Porsche Taycan Factory Built To Clean The Air
Porsche Taycan may be a satisfactory step toward a greener planet for many people, but Porsche is going to extra lengths to make the car, and everything around it, as environmentally friendly as possible. The company announced that the Taycan's factory will help clean the air of nitrogen oxide emissions. Nitrogen oxides contribute to smog, and they're frequently created by diesel vehicles. To do this, Porsche will place aluminum panels around the exterior of the building coated in titanium dioxide. The company explains that when sunlight hits the panels, nitrogen oxide exposed to the surface breaks down into water and nitrate. Porsche has been testing this system with a little over 1,300-square feet of panels that it says are as effective as 10 trees in the same space. Porsche says that if the implementation on the Taycan plant goes well, it could start using the panels on additional buildings. On top of this nitrogen dioxide reducing strategy, the company claims Taycan production will be completely carbon neutral.
By cooling the exhaust that recirculates back to the engine, combustion temperatures are thus reduced without having to rely on a rich mixture. Mazda tells us that while the system鈥檚 benefits don鈥檛 show up on the light-throttle, almost-no-boost EPA test, there will be a benefit for real drivers. We rarely drive like real people, though, so we managed only 19 mpg over nearly 500 miles. All drivers will find the CX-9 is as smooth and charismatic as it appears. The electrically assisted power steering is light and accurate. Like all Mazdas, the CX-9 is easy to place on the road. With 20-inch wheels, the suspension tuning is on the firm side of supple. Push the CX-9 hard, and it never feels as ponderous as the minivan-like Highlander and Pilot. Switch the six-speed automatic into sport mode, and the CX-9 almost starts to think it鈥檚 an MX-5 Cup car. The gearbox snaps through downshifts under braking and gears are held longer. We measured 0.80 g of grip in skidpad testing despite an overactive stability-control system.
Even on public roads, we found the stability control a bit too intrusive. It can鈥檛 be shut off, and if you press hard into a corner, it鈥檒l clamp down on the brakes. Should you need to slam on the brakes, stopping from 70 mph takes 179 feet, a typical distance for the class. For the safety conscious, Mazda offers a full cache of driver-颅assistance systems, including blind-spot monitoring, radar-based cruise control, and lane-departure warning and correction. Only Grand Touring and Signature models get the radar-based active cruise control that makes the collision-warning system possible. If the vehicle senses an imminent collision, it will slam on the brakes. It鈥檚 too sensitive. Three times in as many days, the system thought an accident was developing when there was no danger. It surprised us by slamming on the brakes twice while gradually slowing behind a row of cars at a red light, and once again when changing lanes to dart around a slower car. The system can be shut off and its sensitivity can be adjusted (both times when the system intervened, it was set to its least sensitive setting), but it automatically reactivates every time the engine starts. The overactive system is completely inconsistent with Mazda鈥檚 driver-centric gospel. Annoying collision-warning system aside, the new CX-9 is the most engaging vehicle in its class, proving that practicality doesn鈥檛 always mean giving up handling and style. What it lacks in third-row space, it makes up for in refinement and dynamics. 53,915. It might not have the acceleration or third-row space of those two, but what鈥檚 more practical than saving money?
Despite this quickness, the F-Type is very much in the Goldilocks zone when it comes to speed - it's never so fast as to scare its driver, yet it can and will set your heart aflutter on every outing. A large part of this sensation can be attributed to the stupendous sound emanating from the F-Type's active exhaust system and the twin, center-mounted pipes. These chromed tubes may as well have been plucked from mortar launchers, as much like their military counterparts, they excel at making people far away take notice. With the exhaust's baffles set to open, the sound is positively primal, bellowing loudly and grandly under hard acceleration and then belching with all the grace of a beer-swilling frat bro on upshifts. On overrun, the F-Type does snap, crackle and pop far better than any tiny cereal cartoon mascots. If you're ever lucky enough to get behind the wheel, just do yourself a favor and drive it hard through a tunnel.