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Wednesday, May 26, 2010
RPMGO.com (former Auto Unleashed) |
- Video: Lamborghini Gallardo crashes and burns in Super Trofeo race
- IBM patents way to control cars, stop engines at traffic lights
- Video: Fourth movie in Audi’s ‘The Next Big Thing’ series appears
- Formula 1 returns to the USA in 2012 at special track in Austin, Texas
- Video: Red Bull Formula 1 car tears up tropical beach
- Toyota Prius Alpha MPV set to arrive in early 2011
- Volkswagen officially acquires 90% of Italdesign Giugiaro
- Video: New Kia Soul ad makes with the gangster hamsters
- Future Audi A2 to be electric only, might use A1 e-tron powertrain
- 2011 Ford Explorer might be offered as pursuit-rated SUV to police forces
| Video: Lamborghini Gallardo crashes and burns in Super Trofeo race Posted: 26 May 2010 03:12 AM PDT  Lamborghini initially started its Gallardo Super Trofeo racing series to hype up even more its entry-level supercar. Sadly, it seems that the Brno race, counting for stage four of the one-make series, got a lot of publicity for all the wrong reasons. Italian driver Giorgio Bartocci went on the gravel for an unknown reason and when he re-entered the actual track, he lost control of the powerful Lamborghini Gallardo race car. The vehicle slammed into the pit wall at high speed and promptly burst into flames right on the track. While the crash is downright terrifying, the reaction of the fire crew is a bit puzzling to say the least. The safety crew struggled to control the fire with small extinguishers and didn’t really attempt to save Bartocci from the blaze immediately. Thankfully, the Italian driver is being taken care of at the hospital. He sustained some major injuries but doctors are confident he will be able to make it through the recovery process. Hit the jump to watch a special report from a Czech TV station about the incident. Source: AxisofOversteer (Thanks for the tip, Gideon!) Post published on Rpmgo.com Related posts:
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| IBM patents way to control cars, stop engines at traffic lights Posted: 26 May 2010 02:48 AM PDT  Driving a car is becoming less and less about the actual human behind the wheel but more about the technologies that can control the car for you. Normally we applaud new systems that make it easier to wrangle cars, but a new patent from IBM might be taking things a bit too much into the sci-fi Skynet direction. The company has just filed a patent in which it describes a new type of system that can control the engine of a car at a stop light. More specifically, this would shut off the engine of a cars waiting at a traffic light or at a railroad crossing, for example, in order to save fuel. The actual patents description is as follows:
Now we don’t know about you, but this sounds a bit too Orwellian for our tastes. We love Stop-Start systems but only because we can control them. If we don’t want to shut off our engine at a stop light (for whatever reason), then we can turn them off, this new IBM system however, doesn’t really sound like it will allow us ‘pesky humans’ to interfere. What do you think? Would you condone such a system if it were developed? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment. Until then, ready your tin foil hats and stick it to Big Brother. Source: US Patent Office via io9 Post published on Rpmgo.com Related posts:
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| Video: Fourth movie in Audi’s ‘The Next Big Thing’ series appears Posted: 26 May 2010 02:21 AM PDT  Audi has just revealed the fourth movie in its ‘The Next Big Thing‘ series where it promotes the new A1 city car through pop singer Justin Timberlake and lovely actress Dania Ramirez. You can check out the first, the second and the third movies (out of a total of six) before this one. The last video left the protagonists in a cliffhanger situation, but now we’re treated to an interesting chase between the A1 and a Ford Crown Victoria. Check out the fourth movie after the jump. Post published on Rpmgo.com Related posts:
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| Formula 1 returns to the USA in 2012 at special track in Austin, Texas Posted: 26 May 2010 02:05 AM PDT  Since 2008, when the last Formula 1 US Grad Prix was held in Indiana, rumors consistently appeared about the return of the famous motorsport competition to America. Now, after much speculation about the venue, it has been officially announced that Formula 1 will be returning to the USA in 2012. Where will the race be held? Surprisingly at a purpose-built track in Austin, Texas. The venue has yet to be built, but with the ink still drying on the contract that mandates the F1 US GP to be held there between 2012 and 2021, you can guess that the work has been pushed into overdrive. We’re a bit surprised of the location, but if this means the glorious F1 cars will once again be able to show their stuff in the USA, we’re all for it. Source: Formula 1 Post published on Rpmgo.com Related posts:
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| Video: Red Bull Formula 1 car tears up tropical beach Posted: 26 May 2010 01:45 AM PDT  Red Bull Racing certainly brought some more excitement to Formula 1 since it entered the popular motorsport competition. Now, the team took things to a whole new by unleashing Torro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari on a beautiful Dominican Republic beach in an actual Formula 1 race car. Those who believed that race cars were prone to breaking in nothing but the most perfect conditions were certainly proven wrong, as it braved even the sand and the water, not to mention Alguersuari’s antics. Hit the jump and check out this really impressive video with the Red Bull F1 show car reaching 180 km/h (112 mph) on sand. Source: Red Bull Post published on Rpmgo.com Related posts:
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| Toyota Prius Alpha MPV set to arrive in early 2011 Posted: 26 May 2010 01:17 AM PDT  A few weeks ago, we heard a pretty interesting rumor about Toyota’s future plans with its hybrid endeavors. It revealed that the long awaited expansion of the Prius lineup will be made with a full pledged seven-seat MPV. Now, according to MotorTrend, we will see this new hybrid MPV, presumably called the Alpha, as early as spring 2011. According to their sources, the Toyota Alpha will get a lithium-ion battery pack, a first for the hybrid models produced by the Japanese company. Just so it has all its bases covered, Toyota is also thinking of a smaller, five-seat compact MPV. This version would be the cheaper one, as it will still use the nickel metal hydride battery pack as the current Prius hybrid hatchback. Toyota knows that more hybrid models will guarantee its success, especially in markets like Japan or USA, so these models will arrive sooner or later. Now it’s time to bet on what motor show (Tokyo or LA, probably), will host the official announcement of these family-friendly hybrids. Source: MotorTrend Post published on Rpmgo.com Related posts:
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| Volkswagen officially acquires 90% of Italdesign Giugiaro Posted: 26 May 2010 12:50 AM PDT  A short time ago, rumors were flying around concerning Volkswagen next major takeover, targeted at Italian design bureau Italdesign Giugiaro. Now, the deal has officially gone through. Volkswagen now owns 90% of the Giugiaro design house while the remaining 10% is kept inside the Giugiaro family, currently represented by Giorgetto Giugiaro and his son, Fabrizio. Italdesign, for those who don’t know, was one of the biggest privately-owned design and engineering houses in the world, with over 800 workers. That team will be solidified by other key members from Volkswagen’s own design department and future projects for the company include the Volkswagen Up! lineup. Is this partnership for the best? Don’t be shy and make your voice heard in the comment section below. Source: Volkswagen Post published on Rpmgo.com Related posts:
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| Video: New Kia Soul ad makes with the gangster hamsters Posted: 26 May 2010 12:19 AM PDT  Kia is aiming to capitalize on the fact that its Hamster ad for the Soul compact MPV model became the most memorable one last year and is back with another commercial featuring the same rodents. Now, the ad showcases the urban nature of the Soul and of the hamsters. How does it do that? By making the tiny rodents rap about the Soul and other ‘cars’. While some may deem it as kitsch, we think the new Kia Soul ad is pretty funky. What do you think? Hit the jump to check it out and then share your thoughts with us. Post published on Rpmgo.com Related posts:
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| Future Audi A2 to be electric only, might use A1 e-tron powertrain Posted: 26 May 2010 12:10 AM PDT  Once again, the next generation Audi A2 is at the center of some heated speculations. After rumors that we’ll be seeing the next iteration of the city car around 2012, now its possible electric drivetrain is ‘powering’ the rumor mill. According to the blokes over at Autocar, the next gen A2 will only be marketed as an electric car, in order to rival BMW’s future Megacity EV. We’ve heard this before, but this time it is deemed as a certainty that no conventional engines will be made available, as to not hurt the sales of the A1. While rumors deemed a regular electric powertrain, now some voices are hinting that the extended-range electric vehicle technology we saw on the A1 e-tron concept in Geneva will be used for the next A2. As you may remember, it used a 61 HP motor which drew power from a lithium-ion battery pack. If the power reserve was depleted, a small capacity rotary engine would charge it up. Frankly, we can’t really say for sure what’s going on behind closed doors in Ingolstadt, so we should just wait for the next big motors shows and find out. Until then, speculation will no doubt run rampant. Source: Autocar Post published on Rpmgo.com Related posts:
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| 2011 Ford Explorer might be offered as pursuit-rated SUV to police forces Posted: 25 May 2010 11:56 PM PDT  Ford knows there’s good money to be made from offering police vehicles to departments across the USA as it has a 70% stake in this segment thanks to the tried and true Crown Victoria. But the old model will soon be replaced with a new Taurus-based Police Interceptor, as we saw a few months ago. At that time, the Blue Oval also hinted that another model would also be made available to police fleets across the USA. Many voices hinted to the Flex crossover, but it now seems that the utility-focused model will be none other than the upcoming 2011 Explorer SUV. The new, full-pledged police SUV, will be made available around the end of 2011, but a concrete release hasn’t been scheduled. The Detroit News also hints that this larger model will get all-wheel drive and be pursuit-rated, in order to one-up the GM’s current police SUV offer, the Chevrolet Tahoe, which features just two-wheel drive in its pursuit-rated version. Either way, it seems Ford is keen to continue serving the police forces of America. Do you think the Taurus Interceptor and the Explorer SUV will make for great law enforcement vehicles? Share your thoughts below. Source: Detroit News Post published on Rpmgo.com Related posts:
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