Okay, so those names aren’t official, but two Veyrons did show up at the 2011 Shanghai auto show : One based on the 1200-hp Super Sport and the other a riff on the targa-roofed and 1001-hp-weakling Grand Sport. Let’s cover the roofless one first. Commissioned by an unspecified buyer from an unspecified location, this one is finished in matte-white paint from the door sills up, with bare blue carbon fiber doing the rest of the dressing. The wheels are tinted blue, too, and the interior is a world of blue broken up by bright-white stitching on the steering wheel, seats, and shift lever, and in a Spirograph-style pattern on the center console. It’s a striking (and some might say Maserati MC-12 –esque) take on a car that we’ve called the result of one man’s— Ferdinand Piëch’s —diabolical vision. Speaking of diabolical, that may be the best way to describe the Super Sport seen here. The exterior is rendered entirely in exposed black carbon fiber, and the monochromatic take combines with the Super Sport’s unique rear end and engine cover to lend it a little bit of a Bread Van look . The wheels and fuel-filler door are contrasts in black and bare aluminum. Pieces of aluminum trim travel up from in front of each side window to form the divisions between body sides and NACA-ducted roof before ducking under the taillights and meeting under the Bugatti logo. The cockpit is decked out in Snow Beige and Beluga Black sueded material, and carbon lines the door inners and center console. The entire package is as sinister as we’ve seen a Veyron, yet it’s still relatively understated, especially in comparison to the black-and-orange livery worn by the first Super Sports. This 258-mph wonder won’t be able to say it’s been everywhere, man, either, instead remaining in China with its new owner, who bought it prior to the show. Check out our first drives to find out what it’s like to pilot the Veyron Super Sport and Veyron Grand Sport . Original post: Bugatti Veyron Johnny Cash and Moody Blues Editions Appear at Shanghai Show Continued here:  Bugatti Veyron Johnny Cash and Moody Blues Editions Appear at Shanghai Show

As we predicted, Nissan Leaf won the 2011 World Car of the Year , besting the Audi A8 and the BMW 5 Series. Today, at the 2011 New York Auto Show, Brian Carolin, Senior VP for sales and marketing at Nissan, accepted the award. “It’s a great honor. The Nissan Leaf truly is a game changer.” The award shows once again the importance of electric vehicles and future mobility, and the trend will continue in the next years. Fuel efficient vehicles are slowly becoming the core product of large automakers and a bet that can transform many companies. In the World Green Car award, Chevrolet Volt won takes the top spot ahead of BMW’s 320d and the Nissan Leaf. The World Car Design award went to the Aston Martin Rapide, defeating the Alfa Romeo Giulietta and the Ferrari 458 Italia. The Ferrari 458 Italia was named the winner of the World Performance Car category, defeating the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG and Porsche 911 Turbo. A jury of sixty-six distinguished international automotive journalists selected the following top ten finalists in both categories by secret ballot, based on their experience with each candidate as part of their professional work. The jury members constitute a balance of representation from Asia, Europe, North America, South America, as well as other parts of the world. Go here to see the original: NYAS 2011: Nissan Leaf wins 2011 World Car of the Year – ahead of 5 Series and Audi A8

If you’re shopping for a new car and have a preference for Chrysler Group products, expect to see frequent model updates from Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep in the coming years. Ralph Gilles, head of design at Chrysler (and president & CEO of Dodge) believes that frequent styling changes may be the key to sales growth. Going forward, Gilles expects… Read the rest here:  Chrysler: Frequent Design Changes Key To Sales Growth

Auto shows have a lot in common with a mock-up of a Formula One car; they’re both a promise of excitement rather than the actual experience. This year’s New York show had its share of craziness, but for all the models we did see our post on a tiger-carrying Land Rover gave Stöke the idea for one vehicle we’d pay to see: More » Excerpt from: COTD: Leaving New York edition [Commenter Of The Day] Continued here:  COTD: Leaving New York edition [Commenter Of The Day]

Just as Mazda took the wraps off of the face-lifted Mazda 3 with its new SKYACTIV four-cylinder gasoline engine, the company quietly reconfirmed that it will bring a diesel engine to the U.S. market in 18 months. The diesel is a member of the same family as the gas mill, and will probably arrive here in 2.2-liter form. When we tried this engine in a Mazda 6 last year, the company’s engineers were estimating fuel economy for that (rather large) car would be over 30 mpg city/40 highway. What’s especially impressive about the powerplant is that doesn’t require any urea injection to meet U.S. emissions standards, unlike current diesels from Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen. Separately, we’ve learned that the Mazda 6 will not receive any changes in the next few years—certainly none before the diesel engine arrives here—and this leads us to conclude that the big sedan won’t be the first recipient of the diesel four. With that in mind, the company’s SUVs, like the CX-7 and upcoming CX-5 , seem like good candidates. Original post: Mazda Still On Track to Bring Diesel Four-Cylinder to the U.S. in 2012 See the rest here:  Mazda Still On Track to Bring Diesel Four-Cylinder to the U.S. in 2012

Toyota Motors announced a recall of approximately 214,000 of its 2007 and 2008 model year RAV4 and 94,000 of its 2008 model year Highlander and Highlander Hybrid vehicles due to faulty roll-over sensors in their side air bag systems. Toyota says those vehicles, sold only in the U.S., use two sensors to detect roll angle. If one sensor fails, an air bag warning light will appear and the vehicle’s roll-over detection system will be disabled. The air bags will deploy in a collision involving side impacts, but not in a roll-over situation. If both sensors fail simultaneously after an initial air bag system check, the vehicle’s seat belt pretensioner and air bags could inadvertently activate. The Japanese car maker says it will begin notifying customers affected by the recall next month and owners will be instructed to take their vehicles to a dealership where mechanics will replace the sensors for free. More information can be found on Toyota’s website ( http://www.toyota.com/recall ) or by calling the Toyota customer hotline: 800-331-433. Toyota Announces Intent to Voluntarily Recall Certain RAV4 and Highlander Vehicles to Replace the Curtain Shield Airbag Sensor Assembly [Toyota] Toyota recalls 2007-08 RAV4s, 2008 Highlanders for air bag defect [USA Today] Read the original: Recall: Toyota RAV4 and Highlander for bad air bag sensors

Even though we focus a lot our attention on safety, fuel economy and reliability, it’s nice once in a while to step back and remind ourselves what brought most of us to this business in the first place: Cars are supposed to be fun. And, given the choice, many of my colleagues would choose to equip their fun car with a manual transmission. A manual? What’s that? Some industry writers say that the days of shifting for yourself (with a foot-operated clutch) are numbered. And, admittedly, many of today’s automatics are super smooth, responsive, fuel efficient, and work well on our increasingly congested roads. Most people want automatics. I get it. However, to me, it’s disheartening when car companies choose to display their sportiest cars with automatic transmissions – when they are at least available with manuals. I mean, the NY auto show organizers say that the expanded Jacob Javits Center has a million square feet of display space and usually attract a million people a year to the show. You’d think the sportiest and speediest would be one of the hot tickets. I thought about this when I was walking through the Audi display. I glanced at the interiors of a number of their coolest cars and noticed that they were manuals. Amazing. Some companies haven’t given them up. But then I began thinking about whether other supposedly “sporty” companies are showcasing sticks. The following is a not-so-scientific look at the transmissions I found on a number of at the sporty/fun models at the show. And, again, I was curious to see which cars, if they could be bought with an automatic, are being rolled out to the public at this show with an automatic: Manual BMW Z4 Audi S4 Audi S5 Audi TT RS Audi R8 Spyder Volkswagen Jetta GLI Ford Mustang GT Chevrolet Camaro Buick Regal GS Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Automatic Infiniti G37 IPL BMW M3 convertible Porsche Boxster Porsche 911 Porsche Cayman Dodge Challenger R/T Three cheers to the companies that haven’t given up on manual transmissions and had the backbone to choose to display them here at the show. Special mention should be made to GM for showcasing a manual version of its Regal. I don’t think many people will buy the car so equipped, but I’m glad it’s...

This year’s World Car of the Year competition began with thirty-nine vehicles, picked by a team of journalists from around the world. The next stage cut the list of eligible vehicles down to ten, followed by the selection of three finalists at last month’s Geneva Motor Show. It came down to the 2011 Nissan Leaf against the 2011 Audi A8… Read the original post: 2011 Nissan Leaf Named ‘World Car Of The Year’

Making a mistake buying a used car can cost you hundreds, even thousands of dollars more than necessary. That doesn’t take into account the added time and stress to make things right. When I was Internet Manager for a major car dealer, I compiled a list of the most common mistakes my customers made when buying used cars. I’ve been… Go here to read the rest: The 5 Biggest Mistakes Used Car Buyers Make

Toyota has announced that it will recall some 2007 and 2008 RAV4 models, along with some 2008 Toyota Highlander and Highlander Hybrid models, to replace a potentially defective airbag sensor assembly. The issue concerns the vehicles’ roll-sensing side-curtain airbag system; the failure of one of the two sensors that determine roll angle would lead… Original post:  Toyota Recalling Some RAV4, Highlander Models For Airbag Issue

Coming in both a hybrid and plug-in hybrid version? Will another hybrid ever match Prius sales? At the New York Auto Show, Hyundai announced that the Blue-Will concept will be headed for production. Unfortunately, no other details were provided. Nevertheless, InsideLine , for instance, is already calling the Blue-Will Hyundai’s Prius-fighter. But is the Blue Will really a Prius-fighter? Will another hybrid ever match, or even top, Prius sales? In its concept form, the Blue Will was a plug-in hybrid. Can any plug-in be a Toyota Prius fighter? Soon, the Prius will be offered in 3 different sizes and at least two different powertrain options. Sure, one of them will be a plug-in hybrid, but the version that will rack up the most sales over the next decade will still be the conventional hybrid version. Wouldn’t any Prius-fighter; therefore, have to at least be offered in both conventional and plug-in hybrid versions? Additionally, the Prius is primed for full electric and fuel cell electric versions in the future. Thus, any Prius-fighter has to be an extremely flexible platform. Of course, maybe the Hyundai Blue-Will, or whatever name Hyundai eventually brands its “Prius-fighter” with, will be offered as both a non-plug-in hybrid and a plug-in hybrid. Otherwise, the Blue-Will is just a plug-in Prius fighter, not a Prius fighter. One way or another, until another automaker comes close to matching Prius sales, we’re still just dealing with niche markets. Hopefully, Hyundai is committed to a legitimate “Prius-fighter” as some real competition is desperately needed in this space. See the original post here:  Is Hyundai really going to take on the Toyota Prius?

If buying a car that’s made in the U.S. is a priority, you’ll soon have one more choice. Beginning this fall, the 2012 Kia Optima will be built at West Point, Georgia. To accommodate the Optima, production at the Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia (KMMG) facility will be expanded, with applications now being taken for a third wave of hiring. In all… View original here:  2012 Kia Optima To Be Assembled In The U.S.

The 2012 Kia Rio makes its debut today at the 2011 New York Auto Show, in both four-door sedan and five-door hatchback form. The Rio and Rio5 are part of the wave of 40-mpg cars highlighting this year’s show. In both body styles and both drivetrain configurations, the Rio will hit the new magic number for economy–a figure touched on by the… The rest is here:  2012 Kia Rio: 2011 New York Auto Show

Better fuel economy, more power and an amped-up look come to the 2012 Kia Soul, which takes a bow on a stage at the 2011 New York Auto Show today. For the new model year, Kia’s added its version of the new Hyundai/Kia corporate 1.6-liter four-cylinder to the Soul train. It’s worth 135 horsepower and 121 pound-feet of torque, a boost of 11 percent… See the original post here: 2012 Kia Soul Preview: 2011 New York Auto Show

Filed under: Motorsport , Formula One The period between February and March was the “worst I’ve experienced in 20 years at McLaren”, the British team’s technical director has admitted. Continue reading Worst McLaren winter in 20 years Permalink | Email this | Comments Read more here: Worst McLaren winter in 20 years View post:  Worst McLaren winter in 20 years