Latest Stories

What We’re Driving

Power

What We’re Driving: 2020 BMW X3 M Competition

The concept of the high-performance SUV (more appropriately, “crossover”) can be difficult to reconcile. I understand that everyone currently wants an SUV body style and performance...

What We’re Driving

Connectivity

What We’re Driving: 2020 Lincoln Aviator Reserve

For my experience of Lincoln – and I’m not particularly young – I haven’t been able to understand the “sell” of the brand. Low sales numbers and decades of declining prestige...

News

Motion Control

Lightyear One: 20 Miles of Daily Solar Driving Range

It’s been more than a decade since Toyota first developed a photovoltaic system for the roof of a Prius hybrid-electric vehicle (HEV). Those solar cells, available on Japan-based...

Road Ready

Power

All-Wheel-Drive Returns to Chrysler Pacifica for 2021

The refresh of the 2021 model-year Chrysler Pacifica minivan premiers a top-of-the-line luxury trim, the debut of a next-generation infotainment system, and the return of...

News

Manned Systems

Executive Insights: BorgWarner VP and CTO Hakan Yilmaz

The automotive sector is in a time of enormous flux. As the foundational aspects of the industry shift, longstanding Tier-1 suppliers such as BorgWarner must continue to drive...

Original Equipment

Manufacturing & Prototyping

JLG Develops Self-Leveling Boom Lift

What started as a scale-model prototype shown at Bauma 2016 to explore the viability of a lift with a “smart” suspension has become reality for JLG Industries. At ConExpo-Con/Agg 2020, the...

News

Power

FPT Reveals Compact F28 Off-Road Diesel, Hybrid Variant

Seemingly everything at the ConExpo-Con/Agg 2020 is big – from the show’s footprint to the seemingly endless number of construction machines on the grounds. But FPT Industrial...

Original Equipment

Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Case Unveils Fully-Electric Backhoe Loader, Begins Delivery This Year

Case Construction Equipment’s move toward alternative propulsion took another step forward at March’s ConExpo-Con/Agg Show when it revealed “Project Zeus,” also...

News

Propulsion

Engineering the Chevrolet Corvette's First-Ever Mid-Engine Architecture

Shifting 500 lb (227 kg) of engine mass rearward by 7.5 feet (2.3 m) and moving 300 lb (136 kg) of transmission components aft by almost three feet transformed the...

Road Ready

Test & Measurement

Driving the 2020 Corvette Stingray

Grasping the true beauty of Chevy’s new 2020 Corvette supercar demands a deep dig. You must venture beyond the exciting-to-a-fault exterior skin and the lavish stitched-leather, buffed-metal, and...

News

Power

Xtrac Readies E-Tech for Rallycross World Championship

For any motorsport engineering supplier tempted to carry its highly specialized expertise along the winding – often hazardous – road to series cars, the journey can be fraught with...

News

Propulsion

Ford’s Max Mustang Brings ‘World Class’ into the Sports Coupe Conversation

There’s the old saw about a something being better than the sum of its parts. That phrase applies to the 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 – despite most of...

News

Manned Systems

Nissan's 2020 Frontier Gets New Powertrain

More transmission gears and greater engine horsepower should enliven the 2020 Nissan Frontier midsize pickup truck. “We’re launching a new transmission and new engine in the current Frontier,...

Road Ready

Manned Systems

2021 Cadillac Escalade Brings Curved OLED to the Dash

Cadillac has unveiled the 2021 Escalade and will differentiate the full-size SUV from its Tahoe/Yukon platform-mates with a large dose of exclusive technologies including Super Cruise,...

News

Transportation

Engine Developers Increase Efforts to Decrease Fuel Usage

Engineers are leaving no stone unturned in their unceasing drive to improve fuel economy, leveraging electronics, monitoring airflow and using data from outside the vehicle....

News

Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Solving the “Telehandler Problem”

A common challenge engineers face in the application of counterbalance or overcenter valves is machines with a high degree of load dynamics. Vehicles with slender booms, multiple booms, wear pads with...

Articles

Propulsion

2019’s Best Automotive Plastics Innovations

The Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) annual Automotive Innovation Awards Competition, now in its 49th year, is considered the “Oscars” for those developing polymer and...

News

Energy

ZwickRoell Rallies for EV Battery Testing

A lightweight, higher-capacity lithium-ion or Li-blended battery could fast-track the demand for electric vehicles (EVs) by increasing the driving range, but progress could be easily sidetracked...

Articles

Energy

Engineering the World’s Fastest Tractor

For farmers in a hurry, JCB’s Fastrac series agricultural tractors are capable of speeds up to 43 mph (69 km/h) in stock form. But the British company believes in challenging its engineers to...

News

Manufacturing & Prototyping

Parker Takes Electro-Hydrostatic Approach for Electric Machines

Off-highway industrial machines require multi-function implement operation with dynamic duty cycles. In many cases, machine implements demand short bursts of full engine power...

News

Propulsion

Isuzu Simplifies Fuel Changeovers

Isuzu is making it easier for equipment owners to switch fuels from natural gas to liquid propane, letting users switch by merely sending a signal to the engine. Released in October 2019, the dual-fuel...

News

Propulsion

Inside Tremec’s Corvette Dual-Clutch Transmission

Explaining Corvette’s move to one transmission for all buyers, global chief engineer Tadge Juechter notes, “Our customers began requesting a dual-clutch automatic transmission [DCT]...

What We’re Driving

Energy

What We’re Driving: 2020 Range Rover Sport HST

JLR (Jaguar Land Rover) goes straight to the point: it's new inline six-cylinder gasoline engine is “more responsive and better balanced” than a V6, the company said. That’s what...

News

Design

Volvo’s Polestar Powerhouse Plug-In Hybrid

You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. That’s why Polestar, Volvo’s new electric performance subsidiary, used its first vehicle as a rolling showcase of the brand’s...

News

Propulsion

What We’re Driving: 2019 Toyota Corolla Hatchback

For the 2019 model year, Toyota rediscovered and reintroduced the hatchback body style for the Corolla. Take the sheetmetal as you will – to me, some angles appeal, others don’t –...

News

Power

New IAAPS Powertrain R&D Center to Accelerate Development of Propulsion Systems

The auto industry needs new areas of expertise, new development tools, and new ways of facilitating collaboration and innovation to keep pace with technologies...

News

Mechanical & Fluid Systems

All-New 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe, Suburban Get IRS, Inline-6 Diesel

Although the full-size SUVs from General Motors’ Chevrolet brand have a long history and reputation built on their tough pickup-truck foundation, it’s apparent Chevy’s...

News

Energy

Narrower Focus, Bigger Payoff for Commercial EVs

Government regulations are prompting a changeover to electric powertrains, with early growth coming in commercial vehicle applications where range and recharging are more easily managed....

Articles

Test & Measurement

Insights into Heavy-Duty Engine Design

Engine developers face numerous challenges in their work. When building the new clean-sheet design C3.6 engine, Caterpillar Industrial Power Systems considered several factors including customer...