The Auto Blog .ru

If it looks like a WRC racer, sounds like a WRC racer and moves like a WRC racer, chances are it will be able to handle itself against the rest of the pros on the global rally stage. We’ve already gotten a few quick glimpses of the Mini Countryman WRC thanks to a handful of still photos from the beater’s development at the Prodrive studios, but so far, we haven’t been able to see the car in action. Consider that problem taken care of.

A few videos have cropped up on the YouTubes showing the car being put through its paces over some pretty grueling gravel stages in Portugal. From what we can see, the racer is plenty quick, if not a bit unsorted. We’re guessing that the mechanical wizards at Prodrive will have the car fit for duty well before it knocks skulls with the rest of the heathens in the WRC.

Now the only real question is whether or not Mini is going to offer some variant of the go-fast pieces found on the WRC bruiser to the masses. We’re thinking we could rock a Countryman with a lower stance, meaner turbo and physics-bending brakes. Hit the jump to take a look at a few of the videos yourself.

[Source: YouTube]

Continue reading Video(s): Mini Countryman WRC gets wrung out

Video(s): Mini Countryman WRC gets wrung out

One of HGTV’s most popular shows is called House Hunters, where your average Joe and Jane Public take a look at two or three homes and ultimately end up purchasing their dream abode. Chevrolet wanted to get in on this game and its teamed up with the network to develop the Car Hunters Challenge. You see where this is going, right?

Cameras are everywhere and the supposedly unbiased reactions of the car shoppers are recorded. How are they able to get to the real opinions regarding the Chevy-supplied cars? Independent research company GfK is asking the questions, and the car buyers also look at equivalent models from Honda and Toyota. In the mid-size segment, the Chevy Malibu took on the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. A Chevrolet Equinox lined up next to a Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V for the compact crossover shoppers. In the mid-size crossover group, a Chevy Traverse duked it out with the Toyota Highlander and Honda Pilot.

The Car Hunters Challenge ultimately ended up speaking with 70 people, but how did the Bow-Tie brand fair? It took a gamble on the entire project but walked away happy after 43 new-car shoppers gave Chevrolet vehicles the thumbs up. By our grade-school math, that equates to a D-. However, it’s entirely possible they grade on the nursing school curve. Regardless, it’s interesting to see an automaker take a risk like this and the see the results play in its favor.

You can catch the Car Hunters Challenge spots in commercial form during episodes of House Hunters or watch episodes on the web courtesy of the HGTV website. Take a gander at the trailer, available for viewing after the jump.

Continue reading Video: Chevrolet sweeps HGTV Car Hunters Challenge

Video: Chevrolet sweeps HGTV Car Hunters Challenge

Gymkhana Three Part 1 left most of us cold, but the second installment of Ken Block’s Gymkhana series is finally upon us, and consider the series officially redeemed. If you haven’t clicked past the break yet… SPOILER ALERT: 360 alley-oop at the top of France’s l’Autodrome de Linas’ 51-degree bank. In a Ford Fiesta. Now… JUMP!

Continue reading Video: Ken Block in Gymkhana Three Part 2

Video: Ken Block in Gymkhana Three Part 2

The name Tiger has a long and illustrious history within the Triumph motorcycle hierarchy. Sure, it may not be quite as synonymous with British life on two wheels as the iconic Bonneville, but the Tiger moniker is still a classic that’s been used on and off since the early 1940s. It’s employed today as an all-roads street bike powered by a 1050cc triple-cylinder powerplant.

Soon, the Tiger name will be dredged back up for use as a smaller-displacement machine that will go up against the likes of BMW’s excellent F 800 GS adventure bike. This news comes by way of the California Air Research Board, which has to approve the bike if it is going to be sold in the far-west state. It seems Triumph will offer two versions of the bike, the Tiger 800 for the street and a more off-road-oriented edition called Tiger 800 XC.

Power for both machines will come from a stroked version of the 675cc triple used in Triumph’s small-bore sport bikes that will displace – you guessed it – 800cc. Expect somewhere around 100 horsepower and a fat torque curve peaking at something near 70 pound-feet. Weight will likely fall in the 440-pound range, meaning the power-to-weight ratio will probably be just a wee bit better than the Beemer.

[Source: California Air Resources Board via Visordown, Hell For Leather]

Triumphant Debut: Patent office outs Triumph Tiger

We broke the news, now watch video of Travis Pastrana’s record-setting run up Mt. Washington behind the wheel of a race-prepped Subaru WRX STI. Sure beats the hell out of Herr Neff’s time of 20-some minutes…

Continue reading Video: Watch Travis Pastrana’s run up Mt. Washington

Video: Watch Travis Pastrana’s run up Mt. Washington

If you were afraid the BMW M5 would be losing some of its venom by ditching the naturally-aspirated V10 in favor of a twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V8, we’re here to tell you that those worries are completely unfounded. At least that’s the impression we get from watching the video after the jump. You see, the BMW engineers have apparently fixed whatever issue was afflicting the M5 test mule the last time we saw it and got the car back to doing what it does best – sending Pirelli rubber to its smoky grave.

Loyal fans of the 5 Series over at Bimmerpost managed to get their hands on a quick video of the muscle-bound sedan slipping through the apexes of the Nürburgring at full bore, and have been kind enough to share that tasty little piece of film with the rest of the Internet. From the looks of the things, those two turbos are more than making up for the pair of lost cylinders. Of course, we’ll reserve final judgment for when we get into the saddle ourselves, but until then, join us past the jump for a look-see. Thanks for the tip, Obie!

[Source: YouTube]

Continue reading Video: Next BMW M5 is all squealing tires and bellowing engine on the ‘Ring

Video: Next BMW M5 is all squealing tires and bellowing engine on the ‘Ring

First Drive: 2011 Lincoln MKX

Lincoln thoroughly refreshes the MKX, but is it enough to differentiate the CUV from its Blue Oval brother?

Lexus CT 200h: Details on U.S. version arrive

The CT 200h is headed to U.S. shores later this year, and while a 0-60 time of 9.8 seconds isn’t anything to write home about, an EPA-estimated 42 mpg for a luxury hatch is.

Officially Official: VW of America names Browning as new CEO

Volkswagen has picked a new man to take the helm of its American operations, and Jonathan Browning’s reign begins Oct. 1.

Also of interest:

• Oh, Crap: Audi mucks up e-tron name in French
• Report: Fuel economy standards could add up to $15K to price of heavy-duty pickups
• Video: Mystery Audi coupe spied on ski slopes
• Euro-market Chevy Captiva getting facelift for Paris Show
• Mazda BT-50 pickup headed to Sydney Motor Show

Browse our archive of Daily U-Turn posts or subscribe to the RSS feed

Daily U-Turn: What you missed on 9.13.10

Esquire, the purveyor of printed pages packed with ads and male-centric eye-candy, has released its list of 2010 automotive award winners. The top award is the Car of the Year and the magazine is handing that title to the 2010 Audi S4. Esquire makes a strong statement behind its reasoning, and it’s hard to argue with its logic.

Numbers and stats are starting points, but we believe that the Esquire Car of the Year should make you feel something deep in your gut. You should lust for it and dream about it, but it shouldn’t be an impossible goal. It must be attainable for the average man. It should sit in front of your house or office without drawing attention to itself and tackle four seasons of day-to-day transportation with ease. Yet crucially, sometimes, without warning, it must make you snatch the keys off the wall, haul off to the country and just drive.

After putting our own butts in the driver’s seat, we felt the B8 S4 was a wonderful leap forward over the past B6 and B7 iterations, particularly with the new supercharged V6 and trick torque vectoring sport differential.

Esquire hands out more than just a COTY award as well. The magazine scoured the current crop of automotive excellence and handed out check pluses for: Domestic Car of the Year, Hybrid of the Year, Most Awe-Inspiring Car Built This Year, Compact Car of the Year, Most Beautiful Car of the Year, Truck of the Year, Diesel Car of the Year, Best Foreign Comeback, Best Domestic Comeback and Best Expression of Automotive Passion. Who wins? You’re going to have to make the jump to find out. And there’s a nice little video of the Audi S4 happily accepting its award.

Photos copyright (C)2009 Damon Lavrinc / Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: Esquire]

Continue reading Audi S4 named Esquire Car of the Year [w/video]

Audi S4 named Esquire Car of the Year [w/video]

Here’s what we know: Audi was doing something with a disguised and coupe (or cabrio) somewhere in Tyrolean Alps. Here’s what we don’t know: the precise nature of Audi’s activities nor the precise identity of the coupe. It has been surmised that it could be a more production-ready evolution of the Audi e-Tron Concept/R4 shown at the Detroit Auto Show in January, but a better guess might be a convertible version of the same concept.

Going through the five clips taken by an unknown and rather unsteady videocamera holder, that guess appears plausible. The lines look about the same, and an R4 Spyder was rendered as long as 18 months ago, and the R4 coupe is reportedly coming in 2013 to fill shoes below the TT. Or, knowing Audi, it could be any number of brand new things. We just hope it comes to the Paris Motor Show next month. So don your Zaruder-film glasses, have a look at the videos after the jump and tell us what you spy with your little eyes.

[Source: Carscoop]

Continue reading Video: Mystery Audi coupe spied on ski slopes

Video: Mystery Audi coupe spied on ski slopes

Italy’s equivalent of America’s Blue Angels is called the Frecce Tricolori, or Tricolor Arrows. Otherwise known by its official name, the 313th Gruppo Addestramento Acrobatico, the aerobatic team celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The squad recently brought the smoke and cartwheels with its fleet of Aeromacchi MB-339 jets, while Pagani added a little extra razzle-dazzle by taking its special edition Tricolore Zonda to the Rivolti Air Force base for some fun-and-gun. As usual, there’s beauty everywhere. Follow the jump for the vid.

[Source Pagani]

Continue reading Video: Pagani Zonda Tricolore pays homage to Italian “Blue Angels”

Video: Pagani Zonda Tricolore pays homage to Italian “Blue Angels”

Whether it’s wrestling a 3,000 lb NASCAR bruiser around a tri-oval for hours on end, sliding a rear-wheel drive Scion tC up Mulholland Drive or coaxing a GT350 around Laguna Seca with a flock of similarly vintage iron, knowing the limits of a vehicle better than anyone else on the track will earn our deference in a hurry.

It’s in that spirit that we bow down before Shin Kinoshita.

As one of the stunt riders with the Icon-sponsored Empire team, Kinoshita’s several notches above the rest of his crew in terms of the blatant insanity required to bend a motorcycle to one’s will. While each of his individual stunts are supremely impressive, it’s the transitions between them that will send your jaw skittering off your desk. Lest you think we exaggerate, please hit the jump and check out the promo video. Your concept of physics may never be the same. Thanks for the tip, Matt!

[Source: Icon via YouTube]

Continue reading Video: Shin Kinoshita’s mind-warping bike control

Video: Shin Kinoshita’s mind-warping bike control

Like The Six Million Dollar Man going through his paces for Dr. Wells, the Lancia Stratos was recently thrown around the track for its patron, Michael Stoschek and his son Maximilian. The commentary and interviews are in German, but that’s beside the point; the language spoken by the Stratos is 483-horsepower mid-engined Ferrari – a dialect anyone with a pulse can understand.

Follow the jump for the vid. (Warning: if you click the link to Autojunk, the video autoplays.)

[Source: Autojunk.nl]

Continue reading Video: New Lancia Stratos gets ready for its closeup

Video: New Lancia Stratos gets ready for its closeup

UK company HPI recently put out a list of top ten road trip songs as chosen by its customers, with Lynyrd Skynyrd über alles. Now AOL Radio has put together its own list of car songs chosen by listeners, but these are songs about cars, not necessarily the ones you’d choose to play in cars.

Not quite as oddball as the HPI list, it still runs through eras and categories: Tracy Chapman (Fast Car), Foghat (Slow Ride), Metallica (Fuel) and the Clash (Brand New Cadillac) are among the chosen, as well as Gary Numan – who’s been popular lately – with Cars. At number one: War’s Low Rider. Take a little trip to the link below for the rest of the list and to have a listen.

[Source: AOL Radio]

Top 10 car songs picked by AOL Radio listeners; Do you agree?

Just six weeks remain until the Korean Grand Prix takes place on October 24. The track itself is only barely ready and the surrounding infrastructure is nowhere near ready, but that didn’t stop Karun Chandhok from running a few fast laps. On leave from HRT F1 for a few races, Chandhok piloted a Red Bull on grooved tires through the dusty 3.49-mile circuit. It looks a lot more exciting on paper than it does behind the wheel – save for the massive straight – but hopefully the championship battle will provide enough excitement on its own. Follow the jump for the video.

[Source: ESPN F1]

Continue reading Video: Korean International Circuit lapped ahead of October F1 race

Video: Korean International Circuit lapped ahead of October F1 race

Review: 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee

Proof Positive That Chrysler Can Still Compete — The 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee is as capable off road as it is jousting with mid-town traffic. If this is the new face of Chrysler, we like what we see.

Video: Team tears down then rebuilds a Jeep in under four minutes

A team of soldiers from the Canadian Armed Forces start with a fully-assembled and running vehicle, tear it down then put it back together again… in under four minutes.

2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 dealer allocation will be limited, determined by sales and lottery

Ford is being very particular about how many 2012 Mustang Boss 302s each of its dealerships will get. There will be both a special allocation for top dealerships and a lottery for the rest.

Also of interest:

• New GM CEO Akerson to earn salary of $1.7 million
• Report: Nardelli almost sold Chrysler to U.S. for $1
• Traffic deaths in U.S. fall to 60-year low
• Super Duty’s Power Stroke diesel gets 800 lb-ft of torque reflash
• Travis Pastrana smashes 12-year-old Mt. Washington Auto Road record

Browse our archive of Daily U-Turn posts or subscribe to the RSS feed

Daily U-Turn: What you missed on 9.10.10

Trafalgar Square is located in central London. It plays host to thousands of people on a daily basis. The square is filled with memorial fountains and allows direct passage to the National gallery, and starting September 16th, it will serve as the backdrop for the London Digital Festival.

Audi has determined this would make a good time to unleash its opening salvo in favor of the impending revolution by Skynet and the robots. The automaker’s mechanical beast consists of eight robotic arms and weighs over 10 metric tons. It’s known simply as The Octopus. Fine, it’s not an octo-armed assault system but rather a new art installation device.

Each arm features a LED headlight taken from the Audi R15 TDI racecar, mounted at the end of each arm. Messages up to 80 characters in length can be sent to octopus from a computer or smartphone via the Outrace.org website, and these bits of text will be chosen at random and written in real time in the form of “light paintings.” The images will be captured by SLR cameras and then transferred into a video. The images and video will be available via the Outrace site, as well as sent to the chosen contributors. To see the arms in action, you can view streaming video at both the Outrace site and Audi.com. The footage will be available 24 hours a day, for eight days.

It all sounds quite odd yet intriguing. The big robotic arms will be able to write out letters up to nearly 12 feet high, yet they are capable of precise movements down to 0.2 millimeters. Be sure to watch the trailer after the jump, and read Audi’s press release to understand what all the fuss is about. We haven’t throw out that Skynet idea just yet…

[Sources: Audi, YouTube]

Continue reading Video: Audi loans eight robot arms for art installation

Video: Audi loans eight robot arms for art installation

When it comes to the new wave of weird sedan-hatchbacks popping up from various manufacturers, the Audi A7 Sportback is hands-down the most attractive, at least to our eyes. Whereas the BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo has a bit of a problem with proportions, the A7 Sportback manages to maintain the grace that’s become a trademark of Audi exterior design. At least that’s what we’ve seen from the press photos. Fortunately, Audi has just churned out a bevy of videos that take the time to pour over every last inch of the car so that the forum of the interwebs can make a more informed decision.

The verdict? We’re still of the mind that the A7 Sportback is as attractive as this segment gets. Watching the mega sedan prowl the country paths and beaches around the Italian island of Sardina only solidified our opinion on that front. We don’t expect you to take our point of view for gospel, though. Hit the jump to check out the four videos for yourself. Thanks for the tip, Catchmyshadow!

[Source: YouTube]

Continue reading Video: Audi A7 Sportback footage hits the information superhighway

Video: Audi A7 Sportback footage hits the information superhighway

KTM has somewhat unequal helpings of good and bad news for riders salivating over the thought of the company’s new 125cc creation. The marketing gurus have finally settled on a name for the contraption, and despite some fears that the Austrian bike-maker would slather the out-played “Avatar” name all over the new commuter, “Duke” – which has been used a number of times already by the Austrian company – was chosen as a fitting moniker. We couldn’t be happier. Of course, that elation was short lived when we heard that the company has absolutely zero intention of selling the flingable little bike on our shores.

Heartbreak.

We understand the reasoning behind the move. It’s not like 125cc street bikes sell like hotcakes over here. With a dearth of dense city centers and miles upon miles of open highway between most domiciles and their respective work places, American buyers tend to clamor for a little more displacement. That’s fine, KTM. Build us a Duke 250cc and we’ll call all things square. In the meantime, our cousins across the pond can look forward to hooning the rubber off of the newest Austrian starting in March of 2011. Our envy knows no bounds. Hit the jump for yet another video of the bike’s development.

[Source: Asphalt & Rubber]

Continue reading KTM Duke 125cc not fit for U.S. consumption [w/video]

KTM Duke 125cc not fit for U.S. consumption [w/video]

Remember the video where we got to see how long it takes to put a BMW Z4 GT3 together? It took West Coast Racing 600 hours to complete that task. Canada’s finest, on the other hand, think that time is laughable. A team of soldiers from the Canadian Armed Forces can put together a Jeep in far less time. Not only that, they start with a fully-assembled and running vehicle, tear it down then put it back together again… in under four minutes. Admittedly, though, we imagine that building the Z4 is a bit more complex than the work-ready Jeep seen here.

It’s nothing short of awesome, especially since it normally takes us four hours and a 12-pack of beer just to change our brakes.

Whatever you just did in the last four minutes, it’s not as cool as what these guys accomplished. See for yourself after the jump. Thanks for the tip, Duy Pham!

[Source: YouTube]

Continue reading Video: Team tears down then rebuilds a Jeep in under four minutes

Video: Team tears down then rebuilds a Jeep in under four minutes

Ford has officially lit a fire under its 43 Fiestas campaign. As you may recall, the promotion aims to hand out a raft of prizes, from 43 LCD flat-screen TVs to airfare, lodging and tickets to the Ford NASCAR 400 Sprint Cup race for 43 lucky grand-prize winners. Of those souls, one will be awarded a special Ford Fiesta, but should AJ Allmendinger happen to walk away with the checkers, everyone in the grand-prize lot will receive a new Fiesta to call their very own. That’s impressive and all, but not nearly so interesting as the videos after the jump.

You see, to sell the sweepstakes, Ford enlisted the help of NASCAR legend Richard Petty, rally heathen Ken Block and AJ Allmendinger, the current pilot of the #43 NASCAR racer. What happens when the three meet on a track? Let’s just say that while we weren’t entirely surprised by the outcome, we’re wholeheartedly in favor of this type of motorsports crossbreeding in the future.

Now let’s see that 3,000-pound NASCAR bruiser fling itself down a rally stage.

[Source: 43 Fiestas]

Continue reading 43 Fiestas sweepstakes kicks off with excellent NASCAR vs. Rally footage

43 Fiestas sweepstakes kicks off with excellent NASCAR vs. Rally footage