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BMW reveals M4 safety car with innovating water injection system [w/video]

Racing series don't just pick their safety cars at random, or use just whatever car is lying around. These days the car that sets the pace at the front of the pack is typically provided through consideration by a sponsor. In the MotoGP series, that's BMW and its M division, which have served up the Official Car of MotoGP since 1999. What you're looking at is the latest, and it packs some innovative technology on board. Aside from the matte black wrap with BMW's iconic striped livery, upgraded aero kit, retrofitted interior and emergency equipment, this BMW M4 coupe packs a new injection system under the hood. Only instead of injecting fuel, it injects water into the combustion chamber – something that wouldn't usually be recommended, but BMW insists actually aids in the combustion process. The idea is that the temperature of the air being mixed with the fuel inside the engine is usually hotter than ideal, so the system injects a fine mist of water into the collector in order to reduce the air's temperature... sort of like one of those hydrating misters at an amusement park or outdoor mall, but in an even hotter environment. The system brings the temperature of the air down to a more optimal temperature, helping it combust better. The process is said to yield a number of positive effects. For one, it reduces knocking. For another, it can make more out of lower-octane fuel where higher octane isn't available. It also can control the adverse effects of higher ambient temperature on the combustion process. But most of all, it increases output and reduce fuel consumption by around eight percent. Whether that eight percent is worth the added weight of the system – particularly with water pump and a 1.3-gallon tank in the trunk – is up for debate. But we'd imagine that the Bavarian engineers have weighed very carefully. Of course there's also the matter of refilling the water tank, which BMW says would be carried out whenever the safety car is refueled, but in real-world conditions would only necessitate attention once every five top-ups at the gas station. By now you might have guessed that BMW probably didn't develop this system just for the MotoGP safety car, and isn't planning on keeping it confined to the racetrack. Instead it's being tested and demonstrated on the safety car before being rolled out on production models in the future.

BMW tops Consumer Reports 2023 Brand Report Card

Feels like we wrote about Consumer Reports' 2022 Brand Report Car and 10 Top Picks a few weeks ago, but it was last April. So the mag is back with a ranked roster of 32 brands and 10 vehicles in four categories for your debating pleasure. Starting with the brands, last year's top three were Subaru, Mazda and BMW. This year, the Munich crew climbed two spots to win the prize thanks to "Superb road test scores and solid results in CR’s reliability and owner satisfaction surveys." Subaru narrowly fell to second, maintaining its four-year run in the top three. Mini, eighth last year, jumped five spots to get the last step on the podium. The rest of the top 10 were Lexus (up one spot from last year), Honda (down one spot from last year), Toyota (up three), Genesis (up 12), Mazda (down six), Audi (down three) and Kia (up eight). The magazine and testing outfit says its Brand Report Card "[reveals] which automakers are producing the most well-performing, safe, and reliable vehicles based on CRÂ’s independent testing and member surveys," and that "Brands that rise to the top tend to have the most consistent performance across their model lineups." Last year's top 10 had six automakers from Japan, three from Germany (giving Mini credit for England), none from the U.S. or South Korea, and five luxury brands. This year's list counts five makes from Japan, two from Germany because Porsche fell out of the top ten, two from South Korea, still none from the U.S., and four luxury brands. Buick again ranked as the best domestic, dropping to 12th after being 11th last year. The big mover was Lincoln, its 10-place jump up to 16th attributed to better reliability from the Corsair and Nautilus. Tesla's improved overall reliability saw it climb six spots to 17th. Dodge climbed one spot to 15th. Jeep got out of the penalty box in last to come second-to-last. Land Rover fell three places into the penalty spot.  CR's top 10 vehicle models The 10 Top Picks list is practically a new list. Only two holdovers made it to 2023, those being the Subaru Forester and Kia Telluride.

Toyota passes BMW as most valuable car brand

An annual market study of the strongest brands across various industries has seen Toyota leapfrog BMW as the world's most valuable automotive brand. Toyota's 2013 brand value rose to $24.5 billion, up 12 percent versus 2012 numbers according to market research company Millward Brown's BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands list. BMW's value fell slightly; down by 2 percent to a total of $24 billion.
Mercedes-Benz finished in third place in the automotive category, up 11 percent from 2012 for a valuation of $18 billion. Honda ($12.4 billion, down 2 percent) and Nissan ($10.2 billion, up 3 percent) rounded out the top five for the category. Volkswagen was the only other auto brand that finished in the top 100 overall, in 100th place. Audi made the greatest percentage gain over 2012, up 18 percent to $5.5 billion, but finished outside of the top 100.
Technology companies dominated the overall list, with Apple, Google and IBM ranking one through three. Couture brand Prada was 2013's biggest gainer, rising by 63 percent over 2012.