BMW's Vision EfficientDynamics concept won't look a tenth this wild when it hits the streets
By Paul Miller 
posted August 30th 2009 12:57AM
posted August 30th 2009 12:57AM
posted August 30th 2009 12:57AM
A look back on popular stories from today in a specific year.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
it makes me think of a cheap "gamers" pc, where they went overboard with the led lights.
cheap? i wish! i spent almost $100 on blue LED fans for my PC case!
Hooydonk!
kojo: Cheap, as in "Tawdry", "Gaudy", "Tasteless".
All of the above apply in some form or another, sorry.
kojo... either you have a case the size of a dodge caravan.. or you didn't shop at newegg. unless you were making a funny, in that case, I need to go to bed.
nigh night prokanda
This guy sounds like Bruno..
Prokanda: i did buy from Newegg. i have an NZXT Tempest case. i have four 120mm Thermaltake fans (2x front, side, back), two 80mm Thermaltake fans (on my CPU heatsink), and two 140mm Apevia fans (both top) i guess it was more like $80 when i think about it but you see my point
I would pay full price for that car even if I had to pedal it to work...
dream dude. BMWs look the same since 1977, The only thing they change is the back lights and the dashboard. not to mention they bought 700 million gallons of grey paint back in 1985 and wont add new colors until it runs out.
Well, almost - the only PINK cars I see around are BMWs, too.
Heard of Mary Kay?
looks like something batman would ride o.0
@Ridgecity
Just to show how ignorant you are on BMW, they have had the twin kidney grill and Hofmeister Kink since the 1930's. Just as chevy has it's bow tie and Cadillac has it's tall tail lights, Those constant design features are the trademark of BMW Design and don't expect it to change any time soon..
What happens when a rock comes along that has a height larger than 1 inch?
Or an animal? Yikes..
Don't write off the animals that are less than an inch tall - they'll cause problems with even the biggest vehicles... did you see the havoc in snakes on a plane?!
It is detected by the onboard computers, and the car body morphs out of the way. When BMW says dynamic, they mean it.
Just for once I like a car company to come out with a car that looked like this that was actually for sale!
By the time this one hits the showroom it will look like a Prius with a BMW logo on it.
@Chris: Suggest viewing the pictures on this here website: http://www.lamborghini.com
Dribble.
No greater incentive to become spankingly rich, huh?
;)
@Chris: Suggest viewing the pictures on this here website: http://www.lamborghini.com
Dribble.
No greater incentive to become spankingly rich, huh?
;)
(Oops, my initial reply appeared under the wrong post.)
Go and talk to Aston Martin. ;)
Just like the Chevy Bolt. Initially it looked soo bad ass and such a cool looking car that was also green and now it ends up looking nothing like the first bad ass concepts we saw. SAD...
Remember what the Chevy Volt concept looked like? That car was awesome. The production Volt is merely "okay."
i agree with you. seriously why do car manufacturers lock themselves in the present and keep producing AMAZING concept cars but lame production cars? Audi did it (sorta) with the R8, that looks freaking awesome, so why can't others do the same? we are ready for the future BMW, now give it to us.
"also here to annoy us"? Paul, that is the understatement of the year my friend, especially for us car and gadget tech-heads. Why, it is down right INFURIATING! That's why friends and I no longer go to certain Auto Shows. You know the ones typically laden with "concept cars". We just got sick and tired of the "double CT", (hot car babes/models and cars that will NEVER be mass produced!).
Yeah, tell me about it.
Why do these companies even bother with concepts that they know they'll never make? As cool as they look, it's then just a complete waste of time, money and energy.
Still waiting for GINA
Thanks for the link to the shitty lamborghini flash website, which was unwilling to show pictures without a seasoned archaeology team to help dig for them. Downvoted.
Diesel! i don't understand why diesel is pretty much limited to heavy duty trucks and some obscure European cars. although this would fall under the latter category. Diesel power offers a lot of benefits over gasoline and should be utilized more. can't wait for the 2010 VW TDI Golf to hit the US.
This.
There's no excuse for not having more diesel options out there. I'm surprised the Volt wouldn't at least have it as an option; if it were the standard engine, it could really lead a change with how the American public's opinion of diesels. Hopefully Volkswagen Audi Group can lead the charge. I wish the TDI was available on the Passat Wagon. I suppose I'll end up getting a Jetta Wagon TDI, though the motorized tailgate on the Passat is a useful feature.
The advantages of Diesel are miniscule at full throttle and the ICE in a series hybrid will be used at full throttle all the time.
diesel pollutes more, blah blah blah.
It stinks.
Yeah and gasoline doesn't..
Look into VW's TDI line, they all come with their new efficient Diesel engines
I'm looking at finally buying a new car, it will be one of the VW TDIs
"Petrol" smells too, but it smells much better than diesel.
Especially the exhaust fumes. Exhaust from a diesel engine smells like burnt crap.
Diesel has some advantages - I drive one myself outside the USA. However, they don't pass emissions limits in most states. That's why there's only one diesel car sold in the USA (VW Jetta)... Mercedes is supposed to come out with new cleaner diesels that pass emissions as well.
The main reason all Europeans drive diesel has nothing to do with the technology though. It's because for the last 30+ years, there was a government subsidy on diesel in most countries, meant to benefit the transportation industry, which made diesel cheaper than regular. That, along with the better gas mileage, made diesel cars cheaper to operate. The diesel subsidy is now gone so I expect the pendulum to swing back to regular gasoline now, especially with the advent of hybrids.
The Jetta TDI isn't the only Diesel car sold in the US:
VW Jetta TDI
VW Touareg TDI
BMW 335d
BMW x5 3.5d
Mercedes E320 Bluetec
Mercedes ML320 Bluetec
Mercedes GL320 Bluetec
And then of course a smattering of trucks.
It's surprising to hear these comments about diesel. They apply to diesels 10 years ago, but not now. Go out and drive the new Jetta or BMW or Mercedes, they have none of the problems you describe.
i thought i read sometime back that VW had a deal with Chrysler where they swapped the Town and Country platform that is now used in the VW Routan for the generation IV Jetta TDI platform that would be used in a midsized Dodge sedan, possibly the Dodge Avenger. this would make diesel at least slightly more visible. how many people are in the market for a BMW or Mercedes compared to an extremely average American sedan like the Dodge Avenger? there needs to be more attainable cars like the VW Jetta TDI for people to really start seeing diesel as a viable alternative to gasoline.
40% of cars in Europe run on diesel. America needs to catch up.
Mute the video, it's not worth listening. Once you've seen every angle, there's nothing much else.
I concur Paul Miller's opinion of concept cars and we wont see this...ever. I do have to say that the car looks nifty, but the police will pull one over the moment one pull out on to the street. Also, it looks like the side mirrors would screw with the pillar each time the door gets opened.
either way it would make a totally awesome Hotwheel!
It's not just concept cars. Pretty much any concept technology. Where's my 200ghz CPU, nonvolatile RAM, cell phone that projects a keypad onto my hand, etc that were shown off years ago?
Concept cars are just that, concepts. They are design philosophies. Things that could be. Not actual production vehicles. It's two totally different animals. Also, OEM's use them to gauge public interest. If they get enough buzz, then will use the design language in an upcoming model. Also, concepts are EXPENSIVE, some running into the millions of dollars. Totally impractical for Joe Consumer, even with mass production bringing down the costs.
Am I the only one that thinks the dude in the pic looks like an animatron? It's like a scene out of Disneyworld's Future World Exhibit.
Am I the only one who thinks he looks like Billy Bob Thornton? So if you combine the two, it's like a scene out of Disneyworld's World Exhibit featuring Billy Bob Thornton.
Say what? You mean BMW's "innovation" of undersizing the battery on a concept car because drawing so much power from a small pack only causes premature aging and that'll never add up on a concept that will roll less than 100 miles in its life won't be coming to my garage soon?
Knock me over with a feather!
You say the engine fits between the rear seat and the rear axle? Yeah, and that's not going to cause toasty backsides on long trips.
M3 0-60 performance but low-turbulence pie-plate rims that keep the brakes from being cooled by air flowing over the car? What could go wrong there?
I think it's cool car companies reach out like this, but it's about as real as the Lexus in Minority Report.
You ever hear of mid-engine cars? Porsche is one that's been doing it for years.
I've never heard of a mid-engine 4-seater. Have you?
Porsche's mid-engine Boxster is a 2-seater. The 911 (which is the one with rear seats) is rear-engined.
i fit 4 people in a Pontiac Fiero once! does that count?