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BMW M4 pitted against i8 in drag race

Germany's Auto Bild has set up a very intriguing drag race to settle not just an inter-brand rivalry within BMW but a question of the old school versus the latest tech. The BMW M4 is a leader among the traditional sports coupes with a turbocharged inline-six spinning the rear wheels, but the M has to tackle the cutting-edge i8 with its turbocharged three-cylinder augmented with electric drive. See what happens when they go head to head. Even on paper, the race looks quite close. The i8 weighs about 300 pounds less than the M4 and also slightly nudges it out on net torque at 420 pound-feet versus 406 lb-ft. Also in some shots, the pavement looks just a little bit damp here, which would benefit the i8's all-wheel drive setup. However, the M-car has a healthy horsepower advantage with 425 hp against the hybrid's 357 hp. The race commences after a short introduction. Watch and see whether the traditional tech or latest layout wins the day. Related Gallery 2015 BMW M4 Coupe: First Drive View 38 Photos Related Gallery 2015 BMW i8: First Drive View 62 Photos News Source: Auto Bild TV via YouTubeImage Credit: Related images Copyright 2014 Michael Harley, Drew Phillips / AOL Green BMW Coupe Hybrid Performance Videos drag race race bmw m4

Ram and Alfa Romeo top J.D. Power study of best automaker websites

Imagining a new car can be terrific fun, especially if the new car is an Alfa Romeo. So say the fantasy engineers at the J.D. Power agency, who’ve found that Alfa and Ram, sister brands under the Stellantis umbrella, offer potential buyers the most attractive consumer websites, which are often their first viable encounter with those vehicles. Power found that those marques lead the mass market and premium categories in its twice annual Manufacturer Website Evaluation Study. In the premium segment, Alfa Romeo led with 755 points, up six points over BMW, 10 points ahead of Infiniti, 14 points past of Jaguar, and 18 points up on Porsche. By contrast, Volvo and Audi trail the pack with 689 points, and are behind Genesis (699 points), Tesla (720), and Cadillac (721), all of which perform worse than the premium segment average of 724 points. The summerÂ’s study showed that in the mass market segment, Ram leads with an impressive 735 points, which puts it six points ahead of GMC, seven points atop its stablemate Jeep, eight points beyond Subaru, and 22 points ahead of the industry average. Volkswagen finished dead last among mass market names, but only one point behind Ford, 684 to 683 out of a possible 1,000. Segment average, as noted, was 713 points. “Website satisfaction can be volatile, and automotive websites are not immune to changing preferences,” said Jon Sundberg, director of digital solutions at J.D. Power. “However, manufacturers have shown to be very agile when it comes to website design and ensuring their sites meet modern standards, more so than many other industries, as exemplified through the study data.” Marketing/Advertising Alfa Romeo Audi BMW Ford Volkswagen

Airbag recall widens to include BMW, Chrysler, Ford and Toyota

The recall of faulty airbag inflators supplied by Takata has exploded today to grow to seven automakers. In most cases, only models in certain high-humidity regions were affected because the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found in its investigation that moisture played a roll in determining whether there would be a problem. However, some companies opted for national campaigns. The exact number of affected models for these campaigns isn't yet known at this time.
BMW is recalling an undisclosed number of 325i, 325Xi, 330i and 330Xi models from the 2001 through 2005 model years and the 2001-2006 model year versions of the 325Ci and 330Ci for the driver side and passenger side inflators. Only vehicles currently registered in Florida, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and the US Virgin Islands are covered under this recall.
Neither Chrysler's filing with NHTSA nor its press release list the specific models affected, but a company spokesperson told Autoblog that at this time it only covers the driver and passenger side inflators for the 2006 Dodge Charger in Florida, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and the US Virgin Islands