Auto News 5

Fuel efficiency is not always directly correlated to tiny boring cars although they do make up a good portion of the following list. Perhaps most importantly, fun-to-drive need not be excluded from the equation as great drivers such as the MINI and Jetta fulfill this top 10's criteria. Cars are listed in alphabetical order.

Chevrolet Cruze ECO M6 7.2/4.6

Photo: Chevrolet

Continue reading Top 10 most fuel efficient cars under $30k

Europe remains the playground for great small cars, mostly of the hatchback variety. In fact, all of the vehicles in this list comprise of a hatch. Although two are larger cars and one is a compact crossover, all would look good in a North American driveway.

Peugeot 208 GTI

Photo: Peugeot

Continue reading Top 10 Euro cars we wish we had

From Pirelli

Pirelli has announced the slick P Zero compounds that will be taken to the next three grands prix in Spain, Monaco and Canada. From Spain onwards, the P Zero Orange hard tire will also change to a different compound.

“After evaluating tire performance over the balance of the first four races, we took the decision - in consultation with all of the teams - to change the hard compound from Spain onwards, as we did in Barcelona two years ago when we also introduced a new hard tire for the rest of the season,” said Pirelli's motorsport director, Paul Hembery.

“This latest version of the hard compound is much closer to the 2012 tire, with the aim of giving the teams more opportunity to run a wider range of strategies in combination with the other compounds, which remain unchanged.”

Spain
P Zero Orange hard and P Zero White medium tires will be nominated.

Monaco
P Zero Yellow soft and P Zero Red supersoft have been selected.

Canada
Pirelli will bring P Zero White medium tire and P Zero Red supersoft to Montreal.

Few cars in the last century have had an impact on the car world as great as the legendary Porsche 911. Be it from a performance, styling or engineering standpoint, the 911 has defied and redefined all known laws of physics over the last 50 years, and continues to do so.

1964 Porsche 911

Photo: Porsche

Continue reading Top 10 Porsche 911

From GMM

Qatar has emerged as F1's next likely new host.

We reported last October that the Arab state, already the host of a floodlit MotoGP race at the Losail circuit outside capital Doha, was looking to host "F1 teams (for) pre-season testing and other activities".

Indeed, F1 race director Charlie Whiting inspected the circuit at the time and "was impressed with what he saw", Qatar motor racing federation chief Nasser bin Khalifa Al Attiyah said.

Now, the Spanish sports newspaper El Mundo Deportivo is reporting that Spain "may lose its monopoly of winter testing next season", following the most recent winter of bad weather in the country.

Photo: MotoGP

Correspondent Raymond Blancafort said Bahrain has already applied to host a pre-season test in 2014, while "Abu Dhabi and Qatar have also forwarded their desire" to host F1 teams next winter.

The El Mundo Deportivo report said Qatar and Abu Dhabi could have the advantage, because of their capacity to floodlight the circuit and therefore provide the opportunity for testing in a range of track and ambient temperatures.

Moreover, the Middle East would almost guarantee good weather and dry running, whilst the eager circuit hosts offer tempting conditions in terms of top facilities and free rent.

Pirelli's Paul Hembery is quoted as saying: "We are in favour of change. I discussed this with Bernie (Ecclestone) and several of the teams (last) weekend. It would be good to test in conditions more representative of what we find during the season, and it would help the teams to get a better understanding of the tires."

From GMM

Pirelli is conducting a detailed investigation into the cause of Lewis Hamilton's tire failure in Bahrain last weekend.

In the wake of the Bahrain grand prix, we reported rumours that some were questioning the mere safety of the official F1 supplier's already-controversial 2013 tires.

Those rumours had been triggered mainly by Felipe Massa's two separate failures in the race on Sunday, but it is believed both problems were subsequently found to have been caused by simple punctures.

However, the practice failure on Hamilton's Mercedes is raising alarm bells.

"They (Pirelli) are not entirely convinced it is down to debris, as first thought," British journalist Byron Young wrote in the Mirror newspaper.

Young said the damaged tire was taken back to Pirelli's Milan headquarters for a forensic investigation.

The suspicion is that the tire failed because of the way Mercedes' car was handling the heavily-degrading Pirellis in Bahrain's high ambient conditions.

"The Hamilton tire is something that we need to look at a lot more to understand as we are not really sure about how it happened," Pirelli's Paul Hembery admitted.

"We will take all the pieces apart and do a full lab analysis," he said. "That will either confirm our initial findings, or make us realise that we need to do something and have to implement some changes."

From GMM

The bosses of the iconic US street race have denied reports formula one is interested in adding Long Beach to its annual calendar.

Reports this month said that with Indycar's contract expiring, Bernie Ecclestone and F1 sponsor agency chief Zak Brown have expressed interest in snapping up the California event.

These days, former McLaren driver Michael Andretti promotes some Indycar races and he observed: "Why would they sell it?"

He was referring to Long Beach race owners Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe.

The president and CEO of the race, Jim Michaelian, said: "This is a story that keeps bouncing around every year or so, despite the fact that the race isn't for sale and there's been no contact between anyone and Kevin about a sale.

"Nothing is happening," he told the Long Beach Press-Telegram.

"To keep speculating, playing this 'what if' game, just encourages more rumours that don't amount to anything," he added.

Earlier, Kevin Kalkhoven had said he would only consider selling Long Beach if "stupid money" was being proposed.

"Gerry and I are not interested in selling Long Beach," he added.

Joe Gibbs Racing is facing one of the heaviest penalties after a post-race inspection at NASCAR R&D found one connecting rod underweight by less than three grams.

NASCAR issued the following penalties:
• Crew chief Jason Ratcliff has been fined $200,000 and suspended from NASCAR until the completion of the next six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship points events and placed on probation until Dec. 31.
• Car owner Joe Gibbs has lost 50 championship car owner points; the first place finish from April 21 at Kansas Speedway will not earn bonus points toward car owner points total after the completion of the first 26 events of the current season and will not be credited towards the eligibility for a car owner Wild Card position; has had the owner's license for the No. 20 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car suspended until the completion of the next six championship points events, therefore being ineligible to receive championship car owner points during that period of time (this relates to the car not Joe Gibbs who can appear at races).
• Driver Matt Kenseth has lost 50 championship driver points; the Coors Light Pole award from April 19 at Kansas Speedway will not be allowed for eligibility into the 2014 Sprint Unlimited; the first place finish from April 21 at Kansas Speedway will not earn bonus points in the Chase and will not be credited towards the eligibility for a driver Wild Card position.
• The loss of five Sprint Cup Series Manufacturer Championship points (to Toyota).

Kenseth keeps the win, it's just that he gets no credit for it unless his team wheel wins the appeal.

Photo: NASCAR

A NASCAR statement said that the “magnetic steel connecting rods” had to be 525 grams.

Joe Gibbs Racing gets its' engines from Toyota Research and Development. “This is a total screw-up on our part," said TRD president Lee White on a satellite radio program. He pointed out that that those parts are ordered to be “2.3 grams or two balls of cotton,” under the minimum weight and that the connecting rods come from a “European vendor.” “I'm taking the responsibility,” White added.

JGR said in a statement, “...we will plan to appeal the penalty.”

In TRD's written statement attributed to Lee White it said:

We take full responsibility for this issue with the engine used by the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) team this past Sunday in Kansas -- JGR is not involved in the process of selecting parts or assembling the Cup Series engines. It was a simple oversight on TRD's part and there was no intent to deceive, or to gain any type of competitive advantage. Toyota is a company that was built on integrity, and that remains one of the guiding principles of the company.

The goal of TRD has always been -- and will continue to be -- to build high-performance engines that are reliable, durable and powerful, and within the guidelines established by NASCAR."

While JGR faces the brunt of the punishment Kenseth, who came over from Roush Fenway Racing this year, had an engine failure in Daytona and as a result of the penalty has two points less than before he got to Kansas Speedway.

The last time NASCAR issued penalties, for an engine violation, was in 2009 when it penalized Carl Long $200,000 for an engine which was 0.17 cubic inches too large while practicing for a non-points race.

This is the season for severe penalties from NASCAR. Just last week both Penske Racing cars, their crew chiefs and car chiefs heavily punished. Penske has appealed and that hearing is scheduled for May 1rst. After Gibbs files an appeal for JGR the No. 20 team may compete, just like Penske can, until the appeal is decided.

Denny Hamlin's hopes for an early return to racing, following his back injury in California, have been thwarted following a medical evaluation.

Dr. Jerry Petty of Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine Associates re-evaluated Hamlin this week and it was determined that he would benefit from additional rest and rehabilitation.

The 32-year old Joe Gibbs Racing driver suffered an L1 Compression Fracture during an accident on the final lap of the race at Auto Club Speedway on March 24 after making contact with Joey Logano.

Hamlin tweeted “unfortunately I won't be racing this weekend at Richmond. It kills me to not be in the car for my team and sponsors but after long discussions with the doctors we have decided to wait on my return back to racing. Thanks to all of my fans who have sent encouraging messages over the last month. I'll be back in no time.”

Brian Vickers will remain behind the wheel of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota in this weekend's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in Richmond.

Ford's European production will rise 6 percent in the second quarter from year-earlier levels, to 390,000 units, after falling 8 percent in the first quarter to 386,000, the company said Wednesday.

Can a BMW be considered a sports model if it's only got 100 horsepower? Glenn Brooks tries the base version of what was last month the UK's best selling premium brand car.

The owners of 120 auto dealerships have filed a federal lawsuit against Carfax, alleging that the vehicle history reporting company engages in anti-competitive practices and violates antitrust laws.

Shares in Federal-Mogul, the diversified auto-parts supplier controlled by billionaire Carl Icahn, rose the most in more than four years after the company reported operational profits that show a restructuring effort is working, analyst Brian...

Struggling Fisker Automotive took a bludgeoning today on Capitol Hill from top congressional Republicans who compared Fisker to failed automotive startups of the past and lambasted the Department of Energy for allowing the electric car producer to...

Toyota revealed its funky looking ME.WE electric concept on Wednesday. The and#8220;anti-crisisand#8221; vehicle was designed in collaboration with French architect Jean-Marie Massaud. The ME.

Capital One Financial today agreed to pay a $3.5 million fine to settle charges that it hid millions of dollars in auto-loan losses as the economy was headed toward a recession, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said.