Auto News 5

2012 Volkswagen Golf R Review with video

2012 Ford Focus Electric First Impressions

2013 Scion FR-S Review

Other very interesting topics:

• Blog: '12 Mopar 300
• 2013 Nissan Pathfinder preview
• Blog: Opening up the Porsche 911 Carrera S
• Blog: No, thank you, I'll drive myself
• Cadillac Escalade Hybrid vs. SLP Cadillac Escalade Supercharged Sport Edition

I'm driving a 662-hp 2013 Ford Shelby GT500 this week, but I'm also checking out booking availabilities for the 100% electric 2012 Nissan LEAF.

In the last few days, we took the 85-hp 2013 Chevrolet Spark minicar for a spin, but also reported on the Conquest EVADE, a new luxury SUV that will cost $580,000 US.

I just read Land Rover's latest release on the all new 2013 Range Rover, which states that thanks to an all-aluminum unibody the new model will weigh up to 926 lbs less than the 2012 truck. I'm flabbergasted by this improvement, yet when you think of it the current Range Rover, or any large SUV for that matter, is arguably carrying around a half-ton of weight for nothing.

2013 Range Rover (Photo: Land Rover)

We're striving to make cars and trucks safer, adding costs and complexities to them and making them more expensive to build, purchase and maintain. Yet these cars and trucks can still be driven while we text or under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

Speed limits are constantly being reduced, especially in residential areas, yet cars and trucks are getting more and more powerful. With a long enough stretch of road, the factory-built GT500 I'm currently driving can hit 300 km/h; and anybody with money or a good credit score, even those with the IQ of a cabbage, can buy one.

Perception is everything. We buy electric cars and hybrids so our neighbours consider us environmentally responsible, but we keep our lawn nice and tidy with a gas-powered, two-stroke Weedwacker that pollutes as much as 10 Hummer H2s. I'm just guessing; the correct figure is probably 30 Hummers.

On our right shoulder sits the angel, our conscience that keeps telling us to be rational, responsible and to love one another. The angel tries hard to convince us that an electric car is good, that obeying the speed limit is being responsible, and that reducing our carbon footprint will benefit not only our children's future, but everyone else's as well. When we follow our hearts, we're listening to the angel.

On the left shoulder, the devil is just as convincing as the angel, but without as much effort. The devil knows that humans seek a lifestyle of chills, thrills and reckless abandon. Our ego makes us do what the devil wants us to do.

We're at the crossroads of automotive evolution. Green cars, performance cars, luxury cars, sensible cars; as a consumer we're lucky to have to so many choices. We must make the right decisions for our future, yet we only live once.

Who should we listen to: the angel or the devil?

Hyundai will unveil an armoured premium full-size sedan at the Moscow Auto Show. The Equus Limousine Security has been developed by the Korean automaker with the collaboration of ArmorTech-Motors, the authorized distributor of Stoof International GmbH in Russia.

Offering ballistic and blast protection, this unique vehicle escapes trouble thanks to a 430-horsepower 5.0L Tau V8 engine. Hyundai insists that the complex armouring process hasn't compromised the Equus' ride and handling characteristics. An eight-speed automatic transmission sends power to the rear wheels.

The Hyundai Equus Limousine Security stands 5.46 metres long and weighs 3,840 kilograms (8,465 pounds).

Further details will be released at the Moscow Auto Show.

Source: WorldcarFans

Photo: STOOF International

From GMM

81-year-old Ecclestone has used the August break to marry for the third time.

British the Daily Mail and the Sun report that F1's famous chief executive married 35-year-old Brazilian Fabiana Flosi, who formerly worked on the marketing of the Brazilian grand prix, at his ski chalet in Gstaad, Switzerland.

Photo: WRi2

The reports said Ecclestone's daughters Tamara, 28, and Petra, 24, and their mother Slavica, were in Los Angeles at the time.

Despite having led most of the practice sessions and earned pole thru the week-end, Will Power saw his Team Penske teammate Ryan Briscoe win the IZOD IndyCar Series event in Sonoma.

Power, who had led most of the race, was caught off guard when he pitted late in the race as the yellow flags came out for a heavy crash between Sebastien Bourdais and Josef Newgarden.

Ryan Briscoe (Photo: LAT for IndyCar)

That was enough for Briscoe to take the lead but the Australian still had to defend himself against the attacks from his countryman who tried to pass him a couple of times. In the end, he crossed the finish line with a lead of less than 0.4s.

Ganassi's Dario Franchitti ended up third, the Scot having been in the thick of things all thru the race.

Series' leader Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport) saw his race jeopardized when he was hit by Alex Tagliani (BHA).

Ryan Hunter-Reay (Photo: LAT for IndyCar)

The other two contenders for the title, Helio Castroneves (Penske) and Franchitti's teammate Scott Dixon had their share of misfortunes. The Brazilian for instance, first hit Dixon at the start and then got penalized for it.

Dixon worked his way back into the top 10 only to damage his front wing in a trip through the dust while fighting Hunter-Reay.



Rubens Barrichello had his best IndyCar result, delivering a fourth place for KV Racing while Graham Rahal (Ganassi) completed the top 5.

Rubens Barrichello (Photo: LAT for IndyCar)

Race results* - IndyCar (Sonoma)
1 - Ryan Briscoe (Dallara-Chevy) - Penske - 86 laps
2 - Will Power (Dallara-Chevy) - Penske - 0"440

3 - Dario Franchitti (Dallara-Honda) - Ganassi - 1"049
4 - Rubens Barrichello (Dallara-Chevy) - KV - 8"852
5 - Graham Rahal (Dallara-Honda) - Ganassi - 9"466

6 - Helio Castroneves (Dallara-Chevy) - Penske - 11"257
7 - Simon Pagenaud (Dallara-Honda) - Schmidt - 12"308

8 - JR Hildebrand (Dallara-Chevy) - Panther - 22"812

9 - Alex Tagliani (Dallara-Honda) - Herta - 39"686

10 - Tony Kanaan (Dallara-Chevy) - KV - 1 lap
11 - Justin Wilson (Dallara-Honda) - Coyne - 1 lap
12 - James Jakes (Dallara-Honda) - Coyne - 1 lap
13 - Scott Dixon (Dallara-Honda) - Ganassi - 1 lap
14 - Mike Conway (Dallara-Honda) - Foyt - 1 lap
15 - Sebastian Saavedra (Dallara-Chevy) - Andretti - 1 lap
16 - Ernesto Viso (Dallara-Chevy) - KV - 1 lap
17 - Simona De Silvestro (Dallara-Lotus) - HVM - 1 lap
18 - Ryan Hunter-Reay (Dallara-Chevy) - Andretti - 1 lap
19 - Oriol Servia (Dallara-Chevy) - Dreyer&Reinbold - 1 lap
20 - Ed Carpenter (Dallara-Chevy) - Carpenter - 1 lap
21 - Charlie Kimball (Dallara-Honda) - Ganassi - 3 tours

Fastest lap by Ryan Hunter-Reay: 1'19”184



Retirements

Lap 62 - Josef Newgarden
Lap 62 - Sebastien Bourdais

Lap 49 - Katherine Legge
Lap 47 - Marco Andretti

Lap 35 - James Hinchcliffe

Lap 2 - Takuma Sato

Drivers' championship
1. Power 422; 2. Hunter-Reay 386; 3. Castroneves 381; 4. Dixon 368; 5. Pagenaud 337; 6. Kanaan 327; 7. Hinchcliffe 326; 8. Briscoe 317; 9. Franchitti 306; 10. Rahal 286

*Unofficial

Adpated from FIA press release

The FIA has agreed to launch Formula E, which is a new FIA championship featuring Formula cars powered exclusively by electric energy.

To achieve this objective, the FIA has reached an agreement to licence the commercial rights of the FIA Formula E Championship to a consortium of international investors, Formula E Holdings Ltd (FEH).

FEH, the new promoter, has as anchor investor London-based entrepreneur Enrique Bañuelos, and as CEO and shareholder former MEP and racing team owner Alejandro Agag, who has a long experience in the motor sport business. Also associated with the project are Lord Drayson, Managing Partner of Drayson Racing Technologies, and Eric Barbaroux, Chairman of the French electric automotive company "Electric Formula".

Formulec EF01 (Photo: Formulec)

Demonstration runs of the Formula E cars will start in 2013, followed by the championship in 2014 with an objective of 10 teams and 20 drivers participating in the competition. The races will be ideally staged in the heart of the world's leading cities, around their main landmarks.

The series will be open to any cars sanctioned as Formula E by the FIA. The consortium will ensure that a Formula E Car, based on the Formulec EF 01 prototype already in operation, is available for those competing teams willing to race with it.

The representatives of Formula E Holdings proposed to the Mayor and the Governor that the city of Rio to become host of a Formula E Electric Grand Prix from 2014. Both welcomed the idea. Rio has a long commitment to sustainability, having hosted the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development only weeks ago.

The Mayor of Rio declared the proposed urban track designed to be near the Gloria Marina as “spectacular”.

From GMM

The days after Monza's Italian grand prix could be crucial as Ferrari contemplates its driver lineup for 2013.

Italy's Autosprint reports that the famous Maranello based squad is almost certainly planning to field development drivers Jules Bianchi and Davide Rigon at Magny Cours.

In mid September at Magny Cours, the former French grand prix venue, Ferrari as well as Mercedes and Force India will conduct their allowed days of 'young driver' testing.

Frenchman Bianchi is also Force India's reserve driver this year, meaning he will probably get to drive two different formula one cars at his home circuit.

And Italian Rigon, 26, who badly injured his legs in a GP2 crash last year, extended his relationship with Ferrari for 2012 and has been doing simulator and straightline testing.

Autosprint acknowledged that Ferrari is yet to confirm its Magny Cours lineup.

Adapted from GMM

According to a local newspaper, Formula 1 driver Robert Kubica has tested a World Rally Car on a road circuit in France.

Ford's technical director Christian Loriaux was quoted on Saturday by the French-language L'Avenir as saying works drivers Petter Solberg and Jari-Matti Latvala tested over four days at the asphalt Circuit des Ecuyers.


This 3.5km road course is located 90km North-East of Paris.

Also in action was a "mystery driver who does not want to give publicity to this collaboration", Loriaux said to the newspaper.

The mystery driver, according to Ford's Loriaux, is a "guy with some experience on asphalt, and I take off my hat to him: he came at his own expense and worked gracefully".

Photo: Ford

"And his expertise was very interesting. During our first contact, he told me he was not sure if he could do the job physically, but everything went well," he added.

L'Avenir wrote that the 'mystery driver' is Robert Kubica, the former BMW and Renault Formula 1 driver who is still recovering from serious injuries sustained in a huge rally crash in Italy in early 2011.

From GMM

Ferrari, whose Fernando Alonso is leading the world championship, is also the team with the fastest pit crew so far in 2012.

Germany's Auto Motor und Sport has found that the Italian squad's tyre-changing crew is on average a touch under two tenths faster than reigning champions Red Bull per pitstop.

Photo: Ferrari

It is a remarkable turnaround for Maranello based Ferrari, who were reportedly in the pitstop "midfield" in the same mid-season ranking a year ago.

In 2011, Mercedes' was the fastest pit crew, but now the Brackley based squad is just fourth, more than three tenths slower than Ferrari and also behind Force India.

McLaren, whose 2012 crew is now orchestrated by Williams' former technical director Sam Michael, have the outright record for the fastest individual stop of 2012.

But, overall, the British team is behind Toro Rosso in sixth place, on average more than seven tenths slower than the Ferrari crew.

And, indicating that smaller budgets even slow teams down in the pits, Caterham's pitstops are on average 1.75 seconds slower than Red Bull, while Marussia (2.28s) and HRT (3.28) bring up the rear.

Hot on the heels of the Nissan Juke Box and its 18,900W audio system, the Japanese automaker is set to unveil the Juke Ministry of Sound.

While the stereo in this special edition is not as powerful as the one in the Juke Box (which some will disapprove but their neighbours certainly won't), it includes an iPod Touch 8GB allowing users to view pictures and watch videos provided by Nissan and Ministry of Sound.

A pair of headphones sporting the Juke logo and a code to access Ministry of Sound's online store will also be part of the package.

The car itself stands out with white wheels, mirrors and door handles on a black body. An all-white exterior will be available, too.

All 3,000 limited-edition models are reserved for Europe. Is there hope for North American fans? We'll probably find out at the Moscow Auto Show, which kicks off on Wednesday.

Despite nine wins in 10 Rallye Deutschland, Daniel Elena, who has been co-driving for one Sébastien since 1997, says rallying is "never easy".

This year alone, the Citroën pairing accounts for seven wins out of nine rallies. Have the eighth-time world champions found a way to make world rallying dull?

Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena at the start of the Rallye Deutschland (Photo: WRC)

"It's never finished," Elena reminds everyone in an interview published on WRC.com.

"I remember in 2009 everybody said in the middle of the season it's easy for Sebastien to take another title. But then we had a crash, another crash and a disqualification so it's never finished."

But was Loeb's dominant and most recent win at the Rallye Deutschland easy?

Daniel Elena and Sébastien Loeb at the end of the Rallye Deutschland (Photo: WRC)

"This race for the outside view is easy for us but it's never easy," answers 39-year-old Elena.

"It's never easy because you see last year we had the puncture in Panzerplatte and lost the lead. It's possible to miss one or two braking points and go straight and if you look yesterday in Panzerplatte so many WRC cars crashed."

"If you want to be second, follow me" (Photo: Daniel Elena/Facebook)

Than why does it look so easy?

"Because Sebastien drives with a brain and we did everything absolutely right. There is a lot of experience in the car and in the team."

French rally driver Sebastien Loeb marked the 10th anniversary of Rallye Deutschland's elevation to the FIA World Rally Championship by winning the asphalt event for a ninth time in the Citroen DS3 WRC he shares with co-driver Daniel Elena.

Loeb won the opening stage on Friday morning to take a lead he would never relinquish following a dominant display in changeable weather conditions. He beat Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala and his Citroen teammate Mikko Hirvonen to claim his seventh victory of 2012.



“It was a hard rally, the conditions were extremely difficult, which meant I had some very difficult tire choices to make,” said the 38-year-old Frenchman, who claimed a total of nine stage wins during the course of the three-day event.

“We had a good drive, a perfect car and I made no mistake. Winning the Power Stage also meant this was a perfect weekend. I also had a lot of support from the fans.”

Former Formula 1 World Champion, Canadian Jacques Villeneuve contested his last two rounds of the Australian V8 Supercars Championship last weekend at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Villeneuve was again behind the wheel of the No. 51 Pepsi Max Crew Holden Commodore of team Kelly Racing in place of injured New Zealand veteran Greg Murphy who continues to recover from major back surgery.

Jacques Villeneuve, Commodore (Photo: Kelly Racing)

For the first race, Villeneuve qualified 28th and last, and finished in 24th place. For race 2 on Sunday, the Canadian again qualified 28th and crossed the line in 26th place.

According to a team press release, the Canadian is still struggling with the rule that requires the drivers to sun the race on the two types of tires.

"We worked hard on our set-up for the hard tire overnight and it went well for us. The tire stayed consistent from the first lap until the last lap which was good. Yesterday, we lost the rears within five laps,” Villeneuve declared.

"Our race pace wasn't too bad, I was looking for a good finish in race 2 but we had some radio issues where the cable came loose, so I didn't come into the pits when I was called so I ran out of fuel, the engine cut and we lost a lot of time,” he added.

"There was also a guy behind me and he ran into me for two or three laps. He then got in front of me, we tangled again and I spun. At the end, it was nice to see that we could work on the set-up and get the car to function properly,” the Canadian said.

Hertz Global Holdings is near a deal to acquire Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group and an agreement may be announced early next week, three people familiar with the negotiations said.

Three decades after China implemented rules requiring foreign automakers to form joint ventures with domestic manufacturers to build cars in the country, the strategy appears to be failing in one of its key goals.

The verdict is in. The reconfiguration of Bristol Motor Speedway worked providing an action filled race won by Denny Hamlin.

Although Jimmie Johnson finished second and Jeff Gordon finished third, the real battle at the end of the 500 lapper was with Carl Edwards who desperately needed a win to try to obtain a Wild Card to make the Chase.

But Edwards' tires gave out, due to a gamble on not pitting, and then he ran out of gas leaving Hamlin to hold off the five-time champion for the win.

Hamlin described his 20th Sprint Cup win "it just hauled the mail. This is just a big win, I don't know how else to explain it."

With his third win of the year Hamlin is in position, by virtue of bonus points for wins, to be the top seed in the Chase after Richmond when the points are reset. Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski and Tony Stewart also have three wins.

"We're not done winning yet. We've still got a few more to go," Hamlin said in victory lane.

The race was characterized by the metal on metal contact not seen in recent times. After many years of sellouts, the spring race was noticeably empty at the stadium which seats 160,000. Its' nickname had been the Concrete Coliseum for the nature of the surface and wrecks of the past.

Only there hadn't been that type of racing in the spring.

So the track owner reground the top groove to force cars closer together. That worked but not as exactly intended. What didn't work is that drivers continue to prefer the top line. On the other hand there was a plethora of spins and crashes.

The most dramatic incident involved reigning Cup champion, Tony Stewart, and 2003 champ, Matt Kenseth. They battled on the main straight banging door-to-door then Kenseth's Ford hit Stewart's Chevrolet sending into the pit wall and out of the race.

Kenseth said "I was running the top leading and he got a run and he went into turn one like I wasn't there and just went straight to the fence.  If I wouldn't have lifted, like he chose not to do the next corner, we would have wrecked, so I let him have it and I got a run back, drove all the way alongside of him and we just kept going."

Kenseth referred to two on track incidents earlier this year where the two have had a problem.

While the caution was waving Stewart got out of his wrecked car and threw his helmet at Kenseth's car, slowly circulating the half-mile oval. "I checked-up twice to not run over him (Kenseth) and I learned my lesson there; I'm going to run over him every chance I've got from now ‘til the end of the year, every chance I've got."

With two races to go the Wild Card battle is tightening. Kasey Kahne, who is 11th in the standings has one win and is only 16 points behind Stewart. Kyle Busch is 13th and last provisional Wild Car he has one win. Edwards is 12th in the points, but, has no wins. A win would put him ahead of Busch.

Penske's Will Power continued to shine on the track at Sears Point by earning pole position for this Sunday's upcoming IZOD IndyCar Series race ran on the beautiful Sonoma circuit.

In order to do so, the Australian clocked a best lap of 1m17.2709, good enough to move over his teammate and countryman Ryan Briscoe by more than 0.1638s.

Sebastien Bourdais (Dragon Racing), who managed to stay among the fastest drivers during all the practice sessions finished third.

Helio Castroneves (Penske) and the Ganassi duo formed by Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti completed the top six.

Title contender Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Racing) wasn't able to make the Fast-Six showdown, so were Alex Tagliani (BHA), who finished eight, Simon Pagenaud (Schmidt) and Justin Wilson (Dale Coyne), who completed the top 10.



IndyCar Sonoma Qualifications - Results
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap
1. Will Power Penske Dallara-Chevy 1m17.2709s
2. Ryan Briscoe Penske Dallara-Chevy 1m17.4347s + 0.1638s
3. Sebastien Bourdais Dragon Dallara-Chevy 1m17.7497s + 0.4788s
4. Helio Castroneves Penske Dallara-Chevy 1m18.1090s + 0.8381s
5. Scott Dixon Ganassi Dallara-Honda 1m18.2126s + 0.9417s
6. Dario Franchitti Ganassi Dallara-Honda 1m18.3462s + 1.0753s
7. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Dallara-Chevy 1m18.3355s Round 2
8. Alex Tagliani Herta Dallara-Honda 1m18.4168s Round 2
9. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt Dallara-Honda 1m18.4334s Round 2
10. Justin Wilson Coyne Dallara-Honda 1m18.6258s Round 2
11. James Hinchcliffe Andretti Dallara-Chevy 1m18.7885s Round 2
12. Rubens Barrichello KV Dallara-Chevy 1m18.9788s Round 2
13. Sebastian Saavedra AFS/Andretti Dallara-Chevy 1m18.8918s Group 1
14. Marco Andretti Andretti Dallara-Chevy 1m18.8925s Group 2
15. Graham Rahal Ganassi Dallara-Honda 1m18.8981s Group 1
16. Mike Conway Foyt Dallara-Honda 1m18.9048s Group 2
17. JR Hildebrand Panther Dallara-Chevy 1m19.0931s Group 1
18. Tony Kanaan KV Dallara-Chevy 1m18.9475s Group 2
19. EJ Viso KV Dallara-Chevy 1m19.3953s Group 1
20. Oriol Servia Panther/DRR Dallara-Chevy 1m18.9672s Group 2
21. Katherine Legge Dragon Dallara-Chevy 1m19.6414s Group 1
22. Charlie Kimball Ganassi Dallara-Honda 1m19.0262s Group 2
23. Josef Newgarden Fisher Dallara-Honda 1m19.7468s Group 1
24. Takuma Sato Rahal Dallara-Honda 1m19.2821s Group 2
25. Simona de Silvestro HVM Dallara-Lotus 1m20.2295s Group 1
26. James Jakes Coyne Dallara-Honda 1m19.5152s Group 2
27. Ed Carpenter Carpenter Dallara-Chevy 1m19.6837s Group 2

Edoardo Mortara (Audi) bagged his second win of the season in a memorably chaotic race at Zandvoort, round 7 of the DTM series. Mike Rockenfeller and Mattias Ekström completed the sweep of the podium for Audi.

Championship runner-ups Jamie Green (Mercedes-Benz) and Bruno Spengler (BMW) both finished ahead of leader Gary Paffett, Green in fourth and Spengler, who recovered from 18th on the grid, in sixth. Therefore Paffett (109 points), only seventh in the race still leads, but now from Green (93) and then Spengler (91).

Bruno Spengler (Photo: DTM.com)

Pole-sitter Timo Scheider (Audi) didn't get to enjoy his first place very long as he stalled on the grid. A late crash with David Coulthard's Mercedes ended his race. That's why second-place starting Rockenfeller assumed the lead from the start and for a long while, but tough conditions eventually had him beaten, to Mortara's advantage.

Adrien Tambay (Audi) had the best result of his young DTM career, finishing the crazy race in fifth.

Reigning champion Martin Tomczyk (BMW) was forced into retirement after a crash with Filipe Albuquerque (Audi), likewise for Canadian Robert Wickens (Mercedes-Benz), spun into a DNF by Christian Vietoris (Mercedes-Benz).



Race results* - DTM (Zandvoort)
1 - Edoardo Mortara (Audi A5) - Rosberg - 43 laps in 1.16'17"679

2 - Mike Rockenfeller (Audi A5) - Phoenix - 1"513

3 - Mattias Ekstrom (Audi A5) - Abt - 8"417

4 - Jamie Green (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 13"283

5 - Adrien Tambay (Audi A5) - Abt - 21"313

6 - Bruno Spengler (BMW M3) - Schnitzer - 26"397

7 - Gary Paffett (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 33"791

8 - Dirk Werner (BMW M3) - Schnitzer - 33"923

9 - Augusto Farfus (BMW M3) - RBM - 34"706
10 - Ralf Schumacher (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 36"380
11 - Roberto Mehri (Mercedes C-Coupe) - Persson - 36"771
12 - Susie Wolff (Mercedes C-Coupe) - Persson - 43"135

13 - Andy Priaulx (BMW M3) - RBM - 53"127
14 - Joey Hand (BMW M3) - RMG - 1 lap


*Unofficial

Retirements
Lap 34 - Filipe Albuquerque
Lap 28 - Martin Tomczyk

Lap 22 - David Coulthard
Lap 6 - Timo Scheider

Lap 1 - Christian Vietoris

Lap 1 - Robert Wickens
Lap 1 - Miguel Molina
Lap 1 - Rahel Frey



Championship standings

1.Paffett 109 points; 2.Green 93; 3.Spengler 91; 4.Mortara 74; 5.Tomczyk 69; 6.Rockenfeller 67; 7.Ekstrom 62; 8.Vietoris 24; 9.Farfus 19; 10.Scheider 18.

Since it first emerged 10 years ago, SiriusXM satellite radio has managed to find its way into 50 million cars in the US and Canada.

SiriusXM is the largest radio broadcaster in the world, and holds more than 22 million subscribers. From humble beginnings in a limited number of cars, they are now featured by all major car manufacturers and factory installed in nearly 70% of all new cars sold in North America.

By 2018, SiriusXM expects that the number of satellite-ready cars will double to 100 million. The number of subscribers should also climb from the current number as more and more satellite-ready cars will become available on the used-car market.

As a side note, if you've not experienced satellite radio it's the next best thing since sipping a Starbucks blended Grande, non-fat, soy-milk, extra-tall latte with foam and stealing your neighbour's Wi-Fi.

Photo: Matthieu Lambert

Sam Bird thought he was going to finish second in race 2 of the Formula Renault 3.5 weekend at Silverstone, only to find leader Marco Sorensen stopped track-side in the second-last lap.

And Jules Bianchi certainly thought he was going to make a run for a second victory in a row, having won the pole Saturday moments after his race 1 win.

But a bad get-away at the start left him fourth.

Soon, a train of five cars led by Sorensen and including Robin Frijns, Bird, Bianchi and Antonio Felix da Costa pulled a gap to the rest of the field. Only Frijns eventually fell behind, all the way down to 11th place at one point.

Despite pressure from behind, Sorensen held on to the lead.

As the second to last lap started, the Dane probably thought he had it in the bag, but moments later he was still pulling off the track with a flat tire, leaving Bird the win. Second to the finish was da Costa, followed by Bianchi, Arthur Pic and Alexander Rossi.

Frijns recovered to ninth place, meaning he still holds on to the lead in the championship, five points ahead of Bird, six in front of Bianchi. Three races remain on the calendar: Hungary, France and Spain.