BMW WILL PRODUCE FRONT-WHEEL-DRIVE CARS!

BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer has announced that BMW will, in future, produce front-wheel-drive cars. At the company’s annual financial results press conference in Germany, Reithofer said smaller, entry-level BMWs are on their way and they will feature FWD. Currently all BMWs are either rear-wheel-drive (RWD) or AWD with the xDrive system.

“We are exploring the possibility of developing a joint architecture for the front and four-wheel drive systems of these cars,” Reithofer said. “In other words: There will be front-wheel drive BMWs in the smaller vehicle classes in the future.”

BMW has always prided itself for the way its cars handle. That’s largely due to the RWD system which says cars must be steered by the front wheels and driven by the rear wheels, not driven and steered at the front.

This piece of news will shock many BMW fans around the world and probably put a smile on the faces of Audi and other competitors who have, for years, sworn by the front-wheel-drive (FWD) model. Don’t worry though BMW fans, this FWD thing will only apply to very small cars, cars smaller than the MINI. Actually the MINI itself is FWD.

*Picture of the MINI John Cooper Works Convertible taken using a NOKIA 6210 Navigator 

NEED FOR SPEED BETA BEGINS

EA SAYS: Black Box, a studio of Electronic Arts Inc., today announced that the closed beta for Need for Speed World, the massively multiplayer online action racing game has begun. Over the course of the next few months, thousands of players worldwide will have the opportunity to claim one of the limited slots in the PC beta test by enlisting at world.needforspeed.com. Need for Speed World testers will be the first in the world to get an insider’s look at this hotly anticipated racing MMO, and their constructive feedback will go straight back to the development team to help add polish, finesse and tuning to the final product.

“Need for Speed World is the world’s first MMO racer – a completely new entertainment experience for speed junkies all over the world,” said John Doyle, Need for Speed World Senior Producer. “We have expanded Need for Speed’s classic adrenaline fuelled racing with an all-new power up system and deep RPG style progression to create a truly massive, socially-connected white-knuckle Need for Speed experience.”

NISSAN AND RENAULT SA HOST FRENCH DELEGATION

NISSAN SAYS: ROSSLYN, PRETORIA (Monday 15 March 2010) – Renault South Africa (Renault SA) and Nissan South Africa (Nissan SA) hosted a visit by the French Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Anne-Marie Idrac last Wednesday (10 March 2010). The tour of the automotive manufacturing facility formed part of a week-long visit by a high profile French delegation, which was in South Africa to strengthen economic ties and relations between the two countries.

The delegation’s itinerary prioritised visits to French-headquartered companies that have subsidiaries in South Africa.  Included was French car manufacturer Renault, whose Alliance partner Nissan manufactures the Renault Sandero at Nissan SA’s Rosslyn manufacturing plant.

X MARKS THE SPORT FOR NEW FACELIFT TOYOTA AURIS

TOYOTA SAYS: Toyota South Africa has introduced a revised model range with a distinct sporty flair for the Auris-range, now referred to as the Auris X range. The most notable change in the new Auris X line-up is the introduction across the range of Toyota’s Optimal Drive Technology. The new 97 kW 1.6 litre Valvematic engine, fitted to certain models in the Auris X range as an element of Toyota’s Optimal Drive strategy, has the distinction of offering the highest power for a naturally aspirated engine in its class in South Africa.

Optimal Drive encompasses a number of advanced engine technologies from Toyota that focus on maximising power and responsiveness, and thus imparting a more sporty character and enhanced driving appeal, while at the same time minimising fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. At the core of Optimal Drive technology is a drive to reduce the both the weight and overall size of both engines and transmissions while enhancing overall performance.

BONAFEDE WINS AT KILLARNEY

Team Ferodo’s fast start to the new motor racing season continued at Killarney circuit in Cape Town on Saturday with Gennaro Bonafede (class T Ferodo VW Golf GTi) and Devin Robertson (Ferodo VW Polo) both taking the overall honours for the day in their respective categories.

Bonafade, who made a superb debut in the Bridgestone Production Car Championship at Kyalami three weeks ago, was again on top form and scored three second-places.  He was slightly off the pace in qualifying, recording the fourth fastest time behind Graham Nathan (VW Golf GTi), defending champion Gary Formato (Ford Focus) and Shaun Duminy (Ford Focus).  In the first of the two back-to-back 6-lap sprint races he was already up to second behind Formato on lap two and stayed there to the chequered flag, finishing six tenths of a second behind Formato and 0,15 sec ahead of Duminy in a Ford sandwich.  He harassed Formato throughout the race, forcing the champion to take a defensive line through the corners, and in the process set a new class lap record of 1 min 22,43 sec.