The Automobile Center

by Noah Joseph on Jan 5th 2009 at 2:59PMRubber factory workers in South Korea haven’t had a very happy holiday season this year, and they can blame it on the negative traits of the trickle-down effect. Because Hyundai/Kia has been hit as hard as any other automaker in this economic crisis, business has been down for the country’s second-largest tire maker, Kumho, as well. Due to the resulting dearth in liquidity, Kumho Tire Co. has just announced that it is unable to pay its workers their annual bonus. At 2.5 million won ($1,883) per worker and 3000 workers waiting for their cash, that’s a lot of money, and Kumho says they don’t have it… and don’t know when they will. (Read the full post about ‘Burned Rubber: Kumho delays holiday bonuses indefinitely’…)

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by Jonathon Ramsey on Jan 5th 2009 at 2:30PM Click above for a high-res gallery of the Audi R8 V10 The Audi R8 claimed a number of world firsts – that is, walking away with magazine awards and journalists’ hearts the world over. The Audi R8 V10 is about to claim a world first in technology: it will be the first car to offer high and low beam LED headlights as standard equipment. (Note: The 2009 Cadillac Escalade Platinum was the first vehicle in the world to offer all-LED headlamps.) You can buy the package as an option on the regular R8, so it’s only fitting that the bigger and more expensive beast gets more tricks.Audi trumpets the inclusion as an energy-saving measure – LEDs use a quarter of the energy of halogen headlights, and that number will only get better as LEDs evolve. (Read the full post about ‘Audi R8 V10 will be all LED, all the time’…)

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by Jonathon Ramsey on Jan 5th 2009 at 8:57AM Click the rendering for high-res images This is the sketch that follows an earlier rendering of the third generation Hyundai Equus, due in 2010. As far as sedans are concerned, it looks like Hyundai is moving toward the Aston Martin school of design — make something everyone loves, and then make it a little different and give it another name. The coming Kia luxury sedan started it, and beneath the cartoonish anger of this Equus sketch there’s a Genesis on a bad batch of nandrolone.Underneath and inside, the car won’t be lacking in either power or pleasures. Pushed by the rear wheels this time, an Equus first, initially it will be offered with the Genesis’ 4.6-liter V8 and Hyundai’s in-house eight-speed automatic transmission. (Read the full post about ‘Next Hyundai Equus is one angry stallion’…)

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by Jeremy Korzeniewski on Jan 5th 2009 at 12:29PM Click above for new high-res renderings of the Splinter Wooden Supercar The world’s greenest supercar project is progressing nicely. The last time we checked in with Joe Harmon and his team of woodsmen craftsmen from North Carolina State University, the all-wooden car’s hand-laid bodywork had been mated with the chassis, which was awaiting installation of the twin-supercharged, 32-valve Cadillac-sourced V8 engine and six-speed rear-mounted transaxle from a modern Chevrolet Corvette. Those 600 ponies will be funneled to the rear wheels, which have center hubs made from pressed and laminated wood, naturally. Even the transverse leaf springs are made from orange osage wood. (Read the full post about ‘Splinter Update: Students making progress on wooden supercar’…)

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The next generation E-Class coupe was caught again. This time at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. Maybe the car is taking the backroads to its premiere at March’s Geneva Motor Show?

This latest shot continues to suggest that this coupe will use the CLK-inspired deleted B-pillar design to achieve a stylish hardtop convertible look. When the production car arrives in 2010, we expect Mercedes to offer a wide variety of V6 and V8 engines, including a 525 hp 6.3-liter V8 for the E63 AMG model.

Tags: sports cars, Audi, car shows, honda

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by Noah Joseph on Jan 4th 2009 at 8:03PMBrent Hajek loves racing cars and corn. The Oklahoma corn farmer is also the proprietor of a race car museum, and has managed to combine his two passions in an effort to set a new land speed record.The idea came out of the record Ford set with a Mustang Mach 1 some 40 years ago. Hajek wanted to commemorate the event by returning to Bonneville, and even got the original record driver’s son to pilot his modified S197 Mustang. The idea really gained steam – and support from FoMoCo – when Hajek and co. decided to go for the record using E85 bio-ethanol. They set a top speed of 252.78 mph, which will be a new record if and when they manage to replicate it so it can be etched into the books. (Read the full post about ‘Oklahoma Dreamin’: Mustang-lovin’ corn-grower chases record with ethanol’…)

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GM to show off sleeker Cadillac SRX at Detroit auto show in effort to appeal to luxury buyers

DETROIT January 4, 2009Kimberly S. Johnson(AP)– General Motors Corp. is counting on the 2010 Cadillac SRX crossover vehicle to lure luxury car buyers with new design and performance features.

The redesigned vehicle was unveiled Sunday and is set to go on display at the 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit later this month. It replaces the SRX model first launched in 2004.

To help compete with better-selling rivals like the Lexus RX, Acura MDX, and the BMW X3 and X5, the SRX’s designers took elements from other Cadillac models and melded them into this one.

(Read the full post about ‘Cadillac To Unveil New SRX’…)

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by Jonathon Ramsey on Jan 4th 2009 at 5:08PMA man named Lonnie Ray Davis was pulled over by Michigan police. When they searched his car, they found an open alcohol container, crack, a wad of cash, a stun gun, and a .38 caliber handgun. He was, of course, arrested. But the reason they pulled him over has become a constitutional law issue: Davis had a Tweety Bird ornament dangling from his rear view mirror, and Michigan law forbids dangling things that “obstruct the vision of the driver of the vehicle.”Davis’ argument was that the Tweety Bird didn’t obstruct his vision, so the cops had no right to pull him over, and therefore the items they found should be suppressed. (Read the full post about ‘Court strikes down Michigan “fuzzy dice” ban… then reinstates it…’…)

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by Noah Joseph on Jan 4th 2009 at 7:03PM2008 was a good year for Lewis Hamitlon. In taking the Formula One drivers’ title, he became the youngest champion in F1 history, and the first British champion in twelve years. To cap off his victorious season and start the new one on the right foot, after commissioning Bentley to convert her limos to run on bio-fuel, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has named Hamilton a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.Sounds pretty impressive, doesn’t it? Well for starters, Lewis can add the letters MBE to his name, but unlike his predecessor Jackie Stewart, it does not entitle Hamilton to knighthood. (Read the full post about ‘Hamilton “honoured” by the Queen’…)

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Efforts to Scrap Older Cars Targeted for Inclusion in Economic Stimulus Package

WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 2, 2009) –SEMA, the Specialty Equipment Market Association, is actively opposing an effort by some Congressional lawmakers to include a nationwide “Cash for Clunkers” program in the economic stimulus package currently being considered in Washington. Cash for Clunkers, or scrappage as it is more commonly known, would use taxpayer dollars to purchase and crush older vehicles into blocks of scrap metal. There is no evidence that the program will achieve the goal of boosting new car sales.

Many states have considered these programs in the past as a way to help clean the air but abandoned the effort because they simply don’t work.

(Read the full post about ‘SEMA Opposes U.S. Gov’t “CASH FOR CLUNKER” Program’…)

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