Last month Renault became the second manufacturer participating in F1 this year to be accused of spying on its competitors. In this case, the Renault team was accused of “unauthorized possession of documents and confidential information” pertaining to McLaren’s F1 cars. Renault was found guilty of possessing documents on McLaren’s cars that included details about “the McLaren fueling system, gear assembly, oil cooling system, hydraulic control system and a novel suspension component used by the 2006 and 2007 McLaren F1 cars.”

We recognize the ironic twist of fate that McLaren was accused and convicted of spying on Ferrari last summer and penalized by being stripped of all its constructors’ championship points for the 2007 season and fined a record $100,000,000 USD (wowww!). What was Renault’s punishment for its crime? Nothing. Though it technically was in breach of article 151c of the International Sporting Code, Renault’s getting off scott free. McLaren must be fuming right now![Source: f1-live.com]

For quite awhile, BMW has been disappointing many consumers by only offering limited slip differentials on their M-badged models. Competitors such as Lexus and Infiniti have at least offered LSD options on their vehicles, but BMW’s argument is that their traction control system is sophisticated enough to fight wheel slippage rendering the extra cost for an LSD unnecessary. But it looks like that long-standing policy at the German automaker will change in the very near future.

The latest news out of GKN Driveline and ZF Friedrichshafen AG is that they have joined forces to produce a torque vectoring system that will be implemented by BMW. The system utilizes two electronic torque managing units that are essentially clutch type differentials, with the plate pressure controlled by voltage supplied to two electric motors. It will be able to independently adjust the torque split between two wheels, without the need for wheel slippage to occur initially. The technology is being dubbed VectorDrive and it’s configurable for AWD and RWD vehicles. It’s about time BMW joined the bandwagon in moving away from the open rear differential.
[Source: Automotive News]

When you build a car with as much velocity potential as a Ferrari, the ability to dissipate kinetic energy is just as important as the ability to accumulate it. Brakes work by transforming kinetic energy into heat energy, at least some of which is absorbed by the rotors and pads. As the temperature of the brakes increases they lose effectiveness. Engineers developed carbon ceramic brakes, originally implemented on race cars, and offer tremendous stopping power with much improved fade resistance.

Carbon brakes have been available as an option on many models from Porsche, Lamborghini and Ferrari for several years and were even standard on the likes of the Enzo. Now Ferrari is set to be the first manufacturer to make carbon brakes standard equipment across their lineup. At the Bologna Show, Ferrari General Manager Amedeo Felisa announced that starting in 2008, all the cars wearing the Prancing Horse would come out of the factory with carbon ceramic brakes supplied by Brembo.
[Source: CarScoop]

Losses are mounting fast for motor insurers in Singapore that premiums for drivers are likely to rise soon. The red ink for the three months ended Sept 30 rose to the S$40 million mark, up from S$10.3 million in the same period last year. It was the worst quarterly loss in five years, said the General Insurance Association of Singapore (GIA) yesterday, and the third consecutive quarter of losses this year.

The full-year figure could top S$100 million, mainly because of underpricing by insurers to gain market share, increasing claim costs arising from higher repair charges and exaggerated claims.

GIA president Derek Teo noted that only the three largest motor insurers - AIG, NTUC Income and Axa Insurance - have taken steps to increase prices in recent months. AIG has raised motor premiums by 5 to 15 per cent, depending on vehicle type. In August, Income said it would raise premiums by 5 to 10 per cent.

But those premium hikes have cost the two insurers market share as some policyholders have switched firms. AIG and Income have a combined motor market share of 46 per cent, down from 48.7 per cent in the third quarter of last year.
[Source: ST]

After several months of discussions with the Malaysian government about working with Proton, both parties have decided to call it quits. The Malaysian government is the largest shareholder in the local company that also owns Lotus. Lotus has been doing fairly well of late thanks to their continuing engineering work for many of the world’s automakers, and the ongoing success of the Elise lineup. Proton however has been struggling and was seeking a more well-heeled partner to work with. Citing better sales figure, both locally in Malaysia and overseas, Proton has surprisingly decided to postpone any future partnership talks. For the foreseeable future Volkswagen appears to be out of the picture.
[Source: Volkswagen]

Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari can breathe a sigh of relief, as their championship has been formally confirmed by the FIA. The title was appealed by the incredibly sore losers at McLaren, who insisted that because of a temperature irregularity in the fuel in BMW’s and Williams’ cars at the season closer in Brazil, those four cars should have been disqualified, thereby catapulting McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton to the championship. (Yeah, they were serious.)

Hamilton, it should be noted, stated that he didn’t want to win the championship that way. And nobody else wanted him too, either. Even F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone threatened to quit the sport if the FIA took the title away from Raikkonen and awarded it to Hamilton over the technicality.
Read the rest of this entry »

The salesman who sold Lindsay Lohan her Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG must have been present when Britney Spears recently rolled into the dealership. According to celebrity site TMZ.com, Britney Spears just picked up a shiny new white SL65. That means once again a young accident prone distracted driver gets a twin-turbo monster (hooray!) with which to aim at unsuspecting bystanders. Wherever will she fit the baby seats? Surely an SL350 would have suited Ms. Spears for her frequent Starbucks runs, but why should anyone think with reason?
[Source: TMZ.com]

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group finally showed off its new Geely logo (above left) in Beijing a couple of days ago. it chose this new logo following a nearly year-long “global design contest” that used a combination of online voting and a panel of 66 “professional adjudicators.”

The logo you see at left above was picked as the best amongst the 27,336 entries submitted. To show how seriously this was taken by the rest of the world, a record was set when more than 100 countries participated, making it the most widely entered corporate logo design contest ever. At least that’s what the release says. The winning logo was designed by Yue Xiande from Anhui province, and is clearly not a Toyota ripoff. “The Toyota logo has a whole other ring in it,” Geely spokespeople did not say.

Hailing it as “a significant milestone for Geely’s brand building, but also the maturity of China’s self-owned and corporate brands,” Geely spokesperson Wang Ziliang said, “China’s self-owned brands have come to realize the importance behind having the right auto brand and auto culture when trying to succeed overseas.” Now they just have to work on innovative product that doesn’t crumple like a beer can in barrier tests. Just kidding.
[Source: Geely]

BMW appears to want to fill all 4×4 voids in the market. Within the next five years, BMW’s planning on adding three new SUV-type vehicles to their lineup. The X6 will arrive next year, followed by the 4×4 version of the MINI in 2009, and the also-small X1 in 2010.

The MINI 4×4 will run a Getrag-developed AWD system, and we’d expect the X1 to use the basic component set of the forthcoming 1-series. The Concept CS is also headed for production, and it will be positioned above the 7-series sedan carrying 8 and 12 cylinder powerplants.

The X5 is handsome, and that general motif is present on the X6, and we’d expect it to scale down to the X1 decently, leaving only the hideous X3 as a pimple on the face of BMW’s SAVs.
[Source: Autocar]

Don’t even think about speeding and outrunning the police force in London with this Caparo T1 police car on the prowl. It will run you down faster than a cheetah does its prey, that is, if it doesn’t burst into flames first. Top Gear reports that the car will obviously not be pressed into service, but it’s a fun idea and one of the hottest cruisers we’ve ever come across. Produced in conjunction with the London Metropolitan Police and Caparo, the T1 cruiser will be display this week at the MPH ‘07 Show at Earls Court in London to be specific.
[Source: Top Gear]

Cigarettes, alcohol and fireworks all carry warning labels because of their potential danger to your health. The European Parliament has now suggested cars should carry similar warnings, not for your health, but the planet’s.

Under the proposal, carmakers would have to set aside 20% of an ad’s space for environmental impact information, listing fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.

As you might expect, auto manufacturers are not happy about the suggestion. Advertising companies and media outlets are afraid of how much money they stand to lose.

The plan is a long way from being implemented though, since the EU rarely moves quickly on anything. We see how such a requirement could do some good, but also understand that people who care about environmental impact usually know better than to buy a fuel-drinking and highly-polluting SUV to begin with.
[Source: Green Tech Blog]

From Nov 5, motorists will pay 50 cents more each time they pass under an Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantry on CTE. This will make the most-expensive-to-drive-through CTE highway even more expensive.

The move, the third wide-scale ERP increase this year, will mean those driving cars onto the CTE from the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) between 8.30am and 9am will have to pay a record S$5. Goods vehicles and buses will have to pay S$10. The charge for passing its gantries between 7.30am and 8am will be S$3.50. So it makes good sense to set out earlier.

This route made news early this year when its ERP rates went up to S$4. A few months later, it was raised to S$4.50. And now its S$5! Am I the only one who thinks driving in Singapore is getting too expensive? An alternative expressway, or CTE expansion perhaps the longer term solution?
[Source: ST]

It looks like Germany’s autobahn system is safe from a potential increase of speed-limited areas, for now at least. As posted on numerous occasions, environmentalists, the European Union and even citizens of Germany have called for the adaptation of 130 km/h limits in the currently ungoverned sections. However, the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, has publicly rejected a proposal aimed at reducing automotive emissions through autobahn speed regulations. Thankfully, Mrs. Merkel is a logical woman as she stressed that traffic jams caused by slow vehicles contribute as much greenhouse gas as a few speedsters. She offered better traffic management as a more effective solution to the Autobahn issue. Now, if only Angela Merkel could bring her ideas over to Singapore.
[Source: Piston Heads]

When we first heard of a partnership between Nissan and NEC, we assumed the carmaker was working with the computer company to develop rechargeable batteries for its hybrid cars. And they may be, but it looks like the first product to come out of the cooperation is more NEC than Nissan.

Meet the LaVie G Type J laptop from NEC. With a red Nissan X-Trail paint job on the rugged-looking exterior, and the X-Trail logo on the palmrest, the Windows-running portable is customizable at Nissan’s members-only Japanese-market brand shop. Engadget quotes a Core2 Duo running Vista Premium will go for about S$3,068. If you’re a member. And live in Japan.

Wouldn’t it have been cooler to have created a laptop that somehow integrates with the X-Trail? Slots into the dash, maybe, to become the entertainment/DVD/GPS system?
[Source: Engadget]

Forget about every other car you’ve read about at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show. We were only here for one, the Nissan GT-R.

The GT-R’s twin-turbo 3.8L V6 will produce 473 horsepower and 588 Nm of torque. That’s a bit more than the 450 bhp many were anticipating, and we’re guessing Nissan’s official power rating is still a bit conservative, as well. 0 to 100 kph in 3.5 seconds is awfully quick, and there are plenty of supercars out there with more power that can’t hit that mark. All-wheel-drive, of course, aids the delivery of each pony to the pavement, while the only transmission available will be a GR6 dual-clutch six-speed. Leather-wrapped aluminum paddle shifters are standard.