Hinson Motorsports was on its way to breaking another speed record this weekend at the Texas Mile when its twin-turbo Corvette Z06 took an off-track excursion. The combination of speed and grass didn’t go over well, and the ‘Vette turned over once before landing back on its wheels.
Thankfully, the driver walked away from the wreck, a testament to the Texas Mile’s strict safety standards, and the strength of Hinson’s Corvette. With the driver OK, Hinson Motorsports is focusing on coming back stronger than ever with a new car.
The latest Harris polls are out, and the big winners in the automotive sector are and . The two brands made the top of the list for full-line and luxury automakers by scoring highest in terms of customer connection, commitment, equity and trust.
Ford took the top spot for full-line automotive due in part to strong new products, beating out , and . Chevy finished second, while Toyota dropped from first place to fourth overall. and were pointed out as fast risers in the survey, though neither automaker made the full-line top 10.
On the Luxury front, Mercedes-Benz took the top prize away from Lexus, though Toyota’s luxury arm only slipped one spot to number two. , and round out the top five.
A total of 25,099 people aged 15 and up were randomly asked about 60 brands out of a total of 1,273. Each brand was given a total of at least 1,000 responses, with rankings chosen based on a calculation of Familiarity, Quality, and Purchase Consideration. Hit the jump to read over the Harris Interactive press release.
We’ll be the first to admit that we went full geek over Tron: Legacy, and gaming website is showing its enthusiasm for the franchise by to reimagine the famous light cycle. Disney’s reworked battle bikes for Legacy were brilliant, but SQ wants to see exactly what designers cruising the web can come up with on their own. There’s a hitch, though: Artists are supposed to spend no longer than two hours on each submission.
Each design will be featured at SideQuesting.com, and winners will receive cool prizes including an Art of Tron: Legacy book, a white light cycle figurine and a deluxe light cycle figurine. SlideQuesting says that the total value of all the swag is around $75.
If you think you’ve got what it takes to work up the best design of them all, head over to SideQuesting.com for a look at the full rules and get started.
has asked a judge to enforce a preliminary injunction to prevent clothing store Pure Detroit from selling t-shirts bearing the slogan, “Imported from Detroit.” Chrysler asked for the injunction on the grounds that the public may be misled into thinking that the shirts came from Chrysler.
This round of legal squabbling is the latest in a series of trademark battles Chrysler has dealt with since it unveiled the slogan during the Super Bowl. Chrysler against Pure Detroit’s parent company Moda Group, LLC on March 15.
According to Chrysler, Pure Detroit agreed on Feb. 24 to stop selling the shirts via its website, but hasn’t stopped sending them to stores. Chrysler applied for two separate trademarks on the slogan, one for use on cars on November 23, and one for use on clothing on January 18. Pure Detroit says it plans to fight Chrysler’s injunction.
Porsche Panamera Turbo ALMS safety car – Click above for high-res image gallery
At any of the myriad Le Mans series races around the world, you’re guaranteed to see more than a proportional sampling of . Those are usually one manner of or another; less so and , but the latest additions to the American Le Mans Series paddock are exactly those.
The Porsche Panamera Turbo has been selected as the official safety car for ALMS, outfitting a stock model with a dome light and special paint scheme. It’s joined in its duties by a set of Cayennes that will act as medics’ emergency response vehicles, a task to which the Porsche SUV is perfectly . See for yourself in our high-res image gallery below.
2011 Australian Grand Prix – Click above for high-res image gallery
And they’re off, ladies and gentlemen. After a tumultuous off-season that saw Robert Kubica sidelined from rally crash, two Lotus-Renault teams embroiled in a dispute, the arrival of to replace Bridgestone and the due to political unrest, the 2011 Formula One World Championship has kicked off in earnest with the Australian Grand Prix.
Heading down under to Albert Park, both titles are Red Bull’s to defend. But pre-season testing showed strong competition coming from the likes of , McLaren and . Would reigning champion Vettel and company be able to hold them back to start off their defense as strong as last year? Follow the jump to find out.
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[Images: Clive Mason, Paul Gilham, Vladimir Rys/Getty Rob Griffith, Andrew Brownbill, Vincent Thian, David Callow, Daniel Munoz/AP]
2011 Red Bull RB7 – Click above for high-res image gallery
is once again looking strong as it heads into Formula One’s opening round in Australia. Red Bull ace and last year’s champ Sebastien Vettel took pole position for Sunday’s race by nearly a second in Saturday qualifying. Mark Webber, Vettel’s teammate and Australia’s hometown hero, wound up third behind Lewis Hamilton.
Red Bull claims that neither of its drivers used their KERS (Kinetic Energy Regeneration System) during qualifying, which is usually good for .3 seconds a lap. That means, in theory anyway, Vettel has a potential 1.5 second advantage over the competition when the green flag waves tomorrow.
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton is sandwiched between the two Red Bulls in second, while teammate and 2009 champ Jenson Button sits fourth behind Webber. Fernando Alonso is fifth in the first of the Ferraris ahead of Vitaly Petrov for Renault. Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg is seventh, ahead of the second of Felipe Massa. Kamui Kobayashi sits ninth for Sauber and Sebastien Buemi rounds out the top 10 for Toro Rosso.
Mercedes executives couldn’t have hoped for a better environment to launch the best Baby Benz, and for buyers unable to pony up for an S, the C-Class easily fits the entry-level luxury bill.
We’re eager to see how Hyundai’s new range-topping model stands up to the day-to-day rigors of American life, so we’ve just added a $65,400 Equus Ultimate to the Autoblog Long-Term Garage.
CX, CXL and CXS trim level designations will be replaced by option packages that encompass all of the available amenities.
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2011 Audi R18 – Click above for high-res image gallery
let its new diesel-powered R18 LMP1 enclosed prototype loose on the U.S. for the first time for testing over the four-day weekend surrounding the 12 Hours of Sebring. Audi tested both R18s, chassis 101 and 102, against an R15 for a control group. The first U.S tests garnered feedback from all 10 of Audi’s factory drivers.
The tests put a beating on the R18s to make sure their aerodynamics, reliability and fuel economy all stacked up to the standards set by the previous generations of Audi’s diesel LeMans prototypes.
Their next stop is Ingolstadt to be fully disassembled and checked out, before being shipped to LeMans for the 24-hour race in June. Trust us, you owe it to yourself to see the images below in their full high-res glory.
BMW tests its vehicles in the heat of Death Valley – Click above to watch video
runs its vehicles through some extreme environments, and it’s all in the name of research. One of its (and nearly every other automaker’s) favorite stomping grounds is, quite literally, a hot spot. Death Valley, California is one of the hottest places on the planet, and the German automaker comes here to subject its vehicles to temperatures that can exceed 130 degrees Fahrenheit.
This year, the BMW team has decided to capture their efforts on video. In the process, it seems they’ve also beat U.S.-based spy photographers to the punch by showing glimpses of what appears to be a 2012 3 Series wearing blacked-out camouflage. to see BMW’s newest development cars out testing in the scorching heat.
The proves that has the in its sights by offering the best value proposition in the luxury flagship segment. We’re eager to see how Hyundai’s new range-topping model stands up to the day-to-day rigors of American life, and so we’ve just added one to the Autoblog Long-Term Garage.
Our Equus is the fully loaded Ultimate model in White Satin Pearl, and though it’s packed with premium equipment, the as-tested price is only $65,400. The Ultimate trim level adds the four-passenger seating configuration, and no other option packages are available.
Things are pretty luxurious for rear seat passengers, as features like power recline and massage functions have been added, as well as a rear entertainment system, refrigerator, power headrests and illuminated vanity mirrors. And yes, our car does have the reclining right rear passenger seat. Check out our car’s full list of equipment on .
Before we go on, we must confess that we haven’t been as regular as we had planned with updates on our other two long-term cars – the and . You’ll be hearing about the fate of both in the very near future, and to fix this issue with irregularity, we’re going to do our long-term updates a bit differently with the Equus.
We’ll be publishing the majority of our on-the-go Equus coverage on . Be sure to so you can join the conversation. We’ll also be posting instant impressions to our Twitter account, , so be sure to follow us and look for any tweets with the tag. Finally, we’ll publish a monthly update right here on the site that includes data like fuel economy and maintenance costs.
We’re ready to add thousands of miles to the Equus’ odometer, so let us know what questions you’d like answered in the comments below and see our car from every angle in the high-res image gallery below.
Sany 203-foot concrete pumper truck – Click above for image gallery
Japan has turned to its neighbor across the water for help in cooling the number four reactor at the Tokyo Electric Company’s nuclear power plant in Fukushima. So far, scientists and engineers have used everything from helicopters to fire trucks to get sea water to the reactor’s fuel rods in order to prevent a meltdown, but according to China Realtime Report, a Wall Street Journal blog, a new solution is in the works. A 203-foot long concrete pumper truck has been called up from Chinese heavy equipment manufacturer Sany.
Instead of directing a stream of concrete up a sky scraper, this $1 million truck that was originally on its way to a Saudi client will now be used to pump sea water over the 141-foot reactor group in order to keep everything cool. Even at that height, the truck will still be able to remain 14 meters, or about 46 feet, away. Sany says that the truck left port in China on March 20 and has safely reached Japan, though there’s no word on whether or not it has begun operations at Fukushima.
Tokyo Electric Company originally offered to purchase the truck, but Sany is donating it and a full support team free of charge, and this isn’t the first time that the construction equipment manufacturer has lent a hand in international disaster efforts. The company also donated a giant crane to assist in the evacuation of the Chilean miners who were trapped in a mine last year.
Unfortunately, the very latest update from Japan is that Fukushima’s No. 3 reactor is leaking water with 10,000 times the normal level of radiation, which may indicate a breach of the reactor’s core. If that’s the case, there’s no telling how the Sany pump truck will be used when it arrives on site, or if it will be needed at all.
This is why we can’t have nice things, CAR Magazine. recently hosted a passel of journalists from around the globe in Italy to fully introduce the company’s new FF to the world. You know, the sexy-as-sin shooting brake with a European price tag of £230,000? Yeah, that Ferrari FF.
Jethro Bovington showed up to represent the CAR crowd, but ran into a bit of trouble while trying to work up a video monologue and pilot the obscenely expensive Italian supercar through some narrow country roadwork at the same time.
Shortly after announcing that he intended to demonstrate “just how committed to the throttle you can be on a very twisty narrow road that shouldn’t suit this car,” Bovington managed to bash the FF off of a curb. According to CAR, the damage was limited to both wheels on the passenger side. We’re guessing the repairs likely cost more than the tester’s fancy sunglasses, but not by much.
to check out the in-cabin video of the incident for yourself. Thanks for the tip, Throwback!
2012 Mercedes-Benz C-Class – Click above for high-res image gallery
When it comes to automobiles, money is usually the limiting factor. Endowed with unlimited dough, who wouldn’t drive their dream car?
For those inclined toward luxury, the full-size coddles its drivers with massive comfort and technology that compensates for nearly every common human frailty exhibited behind the wheel. The S-Class, however, remains beyond the means of most drivers.
Developed to make three-pointed quality, safety and luxury more attainable, the W 201 sedan was introduced by Mercedes-Benz in 1982. Known as the 190, this compact sedan stands as the direct forerunner of the . Some 8.5 million sales stand as M-B’s commercial proof of concept over four generations. And the way things are going, those sales are set to continue.
Pagani Huayra – Click above for high-res image gallery
Given that the Pagani Zonda was one of the most prolific vehicles in terms of model variants over the course of its 11-year production run, it would be safe to assume that the new Huayra will follow a similar path. The most obvious, you might guess, would be a convertible version. And according to the latest reports, that’s precisely what’s coming down the pipeline.
In speaking with our Argentinean compatriots, Horacio Pagani himself reportedly confirmed that a Huayra Roadster will arrive on the scene in about three years. Why so long? Your guess is as good as ours. Presumably, the Huayra was engineered from the drawing board to accommodate this sort of roofless behavior, but maybe Pagani wants to satisfy existing orders before rolling out an even more desirable version to let all that soft Italian sunlight shine through.
Pagani also revealed that his original name of choice for the new car was Da Vinci, but since the name was already registered – don’t ask us by whom – he went with the virtually unpronounceable name Huayra, which was shared by the sports prototype Huayra Pronello that rocked the Argentinean racing scene in the late 60s. As for a baby brother to the Huayra, Pagani says it could be in the cards, but that working his company’s technology into a cheaper package would be a difficult task.
Renault DeZir Concept – Click above for high-res image gallery
Most European automakers have their own dedicated performance division. What separates a line within the automaker’s range from a stand-alone brand, however, is the production of its own unique models. AMG, for example, straddled the divide with the , which doesn’t exist as a non-AMG version, but is still labeled as a . ’s M division, on the other hand, only produces tweaked versions of the company’s regular production models. Abarth has long been rumored to get its own roadster model, separate from ’s range. But if the latest reports from across the pond prove accurate, Renaultsport could beat them to the punch.
Renault had been toying with the idea of reviving the old Alpine name with a dedicated sportscar, but word is that those plans have been scrapped in favor of a Renaultsport roadster. The French automaker’s motorsport and tuning division (ironically based at the old Alpine factory) is well known for its hot hatches, and previously produced the Spider as its own model some 15 years ago.
Rumor has it that the Renaultsport Spider’s successor could essentially be a production version of the DeZir concept (pictured above) that previewed Renault’s new design language last year at the Paris salon. It may be too early to tell if the production version would retain the concept’s electric drivetrain or go with one of the tuned gasoline or diesel engines from one of the division’s existing models, but a limited production run could be in the cards, and could lead to one or two more dedicated Renaultsport models as well. For our part, we can only hope the plans come to fruition, and that maybe a version might make it to these shores as well.
Cadillac goes back to racing with the CTS-V Coupe – Click above to watch video
has put together a . The automaker will run a pair of CTS-V Coupe SCCA race cars in the World Challenge series, which kicks off March 25th, 2011 in St. Petersburg, Florida. Ahead of the green flag, Cadillac has released the fourth and final clip in its mini documentary.
Titled Ready to Race, the last installment of the series has the team eagerly looking forward to its first official event. Cadillac will face serious competition in the SCCA World Challenge but it’s also got an excellent car on its hands. to watch the final episode.
Prius production resumes, Honda further delays restarting plants
Japanese automaker news resulting from the March 11 earthquake is coming in fast and furious right now, so we’ve packaged the latest information in one convenient spot.
announced some good and bad news this week on the production front. The good news is that the company will resume limited production of the , and CT 200h hybrids with all-new parts coming in. Eighteen other Toyota plants remain closed, however, through at least March 28, and the automaker has warned its assembly plants in North America that they could soon face parts shortages that interrupt production.
has moved the restart date of its Japanese plants again from March 27 to April 3 or later. Among the vehicles affected are the and . The company also says its research and development center will be closed for months due to extensive damage. Some of the work being done at the R&D facility has been moved to other Honda facilities in Japan.
restarted production in Japan on March 24, though the plants are using only existing parts stock with no new parts coming in. The company is studying whether its Tennessee engine plant could supply VQ V6 engines to Japan due to damages sustained at an engine plant in the quake zone. The automaker also that were damaged at a Japanese port during the quake. CEO Carlos Ghosn claims 40 Japanese suppliers are still in trouble.
has been running some plants in Japan, though parts are starting to become scarce. The CX-7 and are among the vehicles affected.
has postponed any production in Japan until at least March 28. In the U.S., the automaker has suspended overtime at its Indiana plant.
It sounds ominous. The union has imported interns from other automaking countries like China, Germany, South Korea and India to teach them the organizing techniques the union uses in the United States. The UAW’s Global Organizing Institute will give interns from other car building countries an indoctrination into the practices the union uses for collective bargaining, which they will then take back to their home countries and act as homegrown advocates for the UAW’s organizing efforts at non-unionized transplant facilities in the United States.
, UAW president, has a goal of bringing his union to one of the currently non-unionized transplant auto factories in the American south. With agents arguing for the UAW on the homefront and the union doing its best to get a transplant automaker on board, the union hopes it can not only help workers organize in other countries, but also help its own causes.
The UAW has asked for no interference from the leaders of those car companies and has threatened to use protests and other attention-grabbing practices should any automaker try to strongarm its workers into staying non-union. The interns will be given six weeks of training and field experience before they’re sent back to their home countries packing a new arsenal of skills.
Volvo C30 Electric – Click above for high-res image gallery
A trial fleet of around 400 , and anyone who wants one had better have an awful big piggy bank. Speaking at a media launch near Indianapolis, IN today, the president of Volvo Car Special Vehicles, Lennart Stegland, said that, while the final price for the car hasn’t been set, Volvo will not sell the EV, but instead offer the car through a three-year lease for around 1,500 Euros. Per month.
1,500 Euros comes out to about $2,129.85 at today’s exchange rates, so if you stick it out for the full 36 months, you get to spend $76,674 to not buy a car. Even worse, Stegland said that Volvo will lose money on the deal. Ouch. Developing electric vehicles for mass production (which, on Volvo’s schedule, will happen sometime around 2013 or so) is more than mildly expensive.
Sure, for the three years you drive the C30 Electric, you’ll probably be quite happy with the car. We certainly were and fell for it again in Indiana today (our full write up is coming soon). To convince EV skeptics, Volvo is pushing its traditional safety with the C30 Electric, and we’re sure the car is as safe as can be. We’ll see how powerful this argument is when a hundred C30 Electrics come to the U.S. in the first quarter of 2012. An official lease price hasn’t been set but, as much as we like it, it’ll be hard to justify two-large a month for four-seat hatch.
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Photos copyright (C)2010 Sebastian Blanco / Weblogs, Inc.
The latest Harris polls are out, and the big winners in the automotive sector are and . The two brands made the top of the list for full-line and luxury automakers by scoring highest in terms of customer connection, commitment, equity and trust.
