We officially have a new motorcycle hero. Genki Hagata rolled his Yamaha YZF-R6 out onto the track during the second AMA Pro Supersport qualifying session at Sears Point recently. Partway through his out-lap, the bike lost traction in the rear before abruptly regaining it. We likely don’t need to tell you that scenario almost always results in a one-way ticket off of the saddle in a not-so-glorious highside. But not for Hagata. The racer exhibited nothing less than super-human strength by clamping onto the handlebars and holding on for dear life.
Miraculously, it worked. After the bike settled down, Hagata managed to cling to the machine as it rode upright until he was able to fling himself back into the saddle. The guy’s efforts kept the Yamaha off of the asphalt, but cost him a spot on the grid. Hagata missed the cut-off by a few tenths of a second. Still, we haven’t seen heroics like this in a long spell. to check it out for yourself.
Not long ago, released the of its commercial with Marisa Miller, and now the supermodel’s 30-second spot has begun airing. Note: This is a spot for the current Enclave, not the the debuted during April’s .
The Sports Illustrated staple and lingerie model might just be the first person ever to wear a swimsuit in a Buick ad. We could say more about it, but that would delay you from watching Ms. Miller and the Enclave in action. So just and check out the video, why don’t you.
Spec racing series are emerging as an indispensable way for exotic automakers to show what their vehicles can do without the constraints of road regulations, and for their top customers to race wheel-to-wheel on some of the most famous racing circuits in the world behind the wheel of top machinery. has the Challenge series, the Blancpain Super Trofeo, operates several iterations of the Carrera Cup around the world, and has the Trofeo World Series.
Now entering its third year, the Trofeo is campaigned by a field of specially prepared versions of the coupe, which has been upgraded with several improvements for the season ahead. Maserati Corse has both optimized the aerodynamic setup and trimmed the car’s weight, resulting in an average lap time that proved two and a half seconds faster around the Vallelunga circuit outside Rome over last year’s car during winter testing.
Whereas previous series have been held almost exclusively in Europe or in the Middle East, this year’s Trofeo World Series adds rounds at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, and the Shanghai International Circuit that hosts the Chinese Grand Prix after the returning races at Jarama, Spain (next weekend), Portimao, Portugal (in early June), Imola, Italy (late June), and Paul Ricard, France (in July).
Maserati Corse provides the full motorsport experience to gentlemen racers for €110,000 ($140K) for the full season or €70,000 ($90K) for just the European races, including use of the car. Teams owning and fielding their own cars pay €35,000 ($45K) or €25,000 ($32K), respectively. for the full press release and check out the latest machinery in the high-res image gallery above.
Just don’t answer. The question is neither relevant, nor is it even the crux of the column. Get past the clicky smelling headline, and what you have here is a combination of two news stories, and , both of which you’ve likely already come across.
We’re going to play nice here and not knock over Salon columnist David Sirota’s house of cards, because this is a good read and he’s a talented writer – even if, off the top of our heads, we can name several popular vehicles that offer a fuel economy benefit to those willing to row their own, from the to the to the . But the guy does have a point that’s probably of great benefit to many Salon readers: If a smug sense of superiority is what you’re after, opting for a manual transmission is no longer a sure bet. (Locally sourced organic produce and craft beer, for the win!)
In the end, Sirota is smart enough to come to two conclusions that most of us would agree to. The first being that driving a manual is fun, and the second, that it’s hard to text while steering, operating all three pedals, and working that stick.
On second thought, maybe you should answer with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’. See below for our completely unscientific poll.
By and large, the machines created for the SEMA show in Las Vegas are built for lounging around under convention center lights and not much else. All those go-fast parts we see bolted on do little more than collect lustful stares from from the crowd. But Creations n’ Chrome set out to discover just what their bolt on additions to its were good for. Under the outrageous 3dCarbon bodykit sits a Vortech supercharged 5.0-liter V8 good for around 580 horsepower at 8 psi of boost on stock internals. KW served up a set of Variant 3 coilovers, and Hotchkis took care of front and rear sway bars.
The crew rolled the blown Mustang out the to the Mojave Mile for a top speed run. The machine racked up a final velocity of 182.4 mph, though the final seconds of the run looked anything but stable (we hear there was a 20 mph crosswind). Still, we’re impressed at the machine’s performance. For perspective, the Boss 302 is only good for 155 mph. Check out the video for yourself .
Few marques get auto collectors riled up quite like , and of classic Ferraris, few are as highly sought-after as the legendary Testa Rossa. We’re talking, of course, about the 50s-era roadster (as opposed to the 80s-era cheesegrater supercar), and the originals continue to fetch top dollar (or euro) whenever and wherever their fortunate owners are willing to part with them.
That when and where came this past weekend in Monte Carlo during the Historical Grand Prix of Monaco where RM Auctions sold some highly desirable classic metal. Topping the list was the rare 1957 Ferrari 625 TRC Spider you see here, one of only two built, which sold for a whopping €5,040,000 – equivalent to over $6.4 million at today’s exchange rates. That’s considerably more than the that RM auctioned last year, but substantially less than the record in 2009.
Of course the Testa Rossa wasn’t the only car sold at the event, which brought in an astonishing €33.5 million (~$43m) in sales on 87 percent of all lots sold. In fact it wasn’t even the only Ferrari represented there, though it was the most expensive by a wide margin. A 1966 Ferrari 206 S Dino Spyder and a 1952 Ferrari 225 Sport Spyder ‘Tuboscocca’ (one of only 12 Vignale Spyders produced) each fetched €2.5 million ($3.2m), a rare factory Daytona Spyder brought in over €1 million ($1.3m), the car which Michael Schumacher drove to the 2000 Formula One World Championship and that each brought in over €800k (about a million greenbacks).
Other notable racing machinery sold at the auction included a Peugeot 908 LMP (which won several Le Mans Series races), a LP600 GT3 (raced by Blancpain CEO Mark Hayek in the Super Trofeo series), a Ferrari FXX Evoluzione and a pair of Ducati Desmosedici MotoGP racing bikes. Follow the jump for all the juicy details and scope out the headline Testa Rossa in the high-res image gallery above.
Those of you foolish enough to follow the Autoblog Podcast know I have a soft spot for . There’s just something amazing about a beaten old car secreting flawless mechanicals down below. The guys at Big Muscle have managed to track down what may very well be the queen of all sleeperdom in Dru Diesner’s 1972 Nova The machine wears its original faded green paint, plenty of dents and dings and a very dated interior, but there’s something special under the aged skin. Built with a twin-supercharged LS2, the Bowtie dumps 1,160 horsepower on its ultra-wide rear tires.
That’s my kind of magical. Mike Musto takes the machine out for a quick sprint around the back streets of Chicago and eventually talks Diesner into using the car to do what it does best: vaporizing its rear tires. to check out the clip for yourself. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have Chevrolet Novas to salivate over.
It’s been five years since shifted production to its new facility in Gaydon, Warwickshire, but after years of operating at Newport Pagnell, it could never shake the legacy of its historic home. So while the current model line is produced an hour away (probably less if you’re actually driving an Aston), the company has inaugurated a new facility at its spiritual home.
Actually, truth be told, the old factory at Newport Pagnell was kept as-is under historic preservation laws, so the new facility is actually situated across the street. Its showpiece is a 10-car showroom that will serve as Aston Martin’s flagship dealership. If you’re thinking that Aston doesn’t offer ten different models, well… it actually offers nine, between the , , , , , V12 Zagato, , Cygnet and the One-77 (although we hear they’ve of the latter). And even more if you take the V8 Vantage S variant and five convertible versions into account. But the showroom will also be displaying a variety of hand-picked and pristine classic Astons for sale, too.
That’s because the space is attached to Aston Martin Works, which has spruced up its operations as well. The division is charged with restoring and servicing Astons old and new with its staff of over 60 employees, handling some 2,500 cars every year for everything from an oil change to a full restoration. It also handles the company’s own fleet of historic vehicles and the catalog of new Q by Aston Martin accessories. for the full press release and a breakdown of Aston Martin Works’ activities.
When McLaren was bringing its new MP4-12C to the United States, there were fears that Americans wouldn’t recognize the name. After all, the team from Woking is known principally for competing in Formula One, which has had a spotty presence in the U.S. at best. Those fears proved to be misplaced, as customers in the States have been snatching up all the McLaren supercars they can get their hands on. And part of that might come down to the days when McLaren didn’t only race in America, it dominated.
The bulk of McLaren’s victories on this side of the Atlantic were notched up in the Canadian-American Challenge Cup, a radical form of sports-prototype racing campaigned in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, which Bruce and company won five times in a row. But Can-Am wasn’t the extent of McLaren’s success in America.
In 1970, the team entered into the Indianapolis 500 with its own car design. The following year, McLaren came back with a radically different design that scored pole position and finished the race in second place. And the year after that, the legendary Mark Donohue piloted his McLaren M16B fielded by the Sonoco-Penske team – complete with its Offenhauser four-cylinder turbo engine producing upwards of 700 horsepower – to the checkered flag.
Not only did McLaren win at Indy that year, but it also won races in Formula 1, Formula 2 and Can-Am, entering the history books as a force to be reckoned with. It would go on to win at Indy twice more in 1974 and 1976, and became the first car to exceed 200 miles per hour on the famed oval in 1977.
Now forty years later, McLaren is celebrating the first of its Indy by showcasing the #66 Sunoco-Penske car at the second annual Celebration of Automobiles in the speedway’s infield. There it will be displayed alongside the current MP4-12C to showcase just how far the company has come since then. You can check out the historic high-resolution images in the gallery and the details in the press release for more info.
Mazda and the Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula have extended the automaker’s naming rights of Laguna Seca for another five years. That means the famous race track in California will continue to be known as Mazda Raceway, at least through 2016. The Monterey County Board of Supervisors ratified the agreement.
The Japanese manufacturer has been instrumental in updating and improving Laguna Seca to make the facility more convenient and safer than before. Mazda helped fund additions like permanent pit lane garages and luxury hospitality suites as well as additional runoff areas on the track itself. Mazda first partnered up with SCRAMP in 2001, but the company says its ties to the track go all the way back to the ’70s, when the brand was little-known here the States. for the full press release.
By all accounts, Marussia is just another exotic automaker hoping to sell a few supercars but just as likely to disappear into obscurity. Except that it hasn’t, and may not for some time.
Having potentially overextended itself by buying the majority of a Formula One racing team from Virgin, the Russian upstart needed its newest product – dubbed the B2 – to be the runaway success that the (relatively) less dramatically-styled B1 wasn’t. And so it appears it will be as reports indicate that Marussia has sold out its entire production run of 500 vehicles.
In order to keep up with demand, production is reportedly shifting from Marussia’s own facility in Moscow to Valmet in Finland, the same place where the is built now and the and were before it. Cosworth will then be shipping the 3.5-liter V6 that provides between 300 and 420 horsepower (depending on customer specification) to drive the 2,425-pound lightweight supercar to 60 in as little as 3.2 seconds.
Check out the pair in the fresh image gallery above for a closer look.
There are a handful of countries where you’d expect most any supercar to come from. Italy, Germany, England… and even these United States have produced their fare share, and there’ve been a handful from Japan. Even France and Sweden have produced some notables. But Poland?
Hardly the first country that would come to mind, but the folks behind Arrinera Automotive aim to fix that. We first reported last year on the supercar the Polish outfit has been developing, and now they’ve released a whole slew of details – including specifications and pricing.
The as-yet unnamed vehicle (aside from the Arrinera marque, anyway) is powered by a 6.2-liter V8 that’s been supercharged up to 650 metric horsepower (641 by our measures) and 605 pound-feet of torque, driving through a Graziano gearbox for a 3.2-second sprint to 100 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour) and a claimed 340 km/h (211 mph) top end.
Lee Noble – the talented engineer behind supercars marketed under the Ultima, Ascari, Rossion, Fenix and Noble names – has set up the suspension, with 380-millimeter brakes providing the stopping power up front and 350-millimeter discs in the back. The 1300-kilogram (2866-pound) package is made up of a high-strength steel frame with bodywork that’s carbon-intensive and similar in appearance to a Lamborghini, but that’s no bad thing.
Production is slated to begin later this year, with pricing starting at £100,000 (about $160,000 at current exchange rates). Scope it out in the extensive and fresh gallery of high-resolution images above.
When it comes to supercars, the sky is the proverbial limit. You can literally spend millions. And with vehicles like the , and , you can spend hundreds of thousands on a top-of-the-line luxury sedan, too. But when it comes to SUVs, prices seldom if ever breach the $100K mark fetched by the likes of the and the .
There are a handful of automakers aiming to break that barrier though. Like the upcoming SUVs from and , the on-again, off-again Spyker D12, and this, the FX Sebastian Vettel Version.
Based on the , the Vettel edition has had the output from its 5.0-liter V8 upped to from 390 horsepower to 414 for a 5.6-second sprint to 60 and a 186 mph top speed. The suspension is said to have been set up by the reigning two-time world champion himself, with the carbon fiber aero kit developed by his Red Bull Racing team. The only change we’ve heard of from the concept car pictured above to the production version will be a more conventional pearl white paint job instead of the matte white of the show car.
Only 200 examples will be produced, with 50 earmarked for continental Europe, and most of the rest likely heading to the Middle East. The price for such a high-end performance crossover? 120,000 euros, or about $155,000 in American greenbacks (if it were actually offered here). Of course if that still seems too slow and too cheap, you could always order a custom Juke-R from Infiniti’s parent company and smoke some supercars in the process.
Business has been good for . Thanks in no small part to expanding its activities in developing markets, the racing team turned automaker raked in 556 million euros in revenues to generate 42.1 million euros in profit in the first quarter of this year alone – an increase of 13.2 and 17.2 percent, respectively. Those figures are driven by increased sales that amounted to 1,733 units produced and delivered in the first quarter out of an exciting model range that includes the and , the recently revised , the innovative and the brand-new F12 Berlinetta. But the House that Enzo built is not about to stop there.
Buried deep within the company’s financial report (which you can delve into after below the fold should you be so inclined) comes confirmation direct from the company’s affable chairman (and possible next Italian prime minister) Luca di Montezemolo: “At the end of the year, we’ll also be unveiling the new , a limited series model and our first ever hybrid car.”
So there we have it, straight from the proverbial lion’s mouth and in no uncertain terms. Before we flip the calendar to 2013, we’ll have the latest in the long line of earth-shattering supercars that started with the 288 GTO, continued with the legendary F40, through the open-top F50 and on to the radical Enzo. And yes, it will be a hybrid, coupling an electric motor to a revised version of the V12 in the new F12 Berlinetta, as Ferrari at the .
introduced the world to its very own last week, and it just so happened that we were on hand to be one of the first to take part in a long, dizzying lap of Germany’s famed racing circuit as a passenger in the front seat.
So-called “‘Ring taxis” are specially modified race-ready vehicles designed to tote passengers at high speeds around Europe’s famed circuit that circles the village of Nürburg, Germany. While most automakers modify their high-performance models for the harsh duty, the British automaker chose the largest vehicle in its lineup – the extended-wheelbase in range-topping Supersport trim. Yes, the company’s limousine.
Go back a decade or so – before Koenigsegg, SSC and the were on the scene – and the idea of a million-dollar, thousand-horsepowersupercar that could break the three-second barrier to sixty would seem out of this world. Posting those kinds of figures with an electric car? No way.
Way. That’s what the Rimac Concept_One is all about. It chews up and spits them back out into the Silicon Valley from whence they came. The electric motors mounted at each wheel give the electric supercar 1,088 horsepower of thrust and a 2.8-second sprint to 100 km/h (62 mph). Range comes in at a claimed 372-miles. All yours (if you’re one of the first 88 customers to call) for the low, low price of $980,000.
We could hardly believe it when we saw the show car in last year, and neither could the show-goers in Monte Carlo where it made its production debut. So to show the public that it was for real, Rimac put out this short video clip showing its Croatian creation laying down patches of its Giugiaro-designed Vredestein rubber on the tarmac. It’s brief, but it’s worth a watch. to check it out.
With its screaming 4.5-liter V8 and its clever flip-top roof mechanism, we’d venture to say that the 458 Spider is pretty damn close to automotive perfection incarnate. But some owners – even Ferrari owners – will never be satisfied with stock. And that’s where Novitec Rosso comes in.
The Dutch tuning house specializes in Italian exotica, and for the have just announced a series of upgrades that aims to make their take on the flip-top prancing horse stand out that much more on the streets of Monaco or Abu Dhabi where they’re most likely to encounter others of the same.
Novitec knew better than to mess with the engine too much, so it forwent the addition of supercharger or turbo spools. Instead it limited itself to fitting the high-revving eight-banger with new breathing apparati and ECU that boost output up to 600 horsepower and 420 lb-ft of torque – a boost of about 40 hp and 20 lb-ft, respectively.
The engine mods have been supplemented by an upgraded, adjustable suspension with 22-inch wheels wearing ultra-low-profile Pirelli P-Zero rubber. And the entire package is rounded out by an aerodynamic body kit crafted from carbon fiber – a treatment that continues to the interior where customers can also find a special button on the steering wheel to open the exhaust flaps for a little moor burble. You know, just in case the weren’t packed with enough buttons already.
This week’s Superior Court verdict suggests there’s little to no recourse for consumers.
As Autoblog readers likely have already learned, a Superior Court judge in California has issued by a small claims court earlier this year awarding nearly $10,000 to owner . She had taken the Japanese maker to court claiming it used misleading advertising promising the sedan would get significantly better mileage than proved true in the real world.
In overruling the lower court, Superior Court Judge Dudley W. Gray II wrote that, “Federal regulations control the fuel economy ratings posted on vehicles and advertising claims related to those fuel economy ratings.”
Well, um, no. That was my understanding, too, until I had the chance to pursue the matter with the EPA a couple years back. In fact, I was told, the law simply sets an upper limit. If the tests determine a new model gets 50 mpg – as with Peters’ Civic Hybrid – that’s the most a maker can advertise or use on the Monroney window sticker. But should a manufacturer like realize through its own tests that the vehicle’s real-world mileage might be noticeably less they can mark it down to whatever they think is valid.
Of course, who would do that? With mileage now one of the top things on the consumer’s shopping list, who can blame a manufacturer for wanting to put the prettiest lipstick on a gas hog. And this week’s Superior Court verdict suggests there’s little to no recourse for consumers who only discover that fact after they’ve given it a big smooch.
Paul A. Eisenstein is Publisher of and a 30-year veteran of the automotive beat. His editorials bring his unique perspective and deep understanding of the auto world to Autoblog readers on a regular basis.
German car magazine Auto Bild is planning build a sedan that will slot below the and compete directly with the . Citing no sources (so a grain of salt is recommended), the magazine claims the four-door, codenamed Pajun, will cost no less than $84,000 and be ready for production no later than 2017.
In September 2011, the Pajun could spawn coupe, convertible and even a shooting brake variant. Back then, rumors swirled about powertrain options that included a 550-horsepower V6, 600-hp V8, plug-inhybrid and an -sourced diesel.
Hopefully, Porsche is also working expeditiously to find a better name than Pajun, which in Korea is a , in Finnish it means willow, and, according to , in Welsh it means – wait for it – Cajun. That’s the name Porsche was using to refer to its smaller-than-Cayenne SUV before to Macan in February. Clever coincidence.
is not an outfit that would miss out on the enormous opportunity presented by the Chinese market. Having won the grand prix there three times out of the first four it was held, the Prancing Horse marque launched a there in 2009, followed by an even more exclusive .
For 2012, Ferrari a special-edition to mark the year of the dragon, and to launch it, the local dealership in Nanjing rented out a section of the Great Wall. It’s what they did with it, however, that has local authorities seeing red in more ways than one.
Apparently at some point during or after the demonstration, an employee of the dealership got behind the wheel of the limited-edition V8 supercar and pulled some smokey donuts. The problem is that the stunt left tire marks burnt into the ancient surface, leaving authorities understandably upset. What repercussions will ensue remains to be seen, but we certainly wouldn’t want to be ticking off China’s notoriously strict government.
Paul A. Eisenstein is Publisher of and a 30-year veteran of the automotive beat. His editorials bring his unique perspective and deep understanding of the auto world to Autoblog readers on a regular basis.
