2012 Range Rover Evoque – Click above for high-res image gallery
has slapped a sticker on its all-new 2012 Range Rover Evoque, and when sales begin this fall, $43,995 (not including destination) will get you behind the wheel of LR’s smallest, most efficient ‘ute.
In the run-up to launch, LR made a fuss about the amount of lightweight materials used on the Evoque, ranging from Boron steel in the chassis to composite fenders, a magnesium cross beam and aluminum roof, hood and suspension bits. In addition to utilizing recycled plastic material inside, all that weight-saving tech adds up to a curb weight of 3,680 pounds and – more importantly – a rather commendable 19 miles per gallon in the city and 28 mpg on the highway; sure to help the automakers CAFE standings here in the States. Full details in the press release .
Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Queensland, Australia Premier Anna Bligh celebrate V8 Supercars agreement
It’s official – Australia’s V8 Supercars series is set to bash fenders in Austin, Texas in 2014. The news comes hard on the heels of the Austin city council Formula One race at the Circuit of the Americas.
The FIA-sanctioned touring car series has signed a five-year contract and the two 124-mile (200-km) races will be televised live on SPEED. The 3.4-mile Circuit of the Americas will also play host to MotoGP bike racing, having sewn up that series from 2013 to 2022. Check out the full details in the press release after the jump.
Chip Yates crosses finish at Pikes Peak – Click above to watch video
This past weekend, checked off “make an amazing run up ” from his list of things to do to demonstrate the potential of electric-powered transportation. Coming second in the Exhibition Powersport class, his time of 12:50.094 bests the made last year by over four minutes.
The run would no doubt have been more impressive had it not been for the 2.6-mile stretch of unpaved road. The bike went from hanging with the top ten to dropping just inside the top 100 on the dirt section. Overall, Yates finished in 30th place.
One thing is for sure, the 240-horsepower bike has crazy acceleration when it has clean pavement beneath it, and Chip says he’s gunning for a top 10 or better result when he gives it a go on next year’s completely paved surface. for the full run and enjoy the sound of the motor’s sweet electric music winding out up the mountain.
Click above to view the Jetta TDI’s long-term updates on Facebook
Our long-term 2011 Volkswagen Jetta TDI started its year-long journey with us last month and spent the most amount of days in June under my care, so while I’ve already passed on its keys to a number of other editors, it’s my job to tell you how it fared in its first weeks.
As we mentioned when introducing our long-term Jetta TDI, this 2011 model is vastly different than the 2010 model we had last year. The most noticeable difference is that, unlike the 2010 Jetta and many model years before that, the 2011 doesn’t give a very good first impression. The exterior design is anonymous, the interior feels cheap, and every noise the car makes, of which there are lots, is anything but confidence inspiring.
The new Jetta, particularly when powered by diesel like our long-termer, impresses in ways that take more time to bubble up to the surface. You’re not going to know right away that it can easily clip along at a Prius-smacking , like it did for me on the numerous trips from Cleveland, OH to AOL’s offices in Dulles, VA. On my first trip to Dulles with the Jetta TDI, I was so shocked by the trip computer displaying an average of 53.2 mpg that I stopped near the end to fill up and manually calculate the fuel economy. The trip computer turned out to be conservative; I really averaged 53.31 mpg.
Keep your eyes locked on the official for the majority of our updates, as well as the official Autoblog Twitter account (, look for the hashtag).
The Saudi authorities have stepped in to temper the momentum of Saudi Women for Driving. It is against religious law for women to drive in the Arabian country, a fact of life that Saudi women have now decided to fight. The campaign began earlier this year, headed by Manal al-Sharif, with and her taking to the streets behind the wheel of a car, then with a in The Kingdom. In early June, 40 Saudi women drove en masse, in an escalation of their efforts, and since then scores more have driven through the capital and other cities.
The authorities didn’t respond to those provocations, but they have to this latest one: five women were arrested while driving in the coastal city of Jiddah. There’s been no update on their situation, with another rights activist only able to wonder, “We aren’t sure what it means at this point and whether this is the start of a harder line by the government against the campaign.”
Lotus Esprit concept – Click above for high-res image gallery
Fast. Lightweight. Eminently enticing. There are a lot of things you could call a , but perhaps “ambitious” would be the most suitable. The company’s been snapping up former personnel en masse, unveiled at the same time last year, and plans on returning to to bring them to market.
Now it seems that Lotus has its eye on a rather boastful prize indeed: that of the fastest supercar built in the UK. That’s quite the goal when you consider it’ll be up against the likes of the McLaren MP4-12C and Aston Martin One-77. To get there, Lotus reportedly plans on turbocharging its new V8 up to 612 horsepower, and stripping out the new to pump up the power-to-weight ratio from both ends in Superleggera fashion.
As it stands, the naturally-aspirated V8 is anticipated to produce 562 horsepower from its 4.8 liters of displacement. Lopping off a couple of cylinders or chopping the block in half could also give Lotus six- and four-cylinder versions of the modular engine for use in a variety of cars. But while the engine may be raced initially (for example in a new LMP2 car) and shoehorned into the other products Lotus plans to bring to market, its first road-going application is expected to be in the new Esprit.
Formula One racing engines have been dropping cylinders like advanced trigonometry classes over the past couple of decades. The V12s gave way to V10s in the mid 90s. Those were replaced in turn by the current V8s in 2006, and now it’s been confirmed that by 2014 two more cylinders will drop off the block for V6 propulsion.
Confirmation comes from the FIA, whose World Motor Sport Council adopted via fax vote put forth by the Formula One Commission after consultation with the teams. The new regulations will take effect in 2014 instead of the four-cylinder formula that was set to take hold in 2013.
Displacement will drop as well from 2.4 liters to 1.6, but don’t expect a big drop in performance, as the lost cylinders will be replaced by a turbocharger. The overall package, then, marks a little bit of history repeating. Until they were dropped in 1989, many of the cars on the grid were powered by 1.5-liter turbocharged V6 engines (like the ‘84-spec unit pictured above), although this time they’ll be coupled to a new Energy Recovery System that will replace the current Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS). Official announcement after the jump.
Toyota Prius Plus Performance Package – Click above for high-res image gallery
Sure, you want to save the environment (or a few bucks on gas), so you go out and buy a . Starting that day, you’ll been missing a bit of sport in your life. wants to help you out. The automaker has announced the release of the Prius Plus Performance Package, and TRD had a hand in the creation of the components.
This is a limited-edition Prius, which is being offered with a choice between four exterior colors: Blizzard Pearl, Classic Silver Metallic, Black and Winter Gray Metallic. That paint work is also applied to the seven-piece aero kit. The Prius Plus Performance Package bodywork is comprised of front and rear lower spoilers, side skirts and a rear diffuser. It adds a touch of aggressiveness but also helps lower the car’s coefficient of drag.
This sportier (don’t laugh) Prius sits lower than the standard car, with a drop of 1.1 inches up front and 1.3 inches in the back. That lowered stance helps set off the 17-inch forged alloys that are snugly wrapped by a set of low-rolling-resistance 215/45R17 tires. A rear sway bar helps reduce body lean, and unique badges (surprisingly, not good for any horsepower gains) alert the neighbors that your Prius is a tick meaner than theirs.
This package will be offered for any existing Prius model. New Prius shoppers can add it on from the get-go by paying an extra $3,699 over the sticker on the Prius Two, Three and Four, or an extra $2,999 for the Prius Five. Interested? You can place your order starting this July. for the full press release.
Porsche RS Spyder at Le Mans – Click above for high-res image gallery
No automaker has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans as many times as . Not , with its ten wins to Porsche’s sixteen, or ’s nine. But those were all a long time ago. In fact, Porsche’s most recent was with the GT1 back in 1998.
Since then, Porsche has been pussyfooting around at the iconic round-the-clock race. The successor to the GT1 was aborted and turned into the Carrera GT road car. Sure, the RS Spyder (pictured above) has performed admirably in the LMP2 class, and 911s fielded by privateers have dominated the GT classes for years. But it’s been over a decade since Porsche has competed for an overall win.
That’s about to change, however, as Porsche has announced, through the video and press release , its intent to return to Le Mans to challenge for the win in 2014. To get there, Porsche plans a new LMP1 car, although it has released little in the way of details on what form that car will take.
If you’re wondering where this leaves Audi, which falls under the same corporate umbrella as Porsche, the Ingolstadt-based automaker’s team that the decision was made independently by its Stuttgart-based sister company and that it looks forward to the competition. So we won’t expect Audi to be dropping out any time soon for lack of anything to prove, even after ten victories out of twelve years, nor supporting the Porsche entry like it did with ’s in 2003.
Watching Porsche take on the likes of Audi, Peugeot, and the anticipated to be joining the field in the coming years ought to produce some nail-biting race action. But in the meantime, you can scope out the video and press release and the gallery of high-resolution images showcasing Porsche’s rich Le Mans heritage.
An ox is a domesticated bovine whose primary purpose is to pull heavy loads. Tipping the scales at more than a ton, the hefty animals are not considered quick workers, especially when compared to horses, but they’re steadfast in their actions and respond well to trained commands. Rarely spooked or unsettled, oxen deliver a long, dependable and rather unassuming service life.
is the ox’s four-wheeled equivalent. While the full-size sport utility vehicle is one of the automaker’s slowest-selling vehicles on U.S. shores – and one of its most expensive – those who’ve owned one tend to become very loyal fans. We recently spent a week with the current “200 Series,” the latest generation of the venerable ‘ute that has been in production since the 1950s. What has given the Land Cruiser such longevity and how does it compare to the , its nearly identical twin? Most importantly, did we become loyal Land Cruiser devotees in the process?
2012 Saab 9-5 SportCombi – Click above for high-res image gallery
While , the rest of is hoping to produce and sell cars. The Saab 9-5 SportCombi is one of those cars, and we’ve been itching to learn more about what version of the handsome wagon we’re going to get (provided the company is still around to produce them). Consider that itch scratched. A pre-launch brochure for the North American SportCombi has found its way to the Internet, and it’s loaded with information.
According to the document, the 2012 Saab 9-5 SportCombi will utilize the 220-horsepower, 258 pound-feet of torque 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder, which is paired with a six-speed automatic gearbox and Saab’s Cross-Wheel Drive system (XWD).
Saab has decided to fill the inside of this new 9-5 SportCombi with upscale standard equipment, so it’s likely to be on the pricier side. The standard equipment list includes a panoramic moonroof, heated seats, keyless start, a cooled glove box and a navigation unit that’s controlled via eight-inch touchscreen. Bundled option groups include the Technology Package (lane-departure warning, park assist, bi-Xenon cornering lights, and head-up display) and Rear Passenger Package (rear seat audio, dual eight-inch screens with DVD player and wireless headphones and tri-zone HVAC).
No word yet on pricing, so stay tuned, but in the meantime, you can check out the brochure in its entirety by .
Most available choices at your local car rental agency are tame appliances built to shuttle you from Meeting A to Hotel B. Back in the day, however, things were a bit different thanks to Shelby and Hertz. In 1966, the rental car company and Carroll Shelby partnered up to offer a custom Ford Mustang. Shelby built 1,000 units, Hertz rented them out and a horde of happy customers used them to rip up their local dragstrips and main streets. In 2007, to supply some muscle into the rental fleet. Now comes word that Shelby is looking to celebrate its 50th anniversary with an all-new rent-a-racer.
According to Automotive News, Shelby plans to team up with Hertz to bring a new generation of the Mustang GT-H into the world. Starting with a 412-horsepower , Shelby will reportedly take the two-door and juice it up a notch before applying gold stripes to either a black car or a white one. The details of the mooted 2012 Shelby GT-H program have yet to finalized, but keep an eye out for distinctive Mustangs sitting at Hertz lots in the not-to-distant future.
2011 Ram Truck 3500 HD – Click above for high-res image gallery
Word on the web is that engineers at Ram are dabbling in air-ride suspensions. PickupTrucks.com has pointed out that the company’s gargantuan rocked an impressive auto-leveling and load-sensing air-suspension package from the people at Kelderman. It’s no secret that Ram has been trying to civilize its full-size pickup offerings. The company recently abandoned the traditional rear leaf-spring suspension setup for heavy-duty coil springs, and the addition of an air-ride option would provide even greater versatility.
As PickupTrucks.com points out, air suspensions use pneumatic bladders in place of springs, and an onboard compressor can vary the amount of pressure within each vessel. Lower pressure delivers a comfortable ride, while more pressure can give the vehicle additional ride height and load capacity. As a result, the vehicle can offer a comfortable ride while still being able to handle heavy cargo. It’s the same technology found on road tractors and trailers.
The fact that Ram is dabbling in the systems on its concept vehicles leads PickupTrucks.com to believe that we may eventually see air suspensions on the company’s heavy-duty hardware. The move would seem to be the perfect compromise between civility and capability.
Unlikely though it may have seemed just a couple of years ago, Austin, Texas, has become the site of a battle between Formula One racing and economic development on the one hand, and government spending restrictions and fiscal responsibility on the other.
The showdown is over the United States Grand Prix, set to be held on the new Circuit of the Americas on the outskirts of Austin next year. Holding an F1 race almost invariably involves government support in the form of public funds, and a vocal lobby has vehemently rejected to the notion of government coffers being opened up to support the race. However after weeks of deliberation, the Austin City Council has reportedly voted by a majority of 5-2 to support the event.
The rationale, as is common with other grands prix, is that the public investment – some $25 million per year in this case – will encourage a big boost in tourism. Those coming to Austin for the race – be they spectators or F1 personnel – are expected to spend around $700 per day per person.
Another element offsetting the naysayers revolves around plans to make the track complex currently under construction one of the greenest circuits in the world, with public transportation, bike lanes and some 800 trees planted around the grounds of the circuit.
A potential change of date, however, is being considered for the race. The race is currently scheduled to take place on June 17, one week after the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. But with temperatures in Austin reaching over 100 degree Fahrenheit in June, organizers could lobby to have the race moved later in the year, possibly to be twinned with the Brazilian Grand Prix in November instead.
Carlos Ghosn has the honor of being the highest-paid foreign executive of any Japanese company. The CEO brought home a staggering $12 million for his efforts at the automaker last year alone, which marks a 10-percent increase over his take-home pay last year. For the sake of comparison, The Economic Times reports that Akio Toyoda, the president of , drew just $1.6 million in compensation and stock options last year.
It’s not as if Ghosn has been sitting on his hands, though. The executive helped lead Nissan to increase its net profit from $524.6 million from March 2008 to March 2009 to $3.95 billion the following year, and he doesn’t seem to be anxious to slow down anytime soon. Ghosn just unveiled a new business plan for Nissan called , which is supposed to help Nissan capture a total global market share of eight percent. Currently, the automaker holds onto around 5.8 percent of total market share.
We saw the , and then the company appeared in Moab to . Now the adventurous minds at Xplore are ready to pull back the sheet off its latest creation – the Xplore .
We’re going out on a limb here, but we think this is Trail Rated. At least it appears that way thanks to the the beefy BFGoodrich Mud Terrain tires wrapped around Method Race wheels. We don’t have the official spec sheet just yet, though we know the past Xplore vehicles have been outfitted to handle plenty of tough terrain. The sinister flat paint scheme might not help with Jeep’s off-road capability, but it certainly helps give the Xplore Grand Cherokee a darker edge.
As with the rest of the Xplore family of vehicles, the goal behind this vehicle is to promote awareness of our national parks. Xplore wants you to… well, explore. When you purchase an Xplore Grand Cherokee, you’re given a one-year pass to America’s national parks. You also get a one-year subscription to the Xplore Lifestyle Journal, which talks about the places you should be taking your vehicle. for the full press release, and check out the Xplore Grand Cherokee in the included image gallery.
Combine rising raw materials costs, and manufacturing bottlenecks, and the result for the world of tires is this: not enough hoops to satisfy automaker demand. According to Automotive News, even before The Great Recession hit, a Bridgestone tire executive said that plant closures alone killed 71 million units of capacity in the U.S. New factories and factory expansions are on the way, but they won’t run at full power until 2013.
Current production is also slowed down by having to construct low-volume tires and niche sizes, with more specialty cars and more sizes on the market. On top of that, the prices of materials like steel, carbon black and rubber that go into tires have risen an average of 52% in each of the last two years, sending tire prices “up very sharply.”
Although it’s predicted that “the shortage won’t be resolved any time soon,” from the looks of it car manufacturers are in control of the situation – as well they must be, since they can’t sell cars without tires. OEMs haven’t discussed what its done to the bottom line – or how much of the cost is passed on to buyers – but if you see spec sheets begin to list more tire makes as original equipment, maybe this is why.
Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé Masterpiece London 2011 – Click above for high-res image gallery
A car like the Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé isn’t about raw power and performance. It’s not about the latest technologies. It’s not even about bragging rights. More than anything else, it’s about making the owner feel special. But this particular DHC is more special than most.
Created specially for the Masterpiece London 2011 luxury goods show, this one-off packs a suede Asprey jewelry case in the glove box with intricate rings, cufflinks and earrings and a trunk full of matching leather fitted luggage. The one-off is also the first come painted in Mazarine Blue, the latest of 44,000 colors available to Rolls-Royce buyers, and features Santos Pallissander wood veneers (whatever that means) inlaid with mother-of-pearl.
Check it out in the high-res image gallery and the press release after the jump.
1956 Bentley S1 pickup – Click above for high-res images
and may be under common ownership these days, but back in the day, they were bitter rivals. That rivalry lead one Ettore Bugatti to deride his English competition as “the world’s fastest lorries” (the British term for commercial trucks). He was speaking figuratively, because while the notion of a Bentley sport-ute has been rumored every now and then, the company doesn’t actually make trucks. This, then, stands as an exception.
This classic started life in 1956 as a Bentley S1, purchased by the owner of a large retail chain before changing hands to the Earl of Stradbroke who had it converted to a pickup. The work was carried out in New South Wales, Australia, where they’ve always been bonkers for utes. They painted it yellow and gave it a woody-style pickup bed.
The car was donated by Stradbroke to the Trinity Grammar School, which is now auctioning the vehicle through insurance broker Shannons to raise funds to build a new library. The vehicle will hit the auction block during the Australian Motor Show on July 10, where it’s expected to fetch between $22,000 and $32,000 in Australian funds, or about $23,600-$34,400 in equivalent American greenbacks.
“If you buy this truck, I’ll come deliver it,” Ford President and CEO told his friend Rob Johnston. Proving that his pledge was more than just an empty sales tactic, Mulally stayed true to his word and dropped in at Satcher Ford in Aiken, South Carolina to personally hand over the keys to Johnston’s 2011Ford F-150. Johnston’s likely still marveling at the luck that comes from having friends in high places, chuckling that “the CEO of Ford brought my little truck down to me” while taking delivery last Friday.
Maybe it’s a new type of sales perk Ford could offer. Who wouldn’t want, say, a dropped off by ? There’s a rich tapestry of Ford drivers in available for buyers, too. It could even be a line-item on the order form. Pay a little more for personal celebrity delivery, and the public figure of your choosing gets a vacation in an unlikely spot, like the overnight Mr. Mulally spent at Aiken’s . If anything, it’s a way for Mr. Mulally to spend time outside of Dearborn and speak with the public that buys his company’s products.
Combine rising raw materials costs, and manufacturing bottlenecks, and the result for the world of tires is this: not enough hoops to satisfy automaker demand. According to Automotive News, even before The Great Recession hit, a Bridgestone tire executive said that plant closures alone killed 71 million units of capacity in the U.S. New factories and factory expansions are on the way, but they won’t run at full power until 2013.
