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Formula 1 News

Update on Jules Bianchi

Jules Bianchi, Marussia F1 Team

In a recent update the family of Jules Bianchi confirmed he remains unconscious but continues to fight. He has been moved from intensive care and has commenced a program of rehabilition therapy.

“It was a significant and very comforting step for us to be able to bring Jules home to France last month, to continue his rehabilitation surrounded by his family and friends. This is very important for Jules and also for us,” Bianchi’s family said in a prepared statement.

“Jules’ neurological status remains unchanged; he is unconscious but able to breathe unaided. Whilst there is no significant information to report, we take a great deal of comfort from the fact that Jules continues to fight, as we knew he would.”

Bianchi was originally relocated from Japan to the Intensive Care Unit of Le Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice (CHU) in November last year and is now receicing treatment at CHU’s rehabilitation centre.

[Source: Reuters]

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Ferrari Lamborghini Tesla Video

Instant torque’s gonna get you

Tesla Model S P85D v Ferrari 458

The Ferrari 458 Italia is a pretty quick car, right. In a straight out drag race there’s not many cars that can beat it. Surely a miserly four-door Tesla Model S can’t do it?

Well, off the line, yes, it can. And by some margin. This is thanks to the Tesla’s near-instant torque and all-wheel drive grip.

And the Tesla’s not just happy hosing Ferraris off the line either. See below for more.

[Thanks to John for the tip]

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Formula 1 News

Happy birthday Michael

Michael Schumacher's F1 records

Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher turns 46 today. We wish him well.

It’s now over a year since his near-fatal accident on the ski slopes of Meribel in France. According to an interview with Reuters given by his manager, Sabine Kehm, late last year Michael still has “long fight” for recovery.

“We need a long time. It’s going to be a long time and a hard fight,” Kehm added. “He is making progress appropriate to the severity of the situation.”

So let’s take a moment to reflect on the extraordinary numbers Michael achieved during his F1 career, as presented on his personal website, while wishing him well in his ongoing recuperation.

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MINI Toyota Video

VIDEO: Episode 8 of Project Binky

Another ep Project Binky ready to blow your mind!

Due to the recent inactivity on AUSmotive it’s clear we’ve been having fun and enjoying the festive season. Thankfully, our good pals Nik and Richard from Bad Obsession Motorsport have been working their arses off to bring you a new episode of Project Binky for your enjoyment.

And it’s another ball-tearering episode too. Yep, a real rip snorter. You’ll be wowed by door details, panel gaps and a downright clever removeable front-end. Remarkable stuff, as always.

Let’s hope the lads find some time to enjoy a well-earned rest.

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Holden Video

“HSV, I salute you”

Chris Harris, with his VB, vegemite and bogan ute

For those about to ute, he salutes you!

Earlier this year Chris Harris took some time off and came to Australia. Turns out he got himself a little bit of play time at the wheel of a 430kW/740Nm HSV GTS Maloo while he was here. All that power being sent to an unladen pair of rear wheels, an empty race track, what do you think happened next?

And Chris, for next time, a male sheep is called a ram. Of course, he would be a wether if his ghoulies had been snipped.

[Thanks to Stu for the tip]

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Honda

The all-new 2015 NSX is coming soon

2015 Honda NSX

Has it been three years already! We first saw the Acura/Honda NSX concept back in 2012 (and a revised version in 2013). With great fanfare we were promised the production model would arrive in 2015. Well, guess what, it’s almost 2015 and that means the production-ready NSX is almost here.

With the four new teaser images Acura has supplied (which we have digitally altered to provide even more of a tease) we can get a glimpse at some of the final bodywork, which has changed during its three year gestation. There’s flutes in the bonnet which will do what exactly?

Presumably those front flutes will provide relief to the electric gubbins at each front wheel. Remember, the NSX will boast a fancy Sport Hybrid SH-AWD system, able to generate positive or negative torque at the front wheels.

The 3.5 litre V6 engine is mid-mounted and there now appears to be quite pronounced Audi R8-like side air intakes to capture and feed air into the induction system.

All will be revealed when the new NSX is launched at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on 12 January (13 January Australian time). You can watch the press conference live at youtube.com/Acura.

More after the break, including a short teaser video.

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Motorsports Video

David Coulthard is the 2014 Champion of Champions

David Coulthard, 2014 Race of Champions

David Coulthard is the Champion of Champions after taking out the singles event at the 2014 Race of Champions held in Barbados on the weekend.

The 43-year-old Scot defeated 20-year-old Pascal Wehrlein, DTM racer and Mercedes F1 reserve driver, in the final. Jamie Whincup was representing Australia, along with Mick Doohan, and made it to the final four. He was knocked out by Coulthard in the semis. Whincup caused an upset when he eliminated defending champion Romain Grosjean in the earlier rounds.

The Nations Cup event was taken out by Tom Kristensen (Denmark) and Petter Solberg (Norway), representing Team Nordic. They defeated Team Scotland (David Coulthard and Susie Wolff) in the final.

This year the cars driven by the all-star cast included an Audi R8 LMS, Ariel Atom Cup, Volkswagen Polo RX (rallycross), Stadium Super Truck, KTM X-Bow and the ROC car.

Selected video highlights can be seen after the break.

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Hyundai WRC

Hayden Paddon keeps his job with Hyundai

2014 WRC Rally Australia

Kiwi driver Hayden Paddon will extend his WRC career with Hyundai Motorsport in 2015 driving a minimum of nine rallies. In 2014 the 27-year-old and co-driver John Kennard competed in six WRC events, with a best result of P6 in Rally Australia.

“I am very excited to continue working with Hyundai Motorsport with an expanded programme, starting with round 2 in Sweden,” Paddon said. “I learnt a lot and built some really good partnerships within the team this year and it was an obvious choice for us to develop more and chase better results in 2015.”

Paddon clearly impressed team boss Michel Nandan during his limited running this season, explaining his feedback to engineers has been very helpful.

“He had a great first WRC season with us, putting in some eye-catching performances and helping us a lot in the development of our team and car,” Nandan said of Paddon. “He gives excellent technical feedback and works very well as part of a close-knit team with the engineers and mechanics.

“He has already proven himself more than capable of rallying with the best drivers in the world and his personal development was evident as he reduced the gap to his more experienced colleagues.”

Australian driver Chris Atkinson drove for Hyundai at Rally Mexico and Rally Australia in 2014 and it’s unclear what role he will play with the team next year.

Spanish ace Dani Sordo is confirmed for at least 10 of the 13 rounds in 2015, so opportunities for Atkinson may be thin on the ground.

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Porsche

Standing out for all the wrong reasons

What a douchebag

We all know that advertisers often like to extend the truth in order to sell product. That’s all well and good, but when you have douchebag trying to put his expensive Finnish luggage in the “boot” of a Porsche 911, well, that’s just plain stupid.

Even better is the tagline: “For those who know that standing out and shouting are two different things.”

[Thanks to Wayne for the tip]

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BMW

Punter shows BMW how to design a car

BMW M135i with M235i front

The front end of the F20 1 Series is awful. The M135i makes a small improvement, but it’s still no match for the much easier on the eye treatment on the M235i.

Which begs the question, why didn’t BMW just get it right the first time? And why have they left it so long to fix up the problem?

Clearly there’s one guy who couldn’t wait any longer and he went and put an M235i front end on his M135i. Regardless of the cost we can’t imagine he would ever regret taking that step. It just looks so much better!

There’s a few more pics after the break, including an ugly duckling before pic.

[Source: BimmerPost]

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Mercedes-Benz Video

“It doesn’t try to be a 911”

Mercedes-Benz AMG GT

Harris at the wheel of the of the new AMG GT on an empty Laguna Seca. Hell yeah!

Filmed back at the car’s original launch and recently posted to his new (and free) YouTube channel we get some technical insight into the car’s construction. We’re presented with the theory on why this car should be good and then…

We get the practice. And, in a nutshell, that’s what makes Chris Harris so good at his job. He takes the time to explain things before putting them in action.

He’s certainly been more animated in other reviews, but if you want to find out if the AMG GT is better than a 911 without having access to either then this is probably as close as you’re going to get.

Continue reading ““It doesn’t try to be a 911””
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Audi

2015 Audi RS3 Sportback revealed

Audi RS3 Sportback

Audi UK has gone first with details of the new RS3 Sportback and it’s very good news too. Powered by the charismatic 2.5 litre inline five cylinder turbo engine the new RS3 pumps out 270kW (367PS) and 465Nm to all four wheels via its quattro all-wheel drive system. That’s a 20kW/15Nm increase over the previous-gen RS3.

Coupled to a 7-speed S tronic transmission the RS3 sprints to 100km/h in only 4.3 seconds. Sub 4.5 second 0–100 times in a family hatchback!

And that’s not the best news, either. No, the best news is, as first reported on AUSmotive back in October 2012, the RS3 will be offered for sale in Australia. Expect it to hit your local Audi dealer in late 2015.

Featuring the expected RS cosmetic enhancements the new RS3 looks great with its aggressive front grille and spoiler. Large oval-shaped exhaust tips set-off the back very nicely and perhaps the only disappointment is the new style 19″ alloy wheels.

For now we only have four images to work with, but no doubt more will be coming from Audi AG very soon. We’ll bring those to you when we can, along with all the detailed press material we can get our hands on.

UPDATE #1: Audi AG press release added below.
UPDATE #2: 13 new pics now available after the break.

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