Have you seen those commercials that feature mud-covered ? You know, the ones where they talk about the thick layer of terra firma as a badge of honor? Well, if you don’t like your Subie to stay filthy for long, Subaru has another way to showcase your honor and brand loyalty. We’re talking real badges, baby.
As shown at right, the main, circular badge tells the world how many Subarus you’ve owned, followed by your choice of over a dozen badges that show what sports or hobbies you engage in. As you can see in the main image above, merit badges include the 100,000 mile club, mechanical prowess, gardening, biking and winter sports. The badges have an adhesive backing so they can be easily affixed to any metal surface. And if you don’t have a Subaru but think you can buy the badges because they look cool, think again. Proof of ownership via Vehicle Identification Number is required to score your free stick-on schwag. Head over to the to peruse the options. Thanks for the tip, Keye!
In its latest newsletter update, Carbon Motors has revealed that it’s received over 14,000 reservations from over 400 police agencies for its new purpose built E7 police car. However, it’s best to bear in mind those are just reservations for slots in the production schedule. As of yet, no one has placed a firm order for the E7 because Carbon hasn’t even announced pricing. While the concept of a vehicle built specifically to meet the needs of police forces certainly sounds good on paper, the E7 will undoubtedly be expensive.
Besides using plenty of bespoke hardware that won’t benefit from economies of scale, it will be powered by a 3.0-liter turbodiesel engine – a phenomenal engine and much more fuel efficient than anything else currently available in the police market, but coming from Munich will certainly elevate the price.
It will be very interesting to see how many reservations get turned into firm orders once pricing is announced. Make the jump for the full details.
We now know who will be drawing up the . According to ESPN F1, the man behind the grand prix track will be none other than Hermann Tilke – the sport’s favorite designer. His engineering firm has been behind over 10 tracks since 1998 and is currently working on at least four others, including the new facility here in the good ol’ US of A.
ESPN F1 also says that a site has been selected for the course and that land has already been set aside. Even so, the location won’t be made public for some time. That’s all fine and good, but if the track is going to be completed by the supposed 2012 finish date, workers are going to need to start moving earth in a hurry. By everyone’s best estimate, it will take at least three years to get everything in order for the race. At this point, organizers have less than half of that time.
There is some speculation that Austin’s selection as the location of the U.S. is simply intended to scare in New York into sweetening the deal for F1. Originally, the MMC was the frontrunner to host the race, and the facility is already set up to handle that level of motorsport. Right now, Monticello’s organizers are waiting to see if Austin can pull everything together in time.
Ford T6 Ranger spy shots – Click above for high-res image gallery
The fate of small pickup trucks in America is rather shaky. There haven’t been any major new entries into the segment as of late (save the , of course, even though it’s not much more than a rebadged ). And though we’ve spied , it doesn’t necessarily mean that a new model is slated for U.S. consumption. Small trucks do well in other markets, and the trucklets seem to be a dying trend here in the States.
Today, though, our spies have not only caught a new mule (above), but a small GM pickup (right) – the replacement for the aging and twins. Both mules look a bit larger than the models currently on the road, though still more manageable than the top-dog and .
Still, though, it’s unclear what the future has in store for these new trucks. The fact that Ford and GM are testing these new mini-pickups in and around their respective headquarters in southeast Michigan leads us to believe that there may, in fact, be U.S.-spec replacements in the works. Ford has often spoke of a smaller F-100-style F-150 to replace the Ranger, and reports have shown that GM is to hopefully rekindle the success that the original Chevy S10 and GMC Sonoma had.
Gordon Murray T.27 – Click above for high-res image gallery
Gordon Murray has long been considered one of the most innovative engineers and designers in the automotive world. The latest project from the mind that created the is the new T.27 electric city car. The T.27 is the battery powered variant of the T.25, a model that will debut shortly with a gas engine. Both models use the same basic architecture, and like the seminal supercar, they feature a three seat layout. That’s largely where the similarities end, however.
Murray’s firm is collaborating on the T.27 project with Zytek Automotive, a UK-based engineering consultancy with vast experience in electric and hybrid powertrains. The 7.9-foot long car has a 12 kilowatt-hour battery pack mounted under the seats and a 25 kilowatt electric motor driving the rear wheels. Zytek has managed to package the motor, single-speed transmission and power electronics into one tidy little unit. The system is claimed to give the car a range of 80-100 miles and with the current UK electricity generation mix (mostly coal) the CO2 emissions are a combined 48 grams / kilometer.
The T.27 is claimed to have a turning circle of just 19.7 feet and with its width of 4.3 feet, three of them can fit into a single parking space perpendicular to the curb. The program started in November of 2009 and the first running prototype is due to be completed in April 2011. Official press release after the jump.
How many bad drivers can you spot every day on your drive to work? Five? Ten? All of them? We feel your pain, and apparently the alarming truth is that one-in-five motorists – which, for those interesting in the gory details, equals roughly 38 million Americans – are unfit to drive on our nation’s highways.
This data is according to a test administered by GMAC Insurance that asked motorists 20 questions taken straight from your local DMV’s written driving test. About 20 percent of currently licensed drivers would have failed the test, and the average score of 76.2 percent is down slightly from that of 2009.
Some interesting factoids: Male drivers scored better than females on both average scores (78.1 percent male versus 74.4 percent female) and failure rates (24 percent female versus 18.1 percent male). New Yorkers ranked dead last (70 percent average score) and Kansas drivers ranked highest (82.3 percent average score). Want to know more? (Perhaps not…). If so, click here for a further breakdown from our friends at .
Jaguar F-Type concept – Click above for high-res image gallery
Now that is safely secured under the financial blanket of , the automaker is becoming more ambitious in its efforts to expand its model range. Tata has promised a yearly investment of £1 billion for the next five years, which means Jaguar will have the funding it needs to get new products cranked out. In talking with Auto Express, Jaguar Land Rover boss Carl-Peter Forster has reportedly confirmed that a few new models are in the pipeline, including the F-Type sports car, which we saw in concept form back in 2000 (pictured above).
This certainly isn’t the first time that about F-Type production, and we’ve seen about what the new sports car will look like. that the new sporty Jag will compete with the likes of the or .
When will a finished F-Type be on the road? Your guess is as good as ours, but due to Jaguar having just refreshed its entire model range within the last few years, we’d assume that the ball is indeed rolling on this new sportster.
Strand Craft 122 Super Yacht – Click above for high-res image gallery
We know what you’re thinking. What business does a yacht – albeit one as ridiculously lustworthy as the Strand Craft 122 promises to be – have gracing the pages of Autoblog? Somewhat surprisingly, the answer is a garage. And also a supercar. That’s right, this ultra-yacht design study comes with an integrated garage in the stern that houses an 880-horsepower V12-powered supercar.
Despite the fact that the designer has shared next to nothing about the supposed supercar (other than the fact that it can theoretically travel at speeds of over 230 miles per hour), we’re going to go ahead and start referring to it as the World’s Coolest Tender. Feel free to check out the high-res rendering of the machine in our image gallery below.
As far as the yacht goes, we guess that’s pretty cool too… what with power coming from twin engines along with an optional booster engine sporting over 14,000(!) horsepower and a top speed of 55 knots. Not too shabby, eh? Price? Well, it’s all theoretical at this point, but even so, we’re guessing we could pool the AB staff’s money together and still only come up with enough money for a quick tour of the harbor in one.
Unless you’ve had your head glued to a computer monitor for the past month (like we have), odds are you know it’s weekend. Thanks to a modestly improving economy and bottom-basement deals on accommodations and flights, this year’s summer kick off is slated to see quite a few more travelers than last year. Consumer Reports says that all in all, 32.1 million Americans will be leaving home for a little R&R over the three-day weekend. That number is up a full two million travelers compared to 2009. They won’t all be on the road, though. That figure takes into account air travel, buses and cruises, as well as people hopping behind the wheel.
As for us, a few of the Autoblog staff will be brave enough to do battle with the hordes taking to America’s roadways this weekend, but the rest of the crew probably won’t be going any farther than the back deck. So what about you, loyal readers? Where ya headed? Share your weekend TripTik or other auto-related plans with us in Comments.
Even though we won’t be seeing the next-generation U.S.-spec until , we must remember that the European model is a wholly different vehicle. Our spies have just captured these photos of a Euro Civic test mule, showing that is making good progress with updating its best-selling compact in other markets.
Our spies indicate that the new front bumper is already in place under the camouflage on this jimmied-up Civic, giving it a larger stance, though the wheelbase looks about the same as the current car, meaning the overall size probably won’t change too much. Out back, slightly wider rear fenders mimic the larger proportions up front. As for what’s under the hood, we assume that the standard range of both gas and diesel engines four-cylinder engines will be offered in Europe, and the hybrid setup from the CR-Z hatch could possibly find a home in the redesigned Civic, as well.
No word has been given as to when the new Euro Civic will make its debut, but we’re willing to bet that the Honda hatch will hit the streets before the . See the full set of spy shots for yourself in the gallery below.
2011 Buick Regal – Click above for high-res image gallery
A fresh batch of rumors kicking around the web are claiming that is seriously mulling bringing hatchback and wagon versions of the all-new to the States. In the brand’s ongoing quest to shed its status as a synonym for all things elderly, the Tri-Crest has raided the Opel parts bin, slipped a waterfall grille on the nose of the and called it a day. We were simply glad to hear that the car would be available with a turbo mill and a third pedal, but according to Car and Driver, things are about to get even more interesting.
It turns out the Insignia is available as a hatchback and a wagon in more civilized portions of the world. Jim Federico, the man who led the Regal to the fountain of youth, told C/D that the U.S. will be getting at least one of the other body styles within a few short years, and that there’s a good chance that both of them will show up on dealer lots at some point in the near future. Chances are that’s not exactly ground-breaking news by anyone’s standards, but it gets better. Federico has said that since American wagon buyers are suddenly smitten with the likes of the TDI Sportwagen, the Regal long-roof will boast an oil-burning powerplant.
Needless to say, our eyes are dish-plate sized at the news. Could possibly offer an all-wheel drive diesel wagon with a six-speed manual transmission? We want to believe, but our skeptical side is in full go-mode on this one.
1993 Toyota Celica All-Trac – Click above for image gallery
During the late ’80s and early ’90s, American buyers were stuck with the over-regulated, hollowed-out versions of hot metal available in Japan and Europe. While our friends across the Pacific were busy driving things with and GT-R badges, we had to be content to import parts and spin our own wrenches just to get a fraction of the performance available to buyers straight from the factory outside of the States. One of the few companies to actually throw us yanks a bone was, believe it or not, . Before the company resorted to selling the automotive equivalent of bran flakes, you could find legendary cars like the Supra and Celica All-Trac lurking in the dark corners of U.S. dealer lots.
Thanks to silver screen exploits, every Pep Boys parking lot knows about the Supra, but the Celica All-Trac remains far less celebrated – and far more rare. By the fifth generation, the car couldn’t have been any more different from its plebian brethren. The All-Trac abandoned its native front-wheel drive for a sophisticated all-wheel drive system born on the rally stages of the world, and a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder that produced a lofty 200 horsepower and 200 lb-ft of torque – big numbers considering the Ford Mustang GT of the day managed a measly 220 horsepower.
Needless to say, these puppies are rare, and it’s nearly impossible to find one that hasn’t been ran hard and put away wet. That makes this particular eBay find beyond special. A one-owner, 1993 Toyota Celica All-Trac with a scant 40,500 miles, it’s as cherry as cherry can be. You can find it in Marietta, Georgia with three days left on the clock and a reserve not yet met with the bidding at $8,670 as of publish time. Check the full listing . Thanks for the tip, James!
2010 Lexus LS steering fault – Click above to watch video
seems to have learned from its recent brushes with the law over how the company handles its recalls. While the automaker has been judged to be less than transparent in both the floor mat and unintended acceleration sagas, the company has responded to recent with plenty of information for both owners and the public at large. Example, you ask? How about ? Toyota has apparently released a quick flick showing exactly what happens when the design defect rears its ugly head on the range-topping sedan. Apparently, if a driver turns the steering wheel to full lock in one direction and then rapidly turns it back the opposite direction, the steering wheel won’t center itself even though the vehicle is traveling straight.
Eventually, the variable gear-ratio system will allow the steering wheel to right itself, but it takes its sweet time. Only around with this problem are actually roaming U.S. highways, and all of them are eligible for a free fix. Toyota has said that the problem is both mechanical and software related.
Gallery:
Photos by Frank Filipponio / Copyright (C)2009 Weblogs, Inc.
2011Porsche Cayenne Turbo – Click above for high-res image gallery
Imagine, for a moment, that the engineering team has dropped 4,177 individually wrapped Twinkies on the lab floor. The yellow cream-filled sponge cakes are scattered shin-deep across the smooth ceramic tiles and kicked into the corners by technicians wearing white lab coats as more hit the floor. Individually, the cakes aren’t very heavy. However, add 4,177 of the treats together and they weigh nearly 400 pounds.
Those thousands of Twinkies represent the average weight removed by Porsche on its all-new . Thanks to a massive diet, the automaker’s SUV emerges as a toned athlete – and we just spent two days flogging it on the track and off-road course at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama. What’s under its fresh new skin, and where did all that weight go? How does the Cayenne perform on the track? Just as importantly, has it lost its off-road capabilities? Find out this and more .
Gallery:
Photos by Michael Harley / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.
Maybach Exelero concept – Click above for high-res image gallery
Often imitated, never duplicated. We’re talking about the Exelero, the high-speed test bed commissioned from Daimler by Fulda tires. Unfortunately, only one was ever made, and it was subsequently sold for nearly $8 million, reportedly to an African diamond tycoon named .
Since then, the Exelero has prompted a few wannabes in various forms, from the to the “” and the latest . Now a company in Switzerland is apparently offering replicas of the original Exelero based on the .
Little in the way of details is available at this point, save for the Viper’s 8.3-liter V10 and 23-inch wheels. The manufacturer is offering the replicas – made to order to the buyer’s specifications – on luxury classified site JamesList for €550,000 (about $670k). That may seem like a lot, but it’s still a far cry from the eight million asked for the original.
The new 2011 has easily passed its first crash test evaluation while using active emergency brake intervention. Like a number of other cars to come to market recently, the 5 Series is available with a radar-based active cruise control system that can use the brake system to manage vehicle speed and keep the car a safe distance from the vehicle in front. Recently these systems have been enhanced with emergency brake intervention that allows full braking force to be applied if crash is imminent – even when the cruise control is not being used.
However, current crash test procedures don’t allow for the activation of such systems. For example, in the European 40 mile per hour frontal offset test, the vehicle is expected to crash at 40 mph. In the real world, active braking would reduce the speed of the impact, likely reducing severity as well. However, applying full brakes also causes the nose to pitch down and the cars occupants to shift position can alter the test’s results.
As more cars get these types of systems, they need to be accounted for in crash testing, and BMW is working with German testing agency DEKRA to develop new procedures. Check out the official press release after the jump.
As a nation, we’re pretty attached to our cars. Thanks to generations of poor civil planning and rampant urban sprawl, we’ve come to need personal transportation like most civilizations require fresh water. Turns out we aren’t the only ones, though. Our amiable neighbors to the north seem to be just as hooked on the automobile as their surly cousins down south. A new survey of drivers has found that car owners would gladly give up a number of essentials before parking their car once and for all – including .
According to The Toronto Star, the study found that two percent of the population would rather give up sex and just one percent chose driving as the thing they could go without, while 14 percent of those tallied would sacrifice coffee and 36 percent would ditch junk food.
The survey was organized by the World Wildlife Fund as a way to get people thinking about the benefits, both financially and environmentally, of taking public transportation. Of those surveyed, nearly 30 percent said that they always drive wherever they’re going. Our guess is that number would be significantly steeper if the survey took place here in the land of the deep-fried free.
Things aren’t looking good for in a legal battle over whether or not the Japanese automaker has infringed on a Florida-based company’s hybrid drivetrain patents. A U.S. International Trade Commission judge recently ruled to deny Toyota’s request to end the lawsuit brought by Paice LLC. Toyota’s initial argument was that the plaintiff’s was invalid, but so far, the courts have sided with the smaller of the two companies time and time again. Earlier in the legal battle, a judge ruled that Toyota must pay Paice LLC a royalty for every , Hybrid and Lexus model sold. Paice originally wanted Toyota to halt sales of those vehicles entirely.
In response, Toyota has begun the process of arguing against the royalty amount per vehicle, while Paice has filed a new complaint over the technology present in the third-generation Prius, Hybrid , and .
Paice’s base complaint is over how the manufacturer is supplying torque from both the electric motor and the internal combustion engine to the drive wheels on those vehicles at the same time. The company has also gone after for the design of its and models.
There has been no shortage of entrepreneurs over the last couple of decades hoping to play host to a Formula One race. But as many of them have discovered, hopping into bed with Bernie Ecclestone is a surefire way to prove Roger Penske’s motorsports maxim: “The quickest way to make a small fortune in racing is to start with large fortune.”
Tavo Hellmund and his team at Full Throttle Productions have some mighty big dreams for a new dedicated F1 race track in Austin, Texas. So far, however, they don’t seem to have land, financing or much of anything else. The owners of the Donington Park track in England already had a track and more time to get ready to host the British Grand Prix and they still failed.
According to , the $200-300 million estimate for the track seems very low compared to the $250 million spent on Texas Motor Speedway – a facility that was built 15 years ago. The odds of a brand-new track being ready for a race in Austin by 2012 seem pretty slim unless the cash starts flowing and the bulldozers start moving the dirt very soon. Now, a street course, on the other hand…
11th Annual Bonhams Auction at Aston Martin Works Service – Click above for high-res image gallery
If you want to get your hands on a pristine or historically significant vintage , there’s only one place to go: Bonhams’ auction at the old Works Service in Newport Pagnell. Think of it as the Aston equivalent to RM’s event at Maranello every year. It’s been held for the past 11 years running, and this year’s was the most successful yet with £4.7 million ($6.8M USD) in sales.
Among the lots that rolled across the auction block were a 1950 DB2 raced by Sir Stirling Moss (£513,000/$740k) and a mint-condition ‘68 DB6 that went for £124,700 ($180k). The sold for a more modest £84,000 ($121k) – but even that doubled it’s low £40-50k pre-sale expectations, capping a day of sales far exceeding their estimated values. Details in the press release after the jump.
Have you seen those commercials that feature mud-covered ? You know, the ones where they talk about the thick layer of terra firma as a badge of honor? Well, if you don’t like your Subie to stay filthy for long, Subaru has another way to showcase your honor and brand loyalty. We’re talking real badges, baby. 
