German BMW tuner Alpina is celebrating its 50th birthday by introducing limited-edition versions of the 5 Series-based B5 Bi-Turbo and the 6 Series-based B6 Bi-Turbo.
Appropriately called Edition 50, both models are powered by a heavily-revised version of BMW’s 4.4-liter V8 engine that has been upgraded with a pair of beefy Alpina-designed turbochargers, new lightweight pistons, a high-capacity fuel system, a bigger oil radiator and no less than three intercoolers.

The modifications bump the eight-cylinder’s output to 600 horsepower and 590 lb-ft. of torque, figures that make the Edition 50s the most powerful road-going cars that Alpina has ever built. Both models can reach 62 mph from a stop in 4.2 seconds and go on to a top speed of 204 mph.

Visually, the Edition 50s stand out from their regular-production counterparts thanks to model-specific multi-spoke forged alloy wheels and a handful of commemorative emblems. Buyers can choose to have their car painted in Alpina Green, Alpina Blue or a new hue called Edition 50 Sepia that was designed by BMW’s Individual division.

The interior gains piano black trim on the dashboard, the center console and the door panels as well as a metal plaque engraved with the car’s serial number. Front sport seats upholstered in a combination of black and Forest Green leather are available at an extra cost.

Alpina will build just 50 examples of each commemorative model. In the United Kingdom, the B5 Bi-Turbo Edition 50 carries a base price of £86,850, a sum that converts to roughly $130,000.

Mercedes-Benz has announced that its Vans division will expand its lineup with a midsize pickup before the end of the decade.
The truck is at the embryonic stage of development so concrete details are vague at best. However, Mercedes promises that the yet-unnamed pickup will be able to haul about 2,200 pounds when properly configured and that it will offer all of the comfort and safety features that buyers expect to find in a vehicle with a three-pointed star emblem on the grille.

Mercedes’ truck will presumably be offered in several body styles including a single cab, a crew cab and a cab-chassis. Whether the truck is being developed in-house from the ground up or with input from another automaker is up the air. In recent years, Mercedes has collaborated with both Renault and Volkswagen on commercial vehicles.

The upcoming pickup truck will be sold in a number of global markets including Europe, Latin America, Australia and South Africa. However, at the time of writing Mercedes is not planning on offering the truck in the United States.

Déjà vu?
The yet-unnamed truck won’t be Mercedes’ first-ever pickup. The company’s Argentinian arm designed and built both two- and four-door pickup variants of the w114 (sold as a sedan in the United States) in the 1970s, and Mercedes built several car-based pickups in South Africa during the 1950s and 1960s in a bid to circumvent local tariffs that applied to commercial vehicles.

Casual car hacking could soon become much easier and cheaper, thanks to a gadget developed by programmer Eric Evenchick.
Known as CANtact, the device serves as an interface between a computer’s USB port and the Controller Area Network (CAN) bus that serves as the gateway to a vehicle’s electronic systems.

Such tools already exist, but most are specific to a single automaker and cost hundreds or thousands of dollars. CANtact takes a different approach, utilizing open-source software that can support a wide range of vehicles. Enthusiasts can tinker with the programming to expand the tool’s capabilities over time.

“I realized that there were no good tools for me to play around with this stuff outside of what the auto industry uses, and those are incredibly expensive,” Evenchick told Wired. “I wanted to build a tool I can get out there, along with software to show that this stuff isn’t terribly complicated.”

Evenchick suggests the tool can be used by enthusiasts, vehicle owners and security researchers. Each group can take advantage of a deeper level of interaction with a vehicle’s electronics systems, beyond the simple trouble-code checks available from a simple OBD-II scanner.

The CANtact tool will sell for $60, requiring a USB and OBD-II cable to complete the link. Evenchick’s supplies appear to be depleted, with the aim of fulfilling additional orders by July, but the hardware design is also open-source.

The President of the UAW Local that staffs Fiat Chrysler Automobile’s Toledo Assembly Complex is confident that the automaker will keep production of its next-generation Jeep Wrangler at the northwestern Ohio plant.
There’s been no shortage of reports that FCA is looking to shift production of its next-generation Wrangler to a new plant, but Bruce Baumhower, President of UAW Local 12, says he is confident that the 2017 version of the iconic SUV will continue to be built in Toledo.

“I think the proactive approach that we’ve taken over on the shop floor and in our local government, I think it’s going to work out for us,” Baumhower said of keeping Wrangler production in Toledo, according to The Detroit News.

The city of Toledo and the state of Ohio have reportedly offered FCA incentive deals to keep Wrangler production at its current facility, but so far none of the parties involved have revealed the details of those talks.

FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne first sparked concerns of the Wrangler leaving Toledo late last year when he publicly stated that the Toledo Assembly Complex might not be the right location to build the next-generation of the rugged SUV, which could make use of lighter aluminum for its construction.

“If the solution is aluminum, then I think, unfortunately, that Toledo is the wrong place, the wrong setup to try and build a Wrangler because it requires a complete reconfiguring of the assets that would be cost-prohibitive,” Marchionne told Automotive News.

Jeep CEO Mike Manely didn’t do much to quell those concerns when he announced last week that the automaker was still deciding where to build the next-generation Wrangler, due out in 2017.

“There’s no set date for a decision, but obviously there’s a lot of pressure and interest to make a decision as soon as possible,” Manley told The Detroit News.

The Wrangler is an extremely popular product for Jeep, accounting for more than 23 percent of the brand’s global sales.

New car efficiency hit an all time high in 2014, but a slowed pace of improvement has some concerned that the buying public isn’t ready to give up their gas-guzzlers just yet.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s latest fuel efficiency report, the average vehicle sold in the United States for the 2014 model year achieved real world mileage of 24.4mpg, or 0.1mpg better than in 2013. Although 2014 had the highest miles-per-gallon average the EPA has recorded to date, the rate of improvement for the nation’s fleet is slowing.

In 2013 new cars and trucks averaged 0.5mpg better than their 2012 counterparts. The improvement between 2011 and 2012 was even greater at 1.2mpg. Some of those gains could be wiped out in 2015, however, thanks to lower oil prices that are fueling sales of trucks and SUVs.

More powerful engines and heavier curb weights are also working against fuel efficiency. The EPA estimates that the average vehicle horsepower rating hit a record of 201 in 2014, up from 198 horsepower in 2013. The average vehicle now weighs 3,572, up 27 pounds from the year prior and the heaviest average on record since 1978.

Automaker will have to find a workaround for those problems as the EPA has mandated a 35.5mpg fleet-wide average by 2016. Car makers will have to hit 54.5mpg, which is about equal to 40mpg in real world driving, by 2025.

Mazda was the closest to hitting those targets in 2014 with an overall average fuel economy of 28.8mpg. Honda was second on the list with a fleet average of 27.6mpg, followed by Subaru’s 27.5mpg fleet-wide average.