Auto News 5

So, I like blogging about fuel mileage. Maybe because it's such a hot topic, or because virtually all automakers claim their latest umbrella of gas-saving technologies will deliver a hundred miles per gallon and 0-60 in 3 seconds.

Or (and probably) because my weekly test commute of over 2,000 kilometres gives me a fantastic way to compare new vehicles with said technologies to each other in the real world. Somewhat accurately, too.

Every week, Highway 69 (which connects Sudbury with Southern Ontario) becomes my little proving ground, where test-car fuel consumption is compared to each other in real life.

My weekly drive is hardly a scientific, controlled or exhaustive mileage test - but it's an interesting comparison if nothing else.

Recently, the real-world fuel economy I recorded in the new 2012 BMW 335i Sedan proved noteworthy. After 2,200 kilometres of city driving and highway cruising at a good clip, the tester burned an average of 8.7L/100km. That's measured by hand, not using the often-optimistic on-board computer.

Photo: Sébastien D'Amour

I don't know where that figure stands in relation to government ratings, because I don't check government ratings. I find they're generally out to lunch for my locale and driving habits because I'm not a Yoga enthusiast who attempts to achieve maximum mileage at all times.

But I digress. A glance at my notes showed higher overall consumption recorded in cars like the Volkswagen GTI, Subaru Impreza, Audi A7, Chevrolet Camaro RS and others. So for a 300-hp, turbocharged sport sedan, my overall figure of 8.7L/100km of premium unleaded is pretty darn good. I was impressed.

Someone from BMW once told me that it's not a single ‘magic' technology that will make a gasoline engine vastly more efficient on its own. Instead, numerous technologies that trim bits of fuel consumption are employed.

Case in point? In the 335i, direct injection reduces consumption and bumps output. Ditto the 8-speed automatic. And ditto the Brake Energy Regeneration system, which effectively only engages the 335i's alternator when the car coasts or brakes. Twin Power Turbo technology ramps up performance and overall efficiency, too. End of the day, it all turns in more power to the road and less fuel burned. And, as evidenced by my fuel consumption numbers, the above technologies work.

There's even an ‘Eco Pro' mode on the new 2012 3 Series Sedan that helps drivers visualize their current level of ‘greenness' and offers up tips to encourage fuel-efficient motoring. It lets drivers get involved with achieving good mileage.

A few days after I returned the tester, I checked out a busted-up old 3 Series from the eighties that a friend bought for $900 to turn into a drift car. Inside, amidst the ripped leather, cracked dash and squeaky door hinges, I noticed an interesting “L/100km” gauge in the instrument cluster.

Hmm.

I'm no BMW fanboy, and although I was aware of this fuel economy gauge on newer models, I was surprised to see it installed on a car as old as me. It reminded me of a very early and primitive version of the ‘Eco Pro' mode in the new 3 Series.

So, I guess BMW's Efficient Dynamics mantra isn't just marketing fluff. Apparently, they were into advancing efficient performance before it was even trendy to do so. Neat stuff.

Former Peugeot Sport and Citroën Sport boss Olivier Quesnel will join JN Holding Group as competition activities director.

Olivier Quesnel and Jacques Nicolet. (Photo: OAK Racing)

Quesnel will be in charge of international expansion within existing and future worldwide endurance championships, as well as the diversification of the team's motorsport activities. OAK Racing is part of JN Holding Group, directed by Jacques Nicolet, owner of the racing team.

Former driver Sebastien Philippe remains general director of OAK Racing.

Turner Motorsports is moving up the NASCAR Sprint Cup ladder with Bill Elliott.

Although it's only a one-race deal “Awesome Bill” is entered in a Chevrolet for Saturday night's Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

The team which is usually found in the junior Nationwide and Truck Series is getting backing from retail giant Wal-Mart for this effort

Turner Motorsports currently fields three Nationwide teams and three Truck Series teams. Recently Nelson Piquet, Jr. won the Nationwide race at Road America in another one-off deal.

“Everyone at Turner Motorsports is looking forward to this weekend's races in Daytona,” said Steve Turner a Texas businessman. “Obviously, Bill Elliott knows how to get to victory lane and I can't think of a better ambassador to help us make our NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut.

Bill Elliott ready for NASCAR Sprint Cup. (Photo: Turner Motorsports)

This is just another milestone for Turner Motorsports. We have had a great first half of the NASCAR season winning six times and putting all of our entries in position to battle for the championship as we move into the fall. As an organization we have made great strides our first three years of NASCAR competition and are looking for great things this weekend at of Bill and the Wal-Mart Chevrolet.”

Bill Elliott, 56, has 59 starts at the high-banked track with four wins, three in the 500 and one in the 400. His last pole at DIS was in 2001.

Despite his semi-retired status the Georgia native is looking at a competitive run in the restrictor plate race.

"I'm looking forward to being a part of Turner Motorsports Cup debut and to celebrating Wal-Mart's 50th birthday,” said Elliott. “This has been a pretty cool deal to be a part of. I know we're going to have a good, competitive car. We just have run a smooth race and put ourselves in the right position at the right time."

Trent Owens will be the crew chief. Owens comes into the weekend on a high note after Piquet Jr's, victory and James Buescher's debut win in the February Nationwide race at this track.

"It's exciting to be part of Turner Motorsports first Cup race with Bill Elliott and support from Wal-Mart. We've come a long way in just the last two years, so to take this step is really going to be a milestone for everyone who works so hard for this team every day."

The only thing that could have marred Austin Dillon's breakthrough NASCAR Nationwide Series win at Kentucky was a penalty.

And, on Monday, NASCAR officials issued a six-point penalty against Dillon and his car owner after his race-winning Chevrolet failed the post-race inspection for being too low in the rear.

While Richard Childress, grandfather of Dillon, and entrant of the car said it was due to a broken bolt; Dillon said, on a radio broadcast, it was a broken clamp.

The penalty drops Dillon back down to second place behind teammate, Elliott Sadler, by four points in the series standings.

Austin Dillon. (Photo: NASCAR)

As a result crew chief Danny Stockman Jr. has been fined $10,000 in addition, Stockman and car chief Robert Strmiska continue to remain on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31.

Ironically Sadler had the same penalty for a similar infraction, in May in Iowa, but the Richard Childress Racing team thought that they had fixed the problem.
As Dillon explained, on the radio program on Monday before the penalty was announced, “everything passed tech,” at NASCAR's research center in Concord, NC.

"It was just too low in the back. It stinks because it happened to Elliott in Iowa. It's been fixed and it won't happen again.”

From GMM

Fernando Alonso has revealed he might consider team ownership after his formula one driving career is over.

When asked by one of his 800,000 Twitter and Facebook followers if the Ferrari driver can imagine following fellow champions like Alain Prost and Jackie Stewart onto the pitwall, 30-year-old Alonso answered: "Maybe."

"Why not? It would be a nice adventure!" the Spaniard, who won his titles with Renault in 2005 and 2006 and is the 2012 championship leader, elaborated.

Fernando Alonso admitted he is also interested in F1 circuit designer Hermann Tilke's job.

"If Bernie would allow it," he explained, "I would like to design a real race track, like the kart circuit I designed at Oviedo which is due to open soon."

Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) leading Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) in Montreal. (Photo: WRi2)

MONTREAL, Quebec - For the 2013 model year, Hyundai will be serving up not one but three distinct Elantras. The smash-hit sedan will soon be accompanied by a two-door coupe and the GT, a new five-door hatchback that will rival the likes of the Mazda3 Sport, the Ford Focus, the Subaru Impreza, the Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback, the Volkswagen Golf and the Kia Forte5.


It will also replace the Elantra Touring wagon, which has done very well in Canada. That's good or bad news, depending on whose opinion you ask.

The Elantra GT isn't a new idea; in fact, Hyundai did offer a five-door Elantra from 2002 to 2006. This time, the car is based on the European i30 model; it rides on a slightly different platform as the 2013 Elantra Coupe and Sedan, but nonetheless fits in nicely with the others.

Hyundai Canada is confident that the GT will be a popular choice, and will account for about 25% of total Elantra sales. And this new five-door should serve the Canadian buyer very well.

Slightly smaller than the sedan
The 2013 Hyundai Elantra GT rides on a shorter wheelbase than the sedan; it is also shorter overall, with a slightly higher roofline. The basic shape is pretty similar to the sedan and coupe, with its prominent crease that flows over the front fender and rises along the car's flanks, cleverly trying to conceal the door handles.

The front grille treatment, the fog lamp design and the taillights aren't quite the same, but the family resemblance is undeniable. The base GL is shod with 16” wheels with covers, the mid-grade GLS gets 16” alloys and the top-shelf SE benefits from attractive 17-inchers with chromed inserts. GLS and SE trims also get a power panoramic sunroof, which brightens up the cabin, especially for rear-seat occupants.

Speaking of the cabin, the GT is more or less as spacious as in the sedan, although a 5-foot-11 rear passenger's noggin was scraping the headliner during our drive, compliments of the sunroof mechanism that eats up a little headroom. The dashboard has a less adventurous design than the sedan and coupe's, yet still retains an ergonomic layout.

The cargo hold looks small because of the sloping rear window, but you actually get 651 litres of space; fold down the rear seatback, and volume grows to 1,444 litres. That places the Elantra GT among the best cargo-carrying compact five-doors, such as the Impreza and the Lancer Sportback.

The dashboard has a less adventurous design than the sedan and coupe's, yet still retains an ergonomic layout. (Photo: Michel Deslauriers)

The drive
The five-door Elantra is equipped with a 1.8L inline-4 that develops 148 hp and 131 lb-ft of torque, available with a 6-speed manual or a 6-speed automatic with manual mode. The engine provides more than enough power for the daily commute, although it might not be quite as cheery with the whole family and their gear on board. And at full-throttle, it is somewhat noisier then expected, just like in other Elantras; not a big deal.

Like the sedan and the coupe, you get hydraulic power steering, four-wheel disc brakes with antilock as well as a MacPherson strut front and torsion beam rear suspension setup. The GT gets slightly different components than the others, however, and on a personal note, this is the Elantra I prefer driving; the steering is a tad more communicative, and the car's ride is well dampened.

The five-door Elantra is equipped with a 1.8L inline-4 that develops 148 hp and 131 lb-ft of torque. (Photo: Michel Deslauriers)

Mind you, the Mazda3 Sport and the Lancer Sportback offer a more engaging driving experience, although the five-door Elantra is far from boring.

It's also the only one in the family to get a driver-selectable steering mode; using a button on the steering wheel, you can choose between Normal, Comfort and Sport settings. After cycling through them several times on city streets and country roads, I can't truly say I felt any difference. We'll try it again when we get an Elantra GT for a one-week road test, but I suspect a lot of owners will fiddle around with it for about 10 minutes before leaving it in one mode or another.

Lots of features
The base GL costs $19,149 and includes A/C, a 6-speaker stereo with USB port and wheel-mounted controls, power windows, heated front seats, a telescopic steering column, seven airbags and keyless entry, while the $21,349 GLS gets a power driver's seat and interior trim upgrades. Both versions can be equipped with the automatic transmission for an extra $1,200. The $24,349, leather-lined SE is only available with the automatic, while the navigation package adds $2,000 to the final tally.

We're sad to see the roomy Elantra Touring go, as it was the only sub-$20K station wagon on the Canadian market. With loads of standard features at a very competitive price, though, the 2013 Hyundai Elantra GT has the ammo to battle its foes in the popular five-door compact car market. If you asked me to choose an Elantra, this is the one I'd take.

The Elantra GT is arriving in dealerships now.

As you've read on this site, professional stunt driver Terry Grant attempted to set a Guinness record for the fastest time in reverse with a Nissan LEAF during the Goodwood Festival of Speed. He did it on Sunday with a time of 1:37.02 minute at an average speed of 88.5 km/h. That's 26 seconds faster than his Friday time!

This is the same guy who set a world record at last year's festival by driving a Nissan Juke up the 1.86-kilometre hill course... on two wheels.



"I had a great car at my disposal - with direct drive from the electric motor to its wheels, the Nissan LEAF can, in theory, go as fast backwards as it can forwards,'' Grant said afterwards. ''There were times I wasn't sure I was coming or going. However, thanks to the LEAF's low centre of gravity - the batteries are an integral part of the car's floor - the car is extremely stable, no matter which direction it's travelling.''

From GMM

Marussia test driver Maria de Villota is reportedly fighting for her life after crashing on Tuesday morning.

The female driver was straight-line aerodynamic testing the single seater raced in formula one by Timo Glock and Charles Pic at the Duxford (UK) airfield.

A statement issued by the team said the incident occurred at the end of 32-year-old de Villota's first installation run, involving "an impact with the team's support truck".

"Maria has been transferred to hospital. Once her medical condition has been assessed a further statement will be issued," the statement added.

Citing an ambulance spokesman, the BBC reported de Villota, the daughter of former F1 driver Emilio de Villota, has sustained "life threatening injuries".

A reporter said the car "suddenly accelerated" into the back of the truck.

"From where I was standing it looked like the helmet took the brunt of the impact," said BBC Cambridgeshire presenter Chris Mann.

A police spokesman said it appears "the driver has suffered a serious injury".

Maria de Villota at Valencia. (Photo: Marussia F1 Team)

UPDATE:

Maria de Villota suffered "severe" head and face injuries in her Marussia testing crash on Tuesday

Chris Mann from BBC said Maria de Villota was apparently unconscious for 10 or 15 minutes, and photos show the truck loading board at the Marussia cockpit, at visor-level.

Sky Sports F1 was on site with a small filming crew. "We were all asked to leave about 20 minutes after the accident had happened -- she was still in the car," said assistant producer Helen Brown.

Emergency medical charity Magpas said they treated de Villota for "severe facial and head injuries" before she was transported to hospital.

The statement said de Villota was given pain relief and was put into an ambulance in a stable condition, according to CNN.

We first reported about the 2013 Ford Shelby GT500's new Launch Control system in a May 16th article, and now comes a video that shows exactly how drivers can enjoy maximum acceleration without any wheel spin!

The Ferrari 458 Italia Spider and Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 Spyder will now have to ward off the hot new McLaren MP4-12C Spider, a convertible variant of the MP4-12C coupe. Priced at £195,500 (approx. $311,100), the car is available to order through 38 retailers in 22 countries worldwide starting today.

The MP4-12C Spider has a power retractable hardtop that opens or closes in only 17 seconds at speeds of up to 30 km/h. The rear window can be lowered separately when the top is up or act as a wind deflector when the top is down.

As for performance, the McLaren MP4-12C Spider sprints from 0 to 100 km/h in a mere 3.1 seconds and completes the quarter mile in 10.8 seconds at a speed of 216 km/h. The 625-horsepower twin-turbo V8 engine also allows a top velocity of 329 km/h.

Photo: McLaren

Photo: McLaren

Two times world champion Sebastian Vettel remains surprised by the level of competitiveness this year.

The Red Bull driver was really impressive at Valencia before his retirement, due to an alternator failure. Fernando Alonso clinched the victory and took the benefit of Lewis Hamilton's retirement in the ultimate lap.

The Ferrari driver leads the standings but the world championship is wide open, with seven different winners in eight races.

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull RB8. (Photo: WRi2)

Sebastian Vettel is aware of this competition and says to the BBC during an interview: "The ones that stand out are probably Fernando (Alonso), he's one of the most complete drivers. Lewis (Hamilton) is very, very quick. There are plenty of others. At the moment we have a lot of drivers performing at a similar level - it is very competitive. Michael (Schumacher) is still in the game. I don't think he has lost it."

"At the moment we have a lot of drivers performing at a similar level - it is very competitive," he added. "It is a long list at the moment. We have had a lot of different winners this season and all of those drivers are very competitive and very fast."

Asked if drivers should be judged only by the number of titles they won, Sebastian Vettel replied: "Yes and no. The success is a big part of it. If you look at great names from the past, drivers like Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Jackie Stewart... they all won a lot of titles. But there are other names that stay in your head and stay around because they had something extra. They were special. All F1 drivers are very quick, but those guys had something extra, something maybe the people loved, he was very entertaining, it was very special to watch him driving the car. There are plenty of other characters who maybe didn't win the title but are still people's heroes and rightly so."

Available this fall, the all-new 2013 Ford Fusion will come in four attractively priced trim levels.

Photo: Ford

Trim	Base MSRP	Features
S	$22,499	MyFord SYNC, 8 airbags, 16'' wheels, 2.5L i-VCT engine
SE	$24,499	MyFord with 4'' display, Sirius satellite radio, choice of engine: 2.5L i-VCT, 1.6L EcoBoost or 2.0L EcoBoost
Titanium	$33,999	SYNC and MyFord Touch with 4.2'' display, 2.0L EcoBoost engine, all-wheel drive, rearview camera, heated sport seats with 3-position memory
SE hybride	$29,999	2.0L gas-electric hybrid, CVT, exclusive 17'' wheels, Sirius satellite radio, exclusive EcoCloth seats

After Carroll Shelby on May 10th, the automotive world lost another legend in designer Sergio Pininfarina. The man responsible for many of Ferrari's most successful and iconic nameplates passed away early Tuesday morning at his home in Turin. He was 85.

Born on September 8th, 1926, Pininfarina took over his father's sports car design firm in 1961. He penned dozens of models for various automakers including Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Peugeot. However, his greatest and most significant work was for Ferrari, starting with the 1952 Ferrari 212 Inter Cabriolet.

Pininfarina went on to create the mythic Ferrari Testarossa, Daytona, 250 GT Coupé and others. Overall, his résumé includes no fewer than 1,000 car designs of which 250 became a reality. All of them combined for more than 30 million units sold worldwide.

Sergio Pininfarina, Luca di Montezemolo (Photo: Ferrari)

Fisker Automotive, a maker of luxury plug-in hybrid cars, hired a former Ford and Dana executive as its chief financial officer as the company works to overcome funding and quality challenges.

Also in this episode: Brad Keselowski is the first to win three NASCAR events in 2012, pickup manufacturers

Tony Posawatz, the public face of the Chevrolet Volt since before the plug-in hybrid made its debut as a concept car, has retired from General Motors.

Longtime Florida dealer Ed Morse, who expanded his dealership group into one of the largest in the state, died Friday. He was 91. Morse died of natural causes, Ed Morse Automotive Group said in a statement.

Bigger than the post-World War II baby-boom generation, Generation Y includes an increasing number of people for whom driving is less an American rite of passage than an unnecessary chore.

In this short animated clip created by Ruf Blacklock, we witness the evolution of Formula One cars from 1950 to 2012.

As Orson Welles reminds us above, French champagne has always been celebrated for its excellence. And fermented grape products are as indelible a signifier of Gallic culture as fine cheese, very fast trains and the hydropneumatic suspension.