Hot on the heels of the Nissan Juke Box and its 18,900W audio system, the Japanese automaker is set to unveil the Juke Ministry of Sound.
While the stereo in this special edition is not as powerful as the one in the Juke Box (which some will disapprove but their neighbours certainly won't), it includes an iPod Touch 8GB allowing users to view pictures and watch videos provided by Nissan and Ministry of Sound.
A pair of headphones sporting the Juke logo and a code to access Ministry of Sound's online store will also be part of the package.
The car itself stands out with white wheels, mirrors and door handles on a black body. An all-white exterior will be available, too.
All 3,000 limited-edition models are reserved for Europe. Is there hope for North American fans? We'll probably find out at the Moscow Auto Show, which kicks off on Wednesday.
The annual smart times event took place in Antwerp, Belgium this past weekend and 1,594 fans of the iconic microcar came from 27 different countries to attend what has become the world's largest gathering of the smart community.
Hertz Global Holdings is near a deal to acquire Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group and an agreement may be announced early next week, three people familiar with the negotiations said.
Three decades after China implemented rules requiring foreign automakers to form joint ventures with domestic manufacturers to build cars in the country, the strategy appears to be failing in one of its key goals.
Since it first emerged 10 years ago, SiriusXM satellite radio has managed to find its way into 50 million cars in the US and Canada.
SiriusXM is the largest radio broadcaster in the world, and holds more than 22 million subscribers. From humble beginnings in a limited number of cars, they are now featured by all major car manufacturers and factory installed in nearly 70% of all new cars sold in North America.
By 2018, SiriusXM expects that the number of satellite-ready cars will double to 100 million. The number of subscribers should also climb from the current number as more and more satellite-ready cars will become available on the used-car market.
As a side note, if you've not experienced satellite radio it's the next best thing since sipping a Starbucks blended Grande, non-fat, soy-milk, extra-tall latte with foam and stealing your neighbour's Wi-Fi.
Porsche is a grand brand capable of producing vehicles that defy the laws of gravity, sheer your face off and comfortably carry up to five people in opulence and style. End of review.
Well, not quite.
The softer side of Porsche resides in their commitment to hybrid technology. We spent a considerable amount of time with the Cayenne Hybrid last year when we participated in a Green Car rally out of Montreal. In the end, the big powerful AWD 380 hp SUV beat out some cars that should have, at least on paper, taken the Cayenne to the environmental cleaners.
The one they've been waiting for
The Panamera is perhaps the third best move in Porsche's long and illustrious history behind the 1948 356 and the 2002 Cayenne. The week I tested the car, I purposefully crisscrossed the nicer parts of town (not my own, of course) and what I found astonished me.
First, there was a big German luxury sedan in four out of every five driveways and second, of those nearly a third proudly carried the Porsche crest. The sampling is iffy, but the point is that the Panamera was a brilliant and bold move.
The car's styling is what sets those who deserve one apart from those who prefer handsome yet more contemporary lines. It's more of the same on the inside. The Panamera's cabin has not got a conventional layout, however, if it's craftsmanship and quality you seek, the four-door 911 is all about that.
In all my years, I've not encountered a car where I felt involved in the car's drive... from the back seat! Every spot in this car is a good one. I can't imagine that riding "shotgun" would be a huge issue with this car.
The car's styling is what sets those who deserve one apart from those who prefer handsome yet more contemporary lines. (Photo: Sébastien D'Amour)
Hybrid heart
The 2012 Porsche Panamera S Hybrid carries a parallel full-hybrid system that the aforementioned Cayenne Hybrid sports, minus the AWD aspect. It consists of a supercharged 333 hp, 3.0L V6 and a 47 hp electric motor wedged between the transmission and engine. Together, they seamlessly grind out 380 hp and 428 lb-ft of torque.
The 8-speed autobox sends the power to the rear wheels exclusively, and when push comes to shove the Panamera Hybrid will reach 100 km/h in a tick under six seconds. But, that's only a small part of the story.
This car is a fantastic all-round car. It's fantastic in town thanks to uber-smooth transitions between motivation modes. It's fantastic on the highway because it's a Porsche and it's fabulous on gas.
The Panamera Hybrid is geared and designed to sip as little as 6.8L on the highway which, wait for it, is possible! My week-long test returned an average of 8.5L/100 km. Given our 8.2L average with the Cayenne, sub 8L results should be more than possible with the Pan. This is mind-blowing stuff and in a 1,984 kg (4,365 lb) four-door luxury sedan, pretty much unheard of.
The engine consists of a supercharged 333 hp, 3.0L V6 and a 47 hp electric motor wedged between the transmission and engine. Together, they seamlessly grind out 380 hp and 428 lb-ft of torque. (Photo: Sébastien D'Amour)
The road in a hybrid
Cushy, soft and unresponsive, the 2012 Porsche Panamera Hybrid is not. Fast, exotic and engaging it is.
Unlike numerous hybrids that pawn driving feel for economy, the Panamera Hybrid retains all of its inherent driving abilities. In fact, debadging the Hybrid and lining it up with a regular S, no one would ever be able to make them out as different. The drive and handling are nearly identical; however, the powertrains differ greatly, obviously.
Porsche's adaptive air suspension, which includes Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM), figures out all road details for the driver. Constant adjustments made by the system combined with the settings selected by the driver make for an immensely satisfying drive. The tested Panamera included the "must-have" Sport Chrono Package Plus which sharpens the car's reflexes and adds a handsome digital and analog stopwatch.
The Panamera Hybrid -- any Panamera, for that matter -- is far more agile and nimble than its size and girth would suggest. With sightlines and a driving position akin to that of the fabled 911, the driver quickly forgets that the car is nearly 50 cm (19") longer.
Constant adjustments made by the system combined with the settings selected by the driver make for an immensely satisfying drive. (Photo: Porsche)
Competition and pricing
The Panamera Hybrid will not be a rare bird forever. The Audi A8 was expected with a 2.0T 4-cylinder hybrid powertrain, but it would seem that Audi has changed their minds. Instead, we're likely to get the A6 Hybrid which is unlikely to compete directly with the Panamera. The likes of the BMW ActiveHybrid 7 and Lexus LS 600h L are still around, but are rarely seen or spoken of. More will come, certainly.
At $110,000, this car represents numerous things to numerous people. The 2012 Porsche Panamera Hybrid is exclusive, luxurious, fast, and incredibly efficient. Few cars on the market today can claim to please on so many important levels. As with any Porsche product, customization is a given. As tested, my car retailed for just under $130,000.
This is what makes the Panamera so appealing. If the price is an issue, you're barking up the wrong tree.
Penske's Will Power continued to shine on the track at Sears Point by earning pole position for this Sunday's upcoming IZOD IndyCar Series race ran on the beautiful Sonoma circuit.
In order to do so, the Australian clocked a best lap of 1m17.2709, good enough to move over his teammate and countryman Ryan Briscoe by more than 0.1638s.
Sebastien Bourdais (Dragon Racing), who managed to stay among the fastest drivers during all the practice sessions finished third.
Helio Castroneves (Penske) and the Ganassi duo formed by Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti completed the top six.
Title contender Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Racing) wasn't able to make the Fast-Six showdown, so were Alex Tagliani (BHA), who finished eight, Simon Pagenaud (Schmidt) and Justin Wilson (Dale Coyne), who completed the top 10.
IndyCar Sonoma Qualifications - Results Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap
1. Will Power Penske Dallara-Chevy 1m17.2709s
2. Ryan Briscoe Penske Dallara-Chevy 1m17.4347s + 0.1638s
3. Sebastien Bourdais Dragon Dallara-Chevy 1m17.7497s + 0.4788s
4. Helio Castroneves Penske Dallara-Chevy 1m18.1090s + 0.8381s
5. Scott Dixon Ganassi Dallara-Honda 1m18.2126s + 0.9417s
6. Dario Franchitti Ganassi Dallara-Honda 1m18.3462s + 1.0753s
7. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Dallara-Chevy 1m18.3355s Round 2
8. Alex Tagliani Herta Dallara-Honda 1m18.4168s Round 2
9. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt Dallara-Honda 1m18.4334s Round 2
10. Justin Wilson Coyne Dallara-Honda 1m18.6258s Round 2
11. James Hinchcliffe Andretti Dallara-Chevy 1m18.7885s Round 2
12. Rubens Barrichello KV Dallara-Chevy 1m18.9788s Round 2
13. Sebastian Saavedra AFS/Andretti Dallara-Chevy 1m18.8918s Group 1
14. Marco Andretti Andretti Dallara-Chevy 1m18.8925s Group 2
15. Graham Rahal Ganassi Dallara-Honda 1m18.8981s Group 1
16. Mike Conway Foyt Dallara-Honda 1m18.9048s Group 2
17. JR Hildebrand Panther Dallara-Chevy 1m19.0931s Group 1
18. Tony Kanaan KV Dallara-Chevy 1m18.9475s Group 2
19. EJ Viso KV Dallara-Chevy 1m19.3953s Group 1
20. Oriol Servia Panther/DRR Dallara-Chevy 1m18.9672s Group 2
21. Katherine Legge Dragon Dallara-Chevy 1m19.6414s Group 1
22. Charlie Kimball Ganassi Dallara-Honda 1m19.0262s Group 2
23. Josef Newgarden Fisher Dallara-Honda 1m19.7468s Group 1
24. Takuma Sato Rahal Dallara-Honda 1m19.2821s Group 2
25. Simona de Silvestro HVM Dallara-Lotus 1m20.2295s Group 1
26. James Jakes Coyne Dallara-Honda 1m19.5152s Group 2
27. Ed Carpenter Carpenter Dallara-Chevy 1m19.6837s Group 2
Edoardo Mortara (Audi) bagged his second win of the season in a memorably chaotic race at Zandvoort, round 7 of the DTM series. Mike Rockenfeller and Mattias Ekström completed the sweep of the podium for Audi.
Championship runner-ups Jamie Green (Mercedes-Benz) and Bruno Spengler (BMW) both finished ahead of leader Gary Paffett, Green in fourth and Spengler, who recovered from 18th on the grid, in sixth. Therefore Paffett (109 points), only seventh in the race still leads, but now from Green (93) and then Spengler (91).
Bruno Spengler (Photo: DTM.com)
Pole-sitter Timo Scheider (Audi) didn't get to enjoy his first place very long as he stalled on the grid. A late crash with David Coulthard's Mercedes ended his race. That's why second-place starting Rockenfeller assumed the lead from the start and for a long while, but tough conditions eventually had him beaten, to Mortara's advantage.
Adrien Tambay (Audi) had the best result of his young DTM career, finishing the crazy race in fifth.
Reigning champion Martin Tomczyk (BMW) was forced into retirement after a crash with Filipe Albuquerque (Audi), likewise for Canadian Robert Wickens (Mercedes-Benz), spun into a DNF by Christian Vietoris (Mercedes-Benz).
Retirements
Lap 34 - Filipe Albuquerque
Lap 28 - Martin Tomczyk
Lap 22 - David Coulthard
Lap 6 - Timo Scheider
Lap 1 - Christian Vietoris
Lap 1 - Robert Wickens
Lap 1 - Miguel Molina
Lap 1 - Rahel Frey
Championship standings
1.Paffett 109 points; 2.Green 93; 3.Spengler 91; 4.Mortara 74; 5.Tomczyk 69; 6.Rockenfeller 67; 7.Ekstrom 62; 8.Vietoris 24; 9.Farfus 19; 10.Scheider 18.
Sam Bird thought he was going to finish second in race 2 of the Formula Renault 3.5 weekend at Silverstone, only to find leader Marco Sorensen stopped track-side in the second-last lap.
And Jules Bianchi certainly thought he was going to make a run for a second victory in a row, having won the pole Saturday moments after his race 1 win.
But a bad get-away at the start left him fourth.
Soon, a train of five cars led by Sorensen and including Robin Frijns, Bird, Bianchi and Antonio Felix da Costa pulled a gap to the rest of the field. Only Frijns eventually fell behind, all the way down to 11th place at one point.
Despite pressure from behind, Sorensen held on to the lead.
As the second to last lap started, the Dane probably thought he had it in the bag, but moments later he was still pulling off the track with a flat tire, leaving Bird the win. Second to the finish was da Costa, followed by Bianchi, Arthur Pic and Alexander Rossi.
Frijns recovered to ninth place, meaning he still holds on to the lead in the championship, five points ahead of Bird, six in front of Bianchi. Three races remain on the calendar: Hungary, France and Spain.
Audi and Toyota fought hard for the win of the 6 Hours of Silverstone, in the end it was the No. 1 R18 e-tron quattro of Marcel Fässler, Benoît Tréluyer and Andre Lotterer that came out on top.
By doing so, they gifted Audi the inaugural World Endurance Championship manufacturers' title as well.
But the story of the day was the fight Toyota put up for the victory, in only its second race with the TS030 hybrid, driven this time by Alex Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre and Kazuki Nakajima. In the end, they lost the top step of the podium only in the pits, where the e-tron quattro stopped fewer times.
Photo: Audi Motorsport
Third place went to Audi's old guard, Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen driving the No. 2 R18 ultra. Furthermore, their podium result was insufficient to keep the pair on top of the drivers' standings. They lost that lead to their Audi teammates Fässler, Tréluyer and Lotterer.
The race in LMP2 went to ADR-Delta's trio of John Martin, Tor Graves and Jan Charouz, after an interesting duel with the Starworks outfit, led by ex-Peugeot driver Stéphane Sarrazin. The Brundle father and son duo, paired with Lucas Ordonez at Greaves which started on pole was slowed down during the race by a stop-and-go penalty.
In GTE, Ferrari dominated both the Pro and Am classes, although, in Pro, Aston Martin did put up a fight until it was delayed by an extra pit stop. A late charge had Stefan Mucke's Vantage in third spot, albeit not without a controversial, rubber-fending, overtaking manoeuvre.
Sébastien Loeb mastered challenging conditions to win a ninth ADAC Rallye Deutschland aboard his Citroen DS3 WRC, at the event's 10th anniversary. It all started on Friday for the Frenchman, when he picked up the lead of the rally on the opening stages and never looked back.
His lead grew until it turned into a win - Loeb's seventh this season. The eighth-time world champion now holds a 54 points advantage with four rounds remaining this season: Great Britain, France, Italy and Spain.
Photo: WRC.com
Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford) picked up a discrete second-place finish, his best asphalt result in the WRC. Loeb's Citroën teammate Mikko Hirvonen, despite never shining, made it to the podium. Mads Ostberg (Adapta/Ford) picked up where he left of the day before, finishing fourth ahead of Chris Atkinson, who ends his first rally with WRC Team MINI Portugal in fifth position.
Young guns Ott Tanak (M-Sport/Ford) and Thierry Neuville (Citroën) failed to impress all the way. Tanak won two stages on Saturday before exiting the road. Thanks to Rally 2 rules, he was able to rejoin the competition and finished ninth on the road. Neuville, while running a strong fourth also had an off, plus a puncture, on his way to 12th.
Petter Solberg (Ford), Loeb's only opposition early on, was allowed back in the competition after his day 2 crash, but most importantly missed out on a chance to beat Loeb in the Power Stage. He finished just outside the top 10, in eleventh position.
Kudos to Volkswagen Motorsport's Sébastien Ogier, sixth overall in his Super 2000 Skoda Fabia.
The verdict is in. The reconfiguration of Bristol Motor Speedway worked providing an action filled race won by Denny Hamlin.
Although Jimmie Johnson finished second and Jeff Gordon finished third, the real battle at the end of the 500 lapper was with Carl Edwards who desperately needed a win to try to obtain a Wild Card to make the Chase.
But Edwards' tires gave out, due to a gamble on not pitting, and then he ran out of gas leaving Hamlin to hold off the five-time champion for the win.
Hamlin described his 20th Sprint Cup win "it just hauled the mail. This is just a big win, I don't know how else to explain it."
With his third win of the year Hamlin is in position, by virtue of bonus points for wins, to be the top seed in the Chase after Richmond when the points are reset. Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski and Tony Stewart also have three wins.
"We're not done winning yet. We've still got a few more to go," Hamlin said in victory lane.
The race was characterized by the metal on metal contact not seen in recent times. After many years of sellouts, the spring race was noticeably empty at the stadium which seats 160,000. Its' nickname had been the Concrete Coliseum for the nature of the surface and wrecks of the past.
Only there hadn't been that type of racing in the spring.
So the track owner reground the top groove to force cars closer together. That worked but not as exactly intended. What didn't work is that drivers continue to prefer the top line. On the other hand there was a plethora of spins and crashes.
The most dramatic incident involved reigning Cup champion, Tony Stewart, and 2003 champ, Matt Kenseth. They battled on the main straight banging door-to-door then Kenseth's Ford hit Stewart's Chevrolet sending into the pit wall and out of the race.
Kenseth said "I was running the top leading and he got a run and he went into turn one like I wasn't there and just went straight to the fence. If I wouldn't have lifted, like he chose not to do the next corner, we would have wrecked, so I let him have it and I got a run back, drove all the way alongside of him and we just kept going."
Kenseth referred to two on track incidents earlier this year where the two have had a problem.
While the caution was waving Stewart got out of his wrecked car and threw his helmet at Kenseth's car, slowly circulating the half-mile oval. "I checked-up twice to not run over him (Kenseth) and I learned my lesson there; I'm going to run over him every chance I've got from now ‘til the end of the year, every chance I've got."
With two races to go the Wild Card battle is tightening. Kasey Kahne, who is 11th in the standings has one win and is only 16 points behind Stewart. Kyle Busch is 13th and last provisional Wild Car he has one win. Edwards is 12th in the points, but, has no wins. A win would put him ahead of Busch.
Volkswagen Group will be relying on the Audi A3 premium compact model to provide continued stable sales growth as it fends off a challenge in upscale small cars from Mercedes-Benz.
Beginning with 2011 model-year vehicles, federal regulators have required automakers to use petite female crash dummies in frontal automotive crash tests. Several news outlets have picked this story up.
Beginning with 2011 model-year vehicles, federal regulators have required automakers to use petite female crash dummies in frontal automotive crash tests. Several news outlets have picked this story up.
Honda expects its August deliveries to be up '40-plus percent' on demand in the United States for Civic small cars and CR-V crossovers, buoying a 27 percent annual rise to the company's best sales in the region in five years.
Audi, led by former champion Timo Scheider, swept the first five positions of qualifying in Zandvoort, round 7 of the DTM series. Points runner-up Bruno Spengler is only 18th.
Mike Rockenfeller, Filipe Albuquerque, Edoardo Mortara and Mattias Ekström were the four Audi drivers following behind Scheider in the team's sweep.
Timo Scheider (Photo: DTM.com)
Title protagonists Gary Paffett and Jamie Green are respectively eighth and sixth. For BMW's Spengler, who splits Paffet and Green atop the leaders' board, things were much worst, as the Canadian failed to even crack the top 15.
Spengler retreated to the pits after posting a quick lap early in the first qualifying heat. He figured the time would stand to allow him onto Q2, but with the clock ticking, the 29-year-old tumbled down the order, ending the day in 18th place.
Bruno Spengler (Photo: DTM.com)
His teammate Dirk Werner was the best of the BMW contingent, placing his M3 DTM seventh.
Robert Wickens, the series' other Canadian, had once more a good showing, earning 12th on the grid for Mercedes-Benz. He qualified right behind reigning champion Martin Tomczyk (11th) and ahead of former F1 man Ralf Schumacher (15th).
Ferrari protege Jules Bianchi surfed more than he drove to victory in the opening race of the Formula 3.5 weekend at Silverstone.
The Frenchman took advantage of a soaked track to beat all of his rivals.
Pole-sitter Kevin Magnussen was the first to fall pray to the weather when the skies opened up in the early stages of a race that everybody started on slick tires. He was soon followed by almost the entire field.
The safety car, soon deployed to stop the carnage, allowed drivers to switch to wet tires before the interruption of the race by a red flag.
Soon after the restart, leader Will Stevens went off just like many others, which left Bianchi to pick up the lead, en route to a second win this season. His performance puts him within 19 points of championship leader Robin Frijns, second in the race ahead of Nigel Melker.
Casey Mears will start Saturday night's Sprint Cup Race at Bristol Motor Speedway from the pole due to a rules change for rainouts in qualifying.
The 34-year old nephew of four time Indy 500 winner, Rick Mears, was fastest in the first practice session which now determines grid positions when qualifying is washed out. Under the previous rule, in the case of rainouts, the starting grid was determined by points standings.
It's his fourth career pole, but, does not earn him a spot in February's Shoot Out because he didn't “win” the pole.
“This is exciting for our Geico team and a shot in the arm, for sure,” said Mears, who drives a Ford for the small Germain Racing team.
“Starting up front here at Bristol is always a good thing. It gives us a big head start from where we've been in the past. You never want to win a pole like this, but we'll take it. Everybody in that first session wanted to run the fastest to get a late draw for qualifying.
“Everybody goes out there with the same mindset--to be fast so we get a late qualifying draw--so we feel good about what we've done.”
Since joining Germain in August of 2010 his best finish was 15th this year at Sonoma.
Brad Keselowski, coming off wins in the previous two Cup races at the half-mile oval known as the Concrete Coliseum will start second in a Dodge.
Series points leader, Greg Biffle, goes off third in a Ford alongside the Toyota of Joey Logano.
Danica Patrick will start 43rd.
Scott Speed, Kelly Bires, J.J. Yeley and Reed Sorenson were actually faster than some otherwise qualified cars but didn't make the field because they're not top-35 in owner points which cars are locked into a starting spot.
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