Hunger is palpable in Formula One racing. The teams at the front are hungry for wins, while the teams at the back are hungry to claw their way up the field. But Sauber is just starving.
The Switzerland-based privateer team owned and operated by Peter Sauber has been struggling to find financial backing since BMW divested back in 2009. But somehow the team still manages to stay afloat, though to what end we have to wonder when the second and third places it achieved under Bavarian ownership in 2007 and 2008 have since dropped off dramatically to eighth and seventh in the past two seasons.
This year Sauber returns with little in the way of sponsorship and two relative newcomers in Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez behind the wheel. James Key has stepped down from his position as the team's technical director, an opening which Sauber does not intend to immediately fill. Engines are provided once more by Ferrari, and the nose is stepped and the hind-quarters tapered in similar fashion to most of the other cars revealed thus far.
Will this season and the new C31 chassis be the ticket towards Sauber finding sustenance in the most competitive of motorsports? We'll have to wait and see, but in the meantime you can check out the expansive gallery of high-resolution images from the launch at Jerez and the press release after the jump.
Behold, the 2012 Mazda MX-5 Miata Special Edition. The Japanese automaker will officially unveil the limited-production Miata under the lights of the 2012 Chicago Auto Show later today, featuring new goodies like a contrasting black retractable hard top and 17-inch gunmetal wheels.
This is the first time in the vehicle's history that the MX-5 Miata has been available with a non-matching hard top in the States. Mazda will only produce 450 units, and each one carries black leather heated seats with contrasting stitching as well as piano black trim panels indoors. Outside, buyers can choose between two exclusive colors: Velocity Red and Crystal White Pearl.
If you want one as badly as we do, Mazda will kindly ask you to hand over $31,225 for models boasting a six-speed manual transmission or $31,675 if you want the automatic (you don't). That cash will buy you a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine good for 158 horsepower pushing a 2,593-pound vehicle and all of the niceties that come with Grand Touring trim. Hit the jump for the full press release.
The four-door Elantra already wears pretty rakish sheetmetal that carries over nicely to the Coupe, which is actually half an inch longer than the sedan (173.8 inches versus 173.3 inches). The other dimensions are identical to the sedan, and Hyundai cites greater interior room as one of the Coupe's advantages over its competition. By contrast, the Honda Civic Coupe is 0.3 inches shorter than the Elantra Coupe, and the Honda rides on a three-inch shorter wheelbase.
The Elantra Coupe has more power than the Honda Civic Coupe and the manual should get 1 mpg more in the city and 4 more mpg on the highway
Hyundai's new two-door gets the same 1.8-liter inline four-cylinder being liberally spread across the line, with the same 148 horsepower and 131 pound-feet as the Elantra GT and the same pair of six-speed manual and automatic transmissions. Mileage is estimated to be 29 city/40 highway for the manual and 28 city/39 highway for auto. This means the Elantra Coupe has more power than the Honda Civic Coupe and, if the fuel economy numbers hold true, the manual would get 1 mpg more in the city and 4 more mpg on the highway, but both slushbox cars would be dead even.
There will be two Elantra Coupe trims: base GS or top-spec SE. Both have been tuned for extra sportiness versus the sedan and, as we've come to expect, while Hyundai throws plenty at the GS, the SE gets the truly sporty goods. The SE swaps the 16-inch standard rims for 17-inchers, gets a rear "lip spoiler design element," even more suspension tuning for its lower-profile tires, and only it offers the option of touchscreen navigation and a rear-view camera. Both models, however, will get seven exterior colors, three of them Coupe-only, but inside it's nothing but black or grey.
Pricing should come soon, but for now, enjoy the press release after the jump and the high-res gallery of images. Stay tuned for more impressions live from the Chicago Auto Show floor.
The GT is the U.S. version of the European i30, and it's quite a looker if you're a fan of Hyundai's Fluidic Sculpture design language. Under the hood, you'll find the same 1.8-liter inline four-cylinder as the sedan, sending 148 horsepower and 131 pound-feet of torque to the ground via either a six-speed manual or automatic transmission. That puts it in the thick of a competitive set that, for Hyundai, also includes the Subaru Impreza and Toyota Matrix, but gives it the best power-to-weight ratio of them all. That's because the Elantra GT is 57 percent ultra high- and high-tensile steel, which helps keep its weight down to a lightest-in-segment 2,784 pounds when equipped with the automatic transmission.
Fuel economy is the beneficiary, with the automaker estimating an EPA rating of 28 miles per gallon in the city and 39 mpg on the highway (32 combined). Hyundai says this is good for a cruising range up to 448 miles.
Driving pleasure will be attended to with a sport-tuned suspension that uses MacPherson struts up front aided by a stabilizer bar, and a torsion bar setup out back. The real pleasures, though, are claimed on the inside, where the Elantra GT is said to provide more cargo room than the aforementioned competition and even the Nissan Juke. The mod-cons are prodigious and include, as standard, a cooled glovebox, heated front seats, 10-way power driver's seat, leather seating surfaces, automatic headlights, Bluetooth and seven airbags.
The 2013 Elantra GT goes on sale this summer. Have a read of the press release after the jump and stay tuned for live pics from our team at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show.
Today, Ford celebrates SVT's platinum anniversary the only way it knows how: with another Mustang variant. And as suspected, it comes in the form of a topless Shelby GT500.
Just as a refresher, at the 1992 show in Chicago the SVT Cobra put out 235 horsepower from its Vanilla Ice-approved 5.0-liter V8. Twenty years later, displacement has grown by less than a liter, but thanks to some 21st century tech and a massive supercharger, the 5.8-liter V8 in the 2013 Ford Shelby GT500 Convertible makes the same 650 hp (and 600 pound-feet of torque) as its coupe counterpart, laying claim to the most powerful production V8 in the world.
In addition to the carbon fiber driveshaft, upgraded clutch, transmission and axle, SVT fitted its own specially developed Bilstein electronic adjustable dampers, along with six-piston Brembo calipers squeezing massive discs up front.
Like the coupe, the Bilstein setup is part of the Performance Package (why it's not included as standard is beyond us) and Ford will also offer a Track Pack that includes an external oil cooler, differential cooler and transmission cooler to keep temps in check when flogging the drop top around the tarmac.
And before you ask: No, the GT500 coupe's 200 mph top speed doesn't carry over to the Convertible. In a rare moment of sanity, Ford's engineers saw fit to limit the GT500 'vert to 155 mph - like the rest of the roofless Mustangs. Hit the jump for the full details.
The 2013 Acura ILX is here, and it will be one of the new first-responders to address the perception of Acura's weakened health. It might just be our eyes, but the transition to Acura-spec wheels and paint job makes this look much more of-the-family than the concept shown in Detroit. However, the production lines remain true, minus some of the chrome showy bits from the concept.
Motivation will be provided by either a 150-horsepower, 2.0-liter four-cylinder working through a five-speed automatic, a 201-hp, 2.4-liter with a six-speed manual, or the first Acura hybrid with a 111-hp, 1.5-liter four-cylinder getting help from Integrated Motor Assist and a CVT, good for fuel economy estimates of 35/38 miles per gallon, city/highway. Follow the jump for a press release with more information, and look out for live pics from our team at the Chicago Auto Show.
More room, more power, more fuel efficiency and more advanced all-wheel drive are the four unique selling propositions for the 2013 Acura RDX. As with the 2013 ILX, the productionized version of Acura's people-hauler is very, very similar to the RDX Concept from Detroit with a new set of wheels and a new paint job.
The 3.5-liter V6 throws 33 more horsepower into the mix versus the previous generation's turbocharged four, and a brand new six-speed automatic transmission helps return an estimated 20 city/28 highway mile-per-gallon rating for the front-wheel-drive model. The AWD version only takes a slight knock from there, getting 19 city/27 highway.
The longer wheelbase and wider track equate to more room inside, and additional levels of luxury have been added features like Keyless Access, Pandora and an available power rear liftgate. There's plenty more information on it in the press release after the jump, and we'll have live shots from the Chicago Auto Show soon.
Literally two days after my last update about our long-term Mini Countryman, I found myself trudging through a snowstorm at 30 miles per hour on Interstate 94 along Michigan's west coast. I guess Mother Nature had heard my cries about not being able to test our Mini in the snow, and decided to reward me with super slippery roads and poor visibility for two and a half hours straight. Lovely.
Mile after mile, the Mini dutifully carried on while I watched large SUVs and a host of mid-size sedans slide off into the ditches on either side of I-94. I've lived in southeast Michigan my entire life, and I know how to drive in the slushy, slick stuff, but there's nothing quite like the combination of all-wheel drive and proper winter tires for times like this - it not only helps with driver confidence, but makes the whole process of safely navigating through a snowstorm much less fatiguing. Mini's All4 all-wheel-drive system made sure power was being sent to exactly which wheels needed it most, and our car's Bridgestone Blizzak WS-70 winter tires provided by the folks at Tire Rack kept the rollers from slipping during acceleration or skidding during braking.
After using the Mini to schlep many an Autoblog staff member to and from various Detroit Auto Show happenings, I handed the Countryman off to executive editor Chris Paukert, who turned it back over praising the All4 system and snow tires' handling on split-mu surfaces - even with the driver's side tires on wet asphalt and the passenger-side wheels trudging through ice and slush, the Mini remained confident and steady despite times when traction coefficients differed at every corner.
The Countryman now resides in Cleveland, Ohio, where it will be under Editor-in-Chief John Neff's care for the next month. We haven't had any snow to speak of since sending the Mini to Ohio, but I'm sure if Neff complains enough, Mother Nature will reward him with a big ol' lake-effect dumping to the Lake Erie coast so he can see just how good our All4/Blizzak combo is.
Keep your eyes locked on the official Autoblog Facebook page for the majority of our updates, as well as the official Autoblog Twitter account (@therealautoblog, look for the #ablongterm hashtag).
Mercedes-Benz has no interest in pursuing BMW down the diesel performance rabbit hole, according to Autocar. The publication spoke with Ola Kallenius, chairman of the board of management at Mercedes-Benz AMG, who said the company explored the idea of performance diesels in the past and found the concept too fraught with compromises to be worthwhile. Kallenius said gasoline engines have obvious advantages when it comes to weight, sound, agility and response. The AMG guru also pointed to the fact that the company's modern performance engines have borrowed considerable diesel technology, including direct injection and turbocharging, to reach their current power and efficiency levels.
In a separate report, Kallenius was quoted as saying it would be wise to grow the AMG brand after the success of the SLS AMG coupe and roadster. Rumors have indicated a machine capable of giving the Porsche 911 a run for its money around the world's race tracks may be in the cards, but Kallenius said no final decision has been made about growing the performance arm's ranks just yet. Still, the boss didn't outright nix the idea, so there's some glimmer of possibility there, however thin.
Chrysler's tagline is "Imported From Detroit," but when it came to shooting this year's Super Bowl commercial, most of the job got exported to other locales. According to The Weekly Standard, much of the footage in the Chrysler ad, starring and narrated by actor Clint Eastwood, was shot in Los Angeles and New Orleans. The only footage of Detroit used in the "Halftime in America" commercial wasn't shot specifically for this year's ad, according to the report.
While this revelation isn't out-of-line given the imagery used, which was certainly less focused on Detroit than last year's Super Bowl commercial starring rapper Eminem, the fact that "Halftime in America" was not shot in Michigan is still another bitter pill to swallow for locals. Michigan's once-burgeoning film industry is reeling from state lawmakers' decision in October to cut film production incentives.
According to this report in The Huffington Post, the film industry was booming in the state before the cuts, leading to both job growth and millions spent by filmmakers on ancillary expenses. But a new state budget caps rebates to film productions at $25 million, nearly $100 million less than the state provided in 2010, according to the report. The decision has led some Hollywood producers to cancel plans to film in Michigan.
There are luxury automakers, there are mainstream automakers, and then there are those in between. Volvo, we'd argue, is one of those marques that doesn't quite compete in the same market as, say, Mercedes-Benz or Lexus, but that looks as if it's about to change.
The Swedish automaker has been toying for years with the idea of building a new flagship to take on the likes of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, BMW 7 Series, Audi A8 and Lexus LS, but while Volvo has dragged its feet on the prospect in the past, a series of what look like patent renderings that have leaked their way online give us what could prove the strongest indication yet of Volvo's intent.
For better or worse, the renderings bear the hallmark of recent Volvo designs like the Concept Universe (unveiled in Shanghai last year), the Concept You (showcased in Frankfurt) and the upcoming next-generation XC90 - complete with the gaping maw that seems to mock the face we make when we look at these examples of this particular styling direction.
Of course, given the big wheels, showcar grille, delicate mirrors and suicide rear doors (not to mention the overall form), it seems more likely we're looking at renderings for the Concept Universe rather than a production model in the making, but that just leaves us wondering what the patent filing is for. We'll just have to wait a while to find out one way or another.
This is awkward. According to The Detroit Free Press, the now famous Made In Detroit apparel may come from as far away as the Dominican Republic. While Bobby Moscow, LLC, the company behind the official Made In Detroit shirts, designs and screen prints the Ts and other garb in Detroit proper, the raw materials are sourced from elsewhere. The company uses between eight and 10 different suppliers, and they may provide shirts from all over the globe. While some of the Ts come from a small company in Ohio, Buddy Moscow says it is currently working to ensure more of its products are made here in the States.
The original Made In Detroit shirts inspired by the 2011 Super Bowl Chrysler commercial featuring Eminem were, in fact, made right here in the land of the free. Chrysler said the company felt it was important for the products to be made here given the slogan. The automaker isn't affiliated with the new line of Kid Rock-approved Bobby Moscow apparel.
Some fans of the Buddy Moscow pieces have noticed the shirts come without any tags at all, leading to questions about whether or not the Ts were actually made in China. As it turns out, the tags were simply removed to facilitate screen printing in-collar labels.
Nissan is busily putting the 2013 Altima prototype through its paces ahead of the vehicle's debut later this year and spy photographers spotted the vehicle on public streets wearing a new vinyl wrap designed to obfuscate the model's lines. Even so, we can clearly see a few more details about the upcoming sedan.
From the looks of things, the vehicle received more than a little inspiration from the Nissan Ellure Concept. With a contoured body line and headlights borrowed from the 370Z, the vehicle looks to have quite a bit more personality than in years past. Additionally, the same boomerang line found in the headlight housings also look to be transposed on to the vehicle's C pillars and tail lamps, though the look isn't as exaggerated as we saw on the Ellure.
The photogs also garnered a glimpse into the vehicle's cabin, giving us the first look at the dash in the 2013 Altima. The sedan will likely come with the same intelligent key system found elsewhere in the Nissan line, and the center stack and steering wheel have seen some love as well. Word has it the Altima will debut with a new hybrid drivetrain that makes use of a an electric motor paired with a supercharged four-cylinder engine and a lithium-ion battery pack.
Episode #268 of the Autoblog Podcast is here with Chris, Dan, and Zach. Topics include our favorite automotive Superbowl commercials, the pre-Geneva preview of the Fiat 500L, Honda losing a small-claims lawsuit over Civic Hybrid fuel economy numbers, and self-driving LeMons cars. Your questions and comments power the end of the 'cast, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. We've embedded our Q&A module after the jumpfor you to scroll through and follow along, too. Thanks for listening!
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When spending big dollars on a Super Bowl ad buy, companies would do themselves well to remember that the successful spots aren't just the ones being talked about the next day. The ads that more eyeballs actually saw while watching the game were also worth their weight in focus groups.
For the second year in a row, General Motors is claiming that it aired the most watched ad during the most watched event in U.S. TV history. We are speaking of the 30-second spot entitled "Green Hell" featuring the Cadillac ATS that aired during the game's most tense moments, right after the official two-minute warning was reached. The time was 9:37 PM EST and, according to analysis by Kantar Media, more people were watching NBC's broadcast at that time than any other.
And since this year's Super Bowl was again viewed by another record audience - 111.3 million viewers in the U.S., not to mention over a billion worldwide - the ATS ad therefore becomes the most watched advertisement on television in U.S. history.
News on the next-generation 2015 Audi R8 has been spilling forth for a bit now, but a report in Autocar has begun to put them into a single package. We knew that next R8 wouldn't offer a manual option, only a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, and that the monocoque would be a lighter, aluminum and carbon affair. Audi has apparently pegged a target weight of under 1,500 kilograms (3,300 pounds), meaning it will shed more than 135 kg (305 lbs.) versus today's 4.2-liter V8 manual.
That will make the two engines in the next car - refined versions of the current naturally aspirated V8 and V10 - even more potent. Autocar didn't mention an increase in displacement, but horsepower bumps were rated at 20 hp for the V8, to 450 hp, and 25 hp for the V10, to 550 hp. The GT will also benefit from 20 additional horses, getting 580 hp. More interestingly, neither mill will benefit from forced induction as Audi wants to maintain "the throttle response, the soaring nature of the delivery and the inherent sound."
The evolution or disappearance of the sideblades on the "clean-sheet design" also wasn't broached, but the trademark signifiers don't appear in Autocar's rendering. The report states that it will take cues from the R8 e-tron (pictured), but they see intakes at the door shut-line, which feature very MP4-12C-like dual strakes. It's only a rendering, but if sideblades are what you're after then the future doesn't look bright. We'll see the sibling Lamborghini Gallardo replacement next year, a year before the R8 is shown in 2014.
As we wind down its year in the Autoblog fleet, we also saw fit to address some cosmetic damage to the front fascia and have our 22,500-mile service completed. While the service was free, the "minor" scrape on the lower corner of the bumper skirt set us back some $669.25. Our time with the Equus ends in just a few weeks, which means we'll only have limited time to enjoy the now-comfortable seat. This has been one of our biggest issues with the car, and to have it finally fixed after all this time is so wonderful that some editors are grumbling that they won't have the chance to get back in the car again.
We do wish, however, that the seat bottom wasn't made to look even more worn by the contrast of the brand new seat back. At least we don't have to look at it while we drive around enjoying the comfort of the now-working back massager.
The world doesn't need another automaker claiming to have cracked the code for a fun-to-drive hybrid. The concept hasn't worked particularly well in any application. Just ask Lexus. And Honda. Twice.
Granted, we don't know how Volkswagen plans to pitch the 2013 Jetta Hybrid when it goes on sale this fall. We didn't get a two-hour long marketing presentation and associated PowerPoint. Instead, we snagged the keys while an executive-level engineer droned on about next-gen modular EGR systems and EU4-compliant oxidation catalytic converters.
We needed an escape and the Jetta Hybrid was it.
So maybe it was the sub-zero temps outside the VW pavilion in Wolfsburg, Germany or the chance to do something - anything - to combat the effects of three hours of sleep in 36 hours. But what we found during our all-too-brief drive of the Jetta Hybrid wasn't a cynical engineering-meets-marketing stop-gap, but instead the first compelling alternative to the Toyota Prius.
Classic cars have been getting all kinds of love and money lately. Classic wheels, not so much. HRE has introduced a new line called the Vintage Series that puts old rims in a new light.
There are three in the range for now. The 454 "five-window" you'll recognize from old Lamborghini Countach posters, the 505 "thick five-spoke" reminscent of the Ferrari 288 GTO and F40, and the 501 "mesh lace" worn to terrific effect by racing Porsches from decades past.
Sized from 18- to 20-inch diameters and from seven to 14 inches wide, all are forged of aerospace-grade alloys and are hand-finished to the customer's order. They just might make it all right to work backwards on your next car project: get the wheels first, add the Countach LP5000 QV later. There's a press release with more info after the jump and, of course, a high-res image gallery.
Much as we love the Mini Clubman and its rear-hinged, passenger-side door, this would be an incredibly stupid idea. Functionality is one thing, but ruining the design of the fetching Mini Cooper hardtop would be a downright shame.
Nevertheless, Autocar reports that a rear-hinged door could be in store for the next Mini. A recent set of spy shots showed a Cooper hardtop prototype with an unusually short driver door with what appears to be a small suicide door behind it. Our best guess? This could just be Mini playing with door configurations, since the automaker received quite a bit of criticism for the placement of the Clubman's rear door in right-hand-drive markets.
Mini is keen on the rear-hinged door idea, though. Autocar states that the next-generation Clubman is expected to get a door on either side instead of just one, and that rear-hinged doors will be found on the Countryman-based Paceman coupe, as well. Fine by us, but please, leave them off the original hardtop.
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