Car and Driver?s Guide to What the Heck Has Happened, Is Happening, and Will Happen with Saab

Roughly once per month?and every month since February 2010?Saab almost goes out of business. With greater frequency, news is delivered of collapsed funding deals or imminent labor strikes or unpaid suppliers having conniptions, and often all three combine to cause any given week?s production stoppage in Trollhättan. The ongoing saga is rife with eleventh-hour savior [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/caranddriver/blog/~3/Z_IYnUG2agE/

Rupert Keegan Eddie Keizan Al Keller Joe Kelly Dave Kennedy

Official: New BMW 3 Series Exclusive Edition and M Sport models shown

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2012 BMW 3 Series M Sport Edition
2012 BMW 3 Series M Sport Edition - Click above for high-res image gallery

BMW has released information on a pair of new special-edition 3 Series models available in Europe. The 2012 3 Series Exclusive Edition will offer buyers new 18-inch, lightweight V-Spoke wheels as well as a unique Mineral Grey exterior paint. Inside, the cabin is wrapped in Dakota leather in either Pearl Grey with contrast stitching or black. Bamboo grain anthracite wood trim adds a bit of specialness as well.

Of greater interest to enthusiasts is news that BMW will also offer customers a new 2012 3 Series M Sport Edition with a slightly sharper performance edge. BMW turned its M engineers lose on the vehicle's suspension and a host of exterior and interior tweaks help set both the coupe and convertible models apart from the rest of their pack.

The M Sport Edition features a set of 18-inch lightweight alloy wheels of its very own, and shadow line window finishers join a body-color rear diffuser. Indoors, an M Sport steering wheel and stainless pedals are standard equipment, as are Dakota leather seats with blue contrast stitching. Let's hope these two specials make it to North America. Hit the jump for the full press blast and check 'em out in the gallery.

Continue reading New BMW 3 Series Exclusive Edition and M Sport models shown

New BMW 3 Series Exclusive Edition and M Sport models shown originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 01 Jul 2011 16:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2011/07/01/new-bmw-3-series-exclusive-edition-and-m-sport-models-shown/

Richie Ginther Yves Giraud Cabantous Ignazio Giunti Timo Glock Helm Glöckler

Veyron Coupe Sold Out, Grand Sport ?Vert Still Available as Bugatti Preps Its Next Move

The 253-mph Bugatti Veyron 16.4 coupe, the impossibly wide, impossibly powerful, and impossibly quick supercar that embodied more superlatives than any single car in most of our lifetimes, is now history. To be precise, the last available production spot for the fixed-roof Veyron has been assigned to a European customer. Once that example emerges from [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/caranddriver/blog/~3/XZDNDF35SUM/

Toyota Kimmy Z Line Designs Toyota Parker Kligerman Trevor Bayne Out! Pet Care Toyota

Eminem Who? VW?s New Beetle Gets Heavy Screen Time in Britney Spears?s Latest Video

Britney Spears is hard to write about. Being flippant over the singer?s hairball-alley antics and misguided romantic liaisons just seems a bit ham-fisted. On the other hand, we?ve always had trouble taking Miss Spears seriously when she tries to assert herself. After all, ?It?s Britney, bitch!? is one of the more unintentionally hilarious utterances made [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/caranddriver/blog/~3/v-VkGoCxHPY/

Roberto Guerrero Maurício Gugelmin Dan Gurney Hubert Hahne Mike Hailwood

Jeffrey Earnhardt To Drive For Rick Ware Racing At Daytona International Speedway

Rick Ware Racing (RWR)Jeffrey Earnhardt?s 2011 season started with a top 10 finish at Daytona in NASCAR?s Camping World Truck Series. Now the 4th generation driver of the Earnhardt family will try to duplicate that feat in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for the running of the Subway Jalapeno 250 on Friday night. Earnhardt will pilot...more»

Source: http://www.catchfence.com/2011/nationwide/06/29/jeffrey-earnhardt-to-drive-for-rick-ware-racing-at-daytona-international-speedway/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=jeffrey-earnhardt-to-drive-for-rick-ware-racing-at-daytona-international-speedway

Graham Hill Phil Hill Peter Hirt David Hobbs Gary Hocking

Kurt Busch dominates at Sears Point

Kurt Busch claimed his first victory of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season with a categorical showing at Sears Point. The Penske racer had shown throughout practice that he had the car to beat, losing pole position in qualifying only after making two costly mistakes on his flying lap. On Sunday though, from 11th on the grid, not only he did confirm his speed but his team also perfectly executed a two-stop strategy that gave him a clean track ahead to make the most of his pace, while other top contenders tried to charge back after a additional stops for fuel and tyres.

Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/nascar-news/nascar/kurt-busch-dominates-at-sears-point/

Cecil Green Keith Greene Masten Gregory Cliff Griffith Georges Grignard

Lotus Opens Its Rejuvenated Hethel Test Track, Nigel Mansell and Others Turn Laps [VIDEO]

If Lotus ever hopes to achieve its aggressive plan of bringing a whole passel of new cars to market by mid-decade?one, the Elan, has already been delayed?the British automaker unquestionably needs a top-notch testing facility. Fortunately, it already had one it its back yard, and the company has just reopened its Hethel track. Repaved, carrying [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/caranddriver/blog/~3/B6Kn6qdj_0I/

Gimax Richie Ginther Yves Giraud Cabantous Ignazio Giunti Timo Glock

Official: FIA confirms 1.6-liter turbo V6 F1 engines for 2014

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Honda RA163E 1.5-liter V6 turbo F1 engine from 1984

Formula One racing engines have been dropping cylinders like advanced trigonometry classes over the past couple of decades. The V12s gave way to V10s in the mid 90s. Those were replaced in turn by the current V8s in 2006, and now it's been confirmed that by 2014 two more cylinders will drop off the block for V6 propulsion.

Confirmation comes from the FIA, whose World Motor Sport Council adopted via fax vote the suggestion put forth by the Formula One Commission after consultation with the teams. The new regulations will take effect in 2014 instead of the four-cylinder formula that was set to take hold in 2013.

Displacement will drop as well from 2.4 liters to 1.6, but don't expect a big drop in performance, as the lost cylinders will be replaced by a turbocharger. The overall package, then, marks a little bit of history repeating. Until they were dropped in 1989, many of the cars on the grid were powered by 1.5-liter turbocharged V6 engines (like the '84-spec Honda unit pictured above), although this time they'll be coupled to a new Energy Recovery System that will replace the current Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS). Official announcement after the jump.

Continue reading FIA confirms 1.6-liter turbo V6 F1 engines for 2014

FIA confirms 1.6-liter turbo V6 F1 engines for 2014 originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 30 Jun 2011 13:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2011/06/30/fia-confirms-1-6-liter-turbo-v6-f1-engines-for-2014/

Max Jean Stefan Johansson Eddie Johnson Leslie Johnson Bruce Johnstone