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2011 Chevy Volt

Whats the most anticipated American car after the first ford mustang back in the 60’s? Yes its the Chevy Volt, sad part is it came too little too late to save American car industry, This car could be the one who can beat the giant Toyota prius. I’ll give you an example why timing is everything remember the battle of the MP3 players, the apple’s ipod vs the Sony MP3 walkman, apple released its product the ipod 6 months before Sony released its MP3 player and 8 years look who still on top the ipod, its all about timing or you’ll just play catch up.

The link on the video
http://gmtv.feedroom.com/index.jsp?fr_story=993d5ba30f20760fcaee6f0606d20582b0899d1f

2011 CR-X scoop

I guess good news to CR-X fans, maybe an optional hybrid version also for people who wants a sporty insight. bad news is we don’t know if honda will bring it to US, no spec yet but at least a 2 door light weight coupe is on its way.

Blue devil vs Blue angel

What do the tax waisting blue angel do with our tax money yes race a ZR1? OK i know its been done before by Top gear UK but I guess Motor Trend wants its own stimulus money. If you like vanilla motor trend is for you, I’m not trying to slam the boring magazine thats been around since my dad was a teen or just like GM its still trying to catch up with the rest of the automotive world.

Ok let go back to the video, it shows a ZR1 vette vs a F18 hornet, but whats remarkable about this is the commentator is slamming some super cars like the Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche and Nissan GTR. saying “the ZR1 likes to eat fried Ferrari for breakfast, lunch on Lamborghini, dinner on Porsche and snacks on GTR” well i can tell food was his topic not the ZR1 (just a joke im not making fun of his weight). Suggestion if you want to slam this super cars you’ll need to do more than go a straight line to beat them, The vette was never been taken seriously out side the US maybe for the past decade or so suck in handling and looks. But maybe this ZR1 can make all that go away, maybe this can be the one, before i go ill leave you this question will the Corvette will be taken seriously in the super car world?

Is Toyota FT-HS back in action

They say the FT-HS is supposed to be the Supras successor but ever since 2007 Detroit auto show no news made about a prototype and supposed to debut 2009. guess what we are in the middle of 2009 and no FT-HS has been seen or heard of, only thing news Toyota is making are the massive 2nd quarter lost and the toyota/subaru collaboration, which i may say is not even seen a concept model of this project yet. OK back to the FT-HS, they say that this car will have a hybrid gas and electric engine same motor found on the Lexus GS450h a 3.5liter V6 hybrid that makes 340hp. I already speculated that Toyota’s golden year will be back as soon a they release all this sports car from the LF-A, FT-HS and the 086A.

Analysts do not see the car recovery before 2011

source: Forwheels

The European car sales has been badly affected by the global economic downturn and this has resulted in the introduction of scrappage incentive strategies in a number of nations. Some analysts do not see recovery before 2011.

According to these analysts what could change the picture for 2009 is an extension of the scrappage incentives. The stopping of the scheme will have a recessionary consequence. In the same vein, analysts are saying that US markets will recover earlier, maybe by the end of this year.

The Stig Revealed himself – TopGear

The first episode of the thirteenth season of Top Gear that aired on BBC on Sunday, June 21st, started with a big bang as Jeremy Clarkson unmasked ‘The Stig’ revealing his true identity in front of a live audience. However, whether the mystery has finally been solved is still up for debate – you can’t be certain with these chaps, perhaps it’s another prank from Clarkson and his fellow presenters, who knows. What’s not up for discussion is the marvelous marketing strategy behind Top Gear. But anyway, we not going to spoil the surprise for you – no, it’s not Susan Boyle. Hit the jump to find out the identify of ‘The Stig’ and tell us what you think.

How to fix a flat tire

25th birthday of the Toyota Corolla AE86

Well its been 25 year when the Japanese introduce us to the small, light weight and last of the rear wheel drive corolla. The Japanese Nostalgic Car Magazine announce that the US AE86 is now part of the small nostalgic group, now the AE86 has joined the lines of the greatest Japanese cars like the Nissan GTR KPGC10 (aka hakasuka GTR), Nissan Fairlady Z S30 (US Datsun 240Z), Toyota 2000GT, Mazda RX3, RX2 (aka Capella Rotary) and few more.

Contrary to what people know the US Toyota Corolla in 1984 AE86 chassis never been or never had the EFI twin cam 4AG motor or the rear disk brakes, it was the top carburetor single cam 4AC or 3AU. The twin cam rear disk brakes didn’t come to the US till 1985 but the chassis code was AE88, YES not AE86 but since Japanese people had been calling it the 86 (hatchi-roku) the name got stuck as AE86 in the US also.

As a owner of a 1984 Toyota SR5 (fully modified)for 6 years what best describes this car? This car is an adventure to my youthful years, my passion on engineering and style. This car resembles when Toyota makes cars with soul, Its is far from perfect but if you are serious about driving, no holds bar pushing, no ABS, no traction control, no speed limiter & fighting every corner this is the one for you.

Last word, from the mountains of Japan or the muddy terrain of UK to the tracks of Willow springs California USA from drifting, rally,wheel to wheel road racing or the digital world of gran turismo playstation the AE86 is alive and well…HAPPY BIRTHDAY AE86…

FOTA Teams breakaway from FIA F1

by Leo Diaz

Formula One is broken! Yes boys and girls, you heard me right! Eight Teams; Ferrari, McLaren, Toyota, Renault, BMW, GP Brawn, Red Bull and Toro Rosso decided that there was no way to continue with the FIA, therefore they will proceed without FIA.

The Formula One Teams’ Association announced on Thursday night that they are setting up a breakaway championship.

After an extremely long [four hour] meeting at Renault’s Enstone Factory, the above mentioned eight members for the FOTA announced that they are fed up and frustrated with the FIA’s stance against organization, and had no option but to branch off and create their own series.

According to a statement release;
“The teams cannot continue to compromise on the fundamental values of the sport and have declined to alter their original entries to the 2010 World Championship.
These teams therefore have no alternative other than to commence the preparation for a new Championship which reflects the values of its participants and partners. This series will have transparent governance, one set of regulations, encourage more entrants and listen to the wishes of the fans, including offering lower prices for spectators worldwide, partners and other important stakeholders.

The major drivers, stars, brands, sponsors, promoters and companies historically associated with the highest level of motorsport will all feature in this new series.”

Prior to this you may recall that Honda pulled out of F1 back in Dec of 2008, with an official statement by Honda President and CEO Takeo Fukui. It seems like the F1 series that we have come to know is just another thing for the history books.

ASM 4-Point STB

by Leo Diaz | source GoTuning

This brace is on my wish-list, and while doing some research I came across this information on GoTuning’s website.

The ASM GT tower bar is made for people who enjoy driving and wish to experience the vehicle’s actual driving performance. This product was developed with a focus on the quality of the materials and the production process. Unlike a normal tower bar, a truss connects the steering rack bolts on the subframe to the tower bar so that the front section can be strengthened as well. As a result, braking and steering response are improved when entering a corner and the driver’s vehicle control will be improved as well. For complete front end reinforcement, use along with the GT Front Lower Arm bar, which reinforces the subframe and binds the front of the steering race to the sway bar brackets.

All ASM GT Series Reinforcement Bars are hand-made in Japan by Succeed Sports. Succeed Sports is led by Ichikawa-San who is the chief engineer of the record setting ASM Tsukuba Special Time Attack Car. He was also a race engineer at Mugen before the M-Tec transition and was involved with JGTC projects such as the Mugen Takata Dome NSX. Each GT Front Tower Bar is hand made by a master craftsman at Succeed Sports from high grade stainless steel from Japan. All the torched colors and marks have been left naturally by the process of hand bending by torch or welding by hand. They’re not simply color treated for show. The entire manufacturing process of each bar takes 4 hours so only 2 can be produced per day. Many ASM GT series bars hold design patents to protect their innovative designs.

Ichikawa-San himself of Succeed Sports going through the process of making an ASM GT Front Tower Bar.

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