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Dodge is going to great lengths to make a successful return to the North American compact car segment. Launched in 2012 as a 2013 model, the Dart comes back for 2014 with an exciting new proposition: a more powerful GT model with a slew of hi-tech gadgets.

I understand that the competition is extremely fierce, and that automakers must up the ante to stand out from the pack, but when you have a compact Dodge that retails for just under $25K, you have every right to expect a great driving experience. Alas, the new GT lacks bite. What's more, the 2014 Dodge Dart GT's latest technology and creature comforts are eclipsed by a cramped interior and a thirsty engine.


What is the Dodge Dart GT?
Here we have a small sedan that shares its platform with Fiat's Alfa Romeo Giulietta from across the pond. Unfortunately, it appears that some of the sporty character and Euro-flavoured handling have been lost during the Americanization of the Dart.

The list of features is impressive, which explains the high price. You really have to fall in love with the 2014 Dodge Dart GT to decide not to spend your hard-earned money on one of several go-to nameplates in the compact car segment.

Here we have a small sedan that shares its platform with Fiat's Alfa Romeo Giulietta from across the pond. (Photo: Philippe Champoux)

2014 Dodge Dart GT Price and Specs
Motivation for the 2014 Dodge Dart GT comes from a 2.4L 4-cylinder Tigershark engine with MultiAir technology that produces 184 horsepower and 171 lb-ft of torque. The manual transmission (which I tested) can be replaced with a Powertech autobox for $1,300 extra; they are both 6-speed units.

The 2014 Dodge Dart GT starts at $23,790, but can be upgraded in a number of ways thanks to several options. Oh, and before I forget: I averaged 11.5L/100km during city driving only. Yeah, that's a lot.

Motivation for the 2014 Dodge Dart GT comes from a 2.4L 4-cylinder Tigershark engine with MultiAir technology that produces 184 horsepower and 171 lb-ft of torque. (Photo: Philippe Champoux)

Driving the 2014 Dodge Dart GT
Despite the engine feeling a little harsh, I managed to complete a few good linear sprints when presented with the opportunity -- or the urge. My biggest complaint remains the lack of communication between the 2014 Dodge Dart GT and the driver. The fairly numb steering disappointed me, as did the brakes, which tend to lock the wheels at any time.

The baseball-sized shift knob connects to a decent-at-best manual transmission, while the clutch pedal lacks fluidity and precision. It's as if the company opted to invest time and effort elsewhere. Yet, these are instrumental parts of the driving experience. What's up, Dodge?

On the other hand, the suspension does a good job overall, effectively limiting body roll in corners.

Despite the engine feeling a little harsh, I managed to complete a few good linear sprints when presented with the opportunity -- or the urge. (Photo: Philippe Champoux)

Inside and Out of the 2014 Dodge Dart GT
The sleek-looking 2014 Dodge Dart GT stands out with an exclusive ultra-black grille, 18” wheels, and LED taillights whose shape is supposed to remind us of a race track. Meanwhile, interior styling is enhanced with leather upholstery and red accent trim that amplifies the GT's sporty soul.

The 8.4” centre display adds a decidedly modern touch. It serves as the interface for Dodge's Uconnect multimedia system, which honestly has room for improvement, especially when it comes to voice command: I found it hard to access the menus I wanted, and I only seemed to be able to control music despite pressing the phone button.

I appreciated the rearview camera, particularly with the high trunk. Other than that, visibility is good.

Accessible with the index and middle fingers, the volume and multimedia controls behind the steering wheel are ergonomically positioned. Up front, the uncluttered layout makes it easy to adjust the volume or change radio stations in the 2014 Dodge Dart GT.

The 2014 Dodge Dart GT I tested came with a blind-spot monitoring system and keyless entry with push-button start -- again, more gadgets. As a compact car buyer, it's up to you to decide how much you're willing to spend on this sort of stuff: Are you a real technophile or just someone after an affordably priced sporty car?

Beyond the spacious trunk (by C-segment standards) you'll find a secret storage compartment under the front passenger's seat. Of course, the rear bench seat's versatility (including 60/40 split-folding capability and a centre pass-through) helps maximize hauling options.

Interior styling is enhanced with leather upholstery and red accent trim that amplifies the GT's sporty soul. (Photo: Philippe Champoux)

Comparing the 2014 Dodge Dart GT
The Honda Civic Si and Mazdaspeed3 are obvious competitors, here. You can also add the Volkswagen Golf GTI and Beetle Turbo. These are well established sports cars for the most part, so the bar is pretty high for the 2014 Dodge Dart GT. You need to be swayed by its looks, newness factor, and lower entry price to justify taking one home.

From GMM

Fernando Alonso has been banned from talking about Ferrari via his personal Twitter account.

The Spaniard had his ear "tweaked" by team president Luca di Montezemolo earlier this year, after making a series of disparaging remarks about the development of Ferrari's 2013 car.

"We will prohibit him from Twitter," Montezemolo reportedly said during his interview with Italian television Rai Uno this week.

"Although Alonso, like anyone else, can write on Twitter what he wants, everything concerning Ferrari will be communicated by Ferrari," he added.

Fernando Alonso's Twitter page.

From GMM

Norbert Haug, the former Mercedes competition boss, has bad news for the hopeful German marque.

To now be headed by Paddy Lowe, Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda, Mercedes is bullish about its 2014 hopes, having finished second in 2013 to the runaway champion team, Red Bull.

"For everyone and for me the target is to win the world championship, both championships," driver Lewis Hamilton told the British broadcaster Sky after last weekend's 2013 finale in Brazil.

"If we don't do it naturally there will be some disappointment but we're not even going to put that negative energy out there," he added.

Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton. (Photo: Mercedes AMG F1 Team)

Norbert Haug, however, has filled that Mercedes-sponsored void of negativity.

"I don't think Sebastian Vettel's dominance can be broken yet," the 61-year-old, who was replaced by Wolff ahead of the 2013 season, told German radio Sport1.

"He understands these modern cars perfectly and we've hardly ever seen dominance like it, even by Michael Schumacher.

"I also don't think Red Bull is going to be much less competitive after the coming winter, even with the biggest technological revolution (in F1) in 25 years," added Haug.

However, Haug does think Mercedes can be a contender for the 2014 title.

"With Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, the team is very well placed. Moreover, we began to think about the new generation of engine some five years ago. I believe that Mercedes can fight for the world championship," said Norbert Haug.

The 2013-2014 season will mark the 25th anniversary of the Andros Trophy, the ice racing series held in France and in the Principality of Andorra.

The calendar is made of 7 rounds and the series will again showcase the four-wheel drive Silhouette cars.

Mazda will make its debut in the series, entering four Mazda3s.

Olivier Panis, Mazda3. (Photo: Mazda France)

Calendar

Val Thorens
Saturday and Sunday, December 7 and 8, 2013

Andorra
Friday and Saturday, December 13 and 14, 2013

Alpe d'Huez
Friday and Saturday, December 20 and 21, 2013

Isola 2000
Friday and Saturday, January 10 and 11, 2014

Saint Dié des Vosges
Saturday, January 18, 2014

Lans en Vercors
Friday and Saturday, January 24 and 25, 2014

Clermont Ferrand / Super Besse
Saturday, February 1st, 2014

While all eyes are on Tesla after three of its Model S electric sedan caught fire in recent months, a similar problem is also affecting the Ford Escape.

Ford is currently recalling nearly 140,000 Escapes (MY 2013) equipped with 1.6L engines in the U.S. -- and 161,333 worldwide -- due to a cylinder head that can crack and leak oil when overheated.

Ford Escape 2013. (Photo: Ford)

Another recall affects 11,821 Escapes (MY 2013), 9,469 of which are in the U.S. In this case, a fuel leak could result in a fire inside the engine bay. No such incident is said to have occurred so far, however.

In total, about 30 fires have been reported in North America in connection with the recalls, including a few that happened before the vehicles made it to customers.



The Escape now has had seven separate recalls in the U.S., including five for fires.

Note that Transport Canada has yet to announce any fire-related recall on the Ford Escape.

The first-ever motor car race in the U.S. took place on November 28th, 1895 -- which happened to be Thanksgiving Day. Due to poor weather conditions, only 6 of 89 contestants lined up on the starting grid.

Sponsored by the Chicago Times-Herald, the race covered 50 miles (about 80 kilometres) from Chicago to Evanston, Illinois, and back. The winner was Frank Duryea, who had designed his car with the help of his brother, after a 10-hour ordeal that reportedly included 8'' of snow.

The event aimed to promote the emerging American auto industry, and the Duryea brothers considered it a success: In the following year, they sold 13 of their eponymous Motor Wagons, more than any other car maker in the country.

Source: History

From press release

Hyundai Motorsport has revealed that its current test driver Juho Hänninen will drive the second i20 WRC car at selected FIA World Rally Championship events in 2014, as team-mate to recently-announced lead driver Thierry Neuville.

32-year-old Hänninen has become well-acquainted with Hyundai Motorsport throughout 2013, having completed an impressive 3,500 testing kilometres at the helm of the i20 WRC this year. The Finn has played an integral role in the team's preparations for its debut WRC season and will be another strong asset to Hyundai Motorsport in its debut season.

Hänninen will be joined in 2014 once again by his co-driver Tomi Tuominen and will make his WRC debut for Hyundai at February's Rally Sweden, an event he knows very well. He made his WRC debut in Sweden in 2006, winning the Group N class, and finished sixth in this year's event.

Juho Hanninen and Tomi Tuominen. (Photo: Hyundai Motorsport)

Hänninen has tasted success in a variety of different rally cars in his career and has been victorious in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, the FIA European Rally Championship and the FIA Super 2000 World Rally Championship since his World Rally debut. He has set a high standard in the S2000 category in recent years and took his first WRC stage win at Monte Carlo this year, underlining his potential at the pinnacle of international rallying.

“I am really honoured to have been chosen by Hyundai to be one of the drivers of the second i20 WRC car in 2014, including Rally Sweden, which is one of my favourites,” said Hänninen. “I have been working with the team a lot since May and it has been a really fantastic project to be involved in. All the people in the team are very nice and it has been friendly environment, but with everyone still giving 100% all the time. It's been a pleasure to work with them in testing and I really respect the opportunity to drive some rallies for the team in 2014.”

Alongside his occasional appearances in the second Hyundai i20 WRC car next year, Hänninen will also continue to play a vital testing role as the team prepares for 2015.

Hyundai has already revealed that a number of drivers will share the second i20 WRC throughout 2014. An announcement on who will be Thierry Neuville's team-mate at Rallye Monte-Carlo will be made in due course.

From GMM

A fire this week was not the first incident at Brixworth, as Mercedes develops its turbo V6 engine for 2014.

Germany's Auto Motor und Sport reports that the fire brigade was called to the German manufacturer's Northamptonshire headquarters on Monday evening after an F1 engine caught fire on a test bench.

Mercedes said there was no significant damage, and that the fire department was only summoned as a precaution.

But Auto Motor und Sport correspondent Michael Schmidt said that the development of the Mercedes turbo has been troublesome, with other incidents having also occurred recently.

Mercedes Brixworth's factory. (Photo: Mercedes-Benz)

From press release

The Mercedes team today announced that Ross Brawn will step down from his position as Team Principal at the end of 2013.

Following an extended period of open discussion between the team's key stakeholders, Ross has chosen to hand over the team leadership to Executive Director (Business) Toto Wolff and Executive Director (Technical) Paddy Lowe.

Paddy Lowe and Ross Brawn. (Photo: WRi2)

Ross Brawn, who will formally leave the team on 31st December 2013, said: "The most important consideration in my decision to step down from the role as Team Principal was to ensure that the timing was right for the team in order to ensure its future success. The succession planning process that we have implemented during this year means we are now ready to conduct the transition from my current responsibilities to a new leadership team composed of Toto and Paddy."

"2014 will mark the beginning of a new era in the sport. We therefore felt this was the right time to simultaneously begin a new era of team management to ensure that the organisation is in the strongest possible competitive position for the years to come.

"Our second place in this season's Constructors' Championship is an important milestone on the road to championship success. I am confident that the future will hold just as much success for the team and will take real pride in having played my own part in those achievements."

Ross Brawn and Toto Wolff. (Photo: WRi2)

Niki Lauda, non-executive chairman, commented: "First of all and most importantly, we must say thank you to Ross. When you consider the step that has been made from finishing fifth in 2012 to the second place that we have secured this season, he has been the architect of this success. He put the plans in place to recruit key people since early 2011, and the performance this season shows that the team is on the right track.

"We have had long discussions with Ross about how he could continue with the team but it is a basic fact that you cannot hold somebody back when they have chosen to move on. Ross has decided that this is the right time to hand over the reins to Toto and Paddy and we respect his decision.

"Toto and Paddy are the right people to lead our team in 2014 and beyond."

All Formula 1 aficionados know that 2013 marked Sebastian Vettel's fourth consecutive World title. However, Red Bull Racing's engine supplier Renault wants to carry the message that they won their 12th world championship.

This short fun video shows the Renault road cars taking on the Renault-powered Red Bull Formula 1 car, driven by David Coulthard.

Renault conquered the constructors' world title with Williams (from 1992 to 1997), Renault (2005 and 2006), and Red Bull Racing (from 2010 to 2013).

From press release

Mahindra Racing, the motorsports division of the Mumbai-based USD 16.2 billion multinational Mahindra Group, has signed an agreement with series promoters Formula E Holdings to become the eighth team and another global company to join the new FIA Formula E Championship.

Already a major global force in the development and production of electric vehicles through its Mahindra Reva Company, joining the new zero emission series was a natural step for the Mahindra Group.

“We strongly believe that Formula E can provide an excellent global showcase for our electric vehicle technology,” said Mr Anand Mahindra, Chairman and Managing Director of Mahindra Group. »

Alejandro Agag and Anand Mahindra. (Photo: FIA Formula E)

Mahindra is no stranger to international motor sport, with Mahindra Racing already established within the two-wheeled world of the MotoGP™ World Championship.

Mahindra Racing Formula E Team will now be put forward to the FIA for final approval as the eighth team to enter the championship. They join IndyCar outfits Andretti Autosport and Dragon Racing, Asia's China Racing and Super Aguri and European squads Drayson Racing, e.dams and Audi Sport ABT.

From GMM

After Ferrari denied it is the biggest spender in formula one, McLaren says the most financially powerful team in pitlane is actually Red Bull.

Like Ferrari, Red Bull denies it, but McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh insists "everyone knows" that the energy drink-owned team - the dominant world champions for the last four seasons consecutively - spends the most.

In fact, Whitmarsh said that meteoric level of spending has actually "distorted the sport".

And he said his counterpart Christian Horner's claim that Red Bull doesn't spend the most is "just rubbish".

"You'll see that's just rubbish but everyone knows that and they know it as well," Whitmarsh is quoted as saying by Bloomberg.

Photo: Red Bull Racing

Horner, however, said rival teams, and F1 fans who are claiming Red Bull is making the racing boring, are just "frustrated".

One of them is Lotus team boss Eric Boullier, who thinks Red Bull's continual dominance is "killing the show".

Christian Horner reacted: "I can see why people get perhaps frustrated with it but I think that the racing has been very good.

"The fastest way to become unpopular is to start winning. And we've done a lot of winning the last few years. It's inevitable that doesn't sit too comfy with some teams," he added.

"From a selfish team point of view the more boring and the more races that we can win the better. But of course we need to compete, we want competition," said Horner.

NASCAR officials announced that the privately-held sanctioning body has purchased Iowa Speedway “in a strategic move designed to expand its commitment to enhancing event experiences.”

The move is unprecedented in the 65-year history of NASCAR. While Bill France Sr. founded NASCAR all of the ovals built under its' umbrella have been owned by the publicly held International Speedway Corporation (ISC).

“Iowa Speedway is a great entertainment facility with a very bright future,” said Eric Nyquist, NASCAR vice president, strategic development. “The facility has the support of the region, it's positioned well in the heart of the Midwest, and year in and year out it provides great short-track racing action for motorsports fans.

In a press release officials said “NASCAR has no plans for Iowa Speedway to host a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race next year or in the immediate future.

Iowa Speedway. (Photo: NASCAR)

“NASCAR ownership will allow us to draw on the entire resources of our company. It also provides us with the opportunity to execute first-hand a number of entertainment ideas and engagement opportunities with fans - much of which we have outlined repeatedly as the core of our Industry Action Plan.”

The facility, located 30 miles east of Des Moines in Newton, features a fast, .875-mile asphalt paved tri-oval designed by NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace. The Speedway released its 2014 schedule earlier this month, encompassing three weekends, one each in May, July and August. The schedule will include two NASCAR Nationwide Series races, a combination NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and IndyCar Series weekend, plus two additional NASCAR K&N Pro Series support races.”

"We have no intentions to purchase other tracks," NASCAR David Higdon told the Des Moines (Iowa) Register.. "This isn't the first of many. This is a unique situation."

2014 Chevrolet SS

We always thought that the Pontiac G8 would make a fine performance-oriented Chevy.

New For 2014

The 2014 Chevrolet SS is a new introduction to the Chevrolet lineup and is also based upon the latest Holden Commodore, which debuted in late 2012. The vehicle is an entirely new design, although its 6.2-liter V-8 carries over essentially unchanged.

Photo Gallery: 2014 Chevrolet SS

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2015 Audi A3

We won't have our first taste of the 2015 Audi A3 until early 2014.

New For 2015

Everything. Although this generation of A3 has been on sale in Europe since 2012, this is the first time it's being imported to North America. It will go on sale in early 2014 as the 2015 Audi A3.

Photo Gallery: 2015 Audi A3

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Gas prices are down this holiday season. Filling up at the pump costs you less than it did three months ago, 14 cents less than a year ago and the lowest heading into Thanksgiving since 2010.

The Obama administration is delaying until November 2014 the launch of the federal government's online health exchange where smaller new-vehicle dealers and other mom-and-pop businesses can shop for coverage.

The latest BMW Art Car will make its North American debut next week in Miami at the Art Basel show. It will be on display in Art Basel's Collectors Lounge at the Convention Center from Dec. 5-8.

2014 Cadillac ELR Review

Cadillac wants to be the new Tesla.

Santa Monica, California -- If General Motors cannot find an audience for the 2014 Cadillac ELR in Southern California, it cannot find one anywhere. As Cadillac’s first plug-in hybrid vehicle, it has to succeed in the place where the Toyota Prius is as common as the palm tree and where the Tesla Model S has quickly become part of the streetscape.

Photo Gallery: 2014 Cadillac ELR Review - Automobile Magazine

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News 14 Jan, 2014

Iconic Ford Mustang gets fresh design, new fuel-efficient engines and it's coming to the UK in 2015