Author: autoevolution

The North American division of Yamaha yesterday revealed its 2010 ATV race teams, with Bill Ballance, Traci Cecco, Brandon Sommers, Taylor Kiser and Walker Fowler in the Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) series, Thomas Brown in the ATVA/AMA National Motocross pro series, and Dustin Nelson in the Yamaha/ITP QuadCross Championship and the World Off Road Championship Series (WORCS).

"This is the first full year of racing for the YFZ450X, and the YFZ450R returns to defend its crown after t… (read more)

Virgin Racing doesn’t seem to experience too smooth times during their first F1 test in the history of the team, as race driver Timo Glock caused the first red flag of the Jerez de la Frontera meeting this week. In a day that started with rain but saw temperatures rising to as much as 20 degrees at around 10.30 AM, the German driver gave the VR-01 its first proper test of the week.

On Wednesday, Glock only settled for the installation lap with Virgin Racing’s 2010 single-seater. Today, he man… (read more)

Winter weather makes driving very difficult (obviously), so a lot of drivers found themselves in trouble and were forced to call the Automobile Association of America for help. More than 2,000 motorists have been serviced by AAA Michigan through 5 p.m. Tuesday, so the organization decided to offer some winter driving tips.

Of course, the best advice anyone can give you is not to drive unless you have to, but most of us have the tendency to find ourselves in need-to situations. So AAA recommen… (read more)

French carmaker Renault announced today it has managed to achieve its goal of positive free cash flow for 2009, despite the 10.8 percent decrease in revenues for the year. The carmaker earned 33.7 billion euros in 2009, mostly due to the 28 percent surge registered for the last quarter.

The group’s operating loss was 955 million euros, while the net loss, most of which comes from the contribution from associated companies, stands at 3.07 billion. The positive free cash flow mentioned above w… (read more)

Nissan is smoothing the path for Renault’s entry on the Chinese market, as Dow Jones reports, citing Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn.

"When the decision will be taken by us to go to China we are going to find a network of suppliers, a network of dealers and a manufacturing base and a system for us to move very quickly," thanks to Nissan’s presence, Ghosn was quoted as saying.

Until now, Renault has made strategic investments in Russia, India and other markets. Ghosn, the head of … (read more)

Continental Tire the Americas has just announced that its HDL2 DL (Heavy Drive Long Haul, Deep Lug) tire has been improved to provide increased load capacity. The tire was introduced in 2009 but starting with January 2010, the range includes an offering of load range H in the 11R22.5 size.

The upgrade allows the tire to carry up to an additional 435 pounds (that’s around 197 kilos) of load in a single fitment.

The tire is manufactured by Continental’s award-winning Mount Vernon, Ill. plant… (read more)

Daimler’s North American division announced it has received a major order for 75 Freightliner Business Class M2 106 type trucks from the American Forestry Equipment of Virginia (FEVA), which will equip the vehicles for use in the forestry sector and takes over the final production phase of the truck assembly.

The M2 106 is lightweight and sturdy, and is equipped with several features that are important to this industry, Melissa Clausen, director of product marketing for Freightliner Truckssai… (read more)

Red-light runners are responsible for a lot of accidents worldwide, so authorities decided to install cameras in intersections throughout the US. And the program seems to have had quite a success, as it reduced red-light running by 96% at some intersections.

In an attempt to make their streets safer, small cities are happy with the idea of installing such cameras which cost the taxpayers nothing, as they are funded by the fines. Glouchester Township partnered with American Traffic Solution (A… (read more)

The latest offering from Volkswagen Accessories comes to relief drivers from the burden of getting behind the wheel and head to new destinations. In order for a navigation system to always provide the right route to a certain destination, the roadmaps need to be updated on a regular basis.

The Volkswagen Genuine navigation DVDs "Western Europe" and "Eastern Europe" (V6.1) reportedly contain all of the latest map data. The integrated Virtual Car Assistant (VCA) guides the … (read more)

Until dealing with the intermediate tire problems that appeared during the Jerez de la Frontera test this week, Japanese tire manufacturer Bridgestone announced the tire allocations for the first three rounds of the 2010 Formula One championship.

The only news regarding the tire allocations for the Bahrain, Australian and Malaysian races regard the race at Albert Park, where Bridgestone learnt their lesson from last year’s season opener and decided to bring harder compounds for their rubber. … (read more)

Being the Official Satellite Radio Partner of NASCAR, Sirius NASCAR Radio will broadcast live the Daytona 500 race starting the Daytona International Speedway Special edition of "Tony Stewart Live", on February 11, on Channel 128.

On Sunday, February 14, Sirius will begin the 15 hours of live coverage broadcast at 7 AM. The broadcast will be complete with plus full pre- and post-race coverage with expert analysis, reports from pit road and the garages, driver introductions and inte… (read more)

DeltaWing has become the 4th chassis manufacturer to present its design for the 2012 season of the IndyCar Series, during a media event at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show. As expected, the design is futuristic to say the least, as the single-seater features a narrow front end, a very wide rear part and large wheels enclosed by the bodywork.

The design presented at the Chicago event was developed ever since the beginning of 2009, as it was a well-known fact that the North American racing series wou… (read more)

Toyota’s recall of over 8 million vehicles worldwide has prompted some suit-addicted law firms in the US rally and form the Attorneys Toyota Action Consortium (ATAC), a federation which will try and bury the Japanese carmaker once and for all with the help of the US legal system.

ATAC has already began its spring offensive (filing lawsuits) against Toyota across the battlefield (nation), with all its 22 army divisions (law firms in 22 states) gearing up for the onslaught.

ATAC’s… attac… (read more)

It’s no secret that Volkswagen plans to become the world’s largest automotive producer by 2018 and it doesn’t seem that far fetched as the recession rearranged the auto industry. In this context, planning is very important, as the slightest mistake can have disastrous consequences: for example, a faulty accelerator pedal seriously affected Toyota’s image and, of course, its sales.

Volkswagen AG understood the importance of having a bulletproof plan, so the German automaker signed a master agr… (read more)

The Irish tuners at ONYX recently revealed a upgrade program for the Bentley Continental GT, one of Britain’s top luxury vehicles. Dubbed the 2010 Bentley Continental Platinium GTO, the new aerodynamics package includes a new front bumper with carbon fiber inserts, daytime running lamps, a carbon fiber lower splitter and new side skirts.

As for the rear of the car, the ONYX Bentley Continental Platinium GTO offers a new bumper, carbon fiber diffuser and a boot lid carbon fiber deck spoiler. … (read more)

Volkswagen yesterday revealed the new-generation Touareg, which also includes a hybrid version, but it appears that the global release might be different depending on the local market. Australia won’t receive the hybrid configuration, as Volkswagen Australia said in a statement, for the sole reason that it could fail to impress thanks to the achievements of the regular model.

We have looked at the line-up with the new Touareg, and the improvements in terms of reduced weight and reduced fuel c… (read more)

MTM, VW Group dedicated tuner has released two tuning packages boosting the Golf VI GTI’s power output by 50 percent and bringing the Golf VI GTD to the stock GTI’s power level.

Motoren Technik Mayer offers four power upgrade level for the sixth incarnation of the iconic Golf GTI. These begin with a ECU upgrade which is anything but modest, at 270 HP. The tuning range is topped by the 310 HP, 410 Nm of torque model. The additional power was achieved through the use of a MTM turbocharger, exh… (read more)

It’s been a while since we’ve heard some good news from Toyota, but we’re glad that the Japanese automaker finally saw a ray of hope. Toyota and Lexus managed to get more awards than any other automaker in the 23rd annual Intellichoice.com’s Best Overall Values of the Year (BOVY) awards, announced today at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show.

The annual BOVY awards identify best-in-class vehicles that deliver outstanding value and lower than expected costs over time.

IntelliChoice.com’s annual BOVY… (read more)

Although the company preferred to adopt a tightlipped attitude this morning at the Chicago Auto Show, Hyundai actually revealed the 2011 Azera, a model that will go on sale in the US in spring 2010. No press conference for launching the Azera, only minor upgrades. At least when talking about interior and exterior styling. But let’s take things one step at a time.

In terms of exterior upgrades, we have new headlights, tail lights and fog lights, new bumper fascias, side mirrors and window trim… (read more)

Kimi Raikkonen started off the season opening Rally Sweden on the wrong foot on Wednesday, during the recce of the Karlstad-based event. Using Citroen’s Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX – especially for the recce outings – the former Formula One champion slightly collided with another rally driver at a junction, on the road to a stage.

The Citroen officials were the first to confirm the incident – as they didn’t want the media to make a big fuss about it – but insisted that the collision was minor an… (read more)