As a Formula One entity, Renault has gone from engine supplier to full manufacturer (having acquired the Benetton team back in 2000) and back to engine supplier (having all but completely divested the team now under the banner). The French automaker’s competition engine works also powers Caterham and Williams this season, but most importantly, the Red Bull Racing team that is returning once again as World Champions. So whereas previous Renaultsport special edition hot hatches celebrated the company’s own achievements, the latest celebrates Red Bull’s.
Named the Red Bull RB7 edition after last year’s car, the special Clio RS packs a 203-horsepower four mounted to the Cup chassis that would otherwise be an option. The body is painted matte black with yellow highlights, a tone-on-tone checkerboard roof, the requisite special badging and 18-inch wheels done up in a black finish and shod with the same Bridgestone rubber that kept the glued to the Nürburgring for its lap record.
Inside it’s got yellow Recaro buckets and the RS Monitor performance telematics system. The special edition will only be available, however, in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria and Spain. Details to be found in the press release after the jump with high-res images in the gallery above.
Even as in their opposition to the auto industry bailout, new polling indicates that the American public has changed its attitude about the $80 billion spent to help both and General Motors restructure. According to The New York Times, a poll conducted in February shows the gap between those who approve of the measures and those who remain opposed has shrunk, while a different, more recent poll shows a slim majority of Americans now support the bailout. In the midst of the 2008-2009 crisis, polls suggested that three out of four people were against government intervention.
The New York Times suggests the post-bailout success of the automakers is the most likely driver of the change in attitude, citing the return to profitability of both Chrysler and GM. That success has resulted in real job creation, with some 126,500 positions in the motor vehicle manufacturing industry added, according to the report. , including $385 million at its Romulus, MI, engine plant pictured above.
That by more than 80 percent, to $14 billion, has likely played a part in public perception as well.
Looks like and can breathe a corporate sigh of relief. The has into both companies without issuing fines or ordering a recall.
The government safety agency said it had reviewed 43 reports of engine fires in 2001-2007 VW models. The turbocharged four cylinder’s ignition coils apparently were the source of the blazes. We reported on the initial investigation .
After a 19-month study, NHTSA said, “The fires observed were contained in the engine compartment and did not reach into the passenger compartment. There were no reports of crashes or personal injury in this examination. A safety-related defect has not been identified at this time.”
“Safety-related defect” or not, that hardly sounds comforting for Passat owners. Might want to get that ignition coil checked out.
GM got the all clear after the NHTSA checked into cracked cooling fans on the series of trucks, which includes , and 4500 and 5000 models. NHTSA said it “remains concerned about the potential for injury,” but basically couldn’t find the “root cause” and that the number of complaints seems to be “small and diminishing.”
Hmmm. Might want to get those fans checked, too.
Check out the full PR text to read the NHTSA report on the Passat.
Although may not be racing all that much these days, motorsport competition was an integral part to forming its identity decades ago. And it’s that legacy that Jaguar aims to tap into with its latest development.
The British auto marque has of late been participating in numerous classic racing events, but is now intensifying and organizing its efforts under the Jaguar Heritage Racing banner. Managed for the factory by specialist firm JD Classics of Essex, the program will see the C-Type and D-Type (click on the image above to enlarge the two classic cats) challenging revival events at venues as varied as , the and the , where the initiative will make its first appearance this May.
Although limited in scope to classic racing events, the renewed effort will see the factory getting back onto the track in an arguably more substantial way than it has with the Jaguar RSR XKR GT2, retapping the racing spirit not seen in Coventry since winning Le Mans with the XJR-12 in 1990 and selling its F1 team in 2004 – but which could, if come to fruition, resurface again with a new LMP1 in the near future. In the meantime you can read more about the Jaguar Heritage Racing program in the press release .
According to , the 2013 Sprint Cup Series will kick off without an on the starting grid. That’s news itself, considering how intertwined the Impala is with Chevy’s NASCAR presence, earning 70 wins since 2007.
Even more intriguing, though, is that Chevy says it “will be racing a vehicle based on a new nameplate to the brand’s lineup.” That means the 2013 racer won’t be a or . Whatever it may be, Chevrolet says that both the race version and the production version will be debuted “in the coming year.”
As far as speculation goes, it’s hard not to point a finger in the direction of the , which is currently available in the United States for duty only. Will everyday consumers finally get another crack at a high-performance rear-wheel-drive Chevy sports sedan? If so, what will it be called, and will it wear the coveted SS nomenclature?
We have no idea. What we do know, however, is that Jim Campbell, vice president of Chevrolet Performance Vehicles and Motorsports, says the automaker is testing camouflaged vehicles and that the production version will be “just like” the race car. We’ll just have to wait and see about that… In the meantime, see the complete press release .
It’s pretty obvious that automakers’ definition of the word ‘coupe’ these days is a far cry from the traditional meaning. (We do live in the world of the “four-door coupe,” after all.) That said, Car and Driver reports that will call the company’s two-door Paceman Concept the once it hits production.
While it’s true that both the Paceman Concept and most coupes have two doors, the vehicle is more of a CUV/hatchback/crossover, at least to our eyes. Even so, the fact that the vehicle will reportedly share the Countryman moniker is no shock. Both vehicles wear the same nose front fascia, grille, headlights, fenders and hood. Even so, based on the automaker’s current naming convention, that means we’ll have to get used to saying something like “Mini Cooper S Countryman Coupe.” Because that won’t get confusing or anything.
Last we heard, the three-door Countryman as a 2014 model, and rumor has it that the production model will debut at the later this year. A few have already made their way to the web, indicating the final version will be remarkably similar to the concept we’ve already seen.
is recalling 2012 model year sedans for, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “failing to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard number 108: lamps, reflective devices and associated equipment.” Specifically (and in layman’s terms), it means that the Regal’s parking lamps may be defective.
Vehicles affected by this recall were built between February 22, 2011 and February 22, 2012 – a grand total of 3,633 Regals.
GM will begin notifying owners about the recall this week, and dealers will reprogram the Regal’s body control module (that controls the parking lights) free of charge. for the full details in NHTSA’s official statement.
Robots have been a part of every automaker’s manufacturing arsenal for three decades now, but that doesn’t make this latest effort at improving plant automation any less cool. While most factory robots are neither humanoid nor particularly interesting, the only thing more exciting than this pseudo-cyborg hand for rivetheads is ordering up the entire run of The Six Million Dollar Man from Netflix.
While General Motors clearly doesn’t have the cash or inclination to turn each of its roughly 50,000 United Auto Workers employees into Colonel Steve Austin, the new Robo-Glove would allow its wearer to have super hand strength. GM says the force required to grasp tools could be reduced by a third to a half for those wearing the special gloves, which are operated by a standard lithium-ion battery like the ones used to power cordless hand tools. The gloves would allow workers to hold their tools comfortably for longer periods of time and possibly reduce the risk of repetitive stress injury.
The gloves were an outgrowth of GM’s partnership with NASA in developing the Robonaut 2, the first humanoid robot to be launched into space when . GM developed the first prototype gloves in March 2011, while the second generation was completed three months later. They weigh about a pound each and contain all the electronics, actuators and a small display.
Click to read the full press release, plus watch a video demonstration.
has loosed the hounds of advertising on behalf of its new three-row, seven-seat crossover, the . The four spots, set to run throughout NCAA March Madness, are focused on features like a novel Backup Collision Intervention System, live personal assistant and tri-zone entertainment. They aren’t the most creative spots we’ve ever seen, but they do a good job of showing a number of the CUV’s unique features while placing the vehicle in a luxury context.
Infiniti also teamed with GILT yesterday, the same luxury-minded e-tailer that for a day back in 2010. This time, there was only one loaded JX35 up for grabs, but the lucky buyer got the luxury ute for half price: $27,425. to watch the ads and check out the press release.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began an investigation of the 2003 and 2004 late last year , and now that probe has resulted in an official recall. The culprit has been identified as a faulty circuit board that causes the gauge to register more fuel in the tank than the car actually has.
According to NHTSA, will begin notifying owners in mid-April, at which time they can take their sport sedans to the dealer to be replaced free of charge. for the official word from NHTSA with more details.
You may never have heard of the French carmaker . After starting out as a coachbuilder for companies like Delahaye and , Facel moved on to crafting entire cars. From 1954 to 1962, the company produced the Hemi-powered Vega. Facel closed its doors in 1964, but some intriguing sketches and renderings have stirred up a lot of chatter on the Internet of a possible revival of the brand.
Details are scarce and almost impossible to verify, but if Google’s translation of French websites are believable, the image above is a rendering of what the resurrected Facel could show off at this September’s and we might even see a production version in 2014. But rumors written in French translated by Google are not exactly credible. The images all appear to come from a constantly updated Facebook page called “.”
Swoopy fenders, and a slick greenhouse wrap the four-seater concept in a sports car disguise. The interior sketches show minimal seating that seem more suited to racing than relaxing.
Speaking of performance, there’s no mention of what would power such a car, but it sure is fun imagining that car barking with the power of . Sinister sexiness.
The project now has two major corporate backers and, more importantly, an engine. and Michelin have signed on of designer Ben Bowlby, Dan Gurney’s All-American Racers and Don Panoz. Now called the Nissan DeltaWing, the Japanese firm will provide a turbocharged, direct-injected 1.6-liter, four-cylinder with an output of around 300 horsepower. Known as DIG-T, the powerplant shares the same roots as the engine in the .
That’s about 200 hp down on the 510 horsepower developed by the diesel V6 in the and about half the horsepower developed by other LMP1 racers. However, Nissan says the engine is half the weight of a typical LMP1 motor, and paired with the DeltaWing’s minimal aerodynamic drag, the lap times are said to be somewhere between those of the LMP1 and LMP2 classes. Why does this matter? Because Nissan and Co. are taking this needle-nosed baby to Le Mans.
Of call cars and classes, Nissan says this strangest looking effort is one that will “showcase the pioneering technology that will show one potential direction for the future of motorsport and will feed into the research and development of future technologies, that filter down to Nissan’s road car product range.”
The Nissan DeltaWing will be allowed to run in the 24 Hours of Le Mans following a special dispensation for an experimental car that doesn’t follow any technical guidelines offered by ACO, the organizer of Le Mans. It will use Garage 56, it will wear Number 0, and won’t be classified in the results. Even so, we’ll be watching closely. for a video of the racecar’s development and a press release detailing Nissan’s involvement.
sold 449,255 cars globally in 2011, with 67,240 of those sales coming from right here in the States. By 2020, CEO Stefan Jacoby aims to boost those numbers to 800,000 sales globally and 120,000 here, and to do so, he can’t let the exchange rate between the dollar and the euro stand in the way. That’s why, according to a report in Automotive News, Jacoby says the company will spend “the next two or three years” considering building a plant in the U.S. or Mexico.
Jacoby six months ago at the 2011 , but now he’s added a timeframe to the discussion. Even on the optimistic end, if Volvo decided to build a factory in 2014 and got the site chosen and the facility built in 18 months, it would probably be 2016 before anyone would benefit from locally produced cars. Nevertheless, with the new V40 due for a new generation not long after, that it might make a perfect timing for us to finally get the svelte hatchback .
has chosen former designer Thomas Ingenlath to replace Peter Horbury as the head of the Swedish brand’s design department, the latter having moved up the ladder to oversee design work at Volvo’s corporate parent, Geely. Ingenlath was with the VW Group for 20 years and did stints with , Skoda and Volkswagen, leading work on concepts and production cars like the VW , the Bluesport Roadster and first-generation Skoda Fabia and Superb.
After a couple of years trying to decide where it wanted to be – or at least, how it wanted to be described – on the luxury spectrum everyone seems to be on message now. Volvo will be looking for Ingenlath to continue its progress toward being a “top-tier luxury brand,” in the words of CEO Stefan Jacoby, and “a truly luxury automotive brand” in the words of Geely CEO Li Shufu. Check out the official press release for more details.
Anyone recently shopping for a four-cylinder or has probably discovered they’re not easy to come across. Automotive News reports that General Motors has a shortage of the 2.4-liter powerplants and the company can’t say when that might improve.
Still want an Equinox or Terrain? If you’re willing to give up a few miles per gallon, Chevrolet dealers are offering $1,000 off V6 models to get them out the door. On the Equinox LT, the V6 is a $1,500 option. Not a bad discount if you were already shopping for one of the more powerful CUVs.
Just keep in mind that the that four-cylinder models get 22 miles per gallon city and 32 mpg highway while the six-cylinder musters just 17/24. The EPA further notes that translates into about a $600 increase in your estimated yearly fuel bill. And in terms of performance, in our testing, the four-cylinder over the V6.
If you have your heart set on a four-cylinder Equinox or Terrain, a GM spokesperson says the automaker is working with suppliers to increase production of the smaller engine and they hope to meet demand soon.
There isn’t a whole lot to get excited about in the world of near-luxury, full-size, front-wheel-drive sedans. Stalwarts like the and continue to make their way into the driveways of gray-haired shoppers, and new entries like the redesigned are attempting to add a little bit of spice to an otherwise bland segment. In recent years, the has nearly fallen off the map in this class simply because it hasn’t been seriously updated since its launch in 2005 as a 2006 model. (The big four-door did get a , finally.) But that’s all about to change.
The 2014 Impala will be based on the same front-wheel-drive Epsilon-II architecture that underpins the and . But instead of sharing many of its components with the ‘Bu, reports indicate that the Impala will use a lot of the features of the XTS in an effort to give it a much more premium feel than the current model. And while the majority of the new car’s styling details are still covered up by the heavy camouflage, we can see premium features like large alloy wheels and what appear to be LED running lights up front. We just hope hasn’t just taken the easy way out and created a Malibu on steroids.
Mum’s the word on powertrain offerings, but have suggested that GM’s direct-injected 3.6-liter V6 will be on board, as well as the new 2.0-liter turbo four that’s slated for use in the . An eAssist version is also rumored to be in the cards.
Look for the 2014 Impala to launch sometime during the 2013 calendar year. Production is slated to be split between GM’s Oshawa, Ontario plant, as well as the Detroit-Hamtramck facility where the Malibu and are built.
has its i8, has its R8 e-tron, has its SLS AMG E-Cell. The electron-powered, gullwinged coupe will use batteries supplied by SK Innovations that power four synchronous electric motors into developing 525 horsepower and 649 pound-feet of torque. It is predicted to run from zero to 60 mph in 4 seconds – that’s up from a previously estimated 3.7 seconds.
Mercedes has loosed a little more info on the technology behind the SLS AMG E-Cell. Its powertrain arrangement necessitated a new front axle, so the conventional-powered car’s double wishbones have been supplanted by horizontal, pushrod damper struts. Torque vectoring to the motors mounted near the wheels, not on the hubs, aims to keep electric enthusiasm pointed in the right direction. And the Mercedes F1 team has assisted in the kinetic energy recovery system that will help to extend the coupe’s as-yet-unannounced range.
When it goes on sale sometime next year, what you see in the gallery of high-res photos will be wrapped in an SLS AMG body enhanced . for the company’s press release and have a look at the future in the gallery of high-res photos.
Following in the and , the 2012 Electric has been granted HOV lane access in California by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). CARB not only gave the upcoming all-electric vehicle the ability to let people drive alone in the High Occupancy Vehicle lane but also qualified it for an incentive that affords buyers an extra $2,500 off through the state’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Program (CVRP).
With an , the Focus EV is what Ford calls the “most fuel-efficient five-passenger car” in the States. As it has in other marketing material, today’s press release announcing the HOV designation, Ford is touting ways its car beats the (hey, it “only” gets , remember?), as you can read . For more on the controversial HOV lane situation in California, check out from AutoblogGreen contributor Chelsea Sexton.
Electric qualifies for California HOV lane access, extra $2,500 off
Of all the excellent car chases in cinema history, the vs. g battle in Steve McQueen’s Bullit may be the most recreated. Now it looks like the crew from the TV show Alcatraz has tried its hand at paying homage to the hubcap slinging sequence. According to local news station KTVU Channel 2, the new FOX series recently spent hours on San Francisco’s Bay and Larkin streets in an attempt to painstakingly replicate each legendary scene using modern interpretations of the famous bruisers in the 1968 film. The final product will be part of the Alcatraz season finale, set to air on March 26.
We’ve seen the Bullit chase replicated for and with , but this is the first time in recent memory a TV show has tackled putting Mopar power against the now iconic Highland GreenMustang. Alcatraz is the brainchild of executive producer J.J. Abrams, and features three investigators as they look into why 302 of Alcatraz prison’s most foul prisoners and guards have suddenly reappeared in modern-day San Francisco. If you’re interested, check your local listings for air times.
The English are mad. And we know this for two reasons: one, they admit it; two, it’s true. If more proof is needed, a video of Evo magazine’s features editor, Henry Catchpole, sliding a up a French mountain in the snow should be enough. And the spindly car is missing its top. And he’s missing his hat.
The Supersport is Caterham’s street-legal version of the racing Seven used in the one-make racing series. It’s got short gearing, a lightweight flywheel and LSD, a race-tuned suspension, and its 1.6-liter engine has 140 horsepower to motivate a 1,146-pound car.
So, obviously, where else would you drive it? for the memorable action.
