Archive for October, 2011
Ten Things Your Truck Shouldn’t Be Without
Posted on 31. Oct, 2011 by admin.
By G.R. Whale
Lawyers and bean counters see to it that no pickup truck comes perfectly equipped. With our 30 years and a million miles in trucks, we’ve compiled a list of the 10 things every pickup should have on it, and we asked some truck people to make sure we weren’t missing something. While your list might be different, we’ve found the more of these items we carry, the less goes wrong. We’ve also approximated weight for each item; the average pickup driver — we know you’re above-average owners — would have a hard time measuring any change in fuel economy with or without these things on board.
Receiver hitch: The heaviest item on this list works for much more than towing. Beyond ball mounts, it can secure a rack customized for a clevis or tow hook, a step (or serve as one itself), a vise or work table, dune flag or any 500- to 1,000-pound object you can fab up from a 2-inch square stub. It’s also handy as departure angle skid plates and under-ride devices.
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Chevrolet COPO Camaro Concept: SEMA 2011
Posted on 31. Oct, 2011 by admin.
Rumors of a 2012 Camaro ZL1-based factory-built drag racer, much like the Mustang Cobra Jet and Challenger Drag Pak, first surfaced a month ago, and today at the lead-up to the 2011 SEMA show, Chevy has just uncrated what looks to be exactly that: the COPO Camaro Concept. While the details remain scant at this point, including the car’s basis…
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NHRA At Las Vegas: One Champion, Four Winners
Posted on 31. Oct, 2011 by admin.
Jason Line never gets overly excited about anything, but the grin–ear to ear–when the lanky Minnesota-born Pro Stock driver won his second NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series championship (the first came in 2006) was certainly telling. Having to wait five years between championships was tough for Line, who tunes his teammate Greg Anderson’s KB…
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Tuned Ferrari 458 Italia Takes On Lamborghini Aventador: Video
Posted on 31. Oct, 2011 by admin.
If you really want to take on the Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 in a Ferrari, you’d be best waiting a year or two for the Ferrari 599 replacement to hit the market. Despite Amedeo Felisa’s denial that the Aventador’s 700-hp rating had anything to do with Ferrari’s plans, the next 599 will have an Aventador-rivaling V-12 packing 700+ horses. We’d…
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2012 Honda CR-V Could Face Delays Due To Thai Flooding
Posted on 31. Oct, 2011 by admin.
Flooding in Thailand has forced Japanese automakers to trim U.S. production as factory shutdowns affect global supplies. The latest casualty may be the 2012 Honda CR-V, which is slated to hit dealerships in December. Though the CR-V is assembled in Japan, supply shortages mean it “could potentially be delayed by several weeks,” Honda said in a statement. Starting Wednesday, Honda will trim production at its U.S. plants for at least a week, depending on the situation. The news comes on the heels of Toyota announcing a week of cutbacks to its North American plants due to the flooding.
“There are some electrical components that we anticipate a shortage of [in] parts” from Thailand, Honda spokesman Jeffery Smith told us. “We believe that will result in a delay of the CR-V launch, but we're not sure how long that will be.”
The current U.S.-market CR-V comes from Honda's East Liberty, Ohio, plant, with “some limited quantities” coming from Japan and Mexico, Smith said. He wouldn’t say if the next generation will come from the same locations.
The flooding affects two Japanese automakers hit hard by production disruptions from Japan's March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Honda CEO Fumihiko Ike told Automotive News some 35 direct suppliers in Thailand have been affected by the widespread floods — the worst in 50 years, Reuters reported. Automotive News said Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mazda and Mitsubishi have stopped assembly in Thailand due to supplier shortages or, in some cases, facilities overrun by floodwaters. Nissan, Mazda and Mitsubishi have more cars in stock at U.S. dealerships than Toyota and Honda, whose inventory remained far below the industry's 50-day supply on Oct. 1, according to Automotive News. (Days' supply reflects how long it would take a carmaker’s dealerships to sell off their current stock at a normal rate.)
Nissan and Mazda spokesmen told us their U.S. supplies remain unaffected. We haven't heard back yet from Mitsubishi. Thailand’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra told reporters she hopes production in flooded factories will return in three months, but Honda's now-flooded Thai plant could be offline for six months, said a report via Reuters from Japan's Nikkei business newspaper.
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Next-Gen Saab 9-3 Revealed Via PowerPoint?
Posted on 31. Oct, 2011 by admin.
Today is now officially Leaky Monday: first the FT-86 gets its specs revealed by one presentation, now the next-gen Saab 9-3 appears to have been outed by a similar route. The image of the car, grainy and black-and-white as it is, comes to us by way of Swedish outlet SvD via Autoblog. Showing looks similar to the 9-5, but with a shorter, more…
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2012 MINI Roadster Makes Its Video Debut
Posted on 31. Oct, 2011 by admin.
Just yesterday we brought you still images of the all-new 2012 MINI Roadster, and today we get to follow it up with the MINI Roadster’s video debut. From what we can tell, that’s a MINI Roadster S winding its way through the streets of Istanbul, although we’re at a loss to explain why the occupants are so formally dressed on a…
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2012 Fiat 500 Abarth Coming to the 2011 L.A. Auto Show
Posted on 31. Oct, 2011 by admin.
Fiat continues to roll out a full assortment of trims for its 500 mini car. This time, it’s the high-performance 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth’s chance on the turntable, debuting at the 2011 L.A. Auto Show in November.
The Abarth promises to put a little more oomph into the 500’s step, while honing the chassis to be more nimble in turns. The Abarth will get a turbocharged 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine. In Europe, the 500 Abarth produces 135 to 160 horsepower depending on the model. The Fiat 500 produces 101 hp. The suspension and brake systems also have been beefed up, according to Fiat.
We’ll have more information on this hot-rodded 500 in the coming weeks.
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2012 Honda CR-V Hits Internet Before LA Debut
Posted on 31. Oct, 2011 by admin.
Honda hasn’t exactly kept it a secret that it will unveil the new 2012 CR-V at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show in a few weeks. But apparently showing a thinly-veiled concept version of the new CR-V wasn’t enough, as the Japanese automaker has published photos of the JDM version of the 2012 CR-V on the Internet. The concept version of the 2012 CR-V…
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BMW Recalls 2008-11 5-Series, 7-Series, X5 and X6
Posted on 31. Oct, 2011 by admin.
BMW is recalling 32,084 model year 2008-11 5-Series, 5-Series Gran Turismo, 7-Series, X5 and X6 models equipped with turbocharged V-8 or V-12 engines. At issue is a circuit board for the electrically powered auxiliary water pump, which can overheat to the point of posing a potential engine compartment fire risk. Specific models affected by this…
