This year, Nissan’s Yokohama Plant reached a significant milestone by producing its 40-millionth engine. This achievement coincides with the automaker’s 90th anniversary, showcasing the plant’s long-standing history. The Yokohama Plant has been operational since 1935, launching just two years after the company’s establishment. Throughout its existence, the factory has manufactured several innovative engines.
One notable achievement occurred in 1979 when the plant introduced the L20ET engine. This engine marked Japan’s first turbocharged engine for passenger cars, powering popular models like the Fairlady Z. Another milestone arrived in 1983 when the plant started producing Japan’s first mass-produced V6 engine. This development was a significant contribution to the automotive industry. Additionally, in 2007, the plant commenced the manufacturing of Nissan’s VC Turbo engines, incorporating variable compression ratio technology.
The Pacifica is a minivan produced by the Chrysler division of the Stellantis group. The name has been used earlier on many different vehicles from the brand, but since 2017, it has been used on the flagship minivan. It replaced the famous Chrysler Town & Country. The Pacifica also comes in a Plug-in Hybrid form called the Pacifica PHEV. However, this variant has been underrated since its launch despite being very capable as a minivan.
Despite being in the market for many years and having a good reputation as far as the vehicle is concerned, it still hasn’t achieved the success that it should have. Chrysler has tried many different ways to showcase its ability, but despite that, the Pacifica hasn’t reached the success it is capable of. There are many reasons for this, and Chrysler has addressed some of them over the years. However, some of them still remain. Let’s look at some of the reasons why it is so criminally underrated.
Updated on July 14, 2023: The Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid is an excellent minivan that deserves as much recognition as possible. So, instead of letting this article get buried in the multitudes of other dead articles online, we have decided to refresh and update it with more data to keep you informed with the most up-to-date information.
1The Chrysler Pacifica Is Spacious And Well-Appointed
Chrysler
Rear view of the interior of a 2023 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
The Pacifica is very well-appointed, especially in the top-of-the-line Pinnacle variant. It gets nice Nappa leather-wrapped seats along with many other luxurious appointments in the cabin. All the common touchpoints feature very nice materials that make it feel extremely upmarket. Moreover, the ample amount of legroom in all three rows makes it very comfortable for long-distance journeys without making the passengers feel claustrophobic. High-quality materials instantly lift the cabin ambiance and make it inviting for the passengers.
Chrysler Pacifica Legroom Dimensions
Front-row legroom
41.1 inches
Second-row legroom
39 inches
Third-row legroom
36.5 inches
2It Features A Multi-Zone Climate Control
Stellantis
Rear view of interior of 2022 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
Chrysler has loaded the Pacifica with many good-to-have and essential features that make it the default choice when choosing a family minivan. The Pacifica has full Amazon Alexa integration that helps the driver control all functions, from navigation to climate control. The automatic climate control system also keeps the cabin at the perfect temperature, which adds to creating that perfect environment. Also, the multi-zone climate control system allows various passengers to maintain temperature as per their liking and comfort.
3The Pacifica Hybrid Is Very Fuel Efficient
Chrysler
Front-end action shot of the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
Being a hybrid, the Pacifica offers very high levels of fuel efficiency despite being large and heavy. The PHEV system is designed to cover the maximum possible miles of electric power, thereby aiding the overall fuel efficiency. The Pacifica is rated at 82 MPG and has a combined gas and electric range of 520 miles. When driven with a light foot, the system allows the Pacifica to run on electric power even on expressways at higher speeds. The engine kicks in only when the batteries start to run out of juice. This helps in extracting the maximum possible efficiency out of the system.
Drivers side view of the dashboard of a 2023 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
Chrysler has equipped the Pacifica with a very modern and functional infotainment system. This system controls most of the vehicle’s functions and allows the driver and the passengers to toggle any setting from a single control point. The sizeable 10.1-inch touchscreen has a crisp and clear display and houses many of the car’s controls. It is also linked to the rear infotainment screens and allows the front-seat passengers to enjoy content from Amazon Fire TV when the vehicle is stationary. This makes the system enjoyable for all Pacifica passengers, including the ones in the front seat.
5The Chrysler Pacifica Is Loaded With Safety Features
Stellantis
A white Chrysler Pacifica PHEV Minivan parked on the road
One of the most essential features today is safety, and not just ones that appear to be good. When you own a minivan, you want the best of the best because your family will be relying on it. Chrysler has gone through the newest innovative safety technology on the shelf. If it was at all relevant to the Pacifica, it was added to the minivan.
Forward collision warning
Forward collision braking
Adaptive cruise control
Pedestrian braking controls
LED headlights
LED taillights
Lane departure warning
Lane keep assist
Blind-spot monitoring
Rear park assist
Rear cross-path detection
Plus, inside, you have the standard addition of having a filtration system installed to keep the cabin air fresh and 85 percent clear of harmful particles. Now, that is not to say that accidents will not happen, but if it does, the eight standard airbags and 97 safety features will help ensure that injuries are kept to the minimum.
6It Is Very Silent And Refined
Chrysler
Front end close up of a 2023 Chrysler Pacifica
Although initially, the Pacifica was known to be a bit noisy, Chrysler has worked on this aspect proactively over the years. Now, the Pacifica is one of the most refined minivans on the market. Thanks to the improved door and glass seals, the Pacifica is very silent and refined now, and this lifts the entire cabin ambiance at least two notches up. The NVH levels on the Pacifica are now right up there with the segment’s best.
In 2011, Ford produced a total of 5,100 units of the Shelby GT500. Out of those, only 126 had a glass roof option, making them rare and hard to find on the market today. If you do manage to find one for sale, be prepared to pay a hefty price. Recently, someone purchased one of these 126 cars with approximately 83,000 miles on it and decided to test the engine’s power output.
The 2011 Shelby GT500 comes with a stock 550 horsepower and 515 pound-feet of torque at the flywheel. This model introduced a new aluminum 5.4-liter V8 engine that was lighter and more efficient than its cast-iron predecessor. These improvements also eliminated the US Gas Guzzler Tax for the sports car.
However, the particular car being tested is not completely stock. It has been modified with a cold air intake system, a VMP heat exchanger, and an upgraded Borla exhaust system. These enhancements allow the supercharged engine to breathe better. The car in the video is running on 93-octane fuel and has a TR-6060 six-speed transmission, which remains in its stock condition. The dyno runs are performed in fourth gear, which has a 1:1 ratio.
The best result achieved by this modified 2011 Shelby GT500 is 508 horsepower at the wheels. Taking into account the average 15-percent drivetrain loss, the peak output at the flywheel is estimated to be around 584 horsepower. This is a respectable result considering the mileage and the relatively minor modifications made to the engine. In terms of torque, it registered 484 pound-feet at the wheels, which translates to approximately 557 pound-feet at the engine, again surpassing the factory numbers.
While a dyno run is not the definitive indicator of an engine’s overall condition, it does suggest that this 5.4-liter supercharged V8 is in good health.
A helicopter stays in the air by using its engine to power the top rotor blades, which generate lift. The blades pull air from above the helicopter and force it downward, creating upward momentum in the air. They can also produce forward motion.
To maintain stability and control in any direction, helicopters have a rear rotor blade that acts as a counterbalance. Without it, the helicopter would spin uncontrollably. Even if the main engine is turned off during flight, the rotor blades above the pilot’s head will still spin.
Instead of pulling air down, the rotor assembly would suck air up as the helicopter descends, causing the blades to spin. This is called “autorotation.” The rotors speed up enough to allow the helicopter to safely glide down to the ground, similar to a skydiver’s parachute.
Skilled pilots can maintain control of the helicopter, even if the engine fails. It’s important to note that while the engine produces torque, autorotation caused by air movement does not. This means pilots don’t have to worry about counteracting any spinning tendencies while landing safely.
BMW Group’s Dingolfing plant in Germany plans to utilize heat generated from regional biomass and its own waste wood to fulfill about 50% of its process hot water requirements, starting from 2025. The company has signed a supply contract with UP Energiewerke GmbH, a subsidiary of Stadtwerke Dingolfing and Bayernwerk Natur, for the delivery of approximately 100,000 MWh of thermal energy per year. This initiative is expected to save the plant around 20,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually, compared to conventional fossil fuels.
The agreement forms a crucial part of the plant’s future energy mix, offering regional and renewable sources of green heat. Christoph Schröder, the Plant Director, emphasized the importance of biomass as a renewable energy source, stating that it will contribute to lowering overall CO2 emissions by 10 to 15% per year.
The energy supplies are scheduled to commence by Q2 of 2025. The 20-year supply contract involves the purchase of thermal energy outputting nearly 100,000 MWh annually. The heat will be generated at a new biomass heating plant in Dingolfing, close to the BMW Group vehicle plant.
Since 2010, the Dingolfing public works department has operated a biomass heating plant that supplies heating to public buildings and private households in the southeastern part of the city. The new heating plant will be built in collaboration with E.ON subsidiary Bayernwerk Natur, through UP Energiewerke GmbH, a joint venture with equal partnership from both parties.
The heating plant, costing around €35 million, will consist of three boilers that operate year-round. It will also be equipped with its own pallet and waste-wood shredder. Underground pipes will transport the locally sourced heat to the energy center at the BMW Group vehicle plant, where it will be distributed across the site. Construction of the plant is set to commence in late 2023.
The biomass used for fuel will include the BMW Group’s own untreated waste wood, as well as wood sourced from regional forestry within a 60-kilometer radius of Dingolfing. The supply of wood will be managed by Biomasse Vertrieb Ostbayern (BVO) GmbH, supported by local forest owners and the Dingolfing public works department. The use of wood chips from sustainable forestry helps reduce CO2 emissions as the released CO2 during combustion is balanced by the CO2 absorption during plant growth.
The completion of the biomass heating plant project signifies a successful partnership between the city of Dingolfing and BMW Group Plant Dingolfing in reducing CO2 emissions and maintaining the region’s status as an industrial hub. The plant’s director, Christoph Schröder, expressed the company’s belief that regional biomass availability and power-to-heat technologies will play a vital role in its heating strategy, reducing reliance on fossil fuels like gas and oil.
About BMW Group Plant Dingolfing
BMW Group Plant Dingolfing is the largest production site for BMW in Europe. It produces over 1,500 vehicles per day, including models like the BMW 4 Series, 5 Series, 6 Series, 7 Series, and 8 Series, as well as the fully electric BMW iX. With a workforce of more than 18,000 employees and 850 apprentices, it is not only the largest employer in the region but also a significant industrial production and vocational training facility in Germany.
In addition to vehicle production, Dingolfing plant manufactures vehicle components such as pressed parts, chassis, and drive systems. It is also the global Competence Centre for E-Drive Production, supplying electric motors and high-voltage batteries to BMW Group vehicle plants worldwide for the production of plug-in hybrids and electric models. Additionally, the facility produces car bodies for Rolls-Royce models and operates the Dynamics Centre, a key storage and transshipment facility for BMW and MINI original parts and equipment.
Prior to its revival in 2017, Alpine produced some of France’s finest sportscars from the 1950s all the way to the 1990s. Since its revival in 2017, Alpine has only released one model–albeit a great one at that. It’s called the A110, and Alpine has evolved into becoming Renault’s performance and motorsports division as it merged with Renault Sport. This means that it wasn’t just going to make sports cars, but also performance derivatives of Renault’s vehicles as well. Alpine also became Renault’s motorsports flagbearer, actively participating in Formula 1 and the World Endurance Championship. Motorsports is at the heart of modern-day Alpine, and this gave them confidence to expand its model range beyond just the A110. It also declared that it will enter the North American market by 2027, and to enter such a competitive market, here’s how Alpine plans to succeed.
But as the world switches to electro-mobility, offering a single sportscar with an internal combustion engine (ICE) won’t cut it. Realizing this challenge, Alpine recently announced that they are currently undergoing a “revolution”. The bold statement comes with a preview of Alpine’s fully-electric “Dream Garage”, which consists of seven new models to be launched from 2024 to 2030.
Alpine
Front view of Alpine A290 Hot Hatch concept
Surprisingly, Alpine’s electric dreams will kick off with an electric hot hatch that’s based on the A290_β concept, a move that is in contrast to most other EV startups that offered big, expensive models first before trickling down to offer more affordable models. The production A290 will utilize the Renault Group’s CMFB-EV platform that will underpin the upcoming Renault 4 and 5 EVs. Details are scarce at the moment since no production model has ever utilized the CMFB-EV platform yet, but we expect the Alpine A290 to be the highest-performing small EV in the Renault Group’s model range. It’s also probably too small for North American tastes, so don’t expect the A290 to be sold stateside.
What will definitely come stateside is the electric successor to the A110. The next-generation electric A110 was previewed with a concept car in 2021 called the A110 E-ternité, which proved to the world that Alpine could develop an electric sportscar that’s lighter than the Porsche 718 Cayman with an ICE. The concept was co-developed with Lotus, but the partnership has been terminated–albeit on friendly terms. Moving forward, Alpine is now developing a new platform called the Alpine Performance Platform (APP), in which the production electric A110 will formally debut in 2026.
Unfortunately, the 2026 launch date also means that American buyers won’t ever get the chance to own an ICE-powered A110. Remember, the brand is only set to enter the North American market in 2027, in which by that time, its lineup will consist purely of high-performance EVs.
A blue Alpine A110 R parked in a city alley of Tokyo
Alpine said that its revenues for 2022 have hit a record, up 33 percent versus 2021. The A110 is the best-selling sportscar in France for the past seven years and is also one of the five best-selling sportscars in Europe. There’s currently a seven-month backlog and sales are expected to reach 4,200 units in 2023. But having only one low-volume model is not going to be enough if Alpine wants to continue growing in terms of revenue. Therefore, Alpine is also set to ape the sales strategy of Porsche in a bid to gain more customers and sales.
Porsche only made sportscars until 2003 when it decided to launch an SUV called the Cayenne. The plan worked beautifully for Porsche, bringing in new customers to the brand and more importantly, increasing its sales and thus having more revenue to fund its sportscar development. Likewise, Alpine is aiming to repeat the same feat by launching two more vehicles using its in-house developed APP platform.
Alpine
Teaser photo of the seven new models that Alpine will launch
APP is set to be a scalable performance EV architecture. This means that apart from the lightweight A110, APP will also give birth to two more models–a roadster based on the A110 and a modern-day four-seater coupe successor to the A310. Once again, details of the APP-based vehicles are very scarce, and no existing vehicle has utilized this platform yet. We’ve now mentioned four cars, the A290, the next-generation A110, the A110-based roadster, and a modern-day A310. What Alpine has also confirmed is the launch of two new cars in the D and E segments, which in North American terms means that these will be midsize and full-size cars. These two will presumably be rivals to the Tesla Model S and/or the Porsche Taycan.
Unsurprisingly, the seventh model will be yet another electric crossover SUV. For now, Alpine is calling it a “Crossover GT” (initially teased as the GT X-Over), which is set to debut in 2025, but this won’t be underpinned by the APP. Instead, it will most likely utilize the CMF-EV platform that the Nisaan Ariya and Renault Megane E-Tech electric crossovers use. Unsurprisingly, details about the upcoming SUV are scarce, since it’s still in the infancy of its development stages, but you can pretty much guarantee that this electric crossover will arrive in America.
In just a short span of time, Alpine managed to become a household name among car enthusiasts in Europe, mostly thanks to its involvement in Formula 1. Being present in Formula 1, after all, is one of the best marketing tools for any brand to make its presence felt. Unfortunately, in the United States, you need more than motorsports heritage to become popular. Alfa Romeo is also a household name in motorsports, but that hasn’t necessarily translated to the brand becoming desirable in the United States.
Likewise, Alpine will most likely face that uphill battle. It also doesn’t help the fact that French automakers found it too challenging to adapt to the tastes and preferences of North American buyers. Peugeot was the last French automaker to do business in the United States, leaving the country in 1991. Among the French players, Peugeot had the most success, with its sales peaking at 20,000 units in 1984. Initially, they were able to ride the hype train of midsize imported European sedans in the 1980s, but because Peugeot was slow to adapt to shifting American preferences, its sales went on a downtrend, selling just 4,200 units by 1990.
Hopefully, whatever mistakes Renault also did in the past in the United States are still fresh in the memories of its executives. This would help steer its marketing team and executives away from any potential mistakes that could prevent Alpine from being successful in the United States.
Polyvinyl chloride – also known as polyvinyl or PVC – is a widely used synthetic polymer plastic. It is commonly used in various applications such as plumbing, electrical cable insulation, flooring, signage, phonograph records, and even inflatable products. However, an extraordinary creation using PVC has emerged – a scale model of a Toyota Supra.
A 17-minute video, uploaded by the Ank Creative YouTube channel, showcases the building process of an intricately detailed fourth-generation Supra made entirely from PVC. This model is not just a mere drawing on a PVC board; it is a three-dimensional replica that accurately replicates the exterior panels of the actual car.
The construction process begins by cutting the basic shapes of the Japanese sports coupe and then proceeds to refine and polish the surfaces. The most challenging part involves creating and installing the small details, such as headlights, grilles, and exterior trim. Once the exterior is complete, attention is turned to the fully equipped cabin, complete with a dashboard, center console, and seats.
Once the entire build is molded and assembled, the Supra Mk4 receives an eye-catching orange exterior with green and black decals inspired by the Fast and Furious movie franchise. The scale car features rotating wheels and functioning doors that can be opened. The level of detail achieved is remarkable, especially considering that this model did not start as a computer drawing and was not produced by a 3D printer.
At Motor1.com, we appreciate all kinds of automotive toys crafted by talented enthusiasts. We often feature impressive wooden model builds, but this PVC-based Toyota Supra takes creativity to another level.
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