Categories
Formula 1

Marussia: Car not to blame for de Villota crash

Maria de Villota

The Marussia F1 Team has completed its investigation into the cause of the Maria de Villota accident and has ruled out a technical fault with its car. The 32-year-old Spaniard continues to recover after losing her right eye as a result of her injuries.

The team’s official statement begins: “The accident occurred on 3 July during a straight-line test, at which Maria was making her testing debut for the Team and driving an F1 car for the fourth time in her career.”

Immediately following the accident, which took place a few days before the British Grand Prix, Marussia conducted an internal investigation to search for reasons that may have caused the MRo1 de Villota was driving to lunge forward into a stationary team truck. “Having carefully examined all the data and supplementary information available at that time, the Team were satisfied that there were no such car-related issues and cleared its chassis for race weekend participation,” Marussia’s statement added.

Following the race at Silverstone, Marussia commissioned an external investigation into the accident and shared their findings with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Team Principal, John Booth, explains: “We are satisfied that the findings of our internal investigation exclude the car as a factor in the accident. We have shared and discussed our findings with the HSE for their consideration as part of their ongoing investigation.

“This has been a necessarily thorough process in order to understand the cause of the accident. We have now concluded our investigatory work and can again focus on the priority, which continues to be Maria’s wellbeing.

“In that regard, we continue to support Maria and the de Villota family in any way we can.”

[Source: Marussia F1 Team]

Categories
Lotus

Lotus says, “Forget Paris!”

Lotus Elite

A couple of years ago Lotus surprised the motoring world when it ambushed the Paris Motor Show with ambitious plans for six new models: the Elan, Elise, Elite (pictured), Espirt, Eterne and finally the seemingly obligatory City Car concept. It really was quite something. Yet, now, in 2012, Lotus won’t even bother turning up to Paris when the bright lights are switched on in September, according to Car and Driver.

Since the glitz and glam of the 2010 bonanza celebrity CEO Dany Bahar has landed himself in something of a pickle, which ultimately turned out to be a dole queue. And Lotus continues to deny reports it is struggling following the buyout of parent company Proton by DRB-Hicom.

Those fearing the end of Lotus can take heart from their recent showing at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where their history and tradition was proudly on display, and see that all is not lost.

We trust their absence from Paris is merely to allow them to get their house in order, reshape Bahar’s world domination plans into something more palatable and that we will soon see Lotus back on the road promoting their hopefully ambitious, but realistic wares.

[Source: Car and Driver]

Categories
Subaru

Subaru BRZ online sales stumble into top gear

Subaru BRZ

Midday today was the deadline for Subaru’s exclusive online sales of the BRZ sports coupé to commence. Only trouble was, like the real world, the extreme demand for the car throttled supply, or in this case the Subaru website.

For our own purposes we wanted to experiment with the online purchasing arrangement but gave up after about 45 minutes of getting error messages of various kinds. I fired off an email to Subaru Australia spokesman David Rowley for comment and then went to look at the BRZ the old fashioned way, at the local dealer (Capital Subaru, Fyshwick).

Happily for Subaru, I was greeted by a friendly sales assistant only too happy to show me the WR Blue BRZ they had on display. When I mentioned the online dramas the sales assistant confirmed with me that two orders just came through for their dealership.

On return to the office David Rowley had replied, saying: “We experienced a massive spike in the volume of traffic—looks to be working fine at our end now.” That was about 1:15pm eastern time.

A bit later Rowley returned with a quick update informing they had sold 50 BRZs in the first 90 minutes of sales going live. “Went ‘live’ at around 12:45 with first customer starting the process at 12:50 and completed transaction at 1:09,” he confirmed.

Those numbers represent about one quarter of Subaru’s initial allocation.

For the record we’re still finding the website buggy on our Firefox/Mac OS combination and unable to process an order, but as we’re not seriously in the market for a BRZ at this point in time we can let it slide. If you want to try your luck CLICK HERE.

It’s clear that anyone seriously in the market for a Toybaru is going to have to be patient and accept that others will get their car before them and that good things come to those who wait.

Despite the troublesome start we do think this online approach has merit for Subaru’s self-confessed limited supply. The 86–BRZ concept is one we applaud and we wish both Subaru and Toyota well in their efforts to satisfy their customers.

UPDATE: Subaru has confirmed their 2012 BRZ allocation sold out before 4pm this afternoon. You can read their full statement after the break.

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Categories
Subaru

MY13 Subaru BRZ brochure ready for download

Donwload a copy of the Subaru BRZ brochure today

Over the weekend Subaru Australia has added the MY13 BRZ to its library of online brochures ahead of today’s official launch. Why not download your own copy now.

Remember, online sales of the BRZ start at 12 noon today and we reckon you’ll need to get in quick! So grab the brochure and read over Subaru’s full press release; forewarned is forearmed!

Categories
BMW

BMW 6 Series Gran Coup̩ РAustralian pricing

BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe

We’ve never really been fans of recent BMW 6 Series models, but this we like. It’s the 6 Series Gran Coupé and it’s just landed on Australian shores. Locally it’s only available as a 640i and if we had the $184,800 BMW is asking for this sleek four-door we reckon we’d be keen to make a swap.

Proving the breadth of talent available from BMW’s modern engines, the 640i Gran Coupé is powered by the same 3.0 litre TwinPower Turbo pushing the M135i into the hearts and minds of the world’s motoring media. That means there’s 235kW/450Nm to play with and in this chassis it will send you to 100km/h in 5.4 seconds.

Standard Adaptive LED headlamps, featuring LED ‘corona rings’ will let you know the Gran Coupé is coming and a full colour head up display will help you get where you’re going.

They’re just a couple of the standard features found inside the 5m long four-door coupé. For the full details check out the press release below from BMW Australia, or download the PDFs at the end of the article for future reference.

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Categories
BMW

BMW’s M135i is much better than it looks

BMW M135i

If you only read the spec sheet of the BMW M135i there’s a fair chance you’d want one. A hot hatch featuring an N55 turbocharged straight-six, sending 235kW/450Nm directly to the rear wheels, is a compelling package. Indeed, with a new slick 8-speed auto you can see off 100km/h in just 4.9 seconds. But there’s a catch. Of course, there’s a catch.

The elephant in the room with the M135i is the way it looks. Being polite, it’s just bloody ugly. To be fair, BMW has slightly improved the troublesome front end with a new styling package compared to the regular F20 1 Series.

But a question only you can answer: if the M135i was head and shoulders the best car in its class, could you do it? Because, as it turns out, there’s a fair chance the M135i is the best car in its class. Here’s what the early reviews are saying:

Autocar (Richard Bremner): “While some may desire the more uncompromising character of the 1M Coupé, the fact is that this M135i’s ride is less maskingly firm, its steering more delicate and its character easier to live with. And it’s also a whole lot cheaper, being almost £10k less.”

Car (Chris Chilton): “It might not look as sexy as a Scirroco, or feel quite so single-minded as a Megane RS, but the BMW is faster, better built and just feels more special than any of them. We can’t think of a more desirable, more exciting top-drawer hot hatch on the planet than this M135i.”

Evo (David Vivian): “The best thing about the M135i, though, is the grin it puts on your face on a twisty road… But I can’t help thinking the real achievement is the focus on something I’d feared the M people had lost sight of: the bloke behind the wheel. Three hearty cheers for that.”

So when can you get your hands on one? BMW Australia is bringing the M135i here in a five-door layout only and hope to have it in showrooms before the end of the year. And we hear BMW is hoping to have M135i on sale with a list price of around $68,900. Assuming it’s relatively well equipped, and doesn’t require too many ticks on BMW’s expensive options list, that pricing is quite good.

So, we ask again, could you do it? We’ve got a couple of videos for you after the break that may or may not seal the deal.

Continue reading “BMW’s M135i is much better than it looks”
Categories
Subaru

Subaru BRZ photo gallery

Subaru BRZ

As Australia readies itself for the official launch of the Subaru BRZ we thought we’d raid Subaru’s media portals for pictorial content and see what we could come up with. The result is a gallery of some 70 images, all available as wallpaper-friendly 2000px super images.

There’s details from all angles and also a suite of photos showing all seven colours: WR Blue Mica (exclusive to Subaru), Galaxy Blue Silica, Lightning Red, Crystal Black Silica, Dark Gray Metallic, Sterling Silver Metallic and Satin White Pearl.

If you’re keen on buying yourself a BRZ when tomorrow’s online sales commence, we hope these pictures are of some assistance to you!

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Categories
Subaru

Statement from Subaru Australia regarding exclusive online sales of BRZ

Subaru BRZ

Nick Senior, Managing Director, Subaru Australia explains the reasons behind the online only sales approach for the BRZ: “We knew that we wouldn’t have sufficient BRZs to supply our entire network immediately following the launch.

“The online approach allows us to place demonstrator BRZs with selected dealerships, from which customers can arrange test drives via subaru.com.au and also select their preferred delivering dealer.

“Where required, there is an online option to arrange a trade-in valuation and there is also a handy finance calculator.”

The online order book opens at 12 noon (AEST) on Monday 16 July.

This is a novel approach from Subaru and there may be some teething problems from a logistics point of view, especially regarding trade-ins. However, there’s probably also good reason to have national headquarters controlling the ordering during what is sure to be unprecedented demand.

You can read the full statement from Subaru Australia after the break.

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Categories
Subaru

Subaru BRZ – Australian pricing & specs

Subaru BRZ

Subaru Australia has ended the speculation and gone early with full pricing and specification details for its BRZ sport coupé. There is a lot of information provided too, and rather than try and summarise it here for you we’re going to let you rip right into it yourself.

Before we do, as we revealed on Wednesday, the BRZ will be offered in one base specifcation and is priced as follows:

  • BRZ 6-speed manual – $37,150
  • BRZ 6-speed auto – $39,730

Those prices are described as “National Driveaway”, see below for further explanation. For that you get your hands on one of the world’s most sought after coupés and three years of servicing included.

One thing is clear, the BRZ is priced well against the Toyota 86, which is offered locally in two model specifications. Let the Toybaru battle begin!

Due to limited availability for the remainder of this year, the BRZ will be available for sale online only (with exception to those who have already paid deposits, we expect). You’ll need to point your web browsers to the Subaru website on Monday 16 July at 12 noon to join the queue.

We’ll have more regarding the online sales later, for now get ready to read more about the BRZ than you could ever hope to imagine!

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Categories
Toyota

VIDEO: The definitive Toyota 86 review

Toyota GT 86 review by Nino Karotta

Nino Karotta, you may not know the name, but after watching his review of the Toyota 86 we reckon you’ll remember it. Actually, we got a glimpse of Karotta’s talents last year when he reviewed the new BMW M5.

This time the review is in English, and for a guy who does not have English as his native tongue, Karotta has a wonderful ability to describe what’s happening behind the wheel.

Then there’s the review itself. It has all the ingredients you could want, starting in Spain and taking in a highly desirable trans-European route on some of the continent’s most scenic and inspiring roads, before finally arriving Nino’s home in Hungary. At which point we are treated to some very tasty track action. There’s a great soundtrack throughout as well, which has been just as expertly edited as the pictures.

We’re not going to call this the best car review we’ve ever seen, but we can’t imagine you’ll watch a finer review of the Toybaru than this. Enjoy!

[Thanks to Phil for the tip]

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Categories
Formula 1 Motorsports Video WRC

VIDEO: Racing in slow motion IV

Racing in slow motion IV

If you’ve spent any time trawling YouTube watching motorsport videos from around the globe there’s a fair chance you’ll have come across the work of Mattzel89. If you haven’t, or even if you have, here is 16 minutes of superb editing and motor racing highlights.

There’s something for fans of all top line motorsports. The selection of music is perfectly matched and the sequences have a really nice rhythm, right down to the poignant ending.

If nothing else it’s a great way to start your weekend.

Continue reading “VIDEO: Racing in slow motion IV”
Categories
Mazda

2013 Mazda MX-5 facelift revealed

2013 Mazda MX-5 (NC3)

Mazda Europe has announced they will have the upgraded MX-5 on sale in the coming months and given us a good preview of the latest (NC3) facelift at the same time.

There’s not a lot of detail go on at this stage and only three photos. Apparently the restyled front is “more aggressive-looking and contributes to optimal aerodynamic performance.”

Elsewhere the throttle response on models with a manual transmission has been improved, so too has the braking feel on corner entry. All part of Mazda’s Jinba Ittai “one-with-the-car” philosophy.

Pedestrians will appreciate the active bonnet and shapely front bumper treatment, both designed to make car–pedestrian accidents more comfortable experience for the pedestrians.

There’s no word from Mazda Australia on the new facelift just yet, but with the NC3 already rolling down the production line we expect it won’t be too long before we seeing them on our roads.

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