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Lexus LFA to compete in Nürburgring 24 Hours

March 16, 2010 at 5:20 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Lexus, Motorsports

The Lexus LFA is heading back to Nürburgring this May, the place where it clocked plenty of testing miles in pre-production form. This time, the mission is to challenge for glory in the famed 24 hours endurance race.

It will be the first time the production LFA enters a competition. However, the car isn’t a stranger to the Nürburgring 24 Hours as development versions of Lexus’ supercar were entered in two previous occasions to help hone performance and handling. Toyota president Akio Toyoda took his turn behind the wheel in those outings.

Gazoo Racing will prepare two LFAs for the race. Led by top Toyota test driver Hiromu Naruse, the team will include four Japanese and three German drivers who between them have outstanding GT and endurance racing experience.

Takayuki Kinoshita is a six-time winner of the Super Taikyu Endurance Series and is the most experienced Japanese driver in the Nürburgring 24 Hours. Akira Ida was overall winner of the Tokachi 24 Hours in 1995 and 2007, and both Juichi Wakisaka and Kazuya Oshima race in Super GT.

The Germans are Armin Hahne, winner of the Spa 24 Hours in 1982 and 1983; Jochen Krumbach, who finished second overall in the 2008 Nürburgring 24 Hours; and Andre Lotterer, reigning Super GT 500 champion. Sepang Super GT regulars will recognise Lotterer as the man who drives for championship winning Team Petronas Tom’s.

The Lexus LFA is powered by a 552 bhp mid-mounted V10 engine, and is capable of 0-100 km/h in 3.7 seconds and a top speed beyond 320 km/h. More images after the jump.
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Toyota fights fire with facts in runaway Prius case

March 16, 2010 at 3:23 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, Toyota

Toyotas running away from their owners are occuring at a frequent rate these days, but are all cases genuine or is there something sinister behind the allegations? Could it be like the scandals facing celebrities, where the first few bonafide revelations open the gates for many “victims” trying to “cash in” on the situation?

One James Sikes called 911 earlier this month, saying that his 2008 Prius was traveling at a high rate of speed, the accelerator pedal was stuck, and that the vehicle was out of control and could not be stopped. The operator repeatedly instructed the driver to shift the car into N and turn off the power button. A California Highway Patrol officer intercepted the vehicle and instructed the driver to press firmly on the brakes, apply the emergency brake and turn off the car, at which time the Prius came to a safe stop.

Toyota engineers employed data analysis, static and dynamic testing and inspected all related components of the “problem car”. A final report is not due yet, but there are “strong indications that the driver’s account of the event is inconsistent with the findings of the preliminary analysis”. Toyota believes that Sikes’ assertion that the vehicle could not be stopped with the brakes is fundamentally inconsistent with basic vehicle design and investigation findings. A congressional staff member and NHTSA officers were present during Toyota’s examination, and the latter are conducting their own investigations.

Among the points raised by the embattled carmaker were that Sikes’ car’s accelerator pedal was tested and found to be working normally (the Prius is not subject to the sticky accelerator pedal recall) and the floor mat wasn’t even touching the gas pedal. During testing, Toyota abused the brakes on purpose by continuous light application in order to overheat them. The vehicle could be safely stopped by means of the brake pedal, even when overheated, and there were also no diagnostic trouble codes found in the power management computer.

Read Toyota’s full press release on its findings after the jump.
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ABT breeds a more dangerous R8 Spyder

March 16, 2010 at 2:04 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Audi, Cars, International News

The Audi R8 Spyder may be very stylish, but it’s no mere poser – the open top variant of Ironman’s machine comes only in V10 form with 525 bhp and 530Nm, good for 0-100 km/h in 4.1 seconds and a top speed of 313 km/h. That’s no small sum, but German tuners will never leave enough as enough, so here’s what ABT, the biggest name in Audi/VW tuning, did to Audi’s drop top supercar.

The 5.2 litre V10 has been massaged to deliver 600 horses, lowering the century sprint time to just 3.8 seconds, while top speed is now a round figure of 320 km/h. Suspension springs lowers the car further and is claimed to improve handling. “When you take a look at the car you can see that it is one of the fastest of the fast – and is really ready for anything,” says ABT. Hmmm…

The Kempten based tuner also says that with its exterior mods, the R8 Spyder’s “power can be seen even when it is at a standstill”. The front grill, front apron, side sills, rear apron, rear spoiler as well as the dual-colour coated ABT BR alloys have been merged into the original design, and as with ABT’s R8 coupe, all the parts are made from carbon fibre. On the options list is ABT’s CR Superlight alloys, which really suit the R8 Spyder with its claw-like spokes.

For a gallery and video of the Audi R8 Spyder, read our previous post here. More pictures of ABT’s version is after the jump.
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GM Advanced Design boss moves to Renault

March 16, 2010 at 12:43 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under General Motors, International News, Renault

GM Europe’s Director of Advanced Design, Anthony Lo, will move to become Vice President of Exterior Design at Renault. In France, he will work under recently appointed Design Director Laurens van den Acker, who replaced Patrick le Quément.

Van den Acker’s flowing style (he previously headed the Nagare movement at Mazda) is in contrast with le Quément’s fascination with boxes – the latter was responsible for daring designs like the Avantime, Vel Satis and the previous generation big booty Megane.

At GM, Lo designed one of my favourite concept cars, the Saab Aero X concept (2006 Geneva), and the Opel Flextreme (2007 Frankfurt). The sleek Saab’s windscreen, doors and windows moved upward in one piece, which not only looks cool, but is a good solution for a low slung sportscar. Prior to GM, Lo sketched for Mercedes and Audi and began his career at Lotus after graduating from the Royal College of Art’s Vehicle Design program.

Source

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Stock clearance promo: Buy Hummer, free shotgun!

March 16, 2010 at 11:25 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, General Motors, International News

Well, this sounds quite disturbing, to me at least. As we all know, Hummer’s proposed sale to China’s Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines failed, and GM is in the process of winding down the brand’s operations. To clear stock, dealer Lynch Hummer is giving away a Browning Citori White Lightning Shotgun with every new Hummer purchased! Just confirms the type of owner Hummer targets, doesn’t it?

Lynch Hummer has teamed up with Browning to make this offer. The Citori White Lightning is a premium over and under shotgun with a retail value of $2,000. “There is now real reason to believe that the current inventory on hand at dealers may be the last of the new Hummers, we wanted to send them off with something memorable,” says Hummer dealer Jim Lynch. “Browning and Hummer are prestigious brands and American Icons – bringing them together is a natural fit.”

Last summer Lynch Hummer, a Hummer dealer since 1994, added guns to the products they offer in their suburban St. Louis location. “Hummer inventory got so low we had to add another product to make up for lost sales. The guns have been a huge hit with our Hummer customers and now we are taking the ‘Guns and Hummers’ concept one step further,” said Lynch. “My hope is that someone will come in and rescue the brand. The right buyer with the right vision could do very well. It will be a real shame if the brand doesn’t survive,” he added.

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Hyundai overtakes Japanese in brand loyalty chart

March 16, 2010 at 10:40 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Hyundai, Koreans

According to the latest Kelley Blue Book Market Intelligence data, Hyundai in the US recently surpassed Honda and Toyota when it comes to making customers happy and retaining them. In addition, Hyundai resale values have been outperforming the car segment average, which is something reserved only for Toyota and Honda in our market. The new Sonata YF was also the fifth most researched car in kbb.com’s Top 10 Most-Researched New Vehicles list.

Comparing February 2010 data to Q4 2009, Hyundai owners looking at new models within the brand increased by 10.4% to 56.3%, good enough for it to top the chart for the first time, up from third place in Q4 2009. In the same timeframe, Toyota fell from top to third spot while Honda held steady at second place. Toyota owners considering a repeat purchase fell by 4.4% to 53.3%. Honda’s score is 55.8%.

At the same time, Kelley Blue Book Values data for Feb 2010 showed that Hyundai outperformed the overall car segment average by a healthy margin, increasing 2% month-over-month, relative to a 0.3% increase for the entire car segment.

“Hyundai is clearly benefiting from ‘a perfect storm’ – a result of introducing passionate new products like the 2011 Sonata and 2010 Tucson, while Honda’s mainstream vehicles like the CR-V and Accord are a bit stale in the marketplace and Toyota is experiencing a huge consumer perception crisis,” said James Bell, executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book’s kbb.com.

This should be another warning sign for the Japanese carmakers, whose models like the Accord and Camry have deep roots in the US top ten best sellers list. Hyundai, along with sister brand Kia and Subaru, were the only carmakers to have increased market share in a troubled 2009.

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2010 Bahrain Grand Prix – Image gallery!

March 15, 2010 at 8:32 pm By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Formula 1, Motorsports

We have managed to get hold of some high-res images of yesterday’s Bahrain Grand Prix which served as the 2010 season opener. Fernando Alonso was the first driver to cross the finish line in his scarlet Ferrari followed by his Brazilian teammte Felipe Massa making it a 1-2 victory for Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton of McLaren was the other driver who made it onto the podium as Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel suffered from a spark plug problem which forced the pole-sitter to finish in fourth place.

Apart from familiar faces, the Grand Prix also featured new faces on the grid including Virgin, Hispania and Lotus Racing. Among these three teams, Lotus emerged on top as both of its drivers managed to finish the 49-lap race. Virgin and Hispania did not enjoy the same as they were part of a retirement sandstorm.

The race also marked the return of 7-times World Champion Michael Schumacher to the sport since 2006 with the Mercedes GP Petronas outfit. Although I was looking forward to the race, I am disspointed with the lack of entertainment as overtaking was very minimal. Despite having more teams the race was quite boring. I believe the race would have been better off without the mid-race refueling ban.

Nevertheless continue reading to view the image gallery.
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VIDEO: Official Pagani Zonda R Commercial

March 15, 2010 at 8:26 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Videos

While the rest of its competitors have slung back and sleek cab rearward designs, the Zonda is unique with its unusual cab forward design. This is the official video commercial for the Pagani Zonda R, and there’s also a really high resolution download link for you in case you want to enjoy it on your desktop. It features two units of the supercar trashing a race track, both dry and wet. Check the video out after the jump!
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Lotus boss Tony Fernandes “over the moon” with Bahrain GP showing

March 15, 2010 at 5:21 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Lotus

Lotus Racing fared the best among the rookie teams in yesterday’s Bahrain GP, with both Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli classified as finishers (15th and 17th). In contrast, the two Virgin and two HRT cars retired, so the team’s stated mission is firmly on track.

Team Principal Tony Fernandes was delighted at the result. “I’m completely over the moon! I cannot describe the feeling. Six months of work and to have both cars finish is just unbelievable. We’re thrilled, we’re happy and the spirit in the team is fantastic. I’m really proud of Jarno and of Heikki and everyone here. It’s a great start and better than I could have dreamt of. We wanted to finish the race and to do so ahead of established teams is fantastic.

“From here we keep going. Before the race Clive Chapman gave me Colin Chapman’s old Lotus cap and said ‘when you win the first race you’ll be the man to throw this up in the air like my Dad used to.’ That meant a lot to me, it was a wonderful gesture and it’s like handing over the mantle of one of motor racing’s great dynasties”

Tech chief Mike Gascoyne was also contented. “I have to say thank you to both drivers. They drove great races – Jarno struggled early on but when he changed to the soft tyre he was much more competitive. Apologies to Heikki because he may have suffered from the strategy, and apologies to Jarno because he had a hydraulics problem and he had to slow down to get the car to the finish, but overall a great result.”

The Lotus Racing pit box and hospitality area saw former stars Emerson Fittipaldi, Mario Andretti and Nigel Mansell dropping by. Perhaps they were drawn in by the fragrance of the nasi lemak served by the Malaysian owned team!

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McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh says Bahrain was boring, calls for rule tweaks

March 15, 2010 at 3:22 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, McLaren

How many of you thought that yesterday’s Formula 1 season opener was boring? I did. Although Bahrain was a much anticipated event, and it’s always fascinating to see new teams, new faces and old faces in new colours, there wasn’t much real racing action to speak of. The FIA comes up with new rules every year which are supposed to make F1 more exciting, but the opposite effect always happens. For instance, the 2010 ban on refuelling took some action out of pit stops and created a track full of heavy cars.

Talking to BBC, McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said that Formula 1 needs to consider immediate rules tweaks to make it more spectacle than processional. “Today was not the best show, we know that and we have all got to work together to improve it.

“I personally believe that more challenging tyres will help the spectacle of the show. I also personally believe that we should have two stops mandated because we want to stop this. Today, if we had had a safety car on lap five, we’d have all piled in (to the pits) and we’d have all gone on the prime tyre and run to lap 49 without a stop. That was a real danger.

“I think that the tyres are allowing you to do that, I’m not trying to pass the blame (on to Bridgestone). We are all in this together. We do need to look at mandatings stops, we do need to look at the tyres and make them more fragile, and we do need to work on making the cars capable of racing close together and easier to overtake,” he said.

The lack of overtaking is an issue, and the Brit has this to say: “Unfortunately the double diffuser, and we have all got them, has really worked against that in the last two years, we have got rid of it for next year but that is arguably a year too late. What can we do this year? It’s go to be work with Bridgestone and potentially mandating more stops in the race.”

What do you think of Formula 1 in its current form?

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