Indy's not a racing town anymore, it's all football
Updated: 2012-02-06 04:08:45
As the Super Bowl was played in Indianapolis (Giants Win! Giants Win!), and Indianapolis always billed itself as the World Capital of Motor Racing, here are some thoughts about that city: - When I wrote above that it was the capital of motor racing (past tense), that’s true. it really isn’t any more. The Formula One race has gone off to what it thinks are greener pastures and although the Indianapolis 500 seems – seems – to be recovering its former glory, interest in the NASCAR Sprint Cup race has fallen off dramatically. But Indianapolis cleaned up real good, and...
As my adventures in Japan continue, I spent the day yesterday at one of my favorite places on the planet - Tsukuba Circuit here in Ibaraki. The course was playing host to the weekend racers from the GTCC series, and I knew this would be the perfect occasion to reacquaint myself with Japan's rich circuit culture....(read more)
Damian Kulash Jr. sits in one of the editing suites of a media-production house in downtown San Francisco, watching clips on a computer screen of a silver Chevy Sonic doing hand-brake turns in a dust cloud. The car is festooned with what looks like forks, hockey sticks, TV antennas, railroad horns, shark spears, and a [...]
It’s easy to confuse weird with bad. The Mitsubishi i is weird. It looks like a computer mouse. It has windshield wipers that resemble Ultraman’s arms in attack mode. It is powered by a 66-hp electric motor mounted under the rear seats. It carries onboard the energy equivalent of less than half a gallon of [...]
At 7.6 seconds, the 2012 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon is 3.9 seconds quicker to 60 mph than the SUV it replaces, thanks to its new 285-hp, 3.6-liter V-6 and five-speed automatic. To put that in perspective: You could run a BMW M3 sedan to 60 mph and then, very immediately thereafter, run the new ute [...]
1,000+ miles in 4 days, in fancy dress and bangers worth less than £350! Sucata Rallies are bargain-basement-banger rally tours, where participants drive to some of Europe’s most incredible destinations, over 4 days, in bangers costing no more than £350. And in fancy dress! The rally raises money for international education charity Gemin-i, helping to [...]
Volkswagen’s latest Beetle dropped a few things relative to the New Beetle it replaces, including the word “New,” the height of its roof, and the cutesy demeanor. Now the Beetle line regains something lost a few years back: a fuel-efficient TDI diesel iteration. The 2013 Beetle TDI will debut at the 2012 Chicago auto show. [...]
When the first-generation Mazda Miata debuted way back in 1989, the reveal took place at the Chicago auto show. The city therefore remains special to the brand, and the intervening years have seen a long line of special-edition Miatas zip through McCormick Place. Keep Reading: 2012 Mazda MX-5 Miata Special Edition – Official Photos and [...]
Please do not confuse this with news. It is merely something that happened, about which we’ll make the following comments: Jeep says these custom Grand Cherokee SRT8s were identically prepared. If true, this could be the first time Alonso and Massa were given identical cars. Ferrari Rosso Corsa paint, a matte-black roof, and a red [...]
Fiat’s new 500L five-door MPV will—if you believe the company—go on sale in the U.S. in 2013, several months after debuting at the upcoming Geneva auto show. Fiat had already confirmed that such a model was coming, but now it has released photos. U.S. sales of the 500 hatch and convertible have been disappointing, so [...]
If you’re like us, you’ve bored holes through pictures of the new 3-series sedan trying to discern the styling changes versus the outgoing model. Yes, there are some. A new face features headlights that puddle in toward the chrome-wrapped kidneys and a broad, blunt-faced front bumper that creates a sort of grimacing overbite into the [...]
New information has been scarce regarding Infiniti’s range-extended electric sports car for this March’s Geneva auto show. But now we’ve got a name: EMERG-E. We’ll likely have to wait another month or so to see the entire car—only a few teaser photos like the one above have been released—but we do know it will feature [...]
Curse the hordes of European cyclists no more! A biker in such a group recorded a seemingly production-ready Mercedes-Benz A-class while on a ride in southern Spain. (Watch the whole video on YouTube.) The premium hatch, which debuts at the Geneva show this March, is visible for only a few moments. But it confirms that [...]
Update 2/11: We’ve again captured the SLS Black, this time wearing more production-ready bodywork. Check out the new photos in the gallery. Keep Reading: 2014 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series Spy Photos – Future Cars
When NASCAR driver A. J. Allmendinger took the checkered flag by a slim margin of 5.198 seconds on Sunday afternoon, it ended a week of festivities dedicated to celebrating the golden anniversary of the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway. Since 1962, drivers and manufacturers from around the world have journeyed to one of the [...]
Today, Audi released pricing for the lightweight R8 GT sports car’s droptop Spyder iteration and revealed how many cars from the 333-unit production run will be allocated for the U.S. market. First, the cost: The 2012 GT Spyder will start at $213,350, including gas-guzzler tax. This gives it the distinction of being the most expensive [...]
Sometimes a 24 Hours of LeMons team’s Good/Bad Idea can be an ill-advised engine swap (as we saw with last week’s Z-powered Datsun 510), and sometimes it’s an extremely dramatic race finish that brings a standing ovation from the grandstands. Team Olds went for the latter approach at the finale of the 2011 Boston Tow [...]
Even the most logistically challenged individuals would have a hard time getting lost on the storied tri-oval Daytona superspeedway; keep turning left, and eventually you’ll get back to the strip of checkered pavement that marks the start/finish line. But a few times a year, the oval folds back in on itself between the front stretch [...]
Ford’s new 2013 B-Max MPV will debut in production form at the upcoming Geneva auto show, one year after the concept version appeared at the same event. The good news: its styling is nearly unchanged from the handsome concept, and Ford managed to preserve the wide, B-pillar-less apertures from the show car. The not-so-good news, [...]
Each week, our German correspondent slices and dices the latest rumblings, news, and quick-hit driving impressions from the other side of the pond. His byline may say Jens Meiners, but we simply call him . . . the Continental. My visit to the Rally Monte Carlo, held from January 19 to 22, was a fantastic [...]
One down, eleven to go. And as is customary here at Speedhunters, we'll kick off a new month with a look at what's in store. For February we've decided to focus on Game Changers ; cars that sparked trends, rewrote the rulebook or rocked their...(read more)
While the JCCA New Year Meeting draws some of Japan's finest vintage cars to Odaiba every year, the event is about much more than just the automobiles. The swap meet and "auto jumble" sections of the show always draw massive crowds looking to part with their hard-earned yen in exchange for an amazing selection of vintage car parts, accessories, and collectables.
As part of my New Year Meeting coverage, I thought it would be fun to take a look through some of the items up for grabs this year....(read more)
While spending three days at last weekend’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, we learned two important things: First, the Grand-Am series appeared to be absolutely viable as a spectator-driven form of motorsport, and, second, skinny jeans have never been more in style. Particularly for the less-than-skinny. Indeed, the growing popularity of sports-car racing was evident from [...]
If the BMW 3-series is the quintessential sports sedan, then the M3 is the quintessential sports car in disguise. Ever since the launch of the first M3 in 1986, this BMW has enjoyed a fiercely loyal following of enthusiasts, as well as a distinguished racing career. It is the car that represents the essence of [...]
McLaren’s 593-hp MP4-12C supercar isn’t exactly in dire need of more power, but Hennessey Performance Engineering may have us rethinking such narrow-minded notions. HPE has announced plans to build its own version of the 12C, called the HPE800 Twin Turbo—that’s 800 as in, 800 hp. (HPE didn’t provide an exact figure but says the final product [...]
Remember the old joke about how to lose 10 ugly pounds? Right, cut off your head. Here’s an automotive sequel. Although this car didn’t lose weight when its football-helmet Coupe top was lopped off—it’s actually about 90 pounds heavier than its hard-shelled sibling—it definitely lost a lot of ugly. Keep Reading: 2012 Mini Cooper S [...]
: skip to main skip to sidebar Tuesday , January 31, 2012 EMCO NOEL DOWLER SET TO RETURN IN 2012 January 31, 2012. Sherwood Park , Alberta’s Noel Dowler , driver of the 5 EMCO Dodge and EMCO Corporation have reached a multiyear partnership agreement that will see Dowler competing in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series in 2012 and . beyond Following a successful rookie season in 2011 Dowler looks forward to taking the next step in his career this coming season as he competes in the entire NCATS season in a DJK Racing prepared . car With the progress the 5 EMCO Dodge team and Noel Dowler made during their rookie season there is plenty of reason to be excited about the . future I‘m really pleased to have this partnership with EMCO” said . Dowler We came together last year and planned on competing
Chrysler’s Mopar parts division turns 75 years old this year. To celebrate, the company has begun gifting itself customized products, including the Mopar-ized Chrysler 200 Super S and Dodge Charger Redline that appeared at the Detroit auto show. Among the latest birthday presents is this limited-edition Chrysler 300, which has been built up mainly from [...]
While its primary business is offering replacement parts and fluids for Chrysler products, Mopar is of course best known among enthusiasts for peddling performance add-ons for brands such as Plymouth, Dodge, Jeep—and now, Fiat. This Mopar-fettled Fiat 500 Stinger, which showcases parts and mods available in the brand’s catalog, debuts at next week’s Chicago auto [...]
To keep the spotlight shining on the all-new 2013 Dodge Dart, Chrysler has unveiled the Mopar-massaged 2013 Dart GTS 210 Tribute. The car pays homage to the performance-oriented Dart GTS of the 1960s, according to Chrysler, and incorporates many of the 150 Dart accessories that Mopar will offer once the Dart goes on sale later [...]
The Compass has always been one odd duck of a Jeep. A face lift for 2011 brought Grand Cherokee–esque styling and a “Trail Rated” version, but few choose to take the Compass or its Patriot sibling far astray of blacktop. This beefier Mopar Compass True North concept aims to change that. It previews an upcoming Mopar [...]
Author: Tony Lewin Paperback: 540 pages Publisher: Merrell Publishers Ltd (14 Oct 2011) Price: £24.95 (RRP) Recommended? Yes The A-Z Of 21st Century Cars is being sold as “The most comprehensive guide available to the international automobile industry of the first decade of the twenty-first century“. Whilst this is quite a specific remit, the fact [...]
With fewer than 8000 miles to go before the conclusion of its stay, our Mazda 2 continues to serve primarily as a spunky ’round-town runabout. The car has racked up nearly 10,000 miles since September, most of which were turned within the borders of our home state; a sprint to Virginia accounted for the rest. [...]
The EPA just released fuel-economy ratings for the recently debuted 2012 BMW 3-series, and the numbers are very impressive—and not just for the luxury sports-sedan segment. The 328i, which is powered by a turbocharged 240-hp four-cylinder engine, is rated at 24 mpg city and 36 highway when equipped with the optional eight-speed automatic transmission. The [...]
On Monday we presented this week’s shifter and asked you to identify the make and model of the vehicle from whence it came. We’ve had a few uncharacteristically sunny and warm days (for January) here in Ann Arbor this week, so to celebrate we decided to bring everyone some sunshine. Most of you saw the [...]
Tesla has revealed a teaser shot of the electric Model X crossover in an email invitation to the car’s February 9 debut; the image shows only a darkened front three-quarter view of the high-riding EV. The visible portions of the grille and hood imply that its basic look won’t differ greatly from that of its [...]
Welcome to the first installment of the 24 Hours of LeMons Good/Bad Idea of the Week series, where we’ll share good racing ideas that go terribly wrong, bad racing ideas that go unaccountably right, and the general maelstrom of fabrication genius/madness that one encounters at every 24 Hours of LeMons race. We’ll start off with [...]
It’s the recently redesigned Dodge Charger with the Pentastar V-6. We’ve already tested a 2011 Charger with the V-6, though. That one was even rear-wheel drive, too, just like this example. So why are we testing this one now? The first car weighed just three pounds less, and it was orange with a black and [...]
Honda has priced the new four-cylinder version of the humpbacked Accord-based Crosstour—note that it’s no longer called the Accord Crosstour—from $28,465. That figure applies to the entry EX model; the EX-L adds leather and costs $31,515, while the top-shelf EX-L with navigation rings in at $33,615. Pricing for the V-6 Crosstour starts at $31,150 for [...]
The Chrysler product-planning department may want to avoid running for public office, lest they be labeled flip-floppers: After a confirmation followed by a cancellation, a Honda Civic–sized Chrysler is back in the company’s plans. Sergio Marchionne, the CEO of Fiat and Chrysler, told the Detroit Free Press this week that such a car is happening, [...]
Acura is less than two weeks away from revealing its production-ready ILX compact sedan at the Chicago auto show, but our spy shooters spotted a test vehicle and managed to take a clear picture of the car’s dash. The ILX concept, which appeared in January in Detroit, was an exterior buck with no interior. Surprise, [...]
At the 2012 Chicago auto show, Ram trucks will introduce a new top trim level, the 2012 Ram Laramie Limited. Think of it as a city-slickened counterpart to Ram’s luxurious, Southwest-themed Laramie Longhorn; the Limited packs a similar amount of goodies, but swaps the country kitsch for a sleeker, more contemporary flavor inside and out. Specific [...]
At some point during a two-day drive of the all-new Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG, something interesting happened. Your author learned to stop worrying and love the bomb. Keep Reading: 2012 Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG – First Drive Review
As they do with celebutante Kim Kardashian, most people fail to understand the BMW X6. But while Kim is always burnishing her image, the X6 is just now receiving its first major revision, one that includes a mild face lift and some enhancements under the skin. (Each also has a giant—er, skip that one.) The X6′s [...]
If the offerings of BMW’s M Performance line can be likened to cupcakes, the initial U.S.-market model is a cupcake without frosting. (Note that M Performance does not mean M: These will be hotter than typical Bimmers, but not as reworked or expensive as full-bore M cars.) The frosting in this analogy that’s being reserved [...]
Prior to his current job as head of Mini, Kay Segler ran BMW’s M division. It seems almost obvious, then, when he tells us that he wants JCW to serve the same purpose for Mini that M does for BMW. Once the JCW Countryman arrives, Mini will offer John Cooper Works packages for all of [...]
Introduced as 2007 models, the current Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickup twins are due for a revamp. Our spy photographers (dressed like snow leopards, we hope) have nabbed several shots of both extended- and crew-cab versions during cold-weather testing. While it’s difficult to make out much in the way of design aside from [...]
MG has announced today that they will run an entry in the BTCC in 2012. Two MG6 GT cars will run in the all-new MG KX Momentum Racing team piloted by double BTCC champion Jason Plato and BTCC rising star Andy Neate. The cars will be prepared by Triple Eight Race Engineering, one of the [...]