The upcoming 2012 has been caught cold-weather testing in preparation for the production car’s debut at September’s Frankfurt Motor Show. The big news with the 2012 911 is its slight increase in size, with the aim of aligning it more with its GT and supercar competitors.
The 998 Porsche 911 will be 2.2 inches longer than the current car, with the 998’s track a hair wider than the 997’s. Out back, there’s a 3.4 liter version of Porsche’s venerable flat-six, pushing out around 345 horsepower in standard form. That should mean a 0-60 sprint of 4.8 seconds, and a 180-mile-per-hour top end.
to see video of the 2012 Porsche 911 in cold-weather action.
Doug is announced as spokesperson of the 2012 Ford Focus – Click above to watch video
is very excited about its all-new . The model will be the focus of a major advertising campaign moving forward, and the automaker has apparently decided to hire a spokesperson to travel the country and talk all-things Focus. Well, we say ’spokesperson,’ but Ford is going in a very weird direction here because they’ve enlisted the help of a puppet… named Doug.
If you think that sounds ridiculous, you’re not alone. We first heard the concept and nearly spit coffee straight into the screens of our laptops. Then Ford shared the first videos and we again nearly spit out our coffee… because the first clips are hilarious thanks to Doug’s waggish and flirty behavior.
It’s not easy to make a puppet funny, but Ford has gone out and hired some serious talent. The director of the first clip, which you can see after the jump, is none other than Paul Feig. He was a writer on Freaks and Geeks and has directed episodes of The Office, Parks and Recreation, Weeds, 30 Rock and Arrested Development. Paul is not alone on this project, however, as the collective resume of the writing team is filled with titles like The Simpsons, Borat, Reno 911 and Late Night with Conan O’Brien.
The first clip features Ford ‘officials’ announcing Doug as its new spokesperson. John Ross Bowie, writer for the campaign and otherwise known as Barry Kripke on Big Bang Theory, plays the role of Doug’s handler. Ford found Doug after he was seen in a series of clips that went viral. Doug foiled a robber, saved someone having a heart attack on a bus and helped a woman choking in a restaurant. to watch the three Focus videos, along with a brace of other Doug videos.
has officially kicked off production of the company’s Golf Cabriolet. The droptop compact is currently rolling off the line at the automaker’s newest facility – a former Karmann plant in Osnabrück, Germany. As you may recall, the topless will be available with a veritable cornucopia of engines worldwide, including direct-injection gasoline and diesel options. Volkswagen also plans to offer a dual-clutch gearbox in some applications, and at least a few models will show up with BlueMotion badges on their bodywork. There’s still no indication as to whether or not the vehicle will be available here in the States, or what all of this means for the Eos folding hardtop convertible, a car eerily close in size, appearance and mission.
Volkswagen has said that it will use the newly acquired Karmann plant to handle a variety of manufacturing tasks, including overflow production of and models. Right now, the facility employs around 1,250 individuals tied to the Golf Cabriolet project, but VW says that figure may swell to 1,800 in coming months. Check out the official press release after the jump.
Jet-powered Dodge Caravan – Click above to watch video
There are two ways to do jet-powered vehicles. On one hand, you have the deliciously simple and effective method of strapping a used jet engine to a car or truck, and letting the thrust do the rest.
On the other, slightly more complicated side, you can attach a turbine to a shaft drive, translating the thrust to the rear wheels via a differential. Both are viable, albeit expensive, ways of adding jet propulsion to your car. But which is faster?
SPEED took it upon itself to find out, pitting a thrust-powered S-10 against a shaft-driven . The Caravan uses a helicopter engine hooked to its rear wheels in conjunction with its standard gas engine up front. The truck relies solely on good, old-fashioned thrust. to see who’s faster over an eighth-mile drag strip.
Jet-powered Dodge Caravan – Click above to watch video
There are two ways to do jet-powered vehicles. On one hand, you have the deliciously simple and effective method of strapping a used jet engine to a car or truck, and letting the thrust do the rest.
On the other, slightly more complicated side, you can attach a turbine to a shaft drive, translating the thrust to the rear wheels via a differential. Both are viable, albeit expensive, ways of adding jet propulsion to your car. But which is faster?
Speed took it upon itself to find out, pitting a thrust-powered S-10 against a shaft-driven . The Caravan uses a helicopter engine hooked to its rear wheels in conjunction with its standard gas engine up front. The truck relies solely on good, old-fashioned thrust. to see who’s faster over an eighth-mile drag strip.
Jet-powered Dodge Caravan – Click above to watch video
There are two ways to do jet-powered vehicles. On one hand, you have the deliciously simple and effective method of strapping a used jet engine to a car or truck, and letting the thrust do the rest.
On the other, slightly more complicated side, you can attach a turbine to a shaft drive, translating the thrust to the rear wheels via a differential. Both are viable, albeit expensive, ways of adding jet propulsion to your car. But which is faster?
SPEED took it upon itself to find out, pitting a thrust-powered S10 against a shaft-driven . The Caravan uses a helicopter engine hooked to its rear wheels in conjunction with its standard gas engine up front. The truck relies solely on good, old-fashioned thrust. to see who’s faster over an eighth-mile drag strip.
Hot Wheels 3D advertisement – Click above to view video
teamed up with an Amsterdam-based company called Muse Digital to create a 3D commercial that can be projected onto buildings. In this case, Hot Wheels had Muse make them a 3D, computer-generated race between four of its iconic models.
The race was projected onto the side of the historic Sydney Customs House. So advanced are the projected 3D graphics that the building appears to get destroyed throughout the course of the race, as familiar orange track bursts through the walls and a number of other calamities ensue.
The video itself is pretty campy, but the technology behind it is seriously cool. to see the clip in its entirety.
2011 ALMS Corvette racing engine – Click above to watch video
The Chevrolet Corvettes that do battle in the American LeMans Series are, at first glance, acres removed from their street-dwelling cousins. Beneath the skin, though, the two cars are more similar than you might think, given their differing purposes.
For starters, Chevrolet uses similar engine architecture for both cars. The ALMS Vettes use the exact same block that goes into the . That’s where the similarities end. The racing engine is limited to two 28-mm air intakes in a bid to level the GT Class playing field. The ALMS engines are also limited to 5.5 liters of displacement, versus the production car’s 7.0 liters.
Though the means may be different, the end is the same: maximized power and efficiency. Chevrolet develops and builds its racing engines in-house, to try and insure that some of the technology that goes into its endurance racers makes it into its street cars. To hear Chevrolet tell it, check out the video .
Lexus champagne glass re-creation – click above to watch video
In response to the Lexus owner who the now-classic 1990 tv commercial that launched the brand, Lexus proves it’s still possible. Cleverly showing that it’s paying attention, Lexus took the time to pull a 2011 LS460 and 1990 LS400 into the garage, level them (that’s the key!) and run the respective V8s up north of 4,000 rpm. In all cases, the stack of champagne glasses remained unperturbed on either hood. Good show of customer-engagement moxie. Check it out . Thanks for the tip, Jub!
McLaren F1 vs MP4-12C – Click above to watch video
Awesome. Guttural. Vicious. Even though the youngest of the 100 McLaren F1 models produced was built 13 years ago, the machine still conjures some of the very best words the English language has to offer polite society. It was only a matter of time before someone lined up the old king of the roost against the new McLaren MP4-12C to find out which is the better weapon for assaulting track records. Autocar has done exactly that, and it’s been so kind as to work up an excellent video of the experience.
Which car comes out on top? We’d hate to spoil the fun by saying so here, but it’s worth noting that McLaren didn’t set out to build the MP4-12C to overtake the F1 in either brute strength or finesse. Instead, the newcomer lives in a category all its own. to take in the action for yourself.
Ben Thomas and his Rancho Deluxe Roadster – Click above to watch video
Australia’s obsession with automobiles is as strong as the passion we feel for them here in the states. Bandit Films recently brought us a clip showing . Now it’s produced a new film showing one man’s ode to the dry lakes racers from a bygone era in California’s automotive history.
Dubbed the Rancho Deluxe Roadster by its owner Ben Thomas, this 1932 Ford Model B is powered by a flathead V8 and just drips with classic hot rod cool. Thomas parks the car at his shop, , which specializes in working on American cars from World War II through the sixties. It’s also a place for folks to hang out, have cake and coffee, then talk about cars. to see Ben Thomas talk about his roadster and his passion for cars.
“I owe our readers an explanation and an apology for the lapse that raised questions about our credibility” writes publisher Jonathan Wolman today in a response to the blowback caused by the paper’s decision to in response to advertiser demands. The decision to edit the online version of the review, which had already appeared in its original form in print, rather than sacrifice his integrity. Burgess discussed the matter this week and in , which broke the story on Wednesday.
Wolman argues that Burgess was asked to “soften a few passages,” but that “there was no effort to change Scott’s verdict or his reasoning.”
Why bother, then? The excuse that “our intent was to improve the piece by making these passages less grating” is an exceptionally thin attempt to cover the paper’s backside. Nobody found it “grating” as the paper went to press, but suddenly, web readers are going to start bleeding from their eye sockets when Burgess rightly points out that while the is an improvement over the Sebring, that’s all it is? This affair hasn’t just “raised questions” about the paper’s integrity; rather, it’s all but ensured that The Detroit News will be viewed skeptically by many people going forward.
For his part, Scott Burgess states that he feels The Detroit News remains a source worthy of readers’ trust. , he says,
“I think nearly every print publication — including The Detroit News — are trustworthy. The reason this became a big deal is because it is so rare, it never happened before and it certainly won’t happen again at the paper. In 15 plus years I had never had anything close to this happen to me. Journalists are a dogged group of people who work extremely hard, are typically underpaid and want to do the right thing.
In recent years, we’ve seen a lot of polarization of issues and I think that’s been more of a threat from online the changing ways people consumer media. There are a lot more voices out there and papers shouldn’t feel threatened by them, they should embrace them. I have always enjoyed the discussion, the debate, thoughtful response and evolution of ideas. There seems to less of that nowadays.”
Advertisers must sell product, and it’s natural for an auto dealership to complain about negative reviews of the wares it sells. It’s also not a stretch to understand how a newspaper would pay attention to an unsatisfied car dealer, as automotive ads are one of the biggest sources of revenue to newspapers. Still, that doesn’t get Wolman or The Detroit News off the hook, and a carefully-worded apology is too little, too late when the appropriate action would have been to back up the staff of “expert writers” the apology glowingly brags about.
2012 Ford Ranger Wildtrak – Click above to watch video
If you just managed to get over the news that the new global isn’t coming to the States, you might want to look away. has just dropped a new promotional video for the , and the clip has us licking our chops for the forbidden fruit of the FoMoCo realm all over again. Along with a sporty appearance, seating for the whole gang and plenty of off-road ability, the Ranger Wildtrak brings diesel power to the party. Buyers in nearly every corner of the globe but our own can have the mid-sized truck with their choice of one of two torque-tastic diesel engines.
Those include either a 2.2-liter four-cylinder or the 3.8-liter inline five-pot featured in the video. This particular mill delivers a whopping 347 pound-feet of twist and can be mated to a six-speed manual transmission. If that sounds like light-truck perfection to you, welcome to the club. to check out the flick for yourself.
Maybe we watched too much A-Team when we were kids, but we just love it when a plan comes together. That’s especially true when the plan involves an open-cockpit, single-seat racer like the . Designed specifically to put hardware like the KTM X-Bow, Ariel Atom and the whole Caterham bunch in their proper places, the Mono features a carbon fiber skin draped over a space-frame steel cell. The bodywork is slick as can be, but it pales in comparison to the fact that this beast is powered by a 2.3-liter Cosworth four-pot with 280 horsepower and 207 pound-feet of torque.
Considering the Mono tips the scales at a feathery 1,190 pounds, that should be more than enough pep to widen your eyes. The sad part? Briggs Automotive Company is only planning to hem 35 examples of the Mono, and 10 of the street-legal heathens are already spoken for. Of course, with a price tag of £67,000 pounds, we’d have more than a little trouble getting our hands on one even if we knew which palms to grease. BAC has been so kind as to release full specs on the machine as well as a volley of photos of the production model.
Lexus LS 460 owner attempts to recreate classic commercial – Click above to watch video
Remember that early commercial from 1989? You know the one, where an LS 400 is sitting on a dynamometer and makes a run up to 145 miles per hour, then the camera pans to the hood, where a large pyramid of crystal champagne glasses calmly sits? An Arizona Lexus owner decided to recreate that clip using his much newer .
So, does the more advanced and powerful LS fare as well the second time around? Certainly, the owner has a rather different approach, so and see for yourself (we’ve also posted the classic ‘89 ad for those that need a refresher).
Remember when German automakers’ line-ups were fairly straightforward? Take , for example. There was the , the , and the . And that was pretty much it. But now there’s an A1, , , , TT, , , …the list keeps growing. And it looks ready to keep on growing, too, as reports come in of Ingolstadt’s plans to bring back the A2.
The original A2, as you may recall, was a lightweight premium hatchback that was built from 1999 through 2005. A little too pricey and a little too ahead of its time, the A2 never gained the traction in the world’s marketplaces (it was never offered in North America). But now that nearly every automaker is exploring smaller vehicles and customers are detaching themselves from the notion that luxury equates with a certain size, the time could be right for the A2’s return.
Of course it would have to slot in between the new A1 and the existing A3, and differentiate itself from both. Sources suggest that the new A2’s curb weight could actually undercut its predecessor, which tipped the scales at under 2,000 pounds thanks to its lightweight aluminum spaceframe construction. To get there, the A2 could be the first to use Audi’s new MLB-Evo multi-material platform, made out of steel, aluminum and composites bonded, screwed and riveted together for optimal weight, rigidity and cost.
Japanese tsunami footage from inside a car – Click above to watch the video
Modern technology means that the world has an almost constant and unlimited amount of coverage of major news stories from all around the planet. That’s certainly true of the massive and in , especially since Japan is one of the most tech-happy countries in the world.
And so it comes as little surprise that at least one Japanese man had a camera running in his car as he attempted to flee the impending rush of water near the coastline. Suffice it to say that his plans to escape failed miserably. Thankfully, though, the man lived to tell the tale, as did his footage.
to see a truly harrowing video of a Japanese motorist’s car being engulfed by a two-meter tsunami. Again, this driver is truly lucky to have survived, and we know that hundreds if not thousands of Japanese citizens weren’t so fortunate. Our thoughts remain with the survivors.
Every parent worth their salt does his or her best to keep their children safe. Car seats are a big part of that equation, and snapping our little cherubs into a five-point harness makes us feel like we’ve done our very best to care for our precious offspring. But are we really?
If you assume there’s strict federal federal standards for child safety and booster seats to conform to, you might be surprised at just how little oversight there actually is. In fact, kids weighing more than 65 pounds – which means younger and younger kids as childhood obesity rates ratchet up – sit on boosters with no government safety standards. Seats for younger young’uns are only held to a front-end collision standard. The physics of a car crash act in different ways on the bodies of children than they do on their full-grown counterparts – kids are not simply scaled-down adults.
According to The Washington Post, part of the problem is that a crash-test dummy that mimics a child’s physiology is far behind schedule. The was supposed to have a dummy ready by 2004 to simulate a 10-year-old, as part of , a bit of legislation that went into effect in 2002. That dummy is still not right, and that leaves child seat manufacturers to self-regulate their products and to recall reactively when problems crop up, instead of conforming to guidelines that protect all children in front, side, rear-end and rollover accidents.
[Source: Image: U.S. Department of Transportation via CC 2.0]
It’s not love of the limelight. Or propelling raw talent onto the world stage. It’s not a taste for performance, either, although these are all attributes that Lewis Hamilton shares with American Idol. (And no, Hamilton hasn’t signed a sponsorship deal with , though McLaren has run Dearborn’s engines in the past.) What binds them together in contract – as well as spirit – is the deal which the former Formula One World Champion has signed with American Idol creator Simon Fuller and his talent agency, XIX Management.
The move comes a full year after Hamilton relieved his father Anthony of his duties as his manager. Like fellow champion Sebastian Vettel, Hamilton has managed his own affairs since, taking his time to find the right representative before settling on Fuller, whose XIX Entertainment also manages soccer superstar David Beckham and tennis talent Andy Murray.
The move has sparked speculation that Hamilton could switch teams next year if McLaren doesn’t up its game. Lewis has been a McLaren driver through and through from the start, fostered by the team in his ascension up the racing ladder, making his grand prix debut in the chrome car in 2007 (and nearly winning the Championship in his first season) and clinching the title the following year. In the seasons since, Hamilton has landed fifth and fourth in the standings respectively, and has been struggling in pre-season tests so far. Follow the jump for the official announcement.
