CAC Auto

New Hall of Fame for Nascar

In a major victory for auto sports fans, one of the fast growing of all pro sports in the United States, the Nascar Hall of Fame has opened up in the US state of Charlotte, North Carolina. The city has long served as the unofficial capitol of the sport so it comes as no surprise to both fans and local residents that such a facility would be established there. Thousands came to the opening ceremony to pay tribute to a sport that as a very illustrious past and quite an uncertain future. The event even faced rain which didn’t lower crowd support for the $195 million building. The CEO of Nascar, Brian France, let people know that the 150,000 square foot museum would be the ‘best hall of fame in the world’. The opening ceremonies inducted two of the initial five members of the hall were Richard Petty and Junior Johnson.

Petty wowed the crowd in a replica of his red and Petty blue ‘74 STP Dodge Charger, No. 43 while Johnson came in a black 1940 Ford which was meant to show off the historic roots of Nascar that tie back to liquor bootleggers that held the first races as a way to determine whose vehicle was fastest. While the sport was officially formed in Daytona Beach, Florida in 1947, Charlotte remains the primary center of the racing scene. After the two first members of the hall will come Dale Earnhardt Sr, Bill Frances Sr. and others. The museum itself will play home to several interactive simulations that allow visitors to try their hand at different Nascar related activities such as changing a tire in the time honored pit stop tradition.

University Students Design and Compete with Race Cars

Around the world, students often take place in various events building small model cars while at the grade school level, but at Michigan State University, college students are building the real thing. The event has attracted students who may have thought previously that engineering was not for them, however once they got the thrill of working on an actual vehicle that could race things began to change in terms of their perspective. The students are working on race cars that they show off for the North American International Auto Show that is held each year at the Cobo Center in Detroit, Michigan. The students belong to an organization known as the Michigan State University Formula Society of Automotive Engineers. They divide into teams and then design, construct and test their cares in a number of amateur level open wheel races that take place each year. The organization is entirely run by students and educators on campus approve of it due to the fact that it builds student confidence and also encourages more to take up the math and science oriented professions such as engineering that are often over looked by younger incoming students in a university setting.

Hertz Adds Nissan Leaf to Rental Fleet

As more car makers continue to ‘go green’ the Hertz rental car company is looking to get into the game by offering a new model from Nissan, the Leaf. The electric battery powered vehicle will be one of the mainstays of eco friendly vehicles that are being rolled out across both Europe and the United States in early 2011. The number of vehicles which will be added to the Hertz fleet and price for renting each has not yet been determined, but it is assumed that the Dollar Thrifty rental business Hertz recently acquired would be one of the first to offer such vehicles. With over 2,000 locations around the US it stands a good chance of getting the first Leaf models according to company spokes person Paula Rivera.

Nissan’s production schedule will determine much of how things end up working out, as distribution of the first Leaf models is still to be determined. High demand locations for electric battery cars, such as the state of California, are most likely to receive the first few models. The Prius from Toyota did quite well for Hertz in that state, according to Rivera, and it appears that this would be an indicator as to the possible popularity of the Leaf in 2011. The state also offers a subsidy of $5,000 in a cash rebate program that is intended to get more electric cars on the state’s roads and build awareness for the electric car’s overall utility. One of the advantages for Nissan is that many consumers will rent a new style of vehicle prior to buying it in order to get a sense of how the car handles.

China to be First for Entirely Electric Mini Van

According to word coming out of Beijing, China is continuing steps to advance its agenda to switch over vehicles from petro based to all electric. The Asian giant is now looking to introduce the very first Chinese made all electric minivan into the United States markets in the hops that it might interest US consumers in switching over from gas powered vehicles in the coming years. China views this as a chance to capitalize on the coming switch as most nations have begun to take a more eco friendly approach to solving transportation issues with individual drivers and reducing their dependence on oil from the chronically unstable regions of the world such as the Middle East. Automaker BYD will be the first to try selling such cars on the West Coast of the US in 2010 by offering a five seat e6 as its initial model. The e6 is one in a series of so called green vehicles which have been developed by Chinese car makers, some of which run on small wind turbines, others using solar panels or even batteries to power the driving.

BYD is partially owned by Warren Buffet, the famed Oracle of Omaha US billionaire who founded Berkshire Hathaway decades ago. The company has a substantial stake in the Chinese automaker and hopes the car will interest customers outside of the Chinese market. These days, China is the world’s largest car market after emerging as a major buyer and producer of green vehicles. Other than BYD, makers such as Chery Automobile and Geely are also up and comers for the car world.

Lexus Solves SUV Safety Risk

After facing problems with the Consumer Reports publication, Lexus has managed to get their brand back on track and get the CR safety risk warning lifted for the Lexus GX 460. A recall of the Toyota software used in the vehicle was reported to lead to emergency handling instability and made the car a risk for drivers. The magazine had taken on the issue and its level of influence made it quite the threat for the auto maker unless they made the appropriate changes. After retesting the GX 460 for the issues, the magazine felt confident enough in the fixed software to give the car a pass. The issue had been dealt with due to a recall and the work was completed by a Toyota dealership that was able to fix the problem. This had been a major concern for not only the magazine, but consumers at large since it could pose such a serious risk in an emergency situation and do a frightening level of damage to the vehicle, it’s driver and the passengers present at the time of an unexpected case of loss of control or similar event.

With the safety concerns out of the way, Toyota will be able to clear up its name thanks to a rapid fix on their part. The company had already been dealing with numerous issues on the US front that could further damage their sinking reputation as US based car makers have received growing sympathy from the public that has tended to favor Asian car makers. The handling issues affected just over 9,400 of the new 2010 Lexus SUVs that are often used by families so the magazine felt that it had to do something to address the concern.

Canadian Sports Car Coming to US

While Canada is not a nation that is typically known for producing high end luxury sports cars, a new company is hoping to change all that. HTT Technologies is working to have global expectations for Canadian made cars be much higher by the end of 2010 with a brand new project known as the Plethore LC-750 which will be available in the United States as the companies first real venture into the market. The car will feature a 6.2 liter V-8 engine that provides 750 horse power to start with, but according to HTT president Sebastian Forest, within 2 years the company plans to ramp the horse power up to 1,300 with a new unit in 2012. With a starting price of $400,000 the company is only planning to produce between 40 and 50 cars per year since they are built by hand at their plant lying just north of the city of Montreal.

Front hinge scissor doors and a max speed of over 200 miles per hour are part of the draw that HTT hopes will pull in high end customers, but a sound system with 7 speakers has been included in their efforts to seal the deal. With a name derived from the French term for plethora, the concept of the exotic car itself is that it features many options. Taking inspiration from the McLaren F1 3 seat cockpit, the driver will be situated between 2 of their passenger seats and enjoy 2 LCD screens on the dash which act as rear view mirrors. Reviewers have been wowed by the 89 inches of room in the Plethore’s interior. HTT hopes the Plethore will be the future of the Canadian supercar.

Second Knockout Stage Set for Progressive X Prize Car Contest

Recently the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize announced the 22 teams that will be representing 28 different vehicles that survived the first 3 on track testing stages known as Shakedown. These vehicles will now move on to the Knockout Qualifying Stage which will be held in June 2010 at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. The contest is designed to encourage a fresh new generation of commercially viable high efficiency cars that can maintain 100 miles per gallon or the equivalent in other forms of fuel energy. The 28 teams will be showing off a grand total of 3 dozen different cars coming from around the world and were invited to the MIS to get an official start with the on track performance testing that was part of the Shakedown stage. Only 4 of those invited did not participate in the Shakedown Stage.

The X Prize competitor cars were run through a gauntlet of challenges to test how they handle a range of different factors that are considered when the prize is awarded. These include safety, performance and efficiency evaluations to me made by the contest’s judges who come from a range of background, including automotive engineers who work for the Consumer Reports magazine. The intense technical inspections and battery of tests for everything from braking to emergency double lane changes to avoid an accident, have narrow those cars competing down to the most likely to make it towards the prize itself. According to press present at the event, it is these types of events that are helping push forward new thinking in auto design as the world comes to grips with the energy crisis building at this time.

US Car Buyers Prove Willing to Hold Off for Sales Events

Due to the fact that data is now able to be not only monitored, but compiled for stat tracking purposes at never before seen levels these days by companies that keep tabs on car buyers, consumers are now far more informed than in recent years. This has made the majority of car buyers much more picky and in the end, consumers are now opting to wait for bargain deals rather than leap at the first chance to pick up a car they seen in the dealer’s lot. Google recently held its annual automotive summit in its Birmingham offices and invited 150 marketers from car companies, marketing agencies and similar companies to attend. Despite the auto industry’s strong attempts to get consumers to not focus on the discounts they use to incentivize their vehicles to sell at higher rates, customers continue to wait for exactly those savings such as found in cash back rebates and financing deals offering the famed no interest policy. This has cut sharply into auto maker profits.

Research firms Compete and RL Polk compiled a great deal of data with Google that does not show car shoppers in a very positive light. Most consumers are now waiting much longer to make their buying decisions with 20 percent taking 3 or more months before they decide. Less than a third were willing to make up their mind within a week as of data from 2008. Most of this is due to the fact that they want a sale and will not spring until the opportunity seems best.

Rare Ferrari GTO Sells for Millions

As one of the world’s most rare and coveted cars in the world for car collectors, the 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO stands out as tribute to excellence in sports car design. The recent auction held by Canada based RM Auctions brought a great deal of excitement from car collectors with this vehicle being offered via private treaty. While the specific numbers of the price tag and the buyer were not revealed to the public or the media, the race car itself is expected to bring well over $25 million for the buyer and RM Auctions. A similar 250 GTO was sold at auction to a buyer in the United Kingdom for $25 million in 2008 and this is where the valuation comes from as these cars continue to be harder to find. Many collectors consider the 250 GTO to be one of the most visually pleasing of all the cars built by Ferrari, a brand well known for its attractive design. Not only was the car successful in terms of visual appeal, however, it also managed to do well for the auto maker in the racing world where it one several World Championships. The Modense built race car features a 302 horse power V12 engine that makes it capable of reaching a top speed of 174 miles per hour.

This particular car is built using chassis No. 4675 GT and is one of 3 dozen 250 GTO’s made by Ferrari. In addition to that status, it is also one of only a handful that possess the Series II GTO body work. After leaving the factory in April of 1963 the car was raced by drivers like Oddone Sigala, Guido Fossati, Vincenzo Nember and Jean Guichet. Its finishing color is Rosso Cina.

Robotic Audi to Perform Steep Climb

Building on a tradition that dates back to 1916, the annual Pikes peak International Hill Climb is a tradition near the US city of Colorado Springs, Colorado. With a length of just over 12 miles, the curving roads of the mountain area are a testing grounds for all sorts of vehicles, but a professor of mechanical engineering from Stanford University is setting out to trump the list of famous drivers such as Al Unser and Mario Andretti. Gerdes is looking to be the first to send up a car that will drive itself. Using an Audi TTS, the professor has altered the vehicle to be able to drive itself at speeds of up to 130 miles an hour using a computer and GPS control. There will be test runs using a driver for the safety of the vehicle, known by the name of Shelley, but for the solo climb, Shelley will need to make use of only computer systems and remote control in order to make the drive. The speeds and general path the car follows will be a product of the extensive testing planned.

Since the car is capable of receiving information at a rate of around 500 instances per second, it will need to make use of a variety of tools built into its design. Aside from the GPS system on board, the car has a number of gyroscopes and accelerometers which will control both braking and speed, helping the car respond to determinations of the road’s boundaries. As director for Stanford’s Center for Automotive Research, Gerdes teamed up with Volkswagen to use their $5.75 million grant to create the Volkswagen Automotive Innovation Lab which has helped to produce the vehicle.