A COOL TYRE FOR YOUR CAR !

Hi friends , How often do you check your tire pressure? Gradual tire deflation over time is a key factor in relation to road safety and reduced fuel economy, not to mention the replacing wear out tires before the end of their expected life-span. Czech Republic based CODA DEVELOPMENT s.r.o. unveils an integrated system that inflates itself using atmospheric air as you drive.

The Self Inflating Tire (SIT) system consists of a tube chamber integrated into the tire wall that acts as a peristaltic pump, inflating the tire as it turns against the road, regardless of the speed at which the vehicle is traveling. Once a pre-set pressure is achieved a managing valve automatically shuts down any further inflation, resulting in a simple, maintenance free way to keep tire pressure at an optimal level without the use of externally stored compressed air.

2008 Mini Cooper Clubman Road Test

Unlike the fashion world, cars aren't like hats and scarves - they aren't one-size

The Mini grows! It may be bigger, but it's still a true Mini. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

fits all. People most certainly do not come in one particular shape or size and neither do their lifestyles, so what on earth would possess someone to believe that the analogy could apply to cars?

The Mini, I have long believed, is a one type fits all kind of car. It doesn't matter who you are, what you do, how famous you are or how much money you've got in the bank - blue collar, white collar, young or old, this little car is all things to all men and women. It stretches across cultural boundaries with its cheeky good looks and spirited driving dynamics, and is appreciated for the individualism it allows through the sheer number of options available. Still, while the little Mini has enjoyed amazing levels of popularity with sales having increased year over year since inception, its one size fits all philosophy doesn't work for everybody. Sure it can seat four and carry a bit of luggage, but for most peoples' lifestyles it's a wee bit too small. What to do? Up-size, of course, which is exactly what Mini has done by introducing the first new model configuration since the Cabriolet.

The Clubdoor makes accessing the back seat a little easier, but it has its flaws. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

Conceptually, "The Other Mini" was a part of the second-generation car right from the blueprint stage, designed as a way of expanding the brand's appeal for the second generation car. Remember the themed concept cars that were launched at the major international auto exhibitions around the globe in 2006? They were teasers, not only for the new Mini, but for what would become this car, the Clubman. An alternate perspective is that the Clubman is a revival of the classic Mini Countryman of the late '60s .

There's a lot to talk about with regards to the Clubman's detailing, as one glance makes it obvious this was no last-minute stretch job. Just by looking at it, you can tell its designers had a lot of fun with this project. Minis have long had contrasting roofs, but the Clubman takes it one step further by boxing its backside in color. When the roof's black, as with this Pepper White example, the Clubman retains the floating roof look of the standard Mini, but when the roof is ordered in silver, as a contrast to say, the Clubman exclusive color, Hot Chocolate, the backside really

The detailing is extraordinary; check out the cut-outs for the tail lights. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

pops with brightness. Instead of a lift-up hatchback, the Clubman gets a pair of small Dutch oven style doors that are hinged from the side. Grab onto the chunky chromed handle and give it a light tug - the doors push themselves open on gas struts, each with its own internal cubby. On the outside, each has its own windscreen wiper, both coming together in a "clap hands" motion. Anyone familiar with the classic Mini Traveler is bound to feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

From the corner of your eye, you're bound to catch another one of the signature details - the tail lamps. They're fixed to the body rather than to the door which gives the Clubman an eye-catching look when the tailgate's doors are open, but also helps it abide legal requirements. Imagine trying to carry items longer than the car with the doors open if this weren't the case; a disaster waiting to happen. In any result, the attention to detail is highly worthy of praise, as you wouldn't find these fine touches on just any subcompact car.

More legroom is handy, but look at the Phantom-style lounge arrangement. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

Once inside, the regular-length Cooper and longer Cooper Clubman are essentially the same in appearance up front, with the metamorphosis occurring in back, just like on the outside. The glossy finished oval trim rings found on the front doors continue into the rear portion of the cabin, and while these look great my favorite bit of detailing has to be the trim that wraps all the way around the cabin, flowing into the rear bench seat just as on the Rolls Royce Phantom. Apparently, the man responsible for the Phantom's interior jumped ship to Mini, and with him came that idea. It may not lend any more room to the rear quarters, but it adds a sense of occasion which is desperately lacking in the back of most small cars. I do wish, however, that the big cupholders mounted in the door weren't there as they cut into the armrests.

Getting access to that extra space can be done through the rear-hinged "suicide" door, a first for the Mini. Conceptually, it's right down the same aisle as what you can find on an Element or most pick-up trucks, but because it's a Mini it sports a fashionably cool name: Clubdoor.

Up here, it's the same as any other Mk.II Mini. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

I feel particularly terrible about playing off that name, but can't help to add that you don't get a bouncer as standard equipment, despite the nightclub-grade premium sound system and the colorful ambient interior lighting. Because the Clubdoor is nothing out of the ordinary, it has the same flaws as any other door of this type in that it can't be opened without first opening the front door. The seatbelt is attached to the pillar, which means if you've got a passenger riding shotgun, they'll need to unbuckle too. But the worst flaw is that your front passenger will still need to scoot the seat forward in order to create a big enough gap to let anyone in. Once everyone's in, things are much better.

The 9.4 inches in overall length that the Clubman gains over the standard Mini actually makes it as big as most subcompact hatchbacks, like the Fit or the Yaris. Knowing Mini's philosophy of maximizing interior space, you might think that the bulk of it went straight between the wheels. It turns out that there's only 3.1 inches added in between, which makes for a

1.6L I-4 is perfectly suited to moving the Clubman. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

nice improvement in rear legroom, sufficient enough to carry four six-foot tall passengers in a surprising amount of comfort, but where did the rest of it go? Park a Clubman next to a standard Mini and there's quite a bit of rear overhang (3.5 inches), which makes the trunk deeper and more voluminous by a useful 3.5 cubic feet to 9.2 cubic feet. If you fold down the 50:50 split rear seats, the Clubman makes a giant gain in cargo space to 32.8 cubic feet, further aided by a hidden compartment under the trunk's floor. The Clubman also includes a set of latches on the floor, right by the base of the rear seats, and another set on the roof even includes nets. This will allow you to transport bigger and bulkier items securely without risking any unwanted shifting upon hard braking.

But that leaves 0.6 inches unaccounted for, which, it turns out, has been added to the front of the vehicle of all places. The Clubman doesn't have any additional hardware up front that would justify the

More cargo space - seats up or down. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

extra length, so the best reason for its presence that I can think of is for proportionality purposes.

The 176.4 pounds that the Clubman carries over the regular Cooper has on a mild effect on performance; most people will never really notice it. The 118 horsepower 1.6-liter inline-four revs freely and excitedly, so even when working up the engine I didn't feel like I was losing in a struggle against the added structure. A sixth gear in both manual and automatic variants helps keep the engine calm when cruising. Shift up early and it's possible to extract some remarkably good fuel economy figures, though the eagerness of the Clubman will try and encourage you to have a bit more fun. On occasion I managed to resist the temptation, and managed to average 46 mpg. Hybrid? What hybrid? For reasons beyond my knowledge, the Clubman consumes the same amount of fuel in the city and on the highway than the smaller Mini. The EPA says it'll slurp 28 mpg in the city and 37 on the highway versus the exact same for the hatch. Go figure.

Corners like a true Mini. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

Priority for Clubman engineers was to make the car drive as closely as possible to the standard Mini, and in that light I think they've succeeded. I never really felt much of a difference between the two cars unless I was purposely looking for anomalies, although the longer wheelbase of the Clubman model does help to smooth the ride out a bit and the car does feel fractionally more stable at high speed. The turning circle is a touch larger than standard, mind you, but it's still small enough to do a U-turn on most city streets without the need to resort to a three-point turn. It is truly very easy to forget that you're driving anything but a Mini; the chunkiness of the steering, the crispness and precision of it all. Only when looking in the rear view mirror and seeing the thick vertical pillar of the back doors does its uniqueness become apparent. At certain distances, cars can magically vanish behind the pillar, but it's not like you'd need to start using your side view mirrors to compensate.

Not a small family car, but a bigger Mini. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

If you need a regular family car, the Mini Clubman is not the perfect substitute. An average hatchback, like a Mazda3 or Saturn Astra, will better suit your needs; both have more rear legroom and trunk space, not to mention that these alternatives are cheaper. No, the Clubman and Minis in general fall more into the realm of compact premium, and therefore are priced higher. And on that note, ordering a Clubman instead of a Cooper adds about 10-percent to the entry-level sticker. Although, if you're viewing the Clubman in this light, you may have completely missed the point of it. At its core, the Clubman is still a Mini, which is why, syntactically, it's a Cooper Clubman, and not a Clubman Cooper. Mini isn't trying to make a mass-market hatchback or turn the Mini into a small family car. Think of it this way - the Clubman is Mini's way of spreading the brand's dynamic goodness and cheeky character into a marginally larger and fractionally more practical format. So, if you've always wanted a Mini, but needed just a bit more space, you no longer have an excuse!

2008 Scion Hako Coupe Concept

Some brands have what you might call an image problem. Some of these are companies

The Hako Coupe is different all right, but it would bring back the boxy profile to the Scion lineup if built, as well as the subcompact size. (Photo: Scion)

that don't have congruent, styling to define their corporate identities. Others don't know who their target market is, and are building cars for a certain demographic only to have them purchased by completely different kinds of buyers. Other than a propensity of older fixed income singles and couples who initially snapped up the xB due to its frugal price point, economical running costs and flexible practicality, Scion isn't one of those car companies. They have a direct market and know who their customers are, and more often than not they're hip and urban people. But just the same Scion is in a bad fix. Consumers aren't buying their cars, not at least in the numbers that they ought to be.

The basic premise of Scion's business model was to get young people into Toyota products, offering the automaker's reputation of durability and quality without the stodgy, often bland image. Scion taps into the idea that Generation Y (late teens to late 20s), the relative newcomers to driving, not only need cars, but need cool cars. Combining Japanese culture of design and trends with the tuner and sport compact world, Scion delivers a lineup of vehicles at prices that the masses can really afford. The first Scions to land were essentially range-topping domestic Japanese market cars based off of the Toyota Echo, and they proved to be quite popular. As a means of expressing one's self,

Profile reminds us of hot rods. The rest of the car... well, that's different. (Photo: Scion)

the concept of the car as a blank canvas, an automotive clean sheet, is brilliant, especially given that Scion offers dozens of accessories of all types to enhance their cars.

This is a brand that for all intents and purposes should make hotcakes look like stale bread. The cars it sells are economical, affordable and cheap to run. They look different from the average subcompact or compact, and even though most people might not consider this aspect of their designs, they're quite practical too. But the thing is that dealers are having a hard time moving cars. Vehicle sales, in less than scientific terms, are in the toilet, despite the fact that the brand has expanded its dealer network significantly, and for 2008 two thirds of its product lineup is new, not to mention that small car sales are up due to rising fuel prices. What gives?

Recently, Scion's VP Jack Hollis said that the brand would be expanding its product lineup in the future, and potential candidates for one of the slots could include a pickup, a roadster or a sports car of sorts. A not so subtle hint could very well be the Hako Coupe, which was shown in

Patterned roof gives the Hako an airier feel, but with a twist. (Photo: Scion)

New York just recently.

The idea behind this bright orange concept is that it's what a box would look like if it were sporty. The concept of the box is particularly strong with Scion - the brand was built around the original xB (now out of production), which was little more than a four-wheeled box. Its successor, the new xB, is bigger and roomier, although it now has curved, rounded edges and is subsequently less box-like. Not that Scion has alienated its customers, but it wouldn't hurt the Toyota subsidiary to return to thinking back inside the box, not to mention bring back a smaller wagon-like vehicle. The Hako Concept is actually about 2.0 inches shorter than the current Yaris Liftback, and some 0.8 inches smaller than the smallest 2008 model year Scion, the xD.

Styling is a big part of the Hako. Unlike the xB, which was designed to be a box, pure, minimalist and simple, the Hako was conceived to create a reaction, and not unlike Chrysler's PT Cruiser when it first debuted, it reverses the typical engineering belief that form follows function.

Orange driver's seat is the hot seat. Cabin looks like a gaming room. (Photo: Scion)

What makes the Hako so unusual is its combination of shapes; there's almost no congruency to it. It has a (relatively) long hood and short overhangs like a sports car, but its nose is tall and blunt. Bulldog, anyone? Then it has pronounced fender flares with integrated headlamps, a pontoon look similar in concept to the Mazda RX-8. And if that weren't enough of a curve ball, there's the trademark Scion box part of the design. The combination of a perfectly vertical windshield, with a low profile height and thick pillars, reinforces the box part of the message, but also brings something new to the automotive scene - from the side it looks like a custom hot rod. True to its tuner side, the Hako is filled with aesthetic components, such as the extra-thin side view mirrors and the large diameter deep-dish alloy wheels.

Scion also thinks that youthful people like gadgets. I'd be willing to reckon that anyone in their 20s or 30s who could afford to buy a new car, the people that blur the end of Generation X and start of Generation Y,

Joystick used to control the screens. A neat twist. (Photo: Scion)

would be on the up and up when it comes to electronic gear; items like your iPod, your laptop, your Bluetooth-equipped cellphone. The Hako Coupe embraces this, and actually pushes the use of cameras and displays to new levels. Because so much of the vital information can be displayed on screens, why bother having a curvy shaped dashboard when simple straight-up screens will do?

The Hako seats four in two benches; the driver's is orange and the rest are black. The front passenger is separated from the driver by a molded arm rest console that houses a trackball for controlling the audio system, nav and other goodies. The whole cabin is upholstered in easy-to-clean neoprene and rubber surfaces, and features storage space for gizmos and gadgets, plus magazines. While the layout of the cabin is improbable, this screen system is plausible sometime down the road.

As a styling exercise, the Hako Coupe is certainly different. Nothing on the floor in Manhattan's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center looked anything remotely like it. But is this what young consumers really want - a modern day, hot-rod inspired vehicle? Scion says that it will be taking auto show goers' feedback into consideration in determining what its plans for future vehicles might be. And although I happen to think the Hako is sort of cool looking, most of the show goers didn't like it. There are plenty of different vehicle types for Scion to experiment with, so expect to see many more concepts from this interesting new brand in the coming months and years.

2008 Suzuki Kizashi 3 Concept

Suzuki is a brand that's poised for big growth, and this is the vehicle that's

Suzuki's Kizashi 3 will be Suzuki's new family sedan. You've got to admit, it looks pretty good. (Photo: Suzuki)

going to help kick the company's sales into high gear, particularly here in North America.

Over the past twelve months, Suzuki has released a series of concept cars under the Kizashi nameplate, numbered 1, 2, and 3. Each was designed with a particular market in mind, drawing from market trends and tastes, using different types of motors and vastly different body styles. The bottom line is that the Kizashi 3, the sedan variant which was shown in New York a week ago, is the closest concept to a forthcoming production model expected to arrive sometime in 2010.

Over the previous two generations, the Kizashi has morphed from a dramatic looking show car into a vehicle that's feasible, and fit for production. The biggest changes have occurred at the front of the car, where the flowing, gloss-black grille and downward spearing headlamps of the previous concepts are switched for a more conventional setup. Don't, however, mistake conventionality for boring, as the Kizashi 3 is one of the nicest looking sedans presented in quite some time. It's a tasteful looking

The body is simple, yet through its flared fenders and wide track, muscular. (Photo: Suzuki)

machine, and if Suzuki's promise of this car being near production can be relied upon, it isn't hard to picture this vehicle on the road with slimmer fender flares and smaller non-21-inch wheels. It certainly creates a much stronger impression than Suzuki's last non-compact sedan, the mostly forgettable Korean-made Verona (aka Daewoo Evanda).

Because the Kizashi 3 is well proportioned, it doesn't look nearly as small as it actually is. In terms of its physical dimensions, it measures just 15.2 feet in length, which is significantly smaller than your average midsize sedan, yet larger than a compact car. Even against typically smaller European and Japanese compact luxury sedans, there isn't a close match short of Saab's 9-3. It's bigger than a 3-Series, yet smaller than an Acura TSX. And yet, because Suzuki has stretched the wheelbase to a hardly believable 9.2 feet, which is equal to the new Accord, the Kizashi should have no shortage of room in the cabin;

Looks good from this angle. And, since it's got a 300-hp V6 under its hood, this is an angle that quite a few cars will be seeing. (Photo: Suzuki)

that is, when they create an inside. So far the Kizashi 3 is more or less a styling exercise, with no images of the interior made available. Nevertheless, Suzuki says that the car will be positioned as a near-luxury alternative, so expect plenty of content and a higher level of quality than we've seen from the brand before. With two years between now and the expected arrival of the production car, there's even enough time for another Kizashi concept... with a cabin.

Not a whole lot is known about the Kizashi's underpinnings including its chassis architecture however, if it's able to capture the same driving dynamics as the European Swift or the SX4, which shouldn't be too much of a problem, then the road-going version should be one of the better driving cars in its class. The concept car is equipped with a 3.6-liter V6 that incorporates plated cylinders, designed to save weight. Essentially, this engine has been carried over from the Kizashi 2 Concept and makes more than 300 horsepower, which should make for a fairly quick car. This engine is coupled to a six-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters. Due to an electronically controlled all wheel drive system, it shouldn't have any problem getting the power to all four wheels. While 300 horsepower isn't out of the question for a production model, it's more likely that the road-going Kizashi will be powered by a less powerful version of this engine with around 260 or 270 horsepower, and quite possibly

Besides committing to new product, the Kizashi launches a new look for the brand. (Photo: Suzuki)

a four-cylinder engine for entry-level trim levels. Kizashis sold in Europe will be offered with diesel power. Who knows, with a great number of automakers pursuing clean diesel technology, we may also see a diesel-powered Kizashi on this continent.

Last year, Suzuki commented that the brand would be taking the Kizashi around the world, and would mold the model lineup around the preceding concept cars. There will be a sedan (as seen here), a station wagon, as well as a crossover vehicle. While Suzuki currently has the XL-7 crossover, we could see the Kizashi crossover either replacing it, or if it's a five-seater, bolstering the brand's lineup. Either way it's a significantly important vehicle for the Japanese brand. One insight as to just how important the Kizashi will be points to a brand new production facility designed to house the new midsize model. The site is located in Sagara, Japan.

Suzuki says that the Kizashi was inspired by the brand's performance heritage in motorcycles and on the world rally circuit, and while the technology seems to come more from the marketing department rather than the engineering team, the Kizashi certainly presents itself as a sporty vehicle, which is refreshing to see from up and coming sedans. If you tend to buy midsize four-door sedans, this is one car you'll definitely want to keep an eye out for.