Monday, June 7, 2010

RPMGO.com (former Auto Unleashed)

RPMGO.com (former Auto Unleashed)


Motorsport Weekend: MotoGP Italian GP, IRC Sardinia Rally and Nascar Pocono and Nashville races results

Posted: 07 Jun 2010 04:13 AM PDT

Motorsport Weekend: MotoGP Italian GP, IRC Sardinia Rally and Nascar Pocono and Nashville races results

Welcome to a new edition of Motorsport Weekend, our own feature where we talk about the best motorsport events in the last three days.

In Europe, Italy was the center of attention, with the MotoGP holding its Italian GP at Monza and the IRC holding the Sardinia Rally in that lovely part of Italy. Nascar stopped in Nashville for its Nationwide Series race, and then moved to Pocono, for the Sprint Cup event.

So, interested to see what happened with Valentino Rossi, Dani Pedrosa, Juho Hanninen or Kyle Busch plus a video of a nine-car pileup from the Nascar race? Then hit the jump and find out.

Dani Pedrosa of Honda winning the Moto GP Italian GP

The MotoGP Italian GP was unfortunate for Valentino Rossi fans, as the Italian rider was injured during practice and won’t return for another 6 weeks. The actual race was a show of force by Spanish rider Dani Pedrosa, who quickly left his main contenders, Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso, fighting for second place. The two riders managed to put on a show, which was eventually won by Lorenzo, crossing the finish line second.

Overall standings show Lorenzo still in the lead, but Pedrosa is trailing by 25 points.

Skoda's Juho Hanninen winning the IRC Sardinia Rally

Moving onto the Internation Rally Challenge, which saw the Sardinia Rally also take place in Italy. Juho Hanninen took the win after managing to build up a nice lead with his Skoda Fabia S2000 race car. He was also lucky, as his closest competitor, Peugeot’s Kris Meeke crashed during the 10th stage. The podium was rounded off by Peugeot’s Paolo Andreucci and Skoda’s Jan Kopecky.

Overall standings show Hanninen in the lead with 42 points, followed by teammate Kopecky, with 31 and Guy Wilks with 25 points. Manufacturers standings see Skoda in the lead with 80 points, followed by Peugeot with 46 and M-Sport Ford with 15.

Moving onto Nascar, we saw two races, the Federated Auto Parts 300 in Nashville, counting for the Nationwide Series, and the Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500 in Pocono, counting for the Sprint Cup.

The Nashville race was dominated by Brad Keselowski, who raced to an easy victory, seeing as how his closest overall rival, Kyle Busch, skipped the race in order to focus on the Sprint Cup event. Still, Keselowski had a bit of a hard time with Carl Edwards, but in the end managed to cross the finish line first, followed by Edwards and Paul Menard.

Overall Nationwide standings show Keselowski in first, followed by Edwards, who tails by 196 points, and Edwards, trailing by 277 points.

Moving onto the Sprint Cup race in Pocono, we were treated to a few interesting crashes, but only during the end of the race. Two laps to go, Joey Logano was spun out by Kevin Harvick, which later resulted in a media brawl between the two. But without a doubt the most impressive was a nine-car pileup which occurred during the last lap. Kasey Kahne and A.J. Allmendinger were fighting for same spot and, needless to say, there was contact. Check out the complete crash in the video below.

The final crash meant an easy win for Denny Hamlin, followed by Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart.

Overall Sprint Cup standings show Kevin Harvick, followed by Kyle Busch, who trails by 19 points, and Deny Hamlin, trailing by 136 points.

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Motorsport Weekend: MotoGP Italian GP, IRC Sardinia Rally and Nascar Pocono and Nashville races results

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BMW planning Gran Coupe-based 6 Series and Megacity EV sportscar

Posted: 07 Jun 2010 01:46 AM PDT

BMW planning Gran Coupe-based 6 Series and Megacity EV sportscar

Lately, we’ve been hearing a lot about BMW’s hybrid and electric vehicle endeavors, with the Megacity project taking center stage.

This doesn’t mean the Bavarians are going off-track, as a batch of new rumors are speculating about some serious hardcore projects going on at the German company.

First off, remember the stunning Gran Coupe concept we saw during the Beijing Motor Show? It seems that it will become a reality in the future as the next 6 Series. According to Inside Line, the next 6er will arrive around 2012 and really target similar models from traditional rivals like Audi or Mercedes-Benz.

If internal combustion cars aren’t your thing, then relax, as BMW is also planning something special for the Megacity EV project. According to Autocar, the electric vehicle range will see the addition of a sportscar, in the vein of the EfficientDynamics concept we saw some time ago. Sadly, this is much further away, as the first EV is set to appear in 2013, and the sportscar after it.

Still, it seems BMW knows how to please its hardcore fans and we will see plenty of interesting models from the Bavarians in the future.

Source: Autocar and InsideLine via Autoblog

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BMW planning Gran Coupe-based 6 Series and Megacity EV sportscar

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Video: Drunk woman driver launches car over airport toll booth

Posted: 07 Jun 2010 01:18 AM PDT

Video: Drunk woman driver launches car over airport toll booth

Toll booths can be a pain sometimes, but usually people just pay up and go on their merry way.

A woman leaving the Dallas airport parking lot decided that she shouldn’t pay up. Instead, she went all Dukes of Hazzard-style and tried to jump the car over the toll booth.

The result, as you can imagine, was a pretty severe crash, with the model, a Chevrolet Impala, bursting into flames when it hit the ground.

Luckily for her, she only sustained a fractured wrist. The driver claimed she was rear ended, but police say that there is no evidence to support that. Plus, after taking the breathalyzer, it was clear that she had a few too many duty-free drinks.

Still, the footage is pretty awesome to watch, so hit the jump and check out this modern day, female version of the Dukes of Hazzard.

Source: Dallas Observer

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Video: Drunk woman driver launches car over airport toll booth

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2011 Volkswagen Passat leaked before its Paris debut

Posted: 07 Jun 2010 12:49 AM PDT

2011 Volkswagen Passat leaked before its Paris debut

After the 2011 Volkswagen Tiguan facelift was leaked through a brochure photo, the next big thing from Wolfsburg, the 2011 Volkswagen Passat, has also seen its first leaked image appear.

As you can see above, the completely undisguised model promises to be much more attractive, at least from a styling point than its predecessor. The more angular style, present on other new VWs like the Golf or the new Phaeton, really highlights the mid-size sedan.

For the inside, voices speculate that interior features will be borrowed from the Passat CC, including a three-spoke steering wheel or chrome accents for the dials.

The new and sharper 2011 Passat will likely get an array of gasoline and diesel engines in Europe, while the US version will probably keep the 200 HP 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine.

Expect more info on the new German sedan at the upcoming Paris Motor Show in September.

Source: AutoExpress

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2011 Volkswagen Passat leaked before its Paris debut

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Video: Ken Block wants your ideas for Gymkhana Three, win a ride in his 600 HP Fiesta

Posted: 07 Jun 2010 12:19 AM PDT

Video: Ken Block wants your ideas for Gymkhana Three, win a ride in his 600 HP Fiesta

Ken Block’s name is synonymous to the Gymkhana phenomenon, a series of YouTube videos that captured the world by storm and made Block a household name.

Now, for the upcoming Gymkhana Three video, Block is spicing things up, and wants your ideas for where it should be filmed and what tricks he needs to do.

How do you get in touch with him? Simple, just go to this website, and share your feedback with Block and his Monster World Rally Team. Besides helping out the rally driver, you might also win free things plus a ride in the 600 HP Ford Fiesta Gymkhana Three car.

Confused? Then hit the jump and see Block explain how the competition works, plus a few brief shots of the brake-melting car.

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Video: Ken Block wants your ideas for Gymkhana Three, win a ride in his 600 HP Fiesta

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Video: Aston Martin V12 Vantage flexes its muscles in new footage

Posted: 07 Jun 2010 12:01 AM PDT

Video: Aston Martin V12 Vantage flexes its muscles in new footage

The Aston Martin V12 Vantage has made a lot of Europeans interested in the British brand.

Now, the company is preparing to unleashed its most powerful Vantage upon North America. As such, in order to really get the blood pumping through the veins of American supercar fans, Aston Martin released a fresh video, showcasing what the V12 Vantage can do best: lap circuits, offer luxury and best of all, look stunning while doing all of the above.

Don’t believe us? Then hit the jump and check it out for yourselves.

Source: Aston Martin via Autoblog

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Video: Aston Martin V12 Vantage flexes its muscles in new footage

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Chinese students create electric Bugatti Veyron replica from used cigarette packs

Posted: 06 Jun 2010 11:38 PM PDT

Chinese students create electric Bugatti Veyron replica from used cigarette packs

Over the years, we’ve grown accustomed for various Chinese companies to release replica models based on famous supercars from Europe or America.

This time, things have taken a much nicer turn, as a group of students from the Xi’an University in China revealed an electric Bugatti Veyron replica.

They won’t target eco-conscious hypercar fans with the model though, as it was made completely from used cigarette packs, 10,280, to be exact.

The whole assembly weighs around 660 pounds and is powered by an electric motor. As you can imagine, this won’t go on sale anytime soon, as it was made to honor the World No Smoking Day, on May 31st.

Source: Eco Friend via Autoblog

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Chinese students create electric Bugatti Veyron replica from used cigarette packs

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Toyota CEO wants more fun to drive models

Posted: 06 Jun 2010 11:21 PM PDT

Toyota CEO wants more fun to drive models

Toyota has been through a lot at the beginning of the year, thanks to the huge recalls and tarnished image. The main man tasked with leading the company through these troubled times was Akio Toyoda, grandson of the company’s founder.

But while the present is still looking a bit shaky, according to Toyoda, the future is extremely bright.

How so? According to the CEO, the Japanese company will shift its focus from developing cars made for nothing short of robots to models actually made for human beings. The future cars will be fun to drive and offer excitement, not just help people get from A to B.

In order to highlight his statement, Toyoda revealed that the hybrids sports concept we saw at the beginning of the year, based on the old MR2, will be much more fun to drive than current vehicles in the lineup.

Toyota was known for making reliable and pretty fun cars back in the day. Sadly, as time went on, things got harsher and harsher and the Japanese company is now a symbol for dull models. Hopefully, under Toyoda’s leadership, things will take a turn for best.

Source: AutoWeek

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Toyota CEO wants more fun to drive models

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Ferrari 360 Spider gets pimped out in Japan

Posted: 06 Jun 2010 11:02 PM PDT

Ferrari 360 Spider gets pimped out in Japan

Japanese car fans really like to customize their rides, that’s why we see such a rich tuning industry in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Sadly, sometimes this is taken a bit to the extreme, especially by otakus, which are fans of anime, manga and games made in their country. They take their love so far, usually branding their own possessions in order to showcase their favorite things, including their own car.

The result is an “itasha”, which literally means “painful car”. As you can see above, this Ferrari 360 Spider has become pretty painful to the eye, being decked out in a set of vinyls that depict a Japanese game called Prism Magical.

Is this art or was it taken a bit too far? Share your thoughts below.

Source: AkibaOS via Kotaku

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Ferrari 360 Spider gets pimped out in Japan

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Chrysler recalls 285,000 2008 and 2009 minivans over potential fire hazard

Posted: 06 Jun 2010 10:38 PM PDT

Chrysler recalls 285,000 2008 and 2009 minivans over potential fire hazard

Chrysler is keeping up with the recalls, this time with minivans once again taking center stage. After revealing a recall safety campaign for 312,000 2005-2006 minivans over airbag issues, a new problem is plaguing 2008 and 2009 model year vehicles.

According to the Pentastar, 284,831 2008-2009 Chrysler Town and Country and Dodge Grand Caravan models are now affected by a faulty wire harness that can subject it to wear every time the rear sliding door is activated. Over time, this can lead to the insulation to peel off and a short circuit is possible. As you know, this can lead to a fire that can happen at any moment.

The models affected were manufactured between February and September 2007. Their owners will be notified of this recall and a free fix is available in dealerships. For more details, you can contact Chrysler at 1-800-853-1403.

Source: NHTSA

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Chrysler recalls 285,000 2008 and 2009 minivans over potential fire hazard

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