Professional automotive

Don’t get me wrong; I love Astons. They’re beautiful pieces of coach-building, featuring stunning exterior styling, flawless interior refinement, and hypnotic engine notes. In other words, an absolute dream ride for a nice Sunday cruise, but that’s it. Since I’ve been at Motor Trend, every Aston Martin I’ve driven has been great at being an exotic cruiser but always fell short when compared to exotic drivers. But that’s about to change with the introduction of the all-new Aston Martin V12 Vantage.

It took a while, but they finally did it. Aston took its smallest car and stuffed its biggest mill — a 6.0-liter V-12 producing 510 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque — into the engine bay. Aston Martin is claiming a top speed of 190 mph and a 0-60 time of 4.1 seconds for the V12Vantage. The top speed sounds about right, but that 60 time should be better. I tested a V-8 Vantage manual a while back and recorded a time of 4.1 seconds 0-60 and a quarter mile of 12.5 seconds at 115 mph, and that car has only 420 horsepower. I’m guessing the 60 for the V-12-poweredVantage will be somewhere south of 4.0 seconds with the quarter mile disappearing in the low 12-second range.

Aston Martin was kind enough to invite me to a track day at Willow Springs Raceway recently – Big Willow, to be exact. At first I was excited, but the more I thought about it, the more concerned I became. My concern stemmed from knowing Astons Martins are not very good track cars, because they tend to get hot and lose their brakes quickly.

As with most, if not all, track days, no matter how much driving experience you have or think you have, the first laps you turn will either be as a passenger with an instructor, or with the instructor riding as passenger while talking you through the course. I got the latter, but after one lap, the instructor hopped out and I was set loose on Big Willow.

Dodge’s midsize Avenger doesn’t get the same amount of recognition as its larger Charger brother, and in some respects has become a forgotten car in the Dodge stable. But the Mopar boys are hoping to change that with an updated 2011 Dodge Avenger.

Following in the footsteps of the its recently revealed Chrysler 200 sibling, the 2011 Avenger is a stopgap to freshen things up until an all-new, Fiat-based model arrives in a few years’ time.

You’ll notice the drab black, gray, and silver Avenger interior of old has left the building. As you step into the cockpit you’re greeted by the colorful gauge cluster and updated steering wheel. Dodge ordered new cloth and leather material for the seats, which are now appointed with more cushioning and retuned base springs. Soft-touch armrests envelop the innards, and 45 new or upgraded sound-dampening treatments have been installed to help quiet the ride.

Continuing the parade of interior changes, the three-spoke steering wheel is fitted with more buttons to control the sound system, cruise control, and more. The vents have been redesigned for aesthetic and functional purposes, and two-tone color schemes may be ordered if desired. Further features include ambient lighting, voice command, a USB port, navigation, Bluetooth, and a hard drive with Gracenote music identification.

With a few simple car repair tips for women, going to the mechanic does not need to be intimidating or stressful. If you know a few things about maintaining and fixing your vehicle, you might even be able to do some of the repairs yourself. Many things that go wrong with a car are minor if you have maintained it properly. Some repairs, however, will need to be done by professionals. With these simplecar repair tips for women, you can decide for yourself if you want to try to fix something at home or if it would be better to take it to a local mechanic. These tips will help ensure that you are following safety precautions and that you are not spending unnecessary money on a mechanic forsomething simple that you can do yourself.
Avoid Major Repairs
Even experienced mechanics who have been working on cars for years will often take their car to a garage if it needs major repair. If something goes wrong or they run into something that they do not know how to fix, it could cause a problem because they have no way of taking the car to the shop once the car has been taken apart. Engine problems could be major, but they could be made worse if you do not know how to properly fix the problem. Only make repairs that you have the ability and knowledge to handle.

With rear drive and a punchy V-8 under the hood, the Pontiac G8 was the first real sport sedan for Pontiac in decades, and we mourned its demise when GM killed off the Excitement Division as part of its post-bankruptcy rationalization. But it appears the G8 will make a comeback — only this time wearing Chevy badges. Three GM sources have confirmed to Motor Trend the Australian-built sedan will re-appear on the U.S. market as a Chevy in the coming year. And it won’t be called Impala. “We have a good name for it,” smiled one of the sources.

Bringing back the G8 (the 2009 Pontiac G8 GXP is pictured) as a Chevy seemed such a no-brainer — all the certification and engineering work required to transform the Holden Commodore into a Pontiac had already been paid for by the Old GM — it’s a surprise it’s taken so long. Part of the reason for the delay, we understand, is that GM wanted to wait for a mid-cycle facelift on the Holden Commodore to give the car a fresher exterior look.

People often describe Ducati motorcycles as two-wheeled Ferraris, and that’s not surprising. Both manufacturers produce fast, stylish, melodious machinery, frequently painted Italian racing red. Given most Italians’ passionate support for the Maranello-based prancing-horse company, the Ducati folks in Borgo Panigale probably accept the comparison as a compliment.

But how much do the products of these two companies really have in common? Cars and motorcycles possess profoundly distinct dynamics and provide widely varying sensations. High speed feels vastly different when you’re reclined comfortably behind a glass windshield instead of in a tight crouch, seeking shelter from the wind.

Still, the Ferrari 458 Italia and Ducati 1198S we’ve chosen for this test share high performance specifications, combiningeverything you need to go fast in a straight line, as well as around a track, in one street-friendly package. As apex models in their respective worlds, the Ferrari and Ducati are equipped and tuned to excel at everything enthusiasts and connoisseurs expect from such pedigreedmachinery.

It’s hard to improve on greatness, so when Stasis Engineering offered us a short drive of its modified Audi R8 Spyder, we were excited and skittish. The last time we debarked from a stock R8 5.2 FSI, we concluded that Audi had improved upon near-perfection. Could Stasis improve the R8 even further, or would its upgrades actually set the car back? We intend to find out.

So now I’m sitting in Stasis’ impeccable show car with Henry Hsu, the company’s director of engineering. When traffic clears, Hsu unhesitatingly double-slaps the R Tronic’s left paddle until a bright “2″ appears on the dash. Revs erupt as the twin oval pipes’ bark turns into a menacing roar. Eaton’s biggest automotive supercharger whines and churns at a maximum 7.5 PSI. Everything blurs. My eyes water. WHOA.

“Your turn,” the engineer says, grinning widely as he checks the car’s digitized vitals.

With 710 supercharged horsepower on tap, this 5.2 FSI Spyder is Stasis’ most powerful 50-state-legal creation, topping the brand’s two factory dealer-installed upgrades. (A milder 552-horsepower Touring Edition is the other.) Tacking on the aptly titled Challenge Extreme Edition badge gives a roots-type TVS 2300 blower with bespoke cooling system, ECU tuning, and a less restrictive, hand-welded 3-inch T-305 stainless steel exhaust. Our tester also sports revised suspension, forged aluminum wheels, Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 tires, and Alcon brakes with braided stainless steel lines and stickier pads.

At a crawl, the blown 5.2-liter V-10 corrals a herd of pent-up thrust — 523 pound-feet of torque support the buffed-out equines, much of them available below 5500 rpm. The TIG-welded exhaust grumbles and pops, but doesn’t have an ear-piercing drone. If a Dodge Viper SRT-10 and Lamborghini Murcielago LP640-4 Super Veloce ever made mechanical love, the result would sound like this. With 185 horsepower and 132 pound-feet over Neckarsulm’s base, this Spyder packs a very poisonous bite.

The NSX lives, at least in a different form. According to one source, Honda never gave up its plans for an NSX successor. Even though the V-10-powered post-NSX concept came along at the wrong time — during the economic meltdown — and had to be cancelled, Honda engineers didn’t completely shelve the project.

They simply applied a more market-friendly (and eco-friendly) sports-car approach to the company’s flagship two-door, giving it the latest hybrid gizmology. Completely different than Toyota’s THS-II hybrid system, the technology slated to power Honda’s new sports coupe “can be driven with either a clutch and an engine only, the engine and motor only, or the motor only,” says our source. It will also offer a manual transmission option.
honda-NSX-successor-rear-three-quarters
It apparently will employ a modified Accord platform, and power will come from either a 2.4-liter 4-cylinder or a 3.5-liter V-6, with the latter considered the sure favorite. Why do we think so? Once again our spies in Japan have uncovered a patent application that specifies a “V6 powertrain developing upwards of 400 horsepower.” That makes sense, especially when you consider what one company staffer told us about Honda’s desire to return to making sports cars. “Honda does not see the CR-Z as a sports car. It’s a sporty coupe and a great first try in the hybrid-sports direction. To be called a sports car, a car needs to have the potential of an NSX or an S2000. That’s what we need to aim for.”

And as expected, the coupe will employ a version of the automaker’s proven SH-AWD system, but Honda will apply NSX concept technology by fitting the rear-drive-based SH-AWD setup that enabled the test mule to lap the Nürburgring in 7 minutes, 37 seconds two years ago.

Using the front-wheel-drive Accord platform as a base for this car will cut R&D costs dramatically. Engineers will swap the front and rear around to create a rear midship AWD package. If the coupe gets the green light for production, expect to see it in showrooms as early as 2014. Still unclear is if the car will continue to be badged as an Acura here in the U.S.