Author: autoevolution

German motorcycle manufacturer BMW is to limit all new production S 1000 RR machines to 9,000 rpm for the first 600 miles (1,000km) following excessive wear found by race team mechanics on undisclosed engine components. The company announced it has issued a second software patch for the German superbike after two bikes getting a software update to introduce a rev limit suffered instrument failure.

The patch has been developed as a result of concerns that some customers, mostly race teams usin… (read more)

Michael Jordan Motorsports (MJM) recently announced it is the 25th anniversary of the Air Jordan franchise with the introduction of its new 2010 Silver Edition livery. In addition, with the team about to begin its 2010 National Guard AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike Championship run, it is also offering a collection of limited edition 2009 season prints.

The company also revealed that team will wear uniforms and special footwear inspired by the silver anniversary of the Air Jordan f… (read more)

Former World Rally champion Petter Solberg managed a sensational first day of action in Rally Mexico on Friday and topped the timing reports at the end of Day 1, holding a 15-second advantage over his nearest rival Citroen Junior’s Sebastien Ogier.

The Norwegian driver made the most of his great start position in Day 1 – 8th overall – and, while the front-runners were confronted with tough-to-handle watersplashes and difficult road conditions all day, he took his Citroen C4 WRC to 5 out of 9 … (read more)

Kimi Raikkonen will again walk away from a WRC event without making the scoreboard, after officially withdrawing from Rally Mexico on Friday. The Finnish driver managed some impressive stage times in the first day of the North American rally, despite the electrical problems he had to tackle during Stage 2.

After losing more than half an hour because of the aforementioned troubles, the Citroen Junior Team racer returned to the leading pack with a few impressive Top 8 stage times in the next ou… (read more)

Force India Mercedes’ business affairs will no longer be coordinated by Ian Phillips, as the Brit parted ways with the Silverstone based outfit late on Friday, according to an official press release from Force India.

The release did not state the reason why Phillips left – or was let go of – the team only one week before the season opening round of Bahrain Grand Prix. However, if one remembers correctly what happened within the Vijay Mallya-controlled team about 6 months ago, it all becomes a… (read more)

The Japanese premium car maker has been selling hybrid vehicles for 5 years now and thanks to its sales of over 190,000 units launched a new campaign to emphasize the fact that hybrids are no longer a concept of future cars, but cars that have been on the road since 2004.

Based on the aforementioned sales figure, Lexus took into account an average of 10K miles/year and came up with the 5.5 billion miles mark for its new campaign. With this new campaign, Lexus has integrated for the first time… (read more)

With the occasion of the 82nd Annual Academy Awards, which will premiere Sunday, March 7, 2010, Mercedes-Benz USA prepared a special environmentally themed ad for its S400 Hybrid model.

"For decades we’ve been experimenting with alternative powerplant vehicles – from the days we invented the diesel more than 70 years ago – but for the first time it seems like the market is ready for these vehicles and this campaign showcases our portfolio and our direction," said Stephen Cannon, vic… (read more)

Volvo expects to see a sales growth on the Chinese market after the company will be acquired by Geely, as Dow Jones reports.

Currently, Volvo’s Swedish Torslanda plant is working at a reduced capacity due to the sluggish demand, so the news can only bring joy to the Swedish company’s employees.

"It will be hugely beneficial to have a Chinese partner or owner, as access to the Chinese market has got to be bigger than the 30,000 (vehicles) that we will sell there this year," Steph… (read more)

Gowrings Mobility, a UK company that converts vehicles for wheelchair accessibility, has introduced its newest product, the high-accessibility Vauxhall Movano.

The vehicle joins the Renault Master, to create a wider offer for the minibus market and has been designed to suit the needs of wheelchair passengers. The short wheelbase Vauxhall Movano offers multiple seating configurations and can accommodate up to three wheelchair passengers. In this seating scheme, the vehicle can also provide spa… (read more)

Though the new Opel Astra has just been launched in December 2009, it seems that the German car is a hit, as more than 100,000 orders have been placed throughout Europe. Opel anticipated 180,000 orders of the new Astra for its first full year of sales.

Opel says that already the new compact car has exceeded projections by 10 percent. In Germany alone, registrations for the first two months of 2010 for the new Astra rose by 38 percent compared with the same period last year. With this, the Ast… (read more)

After the end of February brought us the first batch of photos showing the BMW Z4 GT3 on the track, while performing tests, the first photos showing the racer in a studio, wearing GT3 regulation make-up and all, were released today.

The GT version of the Z4 comes packing a 4.0l V8 engine usually found on the M3, which allows it to field a 480 bhp troop. All the horses will be controlled via a six-speed sequential gearbox. The enhancements also include Type-408 racing ECU and a Power400 Cont… (read more)

The fact that Buell was ‘killed’ by Harley-Davidson in late 2009 is no news for the brand’s fans. However, the sportbike company was not only revived by Erik Buell, but members of the defunct team are still able to show their skills with another American motorcycle company.

So is the case with former Buell Senior Director of Analysis, Test and Engineering Process Abe Askenazi, who recently joined Zero Motorcycles taking over Vice President of Engineering position.

And since Askenazi … (read more)

Back in 2005, Volkswagen launched an energy-saving program based on reorganizing its office equipment infrastructure, that eventually reached full completion last year. Earlier this week, at the CeBIT digital industry tradeshow, the company announced that it has managed to save approximately 9.26 million kilowatt hours of energy per year through the implementation of the program.

This can be translated into a 86 percent reduction in energy consumption, as compared to 2005’s figures. Just to … (read more)

American automotive supplier Lear announced today plans to hire 285 people and invest more than $2.2 million to upgrade its Hammond, Indiana facility, in the light of the recently signed contract with Ford.

Lear will supply Ford with the seats for the new Explorer, which will enter production in the fourth quarter of the month. Currently, Lear employs over 150 people at the facility. The new position are needed in production, technical and administrative departments.

"This is good fo… (read more)

Autoliv, one of the world’s biggest automotive safety system manufacturer, has just announced the acquisition of Visteon’s radar system business. Autoliv’s announcement follows the purchase of the leading automotive radar business from Tyco Electronics. With this transaction, Autoliv got physical assets, intellectual property, order book and engineers with expertise in radar-based Driver Assistance and Active Safety functions.

While this acquisition is small, with less than $5 million in sale… (read more)

The American division of Honda recently posted a safety recall notice on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) official site, concerning the 2005 Honda Odyssey Touring minivans equipped with a power operated rear liftgate. According to this notice, the recall campaign will involve 21,776 vehicles.

The report states the tailgate strut could fail, resulting in the power liftgate closing unexpectedly, which, as you might have guessed, may lead to injuries if a person happen… (read more)

Despite all the media frenzy stirred across the world by the quality issues in Toyota and Lexus vehicles, the Prius hybrid remain the best selling car in Toyota’s home market, after the carmaker announced it sold 27,000 hybrids in February. This marks the tenth consecutive month when the Prius leads the pack of cars sold in Japan.

"The reaction within Japan has been very calm," Japan Automobile Dealers Association spokesman Kentaro Nakata was quoted as saying by DetNews. Cancellatio… (read more)

Citroen is expanding the marketing campaign for the recently-introduced DS3 model, this time targeting Apple fans: the carmaker has released a car-configuring iPhone (and iPod Touch) application.
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The software allows users to configure their own Citroen DS3 – as the car is one of the most customizable vehicles on the market, they will have plenty to play with. The Citroen DS3 app uses and ‘EGO configurator, a features that guides users through a bespoke survey in order to determine t… (read more)

The motorcycle insurance company is not only looking for this year’s Bennetts Babe, but is also giving a chance to all mortals to have a word to say in this ‘hot’ competition. Two riders will get to be on the judging panel in Bennetts’ search for a model lineup for its 2010 marketing campaigns.

Not only the two lucky winners will get to feast their eyes on all the girls that register their most persuasive pictures, but they will also be responsible for their future career in modeling.
… (read more)

The French manufacturer Peugeot brought at the 2010 Geneva Auto Show the so-called 5 by Peugeot concept, a hybrid model that is said to integrate the company’s new design philosophy. The car is powered by a 2.0-liter HDi FAP163 bhp diesel engine, mounted at the front of the vehicle, plus an electric motor installed at the rear that provides an extra 37 bhp. Overall, the powertrain generates 200 bhp, with emissions going as down as 99 grams of CO2 per km.

Additionally, the car comes fitted wit… (read more)