Tag Archives: GT

Official: Galpin imagines what Ford's GT would look like today with Pebble-bound coupe

By Brandon Turkus

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Galpin Auto Sports will be bringing its first coachbuilt supercar to this year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Called the Galpin Ford GTR1, it’s a 1000-plus-horsepower monster based on the Ford GT. The reimagined supercar sports a 5.4-liter, supercharged V8 capable of rocketing the slinky GT-based coupe to over 225 miles per hour. Yowza.

When the GTR1 enters production, owners can choose between both carbon fiber and aluminum vehicle bodies. The car that will arrive at Pebble Beach will wear a metal body, sporting a smoother, more modern shape than the Ford GT. Actually, it kind of reminds us of the Shelby GR-1 Concept from the 2005 Detroit Auto Show. The cabin features plenty of machined aluminum and leather, while a McIntosh stereo will pamper audiophiles that tire of the mid-mounted V8.

Pirelli PZero tires hug 20-inch, forged aluminum wheels, while six-piston calipers and carbon rotors are poised to bring that crazy speed to a sudden halt. We’ll have more on the Galpin Ford GTR1 when it makes its first public appearance at The Quail on August 15, before it’s grand debut at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance on August 18.

Continue reading Galpin imagines what Ford’s GT would look like today with Pebble-bound coupe

Galpin imagines what Ford’s GT would look like today with Pebble-bound coupe originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 24 Jul 2013 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog

Official: Aston Martin Vanquish Volante to bow at Pebble Beach

By Brandon Turkus

2014 Aston Martin Vanquish Volante Front Three-Quarter

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Aston Martin is one of the featured marque’s at the 2013 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. With events set for August 14 through 17 and the show itself on August 18, the British brand is going all out in showing its sleek, powerful GT cars to the throngs of well-heeled attendees.

The star of the show will be the Vanquish Volante, which will be receiving its global debut. It will be joined by the CC100 Speedster Concept, Aston Martin’s centenary birthday present to itself, and the new V12 Vantage S, which is also getting its first live showing here.

All three cars feature the brand’s excellent 6.0-liter V12. With that under hood, the Vanquish Volante and V12 Vantage S deliver 565 horsepower and top speeds of 183 and 205 miles per hour, respectively.

The Autoblog team will be on hand at this year’s show, so be sure to check back to see all the high-dollar metal on the California coast.

Continue reading Aston Martin Vanquish Volante to bow at Pebble Beach

Aston Martin Vanquish Volante to bow at Pebble Beach originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 17 Jul 2013 18:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog

Report: Ford Australia to kill off FPV by 2014 in advance of Mustang return

By Brandon Turkus

Ford Falcon XR8 - front three-quarter view, black

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Ford seems to be having a good time yanking our friends in Australia about. First, there was the news that after 90 years, the Blue Oval would be ending Australian production, effectively killing the legendary Falcon sedan. Then, yesterday came the announcement that Oz would be getting the next-generation, global Ford Mustang in 2016. And now, we have news regarding Ford’s Australian tuning partner, FPV.

The group responsible for hot Falcons will be disbanded in 2014, according to Aussie newspaper The Age. FPV’s most recent creation, the GT Falcon, will be discontinued. This news isn’t a tremendous shock, as FPV was recently taken in-house by Ford. The tuning house’s death will not lead to any job loss.

Ford will reportedly continue building Falcons with the GT’s mechanicals, though. That means its 449-horsepower, supercharged V8 will live to fight another Holden. Along with the GT’s upgraded suspension and brakes, the new model will wear the unused XR8 badge, allowing Ford to continue building cars for enthusiasts without spending extra on the pricey styling bits of the GT Falcon.

The XR8 Falcon’s days will still be numbered, though. Falcon production is still on track to end, at which point the Mustang will look to take over the XR8’s performance reins. The Falcon will well and truly die when the Mustang takes over for it in the V8 Supercars series, and the US-built Taurus arrives to handle the sedan’s more domestic duties.

Ford Australia to kill off FPV by 2014 in advance of Mustang return originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 17 Jul 2013 10:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog

Quick Spin: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive [w/video]

By Jonathon Ramsey

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Reading the stats for the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive is like looking at the Prada storefront on Rodeo Drive – it is an extravagance tinged with Electrobeam gaudiness that’s so far from normal it makes the average viewer declare, “Interesting, but…” before trying to find the stargate back to Earth.

It’s a shame if the SLS AMG Electric Drive comes off as an otherworldly bauble for the moneyed – most of whom won’t appreciate it beyond the early-adopter and top-tenth-of-one-percenter status it confers – because it’s almost 2.5 tons of passionately engineered electric fun and optic-smashing vinyl wraps. To overlook it is to miss out on technology that is, we hope, headed for a more prosaic AMG soon. We drove this car on the same day as the SLS AMG Black Series, and there was so much to learn and enjoy that we almost regretted having to leave it to drive the Black Series. Almost.

Driving Notes

  • It weighs 4,774 pounds, nearly 550 kilograms more than the 3,573-pound SLS AMG GT. The weight difference comes from the heft of the lithium-ion battery array, composed of 12 modules of 72 cells that weigh 1,208.1 pounds. The batteries change the weight balance of the coupe by one percent: the SLS AMG GT is balanced 54/46 front-to-rear, the Electric Drive is 53/47.
  • It’s an energetic beast: The 400-volt, liquid-cooled, 60-kilowatt-hour battery is rated at 552 horsepower and 737 pound-feet of immediate torque. According to Mercedes PR, that makes it “the most powerful AMG high-performance vehicle of all time.” The run from stationary to 60 miles per hour takes 3.9 seconds, top speed is limited to 155 miles per hour and range is pegged at 155 miles. For comparison’s sake, take the aforementioned SLS AMG GT with its 6.2-liter V8 blending up 583 hp and 479 lb-ft that gets from naught to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds and will run out of acceleration at 197 mph. Also compare the Electric Drive to the philosophically similar Tesla Roadster (a two-seat electric sports car) that weighed 2,723 pounds, had a 53-kWh battery, 288 hp, 273 lb-ft of torque, a 245-mile range and performed the same sprint in the same time. But remember, we’re just putting these cars on a piece of paper together to see where they fall; the SLS AMG Electric Drive has zero interest in being a Tesla or its GT kin.
  • Those batteries juice four synchronous electric motors – a pair in front and another pair in back that sit astride the center line of the car, each pair flanking a single-speed, direct-drive transmission. In front, the setup necessitated a new multilink suspension with horizontal pushrod dampers replacing the aluminum double wishbones of the standard car.
  • The AMG Drive Unit knob takes its usual place and is inscribed with its usual markings: C for Controlled Efficiency, S for Sport and S+ for Sport plus. They alter the linear, straight-line driving characteristics

    From: http://feeds.autoblog.com/~r/weblogsinc/autoblog/~3/XT9mQtDC6PM/

Report: Jaguar to expand Jaguar XKR-S GT production run?

By Jonathon Ramsey

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According to a report in Autocar, demand for the Jaguar XKR-S GT is such that the English company could nearly double production from 30 to 50 cars. Such inflation can often incense those have already put deposits down, worried that they’ve both been lied to about the potentially diminished values of their cars, but Jaguar has made the announcement barely a day after the XKR-S GT was revealed and 50 still isn’t that many vehicles.

Nothing in the Autocar report indicates the additional examples will not come to America, making the 500-horsepower superfast coupe a treat we can still call all our own. Jaguar didn’t add horsepower but instead honed other aspects of the car to produce a GT that can lap the ‘Ring nearly as quickly as a Ferrari 458 Italia, and the world should be the beneficiary, the company’s brand director saying, “The real beauty of this project has been that it has extended our understanding of the elements involved in making a car go so fast, and that will feed back into all our road car programs.” Sounds good to us.

Jaguar to expand Jaguar XKR-S GT production run? originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog

Come and Get It While You Can: 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander Priced

By Alexander Stoklosa

Mitsubishi might be on the fritz here in the U.S., but the company continues to push forward and keep its head just above water. To wit, the new 2014 Outlander crossover made its U.S. debut at last year’s L.A. auto show, following the plug-in hybrid version’s reveal in Paris, and it goes on sale here in June. Nothing can be sold without a price tag, however, so Mitsubishi has released some basic pricing info for the Outlander. Overall, the Outlander’s sticker doesn’t budge much, if at all, compared to the 2013 model it replaces. 



The new Outlander again comes in ES, SE, and GT trim levels; the ES and SE are powered by a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine, while the up-level GT gets a 3.0-liter V-6. A base, front-drive 2014 Outlander ES starts at $23,820, only $300 more than last year’s model. The SE commands $24,620—$200 less than the 2013 iteration—and adds 18-inch aluminum wheels, a touch-screen infotainment display, heated front seats, dual-zone automatic climate control, and keyless entry with push-button starting. The GT starts at $28,620, $800 less than the all-wheel-drive 2013 GT, and adds the aforementioned V-6 engine, Mitsubishi’s Super All-Wheel Control all-wheel-drive setup, paddle shifters, HID headlights, and wood grain interior trim.

Mitsubishi’s future still solidly occupies the “questionable” category, but a new crossover like the Outlander perhaps gives the company its best shot yet at motivating a turnaround in this market. It’s priced in the thick of the compact SUV segment—Ford Escape, Honda CR-V, Hyundai Tucson, Jeep Cherokee, Kia Sportage, Mazda CX-5, Toyota RAV4—but is the only rig to offer a third-row seat. What, you think the tiny, three-cylinder Mirage hatchback will be Mitsu’s ark?

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Car & Driver

Why GT Advanced Technologies Shares Advanced

By Evan Niu, CFA, The Motley Fool

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Although we don’t believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes — just in case they’re material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of GT Advanced Technologies have jumped by as much as 12% today after the company announced a promising contract.

So what: GT has inked a memorandum of understanding with Powertec Energy, where Powertec will purchase polysilicon technology and equipment from GT for expansion projects. Powertec has already begun design work on the projects and GT expects orders to start during the second half of 2014.

Now what: The company expects the rebound in the solar industry to boost sales. Powertech Chairman YiYi Tai said it is planning on increasing capacity next year, which will be made possible by GT‘s technology. Once all projects are completed, total capacity at the solar site in question is expected to nearly quadruple by the time everything is said and done.

Interested in more info on GT Advanced Technologies? Add it to your watchlist by clicking here.

2013 and beyond
The Motley Fool’s chief investment officer has selected his No. 1 stock for the next year. Find out which stock it is in the brand-new free report: “The Motley Fool’s Top Stock for 2013.” Just click here to access the report and find out the name of this under-the-radar company.

The article Why GT Advanced Technologies Shares Advanced originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Evan Niu, CFA, has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

2013 Dodge Dart Limited Review & Test Drive

By Malcolm Hogan

2013-dodge-dart-limited

The all-new 2013 Dodge Dart enters into the mix of Dodge vehicles to thrill consumers with a technologically advanced compact sedan. Though the Dart name is reintroduced in compact form filling the a void the Neon once occupied almost 8 years ago, Dodge manages to bring a new style to the brand offering many features once reserved for luxury vehicles wrapped up in stylish, economical and versatile package.

The all-new 2013 Dodge Dart slots just below the Avenger sedan but really appeals to a wide range of consumers due to its long list of standard and available equipment. Such equipment ads a newfound value on compact sedans and the Dart uses it to the best of its abilities.

2013-dodge-dart-limited-1

For its first year, the new 2013 Dodge Dart takes many of its styling cues from the rest of the Dodge line up of cars. Many traits found in the new design language of the larger Charger are nicely trickled into the exterior design traits. The rear LED tail lights are an impressive yet unique part of the Darts character. The front end’s miniaturized version of the typical Dodge ‘cross’ grill has a profound statement of where the Dart belongs in its ranking among other Dodge vehicles. Overall the new Dart is a good looking compact exuding a classy look yet sporty enough to catch the eye of enthusiasts, especially in its sporty Rallye or GT  trim levels.

My new 2013 Dodge Dart Limited test vehicle comes equipped with the new 2.0-liter inline 4-cylinder TigerShark engine producing 160 horsepower at 6,400 rpm and 148 pounds-feet of torque at 4,600 rpm. The engine is mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission in my test vehicle, though you can opt for a 6-speed manual transmission.

2013-dodge-dart-limited-engine

A 160 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque 1.4-liter 4-cylinder Multi-Air Turbocharged engine is available on all trims except the GT and exceptionally fuel efficient Aero trim. The MultiAir 1.4-liter is standard for the Aero trim, touting an impressive 41 mpg on the highway. The extra bit of torque is a benefit for the 1.4-liter turbo over my test vehicle’s naturally aspirated 2.0-liter engine. When configured with the 1.4-liter MultiAir Turbo engine, the automatic transmission option is a 6-speed Dual Dry Clutch Transmission (DDCT) with an AutoStick for a manual shift mode.

In my 2013 Dart Limited’s configuration, acceleration is a bit sluggish making it to 60 mph in about 10 seconds. Though around town my Dart Limited tester proved to move along with the flow of traffic with ease. The only times the power deficiency was noticed is when attempting to over-take vehicles on the highway or just starting from a dead stop. The 6-speed automatic transmission adapts well to most driving conditions where it will hold lower gears longer when it detects sporty driving characteristics as to limit hunting or repeated downshifts when an extra bit of pulling power is needed.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Automotive Addicts

Kia Previews CUB Compact Four-Door-Coupe Concept Ahead of Seoul Auto Show

By Alexander Stoklosa

Kia CUB concept

Everyone’s attention—well at least Americans’ attention—may be focused on the 2013 New York auto show this week, but Kia is making a bit of a splash halfway around the world at the Seoul auto show with a new four-door-coupe concept. The car, which Kia is cutely calling CUB, is supremely compact and measures just a hair over 13 feet long.

While no proper explanation for the CUB name was provided, based on the preview image of the car released by Kia, we’re thinking the moniker stands for Compact Urban Bruiser. That’s because the front end incorporates beefy, C-shaped intakes, squinty headlights, and a bulging hood. Just as Kia tweaked its signature “tiger nose” grille on the recent Provo concept, it has further modified the opening for the CUB.



Overall, we see a lot of Quoris sedan mixed with Kia’s now two-year-old, swoopy GT concept in the CUB’s looks, which is a good thing. Look for more information to surface following the CUB’s debut in Korea later this week.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Car & Driver

Video: Watch how Corvette Racing's new collision-avoidance radar system works

By Jeffrey N. Ross

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When it comes to technology used in racecars, we generally expect it to trickle down to production cars, not the other way around. Well, Pratt & Miller has developed a new rear-facing radar that operates in a similar fashion to what we’re used to in modern blind spot detection systems, only it is also capable of tracking cars as they approach and relaying vital information to the driver via a large display screen.

The innovative radar system debuted at last weekend’s 12 Hours of Sebring for Corvette Racing, and this system makes perfect sense for endurance races like this since the cars sometimes have to drive through the night and in poor weather conditions.

The radar can detect cars even with poor visibility, and uses easy-to-distinguish symbols for the driver to identify.

“The system uses a rear-facing radar sensor to track up to 32 objects, and runs on a custom-built Linux PC with a Core i3 CPU,” said Chris Hammond, Embedded Systems Engineer for Pratt & Miller. “With a momentary glance the driver knows how many cars are following, how far back each one is, their closing speeds, and whether or not they are probably a faster class.”

Displayed in the image above, the radar can detect cars even with poor visibility, and uses easy-to-distinguish symbols for the driver to identify. The solid green marker indicates a car has been detected at a safe distance, while the yellow marker shows a car that is even closer; the line through this symbol means that the car is approaching at a higher rate of speed, which could indicate a faster class of car such as when a Prototype passes a GT car in the American Le Mans Series. The symbols turn red when the car is very close, and a large arrow flashes to either side when the car is being overtaken. There is also a line graph at the side of the screen to give an estimate of how many seconds back the cars are.

Currently, Hammond says that Pratt & Miller is the only company to have a system like this used for racing, and it plans on selling the technology to other teams in the future – although a price has not been set.

There are a couple videos posted below showing the system in action. The first one is a shot purely from the radar (so it has no audio) but shows a detailed look at how it all works. The second video is a point-of-view shot from Corvette Racing‘s Tommy Milner, and it shows how the driver uses the system in real time.

Continue reading Watch how Corvette Racing’s new collision-avoidance radar system works

Watch how Corvette Racing’s new collision-avoidance radar system works originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 22 Mar 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog

First Drive: 2014 BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo [w/video]

By Matt Davis

2014 BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo

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BMW Gets Much Closer To The GT Look And Feel It Seeks

The 2014 BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo is being launched to a pretty cynical automotive press brigade. You know it. We know it. Heck, even BMW knows it. We’ve just returned from driving it on the rather unforgiving and sometimes nasty roads of Sicily, and even before we got behind the wheel, many of our media colleagues were busying themselves doubting the 3 GT‘s very raison d’être. So, despite the always excellent Sicilian hospitality, the day’s atmosphere was kind of fragile.

While the press in attendance seemed determined to nail every product expert to the wall for having been even tangentially associated with the larger 5 Series Gran Turismo, it seemed that BMW decided ahead of time to not introduce such a sensitive discussion topic. That strategy would do little to smooth things over as everyone started digging for dirt on BMW‘s so far clumsy Gran Turismo franchise.

As it turns out, we like the 3 GT despite so many packaging and design cards being stacked against it just by association with the 5 GT precedent. Automotive journalists are sometimes wrong en masse and this case of prejudice toward the 3 GT is one of those times.

And besides, much in the way the entire Buick brand still exists because China fell in love with it (entirely to General Motors‘ dumb-luck surprise), the 5 GT has somewhat thrived due to similar circumstances. The odd-duck 5 Series version – arguably the least appealing design ever to roll out of the halls of BMW – has found its savior almost exclusively in the Land of Confucius. After driving this new 3 GT, we have no reason to doubt it will find far more favor not just in China, but in all of BMW‘s major markets.

Continue reading 2014 BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo [w/video]

2014 BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 21 Mar 2013 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog

2014 BMW 3-series Gran Turismo First Drive: The Bread-and-Butter BMW Goes All Bumpy Out Back

By Jens Meiners

2014 BMW 335i GT M Sport Line

Enthusiasts winced when news came through that BMW would subject the latest 3-series to its “Gran Turismo” treatment. With all the recent talk about offering front-wheel-drive cars and electric vehicles, not to mention the Pillsbury Doughboy-as-wagon-replacement 5-series GT, haven’t we been subjected to enough BMW experimentation lately? READ MORE ››

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Car & Driver

LeMons Southern Discomfort: The Winners!

By Murilee Martin

The fourth annual Southern Discomfort 24 Hours of LeMons, held at Carolina Motorsports Park in South Carolina, ended up being one of the best races in the seven-year history of LeMons racin. The battles for class wins were nail-biters, the weather was pleasant, and we had an exceptionally good crop of racin’ machines. Let’s take a look at the teams that went home with trophy hardware.

Overall and Class A Winner: Molde Carlo Racing
If there ever was a team that paid some serious dues before getting an overall LeMons win, it’s these guys and their wretched 1984 Chevrolet Monte Carlo. They took the checkered flag at the ’13 Southern Discomfort with a two-lap edge over the P2 car (a Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16 Cosworth), after contending in many races and blowing up in many more over the years.


Usually, drivers as skilled as the ones on the Molde Carlo team will choose a vehicle known for better reliability (and fuel consumption) than the GM G-Body with a small-block Chevrolet V8 engine, but the Molde Carlos wanted to prove some sort of point about big Detroit hoopties holding their own against those annoying Neons and 3-series BMWs and Integras that most of the fast drivers choose as their LeMons steeds. Here we see the Molde Carlo dropping a couple of wheels in the dirt in 2009, a year filled with busted engine and suspension parts for the Molde crew.


Just to make their car as different from a nice, shiny BMW as possible, the Molde Carlo team sanded off all its paint, sprayed the bare steel with salt water, and let it rust. This is what a winner looks like!

Class B Winner: Questie’s Racing Team
Classing a Ford Escort, even a Mazda-based GT model, is always a dilemma for the LeMons Supreme Court. Escorts get eaten alive in Class A, but a well-driven Escort that doesn’t break can run away with Class B. That’s what happened here, with the Questie’s Ford finishing fifth overall and taking its class by a dominating 13 laps. No black flags, no mechanical problems, and lap times just a few seconds slower than the A cars spelled victory for this team.

Class C Winner: PBR
As we’ve pointed out before, Subarus tend to do very, very poorly in LeMons racing, falling somewhere between Audi and Mitsubishi on the LeMons Unreliability Index. They blow head gaskets, they throw rods, and they develop maddening …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Car & Driver

Rumormill: Is Spyker's new B6 Venator merely a reskinned Artega GT?

By Zach Bowman

Spyker B6 Venator vs Artega GT - profiile views of both

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If you thought the recently unveiled Spyker B6 Venator held a few familiar lines, you aren’t alone. The keen-eyed crew at AutoBild noticed the new Swedish sportscar looks an awful lot like the new defunct Artega GT. The German manufacturer went bankrupt last year and may have sold off the GT platform to pay off its debts. Given the fact that the B6 Venator cropped up fairly quickly, critics assumed Spyker grabbed the machine’s platform from some outside source rather than build the car’s bones in house. Putting two and two together doesn’t take a sleuth, but Spyker is remaining tight-lipped about the situation.

Autoblog reached out to Spyker for a comment, but company spokesperson Ali Gogarty simply said, “I apologize that I can’t be more help, but at this time it is just too early to comment on any specific details beyond what is in our press release.”

That’s pretty far from an outright denial, but it’s also well short of a confirmation, too. The similarities between the B6 Venator and the Artega GT could be more than just skin deep, however. Both creations make use of a V6 engine mounted amidships, and while Spyker has yet to say where the six-cylinder engine in the B6 hails from, Artega used Volkswagen powerplants.

Is Spyker’s new B6 Venator merely a reskinned Artega GT? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 18 Mar 2013 18:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog

Teased: Mexico set to get second automaker, and it's a sports car company, too

By Seyth Miersma

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With Mastretta and its home-cooked MXT-R already softening the beachhead for Mexican-made sports cars, a new company called VŪHL – an acronym that stands for “Vehicles of Ultra-lightweight and High-performance”­ – is coming to the scene.

The teaser image that you see above shows the VŪHL 05, which is tantalizingly described as a “road-legal lightweight supercar.” The details are pretty scarce beyond that, save that we will witness the launch of the 05 at the 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed.

VŪHL itself was started by brothers Iker and Guillermo Echeverria, who claim to have picked up their love of high performance cars from their GT and formula car-racing father, Guillermo Echeverria Sr. It is the Echeverria brothers’ design firm, Etxe, that has penned the lines for the 05, while the production (of the bodies, at least) will take place in Canada and final assembly will happen in Mexico City. A report by Skiddmark.com indicates that big name suppliers like Magna Steyr, Mutimatic and Ford have a hand in the car, and some funding has come from the Mexican Government, as well. Consider our interest piqued.

Mexico set to get second automaker, and it’s a sports car company, too originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 18 Mar 2013 08:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog

61st 12 Hours of Sebring Recap + Photo Gallery: Audi Dominates Again, GTs Duke It Out

By John Lamm

2013 12 Hours of Sebring

We trust you didn’t wager against the Audi R18 e-tron Quattros in the 61st running of the 12 Hours of Sebring. It would have been a sucker’s bet that the German team would do anything but dominate—and it did just that. Since 2000, Audi has won Sebring every year but three, with five of those victories coming courtesy of diesel power. This year, its R18 hybrids qualified 1st (drivers: Marcel Fassler/Benoit Treluyer/Oliver Jarvis) and 2nd (Lucas di Grassi/Tom Kristensen/Allan McNish) and finished in the same order, with both cars five laps up on the next P1 machine.

But putting down a wager on any one of the GT teams was chancy—the battle pitched Ferrari 458 Italia against Corvette C6 ZR1 against BMW Z4 GTE against Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. And lurking in the background, suggesting a strong season to come, were the two SRT Viper GT-Rs, one of which had led the race before facing a mechanical problem during a pit stop. The GTs were hard at it from the start, and with six hours to go, there was a tight train of Ferrari, Corvette, BMW, and Porsche duking it out as if they were in a 10-lap sprint race. At the finish, it was Corvette (Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Richard Westbrook) and then Ferrari (Gianmaria Bruni/Olivier Beretta/Matteo Malucelli) on the same lap, followed by Porsche (Wolf Henzler/Bryan Sellers/Nick Tandy), BMW (Bill Auberlen/Maxime Martin/Jörg Müller), and Viper (Ryan Dalziel/Dominik Farnbacher/Marc Goossens).

The P2 class saw four Honda-powered prototypes taking on one with a Nissan engine, and Scott Tucker, new dad Marino Franchitti, and IndyCar’s Ryan Briscoe gave Honda the win. The PC class is all Oreca chassis/engine combos, and the class win went to David Cheng, Mike Guasch and David Ostella. It’s a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup-fest in GTC—Cooper MacNeil, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Dion von Moltke were this year’s winners.

We’d like to report that the updated DeltaWing was a factor, but it wasn’t. Just 12 minutes into the race, it was in the pits. The car eventually made its way back out on track, but it did only 10 laps before starting to pump engine smoke and ultimately retiring.



2013 12 Hours of Sebring

Forty-two cars started the race on the 17-turn circuit known for its rough surface, and the top 35 managed to turn more than 300 laps. But while the course itself will be as familiar as ever next year, the race could look even more different: 2014 will continue the evolution of the freshly merged Grand-Am and ALMS series. If you only make it to one endurance race in ’14, that might make the 62nd running one to shoot for—to say nothing of Sebring’s legendary trackside party …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Car & Driver

61st 12 Hours of Sebring Race Preview, Plus Stunning Photos from Night Practice! [Photo Gallery]

By Alexander Stoklosa

2013 12 Hours of Sebring

This year’s 12 Hours of Sebring endurance race is shaping up to be a memorable one—if only because next year the class structure is being shaken up thanks to the merger of the American Le Mans series and Grand-Am. We’re going to be down in Florida this weekend photographing the action, and as an appetizer we’ve brought you some hot shots from Thursday night’s practice session. Racing in the dark is cool for several reasons, not the least of which is the red-hot brakes on full display.

The merger of ALMS Grand-Am will bring about two big changes next year—the elimination of the ultra-powerful LMP1 cars like Audi’s R18 e-tron Quattro from competition, as well as a name change for the series to United SportsCar Racing. Next year’s top class will be named Prototype, and even though LMP1 cars won’t be allowed in, the oddly cool DeltaWing will be. This weekend, our focus will be on how DeltaWing performs against more-established players like Audi, which is looking to end its run in ALMS on a high note. Recall that the DeltaWing took an early exit from last year’s Le Mans contest after being taken out by a Toyota hybrid—a TS030, not a Prius. GT fans will get to watch Corvettes—still of the C6 variety, since C7-based racing Vettes have yet to arrive—Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs, and Ferrari 458 Italias duke it out. For a full rundown of the field competing in this weekend’s race, head over to ALMS’s Spotter’s Guide.



Interestingly, Nissan has dropped its sponsorship of the DeltaWing. (The Japanese automaker had provided the project’s engine.) As a result, the car has fancy new chromed-out livery and a larger, 2.0-liter turbocharged engine designed by Elan Motorsports Technologies. The DeltaWing crew also will show off a new closed-roof iteration of the race car, though it won’t race. If anything, the canopy and shiny finish further enhance the DeltaWing’s finned-sex-toy-on-wheels look.

Qualifying takes place today, and the race kicks off Saturday at 10:30 in the morning. This weekend also plays host to the F1 season opener in Australia and the first 2013 LeMons race. If you’re planning to get tanked for St. Patrick’s Day, we don’t suggest sidelining any beer drinking—but we do suggest tuning in to the Sebring and F1 races while you kick a few back.

2013 12 Hours of Sebring

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Car & Driver

GT Advanced Technologies Enters Exclusive Distribution Agreement with Intego GmbH for Automated Sapp

By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

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GT Advanced Technologies Enters Exclusive Distribution Agreement with Intego GmbH for Automated Sapphire Inspection Tools

New tools will enable high volume sapphire material inspection, improve yields and lower cost for LED and cover screen applications

NASHUA, N.H.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– GT Advanced Technologies (NAS: GTAT) today announced an exclusive distribution agreement with Intego GmbH allowing GT to market and sell Intego’s automated sapphire inspection tools including the Intego SIRIUS slab and brick inspection tool and a sapphire cover inspection tool currently in development. The new inspection tools are expected to increase the amount of yielded material from sapphire boules and improve the throughput of material during the inspection process thereby lowering the cost for growing and fabricating sapphire for a variety of applications.

In addition, the inspection tools allow full material tracking by linking inspection data with slab and brick layout to downstream computer numerical control (CNC) machine tools. The tools are expected to benefit today’s LED manufacturing industry and also help enable high volume, cost-sensitive applications such as cover screen material for mobile and touch screen devices. Terms of the agreement have not been released.

“Intego is a recognized leader in vision systems and material inspection in a number of industries and we are pleased to be working with them to bring automated sapphire inspection tools to market,” said Tom Gutierrez, GT‘s president and CEO. “The agreement gives us the ability to offer the LED and mobile device industries important products that will lower cost and increase productivity in their sapphire supply chains. Automating the sapphire material inspection process will deliver more repeatable and consistent results that drive greater throughput. This will help to lower the cost of sapphire for high volume applications such as cover material for mobile and touch screen devices.”

The SIRIUS sapphire inspection tool was developed by Intego in collaboration with GT‘s engineering team utilizing the capabilities of GT‘s sapphire R&D facility in Salem, Massachusetts. Using advanced sapphire inspection techniques and optimization algorithms, the SIRIUS tool can quickly provide an optimized core or material layout on a sapphire slab and transfer that pattern to the CNC machine tool. The sapphire screen inspection tool, when fully developed, is expected to perform 2D and 3D inspection of sapphire screens and windows to help characterize and track each piece through all downstream production steps. GT will fully support the tools in the field through its global service and support resources.

Intego GmbH, located in Erlangen, Germany, …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Report: Kia to green-light GT and Provo for production?

By Steven J. Ewing

Kia GT Concept - front three-quarter view, live on auto show stand

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Kia is looking to inject a bit more performance life into its brand, and according to Auto Express, the company is looking at creating sporty models based on two of its recent concept cars, the GT four-door from the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show (shown above) and the Provo hybrid hatchback that debuted in Geneva last week (inset, right).

“The GT is close to being approved and going into production, but, as with all our cars, they have to be developed on a sound financial footing,” Benny Oeyen, Kia Europe’s VP of marketing and product planning, told Auto Express. When it debuted, the GT four-door was powered by a turbocharged 3.3-liter V6, reportedly good for 389 horsepower and 394 pound-feet of torque, mated to an eight-speed automatic gearbox.

The Provo, on the other hand, could stand as a sort of halo car for the company’s B-segment offerings. It would ride on the same front-wheel-drive platform as the Rio compact, though Kia says it’s eager to keep the concept’s gasoline-electric powertrain intact. “Our brand is currently rational, but there’s space for a B-coupe,” says Oeyen. Of course, the company would indeed have to look at different naming possibilities for its B-segment coupe, since the week-old Provo is already stirring up some controversy.

Kia has not disclosed any sort of timeline for when the cars may officially get the green light or when they would arrive in production form. From where we sit, some sporty Kias sound good to us, and if anything, the GT and Provo concepts certainly seem like promising building blocks for new products.

Kia to green-light GT and Provo for production? originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 12 Mar 2013 11:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog

Short Interest in Solar Stocks Continues to Rise (CSIQ, FSLR, GTAT, WFR, SPWR, JASO, LDK, STP, TSL, YGE)

By 24/7 Wall St.

Alternative Energy sources

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We have tracked the short interest in the following North American Solar companies as of February 28: Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ), First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: GTAT), MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) and SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR). In the Chinese solar sector we tracked the following short interest changes: J.A. Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO), LDK Solar Co. Inc. (NYSE: LDK), Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP), Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) and Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YGE).

For China-based firms, the percentage of shares short is not available because the companies are also listed on other exchanges.

Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) saw short interest rise 3.5% to 2.14 million shares, which is 7.1% of the company’s total float.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) short interest increased by 6.4% to 17.77 million shares, which represents 29.5% of the company’s float.

GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: GTAT) showed an increase of 8.3% in short interest, to 38.26 million shares, or about 32.2% of GT‘s float.

The short interest in MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) grew 2.1% to 16.74 million shares, about 7.3% of MEMC‘s float.

SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) saw short interest rise by 11.9% to 9.93 million shares, 25% of the company’s total float.

J.A. Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) showed an increase of 15.4% in short interest to 3.36 million shares.

LDK Solar Co. Inc. (NYSE: LDK) saw short interest decline of 19% to 3.55 million shares.

Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) showed a rise of 4.2% in short interest to 28.46 million shares.

Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) saw short interest rise of 5.6% to 19 million shares.

Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YGE) showed a rise of 5.6% in short interest to 5.67 million shares.

Shares of the Chinese solar stocks continue to be volatile, and share prices are tied to news related to government spending on planned solar installation in China during 2013. First Solar’s weak earnings brought some shorts back. And short interest in SunPower jumped again, likely due to the belief that there is not much good news coming from the firm, which has seen share prices spike in the first few months of the year.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Alternative Energy, Green Biz, Short Interest, Technology Companies Tagged: CSIQ, FSLR, GTAT, JASO, LDK, SPWR, STP, TSL, WFR, YGE

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance