Archive for October, 2009
Lotus F1 Team seem very determined to resolve the organizational issues within their team as soon as possible, in order to switch focus completely to the development of their 2010 challenger in Formula One. After the Malaysian company proceeded to some managerial changes during the past week, their F1 operations also named a new CEO in the person of Riad Asmat.
Only hours before the official start of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the Malaysian team made the official announcement about their new CEO, who used to be general manager at Proton before accepting the Lotus offer. Asmat will therefore work with Air Asia’s Tony Fernandez to bring the new team up and ready to the Bahrain grid next year.
Kia Forte 2010
Oct 31
It’s not that there was much wrong with the Forte’s predecessor. In fact, the last time we drove a Kia Spectra, we walked away wondering if anything more might be overkill. The Spectra was good but tended to blend in with a crowd, and Kia’s not into playing the role of wallflower anymore. In contrast, the Forte boldly saunters into the middle of the dance floor, comfortable in the hot glow of the pin spot, with the confidence of Tony Manero after a trip to the tailor.
Clearly, the Kia Forte looks remarkably better than the econobox it replaces and attracts the right kind of attention to the brand. Everywhere it goes, the Forte is a surprising conversation piece, though many aren’t sure exactly what it is. With Kia’s value pricing, you also get a lot for your dollar. So does it have the hat trick of style, value and performance? When the key to this black Forte SX tester was pressed into the palm of our hand, we were ready to find out.
It seems like an odd juxtaposition, but “going green” and motorsports have been increasingly paired together lately. In the United States, the American Le Mans Series initiated the Green X Challenge this past season with a focus on creating the least amount of negative impact on the environment. Winning teams even get trophies made from recycled Michelin tires.
For the past several years, Volkswagen has had its own version of green racing in Europe with the Polo Cup, but for 2010 they will be making the switch to a natural gas-powered Scirocco as the vehicle of choice for the one-make series. Each of the cars will feature a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine fueled by Bio-CNG, which is produced using renewable sources like grass, corn or biological waste. The Scirocco Cup has also signed on to become a partner with DTM series, and will also pit young talent against motorsports legends at each race.
Honda Motor announced today that the Committee of Japan Automotive Hall of Fame has awarded its Car of the Year 2009-2010 title to the Honda Insight. The Japanese automaker was appreciated thanks to its strategy of affordable pricing Honda used in marketing the Insight, the Insight’s driving and environmental performance, and the performance and fuel economy at cruising and higher speeds offered by the Integrated Motor Assist (IMA), Honda’s original hybrid system.
Honda took the opportunity to remind us of how well its vehicles are perceived in Japan. Being beaten this year by rival Toyota and its Prius, Honda took us down memory lane to give us a taste of what they achieved so far.
He may not be ready for a potential Formula One return in the near future, but Michael Schumacher is sure ready to show the world that he still has what it takes to fight for the win in the much awaited Race of Champions (ROC) at Beijing’s Birds Nest Stadium.
This will be the first time the event will take place in China, after previous outings at Stade de France stadium in Paris and Wembley Stadium in London. Schu is a constant competitor in the event, but has so far missed out on the title in the individual challenge. In the Nations Cup, however, the German ace recorded back-to-back wins in 2007 and 2008, both alongside compatriot Sebastian Vettel.
The pair will continue to compete for Team Germany this year also, as the opening day schedules the action in the Nations Cup.
It’s most men’s dream — and the chance to sit next to racing champion Michael Schumacher has been won by Mr. Bao, a representative of HENGYUANXIANG, one of the official sponsors of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Mr Bao won the auction with his bid of 230,000 RMB to win the coveted seat next to Schumacher during the upcoming 2009 Race of Champions.
But Bao is denying himself the ride of his life, claiming that he is only bidding for his company and whoever is going to be shoulder-to-shoulder with the auto king is still undecided.
Xu Yingde, head of the auction company, said it is a worthy price. And runner up Mr. Yan Zhenhua, who lost the bidding by a slim margin, was very disappointed.
The auction was held at the International Conference Centre Thursday afternoon. The 2009 Race of Champions roars off the starting grid in the Bird’s Nest early November.
Back in the 90s, shortly after Lotus introduced the original Elise, the company made it known that platform was designed to be easily adapted to different applications including different powertrains. Any companies that were interested in a platform for a niche products using its own powertrains were welcome to use the Elise underpinnings. Over the years, it spawned several race and concept cars as well as the Opel GT, Vauxhall VX220 and, of course, the Tesla Roadster.
Now that Lotus finally has its first all-new car in 14 years, the Evora, and several hundred have been delivered to customers, the same offer is again on the table. In fact, this time the presentation from Lotus Engineering even shows the Evora chassis carrying an electric powertrain. The versatile vehicle architecture is made largely from aluminum extrusions which can be cut off in different lengths, allowing the chassis to readily be adjusted for length and width as needed. To date no company that we’re aware of has adopted the Evora platform. However, given the comparative success of Tesla in using the Elise as a starting point and the increased size of the Evora, it should do even better for potential customers. The full presentation is after the jump.
[Source: LotusEnthusiast]
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There’s our buddy and rally/drift/stunt maestro Tanner Foust (on the right), arm in arm with Michael Schumacher at the 2008 Race of Champions (ROC) held in Wembley Stadium, London. Tanner went as a last minute substitute after Travis Pastrana broke his hip (and ankle) trying to flip a truck. However, in a supposedly backup roll, Foust went on to beat current F1 Champ Jenson Button in front of 80,000 fans before being knocked out of the competition by 2008 ROC runner-up David Coulthard. The 2008 ROC overall winner was none other than Sebastian Loeb.
If you don’t know, the Race of Champions was founded in 1988 by former Group B legend Michèle Mouton and is the only race where drivers from different disciplines get the chance to compete against each other in a variety of events utilizing a whole bunch of different cars. The driver skill sets include F1, NASCAR, touring cars, and more recently rally and drift. Last year’s cars included everything from a KTM X-Bow to a WRC Ford Focus to special ROC dune buggy. This year should be about the same. 2009 marks a big change for ROC as it leaves jolly old England and heads to China. Bejing specifically and the Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium designed by Herzod and de Meuron.
This year both Foust and Pastrana will be representing Old Glory as the sole American competitors. “I’m very honored to receive the re-invite to the Race of Champions,” says Foust. “Pastrana will be the perfect teammate. He’s good under pressure, undeniably fast and never misses a side bet.” In addition to the ROC, Foust will be participating in daily drift events against a “top Chinese drifter.” Having done a bit of dorifto with Mr. Foust ourselves, this Chinese cat had better be good. Like, real good. Best of luck to both Tanner and Travis, as they’re going to need it against guys like Schumacher and Pirro. The Race of Champions takes place November 3-4.
Source: Autoblog
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