Team Lotus reverts to green colour scheme for 2011

 It looks like the new  Lotus Renault GP team will be the only team running around the track in black and gold livery next season as Team Lotus have decided to continue using their green and yellow livery.
“Whether they copied us or we copied them that’s beside the detail now. The location is what makes sense. Having two Lotus brands on the grid I think is no topic. having four bleak cars looking the same I think is silly and one has to relent. We’re no t childish and emotional and saying ‘Oh no  we’ve got to be black and gold’. We’re pragmatic” said Team school principal Tony Fernandes.

Formula 1 to use 1.6L four-cylinder engines from 2013, ban on team orders lifted for 2011

Yes that’s correct . The FIA’s World motive Sport Council (WMSC) has approved new regulations which will see 1.6-litre four-cylinder engines replace the current  2. The goal is to be more eco friendly as the smaller powerplants are expected to be 35% more frugal whilst providing the same level of operation. Energy recovery systems and additional energy management will be utilised to ensure this is potential .

“The WMSC approved the introduction of a new  specification engine from 2013 underlining the FIA’s commitment to improving sustainability and addressing the needs of the automotive industry. Following negotiation with the engine manufacturers and experts in this field the power units will be four cylinders 1.6 liter with high pressure gasoline injection up to 500 bar” FIA explains.

The new regulations will also further limit the act of engines at allocated to each drivers. Currently it’s eight units a season but this will be limited to five in 2013 and 4 for subsequent seasons. rev up limits on the new engines will be reduced from the current 18000 rpm to a maximum of 12000 rpm.

At the same WMSC encounter FIA bigwigs also made some changes to the rules for 2011. Among the major revisions are the removal of the ban on team up orders the introduction of driver-adjustable rear wings outlawing double diffusers stricter bodywork deflection tests and a requirement for one gearbox to last five race weekends from the current four

Nissan GT-R sets new 0-100 kph benchmark – 3.046 secs

A MY2011 Nissan GT-R has set a new  acceleration benchmark for the vehicle with a standard production DBA-R35 taking just 3.046 seconds to arrive to 100 kph from a standing start on the main straight at the Sendai Highland raceway in Japan.

The event control last month was witnessed by a group of Japanese journalists and recorded by a V-Box measuring device and Nissan engineers said the time would have been even faster had the road temperature been higher than the 13 degrees Celsius on the test day in Japan. Nissan chief vehicle engineer Kazutoshi Mizuno the R35′s Godfather told journalists that with warmer track temperatures “the GT-R will range the world of two seconds!”

Now a search for the fastest production cars on the planet might have you thinking the same GT-R clocked that run in 2.nine secs but that time is actually the 0-60 mph measurement which is just a range shorter than the 0-100 kph (effectively 0-62 mph) one being bandied about by Nissan.

Whatever the case may be both times place the current R35 as the 13th fastest exhibition car and though the new sprint time was achieved with the car in R-Mode journalists at the Highland Raceway test were still able to achieve 3.1 seconds for the 0-100 kilometers per hour dash in the car’s less aggressive A-Mode

VW teams with Fender for Premium Audio System

Volkswagen of America announced that it has joined forces with Fender the maker of iconic Strat and Tele galvanic guitars to equip selected 2012 models with the all-new Fender Premium Audio System. The new  Jetta GLI will be the first to get the system developed exclusively for Volkswagen before other Jettas the new  2012 midsize sedan and 2012 Beetle receives it.

The Fender Premium sound System is a collaboration between Fender and Panasonic. Claimed to “deliver uncompromised clarity irrespective of volume with a unique sound that Americans will love” the nine-speaker system took three years to develop.

It features proprietary Panasonic speaker technology that covers the compartment with directional sound from front door speakers that generate imaging beyond the capabilities of traditional speaker designs. It cuts through noise with front dual voice transformer speakers with extended range for all musical genres. The design features low  inter-modulation distortion and smooth mid-range response to eliminate harshness. It is harmonically complex with elongated range tweeters and properly voiced 16 cm speakers revealing original instrumentation timbre and harmonic richness.

“The best seat in the house is nowadays behind the wheel of a Volkswagen. Our two iconic companies – one with a rage for driving one with a rage for music – are joining forces to bring the raw emotion of live music to the driving experience” said Jonathan Browning President and CEO Volkswagen Group of America.

Group Lotus wants to be more than just a title sponsor

The “Battle of the Lotuses” is the talk of the town with Proton owned Group Lotus joining Formula 1 by purchasing over Renault’s shares in the Renault F1 Team. The team will be called Lotus-Renault with Lotus being the championship sponsor. Regarding the repute it’s much like what Vodafone or Petronas is to McLaren and Mercedes GP respectively; so happens that Lotus is a car manufacturer.

But GL’s ambitions are higher than just being a title sponsor and shareholder although that’s the starting location. GL CEO Dany Bahar hints about taking entire control of the team in the next few years. “Our way of doing things means that at the last of the project we would like to control it ourselves” the former Ferrari employee told Autosport.

“It’s the same route – it starts somewhere and then you slowly lead control. We would not be in for the long-term just  to be a sponsor on the team” he added.

Lotus is in the midst of a major renewal and signaled their intent by wheeling out five concepts at the Paris Motor entertainment. They’ll necessitate a lot of money to realise that future range of cars. Do they have enough for Formula 1? “We would not commit without support from shareholders banks and investors. If we didn’t it would be foolish to happen up with ambitious plans like this” Bahar assures

BMW 1-Series M Coupe is finally out in the open!

This is the hottest version of the 1-Series that has been a long time approach. Called the 1-Series M Coupe it’s clear (from the posed images) that BMW sees it as the spiritual heir to the original E30 BMW M3 as they’re closer in size (just 33 mm longer but much wider) and the M3 has grown greatly through the years.
The M Coupe is powered by the twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre inline-6 from the Z4 sDrive35is making this the first auto by M division that uses a standard production engine. The all-aluminum N54 locomotive puts out 335 hp at 5900 rpm and 450 Nm of torque from 1500 to 4500 rpm. An overboost relation adds 50 Nm at full pelt. discriminate is at 7000 rpm.

The quickest One does 0-100 km/h in just 4.9 seconds on to a 250 km/h limited top focal ratio. A close ratio 6-speed manual gearbox transfers drive to the rear steering wheel. As comparison the 420 postscript M3 Coupe (with DCT) sold here does the century sprint in 4.6 seconds so the gap is fair  three tenths of a second.

To stop the car the 1495 kg M Coupe’s brakes are M3 level says BMW. The internally-vented cross-drilled cast branding iron discs measure 360 mm in diameter up front and 350 mm at the back. Each disc is connected  to a floating aluminum hub by cast-in stainless-steel pins to reduce heat. The condition of the brake linings can be checked from the elan display. The wheels look familiar? They are 19-inch items from the M3 contention Package and M3 GTS wrapped with 245/35 rubber up front and 265/35 rear tyres.

Looks wise the front is henpecked by three large air intakes. The central one is covered by a honeycomb grille while the two outer intakes are left  completely open. The right one feeds air travel directly to the engine oil cooler and the left hole supplies the supplemental coolant radiator. On the sides you’ll find trademark M chrome gills and organ mirrors that have the same shape as the M3′s. The rear end sports a lip spoiler side openings on the mechanical device and quad pipes – two on each side. The front and rear lamps have little changes too – LED eyebrows for the Adaptive Xenons and L-shaped rear elements.

If you’re wondering this car is 5mm longer and fifty-three mm wider than a 135i Coupe. The tracks are 71 mm wider up front and forty-six mm wider in the rear. Widened fenders and rear quarter panels were needful to accommodate the tracks. There’s no option of a object roof which saves 15 kg and lowers the centre of gravity.
The 1 Series M Coupe comes with Air Curtains which were previewed on the Vision EfficientDynamics concept from Frankfurt 2009 and used location for the first time in a production car. It workings to improve air flow around the wheel arches and significantly reduces turbulence. AC consists of openings in the outer section of the lower fore fascia that route high-pressure air through ducts at each fore corner.

The ducts (approximately 10 x 3 cm wide) are designed to channel air to openings at the front end of each wheel arch where it is discharged through a very narrow opening at high speed. This air stream covers the unit of the front wheels like a curtain reducing turbulence. There’s no Air Curtain for the buttocks wheels and the buttocks openings are for style.

Lastly the cabin is in dark Alcantara with orange contrast stitching artifact the door panels door pulls instrument cluster binnacle dash panel and gearshift and handbrake lever boots. You’ll also get an M-specific instrument constellate with gray dials red pointers and white backlighting. More M logos can be establish on the driver’s footrest and door sills.

New Mitsubishi Global Small Car to be built at new Thailand factory – 150,000 units annually

Mitsubishi Motors has laid the foundation stone for its third and latest mill in Thailand which will be built right next to its first and second factories. The new factory will begin aggregate production in March 2012 rolling out a new “global small car” with engines of 1.0 litre to 1.2 liters in property. The fresh Mitsubishi global small car is yet another “Thai Eco-car” like the Nissan March and the recently unveiled Honda BRIO prototype.

The new factory will produce 150000 of the Mitsubishi Eco-car per annum and will employ approximately 3000 employees. The factory is a built-up factory which substance it will handle pressing welding painting and assembly of the vehicle.

“It’s my great pleasure that Mitsubishi Motors Thailand’s factory becomes a section of our Eco-car Project. This Mitsubishi factory will bring to Thailand many technologies for automobile production and lead to improve labor skills for auto industry as well as related industries” said Thai minister Chaiwut Bannawat.

“It’s a great honor to have this memorable time for the construction of the third factory. From the beginning Mitsubishi Motors Corporation has strongly believed in Thailand’s potential as the production hub for global markets; immediately Mitsubishi Motors Thailand became the production base of our 1-ton pickup. We share the Thai government’s environmental concerns and we have made Thailand the global product hub for the “global small” shared Mitsubishi Motors Corporation president Osamu Masuko.

It looks like Thailand has successfully expanded on its pick-up truck exhibition hub status to one that is the center of exhibition of a next generation of compact and fuel efficient vehicles (sedans and hatchbacks) through its Eco-car Project which provides incentives to car companies that comply with Eco-car fuel efficiency rules. Even though our country is supposed to have the largest passenger car securities industry around Thailand seems to be proving a more attractive as a production hub for these compact hatchbacks.

Mitsubishi also announced that it is preparing for a future set in motion of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV in Thailand. They’ve started a joint study for fleet EV examination together with the government of Thailand which includes researching the acceptability and marketability of EVs in Thailand setting up user support systems and expanding charging infrastructure etc. Mitsubishi has similar  agreements with the governments of Monaco Iceland Denmark and Singapore among others.