From YouTube – Danica Patrick was involved in a crash on her NASCAR debut. Luckily, this isnt the last we will see of her. She still has two more NASCAR races where she is planned to race. If Danica doesn’t win at all in NASCAR, will she be compared to Anna Kournikova again?
From TheHollywoodReporter – The History Channel has an interest in Top Gear in the US. Can you believe it has been almost two years since NBC chose not to pursue with Top Gear US? Although no hosts have been confirmed yet, I wonder what the History Channel plans to do with the show that it may live up to the UK’s version. Good Luck!
From NY Times – The US Formula One team is currently going through many problems, as expected from any new Formula One team. They dont have a race car that can be crash tested, and the money is running out. There are many rumors going around the world about the US Formula One team, like that the founder of YouTube is no longer supporting the team financially, or that USF1 may join up with Campos Meta1. I anxiously await for there to be an official announcement from the USF1 team, that the 2010 season is a go. Will you be rooting for the US in 2010?
From Variety- From the people who brought you The Fast and the Furious, 2 Fast 2 Furious, The Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift, and Fast and Furious comes Fast Five! Seriously? Fast, Five? Who comes up with these movie titles? Is that the best that they could come up with? Looking back at their box office revenues, The Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift did the worst. Maybe they are afraid that having a long title will make less people want to see the movie.
From Toyota- Toyota has finally released information on the fix for the recalled Toyotas with the accelerator pedal issue. While Toyota now tries to reassure everyone that their cars are not deadly weapons, you can now purchase a piece of history by ordering some “TiRD” merchandise from DonkeyStop.
From LA Times- The residents of Brentwood are very upset with Holger Schubert. Holger Schubert has created a 10-foot bridge that goes from his living-room to Tigertail Road, so that he can park his Ferrari 512 BBi Boxer in his living room. The problem, his construction project created safety hazards to the neighborhoods in that city. Apparently, there is only one car enthusiast in the city of Brentwood, CA.
From YouTube- Audi shows us how we can make sure that the Green Police doesn’t take you or your loved ones off to jail.
From BBC – Robert Kubica signs with Renault to race in Formula One Racing for 2010. Kubica originally raced for BMW Sauber since 2006, and has had only one victory (2008 Canadian Grand Prix). It will be interesting to see how well Kubica will race next year against top competitors Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonzo, and Michael Shumacher.
From Cobra.com – Cobra just announced the launch of their new full color touch screen radar detector. The touch screen provides a graphic interface that makes it easier to set up the radar detector. Does touch screen really make radar detetors that easy to set up? Most radar detectors that I’ve seen only have one button. The touch screen radar detector is Cobra’s first radar detector that costs under $200.
From OCRegister.com – On January 15th and 16th, Orange County Race-Craft, a high perofmrance driving school, will allow supercar owners to learn how to learn the capabilities and limitations of their vehicles. This event came about after the many supercar accidents that have been occuring in Orange County over the past year. Owners can sign up at ocracecraft.com.
From Ford – As consumers demand more gadgets equipped as standard in their car, Ford has taken a step in an unexpected direction by partnering with Best Buy for technical support of their vehicles equipped with SYNC. I hesitate to say a step in the right direction, because this basically means that Best Buy’s Geek Squad will now support & troubleshoot the electronic gadgets in your future Ford vehicle. Now, I’m sure there are some pretty sharp Geek Squad technicians out there but I think you may have a better chance to win the lottery than to get one of them to service your vehicle.
From EGrandPrix – Tree huggers rejoice! In June 2010, Paris will hold the worlds first all electric car and motorcycle races. Outrageous (in a good sense) mileage figures aside, what about the various chemicals and toxins put into the atmosphere when an electric vehicle hits the scrap heap? What about the fact that more toxicity is produced from “retiring” an electric vehicle than a gas-powered vehicle? All excitement aside, I think I’ll stick to Formula 1.
From Aston Martin – This week, Aston Martin released pictures of its latest vehicle, the Cygnet. Described as a “luxury commuter,” it looks like the illegitimate lovechild between an Aston and Toyota Yaris. The price tag of this James-Bonded Toyota iQ will be around $32k. How many shaken martinis will James Bond need before getting in one of these?
From Audi – It looks like Audi set the bar a little higher by incorporating Google Earth into the 2011 Audi A8. Aside from terrain-mapping, it also allows you to do an Internet search on the map via a UMTS modem for data transfers. Could this be the end for updating navigation DVDs for our cars? We will just have to wait and see.
From BBC – The Silverstone Circuit has signed a 17-year deal (17 years??!! – Ed.) with Formula One to host the British Grand Prix. Silverstone was the host of the first Grand Prix championship in 1950, and since 1987, hosted every British Grand Prix in Formula One. Donington Park was supposed to be the new venue for the British Grand Prix this year beginning next year, but their finances fell through the floor.
From LA Times – OMG! Danica Patrick is in NASCAR. On Tuesday, Danica Patrick announced that she would drive in a “limited number” of races in NASCAR’s Nationwide Series. Danica’s IndyCar resume consists of 1 win, 3 poles, and 81 starts. Her first season was in 2005, and she finished 5th (best career finish) in 2009. Not bad for a 27 year old, but in my personal opinion, it’s better to be great at one thing, than so-so in many things.
From Reuters – Volkswagen is buying a 20% stake in Suzuki for $2.5 billion. This is not too long after Volkswagen just bought a 49.9% stake in Porsche AG. After this transaction, VW will have stake in 11 different car brands. VW’s goal is to become the world’s number one automaker by 2018. Toyota, we await for your rebuttal.
Audi has been producing really great vehicles as of late and diesel is gaining more traction in the US market. Buyers are finally realizing that today’s diesel-powered cars are not like those of old. Gone are black plumes of soot coming out of diesel vehicles, now effectively eliminated by urea injection within the exhaust path. So what do you get when you combine the sport Audi A3 and a TDI diesel engine? The 2010 Green Car of the Year award, of course.
Announced at the LA Auto Show, Green Car Journal / GreenCar.com presented the honors to Audi of America President Johan de Nysschen. With an EPA-estimated 42mpg highway fuel economy figure, this is proof yet again that a fun, enjoyable driving experience and fuel efficiency aren’t mutually exclusive.
Congratulations to Audi!
From Suzuki.com – Are you a new car buyer looking for a sporty mid-sized sedan? Are the Acura TSX and Audi A4 on your list? If so, how about a free $100, or maybe a car that you overlooked? From now until January 31st, 2010, if you purchase a 2010 Acura TSX or Audi A4 within ten days of test driving the Suzuki Kizashi, and submit proper documentation within 30 days of purchase, Suzuki will give you $100. This is a great offer in my opinion, a total win-win situation. Have you taken the Kizashi Test-Drive Challenge? If so, we’d love to hear your experience!
We’re so confident you’ll love the Suzuki Kizashi, we’ll give you $100 if you test drive it and still buy an Acura TSX® or Audi A4®.
“The car ran to 60 MPH in 7.8 seconds, and the 1/4 mile in 16 seconds at 88 MPH. This puts it in the same league as the Acura TSX.”
— Road & Track“Kizashi is easily the most athletic car in its class, and even a few rungs up … We tested the Kizashi against even some cars a few classes up like VW Passat, Acura TSX and Audi A4.”
— Left Lane NewsSuzuki is confident that the Kizashi provides a compelling alternative to pricey premium sports sedans. So confident, in fact that we will pay $100 for any qualified buyer of a new 2010 Audi A4 2.0T or 2010 Acura TSX 2.4 if they first test-drive a Kizashi and still decide to purchase the more expensive premium branded sedan.
Through January 31, 2010, simply download the program form from below and take to any Suzuki Dealer and complete the Suzuki Kizashi test drive, purchase a 2010 Acura TSX or Audi A4 within ten days of test driving the Suzuki Kizashi, and submit copies of the proper documentation to the address found on the program form within 30 days of purchase.