Underground Racing Lamborghini Gallardo crashes at the Texas Mile – Click above to watch video
The Texas Mile had scary moment last weekend when a twin-turbocharged Lamborghini Gallardo built by Underground Racing left the track at well over 100 mph. Driver Richard Holt was attempting to pilot the machine to a new standing mile world record, though once his parachute opened to slow the car, the Lamborghini veered off of the course, clipped a small wall and catapulted end over end. Miraculously, Holt walked away from the incident after being cut free from the wreckage by rescue workers. He was later observed at a local hospital before being released.
Reports peg the modified Gallardo as packing somewhere between 1,500 and 1,900 horsepower. Holt actually passed the mile marker at 235 mph and it’s suggested that a crosswind is to blame for the sudden change of direction upon the chute’s deployment. Accidents like this one underscore the value of conducting high-speed runs in authorized locations with plenty of rescue workers on hand. to watch a video of the entire run.
A scant 30 minutes had passed after taking possession of this 2010 until we had all four of its wheels off the ground. We’d have done the deed even sooner, but our destination – a Baja-style test track in the middle of the desert outside Phoenix, Arizona – was, understandably, far enough out of town that no locals would be able to complain of excessive noise or mini dust tornadoes encroaching on their own tracts of brush-filled paradise.
After all, the modern conveniences of day-to-day life just don’t mix with such uncivilized activities as seeing how much air you can put between your truck’s skid plates and solid ground.
And therein lies the beauty of this particular beast. Since when did such niceties as in-dash navigation with voice-activated SYNC, a leather interior with heated seats, dual-zone climate control and satellite radio count as standard equipment in a truck that was built primarily for 100-mile-per-hour blasts through the desert?
Since late 2009, actually, when FoMoCo unleashed the first version of the F-150 SVT Raptor on an unsuspecting public. Unlike all previous products from Ford’s Specialty Vehicle Team, including the F-150-based SVT Lightning, this truck does its best work once the pavement ends and the really nasty stuff begins.
It’s no secret that we’ve loved the Raptor ever since our first experience behind the wheel, and now it’s better than ever before. How so? to find out.
Gallery:
Photos copyright (C)2010 and Jeremy Korzeniewski / AOL
Volkswagen Eos Exclusive – Click above for high-res image gallery
’s campaign to move upmarket has been unrelenting. Between the likes of the Phaeton and the , the German automaker is not shying away from taking on and , or even its sister-company , for that matter. VW’s new Exclusive line does its part, too, upgrading existing models with some extra lux touches for those interested in a touch of added refinement.
The – another fine example of the luxurification of the People’s Car – was the most recent to get the Exclusive treatment, and now VW has turned its attention to . Not only has the hard-top cabrio received a facelift and an engine swap, but now the Exclusive department has upgraded it with two-tone Nappa leather offset by aluminum and piano black trim, a new steering wheel and restyled door sills. The optional sport suspension comes standard on the Exclusive model, and buyers can choose from two 18-inch wheel designs. Pricing in Europe, where the Eos has been rolled out prior to its debut in other markets, starts at €35,275 (around $50,000 based on current exchange rates, not that those figures are comparable).
ABC News investigates BMW fuel pump problems – Click above to watch video
ABC News has cottoned on to the story that is in some hot water over the high-pressure fuel pump on its potent twin-turbocharged N54 inline six-cylinder engine. As we , the pump seems to have an abnormally high rate of failure and can cause intermittent stalling, backfiring and loss of power in certain , , and and models. But that doesn’t mean that BMW has issued a recall to fix the problem just yet. As a result, a number of lawsuits have stacked up against the German automaker including at least in California. After a number of complaints, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration conducted an investigation in 2008 and decided that the pumps did not pose a threat to owner safety.
BMW, meanwhile, says that what drivers are experiencing is a built-in limp mode. It may feel like the vehicle has completely stalled because of a lack of power, but it maintains that afflicted cars and SUVs can still be driven to a safe place. Likewise, the company says that vehicles experiencing the failure don’t rapidly decelerate, so there’s no danger of being rear-ended should the fuel pump fail. The company also said that it sent a letter to vehicle owners warning of decreased engine performance and has extended the warranty on the fuel pump to 10 years. After being harangued by ABC producers, however, BMW has also reportedly agreed to take major action on the subject in the near future – an action that could come as soon as today.
ABC aired a story segment on this morning’s Good Morning America on the issue as well as a full-length piece on tonight’s Nightline. to watch today’s GMA story. Thanks to Robin for the tip!
Spinning off shows from British television into American programs are all the rage these days. Just ask anyone who watches The Office, American Idol, The Shield or Life on Mars. But the one we’re most excited about, of course, is the U.S. version of Top Gear. A long time coming, the pilot is set to air on the History Channel in about a month. And as the date approaches, details have been trickling in. The latest covers the test track that will be the show’s playground.
Like its original British counterpart, the Top Gear test track has reportedly been converted from an old military air base: in this case the Marine Corp’s former facility at El Toro in Orange County, California – the same location the NBC project was to use.
The track combines north/south and east/west runways from the former air field. Disused airport runways make great circuits, but there’s one downside: no elevation changes, the likes of which make tracks like Spa and Laguna Seca the legends they are. The El Toro configuration ameliorates the situation, however, with a ten-foot drop and subsequent climb through an off-track loop on the right side of the map pictured above, giving it what most runway tracks – like Silverstone and the original Top Gear track in England – don’t have.
Remember when we mentioned that Google, through its Street View camera cars, had accidentally ? The search engine giant has now admitted that the street mapping cars captured quite a more. In fact, when the vehicles found open networks they were apparently able to snag passwords, emails and web pages.
How’s that? The antennae on top of a Street View car registers the name and location of any available network as it passes through a given neighborhood. This data is then used to sell advertising. Google had initially said that the antennae only captured a small amount of data, but now it appears that that potentially millions of emails and passwords were recorded.
The company says this was all a mistake and is offering an apology. As soon as they found out their cars were capable of recording such information, the entire fleet was grounded and the authorities were alerted. Google has since changed its vehicles so that they no longer collect wireless information.
This is not enough for some. According to The Daily Mail, the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office is launching an investigation and Scotland Yard is checking to see if laws were broken. Privacy advocates are calling this a massive scandal, seeking further investigation and third party audits.
has posted its sixth consecutive quarterly profit with a net income of $1.7 billion. That figure marks the largest third-quarter earnings for the company since 1990, sailing well above the $997 million Ford earned during the third quarter of 2009.
As a result of its earnings, the automaker said it will move to pay down its substantial debt sooner than anticipated and step up production for the fourth quarter by 20,000 units. Originally, Ford had said that it aimed to have zero net debt by the end of 2011. Now the Blue Oval is aiming for the same goal by the end of this year. That means that the company will have the same amount of debt as it has funds to pay it.
Of course, those numbers all hinge on excluding from the picture. Total revenue for the third quarter of 2010 was $29 billion, which is around $1.3 billion less than the same period of 2009. If you nix Volvo revenue from the picture, however, the Ford bottom line increases by the $1.7 billion mentioned above. Hit the jump for the full press release.
has a history of showing off some wild concepts at SEMA, and this year the company has partnered with six different aftermarket companies to unveil a slew of concepts worked up just for SEMA 2010. The trucks range from slammed machines from the likes of Godfather Customs and The Custom Shop to a rock-crawling behemoth built by the minds at Mickey Thompson. There’s even a mobile pit station based on the F-150’s big brother, F-350. That machine has been built by Cars by Kris and Airhead Kustoms.
Judging from what we’ve seen so far, our favorite of the bunch has to be the wicked F-350 built by Skyjacker Suspensions. The truck wears a full 8.5-inches of suspension lift, massive Fab Fours bumpers front and rear and a Warn wench for pulling lesser machines from sticky situations. Sounds like a good time to us. for the full press release.
It would seem that PETA expects electric car drivers to be those who’d rather go naked than wear fur… or something like that. In any case, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is urging the City of Boston to place ads with greeneggs and ham chickens that tout a meat-free vegan lifestyle.
Why Boston? The East Coast city has announced plans to install three electric vehicle chargers in busy metropolitan areas in the first quarter of 2011, which is part of an overall goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent by 2020.
PETA has confirmed that the capital of Massachusetts isn’t the only city that will be contacted. As other large U.S. cities roll out their own EV charging plans, they can apparently count on receiving similar unsolicited overtures from the animal rights group. Somehow, we have a feeling few if any municipalities will actually take up PETA on its suggestion – unless they’re paying for the ads, of course.
Some rumors come and go, while others stick around better than a roll of masking tape. Reports of Volkswagen’s entrance into F1 clearly falls under the latter, but this time we have a timeframe.
According to the latest, motorsport chief Hans-Joachim Stuck – a former grand prix driver and Le Mans winner himself – has indicated that the growing automotive empire will make a decision by the end of the year (likely in November) on whether it will enter the Formula One World Championship in 2013.
If and when it does, VW AG could label its program under any of its brands. was initially tipped to be the favorite, but with its Le Mans program already dominating, recent reports indicate that could get the nod for a come-back, having supplied TAG-branded engines to McLaren in the ’80s. Volkswagen’s own roundel could alternatively be tasked, but other group subsidiaries seem unlikely.
The decision will likely be linked to the direction that the series will take in terms of future engine development. The company could, meanwhile, opt to buy out an existing team – Sauber, HRT and Toro Rosso are said to be on the market – or team up with an existing one (like Williams) to enter the sport.
Jay Leno spends time with the 2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage – Click above to watch video
The 2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage sits up near the top of the ‘ole Autoblog must-drive car list. While we wait for the day that someone hands us a crystal ‘Emotion Control Unit’ to fire one up, we can sit back and live vicariously through Jay Leno. Mr. Leno recently got to spend some time with the British sports coupe and was kind enough to capture his experience on camera.
Leno remarks that the V12 Vantage is “almost the perfect combination of hardcore track sports car and GT car.” To prove that, he turns the camera over to his tame racing driver, Justin Bel,l who brings the car to Willow Springs and puts it through its paces. Check out Jay, Justin and the 2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage in the video .
2011 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Click above for high-res image gallery
As many as you think you might see at the golf course, yacht club or shopping mall, that’s nothing compared to the legions regularly running around racing circuits worldwide. Aside from the myriad open GT grids dominated by Stuttgart machinery, the iconic German sportscar is the spec racer of choice for various national Porsche Carrera Cup championships and the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup that supports F1 races around the year. Those series use the versatile 911 GT3 Cup. With over 1,400 sold since 1998, Porsche maintains that it’s the best-selling racing car of all time, and it has just announced a new model for the 2011 season onward.
Whereas was based on the street-going 911 GT3, the new model starts life as the harder, faster and sharper . That means a wider body that can accommodate bigger wheels, tires and brakes. It also carries the larger 3.8-liter flat-six with 450 horsepower – 30 more horses than the outgoing model coming from 200cc of added displacement. It also looks more like the RS, with an aggressive aero package and LED lighting for when tracks go dark and dreary.
The 2011 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup will make its track debut at the opening round of next season’s Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship, but you can delve into the details right now in the press release after the jump and in our high-res image gallery below.
We were curious how a hopped-up SX4 would perform, particularly in 2010 MY guise, which gets a bump to 150 horses and gains a six-speed manual transmission. Can it compete with the world’s best hot hatches?
Chrysler engineers have taken the 2011 Challenger SRT8 up a notch or two with a new 6.4-liter V8 that produces 470 horsepower and 470 lb-ft of torque while delivering 15-20 percent better fuel economy than the outgoing 6.1-liter V8.
When the new Focus goes on sale in early 2011, Ford will offer sport packages for both the mid-grade SE and top-end Titanium models, adding things like a more aggressively tuned suspension, larger wheels, better brakes and a host of interior upgrades. Still, only a five-speed manual?
2011 Chevrolet Cruze playing a full-size game of Pac-Man – Click above to watch video
The is a nimble, compact sedan that could potentially turn into a top seller for . Apparently, it’s also a fan of classic video games. Well, at least the Chinese ad agency that dreamed up this interesting ad for it certainly is. A large room serves as the stage for a full-size representation of the Pac-Man universe. A white Chevy Cruze plays the part of Mr. Pac-Man while a series of Black Cruzes represent the ghosts.
The video is well made but could use a little more substance beyond the driving and background music. However, the song will be with you all day. A bit of a warning though, the song has a few swears in it, which is funny because either the ad agency didn’t notice them or just doesn’t care. Also, the ghosts should be multi-colored, and it would have been really hilarious if they were old Cavaliers.
Check out the commercial . If you end up enjoying the music, the name of the band is The League and the song is called “F* RNR”.
Warning: Possible NSFW language.
Gallery:
Photos by Zach Bowman / Copyright (C)2010 AOL [Source: ]
2006 Bentley Continental Flying Spur – Click above to for high-res image gallery
Axl Rose, front man for hard rock band Guns N’ Roses, has an appetite for destruction and his latest target is reportedly a . According to celeb dish outlet , Rose is being sued by over a vehicle he leased. The car was given back several months after its scheduled date of return. That is just icing on a sweet cake of disregard however, as the car was allegedly returned with a cracked windshield, two damaged wheels, a broken taillight, a missing key, dents on the doors and damage to the bumper. Axl or his compadres also racked up serious seat time by going 42,000 miles over the lease limit.
The boys from Crewe have little Patience *ahem* for someone mistreating their property like this, and Bentley is suing Mr. Rose for nearly $74,000.
wants you to know that, um… Chevy runs deep. We won’t pretend to know exactly what that means but we’re preparing ourselves to get used to hearing it. Apparently, it’s a new slogan that The General plans to use for marketing purposes starting this fall for the brand, though it won’t be used for all advertisements and .
We feel the need to point out that this scheme runs exactly opposite from what the previous marketing executives for the Golden Bowtie, namely that those working for the company always call it ‘Chevrolet’ in lieu of the more slang ‘Chevy.’ But that was under the , which was recently replaced by and .
Ewanick and Perry are said to have formed the slogan with help from Goody, Silverstein and Partners, which was awarded the Chevrolet marketing account after the brand’s short stint with Publicis Worldwide and a .
What do you think? Is this new slogan a winner? Is it better than the by the brand to reinvent its marketing material in the States?
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Episode #201 of the Autoblog Podcast records tonight, and we’ve got some things to talk about. Drop us your own feedback and questions below if you think there’s anything we’ve missed, or vote on your fellow readers’ submissions to help determine what we discuss this momentous evening. You can subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast if you haven’t already to hear your question answered.
Discussion Topics for Autoblog Podcast Episode #201
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B-Class coming to the U.S.?
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Consider our fingers crossed. With all of the talk of front-wheel-drive models coming down the pike, we simply assumed that the future of small German hatchbacks with roundels on the hood would be littered with soulless heaps. According to the sleuths over at Car and Driver, however, that’s not the case. After discovering that BMW had filed for U.S. patents for the names 228, 230 and 235, someone at BMW let it slip that the new 2 Series would, in fact, send its power to the aft. But hold onto your teacups, kids, it gets better.
BMW has also filed for a patent for the M2 moniker.
Now, we know as well as anyone that a patent doth not a production vehicle make, but it’s still exciting to know that BMW isn’t walking away from the notion of a smallish, fun-to-drive model anytime soon. Supposedly the company is planning a rash of models positioned below the current to help decrease its corporate average fuel economy, but the news of a rear-wheel drive model with an M badge on the back goes a long way toward salving any ails inflicted by the thought of a front-wheel-drive Bimmer.
, the EPA has released its first-ever proposal for greenhouse gas and fuel efficiency standards for heavy-duty vehicles. The proposal, and that’s all it is at this point, would create three new categories for heavy trucks: combination tractors, heavy-duty pickups and vans, and vocational vehicles. The rules will cover on-road vehicles with a gross vehicle weight at or above 8,500 pounds, unless these vehicles are already covered under CAFE. All of these proposals would start with the 2014 model year and make some big improvements relatively soon. The EPA is working with the DOT and NHTSA on the joint standards, which will have two types of metrics.
For pick-ups and vans, the metric will be gram per mile (and gallon per 100-miles) based on payload.
For vocational vehicles and combination tractors, the standards are gram per ton-mile (and gallon per 1,000 ton-mile).
Each of the three categories has different targets.
Combination tractors (commonly known as semi trucks) would get new engine and vehicle standards and, according to the EPA, “achieve up to a 20 percent reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and fuel consumption by 2018 model year,” compared to a 2010 baseline.
Heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans would fall under emissions rules that are similar to the rules that govern light-duty trucks and passenger cars. There would be separate gasoline and diesel standards that would, “achieve up to a 10 percent reduction for gasoline vehicles and 15 percent reduction for diesel vehicles by 2018 model year (12 and 17 percent respectively if accounting for air conditioning leakage).”
For vocational vehicles, the proposed standards would reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions up to 10 percent by 2018 model year.
