Filed under: Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Bugatti, Chevrolet, Dodge, Mercedes-Benz, Koenigsegg

Fall 2009 was supposed to be the next golden age of the racing game, with the genre's two heavy hitters - Forza Motorsport 3 and Gran Turismo 5 - scheduled for release. While Xbox 360 owners were rewarded with an incredibly good Forza 3, several delays of GT5 wrecked the plans of many a Playstation 3 owner, this writer included.

But since we were hell-bent on a new racing game, the decision was made to take a chance on another new racing game that was receiving some good press: Need for Speed Shift. We've spent the last two months playing Shift on PS3 to keep ourselves busy until GT5 is finally released. Were we disappointed or pleasantly surprised with the dark horse of the racing game pack? Hit the jump to find out.

Continue reading Review: Need For Speed Shift fills gap between Forza 3 and GT5

Review: Need For Speed Shift fills gap between Forza 3 and GT5 originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Today’s photo comes from Ozan.

Be sure to look at all of Ozan’s photos and our other albums. And if you would like to recommend your favorite photo with a GM car or truck in it, put it up on Flickr and tag it with “gmfyi.”

Filed under: Car Buying, Convertible, Coupe, Sedan, Performance, SUV, Wagon, Europe, Crossover, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Luxury

It's been nearly a year since a large number of Europeans have been able to drive home in a brand new Cadillac or Corvette. Up until March of 2009, Dutch-based firm Kroymans Import Europe was employed by General Motors as a third-party to distribute Caddys and Corvettes in nearly half of the 25 European markets (not including the U.K. or Russia). After that company went bankrupt, GM was forced to pull its wares out of these important markets.

In order to rectify that nasty little situation, GM has reportedly been in talks with 30 different dealerships all over Europe with the goal of bringing the Cadillac and Corvette lines back to the market. All variants of the Corvette will be made available, while the Cadillac lineup will consist of the CTS (sedan, coupe and wagon), CTS-V, Escalade and SRX. No details as of yet on what the cars will cost in Europe or when they'll officially be available for purchase.



[Source: Autohaus (translated) via The Truth About Cars]

Report: Cadillac and Corvette to go back on sale in Europe originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Today’s photo comes from HarleyPilot.

Be sure to look at all of HarleyPilot’s photos and our other albums. And if you would like to recommend your favorite photo with a GM car or truck in it, put it up on Flickr and tag it with “gmfyi.”

Filed under: Aftermarket, SEMA Show, Truck, Videos, Chevrolet, Humor, Off-Road

Oh dear. See that big bad truck up above? It's about to jump over some dirt. The landing is not going to go well. How not well? According to our sources you are looking at $350,000 worth of truck. We're not modified truck experts, but we'd be willing to guess that the truck is worth substantially less than $350,000 after said jump. Speaking of jumps, you should make our jump to watch the video and then read the world's quickest technical break down of exactly what went wrong. Tip of the desert flap hat to Brad!

Continue reading Video: Leaping SEMA truck proves the meek and well engineered shall inherit the earth

Video: Leaping SEMA truck proves the meek and well engineered shall inherit the earth originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Aftermarket, SEMA Show, Truck, Videos, Chevrolet, Humor, Off-Road

Oh dear. See that big bad truck up above? It's about to jump over some dirt. The landing is not going to go well. How not well? According to our sources you are looking at $350,000 worth of truck. We're not modified truck experts, but we'd be willing to guess that the truck is worth substantially less than $350,000 after said jump. Speaking of jumps, you should make our jump to watch the video and then read the world's quickest technical break down of exactly what went wrong. Tip of the desert flap hat to Brad!

Continue reading Video: Leaping SEMA truck proves the meek and well engineered shall inherit the earth

Video: Leaping SEMA truck proves the meek and well engineered shall inherit the earth originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Today’s photo comes from GMBlogs.

Be sure to look at all of GMBlogs’ photos and our other albums. And if you would like to recommend your favorite photo with a GM car or truck in it, put it up on Flickr and tag it with “gmfyi.”

Filed under: Convertible, Performance, Plants/Manufacturing, Chevrolet, GM

General Motors and Magna may weren't exactly seeing eye to eye when the Canadian supplier failed in its efforts to purchase Opel from The General, but the two companies are obviously still on speaking terms. Automotive News reports that Magna's Car Top Systems group has won the convertible contract for the Chevrolet Camaro. The General is reportedly expecting the droptop Camaro to account for 20,000 sales annually, matching the Ford Mustang as the top convertible sold in the States.

While Magna is the latest supplier to win the Camaro convertible bid it, isn't the first. Edscha AG originally won the contract, but the abysmal state of the convertible car market in the U.S. contributed to the German supplier filing for insolvency. And when we say the market for convertibles was bad in 2009, we're talking flat-line, bag it and tag it bad. Fewer than 50,000 convertibles were sold during the year, compared with over 200,000 sales only four years ago. GM switched the contract to the far healthier Magna to ensure that production of the upcoming Camaro variant isn't delayed. Magna will reportedly build the Camaro tops at GM's Corvette plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky with materials from Mexico.

It's hard to say if the Camaro will keep enough momentum in the next year to make 20,000 convertibles possible, but we're guessing a droptop version of the Bowtie pony car may well be the right recipe for keeping the Camaro lineup fresh. Now, about that Z28...




[Source: Automotive News - sub. req.]

Report: Chevy Camaro convertible contract goes to Magna, 20,000 units per year expected originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By Pete Savagian
Hybrid Powertrain Systems Engineering Director

Today we announced a $246 million investment and to me it’s more than just another big dollar figure from an automotive company. It’s an investment in people, jobs, knowledge and our future.

The $246 million investment will fund GM’s expansion of in-house electric vehicle development capabilities and make us the first major U.S. automaker to design and manufacture electric motors, which is a core technology for hybrids and electric vehicles.

This investment also allows us to add more jobs and continue expanding electric motor research and development, design and validation capabilities already under way at facilities in Michigan, Indiana and California. As part of a U.S. Department of Energy $105 million grant awarded in August 2009, our White Marsh, Maryland transmission plant alone will create about 200 new jobs.

It’s an investment in our company’s future. This gives us the opportunity to take our expertise in several technologies, like transmissions and controls, and add electric motor technology for an efficient electric drive system. We can’t achieve this by simply purchasing the parts from a supplier; we need to really understand them. The best way to understand and know we have the best is by controlling the design, the manufacturability, the material selection, and the production processes. Now our relationship with suppliers will be more collaborative and allow for faster innovation than ever before.

What does this mean to our customers? These electric motors are engines for hybrid and electric vehicles. They provide power to the wheels. By designing and manufacturing electric motors in-house, we can more efficiently use energy from batteries as they evolve, potentially reducing cost and weight – two significant challenges facing batteries today. The new electric motors will be smaller, more powerful and more energy efficient. Their smaller size will allow us to use them in a variety of vehicles. The first GM electric motors will debut in 2013 in our rear-wheel-drive full-hybrid vehicles.

Did you know that electric motor innovation supported the first wave of automotive growth a century ago with the electric starter? It eliminated the need for a hand crank and revolutionized automotive travel for the customer. We think the electrification of today’s automobiles will be just as revolutionary and just as beneficial to our customers. Makes you wonder where this innovation could take us – keep watching and see.

Filed under: Truck, Government/Legal, Hatchback, Chevrolet, Ford, GM

Government waste takes on a whole new meaning today as a Chevrolet HHR and a flex-fuel Ford F-150 powered by ethanol roll into Washington D.C. for the Auto Show. Granted, a couple of E85-powered vehicles in our Nation's Capitol isn't all that interesting in and of itself, but these have their tanks filled with alcohol fuel derived from government office waste paper and waste cardboard.

The demonstration is masterminded by Novozymes, which has partnered with Maryland-based Fiberight to show off that firm's biofuel enzyme technology. This fuel can reportedly be created using a wide variety of materials, including agricultural residues, municipal waste and so-called energy crops - feedstock grown specifically for biofuel use.

Interestingly, Novozymes' research into the enzyme biofuel technology was also fueled by taxpayer dollars: the first DOE grant totaled $2.2 million and was given in 2002; the second for $12.3 million was given in 2008. Why do we care? Well, it's generally argued that biofuels like ethanol reduce overall carbon emissions and don't require drilling for fossil fuels. Deriving ethanol from corn or other food crops, though, isn't exactly an ideal situation. So, the promise of cheap alcohol fuels from waste is a fine one indeed. Click past the break for the official press release.



[Source: Novazymes, The Detroit Bureau]

Continue reading D.C. Follies: Chevrolet HHR and Ford F-150 fueled by government waste debut in Washington

D.C. Follies: Chevrolet HHR and Ford F-150 fueled by government waste debut in Washington originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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