Auto News 5

Joe Hinrichs, Ford's top executive in Asia, has a solution for the automaker's minnow status in China: cheap cars in backwaters. For now, Ford's offerings in China are neither cheap enough nor extensive.

As the UAW embarks on an uphill battle to organize Nissan's plant in Mississippi, it is drawing inspiration from the famous struggle waged in the state during the civil rights movement.

The Gazette has obtained results from a 2006 to 2010 SAAQ study recording collisions reported to the police between cyclists and moving vehicles. The English daily published a map outlining the city's collision hotspots.

Records reveal that at 24 accidents, the Ontario/Berri intersection is the most collision-prone, while the Crémazie/Christophe-Colomb intersection comes a close second. With 250 collisions overall, Sherbrooke Street has been proven to be the most dangerous route for cyclists.

According to this study, accidents are more likely to happen during the month of June or on Thursdays between 4 and 6 pm. So, if you happen to be riding a bike during rush-hour on a Thursday in June, you might want to avoid Sherbrooke!

Source: montrealgazette.com

History/Description: Replacing the Echo was Toyota's subcompact sedan & hatch, the Yaris. Available from 2006 to 2011 in its last generation, Yaris packed four-cylinder power, a flexible interior and feature content including stability control, antilock brakes, air conditioning, cruise control, power accessories and more - depending on the year and model. Alloy wheels and fog lamps were available too, adding a sense of street-smart flair on some models.

2007 Toyota Yaris sedan (Photo: Auto123.com)

Look for a 1.5L four-cylinder engine with 106 hp on all models. A five-speed manual transmission or a four-speed automatic were available. Folding rear seats in the Yaris hatchback, particularly, helped enhance flexibility and day-to-day utility.

Note that models wearing the CE designation were the base models, while LE or RS, for instance, represented higher-end versions.

What Owners Like: Typically, Toyota's reputation, fuel efficiency and a high degree of utility and maneuverability are raved about by Yaris owners. Handling dynamics, relatively speaking, are also highly rated. Interior roominess rounds out the package.

What Owners Dislike: Common complaints include a less-than-stable feel driving in rain or snow, a lack of power and limited at-hand storage for smaller items in the cabin. Some owners wish for a heavier, more stable and ‘safer' driving feel. Finally, appreciation for the Yaris's centre-mounted instrument cluster is mixed at best.

Common Issues: Yaris is a compact car with an all-star reputation for reliability - though a few issues are noted in used models, and standard checks do apply.

Start a test-drive of a used Toyota Yaris with a walk-around, checking the paint for signs of chipping, scratches or rust. Some owners report that the Yaris's bodywork is thin and lightweight, making it easy to scratch and dent.

Check the speakers for proper operation at all volume ranges, as intermittent operation of front speakers is not unheard of.

2008 Toyota Yaris Hatchback (Photo: Philippe Champoux)

Continue reading 2006-2011 Toyota Yaris Pre-Owned

From GMM

Mark Webber has described the high profile of technical controversies involving Red Bull as a "tactic" deployed by rival teams.

This week, a reportedly "furious" Ferrari hit back at Helmut Marko's claim that the Italian team was also caught with a hand-adjuster in its 2012 single seater.

Marko's claim followed the most recent technical controversy involving Red Bull, with the sagas so far in 2012 involving hand-adjusted ride heights, engine mapping, holes in the floor, and others.

Team driver Webber, however, said there are plenty of similar stories up and down pitlane, with those involving the reigning champions always getting the attention.

"I know - I know - other teams have been asked to address things with their cars," he is quoted by Australian news agency AAP.

"But they're not for general consumption and some of ours are for general consumption. Red Bull ones always seem to make the media."

Webber said the high profile of the Red Bull controversies is a "tactic" deployed by the team's rivals.

"It's a pretty boring tactic from them, isn't it?" he said. "Quite predictable.

"In their little bubble, if they want that, that's great."

And Webber, currently second in the 2012 points standings behind Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, predicted there would be more Red Bull controversies in the near future.

"There'll be something else, I promise you, but we will always pass every single test," he said in London, where he is taking in some Olympic action during F1's August break.

From GMM

There is good news from new formula one hosts in Texas as well as Sochi, Russia.

Austin's new Circuit of the Americas announced that three-day general admission tickets for its inaugural grand prix in November have sold out.

US media reports said the venue estimates a whopping 120,000 spectators will attend on all three days of the race weekend.

"Worldwide fan interest has been remarkable," spokesman Geoff Moore said.

And the Austin American Statesman newspaper said the first layers of track asphalt have been laid, concrete for the corner kerbs and pitwall poured, run-off gravel put down, and safety fencing is being installed.

Progress is also being made in Russia, despite earlier fears the resort city Sochi might not be ready for its inaugural 2014 race date.

Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Kozak is quoted by the ITAR-TASS agency as saying the track will be ready for 2014, even though Sochi is also gearing up to host the winter Olympics.

"We'll be ready to host the first Russian grand prix in October 2014," he said in London.

Muscle Milk Pickett Racing are the reigning champions at Mid-Ohio, but they had never captured pole position, until yesterday.

Lucas Luhr put in a time of 1min11.019s in his HPD ARX-03a, besting class rival Dyson Racing by over half a second. The question remains however : can Muscle Milk make it six consecutive victories?

In GT, BMW Team RLL's Jörg Müller came out of nowhere to punt Extreme Speed Motorsports' Guy Cosmo off the pole, and therefore topped a session as tight as usual for the GT boys.

Corvette Racing and Flying Lizard Motorsports are within the same two-second window as BMW Team RLL and ESM.

Only the Viper GTS-R, on its first competition weekend, disappointed really. Tommy Kendall and Marc Goossens have the No. 92 entry in 24th overall, while the No. 91 of Kuno Wittmer and Dominik Farnbacher failed to post a time altogether.

P2 pole went to Level 5's Christophe Bouchut, who had his team back to normalcy after an tough race at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. For the first time this season, the team failed to win, as the victory went to Conquest Racing.

Marino Franchitti won a tight battle with Bruno Junqueira to the LMPC pole.

Damian Faulkner too, ended the session with the fastest lap, but in the GTC category.



Qualifying results - ALMS (Mid-Ohio)

1.Luhr/Graf (HPD ARX-03a) - Pickett - 1'11"019

2.Dyson/Smith (Lola B12/60-Mazda) - Dyson - 1'11"715

3.Marsal/Lux (Lola B11/66-Mazda) - Dyson - 1'12"678

4.Tucker/Bouchut (HPD ARX-03b) - Level 5 - 1'13"230
5.Plowman/Hansson (Morgan-Judd) - Conquest - 1'13"734

6.Dempsey/Foster (Lola B12/87-Mazda) - Dyson - 1'14"346

7.Tucker/Gonzalez (HPD ARX-03b) - Level 5 - 1'14"791

8.Franchitti/Junco (Oreca FLM09) - PR1 - 1'15"107

9.Junqueira/Drissi (Oreca FLM09) - RSR - 1'15"189

10.Bennett/Braun (Oreca FLM09) - CORE - 1'15"556
11.Marcelli/Downs (Oreca FLM09) - Merchant - 1'15"675
12.Popow/Dalziel (Oreca FLM09) - CORE - 1'15"689
13.Richard/Ende (Oreca FLM09) - Dempsey - 1'17"311

14.Kovacic/Burgess (Oreca FLM09) - Merchant - 1'17"375

15.Mueller/Auberlen (BMW M3) - Rahal - 1'19"298
16.Brown/Cosmo (Ferrari 458) - Extreme Speed - 1'19"329
17.Bergmeister/Long (Porsche 997) - Flying Lizard - 1'19"445
18.Sharp/Van Overbeek (Ferrari 458) - Extreme Speed - 1'19"471

19.Magnussen/Garcia (Corvette ZR1) - Corvette - 1'19"536
20.Gavin/Milner (Corvette ZR1) - Corvette - 1'19"727
21.Hand/Mueller (BMW M3) - Rahal - 1'19"754

22.Miller/Maassen (Porsche 997 Cup) - Miller - 1'20"209

23.Henzler/Sellers (Porsche 997) - Falken - 1'21"222

24.Goossens/Kendall (SRT Viper) - SRT - 1'22"158
25.Sweedler/Bell (Lotus Evora) - Alex Job - 1'22"424

26.Neiman/Holzer (Porsche 997) - Flying Lizard - 1'24"096

27.LeSaffre/Faulkner (Porsche 997 Cup) - Green Hornet - 1'25"130

28.Pappas/Bleekemolen (Lola B11/80-Honda) - Black Swan - 1'25"424

29.Pumpelly/Carter (Porsche 997 Cup) - TRG - 1'25"620

30.MacNeil/Keen (Porsche 997 Cup) - Alex Job - 1'25"815

31.Faieta/Avenatti (Porsche 997 Cup) - Competition - 1'25"994

32.Wittmer/Farnbacher (SRT Viper) - SRT - no time

Marc-Antoine Camirand earned a record-breaking 10th victory at the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières in the Canadian Touring Car Championship (CTCC) Friday night race.

Camirand didn't stop for no one on track, first posting the best lap in free practice, than in qualifying, and then running away with the victory of the first of two CTCC races at the GP3R, at the wheel of his BMW 330i.

"Yeah! That's one more," the local hero said of his latest win. "This 10th victory at the GP3R, in front of our fans, is a great one!"

Marc-Antoine Camirand zipping by (Photo: Flagworld Communications)

"It may have looked easy from the outside, but let me tell you it wasn't," he added. "I had to nurse an alternator problem for most of the race, much like in Montreal last June. In the end, I was forced to turn the power-steering off.

"A night race is always special, and this time it was even crazier with the three CTCC classes running all together on the track. You really have to watch what your steps."

From GMM

Sauber is "laid back" about its driver situation for 2013.

That is the claim of chief executive Monisha Kaltenborn, despite reports Kamui Kobayashi has underperformed, Sergio Perez is on Ferrari's radar, and Caterham's Heikki Kovalainen could be joining the Swiss team next year.

"We are not worried," she told F1's official website, when asked about speculation Mexican Perez could be lured to a bigger team off the back of his good performances in 2012.

"Regarding the future, we are not under pressure and I am laid back about it," added Kaltenborn.

However, Japanese Kobayashi has failed to shine as brightly as Perez in 2012, triggering rumours Sauber could be on the lookout to replace him.

"I think that the results do not show the whole picture," Kaltenborn continued.

"I would say that some factors played for Sergio -- and some simply didn't work out for Kamui.

"But as we still have half the season to go, Kamui can go out and copy Sergio."

Will Power (Team Penske) drove his No. 12 Dallara-Chevrolet to the top of the time sheet during qualifying of the Mid-Ohio IndyCar round.

He bested the track's old record for the IndyCar series; and rival Scott Dixon - winner of three of the past fives IndyCar races held on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course of Mid-Ohio.

Dario Franchitti lines up alongside Power, Dixon is only fifth.

Behind Franchitti and Power are Frenchman Simon Pagenaud and Canadian Alex Tagliani. Although, Tagliani received a 10-place grid penalty for an unapproved engine change that promotes Dixon up to fourth.



James Hinchliffe, the other Canadian, is down in 16th on the grid, where he stands beside Formula One veteran Rubens Barrichello, who qualified one position ahead.

Helio Castroneves, currently runner-up in the championship, suffered both a 10-place grid penalty for another unapproved engine change and a crash in the morning practice session. He will have to start the race with a bruised hand.

Giorgio Pantano, the veteran Italian racer who is standing in for the injured Charlie Kimball, qualified 24th.



Starting grid - IndyCar (Mid-Ohio)

First row

Will Power (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Penske - 1'05"647 - Fast Six

Dario Franchitti (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Ganassi - 1'05"895 - Fast Six

Second row
Simon Pagenaud (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Schmidt - 1'05"904 - Fast Six
Scott Dixon (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Ganassi - 1'06"097 - Fast Six

Third row

Ryan Briscoe (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Penske - 1'06"201 - Fast Six

Sebastien Bourdais (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Dragon - 1'05"941 - Q2

Fourth row

Ryan Hunter-Reay (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 1'06"066 - Q2
Marco Andretti (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 1'06"114 - Q2

Fifth row

Josef Newgarden (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Fisher - 1'06"172 - Q2
Oriol Servia (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - D&R - 1'06"205 - Q2


Sixth row

Justin Wilson (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Coyne - 1'06"661 - Q2

Helio Castroneves (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Penske - 1'06"704 - Q2

Seventh row
JR Hildebrand (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Panther - 1'06"377 - Q1
Alex Tagliani (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Herta - 1'06"005 - Fast Six *


Eighth row
Rubens Barrichello (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - KV - 1'06"710 - Q1
James Hinchcliffe (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 1'06"435 - Q1

Ninth row

Mike Conway (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Foyt - 1'06"781 - Q1
Takuma Sato (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Rahal - 1'06"440 - Q1


10th row

Tony Kanaan (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - KV - 1'06"843 - Q1
EJ Viso (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - KV - 1'06"451 - Q1


11th row

James Jakes (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Coyne - 1'07"123 - Q1

Graham Rahal (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Ganassi - 1'06"625 - Q1


12th row
Simona de Silvestro (Dallara DW12-Lotus) - HVM - 1'08"074 - Q1

Giorgio Pantano (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Ganassi - 1'07"035 - Q1


13th row

Ed Carpenter (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Carpenter - 1'08"512 - Q1

*

10-place grid penalty for unapproved engine change

For some time, manufacturers have been pushing back the technical boundaries of batteries used for hybrid electric vehicles. Matthew Beecham asks executives of three leading advanced battery makers - Western Lithium, GS Yuasa and Axeon - for their opinions on how this blossoming market is shaping-up.

Also in this episode: Carroll Shelby's Ford Mustang GT500 KR goes up for auction, and the Chevy Spark shows off its wares.

July 2012 Auto Sales

Seasonable highs, with scattered showers.

This summer's auto sales continue at a pretty good clip, but that doesn't mean there's equanimity in the results of the various automakers. The industry's annualized sales rate in July again was over 14 million units. That's not bad, considering that 2011 ended with 12.8 million new vehicles sold. July's pace was also 9% ahead of last year's.

Photo Gallery: July 2012 Auto Sales - Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: July 2012 Auto Sales - Automobile Magazine

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Toyota is currently rolling out the latest addition to the Prius hybrid family - the Prius Plug-in. How does it differ from the standard Prius hybrid?

Social security numbers and other personal information belonging to 883 former and current General Motors retirees was taken after a salaried GM employee copied documents containing the information just before retiring, The Detroit News...

Chevrolet marketers are aiming the Spark minicar at millennials, and to grab the attention of these Generation Y consumers, Chevy plans to follow the game plan it used for the launch of the 2012 Sonic -- forgoing TV spots in favor of a digital...

The auto industry and Michigan's business community have been growing more concerned in recent years about counterfeit automotive parts, computer intrusions and trade secrets -- and federal prosecutors have taken action.

2012 Mercedes-Benz E63 Wagon

We probably should just come right out and admit that the E63 AMG wagon is our favorite car. So much for objectivity.

I probably should just come right out and admit that the E63 AMG wagon is my favorite car. So much for objectivity.

Photo Gallery: 2012 Mercedes-Benz E63 Wagon - Editors' Notebook - Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: 2012 Mercedes-Benz E63 Wagon - Editors' Notebook - Automobile Magazine

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Toyota has slipped behind competitors in drivetrain technology and now must play catch-up against the likes of