Category: Auto Industry

Video: Behind the scenes of a car rollover stunt

Filed under: Videos, TV/Movies

With Transformers 4, Fast & Furious 7 and Need for Speed bringing hundreds of millions of dollars of carnage to the Summer of 2014 – and Getaway coming next month – we should probably start learning our car-stunt grammar. We can start with this behind-the-scenes video of a car rollover stunt that provides more that ten minutes of detailed info on each part of the process.

The star – after stunt driver Tom Harper and that Crown Vic – is the air ram that takes just 1.1 seconds to propel and retract a giant ‘foot’ onto the ground to get the car flipping. It is apparently Harper’s own design and supplants the cannon system that launches a projectile in order to launch the car. You can watch Harper and crew explain it all in the video below.

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Behind the scenes of a car rollover stunt originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 15 Jul 2013 17:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Hennessey unveils C7 Corvette Stingray upgrades that reach 1,000 HP

Filed under: Aftermarket, Coupe, Performance, Chevrolet, Specialty, Racing


The all-new 2014 Chevrolet Corvette C7 Stingray hasn’t even arrived in showrooms, but that minor speed bump hasn’t slowed Hennessey Performance (HPE) from introducing a full suite of packaged (and à la carte) upgrades to the highly anticipated American sports car that will undoubtedly trump even the factory’s future high-performance Z06 and ZR1 models.

In base form, the C7’s new 6.2-liter V8 will be rated at 455 horsepower. While that’s a strong start, Hennessey’s first two packages bolt on a TVS2300 supercharger system and other miscellaneous upgrades to find upwards of 150 additional horses (both come with a 3 Year/36,000-mile warranty). The more aggressive packages start with an HPE custom balanced and forged engine that is accompanied by two ball-bearing turbochargers, forged pistons and plenty of other go-fast hardware to deliver up to 1,000 horsepower (both come with a 1 Year/12,000-mile warranty).

The company has announced four different upgrade programs (prices include professional installation):

  • HPE600 Supercharged ($12,495) 600 hp @ 6,300 rpm
  • HPE700 Supercharged ($18,450) 700 hp @ 6,300 rpm
  • HPE800 Twin-Turbo ($54,950) 800 hp @ 6,300 rpm
  • HPE1000 Twin-Turbo ($67,950) 1,100 hp @ 6,300 rpm

John Hennessey told Autoblog that his company has been planning the C7 upgrades “for over a year” and that his team is “confident that we will be able to adapt the same types of upgrades that we have been doing for the C6 models over the past several years.” While he was unable to offer any performance estimates, Hennessey reminded us that his HPE700 upgrade on the C6 Grand Sport ran 0-60 in 3.3 sec. and 10.7 sec. @ 128 mph. “I would expect similar performance on the C7 or possibly a bit quicker,” he said. “We prefer to be cautious on performance estimates and promises until we know for a fact what the numbers are.” Hennessey Performance plans to have the first cars in customer’s hands by the end of the year.

Hennessey unveils C7 Corvette Stingray upgrades that reach 1,000 HP originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 15 Jul 2013 16:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Land-speed racer Bill Warner dies from motorcycle crash at 285 MPH

Filed under: Motorsports, Videos, Suzuki

Motorcycle land-speed record holder Bill Warner died yesterday after crashing during an attempt at setting another record. The 44-year-old was clocked at 285 miles per hour on the runway of a former air base in northern Maine, before he lost control of his modified Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle and veered off the runway.

It is not known what speed he was traveling when things started to go wrong and unclear what caused the crash, which happened shortly before 10:00 AM. Warner’s crew suspect there were mechanical difficulties on his last run, in addition to a slight breeze, according to the video news report. Warner was conscious and able to speak after the crash but died an hour and 15 minutes later at a hospital in Caribou. The event and runway were closed for the rest of the day as police investigated the incident.

Warner was participating in “The Maine Event” at Loring Air Force Base in an attempt to reach 300 mph in one mile. Warner’s best land-speed record, set in 2011, was 311.945 mph in 1.5 miles on the same runway, according to the Loring Timing Association, a record that still stands today for open-cockpit motorcycles. After that run, Warner said the scariest part was stopping the bike before the end of the runway. Be sure to check out the video news report after the jump.

Continue reading Land-speed racer Bill Warner dies from motorcycle crash at 285 MPH

Land-speed racer Bill Warner dies from motorcycle crash at 285 MPH originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 15 Jul 2013 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: F1 2013 game to feature ‘classic’ cars from ’80s and ’90s

Filed under: Videos, Toys/Games

Codemasters’ series of Formula One games focus heavily on realism, both in terms of physics and appearance. Every team, every car and every driver are represented, with every track recreated in high definition and exacting detail.

This attention to detail is only reflected if you’re looking at modern F1, though. The market for video games that show the sport’s past is disappointingly bleak. For F1 2013, the latest installment in the yearly franchise, that’s set to change.

For the first time, Codemasters will explore F1’s past with cars, drivers, and tracks from the 1980s and 1990s. This is, of course, in addition to the modern content the game is known so well for. The content from the 1980s is available regardless of which version of F1 2013 is bought, giving gamers access to five cars from Ferrari, Williams and Lotus. Ten drivers will also be added to the game, including greats like Nigel Mansell, Mario Andretti, and Gerhard Berger. Finally, Circuito de Jerez and Brands Hatch, former homes of the Spanish and British Grands Prix, respectively, have been added.

Believe us, though, you want to spend however much extra is demanded for the Classic Edition of F1 2013. The 1990s content, which is standard with the Classic Edition, adds new cars from Ferrari and Williams, along with seven legendary drivers, like David Coulthard, Alain Prost and others (that being code for Ayrton Senna, we think). Two extra tracks have been added, as well. Estoril, former home of the Portuguese Grand Prix, joins the legendary Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, the track more commonly known as Imola.

F1 2013 hits stores the fall, and will be available for Playstation 3, XBox 360, and PC. There’s no word on whether it will be ported to the next-gen systems. Scroll down for the official trailer of F1 2013 Classic Edition, as well as the official press release.

Continue reading F1 2013 game to feature ‘classic’ cars from ’80s and ’90s

F1 2013 game to feature ‘classic’ cars from ’80s and ’90s originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 15 Jul 2013 15:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Long Term: 2014 Mazda6: June 2013

Filed under: Sedan, Mazda, Long-Term Garage

The 2014 Mazda6 is our most recent addition to the Autoblog long-term fleet, and we spent the month of June getting to know our Soul Red tester, generally enjoying the honeymoon phase of this twelve-month relationship. During June, the Mazda6 spent the majority of its time with director of photography Drew Phillips, who in addition to putting together this pretty gallery of our rakish long-term car, had a lot to say about it as a daily driver.

You see, not too long before Mazda delivered our long-term 6, Drew bought a 2014 CX-5 crossover to support his growing family. The CX-5 was the first vehicle to use Mazda’s full suite of Skyactiv technologies, and we’ve generally enjoyed the good-to-drive CUV. A lot of that CX-5 goodness lies beneath the more shapely lines of this sleek Mazda6 sedan, so it’s only fitting that Drew had a lot of comparisons between Mazda’s two housemates during his month behind the wheel.

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2014 Mazda6: June 2013 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 15 Jul 2013 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Roadster batteries likely to perform better than Tesla predicted

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Tesla Motors

orange tesla roadster with lightwriting

Once the epitome of EV cool, the Tesla Roadster has kind of taken a back seat to the new electric vehicles in the market it helped spawn. Turns out, even in the background, the Roadster has things to teach us. Or, at least it does to the experts at Plug In America who recently took a closer look at the EV’s battery pack.

See, in 2006, when the Roadster was new, Tesla said the Roadster’s 53-kWh lithium-ion battery pack – good for 244 miles of range when new – would have 70 percent of its capacity after five years or 50,000 miles. With plenty of “old” Roadsters on the road, PIA studied four percent of the packs out there today and discovered (PDF) that the packs have an “average of 80- to 85-percent of capacity after 100,000 miles driven.” The numbers were self-reported to PIA’s website by Roadster owners in a project that started in January.

The numbers come from PIA’s chief science officer, Tom Saxton, who conducted the first-ever independent assessment and announced the results at the recent Teslive Tesla users conference. According to a statement, he said, “Our study also found no discernable effect of climate on battery-pack longevity. Roadster owners in hot climates are not seeing noticeably different battery capacity profiles than owners in moderate climates.” Last year, PIA surveyed Nissan Leaf owners and discovered that hot climates were affecting the packs more than expected. Surveys on the first-generation Toyota RAV4 EV and Tesla Model S are underway.

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Roadster batteries likely to perform better than Tesla predicted originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 15 Jul 2013 14:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Mercedes under investigation by feds over faulty, possibly flaming taillights

Filed under: Sedan, Safety, Mercedes-Benz, Luxury

2008 Mercedes-Benz C350 Sport

According to The Detroit News, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched an investigation into Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedans over the possibility of faulty taillamps that, in some situations, may even catch fire. Some 218,000 C-Class vehicles are being investigated, all of which are from the 2008 and 2009 model years.

NHTSA has reportedly received 21 statements from owners citing the brake lights or turn signals dimming or failing to light. In some cases, drivers reported a burning smell, a few noting that some of the vehicle’s electrical parts had melted. What’s even more alarming is that some drivers reported smelling smoke or seeing burn marks in the trunk. One driver even reportedly saw small flames coming from the rear lamp connector when the trunk was open.

Scary stuff, to be sure, though NHTSA says that this problem hasn’t caused any injuries. Still, the government agency will investigate the problem further to see if this actually warrants a recall.

Mercedes under investigation by feds over faulty, possibly flaming taillights originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 15 Jul 2013 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Spy Shots: Lexus readying hot IS F Coupe

Filed under: Spy Photos, Coupe, Performance, Lexus, Luxury

The 2014 Lexus IS sedan has been turning heads and dividing public opinion since we first drove it. Then, as now, we knew that a revamped IS F would be in the offing at some point, but until today we had know idea what form the Lexus would take.

Our first ever batch of 2015 Lexus IS F spy shots has just come across the transom, and the camouflaged coupe – that’s right, there are just two doors this time out – is awfully intriguing at first glance. A much more aggressive front end is prominent, as is the slinky roofline that finishes in a pert rear end. The signature IS grille is still in effect here, at least in terms of the shape, and while the headlamps are covered up, we’d expect some variation of the slash-like units on the 2014 IS.

Hinting at the car’s performance intentions are large slotted brake rotors with significantly sized calipers, all tucked in behind dark-finish wheels. Quad exhaust tips and a retractable spoiler can be seen at the back of the car.

Unfortunately, we still don’t know what to expect in terms of engine – there’s some evidence that the current car’s 5.0-liter V8 won’t meet European emissions standards. A turbocharged V6 of some kind would certainly match up with the reported mills in the upcoming BMW M4, however, and the hood scoop seen above lends some credence to that thought process. In any case we’d expect north of 450 horsepower in terms of output.

Lexus readying hot IS F Coupe originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 15 Jul 2013 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: BMW dishes on ‘lightweight’ 2014 M4

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, BMW

BMW’s M cars are not what we’d call featherweights. Sure, the big, bruising twin-turbocharged V8s deliver a lot of power, but the fact of the matter is that more weight often equates to less fun.

Which is why we’re so excited over a recent sit-down the blokes at Top Gear had with BMW’s product manager for small and medium cars, Matt Collins. The chat led to talk of the M3 Coupe replacing M4. Collins confirmed that, yes, the new M4 would be turbocharged. The new engine will also be a six-cylinder, which should make purists happy.

“What we’d like is more focus on lightweight engineering.” -Matt Collins

But what really peaked our interest was the talk of weight savings for the M4. Collins told Top Gear, “What we’d like is more focus on lightweight engineering.” It gets better, TG also reports Collins as saying, “The philosophy will be around delivering performance through improved use of materials – lightweight alloys, lots of carbon fibre etc – rather than simply trying to make the engine more powerful to move the same kind of car, or scaling it back too far so that it loses its M3 roots.” This left us smiling.

Citing the experience gleaned from the i3 and i8 projects, including the use of carbon fiber, lead to talk of a lightweight, hardcore M4 – a car that could, perhaps, wear the letters C, S and L on the back. Collins followed the party line, though, stating in the interview, “There are no plans at the moment to build a lightweight CSL version of the M4, but there weren’t any plans to do the last-generation CSL either. We have to see what the customers think, and if there’s potential for an even more lightweight version, we’ll do it.”

As for availability, Collins indicated that BMW’s past schedule of bringing out an M variant about 18 months after the debut of a 3 Series Coupe, should hold up for the 4 Series and M4. If that timing is true, we can hope to see a production M4 at the 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show.

BMW dishes on ‘lightweight’ 2014 M4 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 15 Jul 2013 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Watch Tanner Foust hustle the Fiesta ST ’round the ‘Ring

Filed under: Performance, Europe, Marketing/Advertising, Videos, Hatchback, Ford, Celebrities

The last time we saw Tanner Foust at the Nürburgring he was sloshing an SVT Raptor from kerb to kerb. Sticking with Ford but swapping keys, this time the drift champion and Top Gear USA host goes to the opposite end of the manufacturer’s tuner garage and plucks a Fiesta ST for ‘Ring duty.

The 179-horsepower front-wheel-driver acquits itself well by the end of the video. But be warned, Foust doesn’t set a ‘Ring time and it’s shot like a commercial… because that’s what it is. Still, you can enjoy all two minutes and 31 seconds of it below.

Continue reading Watch Tanner Foust hustle the Fiesta ST ’round the ‘Ring

Watch Tanner Foust hustle the Fiesta ST ’round the ‘Ring originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 15 Jul 2013 12:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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