Auto News 5

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."

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.

Source: canoe.ca

Photo: General Motors

Very quickly, in fact: try 251 km/hr quickly.

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.

Photo: BMW AG

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.

Photo: Bentley

From GMM

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 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.

Photo: Ford

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 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.

Click.

“Huuuuaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh'

Into second gear, around 70 km/h.

Click.

“Huuuuuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh'

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'.

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.

Nissan released pricing for the 2013 Rogue crossover on Aug. 20.

Four upstate New York Chrysler dealers are suing the automaker in federal court for granting a dealership to a local auto group and allegedly putting their sales at risk.

As promised, Autoweek captured Friday night and Saturday at the

Also in this episode: Fisker recalls the Karma plug-in hybrid over fire concerns, and Volvo looks into developing smaller vehicles.

First Drive: Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG Prototype

Big AMG power in a small Benz package.

Mercedes-Benz will likely charge into the American-market compact-luxury party in 2014, several years tardy but with no shortage of enthusiasm. The incursion kicks off with the swoopy CLA-class sedan and will eventually include a sub-GLK crossover and an electrified B-class. The company's U.S. stewards are also considering the A-class hatchback as a fourth small offering, but the car on these pages is significant even if Americans never have a chance to buy one. This A45 AMG prototype packs the same hardware that will power the CLA45 AMG sedan that arrives in U.S. dealerships in 2014.

Photo Gallery: First Drive: Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG Prototype - Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: First Drive: Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG Prototype - Automobile Magazine

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From our friends at Bring a Trailer, we bring you news of a 1956 Lancia Aurelia B24 Spider currently listed on eBay.

News 21 Aug, 2012

New Fiat 500 Street offers lots of kit, and is available from £11,360

Pictures 21 Aug, 2012

News 23 Aug, 2012

Sporty and convertible versions of the Kia Soul confirmed

Pictures 23 Aug, 2012

When we're not feverishly pounding the keyboards here at One Autoweek Tower, we talk a lot about fast cars, race cars and which fast cars would make good race cars.