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Uncorking This Road-Legal DTM Coupe At Laguna Seca

Turn Two at Laguna Seca is one of racing’s more interesting creations. Get it wrong here and the rest of your lap will get really grumpy really fast. The AMG-Mercedes people thankfully gave us around 20 hot laps in their new C63 AMG Coupe Black Series over the course of the day – enough that we were able to get into a groove for the final 16 sorties or so. GT cars of about this size, setup and power tend to take to Laguna Seca like yuppies to mesquite.

And so we cooked all day in a fully accoutered C63 Black Series. The fixins’ on our coupe went well beyond the standard model’s race-car-for-the-road spec: Track Package, Aerodynamics Package, AMG Performance Media suite, Exterior Carbon Fiber Package, 19-inch matte black forged light alloy wheels and a fire extinguisher. We’d have preferred if some of these options actually came as standard equipment, but last we checked, we don’t own and run Daimler. Not yet anyway.

Goosing the well-weighted throttle pedal to the floor at the right moment in second gear out of Laguna Seca’s insidious Turn Eleven left-hander, the C63 Black Series filled all of Monterey County with its divine quad-barrel noise. The sound was almost enough to make that difficult corner worth tolerating.

Continue reading 2012 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Coupe Black Series [w/video]

2012 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Coupe Black Series [w/video]

With the X-Type standing as a rare exception, for the entirety of its history, Jaguar has meant rear-wheel drive. Want drive at all four corners? That’s what its sister brand, Land Rover, has been for. But not everyone who wants luxury with foul weather prowess wants an SUV. In fact, a growing number of luxury sedan buyers look for power channeled to all four wheels, and Jaguar apparently thinks it can no longer afford to sit by and watch those buyers go to the likes of Audi (with its iconic Quattro models), BMW (with its xDrive offerings) and Mercedes-Benz (which offers 4Matic on several models).

As a result, a new story from Autocar indicates that Jaguar is preparing to launch all-wheel drive versions of the XF and /or XJ sedans. The move is targeted specifically at “the snowbelt of America,” where Jaguar reportedly believes all-wheel-drive vehicles account for some 70 percent of sales.

The development of an all-wheel drive system is likely being conducted in conjunction with Land Rover, and is expected to arrive within the next two years. The project is being given a higher priority than the development of hybrid propulsion, since Jaguar estimates that its buyers are more willing to pony up for an extra set of driving wheels than a battery pack and a pair of electric motors.

Jaguar to launch all-wheel-drive sedans within two years

When the first Audi TT hit the market in 1998, its design was nothing short of revolutionary. The current model (pictured above in RS form), while dynamically superior, has been mainstreamed a bit, going with a more evolutionary approach. But now, rumor has it that Audi is preparing to launch an all-new third-generation model at the rapidly approaching Tokyo Motor Show, and our interests our piqued.

Little in the way of details is known as to the direction Audi is preparing to take with the new TT, but sources expect it to go slightly upmarket in order to make room for a smaller, less costly R4 mid-engined sportscar. The TT, however, is expected to retain its front-engine, all-wheel-drive layout. Stylistically, we’d expect the new TT to adopt some of the design cues laid down by recently concept cars like the Quattro from last year.

Audi, for its part, is staying mum on the subject, announcing the five-door A1 Sportback as its major debut for the Japanese expo. Whether a new TT – be it in concept form or production-ready – will join it remains to be seen.

Audi to preview next TT at Tokyo Motor Show?

Alabama’s strict immigration laws have helped land a Mercedes-Benz executive in jail. The Associated Press reports that an unnamed Mercedes executive was arrested after being pulled over for a routine traffic stop.

The arrest came after the 46-year-old exec was unable to produce any identification other than his German ID card. The executive was pulled over because his rental car reportedly did not have any tags, but he was later released after an associate was able to present his passport for inspection. Mercedes-Benz spokesperson Felyicia Jerald called the incident “unfortunate,” and added that the incident was resolved once a colleague was able to produce a driver’s license.

When Alabama Governor Robert Bentley heard of the executive’s arrest, he reportedly contacted State Homeland Security Director Spencer Collier to get details. We’re guessing that doesn’t happen when most other immigration arrests in Alabama, but Mercedes-Benz has a substantial footprint in the state. Mercedes has built vehicles in Tuscaloosa since 1993, and the facility currently produces the ML, R-Class and GL.

German Mercedes manager arrested in Alabama under new illegal immigration law

Dodge has been wise in reviving old nameplates to inject some excitement into its contemporary model lineup. Recent products like the Challenger and Charger – both named after classics from the brand’s past – have drummed up a considerable amount of enthusiasm where names like Stratus and Intrepid could not. But don’t expect that formula to be applied to everything Dodge puts out.

Contrary to rumors that the upcoming replacement for the Caliber would bear the name Hornet, a report from The Detroit News suggests that it will not. The nameplate originates from the Hudson Hornet that was built by the American Motors Corporation in the 1950s and the AMC Hornet that followed in the ’70s before the company was subsumed into Chrysler. The original re-appeared as Doc Hudson in the computer-animated Pixar film Cars, and was revived off-screen for a concept car (pictured above) which Dodge showed in 2006.

The new production compact, set to compete against the likes of the Chevrolet Cruze and Ford Focus, will fill a critical role for Chrysler, which currently lacks a viable competitor in that vital segment. Whatever it’s called, it’s being jointly developed with Fiat and is expected to bow sometime early in the new year. We’ll just have to wait to see what they call it.

Dodge won’t call its new small car Hornet

Ties don’t typically happen in racing. Other sports, sure, but not motorsports. Because while the issue can sometimes come down to a fraction of a second, someone always crosses the finish line first. And when it comes to championship points, someone always comes out ahead. Well, almost always.

In a stunning, nail-biting end to the NASCAR Sprint Cup season, Tony Stewart clinched his third title. But it sure didn’t come easy.

Entering this weekend’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway three points behind his chief rival Carl Edwards, Stewart was at a big disadvantage, starting from 15th place on the grid. He then suffered some major setbacks over the course of the race, dropping one, two or even three laps behind his rivals as flying debris caused damage to the front end of his Chevrolet Impala, causing him to pit an extra two times.

However, Stewart overcame the odds, pulling off 118 passes to catch up with and then pass Edwards for the lead. Over 267 laps, the lead changed a record 26 times, but it was Stewart who took the checkered flag. The win itself, however, wasn’t enough to decide the title, as it left Stewart and Edwards tied for points. The decision came down to race wins, as Stewart’s five wins in the Chase trumped Edwards’ single regular-season win. And that, ladies and gentlemen, was all she wrote.

NASCAR Sprint Cup season ends in nail-biting climax at Homestead [spoilers]

Late on Sunday, Ferrari confirmed the passing of its legendary coachbuilding collaborator Sergio Scaglietti. He was 77 years old.

The name Scaglietti is indelibly intertwined with that of Ferrari. You may recognize the name as belonging to the 612 – the twelve-cylinder 2+2 GT that preceded the current FF – but that model was only the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it came to the ties that have bound the two icons over the years.

The relationship started when Scaglietti’s work, based in the same town of Maranello as Ferrari itself, caught the eye of Enzo Ferrari in the early days of the Scuderia. Scaglietti soon became Ferrari’s preferred coachbuilder, and was responsible for the designing and crafting the bodywork on, among others, three of the most valuable collector’s cars in the world: the 250 GTO, the 250 GT California and the 250 Testa Rossa.

Legendary for crafting sheetmetal into the most beautiful forms using only his hands and eyes with no blueprints or sketches, Scaglietti eventually sold his outfit to Fiat in the 1960s, and in 1977, it became part of Ferrari’s operations. The Scaglietti department continues to craft the bodies for modern-day Ferrari models to this day.

Continue reading Sergio Scaglietti passes on to the big carrozzeria in the sky

Sergio Scaglietti passes on to the big carrozzeria in the sky

In two years a phoenix Porsche will rise from the ashes rubble of the former Ford Taurus plant. A plot of land in Hapeville, Georgia near the Atlanta airport was once the site where Taurus sedans and their Mercury Sable twins were made until 2006. Torn down in 2008, the land was cleansed and purchased by Porsche as the site of its new headquarters/destination/brand jewel. The Stuttgart marque has chosen architectural firm HOK – who did Yankee and Wembley Stadiums and the National Air and Space Museum among many other things – for the honors.

Above is a rendering of what’s coming in fall of 2013, and those with keen eyes will notice the courtyard is shaped like a Porsche shield. The complex will bring together Porsche’s various operations as well as a Porsche Experience Center to complement the West Coast version being built in California.

Porsche shows plans for new N.A. headquarters

Make it five: that’s how many consecutive years Audi will show up at the Super Bowl to attempt and advertising touchdown. From the brand’s first appearance in 2008, we’ve had Old Luxury, then The Chase, then The Green Police, then this year’s Release the Hounds. Perhaps even better than the commercials, though, have been the teasers Audi made to promote them, such as Kenny G. talking up his album Prison Sax with tracks like “Nymphs at Brunch” and “D Block in E Minor.”

The teasers should start coming soon enough, in the meantime there’s a press release after the jump talking up the action.

Continue reading Audi confirms fifth appearance during Super Bowl bathroom breaks

Audi confirms fifth appearance during Super Bowl bathroom breaks

First, Fiat went back to the Bronx with J. Lo to advertise the 500, then it spoke to us in Italian for the first 500 Abarth ad, now it’s gone back to J. Lo – again – for a spot featuring the Fiat 500C Gucci Edition. The theme is “making elegance look easy,” which you can do when you have a fat budget to spend on an A-lister in your TV spots.

Have a look at the results for yourself in the video after the jump. The bigger question is whether J. Lo or Gucci can make selling Fiat 500s in the U.S. any easier.

Continue reading Fiat brings J.Lo back for 500C Gucci edition ad

Fiat brings J.Lo back for 500C Gucci edition ad

Saab is still working with Pang Da Automobile Trade Co. and Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile Co. to keep the company out of bankruptcy. But with no final deal in place, Saab has decided to delay a November 22 meeting with creditors until the automaker can obtain financing. Saab’s parent company, Swedish Automobile, was scheduled to meet with its creditors to work out a plan to repay them, but without a resolution with the Chinese, it apparently didn’t have much of a plan to share with them. Swedish Automobile has not said when it will reschedule the meeting for.

Dow Jones reports that Saab Automobile AB is trying to complete the deal so that it can pay off creditors and exit creditor protection status. Swedish law prohibits any company under creditor protection from borrowing money.

Without the deal with Pang Da and Zhejiang, Saab will most likely end up entering bankruptcy. The Chinese automakers had already agreed to pay 100 million euros ($135 million U.S.), but former Saab owner General Motors proclaimed that it wouldn’t license technology under the same terms to Saab’s new owners. Saab is reportedly scheduled to pay November wages for “a large portion” of its employees this coming week, adding to the urgency of the situation.

Saab postpones creditor meeting as talks with Chinese continue

After two years, Suzuki has finally moved to sever its partnership with Volkswagen. The Japanese automaker claims that Volkswagen has blocked the company’s attempts to access core technology as part of the original agreement, and that the two had issues seeing eye to eye on Suzuki independence. Suzuki also claims that Volkswagen has refused to resolve these issues through negotiation.

Volkswagen, meanwhile, hasn’t commented on the situation. This move is just the latest in the long-running drama between the two automakers. Just last month, Suzuki filed a notice of breach urging Volkswagen to take remedial action in order to be within the bounds of the original agreement. Volkswagen has been characteristically tight-lipped about whatever turmoil has brewed between the two companies, preferring to reiterate that it is committed to the union.

As part of the announcement, Suzuki said that it seeks the return of the 19.89 percent stake that Volkswagen currently owns in the Japanese automaker through arbitration. Volkswagen purchased the shares for $2.5 billion in 2009.

Suzuki terminates deal with VW, wants its shares back

What’s the most fuel-efficient vehicle sold in the United States? Well, for 2012 it’s the Mitsubishi i, at least according to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy.

The federal agencies have issued the latest edition of their Fuel Economy Guide, and Mitsubishi’s subcompact electric leads all vehicles with a combined rating of 112 miles per gallon of gasoline equivalent. The Nissan Leaf is second at 99 MPGe, the Ford Transit Connect Electric is third at 62, and the Chevrolet Volt ranks fourth at 60 MPGe.

Of course, they’re all electric vehicles (well, in the case of the Volt, a part-time EV), which is why their mileage numbers are listed as MPGe. The highest-rated vehicle powered by a conventional internal combustion engine continues to be the Toyota Prius, at 50 miles per gallon combined.

Click past the jump to read the full press release.

Continue reading Mitsubishi i tops 2012 EPA Fuel Economy Guide

Mitsubishi i tops 2012 EPA Fuel Economy Guide

We’re saddened to report the death of John G. Smale. Considered an outsider to the automotive industry upon his appointment, Smale served as chairman of General Motors from November 1992 to the end of 1995.

A member of GM’s board since 1982, Smale was named chairman at a difficult turning point for the automaker. With the economy in recession and the first Gulf War waging in the Middle East, GM’s profits were at a long-time low; it was burdened with overwhelming overhead costs and its vehicles were selling slowly. The traditionally linked role of chairman and CEO was split in two, with Smale named chairman and John F. Smith Jr. named chief executive.

Under their joint leadership, Smale and Smith (who eventually replaced him) shook things up in Detroit and turned around GM’s financial fortunes from the brink of collapse. Having served as president, CEO and chairman of Procter & Gamble during the 1980s, Smale continued to serve on the GM board through 2002. He passed on Saturday at the age of 84. Our thoughts and condolences are with his bereaved friends and family.

Former GM chair John Smale dead at 84

At nearly every motorsports event we attend, there are usually strict rules about where photographers can be located. Generally, those spots are taken from behind multiple layers of gravel traps, concrete walls and catch fences. That’s not the case for the Baja 1000. Race fans and photographers are allowed to pretty much go wherever they want, even if that means putting themselves in a dangerous position.

That’s the case for this insane spectator at this weekend’s Baja 1000. He decided the ideal vantage point to take a photo was from the actual race course. Despite the crowds around urging him to do otherwise, he sticks to his guns, even as a truck flies inches over his head. Check out the incredible footage after the jump.

Continue reading Insane spectator does what it takes to get the shot at the Baja 1000

Insane spectator does what it takes to get the shot at the Baja 1000

The end of the Nissan Juke-R build has come and gone. The vehicle is done. Only a lucky few were there when the 485-horsepower twin-turbo V6 borrowed from a Nissan GT-R cleared its throat for the first time. The thrills and high-fives, that wave of adrenaline that buoys dog-tired men, and the long minutes of standing around and grinning at your project as it burbles away is a private moment that only the builders can fully appreciate.

Respecting the space of the Juke-R build team doesn’t mean we don’t want to examine this evil little mutant closely. Nissan UK knows this, and has thrown us all a bone with 11 new pictures and three videos of the Juke-R, one with audio of the revving engine. The ultimate payoff will be the figures from performance testing, which we expect to see soon.

Using an online performance-stat calculator, we first plugged the stats of a normal Juke, deciding to go with the heaviest curb weight of 3,200 lbs, and the numbers it spat back, 7.6 seconds from zero to 60 mph and a 15.93-second quarter mile, dovetail pretty well with what car magazines have gotten, though the glossy print guys are a bit faster.

Taking that same 3,200 lb weight (though we don’t know whether the Juke-R is lighter or heavier than a standard Juke) and going for 485 hp returns a predicted 3.6 second 0-60 run and a quarter mile that gets scorched in 11.44 seconds with a 124 mph trap speed. We could live with that. We’ve added the new images to our gallery, and you can check out the videos posted after the jump.

Continue reading Nissan Juke-R clears its throat for the first time

Nissan Juke-R clears its throat for the first time

A minor two-car accident on a German autobahn turned into a 52-car pileup with three deaths and two dozen injuries on Friday night. On a stretch of A31 not far from the Dutch border, two sedans got into a “harmless fender bender” in heavy fog. A German newspaper report said traffic isn’t normally heavy there, so it could have taken a few minutes as 50 more cars plowed into that original incident.

Two of the deaths occurred after two drivers left their cars and perhaps sought safety behind a guardrail; they were found under another car that had flipped the barrier. The final fatality was found in his car that had slid down an incline beside the road.

“Autobahn” describes any German highway and most are speed limited, so this isn’t necessarily about unrestricted speed. Investigators don’t yet know what caused the accident, but another German report claims that police are investigating for potential manslaughter charges. Follow the jump for a video of the aftermath.

Continue reading Three killed in 52-car autobahn crash

Three killed in 52-car autobahn crash

Hybrid models have the advantage of fuel economy over their gas-only siblings, but it appears that batteries and electric motors make them safer as well. The Highway Loss Data Institute studied 25 2003 to 2011 vehicles that featured both conventional and hybrid powertrains (example: Honda Civic and Honda Civic Hybrid). The Toyota Prius and Honda Insight were not included in the study since neither vehicle has a conventionally-powered counterpart.

The data shows that occupants are 27 percent less likely to be injured if they’re in the hybrid version of the vehicle. There are several reasons why the hybrid is safer, but the biggest factor is weight. Heavier cars are safer than lighter vehicles, since the added mass means that the heavier vehicle will transfer force to the lighter vehicle. That’s good for occupants and insurance companies, as the hybrids need 25 percent less personal injury protection than their conventional counterparts.

But while hybrids have proven to be safer than their non-hybrid counterparts, the story isn’t as good for pedestrian crashes. HDLI finds that hybrid vehicles are 20 percent more likely to be involved in pedestrian crashes with injuries. The study claims that pedestrians might get involved in more accidents with hybrids because they can’t hear the cars when they’re in electric mode. We’d add that low rolling resistance tires often contribute to longer braking distances, and the heavier hybrids are also slower and less maneuverable than their non-hybrid counterparts.

Hit the jump to read over the details of the study.

Continue reading Hybrid drivers are safer from injury in a crash

Hybrid drivers are safer from injury in a crash

Which automaker still doesn’t like the new CAFE rules? Volkswagen, that’s who. After claiming the proposed 2025 Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards were biased back in August, VW is again saying, hey, wait a minute, let’s not be so dismissive of diesel engines.

When the original 54.5 mpg CAFE proposal was announced (which will actually be around 40 mpg in the real world), Volkswagen did not sign on to the agreement. The reason is that VW says the current plan helps U.S. automakers by being lenient on big pickups but doesn’t have much love for modern diesel vehicles.

Make that “enough love,” since the EPA says the rule does give “credits for technologies with potential to achieve real-world CO2 reductions and fuel economy improvements that are not captured by the standards test procedures.” According to Reuters, since August, Volkswagen America’s general counsel and VW representatives have met with the White House and “transportation and environmental regulators” to express the company’s concerns. We haven’t heard that VW’s efforts are bearing any fruit, but that doesn’t mean we won’t hear more about them in the future.

Volkswagen still fighting new CAFE rules

We’ve already played with a real 2012 Subaru Impreza, but now anyone can play around with the Impreza configurator on the Subaru website.

The base Impreza with a manual tranny can be had for $18,245 including a $750 delivery charge. This is for the sedan version, while the 5-door hatchback is a $500 option. (Oddly enough, ticking the box for the hatch doesn’t change the image of the car.) At the top of the pricing spectrum is the 2.0i Sport Limited, which lists for $25,345 when loaded up with the Moonroof and Navigation bundle.

While this little tool won’t give you any insight into the forthcoming VX Crosstrek variant or the next-gen WRX, it will let you stitch together a 2.0i Sport Premium hatchback with a 5-speed manual and a $169.95 STI shift knob. Have we mentioned how fond of those gunmetal alloys we are?

2012 Subaru Impreza configurator comes alive