In Europe, Chevrolet is playing smart by pulling out of motorsports in favor of marketing deals with two of the world's top soccer teams, Manchester United FC and Liverpool FC.
Thanks to a team of Kiwis from Nelson, New Zealand, and $100,000 worth of sponsorship, a 1964 Mini hit a record-breaking speed of 251 km/hr during the Bonneville Speed Week.
The main issue with bringing the 970S Mini up to speeds like that? Well, for starters the car was only meant to reach a max speed of 120 km/hr (as was it's less than 1,000cc engine); and while it might look cute, the aerodynamics of the Mini Cooper are less than ideal for such high speeds. Meticulous, detailed engineering was needed in order to properly prep the Mini for its high-speed run.
Driven by Nelson Hartley (Formula driver, Brendon Hartley's brother), the over-50-year-old vehicle was brought up to speeds that might be commonplace for modern vehicles, but is in now a feat that's in the Bonneville record books.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) yesterday launched a series of tests in Ann Arbor, Michigan to assess the performance of Wi-Fi systems in increasing highway safety.
Through Wi-Fi technology, vehicles and infrastructure can "talk" to each other in real time in an effort to improve traffic flow and limit accidents. Drivers are warned of specific hazards such as an impending collision at a blind intersection or a rear collision with a vehicle stopped ahead.
The test cars, trucks and buses are equipped with vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication devices that will gather extensive data about the system and its effectiveness at reducing crashes.
"The NHTSA will use the valuable data from the 'model deployment' as it decides if and when these connected vehicle safety technologies should be incorporated into the fleet," said NHTSA administrator David Strickland.
The Speed attached to any Bentley is always a good thing. It promises power, performance and even more prestige.
The latest generation of the Continental GT was unveiled at the Paris Auto Show a few years back, and now the crew from Crewe has unleashed details on the fastest production Bentley ever.
The new Speed features an uprated version of the venerable twin-turbo 6.0L W12. Horsepower climbs to 616 from 567 and torque rises to 590 lb-ft from 516.
The other story is the arrival of the ZF 8-speed automatic transmission with Quickshift paddle-shifters which not only improves on acceleration but has a positive effect on fuel consumption.
The 2013 Bentley Continental GT Speed maxes out at 205 mph (330 km/h) and will reach 100 km/h in 4.2 seconds. As well, it will hit 100 mph (160 km/h) from a standing start in only 9.0 seconds.
The assets of the defunct A1GP series are for sale, and it seems that at least two bidders have shown interest in purchasing the equipment to bring back the series to life.
The “World Cup of Motorsport” as it was called then lived for a few years and shut its doors after the 2008-2009 season (the series ran during the winters). In this series, drivers represented countries rather than teams or themselves.
The Ferrari-powered single seaters were run by professional race teams and raced under the colours of a country. A shareholder purchased the rights to run the cars under the colours of a specific country.
Loic Duval, Team France, 2008 (Photo: WRI2)
Griffins Insolvency Practitioners, the administrator of A1GP Operations has confirmed that two bids have been made for the assets, which include the fleet of single seaters. Both bidders are known to be looking to use the cars to revive a series that went bust in the wake of its fourth season.
Reviving the series will be difficult. Most shareholders never managed to attract sponsors to help pay the bills. During the last season, cars of the USA, Canada, France, the Netherlands and others ran without any sponsorship. And that was four years ago when the global economy was in much better shape than it is today.
Sometimes things come together and one must take advantage of this chance unification. As with the first person that dropped cheese in their bowl of macaroni, when the two black, drive-by-shooter specials showed up at Auto123 Towers, I just went with it. The lure to pit the two in a head-to-head match up was impossible to ignore. Both were -- as I said - black, chromed-out and proud to be bigger than life.
In no time flat, I plotted a route that would take the regal 'Slades on highways, country roads and in urban settings. The plan was perfect.
Maybe too perfect.
The first goal of this exercise was to witness the cataclysmic difference in fuel consumption between the two. Sadly, the expected blowout failed to unfold. Over half a day of driving over the hills, through the woods and on the open road the Escalades travelled nearly identical distances and consumed a very similar amount of black gold.
So, here are the results: Hybrid 12.27L/100km; SLP Sport 14.49L/100km. So what does this mean? That the Hybrid is a gas guzzler? No, not really. That the SLP is remarkably efficient? Hell, no. Mike managed no better than 20L/100km over the week-long test, while I averaged 12 with the Big H. This 40% gap is real. The 15% discrepancy from this test is a direct result of the easy driving conditions on the route travelled.
The first goal of this exercise was to witness the cataclysmic difference in fuel consumption between the two. (Photo: Sébastien D'Amour)
The other story is all-out performance. Here, the contest comes down to the sources of boostage. Obviously, slapping a massive TVS 2300 supercharger between a 6.2L V8's cylinder banks is an old-school, surefire way to shred pavement. The Hybrid's boost is far more tarmac-friendly. It starts with a 6.0L V8 onto which is wedged a Hybrid electric propulsion system.
The horsepower variations are staggering, but then they should be as the SLP exists only to reconfigure what the plastic surgeon did to your face, while the Hybrid is like Fat Bastard but with a nicer disposition. The SLP has 525 hp while the Hybrid makes do with 332.
Straight-line nailage presents no competition: the SLP crushes the Hybrid in take-offs, passing manoeuvres and all-out speed.
Where the differences are not so obvious are in nearly every other measures of performance. The SLP, although massively more powerful, features the same brakes (same size, but without the re-gen function) as the Hybrid. Also, the fact that this 2012 SLP Cadillac Escalade Supercharged Sport Edition already did the rounds with a large number of American and Canadian publications did not help the braking situation. In the end, I thought the Hybrid fared better in this department.
The SLP, although massively more powerful, features the same brakes (same size, but without the re-gen function) as the Hybrid. (Photo: Sébastien D'Amour)
Steering was a little more of the same. Feel and feedback (I guess that's what it could be called here) were crisper with the Hybrid. In the handling department, our tested SLP was shod with 2" lowering springs and beefier sway bars, and they proved to make a considerable difference where body roll and stability were concerned.
On the show side, the SLP and Hybrid were virtually indistinguishable. Other than wheel design, lower front fascias and some decals, both are nearly identical. I braved a gathering of at least 500 young car-nuts at a local strip mall one evening, and to my dismay no one gave the SLP the time of day or a single admiring glance. Poo.
It's understandable as, from a short distance, the SLP's lowered ride height is barely discernible, and one has to bend down to notice the extra tailpipes. Then there are the 22" wheels which look as though they come from the Cadillac accessory book.
Other than wheel design, lower front fascias and some decals, both are nearly identical. (Photo: Sébastien D'Amour)
Both cabins are like peas in a pod save for the Sport Edition Supercharged stitching on the SLP's front seat headrests.
So, where does that leave me? A $100,000 Hybrid or a $110,000 SLP? I'd have to go with the Hybrid, but I must keep in mind that the SLP had likely seen better days before it landed in our hands.
Fuel consumption notwithstanding, the SLP with some different dubs could possibly sway me so long as the optional 15" Brembo brakes were included. Oh, and there's something to be said about a supercharger whine. It's addictively visceral.
Heikki Kovalainen has revealed he could have avoided racing straight to the back of the grid after losing his top McLaren seat at the end of 2009.
In fact, the Finn signed on with the (then Lotus) Caterham team, whose only real opponents in the last three seasons have been the other 2010 startups Marussia and HRT.
"I had other options, but not with any big teams -- teams that were in the middle of the pack," Kovalainen told Brazil's Totalrace.
"I didn't see any great opportunity and so I preferred to go with a brand new team," he added.
It is a vastly different approach to that which might be taken by Felipe Massa, who after seven seasons with fabled Ferrari has ruled out moving to a small team in the event he is dropped at the end of 2012.
"It (signing with Caterham) was a risky move, but I don't see I would be in a much better situation had I chosen a middle team," Kovalainen explains.
"I chose to restart from scratch, changing many things -- my routine, my training, everything basically.
"For me, choosing to start with a new team made me a better person, a better driver. Maybe Felipe's situation is different to mine, I don't know if my plan would work well for him."
Kovalainen said he is yet to start talks with Caterham boss Tony Fernandes about staying for the 2013 season.
"At some point we'll have that conversation," he insisted.
"For me personally, I want to go back to always fighting for the podium, but I don't know what the future is for me. I don't have much to say about it (now)."
The Genii owned Lotus F1 Team is confident Kimi Raikkonen will stay with the Enstone based team in 2013.
Before F1 went into its August slumber, 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen refused to categorically deny rumours he might return to Ferrari next year to replace Felipe Massa.
When asked about those stories, Lotus' technical boss James Allison said: "He doesn't give us any reason to think that he is going elsewhere.
"I think he likes it with us, I think we're giving him competitive equipment and it's a very straightforward working environment for any driver who comes and works in our team," he told the team's website.
Allison suggested the F1 returnee and Genii-managed Romain Grosjean, completing a "very strong" lineup for the Enstone based team, is also going nowhere.
"It's important for us to carry that strength through to next year as well," he said.
"We won't have any engineering bedding-in to do that we have when we have a new driver."
The flat-six bolted to the rear of the Porsche 911 Carrera S is curiously clattery and unrefined when it first achieves ignition and settles into idle. Until there's some heat in the engine, it sounds delightfully messy - sort of like an old VW Bug with an exhaust leak.
It's part of the Porsche flat-six charm - and a prelude to the aural melody waiting on the other end of the tachometer once things warm up. Other drivers drop their windows at intersections to catch a bit of the sound effects, and even the youngest car nuts yell “FLOOR IT!!” when you drive by.
Hit the Carrera S's SPORT PLUS button and slip the PDK gear shifter into its manual gate, and you're provided with fingertip control over 7 forward gears and sound effects typically heard only in exotic Hollywood car chase action sequences.
Set up thusly, every prod of the throttle results in an instant, rewarding increase in exhaust volume and forward momentum. Some 400 of the most suspiciously athletic horsepower on the road are all now on full alert, ready to deliver 0-100 km/h in 4.5 seconds or better while blasting the new 911's sleeker, lower body along on a never-ending wave of peaky power.
If there was an automotive doping committee, they'd want to have a few words with the Carrera S's new flat-six engine. I've driven cars with 100 or more horsepower than this that don't pull as hard.
Photo: Justin Pritchard
Buried down low in the back, the naturally aspirated 3.8L unit revs freely and ramps power output sharply upwards at higher revs, thanks to a slick variable valve timing system. It's like German VTEC.
Hammer on it from a dig, and a deep burble floods the cabin, transitioning into a creamy high-RPM howl that'll play in your head for hours.
It's a sound unlike that made by any other engine. Sharp, effortless, and purely mechanical, it leaves a carefully-balanced overlap of intake and exhaust harmonics in its wake. The highest-revving part of that sound is downright angry and alarming. It's a noise drivers should probably only coax out of their Carrera S on a track.
A 7,600 RPM redline and tall gears mean you'll get a lot of that flat-six serenade in every gear.
Entering third happens around 120 km/h, or two demerit points - give or take. Max out this gear and you're going to jail. Four gears remain.
Upshifts take milliseconds and crank the tachometer needle counterclockwise a few degrees at an impossible speed. The advanced dual-clutch gearbox executes those upshifts with a ‘leap' into the next gear, and with no interruption in power flow.
So, the very sound and sensation of the Carrera S at full rip will coax even the most strong-willed drivers into frequent exploration of its soundtrack.
Careful with the abundant power and tall gears, though. If you're not, keeping your driver's license may require bribing your local radar-cop like a Norwegian woman's soccer referee.
So, it's perhaps thankful that the Carrera S will achieve great mileage and laid-back comfort when driven gently. And that it has a button to toggle the exhaust system between ‘quiet' and ‘loud'.
Spain's Mundo Deportivo reports that, still amid the rare month-long gap between Hungary and Belgium, most teams have now reopened their doors following the 14-day factory shutdown.
Caterham staff have a brand new home, after moving into the former Arrows and Super Aguri facility at Leafield.
And Spanish journalist Raymond Blacafort says Fernando Alonso is back from a jet-skiing vacation.
The Spaniard returned to Ferrari's Maranello headquarters on Tuesday for a sequence of meetings and a session in the driver simulator.
The forthcoming Belgian and Italian grands prix, at fabled Spa and Monza respectively and the last European races in 2012, will be staged back-to-back.
Lucas di Grassi signed with Audi for Brazil's first FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) race, scheduled for September 15.
"We're giving Lucas di Grassi a chance to compete at home as an ambassador for endurance racing and to fight for overall victory in the Audi R18," explained Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, head of Audi Motorsport, in a team's press release.
Di Grassi has already sampled an Audi R10 TDI for one of Audi's private teams, Kolles. He also took part in two further tests with another team last year and tried his hand at an R18 ultra at the Lausitzring, earlier this month.
"He left a good impression then, which motivated us to sign him," confirmed Dr. Ullrich.
The Brazilian driver will share the wheel of the No. 2 car with established Audi drivers Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish, but only on his home soil, as the experienced Kristensen-McNish pairing will face the remaining Silverstone, Bahrain, Japan and China rounds as a duo.
"Endurance racing is a fascinating discipline of motorsport which I've only experienced in tests so far," admitted di Grassi.
"That's why I'm particularly excited about my debut in the WEC for Audi alongside two big names like Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen."
A new constructor has shown interest in the future of the Indy Lights Series by submitting a chassis and engine proposal for the new car that is expected to hit the track starting in 2014.
Dyson Racing, along with a collection of ex-Lola employees, have proposed to series' officials a brand new car which has some of the features that had Lola's 2012 IndyCar design.
The car named the Hulman HGIL014 would be motorized by Dyson's Advanced Engine Research (AER) company Mazda-badged 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine used in the team's championship-winning ALMS LMP1 program.
Besides Dyson, DeltaWing, Swift and Mygale are also known to have submitted chassis proposals.
On the engine front, Honda, with its 2.8-liter, twin-turbo V6 ALMS P2 engine, has tendered an engine supply proposal along with an enticing Indy Lights-to-IndyCar assistance package.
Mazda was expected to receive heavy consideration for the Lights contract with its new-for-2013 4-cylinder, bi-turbo diesel Skyactiv P2 engine but with limited time and the series looking to announce its 2014 engine package at the Baltimore event, Mazda was forced to withdraw its bid.
The drivers and team principals of every Formula 1 team were asked to take a photograph of their chosen subject to support an innovative new project in aid of the renowned Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity (GOSHCC).
Zoom is a unique concept that has never been done before in F1 or in any other sport. It brings new insight into the world of F1 through a collection of photographs taken by celebrated names from the sport.
The Zoom auction includes images taken by some of F1's biggest names, including Fernando Alonso, Ross Brawn, Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen, Martin Whitmarsh and Sir Frank Williams.
Here is the photo taken by Peter Sauber.
"This is one of my favourite views in the world." (Photo: Peter Sauber)
"This is one of my favourite views in the world. I took this photo from the living room of my weekend cottage in Switzerland, which is located in the Kanton Grabünden (which is also known as Canton Grisons). The mountains are called the Signina group,” Sauber said.
Every image has been signed by the contributor and will be auctioned off by renowned motorsport auction specialists, Coys. Proceeds go to Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity (GOSHCC), the official charity of the British Grand Prix.
On Friday night at the RM Auctions in Monterey, California records were broken when a legend in the automotive world was auctioned off to a very luck buyer indeed.
Used mainly as the camera car in Le Mans (1971), the GT40 up for auction was also owned by Steve McQueen (adding to its overall allure and, eventually, final price tag). Part of a gathering of McQueen cars up for auction, the 1968 Ford GT40 was speculated to garner some attention, but the results were rather shocking nonetheless.
After a heated round of bidding, the legendary Ford GT40 Gulf/Mirage reached a final, world-breaking total price of $11 million.
The Blue Oval automaker has turned to a modified ''superalloy'' used in outer space to improve the performance and durability of the 2.0L EcoBoost turbo engine available with the 2013 Ford Fusion.
In order to extend the turbo's life and combat thermal fatigue, powertrain engineers at Ford worked with a team from BorgWarner on a sophisticated material that's been tried and tested in the Space Shuttle main engine's high-pressure fuel turbo pump.
So while the upper temperature limit for the turbine wheel in the Ford Edge and Explorer is 970 degrees Celsius, the addition of tungsten and cobalt gives the sporty 2.0L EcoBoost in the Fusion an upper temperature limit of 1,050 degrees Celsius.
NASCAR officials announced that Aaron Fike, a driver in the Truck Series who was suspended for drug use in 2007, has been reinstated.
"NASCAR has reinstated driver Aaron Fike upon his successful completion of NASCAR's Substance Abuse Policy Road to Recovery Program. Fike had been indefinitely suspended from NASCAR July 11, 2007 for actions detrimental to stock car racing," according to a statement issued by the sanctioning body.
His suspension arose out of an arrest in a parking lot in Kings Island, an amusement complex in Ohio. According to an ESPN.com article a police search turned up black tar heroin.
"I think people will say, 'Good.' That he cleaned up his act and got his life back in order and they will be very happy for Aaron," Tom DeLoach (Fike's former team owner) said in a NASCAR.Com interview. "I think there's a very positive humanitarian side to this that you can't disregard.
The 29-year old Fike has no offers for a future drives, but, NASCAR anti-drug abuse officials told NASCAR.com that he would be “aggressively tested,” as required by the Road to Recovery Program.
Thirty-eight drivers and crew chiefs have had their licenses suspended while 16 (including Fike) have been reinstated. Very recently driver AJ Allmendinger was one of those 38 and he has started to participate in the Road to Recovery Program.
Former Formula 1 driver Nelson Piquet Jr. caused a huge controversy in motorsport when he apparently declared that "Someone like Ayrton Senna would not have won anything in F1 today” to Terra.
Piquet is not only a NASCAR driver these days but also a columnist at Yahoo! Brazil.
In his column published Wednesday, Piquet Jr says that he was wrongly quoted by “some members of the Brazilian medias who are more interested in creating controversty than to inform their readers”.
In the original interview, Piquet compared two different eras - when his father raced in F1 and when Ayrton Senna raced.
“In the '70s and '80s, the drivers played a very important role on the mechanical side of things,” Piquet explained.
“My father helped develop the tire warmers, the active suspension, the BMW utrbo engine and other great technical innovations. (Ayrton) Senna arrived later in F1, and by that time, the cars were reliable and fully developed. It was no longer necessary to be good at developing a car.... Ayrton's concern was just to drive fast. He was indeed super fast, but he did not have the same technical background as my father and he didn't have to save the engine, the gearbox and the tires during the race. Simple as that. No controversy.”
Williams' radical improvement this year, after the 5-point debacle of 2011, has much to do with Renault.
That is the view of the famous British team's former co-owner and technical chief Patrick Head, who is no longer involved in the design and development of the Grove-made cars.
"I always have a good look at what they're doing," he recently told Brazil's O Estado de S.Paulo, "but I am concerned with other things now."
Last year, the Cosworth-powered FW33's best finishes were a pair of ninths, achieved by Rubens Barrichello.
Now with the title-winning Renault V8, the new FW34 has already scored 53 points, including Williams' first race win since 2004.
Head told journalist Livio Oricchio that the better "aerodynamic design" of the FW34 has been possible largely due to the "characteristics of the Renault engine".
Oricchio said the radiators can be smaller, with the Renault generally smaller and lower than the Cosworth.
"We could make a car with better aerodynamics and weight distribution. It (the Renault engine) was the strongest influence on the efficiency of this year's project," said Head.
Moments after he crossed the line in third place at the NASCAR Nationwide race in Montreal last Sunday, Canadian Jacques Villeneuve flew to Australia to contest his last race this season in the V8 Supercar series.
The 1997 Formula 1 World Champion and Indy 500 winner will be again behind the wheel of the Kelly Racing Pepsi Max Crew Holden Commodore at this weekend's Sydney Motorsport Park 360 at Eastern Creek.
Jacques Villeneuve, Commodore (Photo: Kelly Racing)
Villeneuve is driving in place of injured New Zealand veteran Greg Murphy who continues to recover from major back surgery.
The Canadian has already expressed a desire to secure a full-time drive in V8s if one became available.
The Sydney Motorsport Park 360 will feature a 140-kilometre (36 lap) race on Saturday and a 220-kilometre (56 lap) race on Sunday with both soft and hard tires used in each race. The circuit is 3.93-km long and turns anti-clockwise.
Introduced for the 2005 model year, the current-generation Pathfinder is seriously starting to look and feel old. The competition (read: Honda Pilot, Chevrolet Traverse and Ford Explorer) has improved since then, offering more interior space, better ride quality, more modern looks, and better fuel economy.
For the 2013 model year, Nissan will serve up an all new Pathfinder. Not only will it boast new sheet metal, but the big SUV will shed its body-on-frame structure for a unibody platform and, technically, the right to be called a crossover vehicle. It will be built in Tennessee.
The biggest improvement is that the 2013 Nissan Pathfinder will weigh some 500 pounds less than the old model, which is a significant number; less mass normally means better handling and better fuel economy.
Gone is the squared-off, boxy look of the current-gen Path; the new model boasts a more aerodynamic shape, smoother flowing character lines and a less SUV-like appearance.
The 2013 Nissan Pathfinder will weigh some 500 pounds less than the old model. (Photo: Nissan)
Gone is the squared-off, boxy look of the current-gen Path; the new model boasts a more aerodynamic shape, smoother flowing character lines and a less SUV-like appearance.
Replacing the old 4.0L V6 will be the brand's ubiquitous 3.5L VQ engine mated to a continuously variable automatic (CVT) transmission, good for 260 hp and 240 lb-ft of torque. The driver will also be able to select one of three modes offered by the all-wheel drivetrain: 2WD, 4WD or Auto.
Nissan claims the seven-passenger Pathfinder will still be able to tow up to 5,000 pounds, while fuel consumption for the 4WD version (we'll assume the 2WD Pathfinder likely won't be offered in Canada) is rated at 10.8/7.9 L/100km, city/highway, respectively.
The new Pathfinder will feature many of Nissan's new features such as the LATCH AND GLIDE system which allows access to the third-row seat without needing to remove a child seat strapped to the second-row bench.
It will also offer a panoramic dual-panel sunroof, a navigation system, a 360-degree camera system, an intelligent key system, Bluetooth phone and streaming audio connectivity, a 13-speaker Bose stereo, heated and cooled front seats, a remote engine starter, and a DVD entertainment system.
The new Pathfinder will feature the LATCH AND GLIDE system which allows access to the third-row seat without needing to remove a child seat strapped to the second-row bench. (Photo: Nissan)
If all this sounds familiar, it's because the new Pathfinder will be very similar to the recently introduced, 2013 Infiniti JX.
The 2013 Nissan Pathfinder will be on sale this fall, available in four trim levels: S, SV, SL, and Platinum. Pricing has not yet been announced for Canada, but since the JX starts at $44,900, we'll go out on a limb and guess that the Nissan will start at about $36,000, or roughly $2,000 below the 2012 model's MSRP.
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