The Audi R10 TDI is dead. Long live the R15. That's the moniker given to the next-generation Le Mans prototype set to wear the interlocking rings. The car will make its race debut in March at the 12 Hours of Sebring, and by the time the 24 Hours of Le Mans rolls around in June, Audi will have three of the cars ready to defend the trophy won by the R10 earlier this year. Details on the new car are very limited at the moment. All that's known is that it'll have a smaller, lighter, more efficient TDI motor, will once again be a roadster, and is a more significant change than Audi undertook when it went from the R8 to the R10.
The car will be publicly revealed closer to the Sebring race. According to the ALMS website, Audi Motorsport honcho Wolfgang Ullrich was quoted as saying, "It was clear to us that we must develop a new car if we wanted to continue to be successful in Le Mans." We read that as code for, "Those Peugeots were f**king fast this year. Here's our answer." By the time the cars hit the grid at Circuit de la Sarthe, the hype's going to be at a fever pitch. Bring it.
After taking a ride in the Pontiac G8 GXP and reading Jonathan's review, our adoration of the Aussie-bred sports sedan continues unabated. Nearly everyone we've talked to about the GXP says the same thing: "budget E39 M5." While the clichéd poor-man's Bimmer trope always causes our eyes to roll back into their sockets, this may be one of the few exceptions. According to Jalop's new reporter, Der Auto Inshiderfahvenberger, the GXP ran around the 'Ring in 8:30 -- a mere two seconds off the E39 M5's time.
The run was supposedly set by one of the GXP's development engineers – not a professional driver – but as always, we're wary of any development mule setting "unofficial" lap times, particularly when a roll cage is fitted, aiding in chassis rigidity. Regardless, it's hard to argue with a four-door sedan coming in under $40-large and delivering this level of performance.
Motorsports fans are eagerly anticipating the 2009 ALMS season where Ferrari, Porsche, Panoz, Ford, Dodge, Chevrolet and now BMW will be competing for the GT2 title. BMW Motorsport unveiled the new M3 racing program back in February of this year and have been developing the car in Europe since then. They recently handed off the car to Rahal Letterman Racing who tested the car this past week at Road Atlanta and are currently running laps at Sebring International Raceway. BMW also announced the first two drivers for the program, Bill Auberlen and Joey Hand, both of whom have extensive experience driving previous versions of the M3. Auberlen first drove for BMW in 1996 and won titles in 1997 and 2004. The M3 will make its 2009 racing debut at the 12 Hours of Sebring on March 21.
The Nissan GT-R is slap-your-mama fast, which has led to some dustup on the internet surrounding voided warranties when using the included Launch Control. Contrary to a previous report that Nissan intends to drop Launch Control from the 2010 GT-R, Motor Trend's blog is reporting that no decision has been made yet and we've heard the same thing from Nissan itself. The bigger point that MT goes on to make is that even without Launch Control, the GT-R is still brutally fast. When the magazine got its first crack at the R35, testers did an acceleration run just for giggles with all the electronics aids active except for Launch Control. The result? 3.9 seconds to 60 mph by just mashing the skinny pedal all the way down. That's enough speed to keep the GT-R running in the same pack with which it's already been lumped, and with the computers doing the work, there's no risk of stalling at launch and getting smoked by a '93 Duster. So what've we learned? Without risking a $20,000 transmission replacement, the GT-R is still a rocket.
The Nissan GT-R set the 'Ring on fire back in April with a single lap of 7:29. That news didn't go over well in Germany, where team Porsche insinuated that Nissan cheated by using a non-standard GT-R to achieve the supersonic time. Porsche even took a bone-stock GT-R to the 'Ring and its chief test track driver could only manage a 7:54. Nissan defended its time as legit and has provided solid evidence to support its case, but Porsche established enough doubt for Drivers Republic to bring a GT2 and GT-R to the famed Nürburgring to see which vehicle was faster.
Drivers Republic put both cars in the hands of an accomplished Nürburgring veteran, Chris Harris, who is also the author of this excellent article. Both vehicles were stock, except the Japanese-spec GT-R had its limiter removed. The Nissan also had Bridgetone rubber at the corners, which are actually different than the stickier Dunlops that Tochio Suzuki utilized during his 7:29 run. Nissan claims the soon-to-be-standard Dunlops are five seconds faster, but that's when in the hands of Mr. Suzuki who is one this planet's preeminent 'Ring racers. The track was wet during the run, which you would think favors the AWD GT-R, though Harris claims the GT2 felt faster in a straight line.
Cars represent freedom, right? Sure, but shouldn't that same freedom be available to those who can't justify purchasing their own car? Daimler thinks so, and has created a new pilot program called car2go that allows subscribers to rent a smart fortwo for just 19-cents a minute or less, depending on how long you need the car. The initial roll-out is taking place in Ulm, Germany and begins October 24. The cars can be reserved at a moment's notice from the internet, a mobile phone or in passing using an electronic chip that's given to the user upon the account's creation. There are no limits as to how far the car car be driven, and it can be parked and relocked wherever the driver's trip ends as long as it's within the city limits. At the outset, there will be 50 smart fortwo's in use by car2go. For a trial period, only Daimler employees will be able to use the service, but the automaker hopes to expand to all Ulm citizens in the spring of 2009. We imagine the car2go service will expand into other locations based on how successful this pilot program proves to be, but don't hold your breath for smart rentals in the U.S. anytime soon.
There is no doubt that Honda moves to the beat of its own percussionist, especially compared to its Japanese competitors. Of late, however, the Acura side of the house seems to be making some very odd decisions. There is the most obvious front and center example – the new shield grille, which one dealer has taken it upon himself to fix. Then the other day came news that Honda CEO Takeo Fukui has confirmed the next-gen top-of-the-line Acura sedan will use the company's first V8 engine. This comes at the same time other manufacturers are abandoning new V8 engine programs due to falling sales and high fuel prices. No doubt Honda's answer to the V8 question will be something at least slightly different than what we've seen from Infiniti and Lexus. The latest head scratcher may well be the biggest of all. Since it's debut, the BMW X6 has had many of us pondering why it exists. Apparently the team at Acura understands, since they have created a "sport activity coupe"/crossover thingy of their own. The X6 hasn't exactly been flying off dealer lots in the U.S. since it went on sale six months ago, so the obvious question is why make another? We certainly don't know the answer, but judging by this prototype with an Acura shield grille visible under the camo that was spotted recently at the Nürburgring, Honda does.
If you didn't know all-wheel drive was an available option for the Dodge Avenger, Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Caliber, you're not alone. Only 1.5% of Avenger buyers checked the AWD option box, and the Sebring take rate was an abysmal .7%. The Caliber fared only slightly better at 4.4% for the 2008 model, but that's not nearly enough to keep Chrysler from canceling the option for the 2009 model year. AWD was fast becoming a mainstream option when those models were being developed, but the ability to move all four wheels at once drives down fuel economy. The MSRP goes up, too, and Chrysler and Dodge dealers are having enough trouble selling less expensive base models, much less a $35,000 Sebring with AWD. While Chrysler may be struggling to sell AWD as an option on its cars, Ford is reporting take rates of up to 20% for the option on the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan. The Blue Oval says AWD is popular in northern climes, and it probably helps that the automaker actually advertises its midsize offerings' AWD capability. Chrysler is quick to point out that its Borg Warner-sourced AWD system isn't the problem, though, as it's also available on the Dodge Journey, which has a 20% take rate for AWD.
A 15-percent drop in Sonata sales since the beginning of 2008 is one reason Hyundai will idle its Alabama plant for 11 days between now and the end of the year (the near-2-percent drop in Santa Fe sales didn't help either). According to Hyundai Motor Company officials, the current sales slump and future sales projections of both models warrant the assembly slowdown. To limit the financial impact on the plant's workers, Hyundai will schedule the days on Fridays, and around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Hyundai also added, "We will continue to monitor the situation closely and hope that the economic conditions affecting our industry will soon normalize and allow us to return to a full production schedule as soon as possible." You and everybody else.
Nissan released a second video of the incredible 7:29 lap time achieved by the GT-R earlier this year at the Nürburgring Nordschleife along with a photo of the stock tires that were installed on the car at the time. It did so to dispel accusations that the time might not be 100% authentic. Porsche in particular seemed highly suspicious, and boldly claimed its belief that Nissan wasn't using stock tires at the time. The new video starts with some off-track buildup and shows the 50kg of test equipment that was on-board the car at the time, as well. Although we don't speak Japanese, we think that's what they're talking about along with discussing the fresh stock tires that were fitted to the car. The actual lap starts about 4 minutes in and looks pretty authentic to us. We're sure there will continue to be questions and complaints from all sides in this controversy, and we know that this is starting to turn into a a bit of a melodrama, but we really can't help ourselves.
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