The Auto Blog .ru

Spinning off shows from British television into American programs are all the rage these days. Just ask anyone who watches The Office, American Idol, The Shield or Life on Mars. But the one we’re most excited about, of course, is the U.S. version of Top Gear. A long time coming, the pilot is set to air on the History Channel in about a month. And as the date approaches, details have been trickling in. The latest covers the test track that will be the show’s playground.

Like its original British counterpart, the Top Gear test track has reportedly been converted from an old military air base: in this case the Marine Corp’s former facility at El Toro in Orange County, California – the same location the NBC project was to use.

The track combines north/south and east/west runways from the former air field. Disused airport runways make great circuits, but there’s one downside: no elevation changes, the likes of which make tracks like Spa and Laguna Seca the legends they are. The El Toro configuration ameliorates the situation, however, with a ten-foot drop and subsequent climb through an off-track loop on the right side of the map pictured above, giving it what most runway tracks – like Silverstone and the original Top Gear track in England – don’t have.

[Source: Jalopnik]

Are you the Top Gear USA test track?

Ford has a history of showing off some wild concepts at SEMA, and this year the company has partnered with six different aftermarket companies to unveil a slew of F-Series concepts worked up just for SEMA 2010. The trucks range from slammed machines from the likes of Godfather Customs and The Custom Shop to a rock-crawling behemoth built by the minds at Mickey Thompson. There’s even a mobile pit station based on the F-150’s big brother, F-350. That machine has been built by Cars by Kris and Airhead Kustoms.

Judging from what we’ve seen so far, our favorite of the bunch has to be the wicked F-350 built by Skyjacker Suspensions. The truck wears a full 8.5-inches of suspension lift, massive Fab Fours bumpers front and rear and a Warn wench for pulling lesser machines from sticky situations. Sounds like a good time to us. Hit the jump for the full press release.

[Source: Ford]

Continue reading Ford F-150 gets in on the SEMA fun

Ford F-150 gets in on the SEMA fun

Some rumors come and go, while others stick around better than a roll of masking tape. Reports of Volkswagen’s entrance into F1 clearly falls under the latter, but this time we have a timeframe.

According to the latest, Volkswagen motorsport chief Hans-Joachim Stuck – a former grand prix driver and Le Mans winner himself – has indicated that the growing automotive empire will make a decision by the end of the year (likely in November) on whether it will enter the Formula One World Championship in 2013.

If and when it does, VW AG could label its program under any of its brands. Audi was initially tipped to be the favorite, but with its Le Mans program already dominating, recent reports indicate that Porsche could get the nod for a come-back, having supplied TAG-branded engines to McLaren in the ’80s. Volkswagen’s own roundel could alternatively be tasked, but other group subsidiaries seem unlikely.

The decision will likely be linked to the direction that the series will take in terms of future engine development. The company could, meanwhile, opt to buy out an existing team – Sauber, HRT and Toro Rosso are said to be on the market – or team up with an existing one (like Williams) to enter the sport.

[Source: Racers-Republic]

Volkswagen rumored to decide by year-end on F1 program for 2013

The 2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage sits up near the top of the ‘ole Autoblog must-drive car list. While we wait for the day that someone hands us a crystal ‘Emotion Control Unit’ to fire one up, we can sit back and live vicariously through Jay Leno. Mr. Leno recently got to spend some time with the British sports coupe and was kind enough to capture his experience on camera.

Leno remarks that the V12 Vantage is “almost the perfect combination of hardcore track sports car and GT car.” To prove that, he turns the camera over to his tame racing driver, Justin Bel,l who brings the car to Willow Springs and puts it through its paces. Check out Jay, Justin and the 2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage in the video after the jump.

[Source: Jay Leno's Garage]

Continue reading Video: 2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage drops by Jay Leno’s Garage

Video: 2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage drops by Jay Leno’s Garage

As many Porsche 911s as you think you might see at the golf course, yacht club or shopping mall, that’s nothing compared to the legions regularly running around racing circuits worldwide. Aside from the myriad open GT grids dominated by Stuttgart machinery, the iconic German sportscar is the spec racer of choice for various national Porsche Carrera Cup championships and the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup that supports F1 races around the year. Those series use the versatile 911 GT3 Cup. With over 1,400 sold since 1998, Porsche maintains that it’s the best-selling racing car of all time, and it has just announced a new model for the 2011 season onward.

Whereas the outgoing Cup racer was based on the street-going 911 GT3, the new model starts life as the harder, faster and sharper GT3 RS. That means a wider body that can accommodate bigger wheels, tires and brakes. It also carries the larger 3.8-liter flat-six with 450 horsepower – 30 more horses than the outgoing model coming from 200cc of added displacement. It also looks more like the RS, with an aggressive aero package and LED lighting for when tracks go dark and dreary.

The 2011 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup will make its track debut at the opening round of next season’s Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship, but you can delve into the details right now in the press release after the jump and in our high-res image gallery below.

[Source: Porsche]

Continue reading Porsche upgrades world’s best-selling racing car with new RS-based 911 GT3 Cup

Porsche upgrades world’s best-selling racing car with new RS-based 911 GT3 Cup

Axl Rose, front man for hard rock band Guns N’ Roses, has an appetite for destruction and his latest target is reportedly a 2006 Bentley Continental Flying Spur. According to celeb dish outlet TMZ.com, Rose is being sued by Bentley over a vehicle he leased. The car was given back several months after its scheduled date of return. That is just icing on a sweet cake of disregard however, as the car was allegedly returned with a cracked windshield, two damaged wheels, a broken taillight, a missing key, dents on the doors and damage to the bumper. Axl or his compadres also racked up serious seat time by going 42,000 miles over the lease limit.

The boys from Crewe have little Patience *ahem* for someone mistreating their property like this, and Bentley is suing Mr. Rose for nearly $74,000.

Photos Copyright (C)2010 John Neff / AOL

[Source: TMZ]

Axl Rose sued by Bentley for leased car damage, exceeding allowance by 42,000 miles

Consider our fingers crossed. With all of the talk of front-wheel-drive BMW models coming down the pike, we simply assumed that the future of small German hatchbacks with roundels on the hood would be littered with soulless heaps. According to the sleuths over at Car and Driver, however, that’s not the case. After discovering that BMW had filed for U.S. patents for the names 228, 230 and 235, someone at BMW let it slip that the new 2 Series would, in fact, send its power to the aft. But hold onto your teacups, kids, it gets better.

BMW has also filed for a patent for the M2 moniker.

Now, we know as well as anyone that a patent doth not a production vehicle make, but it’s still exciting to know that BMW isn’t walking away from the notion of a smallish, fun-to-drive model anytime soon. Supposedly the company is planning a rash of models positioned below the current 1 Series to help decrease its corporate average fuel economy, but the news of a rear-wheel drive model with an M badge on the back goes a long way toward salving any ails inflicted by the thought of a front-wheel-drive Bimmer.

[Source: Car and Driver]

BMW planning rear-wheel drive 2 Series?

General Motors and Chrysler LLC will lead automakers to “gushing profits” when annual U.S. sales reach 15 million vehicles, said Steven Rattner, the former head of the federal government’s auto task force, on Bloomberg TV last Friday.

“This industry has been restructured to make money,” Rattner said to Bloomberg. At 15 million vehicles a year, “they will be gushing profits.” That 15 million level is expected to be reached at mid-decade, according to predictions by companies like Toyota and GM.

A pace of 15 million vehicles is needed “simply to accommodate new drivers and the aging of the fleet,” Rattner said. “It will happen, it’s only a question of when.”

Rattner recently published a book about his experience titled: Overhaul: An Insider’s Account of the Obama Administration’s Emergency Rescue of the Auto Industry.

Rattner also this month had to agreed to a ban from the securities industry as a result of a Federal investigation into charges he directed over $1 million in illegal kickbacks to New York State pension fund officials while he was a partner in Quadrangle Group, the post he had before being recruited by the White House.

Rattner, 58, led President Barack Obama’s auto task force from February 2009 until July last year, after GM emerged from a bankruptcy backed by $50 billion in government aid.

General Motors is expected to launch its initial-public offering of stock as early as next month, while Chrysler is expected to to take itself public some time next year.

[Image: aresauburn[TM] CC 2.0]

Rattner: GM and Chrysler will be “gushing profits”

According to the blokes over at Autocar, Chevrolet’s Korean arm is furiously working on turning the latest Aveo into a five-door, five-passenger crossover. This CUV version of Chevy’s subcompact, which just recently began production in Seoul, South Korea with sales slated for early 2011, will reportedly sport a stretched version of the platform and will be offered in both front-wheel and all-wheel-drive flavors.

Upscale interior bits and pieces are apparently being borrowed from the European Opel parts bin, which should mean good things for the Gamma II-based cute ‘ute. Other higher-end specs include a next-gen digital display grafted into the dash that is apparently going to filter across the rest of the Chevrolet lineup.

In related news, the British magazine is also reporting that the four-door sedan version of the new Aveo is likely to be shown off at the next Detroit Auto Show in January. Will a crossover join in on the Aveo’s time in the spotlight? We’ll be there in DSLRs in tow either way.

Live photos copyright (C)2010 Drew Phillips / AOL

[Source: Autocar]

Rumormill: Chevy working on Aveo-based crossover

Wiesmann may have been forced to switch from V10 power to the new twin-turbo V8 for their top-of-the-line MF5, but a Brazilian upstart apparently thinks it can secure an adequate supply of ten-cylinder BMW engines even after they’re discontinued. That’s what’s powering the vehicle you see here.

The Rossin-Bertin Vorax is set to debut at the São Paulo Auto Show later this month. It features a carbon fiber body over an aluminum chassis, cradling the Bavarian ten-pot in two states of trim: naturally aspirated with 570 horsepower, or supercharged with 750. The former is said to be good for a 3.8-second 0-62 mph time and a 205 mph top end. The latter marginally improves the acceleration time to 3.6 despite its 180-horse boost, but supposedly raises the top end to 231 mph. Of course, those figures are likely theoretical, as the vehicle appears to exist only in renderings at the moment.

Bankrolled by meat industry scion Natolino Bertin, Jr. and realized by former General Motors designer Fharys Rossin, the Vorax coupe is targeted to hit the market late 2011 or early 2012. A convertible version is slated to follow a year later, with overall production targeted at 500-1000 units in all and prices hovering around $400k.

[Sources: Argentina Auto Blog, Carscoop]

Rossin-Bertin Vorax guns for entry into supercar club with BMW V10 power

2011 Nissan Leaf – Click above for high-res image gallery

How sweet can incentives make the 2011 Nissan Leaf? If you’re really lucky and bunch together several rebates and credits, you can drive home this battery powered machine for a mere $12,280. Yep, you read that right. For less than $13,000 you could own one of the world’s first mass-produced electric vehicles – provided you meet some very select criteria. Interested in finding out how? Read on.

Disclaimer: there are a bunch of “ifs” and “buts” included in the quest to receive this bargain price, but the important thing is that it’s actually possible (as Green Car Reports discovered). Here’s how it could go down: Starting with the $32,780 list price of a Leaf base model, slash $7,500 off courtesy of the federal tax credit and get down to $25,280. Now, provided that you live in California, you can also lop another $5,000 off the top under the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project. Simply submit your paperwork to the Center for Sustainable Energy and the Leaf’s cost almost magically drops to $20,280. But how do we get from here to $12,280?

From here on out, the incentives get much more specific and will begin to seriously reduce the number of people who can get the EV deal of a lifetime. If you reside in one of the eight counties in the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare and portions of Kern), then you are eligible to apply for a $3,000 rebate (PDF warning) for purchasing a zero-emissions ride. Okay, so that’s $17,280. Here comes the kicker. For this final incentive, you need to work for Sony Pictures Entertainment, which has apparently agreed to offer a $5,000 allowance for purchasing a battery-powered vehicle if you meet certain eligibility requirements.

And there it is – the $12,280 Nissan Leaf, as rare as hen’s teeth. Now… who wants to be the first to give it a try?

Photos copyright (C)2010 Damon Lavrinc / AOL

[Source: Green Car Reports]

Score a 2011 Nissan Leaf for just $12,280? It’s possible

Few television programs are as intimately familiar with the stop watch as the blokes over at Top Gear. But they’re not alone. On this side of the Atlantic, the icon is the rightful property of the CBS News magazine show 60 Minutes. And as many celebrities and documentary segments as the Top Gear crew may have interviewed and screened, 60 Minutes has been doing it longer.

Still, the two programs are about as different as can be. You wouldn’t expect to see 60 Minutes host Steve Kroft firing a camper van at a giant target any more than Jeremy Clarkson asking the next presidential candidate the hard-hitting questions. But as we previewed last week, Kroft headed to Top Gear’s studios outside London to interview Clarkson, Hammond, May and producer Andy Wilman… and even tried to get a word or two out of the since-departed Stig.

Follow the jump to watch the results that aired this past weekend, plus some deleted scenes courtesy of 60 Minutes Overtime. (Thanks to everyone who sent in the tips!)

[Source: CBS News]

Continue reading Video: Anchors away as 60 Minutes covers Top Gear

Video: Anchors away as 60 Minutes covers Top Gear

According to Automotive News, some Lincoln dealers aren’t willing to put up the cash for expensive showroom updates until their company shows them physical proof of future products. Ford has asked some dealers to spend as much as $1 million on facility upgrades, even while admitting that there won’t be any new products for up to two years. With Ford tight-lipped about what exactly their new luxury lineup will look like, many dealers aren’t sure whether or not a large investment in their showroom is a worthwhile endeavor. Ford has said that dealers that fail to comply with the changes may see incentive money cut in the near future.

Meanwhile, FoMoCo is offering buyouts for Lincoln dealers that the company has found to not be in preferred markets – from $1.5 million in one case to as little as $300,000 in another. In both instances, the owners of the dealerships plan to reject the offers as being too low to even consider.

In the mean time, there seems to be growing rift among Lincoln dealers that may lead to an even greater split in the near future.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req. Image: Paul Sancya/AP]

Report: Lincoln dealers refusing to upgrade stores until Ford shows future products

Think the Murcielago is getting long in the tooth? Well it is. But the Murci’s advancing age looks positively pre-pubescent next to the Diablo. Wait a second, you say? The Diablo hasn’t been built in nearly a decade now. Well Lamborghini hasn’t – not the automaker we know in Italy, anyway. But its underpinnings still carry on in a land far, far away from the factory in Sant’Agata Bolognese.

Over the years, Lamborghini has had more owners than Chrysler. Which is ironic, because before the Volkswagen Group took it over, Chrysler was its happy papa. But in between, the Raging Bull was tamed by an Indonesian outfit called MegaTech. (It seemed strange at the time, less so now since Malaysians bought Lotus and Indians took over Jaguar.) The new investors were apparently a little strapped for cash, though, so in 1995 they worked out a deal with a Mexican entrepreneur named Jorge Antonio Fernandez Garcia, AKA Joan Ferci.

Under Ferci’s direction, Automóviles Lamborghini Latinoamérica SA continued building derivatives of the Diablo for years after its architecture was phased out back in Italy. (They might have gotten their hands on a newer platform, but there’s apparently some dispute with Volkswagen over the original deal inked with MegaTech.) Apparently, the Mexican federal government has enough faith in Ferci that they’ve reportedly given him a grant to build a new factory at which he plans to produce a new generation of, um… “Lamborghinis”.

The Diablo-based Coatl and Alar – which may or may never have actually made it into production – could carry on, supplemented (or potentially replaced) by such planned designs as the Miura II pictured above, and even an SUV called Gran Toro to pick up the reins that Sant’Agata let fall with the demise of the old LM002.

[Source: Argentina Auto Blog]

Lamborghini Latinoamérica grabs the bull by the horns with Miura II plans

The Nissan Leaf is on a nationwide tour to spread the electric gospel, and it turns out the Chevrolet Volt is also making a national round to pitch its “More Car than Electric” mantra. We swung by its L.A. stop more interested in the L.A. Fashion Weekend show that was going on behind the test drives. This particular blogger had never been in the Volt and hadn’t thought much of it beyond the three years of headlines it’s been making – especially because our tastes tend more toward words like Apollo and Veyron Grand Sport and Carbon Black and Murcielago… and Karma.

But then we drove it. Twice. Once with the engine juicing the battery, once on battery power alone. They were short drives, just around a few blocks. And, um, we hate to go all Volt homer with this, but we have no choice: it was fantastic. As coincidence would have it, we rocked up to the event in a Honda Insight and discovered that the Volt is at the opposite, highly enjoyable pole of hybrid driving. We characterized it as “the best hybrid experience we’ve ever had.”

Of course we can’t pass judgment on the car as a complete proposition because we had just a moment of seat time. Yet it was long enough to know that we’re going to get in one again as soon as we get the chance. And it was long enough for us to recommend that if the Volt tour comes your way and you’re into cars at all, then take our advice: drive it. For dates and cities, have a look at the info after the jump.

[Source: GM]

Continue reading The Chevrolet Volt is out there on the test drive circuit, too

The Chevrolet Volt is out there on the test drive circuit, too

The whole ‘Batmobile’ comparison gets thrown around an awful lot on websites like this one. And this car’s not even black, so we’ll wave off of that this time. But consider the following: in the most recent Batman movie, Bruce Wayne drove a Lamborghini Murciélago. Into a truck, unfortunately. His alter-ego’s drive, meanwhile, was on the other side of the more extreme Reventón. Now along comes JB Car Design with a kit to bridge the gap. And they call it the Bat, suitably enough.

The German tuner’s retrofitted Murci LP 640 can be had with 710 or 750 horsepower (a not-inconsequential improvement on the stock 640) through the installation of new cats and exhaust. But in this case, the defining factor is the car’s styling. A new front bumper and splitter, side skirts, and rear bumper with diffuser give the LP640 a more Reventón-style look, with a two-piece carbon fiber rear wing, LED lights and 20-inch modular alloys rounding out the package.

Meanwhile, the interior been re-trimmed in different leather, Alcantara and carbon fiber, along with a new steering wheel and sound system. Each of these components for engine, body and cabin can be purchased separately or as a comprehensive package, but JB says it will only make 75 examples of the body kit. Check out the photos in the gallery below and the press release after the jump for more.

[Source: JB Car Design]

Continue reading Lamborghini Murciélago tweaked into JB Car Design’s LP 640 ‘Bat’

Lamborghini Murciélago tweaked into JB Car Design’s LP 640 ‘Bat’

According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, there are around 8.4 million recalled Ford vehicles on the road right now that have never been serviced for a potential fire risk. The vehicles are the remainder of a 14 million-unit recall that covered 1993-2003 F-Series pickups, 1995-2003 Windstars, 1995-2002 Explorers and 1995-2003 Rangers that were built with faulty cruise control units. The units could leak onto the vehicles’ anti-lock brake system and cause a fire even if the vehicle is off.

Ford says that it has done its best to notify owners of the problem multiple times and NHTSA agrees that the company’s efforts have been adequate. Unfortunately, many of the current owners may have bought the recalled vehicles used and thus may not even know that there’s a potential problem.

The recall is the largest in the history of the automotive industry, so it should come as no surprise that there are still some loose ends to be tied up. Owners can search to see if there are outstanding recalls on their vehicles at the NHTSA website. If that’s the case, NHTSA urges owners to take their vehicle to the dealer as soon as possible.

[Source: Automotive News]

Report: 8.4M recalled Ford models still on the road without fixes

The Autoextremist, Peter De Lorenzo, has done his best for “the minions, the gamers, the coddled and the entitled” who want an update on the auto industry but don’t want to bother actually reading about it. You know the folks – the ones who write “summarize plz” or “Cliffs Notes?” in a comment thread because they can’t be bothered taking the time to figure out what happened.

Done something like Abrose Bierce’s Devil’s Dictionary but in the space of a tweet – that being no more than 140 characters, and 32 tweets in total – De Lorenzo covers just about every major carmaker and a few other subjects to boot. General Motors’ marketing, but not the company itself, gets two tweets, and electric cars also get a double-dip. Not one for restraint, tweets include “Electric Cars: A niche wrapped in an enigma in search of decent batteries and a sustainable infrastructure. Other than that, it’s all good.” Click the link for more… Hat tip to Chris

[Source: Autoextremist]

Peter De Lorenzo takes on auto industry in 140 characters or less

The car that almost destroyed General Motors? That’s the title of a story recently published by Popular Mechanics all about the Chevrolet Vega. To be honest, there are a number of vehicles to which we could assign that ignominious title, but it’s hard to argue with the disaster that was the Vega.

2010 marks the 40th anniversary of the Chevy Vega (and, incidentally, the AMC Gremlin and Ford Pinto). Unlike other American subcompacts of the day, the Vega was actually a pretty decent-looking little car, and its front-engine, rear-wheel-drive architecture was something Americans were comfortable with, so it sold rather well. All was not well in Vega Land, however.

You’d think a few Vegas would still be running around, considering that nearly two million were sold before GM halted production after the 1972 1977 model year. That’s just not the case, for two big reasons. First, the Vega’s bodies were stamped from almost impossibly thin steel to save weight and costs, and they rusted very badly because of it. Second, and perhaps most damning, the car’s innovative-for-the-time aluminum engine, which went without cylinder liners in favor of coated bores, failed at an alarming rate due in part to a cooling system that was inadequately designed. In any case, blown engines common, as were high oil usage and blown head gaskets.

Was the Chevy Vega the car that most directly sent General Motors into the downward spiral that ultimately culminated in its recent bankruptcy? For an interesting take on that story, head over to Popular Mechanics for the entire article.

[Source: Popular Mechanics]

Remembering the Chevy Vega as it turns 40

Back in May, CBS Evening News reported that the Nissan Leaf could sprint to 60 miles per hour in five seconds. We knew that their report missed the mark, but by how much? Estimates from nine to as much as 12 seconds began to surface, but those seemed a bit out-of-line as well.

Now, thanks to John O’Dell of Green Car Advisor who timed a 0-60 mph dash during a recent drive in the Leaf, we have at least one unofficial result: 0-60 mph in seven seconds flat. To put that number in perspective, 0-60 mph runs in the Chevrolet Volt have been clocked at 8.8 seconds, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV takes nearly 12 seconds and the Tesla Roadster accomplishes the feat in a mere 3.7 seconds. Okay, so the Leaf is reasonably quick, but how fast does it really go?

O’Dell, the senior editor of Green Car Advisor, writes:

On an 82-degree Tennessee afternoon, with another writer in the passenger seat, I hit 92 mph on the highway, going up a slight hill all the way. I still felt as though there was a little bit more to go, but lifted my foot at 92 because I thought I spied a state trooper’s patrol car way back down the road.

Mark Perry, Nissan’s director of product planning, confirmed that an undisclosed journalist who recently drove the Leaf in Michigan, hit an even more impressive 94 miles per hour, but as far as we know, these are just indicated speeds, not independently verified and repeated. Still, for the sake of comparison, the Smart ED apparently tops out at about 62.5 mph, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV calls it quits at 81 mph and the Volt hits the century mark. So, the Leaf is emissions free, accelerates with (relative) vigor and closes in on 100 before returning to more sane, everyday speeds. Sounds like it can offer livable everyday performance – provided the pure EV’s range isn’t an issue.

Photos copyright (C)2010 Damon Lavrinc / AOL

[Source: Green Car Advisor via Nissan-Leaf]

Unofficial: Nissan Leaf does 0-60 mph in 7 seconds, tops out at 94 mph?