Author: autoevolution

Ferrari had little time to celebrate on Sunday, as the problems they faced throughout the winning weekend in Bahrain made the Scuderia technicians switch focus almost immediately to the upcoming few races. Because of the hot temperatures at Sakhir, Ferrari had to change the engines of both Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso prior to the Sunday race.

Additionally, in the second part of the race, Ferrari told Massa to drive economically until the chequered flag, as his fuel was running out. Later… (read more)

Three months into 2010, German carmaker BMW managed to add the numbers which made 2009 the troubled year that it was and announced today the steps it will take to improve the group’s earnings in 2010. The guiding words: cautious optimism.

"We are heading into the new business year with cautious optimism and are targeting group earnings well above the level reported for the past year. We want to see visible progress in 2010 in the direction of our profitability targets for 2012, Norbert … (read more)

Green irrigation control technology company Baseline wished for something out of the ordinary for their new controller lineup and, as unusual as it may sound, they turned to none other than custom bike builder Chris Olson. The result was so exciting that some say it may be the "sickest" sprinkler controller in the world.

"We make the coolest irrigation controllers on the planet, but they basically look like circuit-breaker boxes," said Jon Peters, Director of Sales at Base… (read more)

The Shannons Melbourne Autumn Classic Auction which took place on March 15 featured the largest private collection of classic cars and motorcycles to be offered with no reserve in Australia for many years, so bidding was very intense.

More than 600 people were attracted at Shannons Cheltenham, Melbourne showroom by the Mangan Collection of 12 mainly late 1950s and early 1960s American cars and 16 predominantly pre-1960 British motorcycles. The collection itself generated sales of Au $500,000,… (read more)

After the first round of the 2010 Formula One Championship, many were expecting to see the Cosworth powered cars to struggle against the already established engine manufacturers in the series. However, there was hardly any negative media coverage on the CA2010 unit’s performance in Bahrain, as compared to other teams like Ferrari or Renault.

Although not fighting for the top spots in the race, the Cosworth powered teams did not make fouls out of themselves, with Williams scoring one points th… (read more)

We here at autoevolution love Porsches (PROPER Porsches ONLY), not because the company has exquisite hostesses (which, by the way, it doesn’t, as we’ve seen at this year’s Geneva Auto Show) but thanks to automotive-love related reasons, like the 911’s stubborness of showing its engine to the cars it overtakes, even though this might kill the driver in the first bend.

As a result, we are happy to report that the Porsche Museum in Germany is holding a special exhibition (special really isn’t a … (read more)

The recently announced recall of Honda Odyssey and Element models in the US has already taken its toll on the company shares, as they managed to close up 0.2 percent after trading down, behind the 1.2 percent rise in the benchmark Nikkei 225 Average, Market Watch reported.

As announced earlier today, Honda is recalling 344,000 Odyssey and 68,000 Element vehicles manufactured between 2007 – 2008, to modify the Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) modulator.

According to the recall notification, … (read more)

A new solution aimed at gaining fleet efficiencies, save fuel and improve on-time performance is now available form Teletrac, a telematics technology provider. Teletrac 20/20 is a specialized solution suite for vehicle location and GPS vehicle tracking that uses an array of advanced technologies such as Microsoft’s Silverlight and BING Maps, as well as animation, interactive mapping, and video playback.

According to the manufacturer, the Teletrac 20/20 fleet software offers a number of advant… (read more)

Suzuki Australia has just announced that it supports the efforts made by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) to determine the government to offer incentives for low emission cars. Some of the incentives that could be applied by the government include reducing (or eliminating) import tariffs and registration costs or allowing tax deductions for vehicle purchases.

It’s about time our peak motoring body put some pressure on the government to reward consumers looking to reduce gre… (read more)

Petrobras’ one-year sabbatical from Formula One seems to have been enough for them, as several recent reports show that the Brazilian oil company is considering a return to the series. However, they will not make a comeback as sponsors of Bruno Senna or some other Brazilian driver out there – as initially projected – but as partners of a Formula One team.

The lucky organization seems to be newly entrant Lotus F1 Team who, according to UOL Esporte, is very close to inking a deal with Petrobras… (read more)

The test run held on Monday at the Sebring International Raceway, in preparation for the 12 Hours of Sebring (opening round of the American Le Mans Series) was interrupted in the afternoon by a terrible crash involving the No. 37 Intersport Racing Lola B06/10 driven by Jon Field.

According to the Auto Racing, a gust of wind pushed the P! racer sideways while approaching the Turn 10 section, sending in out of control into the air. The machine landed upside down and then rolled over once again…. (read more)

Since BMW is celebrating 30 years of the Gelande-Strasse (GS) motorcycle in 2010, it decided to team up with Simon Pavey and the BMW Off Road Skills School to host the BMW Motorrad GS Trophy UK Qualifier. There will be three amateur British riders selected following this challenge, who will represent the UK at the International GS Trophy Finals in November 2010.

The GS Trophy UK, taking place on July 31 – August 1, 2010 at BMW Off Road Skills base in South Wales, is open to all owners of BMW … (read more)

Buyers of mainstream cars couldn’t care less about the advanced production details of their vehicles as long as the wheels keep spinning, but when it comes to supercars, like Aston Martins, some users would even like to know what medical school the surgeon that stitched the leather upholstery went to.

We’d like to tell you that (actually, we’re more interested in Alcantara operations) but, unfortunately, we can’t right now, as we’re still gathering information. However, we do know that the to… (read more)

The long acclaimed electric vehicle to be built for the Chinese market by local manufacturer BYD will no longer hit the market by mid-2010, after the carmaker / battery manufacturer plans to the a more cautios approach to the new market segment.

According to Bloomberg, the e6 electric car will not enter mass production, but will only be built in a limited run of 100 units, to be used as taxis in the city of Shenzhen. Depending on how they perform and the success they have, the EV will, or wi… (read more)

Although Ferrari walked away from the Bahrain Grand Prix with a 1-2 finish, the Scuderia is well aware of the fact that they are still behind Red Bull Renault in the championship. After all, hadn’t it been for Vettel’s engine problems, the Maranello based team would have probably settled for 2nd and 3rd overall.

Consequently, a lot of work needs to be done back at Maranello in order to make sure the two Ferrari F10s will walk the walk in 2010. According to the Italian media, it seems the Ital… (read more)

Now that it has a new owner, Saab is trying to regain its market share. As changes are being made, Saab Cars North America has just announced that its headquarters will reside in Royal Oak, Michigan. This will create about 2,000 jobs, as the company will invest $2.4 million to enhance its U.S. Sales and Marketing operations.

"Saab Cars North America appreciates the assistance and cooperation of the City of Royal Oak and the Governor’s office in helping make the company’s decision a reali… (read more)

Game developer EA Games announced today the release of the Exotic Racing Series pack for the latest installment of the Need for Speed series, Shift. To be released on March 18, the pack will give gamers access to seven new cars: Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, BMW M1 Procar, GUMPERT apollo, Honda NSX, McLaren MP4-12C, Maserati GranTurismo and Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren Stirling Moss.

To put the new cars through their paces, 50 new events have been added, including time challenges, endurance and s… (read more)

After announcing it will recall more that 21,000 units of the 2005 Odyssey Touring minivans last month due to a problem concerning the power operated rear liftgate, Honda has now announced more vehicle recalls in the time ahead.

The American division of Honda will recall about 344,000 Odyssey and 68,000 Element vehicles from the 2007-2008 model years in the U.S. to modify the Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) modulator.

The decision was made after Honda received several customer complaints … (read more)

Lexus has proudly announced that Joe Bacal and his Cancer Treatment Centers of America Lexus LX 570 took its second Stock Full class victory in as many races on Sunday at the 24th Annual MasterCraft Safety Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 in Mexico. Despite drawing the last starting place in the Stock Full class, Bacal managed to catch the 2009 class champion Justin Matney early in the race.

Justin and I had a great back-and-forth run for several miles before I took over at about mile 55, but I di… (read more)

With their season opening Bahrain race being affected by an engine failure, a lot of frustration emerged from the Red Bull Racing garage in the last couple of days. And not without reason, we might add. From the very first race of the season, a spark plug failed on the Renault powerplant that is fitted on the RB6 and caused dominant leader Sebastian Vettel to drop from 1st to 4th in a matter of laps.

The worst part about it is the fact that this is old news for Red Bull, as they had tackled … (read more)