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Filed under: Aftermarket, SEMA Show, Coupe, Performance, Chevrolet

2010 Hennessey HPE700 Camaro – Click above for high-res image gallery

We’ve seen the pictures. We’ve seen the videos. Now we’re finally going to see the Hennessey HPE700 Camaro in person when it makes its official debut at SEMA next week. There’s a lot to love with Hennessey’s halo musclecar, starting with the LS9 V8 from the ZR1 packing 725 horsepower and 741 lb.-ft. torque (up from the initial figures, 705 and 717 respectively). Those numbers are good for a 0-60 time of just 3.5 seconds, and the trip back to a complete stop takes just 104 feet thanks to 15-inch Brembo brakes. Then there’s the subtle Cam-Aero carbon fiber body kit that adds a front splitter, side skirts, rear bumper, and a diffuser, with the look is finished off with a set of Hennessey’s three-piece, 20-inch wheels.

Expect plenty of photographs and our first person impressions when we come face to face with the HPE700 Camaro next week. Until then, check out the new high-res photos in the gallery below or read the official press release and the full specs list after the jump.

[Source: Hennessey Performance Engineering]

Continue reading 2010 Hennessey HP700 Camaro to make official debut at SEMA

2010 Hennessey HP700 Camaro to make official debut at SEMA originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’ve been following the dust-up surrounding Honda’s 2010 Accord Crosstour, you might therefore assume that Wednesday’s announcement that the company plans to bring over its European-market Accord Tourer may have been motivated in part by early online reaction to the forthcoming five-door crossover. But as we suspected, t’aint necessarily so.

The Accord Tourer will hit U.S. shores later next year branded as the Acura TSX Sport Wagon, and as just about anyone in automotive product planning will tell you, new models just aren’t conceived that quickly – even if the vehicle in question is just a simple porting-over job from another market. There are emissions and crash-test certification hoops to jump through, suppliers that need to be contracted, dealers that need to be trained and marketing strategies that need to be built.

As spokesman Chuck Schifsky tells Autoblog, “Honda, as you know, is about as fast a reacting a product planning company as there is, but we don’t react that quickly!… If our past is any indication, then us announcing the TSX wagon at this point shouldn’t have been a surprise – we’re notoriously known for bringing a car and having it arrive in showrooms not long afterwards.” Indeed, Schifsky is right — vehicles like the third-generation CR-V were seemingly in dealers within weeks of the public announcement and press launch. That said, Schifsky did admit that the timing of the announcement was moved up slightly for “strategic reasons,” but he also said that those reasons had nothing to do with the Crosstour.

We asked Schifsky what the TSX Sport Wagon will look like when it arrives, and he told us that the car will not simply be the same as the European car. He admits he hasn’t seen the finished product for himself yet, but he acknowledges that changes will be made to bring the design in-line with Acura’s current styling language (read: it will receive a variation of the love/loath shield grille), and equipment levels will change to meet U.S. expectations. Given how much effort and money has been expended developing Acura’s new corporate face, Schifsky believes it would be “foolish” to bring the Accord Tourer as-is, simply swapping the Honda badge for its Acura counterpart. Says Schifsky, “I would look to the U.S. TSX as an indicator as to what kind of equipment the car will have.” Further, he advised us to examine the differences between the European-market Accord sedan and the Tourer bodystyle to look for indicators of what sort of changes the American market wagon will likely receive.

It’s too early for Honda to reveal pricing for the 2011 model, but as the current TSX sedan starts at $29,310 and the 2010 Crosstour’s price figures to be above a Accord V6 sedan (base price: $26,805), it’s likely that there will be significant pricing overlap between the two models. Will there be any cannibalization? The Crosstour should lay claim to superior space and foul-weather capability thanks to its all-wheel drive model, but if the TSX sedan is anything to go on, the Acura will have superior driving dynamics, mainstream looks and a more desirable badge.

Either way, this one will be fun to watch play out…

U.S. Acura TSX Sport Wagon not motivated by Honda Crosstour feedback originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Review: 2010 Kia Forte continues string of hits from South Korea

Kia puts out another competent runabout with strong styling, a quality interior and the driving dynamics to match the competition from Honda and Mazda — all for thousands less.

Introduction to Karting – Part 5

The fifth installment of our karting series delves into the trials and tribulations of owning, running and practicing in a kart, right before we head to the track for our first race.

Empire Strikes Back: White House calls out Edmunds on Clunkers story, Edmunds responds

Edmunds crunched the numbers and determined tax payers dolled out around $24k for each vehicle sold during the Cash for Clunkers program. The White House disagrees and issues a sharp response to the site.

Also of interest:

• SEMA Preview: Subaru bringing tuned STI, Legacy and 1969 360 van
• Autoline on Autoblog with John McElroy
• REPORT: Convertible Toyobaru FT-86 in the works
• VIDEO: GM offers sneak peek at mystery crate engine headed for SEMA
• VIDEO: SHO vs. SHO on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien

Browse our archive of Daily U-Turn posts or subscribe to the RSS feed

Daily U-Turn: What you missed on 10.30.09 originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: SEMA Show, Coupe, Off-Road

The wild things have left the movie theaters and are headed toward Las Vegas. Destination? SEMA. Case in point, the Rally Fighter. Local Motors, the company that plans to build the offroadster, is attempting an industry first: dipping into the collective wisdom of the Internet (we’re not sure if “wisdom” is the right word there, but whatever) to crowdsource the design and specifications of their first vehicle. Intended to be an eco-minded Baja-capable daily driver, the Rally Fighter uses a BMW 335d powerplant to achieve 36 mpg on the highway and 30 mpg off-road. Why is decent fuel economy important? Local Motors‘ CEO Jay Rogers fought in the Iraq war as a Marine and “saw the oil problem with his own eyes,” says the company’s PR.

According to company officials, the Rally Fighter left Wareham, Massachusetts yesterday in order to make it to SEMA for its unveiling on November 3. For more on Local Motors’ microfactory and crowdsourcing processes, you can check out
a video of Rogers after the jump. You don’t often hear an automotive CEO compare his company to Build-A-Bear, but you can in this case.

[Source: Local Motors]

Continue reading Vroom for Everyone: Local Motors unveiling crowdsourced Rally Fighter at SEMA [w/VIDEO]

Vroom for Everyone: Local Motors unveiling crowdsourced Rally Fighter at SEMA [w/VIDEO] originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Motorsports

2009 FIA GT Championship at Silverstone – Click above for a high-res image gallery

After a meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council earlier this month, the FIA GT Championship has announced the expansion of the racing series for next year that includes more races and international locations. The 2010 schedule features four additional races and venues on five different continents, making the battle for the GT1 title a true world championship. United Arab Emirates, South Africa, China, Brazil, and Canada will all host races along withtraditional locations like Silverstone, Paul Ricard, Brno, and Spa.

In addition to the new schedule, the racing series also announced a change in direction for the GT1 category that will now focus more on privateer teams to encourage competition and reduce costs. The GT2 and GT3 classes will remain European-only series with an emphasis on semi-pro or amateur drivers and teams. Follow the jump for the full 2010 FIA GT schedule.

[Source: FIA GT]

Continue reading FIA GT1 Championship goes global for 2010

FIA GT1 Championship goes global for 2010 originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Marketing/Advertising, Videos, Ford, Humor

Ever see those poor men and women out on a hot and sunny summer day dressed up in some ridiculous costume as some sort of promotion their employers are running? We truly feel for these people, but it seems not everyone is as kind and caring… probably those same jerks in middle school that used to knock the books out of our hands in the hallways.

Next time you happen to spot such a costumed worker, remember that you never know who – or, indeed, what – might be lurking under that unfortunate outfit. As you’ll see in the video pasted after the break (which is only kinda sorta about the South African Ford Icon), it’s not always what you might expect. Head on over to veryfunnyads.com for more hilarious commercials from around the world.

[Source: veryfunnyads.com]

Continue reading Funny Car Commercial of the Day: Never judge a book mascot by its cover

Funny Car Commercial of the Day: Never judge a book mascot by its cover originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Government/Legal, GM, Earnings/Financials

Fritz Henderson went to Washington to have a word the folks who wrote the $50 billion check to keep General Motors alive. While there, he answered a few questions put forth from The Washington Post about that investment and the “new” company created with it. His answers are sound, but qualified and a bit vague – that’s to be expected, since the economic storm isn’t anywhere close to being over.

On the subject of money, he said that “any reasonable planning scenario” they’ve looked at doesn’t involve the government writing any more checks, and when it comes to payback, “If we get our job done, I think the government has an excellent chance of getting a return on its investment.” That could all be read as a way of saying “We have no clue what’s going to happen.” But four months into his job is too soon for Henderson to be making promises for years out, so at the very least, we’ll see what GM’s next round of cars is like before we dissect his veracity.

On other scores, Henderson praised the UAW, kicked hydrogen cars in the doors, estimated that the Chevrolet Volt will come in at $40K, and he also said electric cars need a lot more investment from other sources for prices to come down. Click the link for the rest of The Generalissimo’s words. Hat tip to Serge!

[Source: The Washington Post] | Image: Philippe Lopez/Getty]

REPORT: Fritz says GM doesn’t need any further aid from Washington originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Aftermarket, SEMA Show, Classics, Performance, Ford

Ringbrothers 1964 “Afterburner” Ford Fairlane – Click above for a high-res image gallery

If you’ve followed our SEMA coverage the last few years then you’ve heard of the Ringbrothers. We’ve had a close eye on the talented siblings ever since the debut of their 1967 Reactor Mustang at the Roush booth a few years ago. It was and still is one of the most impressive custom cars we’ve ever seen. Last year they wowed us with their 1969 Razor Camaro, which earned them the Street Machine of the Year award for the second straight year.

How do the Ringbrothers plan to top these two terrific muscle cars? With a 1964 Ford Fairlane nicknamed “Afterburner” due to debut on the first day of the show next week. We don’t know much about the Fairlane right now, but we fully believe our high expectations will be met. Car buff and comedian Adam Carolla will be on hand to introduce the car, and naturally, we’ll be there with cameras in hand, so check back next week for all the details.

[Source: Motorator.com]

SEMA Preview: Adam Carolla unveiling latest Ringbrothers project – “Afterburner” originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: LA Auto Show, Coupe, Performance

According to InsideLine, McLaren is having issues setting up distribution in the U.S., resulting in a delay of the MP4-12C’s Stateside launch and its plans to show its newest supercar at the LA Auto Show this December.

Late last month, McLaren appointed Anthony Joseph, former regional manager for Porsche, Ferrari and Maserati, to setup the automaker’s dealer network in the U.S., but over the course of the last few weeks McLaren has apparently hit a few roadblocks and it’s expected that the creation of retail outlets will be delayed until sometime next year. With the economy in its current state, that may be a blessing in disguise, but that does little to stave off our desire to see the MP4-12C on the show stand.

[Source: InsideLine]

REPORT: McLaren MP4-12C U.S. launch delayed, not coming to LA Auto Show originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Autoline on Autoblog, Alternative Fuel

Brazil’s E100 Drives Innovative Fuel Injection

A few weeks ago Rio de Janeiro landed the 2016 Olympics largely thanks to the fact that Brazil is climbing up the rank of nations. It has grown to become the 10th largest economy in the world and a key reason has to do with the country’s energy policy.

By committing heavily to ethanol, Brazil no longer imports oil to make fuel. That means the country now has a trade surplus and a positive balance of payments. The economy is growing while unemployment is dropping. Ethanol doesn’t get all the credit for Brazil’s impressive growth, but it’s playing a significant role. Instead of talking about kicking its oil addiction, Brazil did it.

An unexpected side benefit of committing to ethanol is that Brazil is also taking the lead in developing new fuel injection systems that allow cars to run on pure ethanol (E-100). This is arguably the first time that Brazil has ever taken the lead on automotive technology.

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John McElroy is host of the TV program “Autoline Detroit” and daily web video “Autoline Daily”. Every week he brings his unique insights as an auto industry insider to Autoblog readers.
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Continue reading Autoline on Autoblog with John McElroy

Autoline on Autoblog with John McElroy originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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