You already know the story. Felipe Massa was struck in the helmet with a spring while
rocketing along at 162 mph during the Hungarian Grand Prix, only to be knocked unconscious and crash head on into a tire-wall. The story thickened when we found out he fractured his skull and may have suffered irreparable eye damage. Then Schumi stepped up and took his spot.
Now we have a report from ITV that Massa will leave the hospital on Monday and be flown home in a private jet back to Brazil. He has been recovering in Budapest's AEK military hospital, and his physician Dino Altmann said he was making good progress.
Massa says he is eager to return to racing as soon as he is capable, and was even cracking jokes about Schumacher taking his spot: "We'll see if I let him drive my car!"
Altmann expressed with confidence that Massa will be able to get back on the track - eventually.
The Distance Control Assist (DCA) system utilizes map information to adjust the accelerator pedal and braking when navigating around curves. When going into a twisty, DCA will physically move the pedal upward to make you slow down, and, when your foot is removed, will apply the brakes to further control your speed. Nissan says that DCA "focuse[s] on reducing the driver's workload on curvy roads by integrating navigation, accelerator pedal, powertrain and brakes."
Active Stability Assist, on the other hand, synchronizes braking, steering and engine response. It monitors a driver's driving patterns (mostly braking and acceleration) and individually controls braking and the amount of torque applied to each wheel. The system optimizes the distribution of force to each wheel, depending on the radius of the curve, of course.
Both systems will debut on the new Fuga sedan -- Japan's version of the Infiniti M series -- later in Nissan's current fiscal year.
A couple of days ago we posted an unedited version of Rhys' run up the scary Pikes Peak in his 580-horsepower modified Hyundai Genesis Coupe, and we thought that was cool.
This time we have a Top Gear-esque video complete with multiple camera angles, time lapses of the gorgeous Colorado landscape and, lest we forget, enough slow-mo to make even the easiest turn look dramatic.
Rhys Millen Millen set the record time of 12 minutes, 9 seconds on the 156-turn, 12.45-mile course -- more than 1 minute and 23 seconds faster than his nearest competitor in the rear-wheel-drive Time Attack Class.
Cadillac has been lying again. You remember when it said the Catera zigged? That was a lie. And now this: Cadillac has been hyping the CTS Sportwagon as if it's the first station wagon from the men and women behind the wreath and crest. Nope.
Way back in 1978 Italian-Swiss nutball Franco Sbarro constructed this, um, this, er...constructed the Sbarro TAG Function Car. And, wait...are those sidepipes? Niice!
Anyway, the so-called Function Car was built in association with Techniques d-Avant Garde (TAG) as a mobile office containing two telephones (!), a television, four cushy chairs and two super-classy wood-and-leather secretaries. The stock Cadillac 8.2-liter V8 powered a couple of the six wheels. Sbarro built a grand total of one of these 23-and-a-half-foot-long monsters. There was a plan to contruct 25 of them before sanity prevailed. Sbarro his-own-self owns the Function Car after he failed to sell it to a musician who wanted to install a piano in the back, before sanity prevailed.
We think this whole conversion van/wagon/caddy thing would have worked had Sbarro offered customized airbrush murals for the back and/or curb-feelers. But maybe that's just us.
Cadillac: There's still time to do the CTS Sportwagon up right.
This just in: the House of Representatives has just passed a measure that would add $2B to the Cash for Clunkers money pool. The vote was a lopsided 316 to 109, but next week's vote in the Senate isn't going to be so easy.
Several Republican Senators have already said they'll oppose it, while other Senators have said they'll push for a more stringent fuel economy spread. Should be an interesting battle.
It's not quite as earth shaking as its Formula One announcement earlier this week, but BMW's announcement that it's also ending its American Formula development series is yet another blow to the sport. The BMW Formula Europe and Formula Pacific series will continue.
"In the current economic conditions it has proven difficult to establish the young driver program as successfully on American soil as managed by its sister series in their respective regions. Taken in combination with the - by comparison with Europe and Asia - vastly different motorsport infrastructures prevailing in the Americas, this led to the decision to cease promoting the series in future," BMW said in the release.
In other words, NASCAR still rules American racing, so when it comes time to pick favorites, American drivers are out of luck. It's a shame too, as American Alexander Rossi had recently won the American series and earned himself a chance to test in a Formula One car. BMW said it would still honor that commitment, somehow.
Have you heard? There's a government program that gives you money for turning in vehicles that don't get good mileage. It just started, but apparently it's already over. Maybe.
With such a short run you would think there wouldn't be time for a backlash to swell up, but alas there is never a shortage of people with too much time on their hands. And with that comes this, the "Cash for Clunkers Blues". Seriously.
Like so many crossovers these days, the 2010 Subaru Outback is suffering from a few identity issues. Is it really the rugged outdoor vehicle its name implies? Or has it been watered down into just another city vehicle on stilts?
Chief Road Test Editor Chris Walton took a spin in the redesigned wagon to find out and came away with some interesting observations.
Mini likes to be a little smug, and usually it gets away with it. In today's installment, the manufacturer has announced that it will be distributing these bumper stickers to dealers as part of a new marketing package.
As of this morning, the government's Cash for Clunkers program is still officially in effect. Reports late yesterday said the program might be suspended due to lack of funding, but various government officials are working this morning to try and find more funds to keep it going. We'll keep you posted as more news becomes available.
Riding along with Subaru Rally Team USA factory driver and freestyle motocross champion Travis Pastrana, it's easy to appreciate the amount of effort it takes to pilot his Impreza WRX STI around the tarmac portion of the 2009 X Games rally course at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.
The acceleration is not as spectacular as I previously thought, but the frenzied rotational moments are well beyond my expectations.
As we head down a canyon of hard plastic Jersey barriers during each of the brief straights, it seems as if there's only a a meter or so of clearance on each side of the STI. That perceived clearance gets a lot smaller, quickly. With each corner, Travis brakes hard then saws the wheel one way, then the other, countersteering to get the back-end of the vehicle pitched around the turn. We round each tight corner with the rear of the vehicle hanging out, the tires howling with small (and sometimes large) clouds of rubber smoke in our wake.
It is a lot more violent than I imagined, the vehicle moving wildly from side to side, with incredibly large rotational moments in our tight, Jersey barrier confines. We come very close to hitting the barriers several times, but don't.
I can't believe that we haven't hit anything hard -- until we do.
Check out the refreshed 2010 Acura MDX. Although it retains the overall shape and look of the 2007-2009 model years, it does have a few aesthetic and mechanical changes that should be noted.
An aggressive new grille and different mirrors from Acura's newest parts bin are the most noticeable alterations, although the designers did also tweak the front and rear bumpers, hood, side sills and tail lamps.
The 3.7-liter V6 powerplant still has 300 horsepower, and torque drops from 275 to 270 pound-feet. A new six-speed Sequential SportShift tranny helps bump both mpg up one mpg to a 16/21 rating. New gearing supposedly gives the mid-size crossover more umph off the line.
The interior receives a thicker sport steering wheel with paddles, more LED lighting, a rearview camera and a VGA nav screen.
More pics of the refreshed and kind-of-purple MDX after the jump.
You may have seen these posts on our long-term blog, but if not you're missing out. Our very own Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing and a former OEM chassis engineer, breaks down the various suspension designs used on today's latest new models.
So far Dan has limited his explanations to cars in our long-term fleet, but we're planning on expanding this series to our short-term vehicles as well. If we had time, we would do it with every vehicle that goes through our garage, but there are a lot of vehicles and only one Dan.
That said, which vehicles would you consider a top priority? We've already covered various cars in our fleet like the BMW M3, Dodge Challenger R/T, and the Nissan GT-R. Got any other suggestions?
The Department of Transportation will soon be making an announcement about the balance of the Cash For Clunkers account (it started with $1 billion), and, quite frankly, it could
already be dwindling close to zero.
Washington sources spoke with our friends over at AutoObserver, saying that although no announcement has been scheduled yet, the program could be temporarily put on hiatus or even suspended completely. As of 10 a.m. this morning the CARS Web site showed $779 million remaining for the program, but it's unknown how much money today was requested by dealers for pending transactions.
Many dealers are concerned that there are many more transactions being made than the program can handle, meaning there is a prospect that dealers could be stuck with paying the $3,500 or $4,500 bill per voucher if the government funds dry up too quickly.
The Detroit Free Press quoted the National Auto Dealers Association president John McEleny saying, "We feel that we're much closer to exhausting that $1 billion than anyone thought. We're not telling dealers what we should or shouldn't do but that we think the billion might be close to exhausted if not exhausted already."
The program officially kicked-off Monday of this week, although dealers started acknowledging the vouchers July 1.
It looks like people have been taking full advantage of the program; let's hope there are funds remaining and the government doesn't throw dealers under a bus with a bunch of worthless $3,500 or $4,500 vouchers in hand.
Now that more than a few people care about Bentley, mostly due to the phenomenal success of the Continental GT, the company has been hard at work on a new flagship sedan to replace the ancient Arnage.
Known only as the "Grand Bentley" up until this point, the new four-door will attempt to pull back some market share from the over-the-top Rolls-Royce Phantom. To assure plenty of attention, Bentley has gone with a pair of monster, gatling-gun type headlights that give it a very distinctive look up front.
Early spy photos posted by CAR magazine appeared to show a prototype in a Bentley plant and these latest shots confirm its identity. With its official world debut only weeks away, it won't be long until we get to see the final product.
Notable features on this new midsize sedan include standard all-wheel drive and a standard six-speed manual transmission to go along with the all-new four-cylinder engine. A continuously variable transmission will be optional and Suzuki also announced plans to release a hybrid version of the Kizashi.
In terms of size, the Kizashi is slightly smaller than a Hyundai Sonata. A wheelbase of 106.3 inches means the Kizashi is about 3 inches short of a Toyota Camry. The Suzuki is also slightly shorter in overall length, but nearly as wide as most of the sedans in the class.
Interior features will include a standard keyless ignition, Bluetooth connectivity and an optional 425 Rockford Fosgate audio system. Sales are expected to begin late this year.
As if the name wasn't a strong enough clue, Ferrari Chairman Luca di Montezemelo wrote on an official company blog that the new 458 Italia is a "fabulous new car which offers truly high performance along with the kind of innovation that no other Ferrari has ever reached."
He went on to say that the car is an homage to Italy. "The creative flair of its people, the quality and style of its products all go to make up a country that is synonymous with excellence," Montezemelo wrote.
Can't blame the guy for feeling a little proud. The new 458 is one of the best designs to come out of Maranello in quite some time. And let's face it, Ferrari needed a winner after its latest efforts.
Spotted roaming the streets of L.A., this prototype of the 2011 Lincoln MKX reveals a few of the changes in store for the midsize crossover.
It's basically getting a facelift that will mimic the styling of the newer Lincoln MKT. The current model's harmonica grille is out in favor of the vertical, waterfall look used by the MKT. There are changes to the rear end as well, but the heavy camouflage makes it hard to tell if the MKX will get full width taillights like the MKT.
This MKX will also introduce Ford's Ecoboost V6 to the MKX range, so expect something in the neighborhood of 350-horsepower for this mid-size crossover. Sales are expected to begin next spring.
The Goodwood Festival of Speed has come and gone for 2009, but I still like this video. It's Jeff Gordon's old Number 24 Dupont Monte Carlo with Landon Cassill driving. And it's such a spectacular burnout, you can hear people coughing.
King James, if you didn't know, what LeBron James likes to call himself now, recently took delivery of a pimped-out (or riced-out, if you will) gun-metal silver Ferrari F430. It was handled by Unique Whips, and has just a few simple, but very noticeable mods that definitely make it one-of-a-kind.
Unique throws on a set of 21-inch Asanti AF-144 rims, which owner Will Castro describes as "the largest rim you can put on there," a customized sound system complete with a head unit and a bunch of LB logos in the headrests, floor mats and even on the rear end (replacing the iconic-ly beautiful prancing horse logo).
Too bad his cockiness, further exemplified when he calls his logo "world-wide known," failed to get the Cavs past the Orlando Magic in last May's Eastern Conference Finals. At least he has a Ferrari to go home to. Actually, multiple Ferraris. Make the jump to see his 599 GTB Fiorano with some DJ Khaled playing in the background.
rocketing along at 162 mph during the Hungarian Grand Prix, only to be knocked unconscious and crash head on into a tire-wall. The story thickened when we found out he fractured his skull and may have suffered irreparable eye damage. Then Schumi stepped up and took his spot.
