Auto News 5

BMW said its vehicle sales will probably reach a third consecutive annual record next year, when the automaker will introduce the 4-series coupe.

BMW is expanding the numbering system it uses to identify its models. The 4 series will launch next year but we can expect another new number.

Daimler is selling half its remaining stake in the European Aeronautic, Defence and Space Co. (EADS) to focus on cars and trucks. The sale will raise about 1.66 billion euros ($2.17 billion).

DHL has confirmed that it will be back as full-primary sponsor on IZOD IndyCar champion Ryan Hunter-Reay's Chevrolet Dallara for the upcoming 2013 Indycar season.

Indianapolis-based squad Andretti Autosport and DHL recently announced the new agreement which takes the successful partnership into its third consecutive season.

The iconic DHL branding, which has been a part of Hunter-Reay's car for the past two seasons, will be unveiled by Hunter-Reay as well as the 2013 liveries of teammates Marco Andretti and James Hinchcliffe.

Hunter-Reay and team owner Michael Andretti have decided that the champion's car will have No.1 on it while Marco Andretti will be changing his from No. 26 to No. 25. James Hinchcliffe will remain with No.27.

Fuzzy's Triple Crown

Meanwhile, officials of the IndyCar have announced that Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka will be the major sponsor for the 2013 “Triple Crown“, featuring the Indianapolis 500, Pocono IndyCar 400 and the MAVTV 500.


Fuzzy's Triple Crown and the three-race oval track set will award a $1 million payout to any driver who can win all three events. A driver who wins two of the three races will be awarded a $250,000 bonus.

Our society revolves around good looks. No matter how much we try to deny it, beautiful people (and by association, things) do well. If you're attractive, you're better received, people are more open towards you and you generally go farther -- provided you're not a complete bitch.


See, looking good is only half the battle. You've got to have the personality to match the goods or people will start to get annoyed, gently start to ignore you and suddenly you're sad and lonely with 15 cats (but a perfectly symmetrical face). And here's where the car review starts: The 2013 Nissan 370Z is a looker, if ever there was one, but my God does it ever have an attitude problem.

Looking the part
For 2013, the Nissan 370Z got a bit of a facelift. It wasn't much, just enough to clean up the lines, adding LED "fangs" to the outer edges of the front bumper to make the car look a wee bit more aggressive (but just as attractive). If nothing else, this car is ideal for ogling.

Some cars are overtly sexy, and the Nissan 370Z is one such vehicle. Sensual lines, curvacious in all the right spots and with a rear end that rivals one of the Kardashians, this Nissan is the GT-R's hot younger sister that everyone wants to hit on -- until she opens her mouth.

But before you let her talk, get to know the inner her. The 2013 Nissan 370Z's interior was also updated (slightly). New dark-trim finish and an available Bose stereo system (with a few extra speakers) make sitting in the Nissan 370Z as pleasing as standing outside looking at it. My particular tester was a blonde through and through, with a creamy beige interior beneath her pearly white exterior. The effect was feminine and rather classy.

New dark-trim finish make sitting in the Nissan 370Z as pleasing as standing outside looking at it. (Photo: Sébastien D'Amour)

Then there's the personality
Leave the Nissan 370Z parked to be admired and it's truly a great car. However, for just over $40,000 (base MSRP) you're going to want to do more than look at it, and that's a shame.

Here's the thing: For me, the Nissan 370Z has no personality, and that's where the attitude problem comes into play. Sure it's got a hot set of legs (19" alloys with red caliper brakes thanks to a Sport Package to be precise), but the conversation is just so dull and boring there's no way the relationship could last.

Equipped with the same 3.7L V6 found in Infiniti's G37, the 370Z is good for 332 hp and 270 lb-ft of torque. Those aren't small numbers, not by any means. In fact, they're quite decent for a sporty coupe such as the 370Z, and yet they do nothing for me. There's no rush of emotion upon downshifting and depressing the throttle, no pulse of adrenaline when the ignition button is engaged and the first gear selected.

The Nissan 370Z is currently the only car in North America to offer a synchronized downshift rev match with a manual transmission. Basically that translates into: It's the only car in NA that will make you a lazy manual driver. The car does all the work for you, automatically bumping up your revs when you want to downshift so you can make the perfect gear transition. Sounds cool for first-timers, perhaps, but as someone who likes to drive and someone who likes to boast a rather good downshift ability, it's a bit gimmicky.

Equipped with the same 3.7L V6 found in Infiniti's G37, the 370Z is good for 332 hp and 270 lb-ft of torque. (Photo: Sébastien D'Amour)

Carrying the conversation is tiresome
Driving the 370Z does nothing for me, either. The transmission is responsive enough and the gears are easy to click through, but there's no excitement in it. You can hear mechanical components working (if you turn down the Bose stereo) which can be cool and "raw" but gets old rather quickly. And as for an exhaust note, well it's there, but not to the level you want in a sporty coupe. Give me a 350Z or G35 wail over the 370Z grumble any day.

Steering responsiveness in the Nissan 370Z also feels a bit disconnected for me. This is supposed to be a sporty car, but I just didn't get that sense. Sure the suspension -- handled by a double wishbone setup in the front and multilink in the rear -- is good, helping the car hug corners rather well and pull spirited maneouvres, but it's nothing to get too excited about. It just is.

The suspension -- handled by a double wishbone setup in the front and multilink in the rear -- is good, helping the car hug corners rather well and pull spirited maneouvres. (Photo: Sébastien D'Amour)

Would you bring her home to meet the parents?
Probably not. The 2013 Nissan 370Z isn't very practical either. Sure, a two-seater isn't supposed to be practical (that's the allure of a two-seater when you're a bachelor or looking for a weekend cruiser), but there are other just-as-impractical cars I'd rather spend 40 grand on (like a Mazda MX-5 or the Subaru BRZ, both of which would cost me less). And that's the thing; there are other options. And if you do your homework, you are very likely going to choose those other options over the 370Z.

This 2013 Nissan 370Z review was originally published on Auto-Venus.com.

Jim Downing, the former sports car driver and principal of the HANS device (head and neck support) said that short tracks and drag strips are deficient due to “lack of proper safety equipment.”

Downing, president of HANS Performance Products said, at the IMIS Safety and Technical Conference in Indianapolis that driver fatalities on those tracks have been increasing because those types of tracks lag the safety equipment required at the bigger ovals.

“There was a significant increase in deaths at U.S. race tracks in the ten years after Dale Earnhardt's fatal accident at Daytona - compared to the ten years before his fatal crash,” said Downing. “This is a fact that escapes most people involved in motor racing, because they mistakenly believe all the safety improvements have trickled down to the weekend warriors. That is not the case.”

Martinsville track. (Photo: NASCAR)

Downing based his opinion on a Charlotte Observer study titled “Death at the Track,” in the years 1991 to 2001 the total number of driver deaths from crashes was 144. During the ten-year period after Earnhardt's death, the total rose to 171, an alarming increase of 27 driver fatalities due to racing accidents.

Part of the problem, Downing opined, was due to the fact that these type of local tracks are not televised so that news of injuries or fatalities don't make it into the mainstream media. 

The safety needs to improve on short ovals and on drag strips where weekend warriors are participating and where the most deaths are occurring, said Downing. Of the 171 deaths during the years 2001 to 2011, 126 occurred on these types of tracks. SAFER barriers may not be feasible, said Downing, but his presentation documented that 34 of the deaths involved the type of head and neck injuries prevented by Head and Neck Restraints. 

“When weekend warriors die on short tracks or drag strips, it doesn't get the kind of media coverage that takes place in major series,” said Downing. “But we've identified the same type of head and neck injuries that killed drivers on superspeedways are also killing them at lower speeds on short ovals. On drag strips, drivers are hitting the walls head on. A Head and Neck Restraint can prevent these unnecessary racing deaths.”

Another problem is that the smaller sanctioning bodies may not require HANS devices due to their cost.

A balance of power and poise makes this white-on-white convertible a worthy road companion.


Spell It Out
The IPL acronym associated with the 2013 Infiniti G37 Convertible stands for Infiniti Performance Line. And it's the second model in the Japanese automaker's family to sport this badge. The first offering was the G37 IPL Coupe. And while both are equally nice to drive, this model can go topless! Now, where did I put my sunscreen?

Why IPL?
What constitutes an "IPL" designation? Well, a few things, but the key ingredient is performance. Before getting to the good stuff -- i.e., the performance aspect -- there are some differentiating characteristics of this model over its other G siblings.

First, the special emblem on the two-door drop top's effervescent three-coat Aspen Pearl exterior is a dead giveaway. Then there are the exclusive IPL aerodynamics with front fascia and side sills, along with the large diameter dual exhaust pipes with chrome finishers.

Jump inside the stone-coloured cabin and there are a few more hints. For example, the red-stitched steering wheel gives it a sportier feel. Furthermore, the sport front seats are engraved with the IPL logos. Look down and the floor mats also have the same embroidery.

What really caught my eye, though, is the Silk Obi aluminum trim finish. Set against a black backdrop, it really popped. Sometimes, carmakers can overdo the metallic trim to compensate for a lack of interior character. Not in the IPL. The balance of shades and hues not only make it look classy, but make it come alive a little more.

Also helping the vehicle come to life is the addition of a Bose premium stereo system. What makes it special is that it's specifically designed for open-air driving. That said, it still sounds fabulous with the top up, but the AudioPilot 2.0 noise compensation technology and Personal front seat headrest speakers help create optimal sound quality when the wind is travelling through the cabin.

The Silk Obi aluminum trim finish. Set against a black backdrop, it really popped. (Photo: Alexandra Straub)

Let There Be Light (and hair tousling!)
Allowing the wind to liberally flow through your hair requires only the push and hold of a button conveniently located on the centre console, just behind the gearbox. Then, the three-piece power retractable hardtop will fold elegantly into the trunk and, voila, the world is your oyster. It takes approximately 30 seconds for the opening/closing sequence of the roof.

For the full hair-tousling experience, roll the windows down. This is especially nice on a warm summer evening while driving into the sunset. But ladies (and some guys?!), for the full experience, you might want to tie your hair back and perhaps put on a hat so your hair doesn't disrupt your vision, or get in your eyes.

Performance Time
Through a series of recalibrations, system management modifications and more engineering sorcery, the IPL G Convertible's 3.7L, V6 generates 343 horsepower -- an increase of 18 horsepower over the non-IPL models -- and 273 lb-ft of torque, an increase of 6 lb-ft of torque. All of that power is then channelled through an electronically controlled 7-speed automatic transmission.

But wait, there's more: The transmission is equipped with Downshift Rev Matching and quick-shift Drive Sport (DS) mode with magnesium paddle shifters and Adaptive Shift Control (ASC). Regardless of whether you select the gears through the paddle shifters or just let the engine work its magic, its smooth sailing all the way.

Not to mention with the downshift rev matching, and of course the acceleration, comes the magnificent sound that's generated through the dual exhaust. Top up or down -- mind you, it sounds way better with the top down -- the sound that comes from the rear end is sure to please.

When on the road, the specially tuned suspension matched with 19" IPL aluminum-alloy wheels creates a ride that has potency, but comfort at the same time. At no point did I feel that the IPL was too abrasive. If anything, I would have liked it to be a little stiffer. But that's the inner racer in me talking, so I'll tell her to be quiet!

The IPL G Convertible's 3.7L, V6 generates 343 horsepower -- an increase of 18 horsepower over the non-IPL models. (Photo: Alexandra Straub)

Trunk Talk
A query that almost always arises when talking about convertibles is trunk space. With the roof up, there's 210 litres (7.4 cubic feet) of storage around back. With the top down, it's severely reduced. However, most people who are buying a convertible know that it's a trade-off they have to make. If you want to use what little space is left with the top down, I suggest loading your items in before going topless. The space to get large-ish items in is not very forgiving.

And while on the topic of space, although the IPL Convertible has room for four inside, the rear seats can get a little squishy for those with longer legs. Also, if there are taller individuals sitting up front, legroom is further reduced. But in regards to comfort, no spot is too bad when inside.

This 2013 Infiniti G37 Convertible IPL review was originally published on Auto-Venus.com.

From GMM

Flavio Briatore has joined Luca di Montezemolo in criticising the way Michael Schumacher ended his formula one career recently in Brazil.

Despite winning five consecutive titles for Ferrari in his ultra-successful first career, Schumacher - now driving for Mercedes - openly let his friend Sebastian Vettel overtake during the Interlagos finale.

Schumacher's fellow German Vettel was fighting for the title against Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who ultimately lost the battle by 3 points.

"I was expecting a slightly different final race on the part of Michael Schumacher", Ferrari president Montezemolo admitted last weekend.

Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher at the end of the Brazilian Grand Prixl. (Photo: WRi2)

Italian Briatore, who was team boss when Schumacher won his first two titles with Benetton in the mid-90s, agrees with his fellow Italian Montezemolo.

"The way he (Schumacher) behaved in Brazil was not good. His preference was that Red Bull beats Ferrari," said Briatore.

"The only one who helped Ferrari was Webber," he added, referring to Vettel's Red Bull teammate Mark Webber, who is in Briatore's management stable.

I've been covering auto racing for a really long time now. Over the years, I've done some freelance work, press releases, project supervision, print magazine editing, as well as colour commentary on TV and radio.

Of course, I've driven my fair share of cars, including all levels of karting, road and ice courses, and in various other settings. This allowed me to race against several current and future stars.

The thing I love the most about my job is the unique opportunity to test drive some of the most advanced and expensive race cars in the world. In the upcoming year, I'll tell you all about these memorable experiences.

Larrousse Ford HB V8 (photo: René Fagnan)

Without a doubt, the most exhilarating time I had was behind the wheel of an actual F1 car (not a mere F1 chassis with a Formula 3000 engine). Believe it or not, I drove a Larrousse Ford HB V8 at Magny-Cours in France. Five laps that defied all logic with breathtaking acceleration and impossibly forceful braking manoeuvres.

The most stressful test drive was that of a Tattus from Formula Renault V6. It happened in Barcelona, right in the midst of an official practice session! Imagine driving a car you don't know on a track you're barely familiar with, having to brake with your left foot while getting passed by a number of mad drivers - and in the rain to boot!

I've also driven an authentic, rally-winning Peugeot 206T16 on an ice track in Sherbrooke, Quebec, surrounded by walls of ice as hard as concrete. It was a tremendous honour and feeling to drive such a legendary car. You wouldn't believe the power its small turbocharged engine produced.

From a technical standpoint, I fondly remember the Van Diemen Formula 2000 car from Key Motorsport, which is normally assigned to Marc-Antoine Camirand. This was an actual aerodynamic test at high speeds on the huge PMG speedway north of Montreal. We had to assess the car's behaviour and top speed without any aerodynamic aid. I managed to reach a commendable 229 km/h... without a front wing.

What else? Oh yeah, I had the privilege of driving Marcus Grönholm's race-spec Peugeot 307 WRC. That car was so easy to spin, yet so difficult to exploit. The flexibility of the engine left me speechless.

If you want to learn more about these cars and others, including my savoury anecdotes, come back here regularly over the next few months.

From GMM

Red Bull is "well on the way" to achieving the same sort of "mythical status" as fellow grandee F1 teams like Ferrari.

That is the claim of Sebastian Vettel, who after winning his third consecutive drivers' championship with the energy drink-owned team played down persistent rumours he could soon make the move to fabled Ferrari.

"Clearly Ferrari and Mercedes have a great history and a kind of mythical status," the German told Sport Bild. "But we're well on the way to achieving the same with Red Bull. Realizing it needs to be our goal."

Red Bull, triple world champion in a row. (Photo: WRi2)

F1 legend Niki Lauda, however, can imagine Vettel eventually hanging up his Red Bull helmet and making the switch to another top team.

"He will eventually move somewhere else," fellow triple world champion Lauda, who won his titles with Ferrari and McLaren, told CNN. "It's normal. Any skier changes his skis every year -- so you have to change your cars at least once in your history."

Former Renault boss Flavio Briatore, however, ruled out the concept of Vettel joining Fernando Alonso at Ferrari.

"It only works in a dream. It would be a disaster," he told Italian radio Rai.

During the launch of the Citroen Racing motorsport programme in Abu Dhabi, Sebastien Loeb revealed the four events he will take part to in next year's World Rally Championship.

The nine-time world rally champion will compete in the Rallye Monte Carlo, Sweden, Argentina, before running his very last WRC round on his home soil in France in October.

Loeb also said that he will race in a GT championship, yet to be announced, in order to prepare his new career in road racing, and the arrival of Citroen in the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) for 2014.

Sebastien Loeb, Citroen Racing. (Photo: WRC)

It was also announced that Citroen will enter two separate teams next seasons : the Citroen Abu Dhabi WRT, that will run Mikko Hirvonen, Dani Sordo and Sebastien Loeb, and the the Abu Dhabi Citroen Total WRT will run Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi on eight events.

The name of the driver(s) who will drive the DS3 of the second team in the remaining rounds has not be revealed. Thierry Neuville could drive the car at selected WRC events, or for a full season, depending on his budget.

Chrysler is recalling 3,000 Ram 1500 trucks in Canada (all from the 2013 model year) due to an error in the configuration of the vehicle which disabled the Daytime Running Light (DRL) system.

Dodge RAM 1500. (Photo: Dodge)

This could make the Ram 1500 less visible to other motorists and pedestrians during daylight hours, increasing the risk of a collision.

Chrysler Canada dealers will therefore update the DRL configuration on all affected vehicles.

Source: Transports Canada

From GMM

Plans to stage a grand prix in and around London's Olympic stadium have all but collapsed.

Earlier this year, a company called Intelligent Transport Services launched a bid to take over the venue in the wake of the British capital's Games.

But rival bids were also launched, including by the premier league football club West Ham United.

And the AFP news agency says the club has been named "first bidder", which is reportedly a "major step" towards West Ham becoming the permanent tenant of the stadium.

"We had four good bids, as everybody knows," said London mayor Boris Johnson. "The bid that has been ranked top is West Ham United. I am very pleased about that. It will, if it goes through, mean a football legacy for the stadium but there is still a lot of negotiation to go on ... about the terms of the deal."

Remember about the new Test Track Presented by Chevrolet at Walt Disney World Resort? Well, it just opened to the public this week.

With this one-of-a-kind attraction, visitors can create their own concept vehicle and board a "SimCar" ride vehicle to race through a series of performance tests.

From GMM

McLaren fielded the consistently fastest car in 2012, an analysis has shown.

According to the German language Speed Week, although Red Bull and Ferrari ended up fighting for the title, it was McLaren with the consistently faster car, based on an averaging of race laps throughout the 20-grand prix season.

Based on all the fastest race laps this year, McLaren was just 1.8 tenths from perfection, the report claimed.

Champions Red Bull came in second with an average of 3.8 tenths off the best, followed by Lotus, at seven tenths.

Ferrari was just fourth, with an average deficit of 7.5 tenths.

"It means Fernando Alonso almost became champion with the fourth fastest car," the report read.

2012's fastest team McLaren won seven grands prix this year, compared to seven for Red Bull and three for Ferrari's Alonso.

McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, meanwhile, respectively won the last two grands prix of the season in Austin and Brazil.

Lewis Hamilton, winner in Austin with McLaren. (Photo: WRi2)

"We have to make the normal gains over a winter and Red Bull and Ferrari will be flat out doing that, as will the other teams trying to catch up -- Lotus and Mercedes," McLaren's sporting director Sam Michael is quoted by the Sun.

"But we're pretty confident we can do the right things over the winter and start off strong. We're going to Melbourne to win," he insisted.

Another analysis, by Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, shows that if the 2012 championship was in fact divided in two, a McLaren driver would not have been the champion or even the runner-up of either half.

Based on the first ten races, Alonso would have beaten Red Bull's Mark Webber to the title by 40 points, while the second-half champion was Vettel, with a 45-point margin over Spaniard Alonso.

The FIA World Council of Motor Sport announced a technical regulations for the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) from 2014.

The FIA aims to "provide for more spectacular cars with bigger aerodynamic devices and greater performance through weight reduction and power increase, while maintaining similar costs," the statement says.

Photo: FIA WTCC

The WTCC will begin a new chapter in 2014, which could help new constructors to enter the series, especially Citroen (with rally star Sebastien Loeb) and Renault that are set to make their debuts in the WTCC in 2014.

From 2013, diesel cars will no longer be accepted in the championship. The Brazilian event in Curitiba has been deleted from the 2013 calendar.

From GMM

Turkey is set to return to the Formula 1 Grand Prix calendar, the government-linked Turkish news agency Anadolu Ajansi reported on Thursday.

The report said "everything except the price" has been agreed between Turkish officials and F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.

The news follows the FIA's announcement on Wednesday that a 20th race date for an unidentified additional European event has been set aside for mid 2013.

"We have agreed in principle the matter of the contract with me as the operator," businessman Vural Ak, who has taken over the management of 2005-2011 Turkish grand prix venue Istanbul Park, is quoted as saying.

Ak said the matter should be resolved on Friday, when Istanbul hosts the official FIA prize-giving gala.

"The prime minister is invited," he revealed. "He will discuss it there, because the state has a contribution to make.

"We have agreed in principle, but the government will make the final decision."

Following on from the announcement at the 2012 Paris Motor Show, the title partnership agreed between Citroën Racing and Abu Dhabi now takes real shape with the presentation of the World Rally Championship programme for the 2013 season.

The Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team's line-up for next year's FIA World Rally Championship will feature three crews: Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen, Dani Sordo/Carlos del Barrio and Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena.

(Photo: Citroen Racing)

Khalid Al-Qassimi will also be taking part in the majority of the WRC events, but will be competing first and foremost in the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC).

The eight-time World Rally Championship-winning works team -- including five consecutive titles between 2008 and 2012 -- will now be known as the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team. Three cars will compete at each of the thirteen rounds on the WRC calendar.

(Photo: Citroen Racing)

Lining up in all of the events in the No.2 DS3 WRC, Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen will be looking to win the Drivers' title.

The second DS3 WRC nominated to score points towards the Manufacturers' World Championship will be driven by Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena at four rallies.

Back in the Citroën team, Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio will compete in at least eleven rounds and will be nominated to score points for the Manufacturers' standings when Loeb/Elena are not competing.

Nine-time FIA World Rally Champion, Frenchman Sebastien Loeb will contest the 2013 GT Sprint series behind the wheel of a McLaren.

Loeb will be driving an MP4-12C of the GT3 category, the supercar produced by the McLaren Group.

McLaren MP4-12C GT3. (Photo: McLaren Group)

The Frenchman already drove one alongside Gilles Vannelet at the circuit of Paul Ricard Le Castellet in Framce last October in the last round of the French GT-Tour. The MP4-12 was run by Von Ryan Racing but entered under the Sebasien Loeb Racing banner.

The GT Sprint series will replace the World GT Championship from 2013. The series features two one-hour races over a weekend, with two drivers per teams and pit stops of tires.

In the early days of motorsport, aerodynamic studies were performed by sticking wool tufts on the race cars to show surface aerodynamic flows at speed. Nowadays, a special paint is applied on certain components of the car to visualise the flow of air.

Photo: WRi2

Aerodynamicists are fully aware that work in wind tunnel and CFD programs can provide great virtual results, but it is safer to double check the behaviour of air at speed on the race track.

Flow visualisation paint -- better known as “flow viz” -- is a fluorescent powder suspended in a light oil, often paraffin. This paint is liberally applied by a spray gun to bodywork up-stream of the area engineers want to investigate.

Photo: WRi2

Before the paint has a chance to dry, the car runs at high speed around the circuit. As it does so, the air flow across the car moves the paint around, where it subsequently dries and shows detailed air flow patterns across the car.

Comparison of the relative movements of the dye particles provides an indication of the relative strengths of the air flow acting on the surfaces of the component under test. Intense stripes of coloured paint indicate the zones in which the velocity is higher.

Photo: WRi2