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News 21 Nov, 2013

Toyota has unveiled a new accident prevention system which will automatically steer a car to avoid hitting pedestrians

The Renault-Nissan alliance has delayed its goal of selling 1.5m electric vehicles world wide by two to three years, Nissan president and chief executive officer Carlos Ghosn said.

Mazda Motor president Masamichi Kogai has apologised to the victims of a test drive crash and said the company would redouble efforts to ensure safety of its vehicles.

Faurecia and Magneti Marelli have signed a cooperation agreement for the design, development and manufacturing of advanced human-machine interface (HMI) vehicle interior products.

PSA/Peugeot-Citroen may close an assembly line at its Mulhouse plant in eastern France unless production picks up to more profitable levels. The automaker will also review production at its Poissy plant near Paris.

Citroen wants its DS cars to exude success from every fiber. That means one smell is banned from the upscale line of vehicles: plastic.

UK car production rose 17 percent last month, its fastest rate so far this year, with most of the growth destined for domestic consumption rather than export.

The Los Angeles show held its first connected car expo, attracting dozens of exhibits showing the latest automotive technology.

UK car output in October rose 17.4% year on year to 160,854 units, for the largest monthly increase so far this year.

Volvo is staking its police-car fleet ambitions in Europe and beyond on a newly upgraded chassis underpinning the

PSA/Peugeot-Citroen and Renault will end a partnership on engines and transmissions that is their last production alliance in France.

PSA/Peugeot-Citroen and Renault will end a partnership on engines and transmissions that is their last production alliance in France.

BMW's GT models are aimed at countries such as the U.S. and China, while Europe is the main market for the automaker's station wagons.

Steel makers are offering lighter, more durable products to maintain their dominance against aluminum and plastics producers as the preferred raw material used in vehicle production.

As competition in the industry becomes ever more cut-throat, partly as gaps in quality and technology narrow, automakers need bolder, edgier designs to differentiate. From a global talent pool, South Koreans stand out.

This Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos will mark the final Formula 1 race for “Aussie Grit”, Mark Webber.

Mark Webber was born August 27, 1976 in Queanbeyan, Australia.

The Australian won the prestigious Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch in 1996 before climbing the ladder to race in the British Formula 3 series and for Mercedes at le 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1998 and 1999.

Mark Webber, Minardi. (Photo: WRi2)

He then was a test driver for Arrows and Benetton before he began in F1 in 2002. He stunned the experts by finishing 5th and scoring two points at his F1 debut in Melbourne, Australia.

Mark Webber then raced for Jaguar, Williams and Red Bull Racing.

Mark Webber, Benetton. (Photo: WRi2)

What were his best F1 moments?

“Getting into Formula 1 - that without doubt was a massive moment for me,” Webber told F1.com.

“I got there in quite a tough way. For many, many years I was trying to break into F1 and finally got there - that was super rewarding for me to get there on merit. My first contract was for three races! I didn't do too badly, and now, 250 races later, I can say I've survived,” he explained.

Mark Webber, Jaguar. (Photo: WRi2)

“Special moments were winning Monte Carlo and Silverstone. Of course on the other hand not winning the 2010 title was one of the toughest moments - but that's life: if you shoot for the stars you sometimes miss! So yes, that was very disappointing, but I am still super proud of taking the fight for the title until the very last race”.

“But if you have such a long career you have many tough moments. Valencia - a big crash there - and the Williams times - difficult moments - but that's part of a driver's life if you do 12 years in that sport: you do have ups and downs,” he said.

Mark Webber, Williams. (Photo: WRi2)

Mark Webber and Adrian Newey, Red Bull Racing. (Photo: WRi2)

One might say that there are three seasons in NASCAR. There's the racing season. Then there's silly season - when rumors fly about where drivers are headed. Now comes crew chief musical chair season.

Early in the week Stewart-Haas Racing announced that Chad Johnston, previously at Michael Waltrip Racing, would replace Steve Addington as crew chief for the recuperating Tony Stewart.

The team also announced Daniel Knost has been promoted from race engineer on the No. 39 team to crew chief for the No. 41 Haas Automation team with Kurt Busch.

The team also announced that Matt Borland has been named vice president of engineering. “In this role, Borland will oversee all of the team's technical initiatives and various research and development projects. He will also transition from being an active crew chief (of the departed Ryan Newman) to that of a mentor,” the team said -- specifically in regard to Knost's new role.

Greg Zipadelli who was formerly Stewart's crew chief at Joe Gibbs Racing, has been named vice president of competition where he will manage all four Sprint Cup teams (Stewart, Busch, Kevin Harvick, and Danica Patrick), with each crew chief reporting to him. Previously the team announced that Rodney Childers would be Harvick's crew chief on the No. 4 car.

What happened to Addington? He's been named competition director for the Phoenix Racing and crew chief of the No. 51 Chevrolet with a driver to be named later.

Stewart, who once fired his then current crew chief, Darian Grubb, weeks before he won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship told the Associated Press why he's changing his crew chief for the third time in six years. "It's literally results. I don't think we were ever on pace to be where we needed to be," he said.

"It's a moving target and I don't think you could bring Ray Evernham back to Jeff (Gordon) and get the same results now. I think it's a constant moving target. The relationship is one aspect of it, but still the moving target is the technology side of it.

"The more pieces you add to the puzzle, the harder it is to put the puzzle together. When we had two crew chiefs and two drivers, it was at a certain level. And then the third team and now the fourth team. Now you have to make sure, instead of just getting two crew chiefs to communicate, now you have four. The equation gets more complicated."

And, over at Roush Fenway Racing, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. will be reunited with Mike Kelley who was the crew chief on Stenhouse's two Nationwide Championships (2011 and 2012).

After eight seasons, the FIA Formula One World Championship will say goodbye to the normally aspirated 2.4 litre V8 engine formula at the end of the Brazilian Grand Prix Sunday.

This will be the ultimate race for the Renault, Mercedes, Ferrari and Cosworth V8 engines.

Renault Sport F1 has released some very interesting facts about its engine that powered Fernando Alonso to the world title in 2006, and Sebastian Vettel to the world championship four years in a row, from 2010 and 2013.

Fernando Alonso, Renault 2006. (Photo: WRi2)

A few facts from the Renault V8 engine:
8 years of competition
59 wins - 40% of wins in the V8 era
65 pole positions
55 fastest laps
3665.5 points
5 Constructors' world titles
5 Drivers' world titles
750 bhp maximum power (2013 version, typical car installation, typical temp/pressure/humidity)
18,000 rpm maximum engine speed (2013 version)
95kg weight, FIA perimeter
1,271 engines built, 683 for track use, 588 for dyno use
2,000,000 km total
5,000 components per engine
7,600,000 parts used
21,800 pistons used
43,200 inlet valves used
45,900 exhaust valves used
43,800 connecting-rod bolts fitted
22,000 spark plugs used
10,600 oil filters used

Renault V8 engine in the Red Bull. (Photo: WRi2)

Did you know?

A throttle can go from completely closed to completely open in 10 to 15 milliseconds, the duration of light for a photo flash strobe.

At full power, the engine ‘sucks' more than 500 litres of air per second.

The camshafts turn at half the engine speed, so the valves will be able to open 150 times per second.

When running at maximum speed, the force on the pistons will be more than 8,000 times its own weight (0 to 100 km/h in less than 1/2000th sec).

The connecting rod is one of the most stressed parts of any piston engine. At the Bathurst circuit in Australia there is a straight named the Conrod Straight as there are so many engine failures there!

The machining tolerance of the steel crankshaft is down to 1 micron.

Photo: Renault Sport

The oil circulates round the engine at a rate of approximately 60 litres per minute. There is about 5 litres of oil, so the oil does completes approximately 12 laps per minute of the engine and cooling circuit.

During a race, the exhausts of the RS27 will reach up to 1000 °C, an average consumer oven will only reach 240 °C. These temperatures are very close to the melting point of most metals; therefore, special lightweight materials are used.

One boost of KERS is equivalent to a shot of 80bhp for 2 to 3 seconds.

To cool this heat approximately five litres of water will be in the engine at any one time. At maximum revs the water will be circulated at 240 litres per minute (more than a fireman's hose)! The heat dissipated in the water could heat a 2,500 m2 building at 0 °C ambient temperature.

From Caterham F1 Team

Caterham F1 Team is continuing its support of the people of the Philippines with a unique opportunity to win an actual 2013 Caterham F1 Team steering wheel as part of its fundraising campaign to help those affected by Super Typhoon Haiyan.

Continuing the #toPHwithlove campaign, which started in Austin with dedicated branding on the CT03 race cars, a dedicated fundraising page has been set up by the team at JustGiving, supporting GlobalGiving's ongoing fundraising efforts.

Photo: Caterham F1 Team

Everyone who makes a donation at JustGiving will be eligible for a random prize draw to win the Caterham F1 Team steering wheel used by Charles Pic in the 2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The campaign will run from 1400 GMT on Thursday 21st November, before the Brazilian Grand Prix, and will continue until 1200 GMT on Monday 2nd December when the draw will be made by random selection from all those who donated funds to the campaign.

To be able to win the wheel, anyone who donates needs to make sure they can be contacted after they have made their donation. When the donation is made, the contact preferences must be set to ‘allow your email address to be passed on to the fundraiser', or Twitter handles can be left in donation messages, again enabling that person to be contacted if they are lucky enough to win.

Charles Pic, Caterham. (Photo: René Fagnan)

In addition, help can also be given to the people in the Philippines affected by Super Typhoon Haiyan through our partners at AirAsia and their #toPHwithlove campaign. Find out more at: http://caterh.am/toPHwithlove

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. All details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once the donation is made, JustGiving will send the money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Two airborne crashes forced United SportsCar Championship (USCC) officials to suspend testing for the Prototype and Prototype Challenge classes, during the second day of a preseason testing venue at Daytona International Speedway.

Action Express' Joao Barbosa and Spirit of Daytona's Richard Westbrook both crashed their respective Daytona Prototype heavily just after suffering a puncture, luckily without injuring themselves.

It is believed the current-specification Continental Tire rubber cannot cope with the extra downforce provided by a new spec aero package only prototypes run.

Photo: UnitedSportsCar

GT cars and the DeltaWing could continue testing because they were not concerned by the issue.

Continental Tire is expected to introduce a revised specification in time for the annual early January test ahead of the 24 Hours of Daytona.

In these circumstances, the DeltaWing posted the overall fastest lap Wednesday, at 1min40.833s. In GT, SRT Motorsports proved quickest in GTLM and Scuderia Corsa in GTD.

Drivers turned a total of 5,645 laps (20,096.2 miles) over two days of testing on Daytona's 3.56-mile, 12-turn road course. The Daytona sessions followed two days at Sebring International Raceway on Saturday and Sunday. Since the green flag dropped on the first Sebring session Saturday morning, a total of 30,642.26 testing miles were recorded.