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News 3 Sep, 2012

First official pictures have been released of the production-ready 197bhp Peugeot 208 GTi

Pictures 3 Sep, 2012

At its just-opened $450-million factory in Thailand, Ford prides itself on being "fork-free." Eliminating forklifts, which can have big blind spots, from the floor improves worker safety, the automaker says.

Japan Inc. has a new export market: Japan.

European auto workers returning from their summer break may not be back on the factory floor for long, as carmakers order temporary shutdowns in response to a protracted sales slump.

History/Description: Few family cars are as sensible as a Toyota Camry -- and with a reputation for reliability and high resale value, Toyota's bread-and-butter model is an attractive piece of machinery in the used-car marketplace.

2007 Toyota Camry (Photo: Toyota)

Look for a 2.4L, 158-horsepower 4-cylinder as standard, and an available 3.5L, 268-horsepower V6. A 5-speed stick was standard on the 4-cylinder Camry, and a 6-speed automatic was standard on the V6. Note that a new 4-cylinder engine, displacing 2.5 litres, replaced the 2.4L unit in 2010.

Feature content included a sunroof, heated leather seats, premium JBL audio system, navigation, automatic climate control, power seats, and plenty more. Toyota Camry nomenclature works as follows: base models were called LE, while the SE variant took the middle place in the model range. Top-line Camry's wore an XLE badge.

What Owners Like: Performance with the V6 engine is rated very highly, and most owners comment positively on overall fuel mileage, roominess and utility. Many Camry owners also enjoy plenty of at-hand storage within the cabin, which helps them stay organized on the go. The up-level sound system is also highly rated.

What Owners Dislike: Common complaints include a dull, unstimulating overall design, a “floaty” ride, and numb steering and brake feel. Some owners report questionable seat comfort, so be sure the Camry's seats fit you well on a test drive.

Common Issues: Though Camry has a deserved reputation for reliability, a few checks should be considered mandatory. Be sure to check the oil level and condition of the model you're considering, as numerous reports of excessive oil consumption have been made. Any engine will consume oil, and keeping on top of the vehicle's oil-change schedule and monitoring oil levels are key to longevity.

The V6 engine available in this generation of Camry suffered from a well-documented problem with oil lines that could leak or rupture. Your local Toyota dealership will be familiar with this problem, and should check out the Camry you're considering ahead of purchase. If an oil line leaks or fails it could, in extreme cases, destroy the engine.

2008 Toyota Camry (Photo: Toyota)

Continue reading 2007-2011 Toyota Camry Pre-Owned

From GMM

British Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton has described one contract offered by McLaren for the 2013 season as "sh*t".

The expletive is an insight into the 2008 world champion's delicate negotiations with the British team, but Hamilton ruled out letting the impasse become a "sabbatical".

"There are lots of sticking points," the 27-year-old said at Spa, where the 2013 'silly season' has shifted into a higher gear.

"You never just sign the first contract that's given to you because most of the time it's sh*t," he is quoted by the Sun.

"Nothing's signed, nothing's decided."

Although his alternatives appear limited, Hamilton is not ruling out a switch to a rival team.

"You don't know what is going to happen because in 2014 the regulations change quite heavily. So you don't know what is going to be the (right) place," he said.

The Times' Kevin Eason said that comment could tie in with speculation McLaren is happy to increase Hamilton's pay, but the team wants him to sign a long-term deal.

Hamilton ruled out letting the impasse result in him being left with no seat in 2013.

"I'm not going to walk away from F1. Plus, why would I take a sabbatical? I am too young. That is definitely not going to happen," he said.

Venezuelan driver Pastor Maldonado has received a grid penality for having blocked a rival during the qualifying session of the Grand Prix of Belgium at Spa-Francorchamps.

Maldonado, driving a Williams-Renault, qualified a solid third place but has been handed a three-place grid penalty by the Belgian stewards for blocking.

After reviewing evidence, the stewards decided the Williams driver had impeded the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg in Q1. Maldonado will now start Sunday's race from sixth on the grid.

He is the third driver to receive a grid penalty this weekend. Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber and Mercedes AMG's Nico Rosberg will both drop five places after their cars underwent unscheduled gearbox changes.

Revised starting grid:

1 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes
2 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari
3 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus-Renault
4 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari
5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari
6 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault
7 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
8 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault
9 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes
10 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault
11 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes
12 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing-Renault
13 Michael Schumacher Mercedes
14 Felipe Massa Ferrari
15 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Ferrari
16 Daniel Ricciardo STR-Ferrari
17 Bruno Senna Williams-Renault
18 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault
19 Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault
20 Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth
21 Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth
22 Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth
23 Nico Rosberg Mercedes
24 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth

Guy Smith of Dyson Racing set the quickest time in the opening practice for the Baltimore Sports Car Challenge presented by SRT.

Smith's lap of 1:25.899 in the No. 16 Lola-Mazda led Muscle Milk Pickett Racing's Muscle Milk ARX-03a of Klaus Graf by 0.289 seconds.

Muscle Milk and its drivers lead the Dyson contingent for the ALMS' P1 drivers, team and manufacturer championships.

Corvette Racing sat 1-2 in GT with their Corvette C6 ZR1s, led by Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Corvette. He set a time of 1:30.580 and went 0.356 seconds quicker than Jan Magnussen in the No. 3 sister car.

Conquest Endurance's Martin Plowman led P2 in the No. 37 Morgan-Nissan prototype. His time of 1:28.021 (83.435 mph) - good enough for third overall - was 0.923 seconds clear of Level 5 Motorsports' Christophe Bouchut.

Green Hornet Racing's Damien Faulkner posted the best GT Challenge time in his No. 34 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. His lap of 1:34.854 gave the Irishman a 0.238-second gap back to TRG's Spencer Pumpelly.

From GMM

More than a decade after the fact, Brazilian Luciano Burti has finally opened up about the crash at Spa-Francorchamps that ended his formula one career.

During the 2001 race, the Brazilian was battling with Eddie Irvine when they collided, sending Burti's Prost head-first into the barriers at a sickening speed.

"It took me two years to get back to normal," Burti, now an F1 television expert, said on Friday at the same Belgian circuit eleven years on.

He subsequently spent some time at Ferrari as a test driver, but never raced in F1 again.

"The worst was the first four months, when I needed to take medicine against seizures," Burti told Brazil's Totalrace.

"My memory of that time is terrible. It was a hell of a drug. I remember being confused, getting words wrong, saying 'cut the light' rather than 'turn out the light'."

Burti says he does not remember the race or the crash, his first memory being woken up from an induced coma three days later and finding that Rubens Barrichello had spent the night sleeping on the hospital floor.

And when he finally returned to Brazil, he was not the same.

"It was a time when I would remember things from ten years ago, but not what I did that morning," said Burti. "I would see somebody in the morning and then in the afternoon say to them 'Hi, it's been so long!”

The Hexis Racing pair of Alvaro Parente and Gregoire Demoustier secured pole position for Sunday's Qualifying Race in a stunning return to form for McLaren in the seventh round of the GT1 World Championship in Russia.

Conditions were cold and cloudy at Moscow Raceway with the air temperature reaching just 13C. The sun had broken through briefly by the end of the session and track conditions remained dry throughout.

Parente in the No.2 McLaren produced a quickest lap of 1m33.536 around the twists and turns of the Moscow Raceway.

The No.1 McLaren of Fred Makowiecki and Stef Dusseldorp was second fastest in 1m33.726 to round out a good day for the French team.

Third was the No.3 AF Corse Ferrari of Toni Vilander and Filip Salaquarda with a best lap time of 1m34.188. The Ferrari duo had set the pace in free practice but Salaquarda says the change in weather conditions accounted for a slight drop-off in performance.

Misfortune struck the drivers' championship leaders Michael Bartels and Yelmer Buurman who suffered an engine failure on the No.18 Vita4One Racing BMW.

Following the track issue that curtailed the first practice session for the upcoming Baltimore Grand Prix, the IZOD IndyCar Series official had decided to grind a section of the Pratt Street main straightaway.

The IndyCar series initially hoped to solve the problem by using that technique but it was eventually determined that a two-point configuration chicane would have to be reintroduced.

Nineteen of the 25 entrants completed at least three laps in the morning session, with Marco Andretti topping the time sheet with a best lap of 1m21.0211 seconds in the No. 26 Team Dr Pepper Ten car.

IndyCar drivers have backed the series' decision to introduce a chicane to prevent cars from being launched over the bump near the rail line.

Simon Pagenaud had a scary moment when his car took off on one of the bigger bumps only a land hard on its wheels a few metres later.

After the work being completed, Penske's Will Power ended-up the fastest in the afternoon practice and concluded that it had been the right move.

"I think it was definitely the right thing to do," he said. "It fixed the problem over the train tracks. They'll make a few more adjustments overnight, but all in all it's all good."

British driver Jenson Button set a brilliant performance and used his upgraded McLaren MP4-27 to the best to clinch his maiden pole position as a McLaren driver for the Grand Prix of Belgium.

Button set the stunning pace in Q2 and repeated it minutes later in Q3, taking the pole with a fast time of 1m47.686.

Kobayashi, Button and Maldonado. (Photo: WRI2)

Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi planted his Ferrari-powered Sauber in second place. That was his best performance in qualifying so far in F1.

Pastor Maldonado, the surprise winner of the Grand Prix of Spain qualified third in his Williams-Renault. However, an impeding incident involving the Venezuelan and 12th-place qualifier Nico Hulkenberg of the Sahara Force India team is under investigation.

Kimi Raikkonen qualified fourth in his Lotus E20 in front of Sergio Pérez in the second Sauber and championship leader Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari.

Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber (Photo: WRI2)

Button's teammate Lewis Hamilton will take the start in 7th place.

“The set-up wasn't perfect, but that was simply because we chose the wrong rear wing, preferring to stay with the version we used in Hungary," said Hamilton.

"The wing we'd been using in FP3 this morning hadn't been working very well, so we opted to go back to the older wing which we thought would be the safer option. It was a collective choice: we thought the older wing would be quicker in qualifying, but in fact Jenson has shown the new wing to be very good indeed."

Surprisingly, two-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing, Michael Schumacher of Mercedes AMG and Felipe Massa of Ferrari failed to make it to Q3.

Mark Webber of Red Bull and Nico Rosberg of Mercedes AMG both received a five-place grid penality for gearbox changes.

Starting grid of the 2012 Grand Prix of Belgium*:

Row 1
Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 1'47"573 - Q3
Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber C31-Ferrari) - 1'47"871 - Q3

Row 2
Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW34-Renault) - 1'47"893 - Q3
Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E20-Renault) - 1'48"205 - Q3

Row 3
Sergio Perez (Sauber C31-Ferrari) - 1'48"219 - Q3
Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F2012) - 1'48"313 - Q3

Row 4
Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 1'48"394 - Q3
Romain Grosjean (Lotus E20-Renault) - 1'48"538 - Q3

Row 5
Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) - 1'48"890 - Q3
Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB8-Renault) - 1'48"792 - Q2

Row 6
Nico Hulkenberg (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) - 1'48"855 - Q2
Mark Webber (Red Bull RB8-Renault) - 1'48"392 ** - Q1

Row 7
Michael Schumacher (Mercedes MGP W03) - 1'49"081 - Q2
Felipe Massa (Ferrari F2012) - 1'49"147 - Q2

Row 8
Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 1'49"354 - Q2
Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 1'49"543 - Q2

Row 9
Bruno Senna (Williams FW34-Renault) - 1'50"088 - Q2
Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham CT01-Renault) - 1'51"739 - Q1

Row 10
Vitaly Petrov (Caterham CT01-Renault) - 1'51"967 - Q1
Timo Glock (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) - 1'52"336 - Q1

Row 11
Pedro De La Rosa (HRT F112-Cosworth) - 1'53"030 - Q1
Charles Pic (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) - 1'53"493 - Q1

Row 12
Nico Rosberg (Mercedes MGP W03) - 1'50"181 ** - Q1
Narain Karthikeyan (HRT F112-Cosworth) - 1'54"989 - Q1

* Unofficial timing
**5-place penalty for gearbox change

From GMM

At Spa on Friday, McLaren's 2012 car was sporting the most visibly obvious development, in the wake of Formula 1's month-long summer break.

The concept was described by Auto Motor und Sport as a pair of "unusual sidepods" for the MP4-27, featuring almost a second layer or wing above the top surface.

McLaren's new sidepods at Spa. (Photo: WRI2)

But the German publication said the Swiss team Sauber actually first thought of the idea, with the gap between the surfaces apparently speeding up the air as on its way to the rear of the car.

In other development news, Lotus will almost certainly not debut its double DRS-inspired straightline speed-boosting "device" at Spa-Francorchamps, after Friday's practice washout.

"With discretion being the better part of valour, we will conduct P3 (on Saturday) with a conventional aero package rather than attempting to squeeze Friday's intended evaluation into the precious final practice session," said technical boss James Allison.

Sometimes it helps to be the boss. Tony Stewart won the pole at Atlanta Motor Speedway with some advice from his Stewart Haas Racing teammate, and employee, Ryan Newman.

“That pole is 100 percent due to Ryan Newman,” Stewart said of Newman , who had qualified earlier in the evening and was able to tell the three-time Sprint Cup champion exactly how to set his car up.

Tony Stewart (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)

“He walked back down there to help us before we went out and said there's a ton of grip out there, you've just gotta do it. I was having a hard time convincing myself that's what I was gonna do.”

The key was running his Chevrolet in the high line through turns three and four.

“That's about 2½ seconds,” Stewart who turned a lap of 186.121 mph quipped. “I'm not sure if we'd have run the line I'd planned on running we'd have been that fast. It's awesome having a teammate like. I don't ever remember being here and seeing anybody run up at the top like he did.”

More surprising than Stewart's first pole in Atlanta was that it was only the 14th pole in his 14-year, 489-race, career in NASCAR's premier series.

Stewart, known for his irony with the media, added “I'm definitely known as a qualifier.”

Roush Fenway Ford pilot, Greg Biffle, will start outside the front row after turning a lap in 29.863 seconds (185.643 mph).

“It sort of hurts to qualify second like we did today,” Biffle said.

“You know, you ask any driver after qualifying, and they could give you 100 reasons why and what they could have done better. I got down in the middle of one and two and hesitated to push the gas down; I thought the car was loose and waited and waited and thought I was gonna have to run a second lap to make up for it. I come by and they told me I was on the front row. I wish I could do it over again, but it was a great lap to put us on the front row. It gives me a lot of confidence for Sunday, both for track position and for pit selection.

Kyle Busch will start third, in a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, with a lap of 185.493 mph. Matt Kenseth will start fourth.