automotive: December 2011

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Carscoop's 2011 Countdown: The Most Popular Offbeat Stories and Videos of the Year

As the year shrivels down to its last hours, we're getting ready to put our keyboards to rest and prepare for our New Year celebrations, but no before we wrap our 2011 Countdown with our final Top 10 list that includes the most popular Offbeat stories of the year.

This year's list includes a wide variety of offbeat news and videos ranging from fancy replicas to crazy accidents and barely dressed female dancers.

So join us for a look back at the most read articles in this segment right after the break. And just in case you missed out, click here for the Top 10 Scoops and here for the Top 10 New Car stories of 2011.

This year's list includes a wide variety of offbeat news and videos ranging from fancy replicas to crazy accidents and barely dressed female dancers.

It's been a terrible year for Saab which ended with the worst possible scenario as after more than six decades of building cars with bespoke designs (or at least for the most part) and some quirky features, the Swedish company filed for bankruptcy on December 20.

Understandably, it's still too early to know what will happen next to the company and its assets, but even though in theory a new party could step in during the bankruptcy process and save the company, the chances for this happening are extremely slim.

The Lexus RX is a competent crossover on the road but it's not the kind of vehicle that will excite you with its off-road capabilities nor will it get you out of trouble when nature gets tough. Then again, it wasn't designed as a thoroughbred 4x4.

A group of men, possibly from Russia or one of the surrounding countries of the former Soviet Union, found that the hard way when what appears to be a Lexus GX was stuck in the mud and an RX came in to help.

See what happens next in the video that follows right after the jump.

Yesterday, we brought you our most popular Scoop Stories of 2011 (to be clear, not the most read overall, but the most viewed spy shot-related piece) and now it's time to tell you which new car presentations drew the most attention from readers this year.

To be honest, while we expected certain cars like the brand-new Volkswagen Beetle and BMW 3-Series sedan to make it on the top 10 list, some of the vehicles and especially the most read single post on a new vehicle even surprised us.

Just goes to show you than you can never be 100 percent sure what kind of stories/vehicles will prove to be the most popular. Curious to find out which new model gathered the most views this year? Sure you are, so just hop over the break and let the countdown on the most read "New Car" stories of 2011 begin…

Manufacturer figures on vehicle performance are not always accurate. That’s why many road test editors prefer to verify the numbers on their own.

Some of them even go as far as dyno-testing to see not only if the output figures match those announced by the manufacturer, but also what is the actual power that is transferred to the road and how much is lost on its way from the engine to the wheels.

Manufacturer figures on vehicle performance are not always accurate. That’s why many road test editors prefer to verify the numbers on their own.

As we reported earlier this week, in a second move this month after imposing new duties on U.S.-made cars, China’s National Development and Reform Commission and its Commerce Ministry announced that they are putting an end to investment incentives, effective from January 30.

The reason being that even though China has more than 70 domestic car manufacturers, the bottom 55 account for only 11 percent of total sales.

As reported by Bloomberg News, General Motors, the biggest automaker in China, is not worried about the new measures. “We expect the new guideline to have minimal negative impact on GM’s future plans in China," the company said in a statement on Friday.

The reason being that even though China has more than 70 domestic car manufacturers, the bottom 55 account for only 11 percent of total sales.

The Year of the Sports Car at California's Mulholland Drive

As one of the most scenic roads in Los Angeles County, the Mulholland Highway is a popular destination for car drivers and motorcyclists alike.

Over the past year, a camera crew recorded many sports cars that made their way pass the twisty roadways and strung together a video with some of the most eye-catching models.

The cars seen in the film range from the new McLaren MP4-12C to a classic Bugatti 57 SC Atlantic (we believe this is a replica owned by Jay Leno), and from an Atom Ariel to the Audi e-tron Spyder Concept.

Buckle up and head over the jump to enjoy the video.

As one of the most scenic roads in Los Angeles County, the Mulholland Highway is a popular destination for car drivers and motorcyclists alike.

Over the past year, a camera crew recorded many sports cars that made their way pass the twisty roadways and strung together a video with some of the most eye-catching models.

Buckle up and head over the jump to enjoy the video.

If you live within the European Union or at least in a neighboring country like Russia or Turkey, and you happen to own a Nissan GT-R (or any sports car, for that matte), the best place to thrash your car is without doubt the world famous Nürburgring race track in Germany.

And given the price of the GT-R, it shouldn't surprise anyone that many owners were indeed able to afford the trip and live the magic of the Nordschleife.

For the rest of us, we'll have to do with a four-minute long video prepared by a YouTube user, which includes many of the Nissan GT-Rs that were spotted on the 'Ring throughout the year. Enjoy the video right after the break.

And given the price of the GT-R, it shouldn't surprise anyone that many owners were indeed able to afford the trip and live the magic of the Nordschleife.

The year that is ending tomorrow night has certainly been a strange one for investors: while the Standard & Poor’s 500 will end flat, stock prices of the automotive industry have experienced a great fall.

After all that’s happened this year with the Euro debt crisis and the U.S. avoiding one at the 11th hour, this was more or less to be expected.

What is surprising though is that the worst performer in terms of stock price is the car company that has regained the number one position globally and rolled out many new competitive products. And yes, we are talking about General Motors, which saw its share price drop by 46 percent!

After all that’s happened this year with the Euro debt crisis and the U.S. avoiding one at the 11th hour, this was more or less to be expected.

This past Sunday, on Christmas day, a chartered flight operated by AMC Airlines with 72 passengers aboard flying from Saudi Arabia to the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta, was forced to make an emergency landing at the Jinnah International Airport (JIAP) in Karachi, Pakistan, after the pilot experienced a problem with the McDonnell Douglas MD-83's nose gear.

Several people captured the life-threatening crash landing on film. Amazingly, the experienced pilot was able through skill and a whole lot of luck to bring the plane down without a single person being hurt.

While Ford is not yet ready to let the cat out of the bag on the brand-new 2013 Fusion (which will form the base for the Mondeo's replacement in Europe as well), the Detroit carmaker revealed today that the mid-size model would debut a new optional safety feature called Lane Keeping System or LKS.

Like the lane departure warning systems used by other car manufactures, the LKS is designed to help drivers stay between the lines.

In the 1980s supercar battle, Ferrari had the raw F40, Porsche the highly sophisticated 959 and Jaguar had, well, nothing. That is, until its chief engineer, Jim Randle, decided to begin work on an unsanctioned project on a mid-engine, all-wheel drive Jag supercar.

The XJ220 concept, named after its 220 mph (350 km/h) claimed top speed, was unveiled at the 1988 British Motor Show. It sported a 6.2-liter version of Jaguar’s classic V12 engine with a quad-cam system developed for testing in the Le Mans XJR-9 racer and, as Randle envisioned, all-wheel drive.

Some gifted people have a knack for turning the simplest of things into works of art. Like David Beattie, the founder and owner of Slot Mods USA, who took a hobby and turned it into a six-figure business.

The former auto show exhibit builder leads a team of artists that create some of the most realistic and staggering hand crafted raceways for slot cars that we have ever laid eyes on.

The choices are endless ranging from vintage raceways to modern day circuits and even replicas of cars that open up to reveal a track like the Porsche 917 racer featured in the opening picture, which is built from fiberglass.

The former auto show exhibit builder leads a team of artists that create some of the most realistic and staggering hand crafted raceways for slot cars that we have ever laid eyes on.

As far as cars are concerned, hearsay is many times more prevalent than the manufacturers’ own advice. One such case is the change of the engine’s oil: most car owners believe that 3,000 miles (5,000 km) is the appropriate mileage for an oil change.

This might have been true a few decades ago when engines needed extra care, but technology has moved on since then.

Nevertheless, despite the fact that almost all new vehicle manuals advise owners to change oil in their cars every 7,500 to 10,000 miles, studies show that a great number of drivers prefer to do things their own way.

"The 3,000-mile oil change just says that the marketing campaign by quick-lube companies has been effective", Steve Mazor, manager of the Auto Club of Southern California's Automotive Research Center, told the Detroit News.

This might have been true a few decades ago when engines needed extra care, but technology has moved on since then.

If you happen to follow the automaker recall notes, you may notice that quite often they involve a specific batch of models, be that for a parts defect or an error during the assembly of a car.

In Honda's case, the safety recall involves only nine Odyssey minivans from the 2012 model year, built from October 31, 2011, through November 30, 2011.

If you happen to follow the automaker recall notes, you may notice that quite often they involve a specific batch of models, be that for a parts defect or an error during the assembly of a car.

In Honda's case, the safety recall involves only nine Odyssey minivans from the 2012 model year, built from October 31, 2011, through November 30, 2011.

The city of Melbourne is one of the best cities to live in, not only in Australia but in the world. Nevertheless, it can also drive you crazy with its variable weather conditions; one minute it's nice and warm and the other you get pounded by rain or even severe hail storms, as happened on Christmas day this year.

In fact, aside from the huge hailstones that damaged around 10,000 vehicles, the ferocious Christmas Day storms that hit Melbourne and northwest Victoria sparked some heavy flash flooding in certain areas.

But the flooded roads were no match for some Aussie firefighters who didn’t even blink an eye when their Isuzu truck plunged into very deep waters of what looks like a street somewhere in the Melbourne suburb of Eltham. Still here? Just go and watch the video we've got after the break.

Ah yes, it's that time again when we all remember the best and worst of the year that was 2011. For our first countdown, we crunched up the numbers on our 10 most popular spy-related stories of the year based on our page views.

Over the course of the year, we brought you close to 300 scoop stories (285 to be precise) but for one reason or the other, these ten articles captured your attention the most.

In the list that follows after the break, you'll find a picture and a link to each story starting from number 10 and climbing to the most popular scoop of 2011. Enjoy!

Over the course of the year, we brought you close to 300 scoop stories (285 to be precise) but for one reason or the other, these ten articles captured your attention the most.

In the list that follows after the break, you'll find a picture and a link to each story starting from number 10 and climbing to the most popular scoop of 2011. Enjoy!

When you are a Major League Baseball Hall of Famer like Tony Gwynn, you can pretty much afford to get whatever ride you like. In Gwynn's case, at some point he fancied a first-generation Chrysler 300 in a coupe form. And he got his wish.

But now, Gwynn's custom-made Chrysler 300 has popped up for sale at Beverly Hills Motor Cars in San Diego with the dealer asking for US$27,950 (€21,700).

General Motors has found itself in a somewhat embarrassing situation as the Detroit-based automaker revealed that some examples of its newly launched 2012 Chevrolet Sonic subcompact model might be missing an inner or outer front brake pad.

The automaker said it became aware of the problem on November 29 when a customer brought a 2012 Sonic into a dealership complaining about noises coming from the brakes. The company noted that here are no known crashes or injuries related to the issue.

In the battle of the ultra-powered pony cars, Ford currently has the upper hand thanks to its outrageous Shelby GT500 that was unveiled last month at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

On the other hand, the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 may fall 100HP short of its archrival’s 650HP, but it will offer a convertible version of the 580HP ZL1 in late 2012, while buyers of the Shelby currently have only one option: the coupe.

In the battle of the ultra-powered pony cars, Ford currently has the upper hand thanks to its outrageous Shelby GT500 that was unveiled last month at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

We have seen various types of vehicles drifting on and off the road but we can't honestly say that we ever remember seeing something like this before.

We will assume that the tanker truck had offloaded its oil before attempting this idiotic drift display – we doubt that the driver would have been able to pull it off if the tank was full.

The only question that remains to be answered is who the biggest fool is: the driver drifting the lorries tank or the man following closely behind? Hop over the jump to watch the video for yourself.

We have seen various types of vehicles drifting on and off the road but we can't honestly say that we ever remember seeing something like this before.

We will assume that the tanker truck had offloaded its oil before attempting this idiotic drift display – we doubt that the driver would have been able to pull it off if the tank was full.

The only question that remains to be answered is who the biggest fool is: the driver drifting the lorries tank or the man following closely behind? Hop over the jump to watch the video for yourself.

Japanese tuning firm Wald International likes to give its customers' rides a sinister look and its take on the new 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS 63 AMG is no exception.

Even though in stock form the AMG version of Mercedes-Benz's sports saloon comes with its own aero-aids, Wald International has prepared a new and more aggressive styling package named Black Bison.

Japanese tuning firm Wald International likes to give its customers' rides a sinister look and its take on the new 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS 63 AMG is no exception.

Even though in stock form the AMG version of Mercedes-Benz's sports saloon comes with its own aero-aids, Wald International has prepared a new and more aggressive styling package named Black Bison.

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Friday, December 30, 2011