Honda Unleashes New Civic WTCC Racer with 1.6-liter Turbocharged Inline-Four

The new 2012 Honda Civic WTCC has officially entered its final development stages as the Japanese carmaker presented the final exterior and began track testing of its FIA World Touring Car Championship racecar at the Vallelunga circuit, near Rome, Italy, following the car's ‘shakedown' on July 27 at the Vairano circuit near the J.A.S. Motorsport factory in Milan. The Japanese carmaker's WTCC contender is based on the European market Civic hatchback and features a special aero package with an extended front and rear skirt and other additional aerodynamic elements such as the large rear wing.
But what makes this Civic really stand out from its production brethren is the bespoke 1.6-liter 4 cylinder direct injection turbocharged HR-412E petrol engine.
Honda has not released output numbers nor did it say if it has any plans to offer a turbocharged engine on its production models in the near future.
However, during the presentation of the turbocharged unit last week, Daisuke Horiuchi, WTCC Development Project Leader at Honda R&D said that, "We believe the innovations that have led to this revolutionary engine will also lead to benefits beyond the race track, helping us to further increase the efficiency of our road car engines."
Back to the racing model, Honda noted that testing would continue throughout the year with 2009 WTCC champion Gabriele Tarquini sitting behind the wheel.
"Although I'd never driven the new Civic before, funnily, when I sat in the seat for the first time I immediately felt I was in a Honda," said Tarquini.
"The body work is precise and the engine feels great. But this is just the first track test, so there is so much more for us to work on. The car looks beautiful too and will, I'm sure, wow all the WTCC fans around the world when it makes its debut in Suzuka later this year," he added.
Beginning at Suzuka in October this year, Honda will enter three races of the 2012 FIA World Touring Car Championship with one car, driven by Tiago Monteiro, as it prepares for full entry in 2013.

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Ferrari Confirms 1,000 Cars Registered for Record Breaking Meet at Silverstone Circuit

It was 1,000 cars Ferrari North Europe wanted and that's what it secured as the company confirmed the number of participants for the Ferrari Racing Days at Silverstone Circuit on Saturday, September 15. If everybody shows up, Ferrari's Northern European division will break the Guinness World Record for the Largest Parade of Ferrari Cars which it set in 2007 with 385 vehicles, but lost in 2008 after 490 supercars gathered at the Fuji Speedway Circuit in Shizuoka, Japan.
"Registrations remain open as we anticipate the recently extended Silverstone Grand Prix circuit can accommodate more than 1000 cars on track," Ferrari said in a statement.
The Italian company has said that it will be donating £5 for every car entered into the world record attempt to BEN, the automotive industry’s own charity.
Aside from the 1,000 car spectacle, visitors to the racing event will be able to see ultra-exclusive FXX and 599XX development cars on track and a wide range of historic Ferrari F1 cars from the F1 Clienti department.
Ticket prices for the event are set at £15 per person, with children aged 15 years and under entering free of charge.

 

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Hyundai Veloster Secures a Window Seat at London's Harrods

With all eyes on London these days due to the Summer Olympics, Hyundai has secured a front seat at the famous Harrods department store in Knightsbridge. The automaker parked its 1+2 door Veloster compact model that will remain on display at the store until August 25.
Hyundai is the main sponsor of the ‘Korea Loves London – Innovation and Technology 2012’ exhibition at Harrods, organized by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (Kotra) to promote and established Korean companies in Britain.
"We are very proud to be part of the ‘Korea Loves London – Innovation and Technology 2012’ activity in such an iconic location," commented Hyundai Motors UK President and CEO, Tony Whitehorn. "Like everything in Harrods, the Veloster has been designed to be stylish, great value and of the highest quality."
Besides the Veloster, the window display includes the robots, interactive screens and automated home appliances. 

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Lexus Unleashes the LFA Offering One Fan the Opportunity to Drive the V10 Sportscar on the Track

A few days back, Lexus had teased us with a video entitled "Unleash the LFA," a preview to which some (including myself) believed to be a new special edition track spec LFA after some recent aqua colored LFA spy photos had emerged the weeks before. Sadly, we were all wrong. What Lexus is really doing is, well taking a note from Audi's #WantAnR8 Twitter campaign.
Lexus is letting one of their lucky fans take hold of the 552bhp V10 supercar for a day of high-speed driving instruction at Skip Barber Racing school, finished off with a speed run at the infamous Laguna Seca racetrack.
Mind you, Lexus isn't skimping out either. Included is the cost of lodging and airfare for you and a friend, and a $300 spending spree.
The contest runs on Lexus' official Facebook page from August 1 to 21 and is only open to U.S. residents.
By Jeff Perez

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Renault to Boost Engine Production Capacity in Brazil by 25 Percent

French carmaker Renault today announced plans to expand its engine manufacturing facility at the Ayrton Senna production site in Curitiba, Brazil, by 5,000 square meters (53,820 Sq. ft.) in order to boost annual output from 400,000 to 500,000 engines by early 2013. Since the opening of the Ayrton Senna Complex in 1999, Renault has manufactured some 2.5 million engines, including 335,813 in 2011, of which more than 1.2 million units were exported to other South American markets.
Besides the engine manufacturing facility, the complex also includes passenger-car and light-commercial-vehicle plants. Renault said that annual capacity is over 280,000 vehicles, which will be increased to 380,000 units starting in early 2013.
Brazil is currently the Renault's Group's number two market, with the French automaker achieving a record market share of 6.8 percent in the first half of 2012. Renault said it is aiming for an 8 percent share of the Brazilian market by 2016.

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Voluntary Recall of 778,000 Toyota RAV4 SUVs and Lexus HS 250h Sedans

The Toyota group is initiating a voluntary recall of 760,000 Toyota RAV4 SUVs from the 2006 to early 2011 model years and 18,000 Lexus HS 250h hybrid sedan from the 2010 model year to repair a suspension problem that could lead to a crash. The Japanese carmaker said that its engineers determined that if the nuts on the rear suspension are not tightened properly after a rear wheel alignment service, the suspension arms might rust and possibly even separate.
The company reported nine crashes and three minor injuries related to this problem.
"Toyota is currently developing a remedy," the automaker said in a statement. "Once the remedy is available, we will send a notification letter by first class mail advising owners to make an appointment with an authorized Toyota or Lexus dealer to have the remedy performed at no charge."

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Upcoming Ghost Coupe Rumored to be the Fastest Production Rolls Royce Ever

The Ghost Coupe that our spies recently captured testing in Germany will be much more than a two-door version of the premium brand's entry-level model as company sources claim it will also be the fastest production model to ever wear a Rolls Royce badge. The news comes via a report from Autocar magazine, which says that the Ghost Coupe is being developed as a response to the newest, high-powered models from Bentley and to a lesser extent, Aston Martin.
While the two-door model will use the same platform and 6.6-liter twin-turbocharged V12 that underpin the Ghost sedan, both will be tweaked and modified accordingly.
The British magazine reports that output rises from the Ghost’s "standard 531bhp to an estimated 600bhp" – though a quick check on the Rolls Royce website reveals that the V12 in both the regular and LWB versions of the sedan is rated at 563bhp (570PS).
The suspension, brakes, steering and tires will be upgraded to improve handling, while the Coupe's slightly more compact dimensions may help the car shed some pounds over the sedan model.
As we previously reported, Rolls Royce has yet to decide on the final name of the luxury coupe, which is expected to arrive next year.

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Chevrolet Buyers Shunning New 2013 Malibu Eco for Incentive-Laden 2012 Malibu

General Motors wanted to get ahead of the competition in the mid-size segment by launching the all-new 2013 Malibu in Eco trim with a 37mpg highway 2.4-liter eAssist engine in March, six months before the arrival of the regular 2.5-liter base engine and the 2.0-liter turbo flagship. However, GM's dealers had plenty of 2012 Malibu sedans sitting on their lots and as surprising as it may sound to some, up until now, the older model is heavily outselling its successor.
According to data obtained by Autonews, from the March launch through June, GM sold about 7,000 examples of the 2013MY Malibu Eco, compared with around 100,000 units of the 2012MY Malibu.
Nevertheless, there's a completely reasonable explanation for this disparity in sales: the 2012 model comes with special incentives that can drop its price to about $6,000 less than the 2013 Malibu Eco, which starts at $22,390 (excluding a $760 destination and handling fee), to around $16,400 (€13,350).
And as is the case with most mainstream buyers looking for a new ride, money talks…

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All-New Volkswagen Golf Mk7 to be Revealed in Berlin on September 4

So we know that series production of the seventh generation of the Volkswagen Golf will begin in early August and that the compact hatchback will receive its public premiere at the 2012 Paris Motor Show (September 29 to October 13) before it goes on sale across Europe in November.

Today, we can add one more piece to the puzzle as German news daily Wolfsburger Allgemeine Zeitung (sub. req.) reported that the new iteration of the Volkswagen Group's most popular nameplate will celebrate its world premiere at a special event organized at Berlin's Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery) of modern art on September 4.

This means that Volkswagen will most likely release the first official pictures and specifications of the Golf Mk7 for the European market on the same day, so mark your calender...

While spy shots suggest that the exterior styling of the next Golf will be an evolution of the current model's design, it's all new underneath as the compact model will ride on the VW Group's modular transverse matrix (MQB) platform shared with the latest generations of the Audi A3 and Seat Leon (with more models to be added down the line).

For its motivation, the European model will make use of a range of turbocharged gasoline and diesel engines including a small-displacement 1.2-liter TSI and a 1.4-litre TSI petrol equipped with VW's ACT (active cylinder management) system that shuts down cylinders two and three to improve fuel economy under certain conditions.

Sitting at the top of the range will be a 2.0-liter TSI powering the GTI and the 'R' AWD sport models that will follow next year, while the new Golf will also debut hybrid powertrains with gasoline- and diesel-electric powertrains as well as a pure-electric variant.

'Obrigado' Bruno R. for the Golf tip!

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First Official Photo of 2014 Mazda6 Wagon, Production Begins in Japan

Only a week after the release of a series of pictures of the 2014 Mazda6 sedan, the automaker revealed the station wagon varianttoday during a special ceremony at the company's Hofu Plant No. 2, in Japan to commemorate the start of the production of the new mid-size model.

The estate version of the new Mazda6, which will probably not make it to North America, has a sleek profile thanks to a sloping roofline and a slanted tailgate design.

Mazda will produce both the sedan and station wagon body styles of its Honda Accord and VW Passat rival at the Japanese factory. The first vehicle to roll off the assembly line was a Mazda6 wagon built to European specifications and powered by the SKYACTIV-G 2.0 petrol engine.

In his speech, Mazda President and CEO Takashi Yamanouchi commented: "I am deeply moved that production of the third generation Mazda6, the flagship model of our new-generation vehicles, starts in such an important year for us."

He continued: "The new Mazda6 that starts rolling off the line today features both SKYACTIV TECHNOLOGY and KODO - Soul of Motion design. Its development represents the very best of our engineering capability and our uncompromising attention to detail."

The Japanese company said that it aims to build around 120,000 units of the Mazda6 per year at the Hofu Plant.

The Mazda6 sedan in Russian specification will debut at the Moscow International Automobile Salon on August 29, 2012, with the European spec saloon as well as the station wagon to premiere at the Paris Motor Show in late September.

Sales of the new Mazda6 will begin in Europe and Japan before the end of 2012, followed by other markets including Australia and North America at the beginning of 2013.

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