Report: Circuit of Wales gets key go-ahead vote by local government

Filed under: Motorsports, Europe, Government/Legal, UK

Circuit of Wales proposal

A development company called Heads of the Valleys, led by Michael Carrick, is working through the steps to build a 250-million-pound ($378M US) motorsports facility in Blaenau Gwent, Wales, about 33 miles due north of Cardiff. After more than a year of work so far, the latest success is that the Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council has given approval to the outline plan of the circuit.

Called the Circuit of Wales, the 830-acre site will be a “low carbon automotive center of excellence” that will comprise a 3.5-mile car track, motocross, karting and off-roading tracks, hotel and commercial and retail complexes. To fulfill the low-carbon bit, the facilities will also include an R&D park for entities exploring “the boundaries in environmental technology and energy solutions.”

The plan is ultimately to host World Touring Car, MotoGP, World Superbikes and World Motocross. All of the facilities will be available to locals, a motorsports academy will assist new talent, and Welsh universities are expected to be able to tie their expertise in with the stakeholders in the technology park. The next step is for Heads of the Valleys to draw up and get approval for the detailed plan of the circuit.

Circuit of Wales gets key go-ahead vote by local government originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 13 Jul 2013 13:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Spoiler Alert! The French leak key chase scene from Fast Five

Filed under: Videos, Chrysler, Dodge, Celebrities

fast five dodge chargers

Dodge Chargers get furious in Fast Five – Click above to watch video after the jump

Fast Five, the fifth installment in The Fast and the Furious franchise, hits theaters Friday, April 29th. Since we live in the age of instant gratification, you’re able to hunt down some of the key scenes and check out the furious action before you decide to plunk down your hard-earned bucks for a ticket. In order to facilitate the decision making process, a key chase scene has made its way to YouTube courtesy of the French arm of Universal Pictures.

We’ll let you decided whether or not you want to watch the clip posted after the jump. However, we will tell you that Dom (Vin Diesel) and Brian (Paul Walker) use a pair of pumped-up Dodge Chargers in a… unique capacity. The tow-rating on a 5.7-liter-equipped Charger is 2,000-pounds max, and even if you double that figure we’re pretty sure the director is employing a healthy scoop of automotive movie magic to shoot this scene. We’ll save the real sleuthing for a future episode of Mythbusters.

Click past the jump to watch three minutes and 44 seconds of Fast Five. It goes without saying that there are massive spoilers here, right? The audio is in French, but you shouldn’t have too much trouble figuring out what’s going on.

Gallery: Fast Five

[Source: YouTube]

Continue reading Video: Spoiler Alert! The French leak key chase scene from Fast Five

Video: Spoiler Alert! The French leak key chase scene from Fast Five originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 18:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chrysler recalls nearly 250,000 minivans and crossovers over ignition key woes

Filed under: Minivan/Van, Government/Legal, Recalls, Safety, Crossover, Chrysler, Dodge

2010 Dodge Grand Caravan

2010 Dodge Grand Caravan (top) and 2010 Dodge Journey (below) – Click either image for high-res image gallery

2010 Dodge Journey Chrysler and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have announced that the Auburn Hills automaker is recalling 248,437 vehicles due to potentially faulty ignition systems. According to the company, certain 2010 Chrysler Town and Country, Dodge Grand Caravan and Dodge Journey vehicles were built with ignitions that could accidently switch from the “run” position to “accessory,” thereby causing the engine to shut off.

Both the company and NHTSA are concerned that the issue could cause an accident. As such, Chrysler will replace the ignition modules free of charge beginning in April of this year.

The recall includes vehicles manufactured between August 3, 2009 and June 17, 2010, and owners can contact Chrysler for more information. Click past the jump for the full recall notice.

Gallery: 2010 Dodge Grand Caravan

Gallery: 2010 Dodge Journey

[Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration]

Continue reading Chrysler recalls nearly 250,000 minivans and crossovers over ignition key woes

Chrysler recalls nearly 250,000 minivans and crossovers over ignition key woes originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 03 Mar 2011 16:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2010 Subaru Legacy 2.5GT: The key to changing map discs

Filed under: Sedan, Subaru, Long-Term Garage

How to swap map discs in a 2011 Subaru Legacy – Click above to watch video after the jump

Pop quiz: Where’s the slot to swap out DVD map discs for the 2010 Subaru Legacy’s navigation system? No, it’s not the one you can see with your eyes in the image above; that’s the slot for audio CDs. The DVD drive is hidden. Answer: behind that blue plastic panel located directly beneath the CD slot.

Since the nav system in the 2010 Subaru legacy doesn’t contain an entire atlas of North America on an internal hard drive, you’ll sometimes have to change the map disc if where you’re headed is on a different disc. I discovered this when having to make the trek from Ohio to Michigan because maps for the Wolverine State were on a different region disc than the one that was already loaded.

The manual, of course, makes the process of popping off this panel seem easy. Put your thumb on the top of the panel and lift the panel up from the bottom. In reality, the nearly invisible recess at the bottom of the panel is blocked by the buttons below it, and unless you have long and particularly strong fingernails, the tight-fitting panel’s not coming off without some outside assistance. A pocket knife would work best, but all I had at the time was a small key. Since I didn’t want to scratch the aforementioned buttons, I tried lifting the panel off a little to the right of the recess. With much effort and a grunt for good measure, the panel came flying off the console.

Most people won’t be swapping map discs very often, as each one contains a large chunk of the country in which to navigate. But even if I had the fingernail length required for the job, I still wouldn’t like having to pop off a cheap panel to do it. Follow the jump for video of a staged recreation of my first encounter with this panel.

Continue reading 2010 Subaru Legacy 2.5GT: The key to changing map discs

2010 Subaru Legacy 2.5GT: The key to changing map discs originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 17 Sep 2010 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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