiesel and vegetable oil is that nearly all Diesel Engines can be run on biodiesel without any conversion whatsoever, however, if you plan on using straight vegetable oil some minor modification is usually necessary (with the exception of most, if not all Mercedes and Volvo vehicles).

In addition to this, waste vegetable oil requires refining prior to use to remove emulsified water, sediment and any large fragments of waste products that could potentially clog your engine.

Compatibility

As most of us are probably aware, not all engines are compatible with bio fuel therefore prior to filling your tank haphazardly with any form of bio fuel, whether it be biodiesel or vegetable oil its first essential to check it is compatible. Putting the wrong type of fuel in an engine can cause serious problems and mistakes such as this are often incredibly difficult to rectify. At best, your car won't run and will require draining and flushing, at worst, the damage could be severe and permanent requiring you to fork out for a new one, so be sure to do your homework.

Biodiesel

Apart from the obvious cost and environmental advantages biodiesel has over mineral diesel a surprising plus would be that as biodiesel is naturally a significantly stronger solvent than mineral diesel it is capable of keeping your engine running cleaner and smoother by dissolving accumulated fuel deposits in the tank and pipes into new, clean fuel. Less accumulation of fuel deposits in your fuel system means a cleaner running and more efficient engine.

Initially, as the mineral diesel deposits are broken down those particles may accumulate in the fuel filter thus requiring an interim replacement however, this usually only lasts one service cycle and after that the pipes and tank are clean and fuel filters will only need replacing at standard service intervals and what you will have is a much cleaner car.

It is also worth noting that due to the solvent attributes of biodiesel, if you have an older vehicle with rubber piping and parts in the fuel system it will be necessary to replace that piping with modern, hard-wearing long life nylon pipes to prevent corrosion problems.

For more information on producing your own biodiesel click here.

Vegetable Oil

Vegetable oil is thicker in consistency than both mineral and bio diesel particularly in cold temperatures therefore it is necessary to make some modification to the way fuel is handled in a diesel engine using this type of fuel to compensate for this and prevent difficulties starting your car. Here are the available options as of writing this article.

Dual Fuel System

Probably the most commonly implemented conversion type since the popularity of vegetable oil fuelled cars, this system simply uses 2 tanks of fuel, one for Vegetable Oil, and the other for diesel/biodiesel.

The premise being that you start the car on the tank of fuel containing diesel/biodiesel and manually switch to the tank containing vegetable oil when everything's warmed up, thus preventing the more viscous vegetable oil from clogging jets, lines and filters.

At the end of your journey prior to turning off the engine you will need to switch back to diesel/ biodiesel tank so that the injectors and fuel lines contain diesel. This means the engine will start next time you use the car, and it will prevent fuel freezing in the fuel lines during cold weather conditions.

Mixed Fuel

By far the simplest way is to mix vegetable oil with diesel or biodiesel in the main tank at different ratios depending on the weather conditions. On warm days a higher percentage of vegetable oil can be used and on cold days, vice versa.

Full Conversion

A full conversion to vegetable oil fuel negates the need for diesel all together by using heat to take the viscosity out of the fuel, thus allowing it to flow freely regardless of weather conditions.

A typical full vegetable oil conversion uses a fuel pre-heater in the tank, a heat exchanger to warm the fuel, and/or a heated fuel filter.

Waste Vegetable Oil

If its maximum economy you're looking for, then there's no denying waste vegetable oil is the way forward being by far the cheapest solution in the long run. The only downside being that it needs to be processed before you can use it in your car, therefore requires the most work on the part of the car owner.

Other things to consider

Although an engine will generally run more smoothly on vegetable oil, and be better lubricated than with mineral diesel, it is essential that you continue to maintain your engine properly, as you would have done prior to any conversion with regular servicing and check-ups.

You should always keep a spare fuel filter handy in case you suffer from a blockage. In very cold weather it will be necessary to add some mineral diesel to your fuel as a preventative measure, to prevent problems with freezing.

Biodiesel and UK Law

Unfortunately, here in the UK you can't even look at a new thing with ought the government slapping a tax on it (remember Poll Tax, the Tax on breathing?). So yes, you've guessed it! Although it would be great for the environment and the consumer, as of 2002 Tax must be paid on any oil of any origin which is used to power a road vehicle.

At the time of publishing, biodiesel and yes, you've guessed it, vegetable oil have an excise duty rate of 20 pence per litre less than the mineral diesel rates.

But you shouldn't let this put you off, running your car on biodiesel or vegetable oil is still considerably cheaper than mineral diesel, and far better for the environment.

Further Reading

Part 2, Bioethanol

Further information from HM Revenue & Customs can be found here