Author: autoevolution

Although only a rumor until a few weeks ago, David Coulthard’s progression to the German DTM series might become reality sooner than most of us had thought. The Scot has agreed to test the AMG Mercedes C-Klasse earlier this year, but back then he had no clue whether this would translate into a race seat with the German manufacturer in the championship.

Now, prior to the Australian Grand Prix this weekend – Coulthard is joining the F1 caravan from his position as BBC pundit for the series – th… (read more)

The start of the transatlantic leg to Lisbon, Portugal, will be hosted by Miami, a city which is making a comeback on the Volvo Ocean Race map. The Floridian city will see the boats arrive after their charge north from the Brazilian port of Itajai.

"The Volvo Ocean Race is by far the world’s premier global race. It’s a great honour to have Miami selected as a featured stopover," said Commission Chairman Marc Sarnoff.

The race village will be located at Bicentennial Park, on the … (read more)

In what turns out to be one of the most tormenting launches of a car in 2010, the South Koreans from Kia released today yet another photo of the new generation Kia Optima/Magentis, this time one showing the interior of the car.

The saloon to join the Kia range will make its public world premiere at the New York International Auto Show (NYIAS), to be held at the beginning of April. Kia promises the Optima/Magentis will bring "a car that people will simply not expect from Kia", with … (read more)

Paul di Resta came to Australia eager to experience the thrill of driving an F1 car during the practice sessions of an actual grand prix. However, once he stepped on the Australian continent, the Scottish driver had an interesting encounter with a… shark. And we don’t mean one of the sharks from the F1 paddock, but a real one, hanging around in the waters of St Kilda beach.

While paddling in the shallows of the aforementioned beach, Di Resta spotted the seven-foot shark and pointed it out t… (read more)

Volkswagen has announced the pricing of the Sharan MPV for the German market, introducing an overall discount as compared to the previous generation of the vehicle.

The new Sharan is already available in dealerships and has a starting price of $38,488 (28,875 euro), which places it $3,299 (2,475 euro) lower that the ex-generation model. Customers will get the 1.4 liter TSI turbocharged and supercharged petrol engine and the Trendline equipment level for that money. The unit develops 150 hp an… (read more)

One week after the California Government approved a new state rebate program that provides consumers with a greater incentive when purchasing an electric motorcycle, Zero Motorcycles went to pay a visit to the California Governor himself. Arnold Schwarzenegger received a demonstration of the 2010 product line, unveiled earlier this month in Daytona.

The newly launched rebate program gives consumers $1,500 off the purchase of either a Zero S or DS motorcycle. Furthermore, if consumers combine … (read more)

OK, so this is not exactly the first thing which comes to mind when hearing the words "bus" or "superbus"… We rather see it as a 16 doors, oversized limo, capable of seating 23 people, but what do we know…

Anyway, the Superbus Project, the brainchild of a group of Dutch engineers and students, was designed as an adaptive, customized way of mass transit. It’s not only the bus that’s new, but also everything it requires to operate properly: infrastructure, logistics, sc… (read more)

With everyone around them signing new sponsors and extending old partnerships in the series, Scuderia Ferrari felt the need to secure their future in the series – from a technical standpoint – alongside their fuels and lubricants partners Shell. Consequently, the Italian team today confirmed a new deal with the Dutch company for the upcoming 5 years.

The extension of our relationship with Shell up to the end of 2015 is yet another step in the Scuderia’s plan to strengthen its long term future… (read more)

Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher defended the show in Formula One, amid intense criticism following the season opening Bahrain Grand Prix. Although both have admitted, shortly after the race at Sakhir, that the race was indeed very boring, the two world champions now insisted that the show in F1 is not all about overtaking.

This (sport) is about technique, about how precise everything is in terms of the mechanics, the engineering, everything. People who want extra show perhaps need to r… (read more)

Shortly after it made its European debut at the Geneva Auto Show this month, the Nissan Leaf will again meet the public, this time scheduled to be showcased at the EVER Monaco 2010 automotive show. The event, dedicated to Ecological Vehicles and Renewable Energies, will be open to visitors between March 25-28.

As an official sponsor of this’ year expo, Nissan will supply Nissan LEAF to Monaco in 2011, making Monaco one of the first markets in the world to be supplied with electric vehicles fr… (read more)

After earlier this month American Traffic Solutions (ATS) won a first battle in the state of Washington and received confirmation that its safety cameras are legal, the same happened this week in the state of Texas.

Here, the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a lawsuit filed on the grounds that the company needs to have a private investigators license in order to operate intersection safety cameras.

The lawsuit was filed back in 2008, when each appellant in the case ran a red tr… (read more)

Mazda’s UK arm has announced that it is preparing an eco revolution in the compact and medium fleet vehicle segment.

The company plans to reduce fuel consumption by 30 percent and also reduce emissions, a target that should be reached by 2015. Mazda cars will use enhanced aerodynamics, fine tuned engines, a weight reducing program and will feature technological innovations such a Start Stop system (the Japanese carmaker calls this the i-stop). All these technologies are included in a program… (read more)

Porsche Cars North America announced yesterday it will bring the hybrid gas-electric version of the next-generation Cayenne on March 31, to be introduced at the upcoming New York International Automobile Show (NYIAS).

Like all the other models in the new Cayenne range, the hybrid model will comply with the Porsche Intelligent Performance philosophy, the evolution of vehicles sportier than their predecessors, yet more fuel and emissions efficient.

The new Cayenne S Hybrid is fitted with a … (read more)

Yesterday, we have reported to you that BMW Sauber-Ferrari are preparing a McLaren-type of air inlet, due to be implemented on the C29 from as early as the Australian Grand Prix. When asked about it, the team’s technical director Willy Rampf did not deny that his team is working on such a device, and told the reporters to ask him on Friday about debuting it in Australia.

As it was pretty clear that, once the FIA would clear the McLaren design as legal, all the other teams would start a copyin… (read more)

The bribery case involving German carmaker Daimler is moving to new levels, after the US Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission decided to charge the carmaker with conspiracy and falsifying books and records under the Foreign and Corrupt Practices Act, Reuters reported.

The US says Daimler’s actions resulted in $50 million in pretax profits for Daimler, while for the duration of the activities the carmaker paid tens of millions and won contracts worth hundreds of milli… (read more)

With so many rumors about you quitting the world of Formula One at the end of the 2010 season running around, the last thing you need is a fellow racer piggybacking on it in the media. This is exactly what happened during the course of yesterday, when 2008 F1 champion Lewis Hamilton told the reporters in Melbourne that he believes this might be Mark Webber’s last year in the series.

He has the best chance to end on that high this year and I wouldn’t be surprised if he is considering it, said … (read more)

Nissan’s UK arm, the country’s largest car producer, has become the official vehicle supplier of the British Superbike Championship (BSB).

The new agreement will see Nissan deliver a fleet of 12 vehicles to the series’ 2010 and 2011 seasons. Two all wheel drive 485 HP GT-Rs will become the BSB safety cars, pastoring the 200 hp superbikes. Two Qashqai+2 seven seater SUVs will serve as medical cars, while a 332 Hp 370 Z and a 3.5 liter Murano SUV will become course cars. The two course vehicle… (read more)

Porsche is spoiling European customers with a series of new personalization packages for the baby vehicles of the range, the Boxster roadster and the Cayman coupe.

Customers who feel that they need more equipment can choose the Comfort or/and the Infotainment package, while those who want an aesthetic improvement can opt for the Design or the Design Sport kit.

The first design pack improves the look of the Boxster and Cayman models through the use of a set of 19 inch alloy rims that come i… (read more)

The Lexus IS-F powerwar fighter saloon has received a facelift for the UK market and now features improved handling, new gadgets and an upgraded interior (this comes as an option).

The most important new feature is a re-engineered limited slip differential. This is a torsen unit that now handles the 5.0 liter V8 powerpant’s 423 hp and 372.4 lb-ft ( 505 Nm) of torque. The supersaloon’s straight line performance has remained unchanged, so the car still reaches 62 mph in 4.8 seconds and goes on … (read more)

It seems like BMW is keen to expand its business in the sub-compact automotive market, in an effort to bring its own vehicles to the small car playground, a segment where the German company’s only product was the MINI.

Last week, BMW’s chairman Norbert Reithofer confirmed that the carmaker will produce a front wheel drive vehicle, that will be placed under the 1 series. This will share its platform with the future generation of the MINI, due to be introduced in 2014, and will compete against … (read more)