Auto News 5

The 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG is now arriving at dealerships across the country with a 630-horsepower, 6.0L twin-turbo V12 engine and a price of $229,900, according to the brand's Canadian website.

New this year, customers can take delivery of their 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG directly from the AMG Customer Center in Affalterbach, Germany. This also includes a visit to the AMG Performance Studio and a meeting with the engineers who built the V12 engine used in their SL 65 AMG.

A special "45th ANNIVERSARY" edition, limited to just 45 vehicles and sold at €272,034, will be available. A Mercedes-Benz Canada spokesman confirmed to Auto123.com that a certain number of units will find their way here, although Canadian pricing has yet to be determined.

Photo: Mercedes-Benz

From GMM

Hot on the heels of Alain Prost's test in a Red Bull, it has emerged that the F1 legend's son Nicolas will drive the black and gold Lotus in Abu Dhabi next month.

The 31-year-old Frenchman, who currently races for the Lotus-linked Le Mans team Rebellion, will contest F1's final 'young driver test' of the year.

In the media statement, Lotus described Prost as its 'reserve driver', and said he will prepare for Abu Dhabi with a two-day run at the Navarra circuit in Spain.

"This is an exciting next step in my career," he said.

Nicolas Prost. (Photo: Rebellion Racing)

At the same time, however, McLaren's Martin Whitmarsh rubbished the 'young driver' test format.

"If we are honest," Martin Wthimarsh is quoted by motorline.cc, "we all use it to further develop our cars. I haven't yet seen a so-called young driver test at which a young driver has been specifically prepared with the intention of having him racing the next year. We don't like to admit it, but that's the truth."

From GMM

HRT boss Luis Perez-Sala has expressed concerns F1's 2014 engine regulations could push small teams out of business.

"Yes," he is quoted by Autosprint magazine, "today for a team like HRT, the engine costs account for 20 per cent of our total budget. If this figure will double in 2014, then I do not know what we would do."

The Spaniard and former Minardi driver suggested that, to cushion the blow, small teams should be allowed to buy a customer car from a bigger team.

Photo: HRT F1 Team

Kyle Busch has apologized for some in-car comments which were available to anyone with a scanner.

After dominating last week's NASCAR Sprint Cup race in Dover, leading more than 300 laps of the 400-lap race, the race ended up to be a fuel economy run and Busch's Toyota needed to stop for fuel ending up seventh.

Brad Keselowski took the lead, and the win, with a few laps to go after Busch had to pit for fuel.

Since this year Toyota Racing Development (TRD) prepares engines for Joe Gibbs Racing. Busch was irritated to the extreme.

"Thank you, TRD,'' Busch said over his in-car radio.”F----- us out of another one. Piece of s--- mother------.''

Toyota and TRD, in particular, were not pleased with that public outburst.

Kyle Bush in the pit at Dover. (Photo: NASCAR)

Late Thursday Busch, and principals of JGR and TRD issued written statements concerning the race and Busch's outburst.

"I made some remarks out of frustration on my radio at the end of last weekend's race in Dover that were very misguided," said Busch. "I owe my friends at Toyota and TRD an apology. We have a great partnership with TRD and they built me a motor that helped me lead over 300 laps and nearly lap the field. It's just frustrating that the caution fell where it did and suddenly it became a fuel mileage race and we were set up for maximum horsepower. Obviously, that worked well for most of the day and you can't control when the cautions will fall."

Lee White, President and General Manager, TRD, U.S.A. said "We understand Kyle's passion for racing -- and winning. At TRD and Toyota, we have that same zeal for racing -- and winning. We were disappointed with Kyle's post-race comments from Dover -- a race that he dominated. Kyle's had a frustrating year with several car and engine mechanical failures which were not his responsibility, and we're working extremely hard on our end to improve our products and processes. We will continue to address these issues, but we're ready to put this behind us and move forward with the remainder of the season, including the Toyota drivers battling for the championship."

Joe Gibbs, the team owner added "We have a great relationship with Toyota and obviously they are a major part of everything we do at Joe Gibbs Racing. Toyota is first class in every aspect of their company and they share our passion for winning. It has been a frustrating season for Kyle in many ways when you think about some of the issues we've had with that 18 team this year and obviously some of those frustrations carried over to his finish last week in Dover. We were able to lead over 300 laps, but unfortunately the cautions didn't fall our way and certainly you can understand the frustration of having to give up the lead late in the race. However, Kyle recognizes that his comments and the tone of his comments were misguided.”

Jenson Button (McLaren) set the best time in the morning session and Mark Webber (Red Bull) was fastest in the afternoon session of free practice at the Grand Prix of Japan.

Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) ranked second in each session.

Paul di Resta (Sahara Force India) had a huige crash at the beginning of the second practice session. Le Scot was uninjured , but the the session was stopped to clear the track from the debris.

Two reserve drivers were in action in the morning. Valtteri Bottas at Williams, in Bruno Senna's car, and Giedo van der Garde for Caterham, driving the CT01 of Heikki Kovalainen.

Grand prix of Japan - Suzuka
Friday, October 5th 2012

Free practice session 1 - Results*
1 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 1'34"507 - 20 laps
2 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 1'34"740 - 26
3 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB8-Renault) - 1'34"856 - 24
4 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes MGP W03) - 1'35"059 - 18
5 - Michael Schumacher (Mercedes MGP W03) - 1'35"122 - 20
6 - Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber C31-Ferrari) - 1'35"199 - 27
7 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F2012) - 1'35"283 - 24
8 - Paul di Resta (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) - 1'35"299 - 18
9 - Nico Hülkenberg (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) - 1'35"474 - 22
10 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW34-Renault) - 1'35"478 - 24
11 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F2012) - 1'35"484 - 26
12 - Sergio Pérez (Sauber C31-Ferrari) - 1'35"584 - 24
13 - Kimi Räikkönen (Lotus E20-Renault) - 1'35"691 - 22
14 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus E20-Renault) - 1'35"724 - 21
15 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 1'36"123 - 19
16 - Jean-éric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 1'36"222 - 25
17 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB8-Renault) - 1'36"366 - 23
18 - Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW34-Renault) - 1'36"389 - 24
19 - Timo Glock (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) - 1'37"716 - 17
20 - Vitaly Petrov (Caterham CT01-Renault) - 1'38"295 - 23
21 - Charles Pic (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) - 1'38"616 - 25
22 - Narain Karthikeyan (HRT F112-Cosworth) - 1'39"043 - 25
23 - Giedo Van der Garde (Caterham CT01-Renault) - 1'39"374 - 22
24 - Pedro de la Rosa (HRT F112-Cosworth) - 1'39"688 - 19

Free practice session 2 - Results*
1 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB8-Renault) - 1'32"493 - 34 laps
2 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 1'32"707 - 32
3 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB8-Renault) - 1'32"836 - 37
4 - Nico Hülkenberg (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) - 1'32"987 - 30
5 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F2012) - 1'33"093 - 28
6 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus E20-Renault) - 1'33"107 - 35
7 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 1'33"349 - 22
8 - Bruno Senna (Williams FW34-Renault) - 1'33"499 - 35
9 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F2012) - 1'33"614 - 32
10 - Michael Schumacher (Mercedes MGP W03) - 1'33"750 - 13
11 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes MGP W03) - 1'33"866 - 19
12 - Sergio Pérez (Sauber C31-Ferrari) - 1'33"903 - 36
13 - Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber C31-Ferrari) - 1'33"933 - 33
14 - Kimi Räikkönen (Lotus E20-Renault) - 1'34"291 - 12
15 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW34-Renault) - 1'34"300 - 33
16 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 1'34"863 - 32
17 - Jean-Éric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 1'35"080 - 34
18 - Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham CT01-Renault) - 1'35"711 - 41
19 - Vitaly Petrov (Caterham CT01-Renault) - 1'35"870 - 37
20 - Timo Glock (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) - 1'36"194 - 32
21 - Charles Pic (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) - 1'36"636 - 28
22 - Pedro de la Rosa (HRT F112-Cosworth) - 1'37"342 - 30
23 - Narain Karthikeyan (HRT F112-Cosworth) - 1'37"701 - 35
24 - Paul di Resta (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) - no time - 2

* Unofficial results

Mark Webber put Red Bull to the top of the timesheets after the second practice session in Suzuka on Friday afternoon, lapping his RB8 in 1m32.493 to head McLaren's Lewis Hamilton by 0.214s after the 2008 champion recorded 1m32.707.

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren. (Photo: WRi2)

An action-packed session was halted for six minutes early on when Paul di Resta lost his Force India on the entry to the Spoon Curve after getting the right-rear wheel in the dirt. The Scot was not hurt.

Mercedes AMG's triple DRS. (Photo: WRi2)

Later Michael Schumacher had exactly the same accident there in his Mercedes AMG. The German was not injured.

Ferrari using flow-viz pain in the front wings. (Photo: WRi2)

There were also incidents for Caterham's Heikki Kovalainen, Sauber teammates Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez, Marussia's Timo Glock, Williams' Pastor Maldonado, HRT's Narain Karthikeyan, Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen, while Vitaly Petrov spun in the first corner in the closing minutes after his Caterham shed its rear wing.

A rack of Pitot tubes installed on the diffuser of the Mclaren. (Photo: WRi2)

Female mechanic at work at HRT. (Photo: WRi2)

Adapted from GMM

At Suzuka, Kimi Raikkonen kept rumours circulating about his plans for 2013 by insisting that he has no agreement yet signed with Lotus.

Team Lotus bosses Eric Boullier and Gerard Lopez have recently said the 2007 world champion is definitely staying in 2013, due to a contract 'option'.

Kimi Räikkönen, Lotus E20. (Photo: WRi2)

At the same time, there have been signs that Lotus is an active player in the 2013 'silly season'.

And Raikkonen is now quoted by Turun Sanomat newspaper in Japan: "I don't have any agreement for next season yet."

Maldonado' case
Once believed secure at Williams with his Barcelona win and Venezuelan dollars, Pastor Maldonado vows that nothing is signed for now for 2013.

"We shall see, we shall see," Pastor Maldonado is quoted by Brazil's Totalrace. "I don't want to talk about it now because the team is still deciding its drivers for next year and I'd rather not answer. Of course I hope to be in the best possible position I can be."

Pastor Maldonado, Williams FW31. (Photo: WRi2)

Often fast this season, Maldonado has also been criticised for being involved in too many incidents this season.

He insisted: "It is too early to talk about Williams, because they always wait until the end of the season. It's not just about having won a race. I have gone very well, showing speed and particularly with the car that we have, which is not the best but getting better. It's been a very good championship. You only see the results but in terms of speed and performance, we're fine."

From GMM

Cosworth has rejected reports it will definitely bow out of formula one after 2013.

It has been suggested the independent British engine marque, currently supplying V8s to Marussia and HRT, is not in a position to commit to a costly V6 development programme for the radical 2014 rules.

But when asked about 2014, Cosworth's F1 chief Kim Spearman said on Friday: "If we can find a commercially sustainable way to provide a competitive platform for some potential customers, we'd like to do that.

"We are in useful negotiations with customers and hopefully we'll find a way to be in."

He confirmed Cosworth has already started work on a 2014 project.

"Oh yes," said Kim Spearman. "We've been working on the engine for 18 months."

2012 marks the 15th anniversary of the compact crossover segment. This milestone was the result of three Japanese automakers attempting to peek into the future to try and gauge what the buying public might want as an alternative to the then-typical family car.

Honda and Toyota were the first to hit the market with their respective CR-V and RAV4 in 1997. It wasn't until 1998, when Subaru launched their offering, that the segment really took off. The Forester, RAV4 and CR-V all found themselves on the “want lists” of small, burgeoning families looking to dump their old minivans or station wagons.


Since then, every other major player in the car business has joined in with varying degrees of success. The gold medal for kicking butt goes to Ford and their Escape. Its 1st generation spanned a decade, but never really lost any steam, hence why the all new version participates in this comparative test.

The only entirely new entry (free of any sort of past) to the crossover game is the Mazda CX-5. Its spectacular-everything since its arrival pushed us to actually put together this test with a total of six vehicles. And then, there's our 2012 Auto123.com Award winner for best Compact Utility vehicle, the Kia Sportage.

With these three players and three established pillars, we put our test together.

As always, we can't evaluate them all. On test day, we were given some grief through Twitter and Instagram because one of the originators was not on the field. The Subaru Forester was another member of the founding fathers, if you will; however, with little or no changes in nearly four years and sales lagging far behind the CR-V and RAV4, it missed out on an invite. This does not mean that it is no good though!

So here goes:

Continue reading 2012 Compact Crossover comparo test

From BMW

Days after the ninth DTM race in Valencia, BMW Motorsport completed two days of testing in preparation for the season finale in Hockenheim on October 21.

BMW Team RBM and BMW Team RMG both ran one BMW M3 DTM each in Aragón, Spain.

Joey Hand and test and development driver Marco Wittmann were joined at the 5.344-kilometre circuit by Fabio Leimer and Maxime Martin, who were making their debuts at the wheel of a DTM car.

Fabio Leimer. (Photo: BMW Motorsport)

According to a press release, the four drivers took advantage of the good conditions in Aragón to complete a comprehensive test programme.

In total, the two cars covered over 2,500 kilometres on Wednesday and Thursday. Wittmann drove 754 kilometres on the first test day alone - more than the BMW M3 DTM had ever completed before on one single test day.

Maxime Martin. (Photo: BMW Motorsport)

From GMM

Telmex will continue to sponsor Sauber, despite the Swiss team losing Mexican Sergio Perez to McLaren.

Perez made his debut with the Hinwil based team last year with Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim's backing, primarily through the telcom Telmex's branding.

So the 22-year-old's switch to McLaren for 2013 had triggered rumours the British team also wanted Telmex to replace its reportedly flagging title sponsor Vodafone.

But Telmex is staying with Sauber, chief executive Monisha Kaltenborn announced on Friday, sparking immediate rumours the brand might push for its other Mexican charge - 21-year-old Esteban Gutierrez - to replace Perez.

Photo: Sauber F1 Team

Referring to Perez's switch, Kaltenborn said at Suzuka: "We were informed by Telmex about this change and Telmex also told us that they have a long-term project with Sauber which will not be affected by Sergio leaving the team."

Sauber's other driver, Kamui Kobayashi, admitted on Thursday that his future is unclear at present.

"I have no idea," said the Japanese when asked about his future.


UPDATE

Monisha Kaltenborn on Friday did not categorically deny suggestions Sauber might replace Sergio Perez with another Mexican.

Telmex also backs Sauber's reserve driver, youngster Esteban Gutierrez.

"He's been with the team a long time," said Kaltenborn when asked about the Gutierrez rumours, "and whatever we do with him is something totally independent from Sergio's leaving and we don't really want to mix them together. We'll announce whatever we have to in due course."

Monisha Kaltenborn did admit, however, that Sauber might lose some Mexican sponsors as the result of Perez's departure.

"It's a natural link there, obviously, because they are from the same country, but it is not just that simple that because one driver leaves us all these sponsors will leave," she said.

Well they are, otherwise, we'd have a serious mess of stalled cars on roads everywhere... OK, this makes no sense, but what I'm trying to say is that not all tires are measured equally. Will I please get to the point? Sure.
Have you ever noticed that your car, with its replacement tires (the set you buy to replace the original equipment rubbers), although of the same make, model and size, have never performed or handled as well as the originals?

Have you ever heard of the fact that the tires you get with your car are not the same ones that you can buy off the shelf?

Both of these anecdotes have some truth to them, and both relate to the same key important fact: Tires, for car manufacturers, are measured for conicity. Tires sold to you and I are not.

What is conicity? It is a mild manufacturing anomaly where a tire's tread is cured in a slightly conical shape rather than in a uniform, cylindrical shape. Actually, most (if not all) tires have some degree of conicity in them.

The difference is that new car manufacturers want conicity to be measured and used in their favour. Conicity is indicated by a “-” or a “+“ which indicates whether a tire “pulls” to the left (-) or the right (+). As an example, a car builder may want two of each on each side in order to improve a car's overall handling abilities. How's that for cheating?

It isn't really cheating, but the fact that you and I, as regular consumers, cannot get this type of information when buying new tires, is somewhat unfortunate.

This leads me to add that if you want to maintain or improve on your car's current handling abilities, the only real way is to purchase far better -- and therefore more expensive -- tires. A lateral move or even selecting a slightly higher performing tire may not generate the desired results.

Photo: Matthieu Lambert

From GMM

McLaren also considered Paul di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg for the departing Lewis Hamilton's 2013 seat, team boss Martin Whitmarsh admitted on Friday.

He told British broadcaster Sky at Suzuka that, before signing Mexican Sergio Perez, the great British team looked closely at Force India's current lineup.

"Well I think (McLaren considered) Paul Di Resta, Nico Hulkenberg -- there are no real surprises there," Whitmarsh told former McLaren driver turned commentator Martin Brundle.

"They are both under contract, but both are undoubtedly available to us and I think they both are very good drivers."

Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta. (Photo: Sahara Force India)

He said it was a "very close decision" to sign Perez over Scot di Resta and German Hulkenberg, who are both still linked with Felipe Massa's Ferrari seat.

"I think what we have with Sergio is someone who is perhaps less developed but has masses of talent, who doesn't make mistakes and is a very good racer," Whitmarsh explained. "We were looking at potential and I think what we were trying to do was pick someone who was going to progress beyond where they are now. We think he will, but we don't know."

Vile Gossip: My Ultimate Fantasy Reality: JeanKnowsCars.com

For three decades, I have been living a fantasy so fantastical that I couldn't have imagined it.

For three decades, I have been living a fantasy so fantastical that I couldn't have imagined it. I've had a once-in-a-lifetime adventure about once a year, driven almost every car on my wish list, met heroes and heels, and had more fun than is advisable if you want to be invited back. It has been a riot, and I'm not going anywhere. But I am adding on.

Photo Gallery: Vile Gossip: My Ultimate Fantasy Reality: JeanKnowsCars.com - Automobile Magazine

Vile Gossip: My Ultimate Fantasy Reality: JeanKnowsCars.com | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us

Honda is expanding a recall launched in March to fix a headlight problem to include the

Also in this episode: Autoweek editors select the best of the Paris motor show, Chevrolet tests the

Japanese supplier Denso said it has developed a lithium ion battery pack to boost fuel efficiency of vehicles with stop-start systems.

Visteon will decide its strategy for each of its units by the end of 2013 and provide investors 'clarity,' the company's permanent CEO Tim Leuliette says.

High on many Subaruphiles' wish list is a new two-door WRX STI, and the Japanese manufacturer might just be working on such a model.

News 4 Oct, 2012

Prices have been announced for the new SEAT Toledo, ahead of first deliveries in December