Footage from cold-weather testing of the in Sweden has surfaced, showcasing the all-electric city car’s rear-wheel-drive platform and penchant for getting sideways. These are still early tests, as the full production i3 isn’t expected to be ready until 2013.
Still, with 150 horsepower on tap from a rear-mounted electric lump, the little could well be a barrel of laughs, as well as an environmentally-responsible mode of transportation. Of course, we wouldn’t expect much range with these kinds of antics…
The BMW i3 sports an aluminum body around a carbon fiber-reinforced plastic passenger compartment, and will be considered a premium micro car when it hits showrooms. How premium? Expect the price tag to creep past $40,000. See how much fun electric drifting can be in the video .
We don’t need to tell you that Astons aren’t the best at anything. Well, except looking, smelling and feeling damn sexy. In fact, does anyone sell sexy as well as ?
If we were the betting types, we’d lay a shiny nickel on the vehicle you see here being all but identical to the final iteration. Pay special attention to the hideaway rear spoiler.
Is there anything more enjoyable than a CEO behaving badly?
Also of interest:
Browse our archive of Daily U-Turn posts or subscribe to the RSS feed
Jason DiSalvo wins the 2011 Daytona 200 – Click above for high-res image gallery
While this year’s Daytona 200 was a great day for and its , it left something to be desired for everyone else. The race was blighted by tire issues, a bad final-lap crash that the riders were lucky to walk away from and a controversy stemming from Ducati’s win.
The controversy started with a red flag late in the race and a mandatory tire change for all riders. On the same lap, Ducati rider Jason DiSalvo blew a cylinder on his machine. Eventually, race officials decided to re-start around 3:30 and run the rest of the 200 as a 15-lap sprint to the finish. Besides angering fans who paid to see a 200-mile single race and would end up with 147 miles over two races, the delay allowed DiSalvo’s team time to change his blown engine.
With permission from the AMA, DiSalvo was back in the race. In the final seconds of the all-out 15-lap sprint to the finish, DiSalvo passed Cory West on a draft to take the win. That wasn’t the end, though. Since there had been a red flag, there was some confusion as to who should be crowned the victor.
There was talk of letting the results from the lap before the red flag stand. That would have meant the race ended with Josh Herrin out front, JD Beach in second and Jake Zemke third. Officials decided, however, that since the top six riders had crossed the line before the red flag fell and everyone else was still on the previous lap, the results from the 15-lap sprint would decide the winner.
That meant that Jason Di Salvo, who before the red flag was out of the race, was crowned race winner, followed by Cory West and Jake Zemke. The result was no doubt a great moment for Ducati and DiSalvo, but left the guys who were ahead before the red flag and the fans who saw a shortened race feeling understandably spurned.
for a press release from Ducati celebrating the victory and a video of the closing laps of the 2011 Daytona 200.
Everyone knows that driving simulators, no matter how good they are, are just that: simulators. They don’t quite get the experience nailed, and they won’t make you the next . Still, Red Bull and Playseats have teamed up to make your experience that much closer to Vettel’s with the release of this Red Bull racing simulator.
Playseats has nailed the details for this setup, putting the seat in the same location relative to the pedals and steering wheel as in a real Formula 1 car. The best news is that Playseats makes the set up for a variety of systems, meaning you can have one for Forza, Gran Turismo 5 and F1 2010, should you have the funds and the desire.
The funds are the big issue here. Playseats charges $1,300 for the system on sale. Regular price is $1,400, not to mention the cost of a TV to make this worth while. Looks like it’s good, old-fashioned joysticks for us, then.
The situation in Japan is still very tense and evolving on a moment-to-moment basis, and it will take years for the nation to fully recover from the earthquake and tsunami. In response to the still-dangerous developing situation, at least two European automakers who operate facilities there have decided to bring home some of their foreign nationals.
According to Automotive News Europe, employs 750 people in Japan, and 50 or so of its German employees have returned to their home country. has around 600 workers located in Japan, and so far, 30 of the 40 German employees have left the disaster-stricken nation.
Symantec spam graph – Click above to view press release
Getting spammed daily from all sides has become a fact of life. If you have an email address and use the internet, you will get spammed. Most likely numerous times throughout the day. In a recent study by Symantec, researchers found that the automotive business is the out there.
According to the study, fully 84.3 percent of emails sent relating to the industry are considered spam. That’s more than the global spam rate of 81.3 percent, and higher than the rate generated by any other industry.
Not only is the auto industry’s rate the highest, it’s growing. In January of this year, the level for the automotive industry was 82.8 percent. That might not seem like a huge spike, but when you consider how many billion emails spammers send, the number looks a little more impressive.
Other industries are almost as badly off, with spam accounting for more than 80 percent of emails in the financial, chemical and pharmaceutical, education, manufacturing, marketing, public sector, IT and retail industries.
A group of New York hedge funds have filed suit against for cornering the market on stock, according to Reuters. The lawsuit claims that the German automaker caused $1 billion in losses by discreetly buying up every freely traded share of Volkswagen stock in an attempt to take over the company in 2008. When Porsche revealed what it had done, Volkswagen stock prices leapt. The hedge funds, meanwhile, had bet big that Volkswagen shares would actually see a dip, and the reversal caused major losses.
The plaintiffs include Greenlight Capital LP, Tiger Global LP, Glenhill Capital LP and Glenview Capital Partners LP among others.
Porsche has rejected the allegations as inadmissible and unsubstantiated. Some of the hedge funds included in this lawsuit were part of a similar filing that failed against the automaker last year. That lawsuit caused some concern about whether or not Porsche’s merger with Volkswagen would sail on smooth seas, but thus far, at least, investors seem less concerned about the latest legal woes.
2011 Audi R8 GT – Click above for high-res image gallery
has announced that the 90 examples of the GT slated to come to this country will carry price tags starting at $196,800. The R8 GT packs a version of the 5.2-liter FSI V10, but cranked up to 560 horsepower, mated to Audi’s R-Tronic sequential transmission. Backing up the transmission is a four-wheel-drive system with a locking rear differential.
The R8 GT is built using more aluminum and carbon fiber than the standard car, which translates to a 180-pound weight loss. The rear hatch, spoiler and front splitter on the GT are all carbon-fiber pieces.
The weight savings, power increase, and sequential gearbox team up to scoot the R8 GT to 60 miles per hour in 3.6 seconds, and a up to a 199-mph top speed.
Hennessey Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon versus 2011 Nissan GT-R – Click above to watch video
Hennessey is once again bringing its super station wagon out to the drag strip. The Texas tuner has taken Cadillac’s 556-horsepower fast family-hauler and tweaked it so that the 6.2-liter V8 now produces 650 hp. We previously showed you how , and now Hennessey has brought the back to the track, and this time, the opponent in the other line is driving a .
A 2011 Nissan GT-R to be more precise. The model that produces 485 horsepower and runs down Hennessey’s track in 11.8-seconds. That’s a hair slower than the 11.7-second run ripped off by the Sport Wagon – an amazing time for the 4,398-pound American muscle machine.
However, the pumps out 530 horsepower, runs from 0-60 miles per hour in less than three seconds and will cover a quarter-mile in about 11.6 seconds. Now, you can take that to mean Hennessey should’ve run against the newer GT-R… or that they’ve built one hell of a station wagon. to watch the two cars run down the strip.
Highcroft HPD ARX-01e – Click above for high-res image gallery
After four years of dominating the LMP2 class in the American Le Mans Series, Highcroft Racing is stepping up the big leagues this year, and this is the car with which they aim to do it.
The new ARX-01e uses the same basic chassis and engine as the LMP2 car on which it’s based, but features a heavily revised aerodynamics package for a significantly different form. The 3.4-liter V8 engine now also benefits from a larger air restrictor for more power.
Developed by Wirth Research, the ARX-01e ditches last year’s branding for Racing Development (HPD). And with former sponsor Tequila Patron stepping up to title-sponsor the ALMS series as a whole, Highcroft’s ARX-01e is being used by Michelin to promote its latest performance street tires.
The car recently underwent its first shakedown at Sebring, which it’s set to take on later this week at the famous 12-hour race. Check out the high-resolution images in the gallery below for a closer look and the details in the press release after the jump for more.
Gallery:
[Source: Highcroft Racing]
Performance Development unveils new ARX-01e LMP1 racer
Thanks to the Environmental Protection Agency, new car buyers always have the ability to read fuel economy numbers on the window sticker of any car on the lot. But if you’re looking at a used vehicle, the same efficiency info isn’t always readily available.
Consumer Reports reports that the EPA has changed that little problem by posting the fuel efficiency information of used vehicles on its website. These aren’t new fuel economy numbers, but the EPA did apply the updated fuel economy logic that was instituted in 2008. So if your original 1995 Honda Civic was once quoted at 40 miles per gallon, the new fuel economy number is 33 mpg. The EPA is tracking fuel economy dating back to 1984, too, so car buyers can go back before many Autoblog readers were even born.
The EPA is hoping that anyone selling a vehicle will use the tool as well. Dealers, for example, can print up the window sticker and place it on the window of the vehicle being sold, giving the “sold as is, no warranty” caveat some competition on the passenger-side window.
Gateway Classic 1968 Steve McQueen Signature Mustang – Click above for high-res image gallery
Making a , but Gateway Classic Mustang is taking a different approach. The St. Louis-based company has partnered with the Steve McQueen Estate to produce a modern rendition of the 1968 featured in the movie Bullitt.
Each car starts out as an original ‘67 or ‘68 Mustang fastback and is fitted with a 450-horsepower V8, Keisler five-speed transmission, Baer brakes, American Racing wheels and BFGoodrich tires. The suspension has been worked over as well, with adjustable coilovers front and rear.
Gateway Classic Mustang says that they are currently taking orders for the Limited Edition Steve McQueen Mustang, and although pricing isn’t listed, we imagine that they won’t come cheap. You can read more details about the car in the press release after the jump, and be sure to check out the high-res gallery below.
According to Autocar, is itching to go modular. The company is apparently walking away from plans to significantly update its plan to run a much-modified Epsilon I architecture in favor of a new strategy that includes a clean-sheet design. Autocar cites unnamed sources inside the company’s headquarters who have indicated that engineers are currently whittling away on a versatile platform that will form the basis of everything form a diminutive 9-2 to a lengthy 9-7 and everything in between. That includes the confirmed-for-production , and 9-4x. Autocar believes that the rumored 9-1 will use different bones.
That all sounds good, but the news runs completely against the grain of everything we’ve heard about the company’s production plans so far. Victor Muller, the company’s CEO, has previously told Autoblog that the 9-3 successor will be based on a much-modified version of the Epsilon I architecture that’s so thoroughly altered that Saab will be able to claim the chassis as its own intellectual property. As the next 9-3 is part of Saab’s fully funded business plan, we have trouble seeing the Swedish automaker going to the considerable added expense of developing an all-new, from-scratch platform – particularly when global sales of the firm’s current range have been slow to take off.
Six cars that CR says are worse than their predecessors – Click above for high-res image gallery
There’s nothing like being told you aren’t as good as you used to be. “You’ve changed, man. You’ve really changed.”
In its annual automotive issue, Consumer Reports awards scores to each new car available on the market, and though you’d think that a new model would score higher than the one it replaces, that isn’t always the case. In fact, CR points out six 2011 model year vehicles that received substantially lower scores under its methodology than their predecessors.
At the top of CR’s list is the – a car that has come in for a raft of criticism from the media since its redesign launched in mid-2010 (criticism that has been summarily ignored if the Jetta’s rising sales figures are anything to go by). Rounding off the rest of the list are the , , , and .
Consumer Reports does raise an important point, though: Earning a lower score doesn’t automatically mean the car should be written off completely. In its story, CR states:
Some models, such as the Honda Odyssey, Mercedes-Benz E350, and Toyota Sienna, are still very good vehicles that we recommend. But they don’t quite measure up to the standards set by their previous generation models. Others, such as the current BMW X5, Toyota 4Runner, and Volkswagen Jetta sedan, are clear disappointments.
Clear disappointments? Ouch. Head over to Consumer Reports for .
For better or worse, nothing is quite as divisive as modern design. The current is controversial enough in its own right, but the S-Type that came before was even more so. With its pinched grille and comically retro lines, the S-Type was the very antithesis of the model that followed. So how about making the old girl even more of a love-it or hate-it affair? Not an easy task, but Panzani Design has clearly risen to the challenge.
Reaching back a few years to when the S-Type was still around, the Italian tuner has given the retro Jag saloon such up-to-date features as 20-inch wheels mounted on a track widened by 10 centimeters and enormously flared arches to accommodate them. There’s also a new front bumper with integrated LEDs, a carbon fiber hood with vents, mesh lamp covers, side skirts, spoiler, diffuser, little round mirrors and what looks to be a very intricately crafted interior.
The result is all decked out in matte gray and called the Vintage GT. It may not be your cup of tea, but it’s worth a second glance, so check it out in the gallery below for all the angles.
is very proud of that . It’s taken the necessary steps to protect the phrase, which includes applying for for the trademark rights as it pertains to both vehicles and clothing.
This was a wise move, because some enterprising folks have apparently already tried to cash in on the phrase. A company called Pure Detroit has started selling clothing with the tagline, while also claiming to be an exclusive clothing provider for the automaker.
Chrysler is not exactly thrilled with Pure Detroit, but according to The Detroit News, it initially attempted to solve the matter away from the court system. It asked Pure Detroit to stop using the phrase, and to send a portion of any proceeds received to charity. Pure Detroit has evidently decided to give Chrysler a Bronx Salute, leaving the automaker with no choice but to make this an official legal matter.
The was supposed to begin reaching customers late in 2010, but a last-minute change . The battery-packing Sonata was originally fitted with an on/off switch to disable the synthetic engine audio that would come on whenever the vehicle was being driven under electric power, but a forthcoming regulation changed that.
Hyundai ordered a last-minute change deleting the switchgear because of a bill passed by Congress (and later signed by President Obama) that made non-defeatable noise-making devices mandatory for hybrids and EVs. Automotive News reports that the ball is in the court of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the agency plans to set a proper timetable in the next three years.
While the law banning the EV alert noise on/off switch will likely stop automakers from adding the switch in the future, we’re thinking NHTSA should still act fast in coming up with a date. The move would help automakers to know what they can and can’t do, preventing more product delays in the future.
Mini CoupeSpy Shots – Click above for high-res image gallery
We’re inching ever closer to seeing the Mini Coupe in showrooms. The clipped is set to land on dealer lots as soon as this Autumn, and it looks like the company’s engineers are hard at work ironing out the very last wrinkles in the platform. Our spy photographer commandos managed to click off a few photos of the most recent tester out and about wearing what must be nearly production-ready sheetmetal. If we were the betting types, we’d lay a shiny nickel on the vehicle you see here being all but identical to the final iteration.
In these photos, we can clearly see that the vehicle’s retractable spoiler tucks cleanly into the trunk when not in use, though the somewhat awkward roof aero treatment is still sticking around. Up front, the Coupe wears the same corporate clothing as the Cooper line, and buyer should expect to find the same line of four-cylinder engines under the hood as well.
Ralph Gilles does a burnout in a 2011 Dodge Charger R/T – Click above to watch video
Jay Leno recently got the chance to spend a little time with the and Dodge CEO Ralph Gilles stopped by to answer the funny man’s questions. If ever there was a guy who could accurately compare the Charger to its predecessors, Leno would be it. The man knows a thing or two about Mopar history and exactly what has made the original models so sought after to begin with. He’s also an unabashed fan through and through, so it’s interesting to see his take on the newest iteration of the Charger legacy.
While we always enjoy the chance to listen to Gilles talk shop and Leno crack jokes, the best part of the clip is watching the Dodge CEO himself educate the comedian on how to properly execute a burnout with Hemi power at one’s command. Is there anything more enjoyable than a CEO behaving badly?
Probably not.
If you listen closely, you might even hear Gilles say that Chrysler is investigating whether or not to bolt a manual transmission into the Charger due to high interest. We like the sound of that action. to watch the video.
Uncovering The Real Mission Of Aston’s New Coupe And Volante
2012 Aston Martin Virage – Click above for high-res image gallery
Few automakers sell sexy as well as .
Others may try, but competition demands they back up their stellar good looks with performance – oh, the burden. Take and , the two Italians, as an example. Their sensual bodywork drops jaws at one hundred yards, but they also have to shoehorn in uber-powerful engines or else consumers will cry foul. is another example. The German’s luscious was just that, but needed a V10 to truly stand proud. It seems that consumers simply won’t tolerate sleek bodywork unless there’s performance to substantiate it.
Yet, for some inexplicable reason, Aston Martin seems to have escaped the wrath. None of its models offer the most powerful engine in their class, or the best performance. We don’t need to tell you that Astons aren’t the best at anything. Well, except looking, smelling and feeling damn sexy.
Times are changing. Customers are demanding more substance behind the style, more bang for their buck and innovative, modern technology. Seeming to acknowledge that life is much more than a beauty contest, Aston Martin has introduced the all-new Virage Coupe and Virage Volante.
is very proud of that . It’s taken the necessary steps to protect the phrase, which includes applying for for the 
