CARSCOOP |  |
- Toyota Loses First Unintended Acceleration Case, Pays $3 Million to Victims
- BMW 3-Series Driver Goes All Rocky Down the Steps of Philly Museum of Art [Updated]
- Nissan Tries to Convince Us the Note Can Float, But Why? [w/Video]
- Next Alfa Giulietta QV to Get Engine and Gearbox from the 4C, No GTA
| Toyota Loses First Unintended Acceleration Case, Pays $3 Million to Victims Posted: 26 Oct 2013 12:02 PM PDT  An Oklahoma judge found Toyota liable for a 2007 unintended acceleration accident involving a 2005 Toyota Camry, which resulted in the death of the passenger and an injured driver. The decision represents the first court loss for the Japanese carmaker in an unintended acceleration case. Toyota will pay $1.5 million compensation to Jean Bookout, the driver injured in the crash, and $1.5 million to the family of Barbara Schwartz, the passenger who died. The verdict comes shortly after Toyota won a bellwether case in California. The jury also decided that Toyota acted with "reckless disregard" for the public's safety. However, said Oklahoma County District Judge Patricia Parrish, jurors won't be deliberating additional punitive damages. That's because the plaintiff's lawyers said they had reached a settlement with Toyota for an undisclosed amount that would cover both the damages and the potential punitive payout. Despite the verdict, Toyota continues to deny it was at fault. "While we strongly disagree with the verdict, we are satisfied that the parties reached a mutually acceptable agreement to settle this case. We remain committed to providing our customers with safe and reliable vehicles, and we will continue to defend our products vigorously at trial in other legal venues," read the company's press release issued on Friday. Toyota has already agreed to pay $1.4 billion to settle a class-action suit by car owners who saw the resale value of their cars decline. A little more than half of the sum was spent on installing a brake override system in affected vehicles. However, that settlement does not cover cases that resulted in personal injury or death. According to financial filings, Toyota still faces more than 700 unintended acceleration cases. By Dan Mihalascu Story References: CNNThanks to George for the tip!          |
| BMW 3-Series Driver Goes All Rocky Down the Steps of Philly Museum of Art [Updated] Posted: 26 Oct 2013 08:53 AM PDT  Disrespectful criminal, mischievous hoon or a victim of circumstances? We'll let you decide after we tell you the story of Emin Faki, 20, who was filmed earlier this week going down the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in a…1980s (pre-facelift) BMW 3-Series E30 Convertible. The museum is not only famous for its vast collection of artwork, but also for the 72 steps before the entrance, which are collectively known as the "Rocky Steps" after Sylvester Stallone climbed them in the triple-Oscar-winning film Rocky and its sequels. Local photographer HughE Dillon, who runs the website PhillyChitChat and lives nearby, captured the scene on video. He stated the following about the incident: "I was driving down the BF Parkway home. Since I live across from the steps I know what looks normal there, two headlights didn't fit that bill. I got stuck at traffic light w/cars in front of me, so video starts as he's closer to the bottom." Philadelphia police learned about the incident and according to a report from Philly, they questioned 20-year old Faki on Friday. The District Attorney's Office said it has already approved a felony charge of criminal mischief against the driver as the car caused around $8,000 in damage to the steps. However, police said that they will not be pressing charges just yet as they want to determine whether the car had any mechanical issues at the time causing the driver to go down the steps. Dillon told the news daily he doesn't believe speculation that the car was parked on top and it started to roll down by itself with the driver jumping in to save it. "At first I couldn' believe it," Dillon said. "I was a little nervous. I thought he was going to roll. He was so deliberate in every single step. And then he went down backwards. It's difficult to do. When he got to the halfway point, he did a victory lap. There's a big apron, probably 30 feet wide, and he drove up and back, up and back, four times. Then he had to do a K-turn at either end. When he got to the bottom, he did another victory lap, then drove off," he added. First Video and Screenshot Credits: HughE Dillon Update: We just discovered a second video shot from one of the people on the steps named Stefan Santacroce, in which we hear (but don't see) that the car rolled down on its own and that the driver jumped in to save it
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| Nissan Tries to Convince Us the Note Can Float, But Why? [w/Video] Posted: 26 Oct 2013 07:34 AM PDT  New car launches can be boring, especially when they follow the same classic set-up. However, Nissan wanted something special for the UK launch of the new Note, so it turned the small B-segment car into a boat of sorts. Nissan literally launched the specially-adapted Note Boat on the Eton Dorney Lake in the UK, along with three superstar Olympic rowers: Helen Glover, Sophie Hosking and Polly Swann. The carmaker says the Note Boat "provides a visual demonstration of Note's exciting technologies", more specifically the sliding rear seat (turned into a single stroke seat for a rower), the rear doors, which open to almost 90 degrees allowing the fitting of a pair of oars which can move through an almost entire rowing stroke, and the Around View Monitor 360-degree parking system, which helped the rowers see where they were going and keep their lane. The Note's Around View Monitor with Safety Shield technology features four cameras - one in the front, one at the rear and one under each door mirror - providing a helicopter-style top down view. I'm not sure what point Nissan wanted to make with this publicity stunt, other than the Note can be placed onto a raft and claim it's a rowing boat by fitting a pair of oars. Imagine if the event went wrong – that would have definitely got a lot of media coverage. As for the Note that prefers roads to lakes, UK deliveries kicked off on October 1, with Nissan receiving 3,860 orders so far. By Dan Mihalascu              |
| Next Alfa Giulietta QV to Get Engine and Gearbox from the 4C, No GTA Posted: 26 Oct 2013 06:39 AM PDT  The next generation of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde (QV) performance version will use the 240PS (236hp) engine from the 4C sports car. The current engine in the hot Alfa Giulietta, the 235PS (232hp) 1.75-liter turbocharged unit, is in fact the engine used by Alfa's engineers to develop the 4C's powerplant. As you can see, the increase in power will not be spectacular, but Alfa Romeo says the Giulietta will gain in terms of performance and handling thanks to the engine's lightweight aluminum build. With the new engine, the 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) time should drop from 6.8 seconds to around 6.5 seconds. Besides the engine, the next Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde (Cloverleaf in the UK) will also get the TCT six-speed automatic gearbox with dual dry clutch from the 4C, which will be the only transmission available. This will no doubt disappoint fans of manual transmissions. According to an Alfa Romeo spokesman quoted by Autocar, both the engine and the gearbox will be used in their current form. By using the 4C's engine and gearbox on other models as well, Alfa Romeo wants to build a closer connection between its mid-engined sports car and volume models. Like the current generation, the future Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde will be the range-topping model, as Alfa Romeo has no plans to bring back the GTA sub-brand to the C-segment in the near future. By Dan Mihalascu              |
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