Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Would Toyota have any chance if the HiAce gets some US-spec versions?

Certainly one of the most successful among all modern commercial vehicles, the Toyota HiAce is by its own merits a common sight in many countries, even in my homeland Brazil despite never been a captive import here. As it shares many mechanical features with the traditional body-on-frame trucks and SUVs range from Toyota, including engines and transmissions, seems quite straightforward to certify for compliance with the American regulations regarding fuel efficiency and emissions, while a switch from cab-forward to a set-back cockpit in the 6th generation is part of a broader approach to increase the crashworthiness which also prevented the previous generation from having its US-spec variant. But now it's quite a good time for Toyota to eventually rethink its strategy and at least give the American van market some attention, also considering how overseas models such as the Ford Transit and the Fiat Ducato rebadged as RAM ProMaster took it over from its former orientation toward a more conservative design mostly shared with full-size trucks which are still leading the USDM as a whole.
Possibly one of the fewest changes unrelated to safety or emission regulations I could ever consider to make the 6th-generation Toyota HiAce more appealing to Americans would be replacing its rear liftgate for a barn-door setup, much easier to carry palletized loads with a forklift and a better height clearance while loading or unloading a stretcher in an ambulance conversion. Even though general export versions of the 6th-generation HiAce may eventually differ in lenght, wheelbase, overall height and even width, yet holding my breath for the narrow-body SWB model with a low roof, set to comply to a Japanese regulation which attracts a lower annual tax for so-called compact vehicles which goes as far as including commercial vehicles, is out of question, despite it eventually becoming a better choice for certain operators in some crowded metropolitan regions. But anyway, as Toyota can ultimately benefit from its worldwide economics of scale, despite the Chicken Tax which could apply in case some US-spec variant of the HiAce would be made outside the NAFTA zone which also includes Mexico and Canada, and since Mexico is not only less strict regarding safety and emission compliance enough to eventually justify the HiAce becoming also made there but is also a major export hub for motor industry, I really don't know what Toyota is waiting to finally place a bet on the USDM with the HiAce.

Monday, March 04, 2024

Are dune buggies the vehicle category facing the fiercest competition?

Having been usually built upon repurposed Volkswagen frames from models such as the Beetle, dune buggies used to have a much broader appeal in Brazil prior to the market reopening for imported cars, which brought modern SUVs and turned them into the new craze among the urban Brazilian middle and upper classes. Safety and emission laws also rendered it harder for buggy factories to keep a full production volume, even though the usage of as many components from some mainstream cars as possible could enable the economics of scale, to the point that now ABS brakes and even dual airbags can be fitted to some buggy models in Brazil, not to mention the downsizing with turbocharged 1.0L 3-cylinder engines replacing the EA827 and EA111 engines which themselves were a replacement for the venerable air-cooled boxer engine once Volkswagen phased it out. But the traditions which made buggies retain a foothold on the coastline of the Nordeste (Paraíba/Bahia/Ceará) region were not really enough to be an effective contender to other categories such as compact hatchbacks and sedans which are still prevalent within the entry-level segment in the Brazilian market.

The absence of comfort features formerly regarded as a luxury such as power steering and air conditioning, or even a basic forced ventilation which may be redundant while driving without the canvas top yet actually quite handy when a pouring rain makes the "winter top" a must even on summertime, is harder for an overwhelming majority of the Brazilian car buying public, so not even the predictably low manufacturing cost of a buggy bodyshell would render it suitable to address the needs and preferences of most new car buyers in Brazil anymore. Despite it also being possible to fit some cargo restraint devices such as racks, in order to eventually serve to the same purpose of a regular car, the practicality inherent to a hatchback or a sedan turns them into a safer bet, while a dune buggy is now mostly seen as just a curiosity on a trip to the Beach Park in Fortaleza. So, while it could be eventually possible to rely on a dune buggy as the only motor vehicle for a household, and resort to minor adaptations to enhance its suitability to the task, a fierce competition not only against a strictly conservative economy car but also against SUVs with a clearly focus on the recreational usage are quite hard to overcome...

Sunday, February 11, 2024

Brazilian 1960 Ford F-100 with a local double-cab conversion approved by Ford

For many people it's no longer unknown the Brazilian models of the Ford F-Series used to be at least one generation older than those made elsewhere, so this F-100 being a 1960 model is no surprise. What makes it really unusual is the double-cab conversion, which was provided by the Sulamericana company under an agreement with Ford, and using the same glasshouse of the regular cab. There were also van conversions performed by the same enterprise, yet those were demanded mostly by governmental entities.

 

Wednesday, February 07, 2024

Avallone, a Brazilian sports car from the 70s with a Chevette powertrain

Car imports had been basically out of reach in Brazil from '76 to '90, with few exceptions granted, so the need for specialty models such as sports cars was mostly addressed by local makers who had to rely on powertrains supplied by mainstream automakers with a Brazilian manufacturing operation. One of such ventures was Avallone, resorting to Chevrolet engines and transmissions for its MG replicas. The most common was the powertrain from the Chevette, as in this '76 model.

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Why could it be a good deal for LiquidPiston to develop drop-in replacement engine aiming the Volkswagen Beetle?

Undeniably one of the most iconic and easily recognisable vehicles ever, the Volkswagen Beetle still has a really strong cult following around the world, remaining fairly usual to spot one serving to its original purpose as a family vehicle in countries such as Brazil or Mexico. Despite fewer other cars with a rear engine also achieving a comparable success as a regular runabout, the Beetle also got a substantial attention from the aftermarket, including all sorts of performance upgrades ranging from engine tuning kits to complete engine swaps, occasionally sought after by some people who daily-drive an old Beetle for reasons other than performance alone. While certain engines more often swapped into a Beetle with many different degrees of complexity have been tried and tested, there is a great opportunity for something specific to cover such a wide and diversified market, which actually goes way beyond the usage of the Volkswagen flat-4 engine for automobile applications, from specialty equipments to ultralight and light sports aircraft resorting to either a modified Volkswagen engine or something clearly inspired by it.
Most likely, a nearly "perfect" way to address nearly all those user cases for Beetle engine replacements could be a dedicated engine based on that LiquidPiston's X-Mini rotary engine design, yet a larger displacement on each rotor housing and some adaptations to enable twin or triple rotor setups would be desirable. As the LiquidPiston single-rotor designs usually feature the intake duct and exhaust outlets on the same side, that would render it harder to develop versions with 2 or 3 rotors, so a redesign with the exhaust ports on the opposite end-plate would be the way to go, while the hollow eccentric shaft which also doubles as an intake manifold is much harder to get rid of, yet maybe with a greater amount of rotors it would be worth to look out for other layouts... But anyway, as the only rotary engines to effectively become successful from a market standpoint, back in the day when NSU and Citroën joined their efforts to make Wankel engines while Mazda tried on its own to replace piston engines of its entire range with a basic Wankel layout prior to the oil crisis, always had 2 rotors, it's a historical precedent harder to overcome than most technical challenges which may be held against the real-world viability of an automobile engine developed according to a LiquidPiston basic project.
As the Volkswagen Beetle is still embraced by so many people around the world for the most varied reasons, with engine swaps also playing an important role for the enthusiasts and "traditional" users alike, the opportunity for a dedicated engine platform to cover this and other applications for a lightweight and compact powerplant is clearly outlined. The possibilities to venture into engine swaps for cars other than the Volkswagen Beetle, even if the specific benchmark for a development based on a LiquidPiston design would still be the Volkswagen Beetle, may lead to a quicker return of investment, considering all those other cars originally fitted with some engine frequently adapted to Beetles and derivative models from both Volkswagen and so many low-volume automakers who resorted to the flat-4 as an off-the-shelf powerplant. So, even if at a first glance it might sound pointless to look at the Volkswagen Beetle as a testbed for a modern engine, in the end this might be a quite promising opportunity to venture into...

Monday, January 01, 2024

Tecnobus Clip CL10, a walk-thru van unique to Brazil

Unlike the United States, walk-thru vans were never exactly common in Brazil, with exceptions such as the Tecnobus Clip CL10 appearing once in a while. Released in the '90s and made by a subsidiary of the defunct Viação Itapemirim, it resorted to the very same underpinnings of the Agrale 1600D RS cabover truck, which had a 63hp 3-cylinder MWM Diesel engine. The manual transmission and rear axle were the same fitted to local light-duty versions of the Ford F-Series Bumpside.

 

Wednesday, December 06, 2023

Lambretta-based Tork 150 BR, a failed attempt to compete with Honda and Yamaha in Brazil

Brazil is definitely a land of surprises when it comes to motor vehicles. Among all those specific versions of Volkswagens there used to be a space for experiences regarding the motorcycles market which grew a lot in the '70s with the arrival of local manufacturing operations from Honda and Yamaha, ending the previous leadership of Lambretta and Vespa scooters in the small-displacement range.  However, the Brazilian manufacturer of Lambretta released some motorcycles with a more conventional frame and the very same wheels and engine from the classic Lambretta, and so Brumana Pugliese released a model initially named Xispa and lately renamed Tork 150 BR, using the Xispa nameplate from 1971 to 1979. Despite having an engine which was already well known by Brazilian mechanics at the time, it became nearly impossible to compete against Honda and Yamaha which moved to Manaus in order to benefit from the Free Port Zone and import components at the beginning of local manufacturing, in a time when imports were otherwise severely restricted. However, the Brumana Pugliese company went bankrupt in 1982, and then the Lambretta and its unique Brazilian derivatives were phased out.
 

Friday, December 01, 2023

5 cars which could be an interesting testbed for a 2-rotor engine based on the LiquidPiston designs

With a different approach to the rotary engine, which is more reminded by how Mazda took the Wankel concept and turned it into one of the most relevant parts of its brand identity, the startup LiquidPiston is a proponent of what could be described as a Wankel turned inside-out in order to effectively address its downsides. So, unlike the Wankel layout which resorts to triangular rotors inside oblong housings, with 3 variable-volume chambers at each housing where different stages of a 4-stroke combustion process is undertaken, LiquidPiston has resorted for both spark-ignition and compression-ignition engine designs to an oblong-shaped rotor inside a housing containing 3 constant-volume chambers where all 4 strokes happen in a way analogue to the cylinders of a conventional reciprocating engine, yet only single-rotor variants of its proof-of-concept engines had been showcased. However, just like only Mazda achieved commercial success only with 2-rotor Wankel engines (and even a twin-turbo 3-rotor to a much limited extent), most likely a mature LiquidPiston-based engine would only achieve commercial viability once it could be scaled-up to 2 or 3 rotors, with 2 being more likely to happen considering the weight savings intended for the design and some odd features such as resorting to a hollow eccentric shaft (analogue to the crankshaft of a reciprocating engine) to guide the intake charge, and among so many cars which can be interesting testbeds for such an engine I could quote at least 5 without a doubt:

1 - Renault Kwid: originally intended to be made in India, this budget-oriented model also became available in Brazil from 2017 on. Considering its featherweight nature, and how it was intended to be a fairly inexpensive "people's car", the claimed lower overall cost to manufacture a LiquidPiston-based engine and its intended fuel-efficiency would be a perfect match, once its scalability and lubrication of the eccentric shaft get properly addressed;

2 - Peugeot 208 (second generation): even though forced-induction had been taken more seriously at an earlier stage in European versions than in its Argentinian-made counterpart, to which at first only the ancient naturally-aspirated 1.6L EC5 engine had been offered, until the 3-cyl 1.2L EB2 also became available in Argentina and Uruguay, while the 1.0L Fiat GSE engine had to be specified only for Brazil in order to benefit from a tax break for 1.0L-engined cars. A lower cost and the simplicity of being able to resort to a single engine with fewer parts, at a more favored displacement class, yet with a better power-density, would be beneficial;

3 - Chevrolet Montana (third generation): the oil-bath timing belt on itself is enough to justify the will to fit another engine without this controversial feature. As the Brazilian-made turbocharged versions of the GM CSS Prime engine retain port-injection, unlike its Chinese and Korean counterparts which resort to direct injection, is also subjected to criticism in Brazil, so as a LiquidPiston engine tends to feature a higher power-density even with natural aspiration it would most likely remain proportionately cheaper (at least in theory), not to mention how turbocharging an engine makes it more critical to not paying attention to lube oil specifications;

4 - Ford Pampa: most noticeably the rare 4X4 version, which could be more specifically interesting as a testbed for a Diesel engine, which could be based on the 25hp 2-stroke LiquidPiston XTS-210 engine, which has been more highlighted for its intended usage on portable gensets and military drones. Had it already been possible to stack a pair of XTS-210 engines together to form a single 2-rotor 50hp engine, comparable to the 1.6L Diesel version of Volkswagen's EA827 engine, I'm sure it would be quite easy to find a Ford Pampa owner to volunteer as a test-driver;

5 - Kombi: either the water-cooled EA-111 engine or the air-cooled boxer it replaced are far from being bad enough for someone to replace them just for the sake of it, yet it would still be tempting to pick one as a testbed for a different engine. The compact and lightweight nature of LiquidPiston designs would also render it less likely to affect too much the weight bias while unloaded, which could be a critical matter for other engines.

Friday, November 10, 2023

Brazilian '74 VW Beetle retrofitted with a turbocharged EA827 engine

With engine swaps being a fairly common deal nowadays, a car which used to be such a strong seller in Brazil like the Volkswagen Beetle/Fusca would also have its fair share of the deal, not only from a basic utilitarian approach in order to keep an ancient car operating but also for performance enhancements, to which the Volkswagen EA827 engine range better known in Brazil as "AP" is among the favorites. And even though a stock EA827 would most likely be an improvement over the stock air-cooled boxer, there are those who take one step further and enjoy the extensive aftermarket support. Not only Volkswagens are adapted with this engine in Brazil, and turbocharging may be actually essential to keep up with the original performance of some models, while for a Beetle the performance enhancement is noticeable.
Even though a fully-dressed EA827 engine is considerably heavier than the air-cooled boxer, which can be much more of an issue for engine swaps into air-cooled Volkswagens because of the way the engine is held in place only through the bellhousing, the bolt patterns being much similar makes the adaptation easier than for most engines from other automakers. And unlike other regions such as the United States or Africa where Japanese automakers took over the market for compact cars way before the Beetle, and Volkswagen in general, fell out of favor among budget-oriented buyers, performance enhancements for the Volkswagen EA827 remain easier to find and more affordable than for most other engines. Maybe a flat-4 Subaru EJ engine could have fewer impact to the weight bias, but the Volkswagen EA827 is much more dumbproof for Brazilian standards and is easier to get either used or as a brand-new crate engine.

Wednesday, November 01, 2023

Could the Hyundai HB20 also be competitive outside Latin America?

Developed specifically for Brazil and now in its 2nd generation, the Hyundai HB20 was meant to be an answer to some local demands, in contrast to other regional markets where Hyundai still used to source small models straight from Korea and even from India or Turkey. However, amid all the SUV craze and how it impacted other segments, in some Latin American countries now the HB20 and its sedan variant HB20S are the only Hyundai cars available new, other than SUVs or hybrids, and it's worth to notice its external dimensions being smaller than other Hyundais within the same class available elsewhere leads to an easier maneuvering through tight spaces, in the end rendering it more convenient for urban traffic.

Naturally having been designed with one specific "emerging" market requires budget-oriented measures to keep it cost-effective for Brazilian standards, also influencing other Latin American markets because Brazil is still among the most important automotive industrial hubs in the region, opportunities in other regions to which Brazilian-made vehicles used to be exported at larger quantities decades before could also receive the HB20, or even have it made locally if they have protectionist policies similar to Brazil. Still justifying the classification as a compact, while other models grew larger than what a mid-size car used to be a few decades ago, and designed with affordability in mind, the Hyundai HB20 could also be competitive in Southeast Asia or Africa for instance. There were other examples of economy cars which had been designed for the Brazilian market and went far beyond Latin America, Africa and Middle East to reach some Western European countries and even India, so there could be some realistic perspectives for the HB20 if Hyundai ever gives it a chance.