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A little over a year since officials picked the Dallara proposal over those of its rivals, testing has begun in earnest on the next-generation IndyCar chassis.

The new car underwent the first of a dozen scheduled shake-down runs at the hands of Dan Wheldon, the reigning Indy 500 champion, at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course where the series competed this past weekend.

Dallara’s clean-sheet design – which will be built at a new Stateside facility instead of the factory in Italy – was envisioned right from inception for use on both high-speed ovals and road courses, unlike the car it replaces which was designed for the speedways and later adapted for twistier circuits. Each team will be able to switch the bodywork depending on the type of track, but that’s hardly where the differences between the new car and the old one end.

Instead of the 3.5-liter Honda V8s that powered the existing crop, the new car Wheldon was running packed a 2.2-liter turbocharged V6, also from Honda, that will be one of three engines – alongside Chevrolet and Lotus – that will proliferate across the field next year.

Engine suppliers will get their first taste of the new chassis in October, with deliveries to individual teams slated for December, but you can scope out the images from the test right now.

Dallara’s next-generation IndyCar undergoes maiden track run at Mid-Ohio originally appeared on Autoblog 5.0 on Wed, 10 Aug 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

BMW builds a great wagon. You would be forgiven for forgetting that, what with the recent product lineup featuring the ugly duckling, hunchback-shaped 5 Series GT and physics-defying X6. Over yonder Atlantic pond, the European market gets to play with the 5 Series Touring while we’re left to wait for an updated 3 Series Touring. Looks like our wait is nearly over.

Our spy photographers snapped a camo-clad 3 Series wagon undergoing testing. We assume that involves cramming it with groceries, puppies, hockey equipment and golf clubs. The 3 Series is due for its update, and we’re excited to see what it looks like under all of that Starry Night-inspired camouflage. Now, if we could convince BMW to give us back the 5 Series Touring, we’d cut off our ear to show our gratitude.

Try to find the revised lines of the next generation BMW 3 Series Touring by clicking through the gallery.

BMW 3 Series Touring drops some camo originally appeared on Autoblog 5.0 on Wed, 10 Aug 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ron Bloom, the man who replaced Steve Rattner as the so-called Car Czar advising the White House on decisions impacting the auto industry, is reportedly leaving his post by the end of the month. We’re not surprised – General Motors and Chrysler successfully emerged from their government-sponsored bankruptcies and the government’s money has been paid back well ahead of schedule.

Plus, the 56-year-old Bloom’s job description as Car Czar was eliminated in April of 2011 during a huge string of budget cuts, and since that time, Bloom has merely been serving as an auto adviser to President Barack Obama. His last major effort was in helping to establish the latest Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards.

Ron Bloom, U.S. auto advisor, leaving White House originally appeared on Autoblog 5.0 on Wed, 10 Aug 2011 14:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Summertime, Personified

Muscle cars have never coped well with having their tops clipped. Losing the roof rarely does a vehicle any favors in the rigidity department, but the high-horsepower, high-torque coupes of the last four decades took fiendish delight in twisting themselves into pretzels after a few enthusiastic throttle plunges. To make matters worse, frumpy, awkward-looking soft tops were never as attractive as the original tin. When it came time to design the fifth-generation Chevrolet Camaro, the engineers at General Motors specifically aimed to avoid those pitfalls by drafting the chassis to field both coupe and convertible duties.

Long before the first test mule ever turned a tire, this coupe was designed to go topless, and the result is one of the more stable convertible platforms out there. With a little help from the minds behind the Chevrolet Corvette soft top, the retractable lid even offers the same sleek profile as the Camaro Coupe. That’s not to say all is right in this cruising kingdom, though. Tough top-up visibility, a bulging waistline and an overly extroverted interior all work against the drop head. Even so, this is still a vehicle soaked in summertime. And whatdayaknow? The sun’s out.

Continue reading 2011 Chevrolet Camaro SS Convertible

2011 Chevrolet Camaro SS Convertible originally appeared on Autoblog 5.0 on Wed, 10 Aug 2011 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ferrari has started work on the successor to its lovely 599 GTB Fiorano. Our spies caught the beast, codenamed the F152, during some warm-weather testing, and although these shots confirm the car’s development, they don’t really give any useful clues as to what it will look like. Test mules – gotta love ‘em.

The bodywork you see here was stuck together from forms for the 599 GTO, and is only there to cover the new car’s chassis. The new Prancing Horse is slated to break cover sporting a 700-plus-horsepower 6.3-liter V12 backed by a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. Rumor has it that the new Ferrari will also carry direct injection (not surprising). Stay tuned for more, but for now, see the 599 successor mule in our attached high-res image gallery.

Ferrari 599 successor caught out and about originally appeared on Autoblog 5.0 on Wed, 10 Aug 2011 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

On this side of the ocean, we’re used to our Hyundais having names like Accent and Elantra. But overseas the Korean automaker has an entirely separate range with names like i20 and i30. And Hyundai is preparing to unveil the latest of the latter at the rapidly approaching Frankfurt Motor Show.

Filling the slot in Hyundai’s European line-up that’s filled, more or less, by the Elantra in this side of the pond, the current i30 hatchback and wagon have been on the market since 2007, so their replacement is just about right on schedule. The new model has been developed from start to finish specifically for the European market at the company’s European R&D facility in Rüsselsheim, Germany, and embraces the brand’s fluid design language with its trademark hexagonal grille up front.

Little in the way of solid details have been announced on the new model to accompany the teaser rendering above, but you can expect it to pack a range of gasoline- and diesel-burning four-cylinder engines when it eventually reaches European showrooms. Also, could this hatchback i30 preview what’s in store for North America’s upcoming Elantra Touring? We’ll have to wait and see. In the meantime, follow the jump for the press release.

Continue reading Hyundai renders new i30 unto Frankfurt

Hyundai renders new i30 unto Frankfurt originally appeared on Autoblog 5.0 on Wed, 10 Aug 2011 10:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Hold your horses, ladies and gents. All 700 of them. It appears that earlier reports of the Pagani Huayra’s exclusion from the U.S. market may have been a tad premature.

As you may recall, we reported yesterday on a ruling from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that denied Pagani its application for exemption from certain airbag regulations. The assumption was that this would put a big damper on Pagani’s plans to enter the American market, but if the latest reports prove accurate, that now appears to be little more than a speed bump. And as little as exotic supercars and their drivers like speed bumps, they can, one way or another, be overcome.

According to GTSpirit, Pagani appears to have been prepared for the NHTSA’s refusal. The application had been submitted some three years ago, and since Pagani Automobili had not received a reply until now, it had already begun work on the advanced air bags as required. The request – such as had been granted to other niche supercar manufacturers – was simply to give Pagani some extra time to implement the rules and allow it to sell in the U.S. in the meantime. Clever.

Reports highlight just how far Pagani has gone to heighten the safety measures in the new Huayra with such features as a carbon-titanium passenger tub from which the rear subframe breaks off in the event of a catastrophic crash, and a fuel system that cuts off pressure if the fuel line is severed. In other words, over and above what NHTSA mandates.

The rigorous application of the advanced airbag regulations may mean that Pagani’s planned deliveries for late 2012 could be pushed back to early 2013, but one way or another, Pagani is determined to sell here in the United States. And given the speeds of which its cars are capable, we wouldn’t count on them arriving too late, either.

Pagani Huayra still coming to U.S., just delayed until 2013 originally appeared on Autoblog 5.0 on Wed, 10 Aug 2011 10:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We can’t say we’re surprised. After our first sampling of the latest Ford F-150, which received four brand-new engines for the 2011 model year, we signed out the two V6 offerings as the ones most worthy of buyer’s consideration. And, lo and behold, Ford F-150s equipped with V6 engines are outselling their V8 counterparts for the third month in a row and the first time since 1985 that V8s weren’t the dominant powerplant option in Ford’s full-size pickup.

So far in 2011, Ford has sold 313,183 units – an eight-percent increase over last year and enough to keep the F-series the best-selling vehicle in America for the umpteenth year running. Of the two six-cylinder engine options, it’s the EcoBoost V6 that’s truly stealing the show, and with good reason. With 365 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque compare very favorably with its competitor’s top V8s, and it handily outperforms them in EPA-rated fuel mileage (16 city, 22 highway).

Also worthy of consideration from buyers is the base 3.7-liter V6, which accounted for 16-percent of F-150 sales in July. With 302 horsepower, it offers more ponies that its most direct competitors’ base V8s, and it scores 17 mpg city and 23 highway. These two Ford V6 options represent a rather astounding 80 percent of the full-size V6-powered pickup market in America, besting the likes of the Chevrolet Silverado, Ram 1500, GMC Sierra and Toyota Tundra by massive margins.

If you want all the sordid details, feel free to peruse the press release after the break.

Continue reading Ford reports F-150 sales are being overrun by V6 engines

Ford reports F-150 sales are being overrun by V6 engines originally appeared on Autoblog 5.0 on Wed, 10 Aug 2011 08:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Honda has already released a few details of what we can expect from its Ridgeline pickup truck for the 2012 model year, but a new series of spy shots from our friends at PickupTrucks.com offers even more clues.

In addition to the already announced Ridgeline Sport (an oxymoron?), the rest of the line will get a revised fascia that more closely mimics the automaker’s latest Pilot, with which the Ridgeline shares much of its underpinnings. In place of the somewhat homely grille-within-a-grille sported by the 2011 model, the 2012 Ridgeline will apparently receive a version of the more handsome three-bar face seen on the 2012 Pilot.

We’re also told to expect some interior tweaks for Honda’s unibody pickup as well as a slight boost in fuel economy, which, for 2011, was rated by the EPA at 15 miles per gallon in the city, 20 on the highway and 17 combined. Considering that the Ridgeline is offered only with a relatively tame V6 engine, it really ought to do better… especially since Ford’s base V6 offers 52 more horses and manages 17/23 from the EPA, and it’s mounted in a much larger truck.

For the full rundown of spy shots and commentary from PickupTrucks.com, click here.

2012 Honda Ridgeline gets a little nip, tuck originally appeared on Autoblog 5.0 on Wed, 10 Aug 2011 08:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For the first time in ten years, the Mt. Washington Auto Road played host to the Climb to the Clouds. Travis Pastrana had helped drum up interest by recording a time of 6:20.47 towards the end of 2010, which was quicker than the official record run of 6:41.99. That time was laid down by Frank Sprongl back in 1998, and was still the official fastest time despite Pastrana’s fast dash up the hill.

David Higgins of the Subaru Rally Team USA arrived in New Hampshire intent on beating both Sprongl’s official record and Pastrana’s time. He did just that by throwing down a 6:11.54, beating Pastrana’s run by nine seconds in the process.

We’ve been waiting for high-definition video of the run ever since Higgins set the record back on June 26th, 2011. Now we have it… and it’s excellent. The clip, posted after the jump, shows just how treacherous the road can be, and how dramatically visibility can change. Higgins, however, believes he can go faster. His new goal? An absolutely bonkers sub-six-minute time.

Continue reading David Higgins’ record-breaking run up Mt. Washington

David Higgins’ record-breaking run up Mt. Washington originally appeared on Autoblog 5.0 on Tue, 09 Aug 2011 19:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A day after spies caught Audi’s latest concept prepping for a photoshoot in Berlin, Germany, the automaker has dropped the first round of details on its Frankfurt-bound prototype.

As suspected, the Audi Urban Concept is another in a string of etron-branded concepts that point towards an electrified future, but with a more city-friendly size and shape.

The body is comprised of carbon fiber reinforced plastic, with offset seating for two, a sliding canopy and a tailgate that serves as the main entry point. Motivation is provided by a pair of electric motors and a lithium-ion battery which Audi insists will deliver “sporty performance.”

Beyond that, Audi isn’t saying much in the press release below the fold – we’ll have to wait for the Urban Concept’s debut next month for the full details.

Continue reading Audi Urban Concept is a Frankfurt-bound 1+1

Audi Urban Concept is a Frankfurt-bound 1+1 originally appeared on Autoblog 5.0 on Tue, 09 Aug 2011 18:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Toyota Motorsport GmbH has announced its intention to smash the existing electric vehicle lap record at the famed Nürburgring Nordschleife on August 29.

Some speculate the on-track demonstration by Toyota Motorsport GmbH is a prelude to Toyota’s racing division inking a powertrain deal for an electrified Formula 1 racing series. Whether or not that’s true remains unknown, but Toyota says its lapping of the Nürburgring will prove that “green thinking motorsport” generates emotion, just as fossil fuel racing has done for more than a century.

The current electric vehicle lap record at the ‘Ring stands at 9:01.338, a time that Toyota says it has already beaten during informal testing. On August 29, it will hit the track with a battery-powered two-seater that can reach a claimed top speed of 162 miles per hour, rip from 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds and is loosely based on the radical Alpha-1 SRF, a vehicle developed by Toyota Motorsport GmbH for the German firm e-Wolf.

Rob Leupen, Toyota Motorsport’s director of business operations, told the Charging Point, “We are extremely confident we can break the record by some distance, which is an indication of how electric vehicle performance is continuously improving.” We’ll let you know if Toyota’s attempt to tame the ‘Ring blows a hole through the existing record, which is held by the spectalur Peugeot EX1.

Continue reading Toyota shooting for electric vehicle ‘Ring record on August 29

Toyota shooting for electric vehicle ‘Ring record on August 29 originally appeared on Autoblog 5.0 on Mon, 08 Aug 2011 18:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We’ve got to hand it to Mercedes-Benz. The Australian arm of the German automaker was so convinced that its iconic G-Wagen is one of the world’s most capable off-road vehicles, it decided to stage a demonstration run that would have seven of its boxy SUVs traveling from Halls Creek in Western Australia to Wiluna – a distance of 1,150 miles.

As it turned out, the distance, though definitely a long way to go in the wild’s of Australia in just 14 days, wasn’t the real issue encountered by the intrepid group of drivers. You see, the trip was organized along the historic Canning Stock Route, which was created at the beginning of the 20th Century as a way to get cattle from remote ranches in Kimberly to Perth, where it could then be sold.

Suffice it to say that driving cattle along the Canning Stock Route was a treacherous undertaking, and deaths were not uncommon. Today, the Route is considered one of the world’s greatest adventures and can only be tackled by serious four-wheel-drive machinery. Like the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen, right?

Well, sorta. As MB Australia found out the hard way, no amount of planning can guarantee a successful journey, as six out of its seven G-Wagons have been crippled by broken rear shock absorbers seven days into the drive. The lone undamaged vehicle is actually a specially modified military-spec vehicle called the G-Professional that the German automaker is considering importing into Australia… might not be a bad idea, eh?

For their part, MB’s reps are taking the damage in stride. While all machines remained drivable (of course, that term just means the machine is capable of moving under its own power…), new shocks were flown in on chartered airplanes at significant cost. Sounds like there’s absolutely no way in the Australian Outback Hell that this demonstration drive will end up a failure.

Australian Outback cripples fleet of Mercedes G-Wagens during PR event originally appeared on Autoblog 5.0 on Mon, 08 Aug 2011 15:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It’s loud, powerful and wears the three-pointed star up front. Sure, that could describe the host of Mercedes-Benz’s AMG cars, but in this case, we’re talking about the latest hotness: the 2012 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Coupe. This performance two-door keeps popping up in videos to tantalize our senses, and now, Mercedes has hired a pair of stunt drivers for a trio of new clips that show the sports coupe engaging in fan-approved activities.

The German automaker reached out to its fans on Facebook, who then decided on what stunts they wanted to see the C63 AMG Coupe perform. The first shows how the C63 AMG Coupe can be used to link drifts together to form a figure eight. Said figure eight happens to occur within close proximity to a pair of C63 sedans. In the second clip, a stunt driver threads the needle between a pair of parked sedans, and he does so while moving fairly quickly… in reverse. Lastly, the final clip appears fairly tame at first glance, as both stunt drivers intersect each other at high speeds. However, the timing has to be just right for that maneuver or Mercedes would have to send out a cleaning crew to pick up tiny bits of sports car from the ground.

We’ve got all three clips, idling loudly for you after the jump.

Continue reading Mercedes-Benz shows off 2012 C63 AMG Coupe with three stunt videos

Mercedes-Benz shows off 2012 C63 AMG Coupe with three stunt videos originally appeared on Autoblog 5.0 on Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Car seats are undoubtedly a must-have if you want to keep your child safe in the car. Yet, as with so many other things, they can hide surprises that you might want your child to avoid. In this case the surprise is chemicals that, according to HealthyStuff.org, possess “known toxicity, persistence, and tendency to build up in people and the environment.” They include bromine, chlorine and lead, among others.

Some of the seatmakers, such as Graco, earned spots on both the best and worst lists. Although the best and worst performers in the tests earn a numerical score, the tests don’t indicate the exact amount of the detected chemicals. Things have gotten better, though, with average car seat rankings improving by 64 percent since 2008.

You can find the press release with more details after the jump, and all of the tested seats ranked here.

Continue reading Toxic chemicals found in over half of children’s car seats

Toxic chemicals found in over half of children’s car seats originally appeared on Autoblog 5.0 on Sun, 07 Aug 2011 12:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ford is offering car shoppers the opportunity to participate in a rather unique take on the test drive experience. Instead of simply handing over the keys and taking a lap around the block, Ford equipped a group of Focus test cars with telemetry equipment, commandeered a parking lot and set up an obstacle course. The data of the test run was fed through a recording device, and a real-life video game was born.

Players score points based on the way they navigate the course, and their time is taken into consideration. It sounds fun, but it’s also allowing people to get up close and personal with the handling ability of the 2012 Ford Focus.

After watching the video shown after the jump, we can only say that we’re rather interested in competing. We love driving, we enjoy video games and we’re a competitive bunch here at the Autoblog.com HQ. If this event makes it out our way, just know we’re gunning for the top spot.

Continue reading Ford turns a real-world Focus test drive into a game

Ford turns a real-world Focus test drive into a game originally appeared on Autoblog 5.0 on Fri, 05 Aug 2011 19:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Top Gear got in a spot of trouble recently when presenters James May and Jeremy Clarkson were shown parking their Nissan Leaf in a handicapped space. Getting into a spot of trouble is nothing new for Top Gear, and in fact it seems that the show enjoys jumping in and out of hot water while various groups stand up to voice just how offended they feel.

Rather than thumb their noses in the air, however, this latest bout of controversy has forced producer Andy Wilman to step up and steer blame away from the hosts of his show. According to Perth Now, Wilman claims his production team secured special permission to use the handicapped spots, choosing the spaces in question because they were quiet. Also, Wilman notes that three other handicapped spots remained open and available for use during the shoot. Should the spots have filled up, Wilman maintains that production would’ve cleared the area to allow for others to use the spots.

Both May and Clarkson reportedly expressed concern over the use of the spots before the shoot. Wilman assured the men that the handicapped logos would not be seen in the footage, but they still made it onto the screen. That’s both his and the production team’s fault, and Wilman wishes to apologize to anyone who was offended. He also wants to make sure that everyone concerned understands it was not a decision made by Captain Slow or Jezza.

Top Gear team apologizes for row over handicap space originally appeared on Autoblog 5.0 on Fri, 05 Aug 2011 14:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We have to imagine that Chrysler is pretty upset with the 2011 Ford Explorer. After all, when it came time to name the 2011 North American Truck of the Year, both of the Pentastar’s latest offerings – the Dodge Durango and Jeep Grand Cherokee – held two of the final three finalist spots, only to be beaten out by Ford’s new seven-passenger crossover.

Dodge, for one, isn’t going down without a fight.

This latest set of Michael C. Hall-voiced advertisements puts the 2011 Durango head-to-head with the new Explorer, showing off the Dodge’s best-in-class towing and more powerful powertrain options. Be sure to note the fine print in the first ad where it says, “2011 Dodge Durango Citadel and 2011 Ford Explorer Limited equipped with their most powerful engines available.” In defense of the Explorer, it’s perhaps unfair to compare top-end powertrains when you’re putting a 360-horsepower 5.7-liter Hemi V8 up against a 290-hp 3.5-liter V6, but, hey… Ford doesn’t offer anything more powerful.

Follow the jump to watch both ads starring the 2011 Dodge Durango, and watch as it shames the award-winning Explorer with its brute force.

Continue reading Dodge Durango smacks around Ford Explorer in latest TV ads

Dodge Durango smacks around Ford Explorer in latest TV ads originally appeared on Autoblog 5.0 on Fri, 05 Aug 2011 12:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It looks like the man behind Mr. Bean and Blackadder has had another off in his McLaren F1. British comedian Rowan Atkinson reportedly spun his seven-figure supercar as he was traveling down the A605 near Peterborough in the UK. No other vehicles were involved in the incident. While the actor suffered no worse than a shoulder injury, the F1 restyled itself thanks to a lamp post subsequent fire. Atkinson was reportedly able to extract himself from the vehicle and stood waiting for emergency personnel to arrive before being transported to a local hospital. He’s expected to be released today.

Atkinson purchased the McLaren in 1997 and managed to damage the vehicle just two years later in a low-speed collision with a Rover Metro. Something tells us this latest shunt is going to take more than a little polishing to clean up, but we suspect it’ll get resurrected all the same. Make no mistake – Atkinson isn’t a stranger to high-horsepower machinery, and the man apparently knows his way around a vehicle. He recently posted the fastest lap time of the Top Gear UK’s ‘Star in a Reasonably Priced Car’ segment.

Rowan Atkinson crashes his McLaren F1… again originally appeared on Autoblog 5.0 on Fri, 05 Aug 2011 10:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Tesla and Toyota have become rather friendly over the last few years. According to the latest reports, it seems the two automakers are ready to take their relationship to the next level. What initially started as a $60-million deal turned into a $100-million affair earlier this year.

You know what’s cooler than a million-dollar deal? A billion-dollar deal, and that’s reportedly what’s now on the table between the two automakers.

Per Tesla CEO Elon Musk, his company is in talks with Toyota to ink a deal that would see $1 billion trading hands. Any issues about capital could quickly disappear, and Tesla could quickly become a major player in the automotive industry thanks to this serious cash infusion. We’ll just have to wait and see…

Tesla talking billion dollar deal with Toyota? originally appeared on Autoblog 5.0 on Fri, 05 Aug 2011 09:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.