Nearly everyone else in the entire world may already have spouted off various year-end lists, but AutoWeek waited for the 2010 dust to settle before announcing its Best of the Best 2011 car and truck award winners. The and the took home the respective top spots.
Rounding out AutoWeek magazine’s top five cars were the , , and the . The rest of the top trucks included the , , and . The and the edged out the rest of the competition in categories such as ride quality, handling, exterior and interior design and fun. Feel free to for the official press release.
2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca in Grabber Blue – Click above for high-res image gallery
is continuing its tradition of auctioning off a for charity at Barrett-Jackson this month by offering a one-off painted Grabber Blue. Regular production versions of the car will only be offered in either black or silver with red accents. “Since this Boss Mustang will have a very low production number and be specially built for our 40th anniversary event, the new owner will have a special piece of performance history for their collection,” says Steve Davis, president of Barrett-Jackson.
has previously offered special for charity at Barrett-Jackson including the , the , and a . This year, all proceeds of the sale above the car’s MSRP will benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to help find a cure for Type 1 diabetes.
You can read full details about the auction in the press release after the jump.
California Representative (R) has assumed the chairmanship of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and he wants to cut through the layers of government oversight and foster business growth. Issa’s asked companies and trade associations, including , , the and the to suggest which regulations make it difficult to turn a profit and, more importantly, add jobs.
The current debate over government regulation is mainly targeting efforts undertaken by the Obama administration, including new fuel economy standards that are phasing in between 2012 and 2016, are singularly expensive to implement and will cost jobs and profits – even as the boost in fuel efficiency to a fleet average of 34.1 mpg by 2016 sets the stage to save $152 billion in fuel, offsetting the nearly $1,000 of extra cost the regulations are expected to add to the price of automobiles.
In seeking the input of automakers and other business groups, Issa is looking for ways to streamline innovation and spur job growth. With its large labor pool and long reach, the automotive industry is both deeply interested and integral to the effort Representative Issa is spearheading.
Sync first showed up in 2007, when it was offered as a $395 option in the . Since then, the Sync system has gone on to find a home in nearly all of and vehicles. The infotainment system has helped , and, after installing the three millionth system, there appear to be no signs of a Sync slowdown.
The customer has spoken and they want Sync. It comes standard on the Lincoln lineup but 80 percent of Ford customers spend the extra dough if Sync is available for their vehicle. As issues with distracted driving continue to rise to the forefront of safety discussions, customers will continue to gobble up products like the Sync system. If a driver is able to stay connected while keeping his or eyes on the road (or at least consumers believe that to be the case), it may not be long until Sync celebrates its 10 millionth unit sold.
A group of Danish designers have come up with an aftermarket device engineered to help drivers keep tabs on their level of fatigue. Called the Anti-Sleep Pilot, the hockey-puck sized piece of tech calculates just how tired the driver is by monitoring a total of 26 different parameters. Multiple profiles can be stored inside, and each driver is made to take a brief test to determine their own personal risk of falling asleep at the wheel. From there, the Anti-Sleep Pilot issues occasional alertness tests wherein the driver is required to touch the device on command.
The Anti-Sleep Pilot also makes use of an accelerometer and a clock to determine how fast the vehicle is moving. If the driver becomes too fatigued, visual and audio warnings will emanate from the device until the driver stops for a ten-minute break. We’d suggest getting a coffee…
It’s worth nothing that the Anti-Sleep Pilot does not use cameras to track the driver’s eyes, unlike other systems currently on the market. Right now, the Anti-Sleep Pilot is only available to Danish customers, but buyers of other nationalities can pre-order the device for $250. Check out the device’s for more information.
2012 Buick Verano – Click above for high-res image gallery
We’re tempted to go ahead and call the a “baby ,” because the truth is, the two cars are much more alike than you might think. Since the Verano is based off of the ’s Delta II platform (which is relatively large for what calls a “compact sedan”) the new ’s dimensions are awfully close to that of the larger, Epsilon II-based Regal. What’s important to note, however, is that while the Verano is Cruze-based, it uses different materials throughout the interior and it has a totally different look. GM is convinced that there is indeed a market for an entry-level Buick sedan, and the automaker will be showing off its latest creation at the next week.
At 181-inches long, the Verano may be just over nine inches shorter than the Regal, but it’s only about two inches narrower and less than half an inch shorter in height. Buick’s design language is nicely carried over to the new small sedan, with the front fascia also looking a bit more like the larger sedan. The upward sloping lower character line on the sides are very similar to what we’re used to on the Regal, but perhaps the most interesting design cue are the taillamps. We like the angry-looking downward slope to the taillamp design, but even after seeing this car in person at a GM backgrounder, we remain unsure if the chrome eyebrows are a tasteful addition. Stare at an image of the Verano’s rump for a few moments, imagine it without the silvery garnishes, and things still look mighty fine to us. The car rides on a set of 17-inch alloy wheels, though larger 18-inch alloys are available on higher-level trims.
Like the Regal, the Verano is only available with front-wheel drive. And also like the Regal, a 2.4-liter four with direct injection lurks underhood, producing 177 horsepower and 170 pound-feet of torque. The Cruze, meanwhile, uses different engines altogether, either a normally aspirated 1.8-liter or a 1.4-liter turbocharged four. Interestingly, despite having only four cylinders, the Ventiports on the hood offer a bit of false advertising, with six holes to suggest that there’s a six-cylinder engine underhood. Either way, Buick says the larger four-cylinder is estimated to achieve 22 miles per gallon in the city and 31 mpg on the highway.
Inside, the cockpit is exactly what you’d expect out of a car that is essentially the lovechild of a Cruze and Regal, with Buick-spec materials fit-and-finish carried down into a smaller package. Even so, the Verano’s cabin is only about two cubic feet less capacious than the larger Regal, and we already know that the Cruze is still plenty comfortable for four full-size adults. In addition to standard OnStar, the Verano will be available with features like pushbutton start, dual-zone climate control, a heated steering wheel and heated leather seats.
Official pricing will surely be announced closer to the car’s on-sale date near the end of 2011. If are to be believed, however, expect the Verano to be priced around $21,000 for base models, going as high as $26,000 for cars with all of the trimmings. We’ll have more information live from the Detroit Auto Show next week, but in the meantime, check out our high-res gallery and official press release .
2011 Dodge Charger R/T and Challenger SRT8 392 – Click above to watch the video
As part of its Hemi Highway Tour, a country-wide tour that started in November of 2010 and just recently came to its end, decided to stop and spend some quality time with the boys and girls from National Speed in Wilmington, NC. Though that company’s main purpose is modifying high-performance machinery to make even more power, Dodge decided to put a couple of its brand new 2011 models on their dyno to see what kind of power could be had right off the showroom floor.
As a preface to the actual dyno results, you should know that Ralph Gilles, Dodge Car Brand President and CEO, claims that a bone-stock ran the quarter-mile at Infineon Dragway in just 12.44 seconds at 110 miles per hour. That, boys and girls, is seriously fast. And those figures are backed up by the data spat out by the computers hooked to National Speed’s dyno.
Without further ado, the numbers: The put down 327 horsepower at the rear wheels and 349 pound-feet of torque. For a car rated at 368 horses and 395 lb-ft, that’s quite good. Remember, the dyno measures power after it’s already gone through the transmission and through the wheels to the ground, which saps around 15 percent of total power.
And now on to the big guns. The 2011 Challenger SRT8 392 was measured at 420 rear-wheel horsepower and 419 lb-ft of torque. Also impressive when stacked up against its factory ratings of 470 ponies and pound-feet. Even more interesting, these same machines put down ever more power just a few days later on a different dyno, though still below the 452 horses . Enough talking already. Check out the video . Thanks for the tip, Norm!
According to the Center for Disease Control, seatbelt use among American adults is at an all-time high. In a recent study, 85 percent of those surveyed said that they wear their seatbelts regularly. That number is up from just 11 percent in 1982, though the CDC points out that at least one in every seven adults still don’t wear their seatbelts on the road. That’s despite evidence that points to automotive accidents as the number one cause of death in the U.S. among people aged 5 to 34.
So which states take the cake for seatbelt use? The CDC says that Oregon has the highest rate of buckling up, with 94 percent of respondents from that state claiming to use their belts on a regular basis. North Dakota came in dead last, with a paltry 54 percent of those surveyed strapping in. Not surprisingly, the study found that states that have laws allowing police officers to pull over a driver solely for not wearing their seatbelt have significantly higher rates of buckling up. for a look at the full synopsis, but before you head over there, make sure to take our poll on seatbelt use below.
Take the largest, most powerful engine available and place it in the smallest and lightest chassis. Where have we heard that before?
Consumer Reports has just released its latest brand perception study, and for the first time, Ford seems to be giving Toyota more than a run for its money.
James Glickenhaus and his Ferrari P4/5 hit the track.
There are sound systems, and then there are walls of speakers capable of melting cinder blocks and turning your average Chevrolet S10 pickup into a buzzing, trembling box of terror. The audio setup in the video after the jump falls safely in that latter category. A group of devoted bass enthusiasts have managed to turn an unsuspecting lowered S-10 into a carrier of audio assault. Fortunately, all involved seem to only use the vehicle’s power for good. You know, things like rattling windows, setting off car alarms and engineering Tina Turner-like hairstyles on cute girls with nothing but the sheer might of sound waves.
It’s plenty impressive (if utterly pointless), but it might just be one of the better uses left for a 1999 S-10. Still, we’ve got to wonder exactly how long the vehicle can withstand that kind of vibration before the vehicle’s sheets of glass and trim give up for good (just witness how the Bowtie’s trim tries to rearrange itself or flee in the beginning of the video). Supposedly, the wall of speakers is tuned to 28 hertz for maximum punch. to have a look for yourself.
According to the Detroit Free Press, the Securities and Exchange Commission has accused former Delphi CEO J.T. Battenberg III of intentionally working to hide his company’s financial situation from investors. On Tuesday, an SEC lawyer told the jury in Battenberg’s trial that the ex-Delphi boss made the company’s financial numbers look better than they were in order to secure larger bonuses. The SEC sued both Battenberg and Paul Free, the former Chief Accounting Officer for Delphi, and several other former executives in 2006 for fraudulent accounting. Delphi entered into bankruptcy protection in 2005.
U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn began hearing the evidence against Battenberg, Free and other executives in October, and closing arguments in the case wrapped up on Tuesday. So far, two executives and the company’s former treasurer have agreed to settle with the SEC over allegations that Delphi improperly reported a settlement that the company made with . Both Battenberg and Free remain as defendants in the case.
Members of the United Auto Workers will once again protest the Detroit Auto Show this year. According to , members of the union are upset about some of the concessions that the organization made when and underwent bankruptcy. Now workers want those concessions back, even while both automakers struggle to protect profits and pay off sizable government loans. This comes as UAW President Bob King struggles to paint his union as a kinder, gentler labor organization. King has also made it clear that he wants the UAW to be part of the picture at manufacturing facilities owned by European and Asian automakers here in the states.
As part of that effort, King has called off protests at dealerships for their part in the closing of the NUMMI facility. Still, it seems that King is paying attention to the unrest in his organization. The UAW president is later in 2011 in a bid to appease his critics within the union.
Audi A1 E-tron concept – Click above for high-res image gallery
All is apparently well in the house of . According to Automotive News, has come out and refuted reports that the German automaker is butting heads with its parent company. Rumors had cropped up that the two had been locking horns over the creation of the . Word had it that VW was riled that Audi wanted to craft a range-extended EV with a gasoline rotary engine instead of following the EV plans of the rest of the VW family. Reports had said that Audi wanted a vehicle that would be an alternative to the BMW Mega City car.
Volkswagen wants all of the brands under its watch to use similar platforms for their respective electric vehicle efforts, or at least that’s what The Financial Times Deutschland reported earlier this week. Automotive News, however has reported that Audi says there’s no conflict between the two companies. Volkswagen, meanwhile, was apparently unavailable for comment the story.
Which is the ultimate iteration of the Lamborghini ? Is it the purist’s choice, the ? The ? Or the latest open-top ? The answer could very well be track-bound, and you’re looking at it right now.
The latest race-spec Gallardo developed by ’s motorsport partners at Reiter Engineering, the LP600+ is designed to GT3 regulations. Its 5.2-liter V10 has been tuned up to 600 metric horsepower (592hp by our count), joined with a retuned gearbox, competition aerodynamics package, rolling stock, suspension and more. With a curb weight trimmed to just 2,624 pounds and a 40mm ground clearance, the Reiter LP600+ promises to give the competition a run for their money with a relatively modest price tag (for a race-ready supercar, anyway) of €288,500 ($386k).
2009 Lotus Exige Cup 260 – Click above for high-res image gallery
It’s no secret that has monumental plans in the coming years, announcing at the 2010 Paris Motor Show that it says will gradually roll out over the next several years. But there’s no denying that the British firm’s current level of success was built on the excellence that is the , and, most recently, .
That being the case, we’re hoping that a report from Autocar in the UK is accurate and that Lotus has plans to overhaul the Exige and give the Evora a heavily updated interior before the Esprit goes into production in late 2012. We certainly wouldn’t expect wholesale changes to either machine – engineering budgets are surely being diverted elsewhere – but a little something to keep its current models fresh in the eyes of consumers would go a long way towards bridging the gap between the present and the -fighting future.
For many city dwellers, the daily commute is usually filled with the same tasks… gas-honk-brake, gas-brake-honk, honk-honk-punch, gas-gas-gas. America’s roads are filled and it’s hard to imagine them being clogged with an ever-increasing supply of vehicles and drivers. Going against the International Energy Agency, a team of researchers from California thinks we might have already hit “Peak Travel.”
Looking at data from 1970 up to 2008, Lee Schipper and Adam Millard-Ball believe that passenger travel peaked back in 2003. While the IEA predicts a passenger growth rate of 1.5 percent through 2030, that also means they have estimated fuel consumption and emissions based on a growing number of drivers on the road. Shipper and Millard-Ball believe we may be able to lower those estimates based on their initial findings. They also admit that more research is needed, but feel it’s a promising sign for the future.
The two examined data from six countries; the United States, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, Australia and Sweden. If you’ve been paying attention to global trends for the last decade, you will notice two very big data points not on that list; India (shown in the photo above) and China. While it’s promising that we may not see more cars on the road, this study clearly doesn’t factor in the rapid changes taking place in these exponentially expanding markets. Thanks to all for the tips.
It’s no secret that some members of the United Auto Workers aren’t thrilled about the concessions that the union made during bankruptcy negotiations with both and . Now that both of those automakers are back on their feet, the UAW wants a slice of their new-found prosperity. According to Bloomberg, UAW President Bob King believes that his members’ sacrifices helped keep GM and Chrysler afloat, and now they deserve to share in the fruits of those concessions. King said that UAW members each gave up between $7,000 and $30,000 each as part of negotiations since 2005, and the union gave up wage increases for cost of living, surrendered raises and ditched bonuses to keep the Big Three afloat during the darker days of 2009.
The UAW is expected to negotiate new contracts with , GM and Chrysler early this year before they expire in September, and all three automakers are being tight-lipped about how additional compensation could factor into those negotiations. King has also been jockeying for positions on the executive boards of the domestic automakers in an attempt to better represent the union’s needs.
Ferrari 458 Challenge lapping Fiorano – Click above to watch the video
Know how irritating it is when an automotive video hits the interwebs and its creator decided that the glorious music of sweet internal combustion just weren’t enough of a soundtrack? Good news: This is not one of those videos. Instead, we’re treated to a beautiful 562-horsepower swan song from 4.5 liters of undeniable Prancing Horse goodness.
was released last month at the Bologna Motor Show as the replacement for the outgoing F430 GT2. In other words, fans of endurance racing ought to get mighty used to hearing this particular bellow on tracks all around the world. For what it’s worth, this video was taken near the headquarters at the Fiorano track, and the 458 Challenge did the deed in 1 minute, 16.5 seconds. Check out the video . FYI, actual track footage begins around the 3:50 mark.
German wheel manufacturer BBS has declared bankruptcy, and it’s not the first time. Back in 2007, but . The news of a second bankruptcy, which was filed on December 30, apparently came as a shock to the hundreds of employees and even corporate partner IG Metall. The latter was getting ready to put a few million bucks into BBS and rival company Ronal was ready to buy BBS’ Herbolzheim factory. We can only hope that BBS makes a strong recovery and we’re not forced to look at BBS Bear wheels. [Source: via ]
